Start your day brilliantly with a scent-sensational shower gel

By Deborah Fulsang

The beauty of my vocation is, at least in part, that I am given the opportunity to travel. And one of my favourite things about traveling: hotels. The cocktail hour, the pristine white sheets, the crazy-good pillows, and of course the mini toiletries in the bathroom.

Those mini toiletries allow me to sample products I have yet taken the time to try: I tested the Malin+Goetz items at The Standard in New York, the Etro spa products at The Maritime Hotel in Manhattan, and at The St. James Hotel in Montreal, the in-house lotions and potions of Molton Brown.

Molton Brown Suma Ginseng shower gel knocked me out: Spicy, fresh, envigorating. Its luxe, woody scent is amazing: geranium, juniper, cinnamon. I admit to tucking that one in my carryon on the way out the door.
Molton Brown Suma Ginseng Invigorating Body Wash, $34 (300 ml), www.moltonbrown.com;  www.holtrenfrew.com; 

But I can’t give up my old favourite, so I alternate between this new find and my tried-and-true, smells-like-a-Swedish-spa Dermalogica Conditioning Body Wash, $62 (473 ml), www.dermalogica.com

OTHER FAVOURITES
Ashley Kowalewski, the editorial assistant at The Whale & The Rose, can’t get enough of The Body Shop’s Satsuma Shower Gel. “It has a really juicy mandarin orange fragrance that is the perfect mood booster in my morning shower,” she says. “It’s citrusy lather isn’t too creamy—so great for my sensitive skin—and it instantly wakes me up. And while it doesn’t clash with my fragrance, I always catch a whiff of it on my skin at some point throughout the day.” The Body Shop’s Satsuma Shower Gel, $8, www.thebodyshop.ca

We also tapped Vanessa Taylor, the fashion editor of The Kit, for her number-one body wash choice. Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint Liquid Soap is her go-to. “The peppermint scent gives me an instant perk-me-up in the morning,” she says. “Especially if I haven’t had a coffee yet. And all the eco-good stuff is why I tried it in the first place: essential oils are certified organic and the packaging is made from 100% recycled plastic bottles.” Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint Liquid Soap, $6.39, www.drbronner.com

WHAT’S YOUR I-DON’T-WANT-TO-LIVE-WITHOUT-SHOWER GEL?
Do share. We’d love to know your favourite scented body wash or gel. After all, it’s the small things in life that are often worth sharing and celebrating. Email us at info@thewhaleandtherose.com and tell us your scent obsession for the shower.