**REVIEW** J.R. Watkins Room Freshener (Lemon)

My mother loved using J.R. Watkins extracts in her baking. It's excellent stuff and I can still remember the smell from when she used the vanilla in her cakes. Not to mention when we used it for the TPV Perfume mentioned in a 2006 post.

A few years ago, I found some JRW lemon-scented hand lotion by accident and I had a memory storm or mama-memory so had to have it. The lotion smelled divine and worked well on my dry skin. It can pricey in boutique style stores but is crazy affordable at Walmart. Of course.

When I started searching for something to replace my once beloved but no-longer-quality Scentsational Iced Lemon Sugar Cookies wax melts, I kept running across JRW room sprays. Of course, I can't find a match for the Scentsationals but I found the Lemon scent. And I remembered how good the hand lotion smelled.

So, I got (at what I think is a great price)a 6-pack of 4-oz sprays for around $10.50. The bottles all came without damage.

I love that the bottles have a continuous spray feature, but the scent is the most important thing, right? . And...

I have to say I was not overwhelmed.

The fragrance itself is amazing - very fresh and sparkling like effervescent lemon. I sprayed some to kill some cooking odors and it worked. I sprayed the stale air in the bathroom and it worked. I sprayed some to kill that faint bad-breath-y kind of morning bedroom air and it worked.

Notice I keep saying "it worked". So what's the problem?

Well, the scent does not last. At all. I can smell the fragrance just brightening up the air for all of 5 minutes or so.

The only way to get any lasting scent in the home with this is to spray it onto something (I spritz the sheers I have up to the living room windows) but you aren't supposed to do that.

I just can't decide how I feel about this. I mean, I can get 27 ounces of Odoban for under 3 bucks. Odoban kills just about any kind of funky/stale/stinky household odors. I bet that stuff could get rid of locker room stank. However, I love the smell of lemons and vanilla - preferably mixed - and I just wish the JRW scent lasted.

So I am not sure if I will ever buy more of this. I will definetly keep looking for something - a candle or spray - that replaces my Scentsationals Iced Lemon Sugar Cookies...

Peace
--Free



P.S.: The spray comes in other scent choices. Also, I noticed some reviewers mention that these can not be returned so... be careful before ordering that you get the correct scent.

I have to add that I don't know why there are 2 JRW sites. This one looks to be the one with all the original stuff my mother used. This one looks to be the more "modern" carrying just the personal care products. Of course, you can find almost all the products from both sites on Amazon and/or Walmart.

**REVIEW** J.R. Watkins Daily Moisturizing Lotion

Don't you love it when you are having a rough day and something good and unexpected happens? That's why I'm in a better mood tonight than I was when I woke up this morning.

I won't go into why my day started out so crappy, but it got worse when I had to make an emergency run over to Walmart to get some clog buster for the bathroom. I am telling you, this week just started and it is trying to be a doozy.

Anyway, I get over to the store and have to search 3 shelves to find the correct product to clear the drain. So many choices! And I noticed a white bottle that looks out of place among all the Drano, Liquid Plumber, Mr. Plumr, etc., and decided to take a peek. It sure didn't belong on the cleaning aisle:

Man! Talk about flashing back to my younger years!

The last time I saw anything other than extract and some spices from the Watkins label was... well, never. I do remember one of my aunts or someone using a salve that might have been from Watkins but, mostly, I remember all the cakes and gravies that my mother and her friends made using a Watkins product. (I especially can recall the vanilla extract that I was taught to use with baby powder as a fragrance!)

Since some other shopper had obviously put this bottle of lotion down in the wrong part of the store, I had no idea how much it might cost. I put it aside in my basket, thinking that I would just do a price check later. I had some other items to pick up - you know how it is: since I was there - and was already thinking I was going to go over the daily budget.

Guess what good and unexpected thing happened next? When I was slipping my phone back into my purse, I found a twenty stuck in the side pocket. Found money! That almost never happens to me. First thing I did was get tickled and make some other shoppers give me the side eye. I was thinking about a joke a comedian told about Bill Gates: "For someone that rich to get excited about finding forgotten money in a coat pocket, they'd have to find something like four million dollars!" No doubt.

Well, found money or no, I should have tucked it back into the purse until another rainy day, but... There was that lotion.

Maybe it was nostalgia, but I just had to have that lotion. Of course, my sneaky behind was going to try to free the pump and sample it right then and there. You know, just in case I hated it or something. I couldn't be smooth enough about getting the pump turned open, so I just went ahead and bought the bottle. One thing about Walmart, they don't mind doing refunds. Trust me, I know.


Once I got the lotion open. I was so happy that I had splurged some of my found money. The smell alone took me right back to my mother's kitchen on the days she'd make one of her lemon meringue pies. I never even liked those pies that much, but the smell...!!! Heavenly. Come to think of it, that's probably why I like lemon-scented candles so much.

Of course, the thing with scents and fragrances in moisturizers is that they might be overwhelming or - even worse - they might irritate the skin. Lord knows, I don't need that. I already have a rash on my ankles that my doctor is going to be checking out at my next appointment.

I made sure to test this lotion on one arm first. The smell, lovely as it is, doesn't really linger as strongly as it applies. I'd say that it evens out to faint and almost vanilla-tinged odor after about five minutes. The lotion actually moisturizes like a heavier cream formula and left a subtle wax-softness that would make my touch feel pleasant to someone else.

The one thing that puzzles me is the label's statement about the lotion being "99% natural".

no parabens, phthalates, propylene glycol or dyes.

Looking at the label of ingredients, I can't really discern what isn't natural until I squint. I think it must be the acetate they are talking about. Or maybe one of the other ingredients mentioned near the end of the list?

What I do know is that this feels so good as an all-over moisturizer. You know that wonderful feeling you get after a shower when you jump into freshly laundered sheets? Well, that feeling ramps up a notch if you're all smoothed up and smelling good with this lotion.

Another nice thing about the lotion is that the moisture does last. I didn't pay much attention at first but, when I washed my hands about an hour or so after applying, I could feel the lotion coming off in the water. Later, I did try to pay attention to how long it lasted and I know that it lasted at least another three hours (maybe more), but then I had to wash my hands again. The lotion that I applied to the rest of my body was fine all day - meaning I wasn't dry that evening. I can tell by how dry my calves are. Usually, depending on the weather, I might have to re-apply some moisture (usually one of my oils) to my legs at least once or they will be a bit dry at bedtime. I think that's because my jeans rub against them.

Because this lotion brought back so many memories of J. R. Watkins products, I had to go take a peek at their website. I downloaded a catalog and for my niece's upcoming birthday, I'm going to get some of the extracts and laundry soap. That doesn't sound like an exciting birthday gift, but she also remembers my mother (her "Grammy") using Watkins stuff. I think she will be pleased with the gift basket.

When my niece gets to try some of the other products, I will be sure to come back and do a post on them.

Peace
--Free