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Years and years ago I went through a stage of using air freshener plug ins. I spent a small fortune on them, but that was my preferred way to fragrance my home at the time. Then it was candles. But I worried about leaving them lit so I moved from candles to wax melts. One product I didn’t really use was reed diffusers. When my kids came along I knew they would probably mess about with them thinking they were toys, so I never bothered buying them. But they’re older now and much more trust worthy ( ish ). So I decided to treat myself and buy The Body Shop‘s Salted Caramel & Vanilla Reed Diffuser for £16.00 last year.
Why this one? In the past year I’ve discovered The Body Shop have a wide variety of products. I’ve bought and tried many and found myself loving and enjoying them. The quality of products so far I’ve used have been high and I wanted to venture into their home fragrance range. This scent I went for is classic me. I love my bakery scents, sweet scents and visually I thought a reed diffuser would look nice in a room.
What’s a reed diffuser? A reed diffuser is normally a bottle that contains fragranced oil, with tall and thin reeds placed into it. As they sit in the oil, the reeds suck up the oil and release fragrance into the air.
Packaging & look. The diffuser comes in a slender tall box with the colouring and design reflecting the fragrance. All relevant information needed is on the packaging e.g scent description, instructions, ingredients etc.
The diffuser itself comes in two parts. Six reeds, and 125ml of fragranced oil housed in a short and wide glass bottle which is lidded. The lid has a hole in it to place reeds in. A cap covers the hole once you remove the lid, so the oil is contained when not in use. Looks very typical of this type of fragrance product. Very simple, stylish and elegant. I think visually it makes a nice statement piece in a room and look wise different to what I usually would have out on display. I put this on a glass plate in my bedroom which sets this off even more so.
How to use.Pop the reeds into the glass bottle that houses the fragrance. Spread them out a little in the bottle and once a week turn the sticks to get the most intensity out of the scent.
Scent. This smells so good! I was worried if this would be weak, strong, even possibly too sweet. What I did find was that this scent was quite soft but I would walk into my bedroom thinking how nice it smelt. I wasn’t too sure where the scent was coming from until I remembered! This is a typical salted caramel scent of sorts. It has got the sweetness to it. Also an almost fudge like type tone to it. The vanilla also giving it an added creaminess. But what I got which I wasn’t expecting was a hint of floral. So overall the scent came across more perfume-esq than a stereotypical and predictable bakery fragrance. Sophisticated, warming and very expensive in scent.
Strength & Longevity. The strength of this may vary depending on the size of room or space this is placed in. But in my bedroom, which is what I would call a normal but decent size, the strength I would say is light. Don’t think light is bad as it was there and very natural in scent and noticeable. Sometimes scents shouldn’t be strong and for me this was ideal for the space it was in. Longevity wise very good. After about a week I noticed the scent was fading, and as suggested on instructions I turned the sticks around and this brought the fragrance back to life.
Negatives? Not a negative as such but something that did irritate me. When I tried to take out the cap so I could pop the reeds into the hole it took awhile, and a lot of effort. Imagine when you’re going to buy a new plastic bin or set of chairs. They’re all stacked together and the suction created by them means you’re playing tug of war to get that one item out? That’s this! Unless there’s an unknown magic or I should have turned this around a different direction or something, the only way I got this off was by using tweezers!
Recommended? If you love The Body Shop as a brand and love home fragrancing, this would be a great item for you. The scent is beautiful, it looks great and packaged nicely and perfectly for Autumn/Winter. Both packaging and scent is ideal for this time of year. But it’s not cheap. At £16.00 for me I couldn’t repeat purchase this when I felt like it. It would be a well thought out and timed purchase. Possibly a gift for someone very close to me or maybe a house warming gift for a fragrance or home decor.
I would be over the moon to receive this as a gift. If Salted Caramel & Vanilla isn’t your ideal fragrance, The Body Shop’s diffusers come in 3 other scents. Fancy trying out this perfect Autumnal scent for your home? Get your sweet smelling aroma here.