After a harrowing two and a half months, my Cocoa Pink order has finally arrived! If there’s a virtue that I’ve acquired from my addiction to indie products, it’s got to be that of patience. Being an international customer can be extremely trying; shipping costs tend to go ballistic, parcels take forever to reach you, etc etc etc. Still, all that frustration and twitching goes away the moment you tear into the box and set eyes on your new sparkly, sweet smelling loot. I first read about Cocoa Pink on the BPAL sub forums where everyone was getting all excited over an Easter sale. The excitement was catching and after I took one look at the master scent list, I knew that I wouldn’t be leaving the website empty handed. That list is basically a sweet gourmand lover’s wet dream – all yummilicious, mouth watering candy and cake scents galore!

Here’s the damage:

Perfume Samples (3.55ml / 1 dram per vial)

Cotton Candy Dreams Fairytale Frosted Eyelet Lavender Clouds Lavender Honey Macaroons Marshmallow Cake on Mondays Pink Dragon Sakura Sweetheart Tea Seaside Picnic Sigh Vanilla Bean Noel Vanilla Rose

Argan Therapy Creme (6oz) in Cake on Mondays

(6oz) in Linen Spray (2.5oz) in Footprints in the Sand

(2.5oz) in MEOW! Intimate Cleanser (2oz) in Cocoa & Marshmallow

(2oz) in Free Samples

Coco Mango Body Butter (0.5oz) in Cotton Candy Explosion. Voluptuous Body Butter (0.5oz) in Just Breathe.

Mark my words, it was a lovely thing to come home to. This post will focus on a general overview of my happy haul; detailed reviews of individual products will follow in the very near future.

a quick brand overview

Cocoa Pink is a darling little company which specializes in high quality and sweet smelling bath and body products that are freshly handmade with each order. More importantly, like every other respectable indie company, they are cruelty-free. They have a pretty extensive range of products which range from the classic body butters and hair treatment creams to deodorants and even an all natural cleanser for your delicate little lady parts. The aesthetic of the site is frothy and adorable (just look at that little cupcake!) and the website features the adorable artwork of Irene Calleja. This art isn’t featured on their normal line of products, although it does make an appearance for limited edition sets. While it does have some vegan products like the popular Voluptuous Body Butter, the company doesn’t postulate itself as vegan since there are products that contain goat milk and honey.

perfume oils

Here are my initial impressions of the collection of perfume oils that I ordered based on what I sniffed in the bottle and a very quick test run on my skin. Scent descriptions are taken from the Master Scent List on the site and are slightly abridged for comprehensiveness and brevity.

Cotton Candy Dreams

Raspberry cotton candy frosting whipped together to perfection with our popular Triple Vanilla Dream fragrance.

This smells like a creamy and yummy raspberry candy in the vial. This pretty much smells the same on my skin; there is a slightly tart edge to the raspberry but the creaminess softens it. I just wish that this wasn’t quite so faint. It threatens to fade away just seconds after applying it which doesn’t really bode well considering how well equipped my skin is for gobbling scents that I like. It’s a pity, really, because if this had been stronger, I’m sure that I would have loved it.

Vanilla Rose

Bulgarian white rose petals caressed with pale cream infused with decadent vanilla and softly sprinkled with sugar crystals topping fluffy white squares of angel food cake.



This is a gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous vanilla cake in the vial, lined with creamy rose petals. On my skin, it’s exactly as advertised. My skin has the tendency to amp rose to obnoxious levels, but I’ve found that white rose works well on me, and this rose is beautifully delicate and sweet. It blends really well with the soft cake note, giving the scent a nice floral ring to it. This is on the light side as well, but it has a far better sillage than Cotton Candy Dreams. I’m glad, because I really love this. I can imagine this being lovely as a body product as well. It’s such an innocent, sweet and youthful scent. Despite the cake note, I’d say that this isn’t a scent restricted to gourmand lovers. I’ll have to give this a full test drive, but I’m really optimistic!

Vanilla Bean Noel

Fresh vanilla bean, warm caramel and rich, comforting cream create this deliciously sweet holiday scent. Caramel, sugar, vanilla, Tonka bean and white musk.

Mmmm butterscotch in a vial. The milky caramel note is the most prominent one in the vial and it actually reminds me of a toned down version of BPAL’s Boo (which is one of my holy grail scents). To my despair, this mutated into a diluted burnt plasticky vanilla on my skin. And then after a couple of disbelieving and sad sniffs, it disappears. Just like that. I’ve tried applying it on different parts of my arms, in increasing amounts of quantity. Nothing changes. This is a painful reminder of how Blooddrop’s Aurous Horse behaved on me. What a shame.

Pink Dragon

CP’s Candy floss softened with sweet, buttery, sugar cookies, vanilla cream and whipped peaks of marshmallow sugar.

This smells a little fruity, which makes sense since Cocoa Pink’s Candy Floss scent has a kiss of pink sugar to it. On the skin, I get this spun sugar note that is made all girly with a sweet candy-like fruity floral. As time goes by, the vanilla note gets a little stronger, which adds a creaminess to the blend. This is like a sweeter and more floral version of Cotton Candy Dreams and miserably, it lasts just about that long on me. I’m starting to see a sad little trend here.

Frosted Eyelet

Buttercream, marshmallow, vanilla ice cream. This is our best-selling Ivory Eyelet, without the Lemon. Delicious!

Another shot at a yummy, creamy vanilla scent! This smells a little like melty vanilla ice cream with its sticky milkiness. Unfortunately, this is also extremely faint on my skin and suffers from the dreaded “now you sniff it, now you don’t!” syndrome. :c It seems like I just don’t have much of an affinity with innocent vanilla scents and I am devastated!

Marshmallow Cake on Mondays

This scent has it all. It is our bestselling Cake on Mondays scent blended with marshmallow.

The first thing I get out of the vial is a yummy almond note; it reminds me of the almond milk I used to drink as a child. The cake note is more apparent on my skin and reminds me of Brazen’s It’s Yo Birthday scent. The marshmallow adds a powdery puff of sweetness, but once again, this is more faint than the perfume oils that I am accustomed to. One observation that I have made though, is that I purchased the Argan Creme Therapy conditioner in the original Cake on Mondays scent and the fragrance in that product is more prominent that the perfume oil. Unless it’s the marshmallow playing peek-a-boo with me, I think I’d rather get her scented body / hair products rather than purchase the oils outright.

Lavender Clouds

Sleepy Spanish lavender essential oils softly blended amongst French vanilla clouds and fluffy marshmallow pillows.

This evokes a bit of a scent memory for me. Sometimes, I concoct this face mud mask which consists of bentonite clay, yogurt, apple cider vinegar, ground up lavender buds and honey. This scent smells exactly like it. While not exactly a bad thing (I actually think it smells pretty kick-ass for a mud mask), I’m not sure I’m that fond of it as a perfume. The lavender note gets a little sour on me although there is enough milkiness to rein in back it. I’m definitely getting a vanilla yogurt note out of this one. Not bad, but it’s not the lavender fragrance I was looking for and I thought it would be. :c

Lavender Honey Macaroons

French macaroons with wild lavender sprigs blended with pure black vanilla bean and gentle touches of golden tupelo honey.

This smells like a slice of lavender almond cake! There is some honey to temper the sharpness of the almond which decided to start the scent by amping itself to high heaven. I realize that my skin amps almond notes, I have to take note of that. It does rein itself in about 5 minutes into the scent though, so that’s a relief. I do like almond, but I’d prefer if it wasn’t the focus of every blend that contains it. This eventually softens into a sweet and creamy vanilla lavender that is so soft and comforting that I want to wrap myself in it. The sweetness is more understated and musky since it comes from honey rather than sugar. This is lovely! It has pretty decent silage too.

Sigh

Whispers of sweet, European lavender and weeping apple blossoms cuddled in pillows of marshmallow clouds and vanilla cream.

I was a little perplexed when I first sniffed this because I found that there was an oceanic note in there somewhere. This is very lovely in the vial; the softest lavender mixed with a sweet and wistful floral note. The apple blossom is more prominent on my skin while the lavender fades into the background. I feel like the vanilla vanishing note is lurking here somewhere though, because this blend is threatening to disappear on me again. Alas! I wish I could up the potency of this tenfold because I really like whatever little I can smell of it. Sigh. (Yes, I make bad puns even in my misery.)

Seaside Picnic

Airy whipped cream, snow white cake crumbles, cotton candy frosting, aromatic white tea, and coconut limeade tempered with gentle sea breezes.

THIS IS GORGEOUS. On my skin I get a fresh ozone note mixed gently with white tea. It’s like sitting by the beach on a clear summer day with a cup of white tea. There are wisps of coconut drifting in and out of the scent. This actually reminds me quite a bit of a BPAL scent, but I can’t put my finger on it. I’m almost tempted to say Titania, but the scent notes are so different. The scent gets sweeter as it lingers and I think I can pick up a sugar note. It’s not the focus of the scent though; it feels like a fresh, breezy cologne with a touch of sweetness. I really really like this. This is actually rather unisex, so I think I’ll pop this on the Fox and see what he thinks of it.

Sakura Sweetheart Tea

Matcha green tea dust, delicate cherry blossoms, velvety pink and white rose petals, dried bing cherries seeped in steaming spring water swirled with golden tupelo honey.

This is a beautiful, beautiful blend. It starts out as a gorgeous cup of cherry blossom tea with an undercurrent of rose petals. It’s a really nostalgic and evocative kind of scent, and I feel like a lady at a fancy tea party wearing this. It also has awesome silage which is a very welcome change from my unfortunate vanilla blends. The honeyed florals are prominent in this one, but the tea note adds an interesting touch to it, almost like a fleeting bite of bitterness before the sweetness takes over again. This is one of the more complex blends and I adore it.

Fairy Tale

Bulgarian roses, fresh juicy apples and vine ripen strawberries sweetened up with sugar cookies topped with candied cherries and sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar.

I smell fresh juicy apples and rose buds! There’s a distinct sweetness to the scent, but the apple note is so fresh that I can almost taste the juicy flesh. I’ve always amped rose to high heaven so I’m pretty amazed that the apple is starting to push the rose notes to the curb and dominate the blend. It feels like an apple single note at this point. Nooo… I want my sugar cookies and strawberries! I’ll have to give this a proper test drive one day to see how the scent morphs. I’m pretty intrigued though; this is the closest that I’ve ever come to encountering a fresh fruit in a bottle.

on the whole…

I had my fair share of disappointment with my hoard of perfume oils although I can’t really complain since these were really cost-effective ($3 for 3.55ml of perfume!) and an awesome way to try out a sizeable number of Cocoa Pink’s scents. I find especially useful for finding a certain specific scent you like for the full sized body products since it would be riskier to hazard a scent choice of that. The silage for most of these was pretty low; much lower than what I’d expect from a perfume oil since I expect oils to be concentrated forms of perfume. There were some notable wins though (Seaside Picnic, Sakura Sweetheart Tea and Lavender Honey Macaroons being scents that I wildly adore) and luckily for me, these were the ones with the best throw.

One odd little thing that nigged away at me was the strange stains on a number of the perfume vials. It looks like it could be due to a leak, although I didn’t notice a drop in oil level. I’m fussy enough for it to bother me just a touch because I’m more used to me being the one who stains my perfume labels, but I guess this is a small, relatively inconsequential thing.

Perfume oils are available in 1 dram (3.55ml) vials at $3.50 each or $18 for a set of 6. They are also available in 10ml vials for $11.95. Fragrances are also available in perfume sprays at $15.50 (1oz) and $28.50 (2oz).

Bath & Body Products



Argan Therapy Creme

in Cake on Mondays – delicious sponge cake made with almond extract, vanilla, and a hint of cinnamon, then slathered in cream cheese buttercream frosting.

Ingredients: Water, cetearyl alcohol (and) PEG-40 caster oil (and) Stearakorium cloride, behentrimonium methosulfate and cetearyl alcohol, centrimonium bromide, centrimonium chloride, cetyl alcohol, argan oil, coconut oil, c12-15 alkyl benzoate, panthenol, dimethicone, cyclomethicone, polyquat 10, silk amino acid, propylene glycol (and) diazolidnyl urea (and) iodopropynyl butylcarbamate.

This product smells heavenly, really it does. I unscrewed the top to remove the safety foil and got washed over with the scent of freshly baked vanilla cake topped with marzipan. The almond note is particularly strong, but there’s a creaminess to it as well. The texture of the conditioner is creamy and it melts upon contact with the skin.

Unfortunately, this is about as useful a review that I can provide for this conditioner because I had a sensitive reaction to it. Before I go any further, I wanted to take this opportunity to state this reminder again. Always, always, remember to do a patch test when trying out a new product. I was a fool and I forgot this golden rule in my excitement to smear the gorgeous smelling cream on my head. Barely a minute into lusciously combing it through my hair, I started to feel a burning sensation around my forehead, the tip of my ears and the side and back of my neck. Basically, there was an uncomfortable tingling on the surface of any skin that came into contact with the conditioner. I washed it off quickly all that remained were big red patches that disappeared within 2 hours. Unsightly, but thankfully painless and without any itch.

I did a side by side comparison of the ingredients next to that of some conditioners that I have used in the past and compiled a list of ingredients that I was unfamiliar with. I’ve mailed Cocoa Pink to see if they could help me pinpoint which ingredient I could possibly have a reaction to. Incidentally, it could be my choice of fragrance that caused the sensitivity since there was a warning that the cinnamon notes might cause a reaction. I’ve never had that problem with perfume oils that had cinnamon notes in it, but every product is different, I guess. The main takeaway I got from this is to not be complacent and just do the patch test. I got let off lightly this round, but I can imagine much worse things happening. I’m probably going to stick with non spicey fragrances for all hair / body products as well.

For what it’s worth, there’s a slight silver lining that came out of this. From the two minutes that the conditioner was on my hair, the product actually managed to work a little of its magic and made my roots all silky, soft and shiny. I’m actually highly tempted to try their other hair products once I’ve more or less identified the culprit because if you’re not sensitive, this stuff really works. It says on the site that this can be used as a leave-in conditioner and I can’t imagine how gorgeous your tresses would be at the end of it all.

Argan Therapy Creme costs $8.50 for a 6oz bottle and $15 for a 10oz bottle. It’s available in all the main scents on the scent list.

MEOW! Intimate Cleanser

in Cocoa & Marshmallow – Cocoa Extract with a splash of marshmallow.

Ingredients: water, diammonium lauryl sulfosuccinate, oat amino acids, rosa damascena (rose) flower oil, chamomile extract, lavender water, Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, lauramidopropyl betaine, glycerin, disodium sulfosuccinate, fragrance.

Truth be told, I had mixed feelings about reviewing this, but we’re all genteel ladies and I love this cleanser so I need to share the love. I’m actually going to go ahead and put this in white font anyway since it’s kinda NSFW and bordering on TMI (there are only so many euphemisms I can use). Please highlight to read!

I was pretty excited to try this because I’ve seen much love for it on the BPAL sub forum thread on intimate cleansers. After my scare with the sensitive reaction, I was sure to patch test this before putting it anywhere near my delicate bits. Thankfully, it passed the patch test, so I was able to give this a whirl. I got this in the Cocoa & Marshmallow scent, but as noted on the site, the base smell of this product is indeed pretty strong. The sweet and creamy chocolate scent soon vanished, so my secret and sordid dreams of having a chocolate marshmallow scented vulva were quickly dashed. The product itself is slippery smooth and is incredibly gentle. I keep myself clean shaven out of personal preference and on days of pruning, my skin does get sensitive when interacting with normal body wash. I had no problems whatsoever with this little gem. It gives the impression that it’s doing its job without being invasive, and I appreciate that in an intimate cleanser. This is definitely something that I’d treasure, especially during when that pesky time of the month comes along (a common woe that all ladies share). It also does a great job of keeping your lady parts fresh and sweet smelling which is definitely awesome. It just makes me feel so clean. I’ll be reordering this, possibly in a different scent.

MEOW! Intimate Cleanser costs $2.99 for a 1oz bottle and $5.50 for a 2oz bottle. It’s available in the following scent options: Cocoa & Marshmallow, Fresh Strawberry, Green Tea Spiritzer, Lavender and Unscented.

Linen Spray

in Footprints on the Sand – Cool waves of coconut water, coconut meat, Persian lime zest, just a touch of refreshing peppermint leaves all accented by the soft essence of French lavender buds.

Ingredients: Distilled Water, Caprylic/ Capric Glycerides (and) Polyglycerol-6 Dioleate (and) Glyceryl Caprylate/ Caprate, Fragrance, Phenoxyethanol (and) Caprylyl Glycol.

I was quite excited about this one because in addition to being a linen spray, it doubles up as a body and hair mist as well. I imagined this as a perfect summery scent to to spritz on my gym clothes and grimey self after a workout so that I’d smell all beach-like. Unfortunately for me, this was not to be because I just didn’t like this product very much at all. There was a certain distinct sourness that reminded me of this apple cider vinegar spray that I mixed with essential oils to keep the mozzies and other insects at bay. I’m not sure if this is due to the lime in the fragrance or if it’s a by-product of the ingredients, but I just can’t help wrinkling my nose.

When I do manage to look past the sourness, I get a herbal and somewhat bitter mix of lavender and peppermint. I do get whiffs of coconut every now and again, but on the whole, it’s just nothing like how I hoped it would be. I am pretty disappointed in this one, but I guess it might be a scent preference thing because I know that there have been many rave reviews of this particular scent and of the linen sprays as a whole.

Linen Sprays cost $4.50 for a 2oz bottle, $8 for a 4oz bottle and $11.50 for a 6oz bottle. They are available in all scents on the scent list.

Body Butters

I was thrilled when I discovered that Cocoa Pink had included two samples of their body butters in my package. I’ve recently embarked on a holy grail hunt for the perfect body butter and was bemoaning the fact that I hadn’t gotten any from them, especially after reading rave reviews online. I like how they picked out samples in scents that actually fit my scent profile based on my order. Or maybe it was a happy coincidence. Either way, I was really happy with these precious little freebies.

Coco Mango Body Butter

in Cotton Candy Explosion – Fluffy cotton candy buttercream frosting tinged with creamy strawberry milkshake, sliced summer kiwis, warmed with impressions of real orange essential oil.

Ingredients: Water, cocoa butter, mango butter, babassu oil, avocado oil, rice bran oil, meadowfoam oil, polylyceryl distearate, calendula oil, cetyl alcohol, glycerin, aloe extract, vitamin-e oil, fragrance, xanthan gum, phenoxyethanol, benzoic acid, dehydroacetic acid.

This smells utterly DELICIOUS. It’s like tropical candy or a fun summery mocktail, all citrusy and sweet. The consistency of this butter is wonderfully smooth and glides onto the skin with ease. It does leave a bit of stickiness but the moisturizing effect makes it worth it. Plus, after a couple of minutes, it gets completely absorbed into the skin, leaving just a light sheen which gives you the semblance of a healthy glow. This is a beautiful formula and kicks Body Shop’s body butters right to the curb.

By the by, this is a vegan product and is shea-free, so if you’re sensitive to shea butter or latex, this would be perfect for you!

Coco Mango Body Butter costs $7.50 for a 2.75oz tub and $13.99 for a 4.75oz. It is available in all scents on the scent list.

Voluptuous Body Butter

in Just Breathe – Fresh Vanilla bean, West Indian vanilla orchid, pink lilac blooms, lily of the valley, plump green cactus, exotic fruits softly blanketed in beautiful pale musks.

Ingredients: Water, organic shea butter, babassu oil, avocado oil, rice bran oil, meadowfoam oil, polyglyceryl distearate, calendula oil, cetyl alcohol, glycerin, aloe extract, vitamin E, fragrance, xanthan gum, phenoxyethanol, benzoic acid, dehydroacetic acid.

I’m so glad that this came as a sample because I LOVE this scent. It smells like a high end body product and I love the sophisticated and fresh blend of exotic florals. It just smells so clean. I feel like I’ve stepped out of a spa resort. I found this a little oilier and slicker than the Coco Mango butter. On the bright side, it does eventually absorb itself fully into the skin but it takes a longer time than the Coco Mango Butter, so I probably wouldn’t use this one if I was in a rush. A little does go a long way though, although I personally prefer the Coco Mango butter a little more. This feels really rich and would be wonderfully pampering in a colder and drier climate. It makes my skin feel all velvety once the product is fully absorbed.

Like the Coco Mango butter, this is a vegan product. It contains nut oils, so people with allergies should avoid this.

Voluptuous Body Butter costs $7.50 for a 2.75oz tub and $13.99 for a 4.75oz. It is available in all scents on the scent list.

On the whole …

I am pretty satisfied with my Cocoa Pink experience. There were some misses, but I really love some of these products so that makes up for the disappointments. I placed my order on April 21st and it was shipped out on May 17th. I ordered during the Easter sale so that turnaround time was more than reasonable. International shipping was a little painful at $25 but everything was very well packed and protected. I will most likely be ordering from this company again. I love the really extensive scent options for the body and hair products.