Utama Spice is a family business that produces handmade aromatherapy products in Bali. Inspired by tradition, their lotions, soaps, essential oils and diffusers use only natural ingredients, and focus on enrichment, mood enhancement and well-being. These products are aimed towards those who prefer to use natural products over synthetic ones, and who enjoy the benefits of relaxing aromatherapy. So, how was the experience with these products in real life? Read on for our review of Utama Spice’s aromatherapy products…
All of the Utama Spice products I tried contained natural, vegetarian, and mostly vegan ingredients (with the exception of beeswax), and everything was cruelty-free. I liked that these ethics were proudly stated on the products’ packaging so that consumers are reassured of the ethical nature of the products they are using.
Body Butter: Tropical Flower
Utama Spice -Body Butters
The Tropical Flower Body Butter came in a simple and attractive white plastic container with a decorative label. The container felt a little greasy on arrival, and there was some natural separation of the product when I opened it up, but this is normal for products containing oils.
The body butter is a warm, golden-yellow colour, and is very creamy and soft to the touch. It sunk into my skin really nicely, and didn’t leave any feelings of greasiness on the surface of my skin. In terms of the fragrance, the scent is not overbearing, but it is a little heavier than I would normally choose myself. It has a very rich, vibrant and luxurious fragrance, both sweet and earthy.
Energising Liquid Soap: Lemongrass
Of all the Utama Spice products I sampled, I liked the fragrance of this product the best; it has a gorgeous, sweet and fresh lemongrass scent, coming together to create a really refreshing aroma. The soap is quite watery in texture when pumped out, but lathers well, and leaves you feeling squeaky-clean. After rinsing it off with water, a light scent lingers on your skin, leaving your hands or body pleasantly perfumed.
My only slight concern with this product was that the attractiveness of the bottle might not last; when I used it in the shower, it of course got splashed and I held it with wet hands, which made the sticker go thin and transparent on the bottle. It dried well and looked fine later on, but I wonder if the sticker might quickly disintegrate.
Coconut Lotion: Lavender
I had a little trouble getting the pump to work with this product initially, but I got there eventually! Like the body butter, this product sunk into my skin beautifully, leaving no feelings of greasiness. It was rich and creamy in texture, and felt soothing over my skin; I can imagine it working well as an after-sun lotion as the bottle suggests.
The directions on the bottles recommended using a “generous” amount, but I found I didn’t need to use an awful lot to cover my skin nicely. The product had a strong, heady, lavender fragrance, and could certainly be used before bed by those who find lavender effective for inducing sleep.
Utama Spice’s Nebulizing Essential Oil Diffuser: User Friendly & Easy to Set Up
Utama Spice -Essential Oil Diffuser
This product nebulizes essential oils and diffuses them into a fine mist of micro-droplets creating a mood-enhancing aroma. The packaging of this product was very attractive and would make a lovely gift, with decorative floral imagery and a muted grey-green background. The diffuser was very user-friendly in that it was easy to set up with clear instructions and there were not too many components to grapple with.
In use, the diffuser makes a low humming sound for two minutes of every three-minute cycle. It is not particularly loud and tends to settle into background noise and wouldn’t be noticeable over music, but the stop-start nature of the hum may well be to some people if they prefer total silence.
Elegantly Creates a Mellow, Spa-Like Atmosphere
Visually, the diffuser looks really elegant; it has a shiny, hand-crafted wooden base which would fit well with most decors, and the custom-blown glass reservoir lights up in a mild yellow colour, creating a gentle, mellow atmosphere. You can also see the oil mist curling around inside the reservoir, which is relaxing to watch. This product certainly promotes a spa-like atmosphere, and could be used to make multiple spaces, including homes and shops, much more relaxing.
The instruction booklet also gives helpful directions for cleaning the diffuser, however the box doesn’t include any rubbing alcohol to clean it with. I found this a little odd considering the set does provide you with two pipets to drop the rubbing alcohol in with when you clean it. Since it recommends weekly cleaning, I thought a small bottle of rubbing alcohol would be a useful addition to the set.
Essential Oil Set: Perfect Balance
Utama Spice – Essential Oils
I love the packaging for this product. The box has a natural, raw, rough feel to the brown cardboard, and it is embellished with an elegantly simple floral design. On the bottom of the box is a small image of each essential oil inside the box with a little description of each, almost like a box of chocolates.
Again, this product would make a lovely gift. The box opens via a smart magnetic lid that opens up to reveal five little bottles of essential oils, an essential oil chart, and details of the different ways you can use them. Their uses include cleaning, diffusion, ointment, steam inhalation, spray and perfume.
The essential oils come in a wide variety of scents, ranging from blissful lavender, to a clearing herbal scent, to energising citrus, to a deep calming fruit and flower blend, to a particularly nice floral blend with a heady rose geranium fragrance taking centre stage. Many of the ingredients present help to conjure not just a relaxing atmosphere, but also an exotic one since they allow fragrances and atmospheres that are not usually part of everyday life to enter into your own home.
Favourite Essential Oils: “Pure Energy” & “Focus” Provide a Gentle Mood Boost
My favourites are ‘Pure Energy’ and ‘Focus’. The former is a lovely medley of citrus scents, not unlike the lemongrass soap I sampled. It has a very light, crisp aroma, and for me, it was the perfect oil to use in a diffuser for everyday purposes as it had enough subtlety to blend into the background, and provide a gentle mood boost without being too noticeable.
My other favourite, “Focus”, was more full-bodied and layered, with a slight sharpness to it. The rose geranium flower comes through most strongly, creating a soft rose-scented haze, but the rosemary leaf, lemon peel and peppermint leaf also pierce through, creating an awakening and heavily textured aroma.
Essential Oils: “Clearing” Helps Clear Congestion & “Bliss” Induces a Calm, Tranquil State of Mind
“Clearing”, has a rather medicinal fragrance to me. The packaging informs us that the oils blended in this bottle are known to help clear congestion and boost circulation, so while it may not be the most pleasant or soothing fragrance, perhaps it would indeed be effective for a cold.
“Bliss”, on the other hand, is very lavender-heavy, and perhaps overshadows the subtleties of the other fragrances in the bottle slightly. But nevertheless, the strong lavender aroma is perfect for inducing a calm and tranquil state of mind.
Some of the Utama Spice scents are perhaps more likely than others to be universally liked, such as the lemongrass soap and lavender scented lotion and lavender essential oil, while others could be an acquired taste, such as the tropical flower body butter and some of the other essential oils.
Summary
Utama Spice’s Mood Enhancing, Elegant Oil Diffuser comes Highly Recommended
One of the Utama Spice products that I would recommend strongly would be the essential oil diffuser. The mood lighting and elegant form of the diffuser, as well as the aromatherapy property itself, means that this product harnesses more than one of the senses in order to craft a particular atmosphere – and of course you can curate an experience based on your own preferences by simply choosing a different essential oil to add to the diffuser, or even mixing more than one together to invent your own unique fragrance.
As for the Utama Spice lotions and soaps, while I like the scents of the lemongrass soap and lavender lotion (less so the body butter), I would not necessarily recommend them based on fragrance alone, as this was not the most distinguishing feature in my opinion. Rather, I appreciate the distinctive focus on natural ingredients, and therefore I would specifically recommend these products to people who value natural ingredients, and what goes into their cosmetics.
