Nyassa Belgian Chocolate Sugar Scrub Review : Love at First Sniff…But Is It Really “Ishqwala Love”?

My family and friends all know that I am a total chocoholic….I simply LOVE chocolates and I eat a little chocolate daily. That’s one thing I simply can’t give up. Hubby knows how much I love chocolate co he’s had to go on Lindt and Goldkenn and Godiva missions during both my pregnancies (though not in the middle of the night à la Salaam Namaste…I always had my stash handy, readily replenished when they ran low…hehe).

So, when my Jan Vellvette box revealed a little round tin with the words “Belgian Chocolate Sugar Scrub”, I simply couldn’t wait to rip open the plastic cover and try it out. This sample tin contains a very generous 40 gms of a rough, brown sugary mixture and while the fragrance is not exactly like Belgian chocolate, it is a very pleasant one that chocoholics will surely like. The scrub smells like a chocolate cookie or a brownie…you know, chocolate mixed with flour fragrance as against pure chocolate fragrance???

What Nyassa says about this product: Don’t gain the calories but indulge in our range of finest Belgian Chocolate skin care products that are super rich in anti-oxidants. Nyassa’s Belgian Chocolate Sugar Scrub will leave your skin perfectly soft, smooth and radiant. Made from Belgian chocolate, Jojoba oil, cocoa butter and Shea butter, our scrubs not only have a gentle exfoliating action but also leave the body moisturised and youthful. Simply a must for that ever-lasting glow.

Now, who wouldn’t fall in love with the product after reading all this? But did it live up to my expectations?

Like I said, the scrub is a rough mixture with the sugar crystals clearly visible in it. The crystals aren’t fine, in fact, they’re quite big and can be quite abrasive on the skin. (I make my own body scrub, read about it here, so I know how bigger crystals can feel on the skin). The scrub is also quite crumbly and most of the sugar falls down before you can actually massage the scrub onto your body. Whatever sugar remains on the body feels quite scratchy. One solution to this is to mix little quantities of the scrub with your body wash so that the crystals start dissolving a bit in it and so don’t feel that rough. Another is to lather up first and then use the scrub on top of it. And you also have to use quite a bit for your entire body. I used a Baskin Robbins spoon to scoop out the scrub and I ended up using 6-7 spoonfuls (almost half the tin) in just one day.

Can you see the size of the sugar crystals?

Despite that, it does certainly leave the skin soft, smooth and moisturised. Even though it is winter, I didn’t feel the need to use body butter on my skin after rinsing this off. I just used a very light body lotion and my skin felt moisturised the whole day. In summer, I probably wouldn’t even have used a lotion.

Well, anyway, the “love at first sniff” didnt quite turn out to be “Ishqwala love”….it was more like a teenage crush. Not the everlasting love that will make you want to keep buying and using this product forever and mourn when the company discontinues it.
The full size tin of this scrub (200gms) is priced at Rs. 950 and it certainly seemed a bit high to me.

As much as I wanted to like this product, I felt kind of disappointed with it. Probably because the sugar crystals were so large or maybe because it is extremely crumbly and non-foaming, it somehow didnt quite live up to my expectations. Purchase full size? I don’t think so. DIY chocolate scrub…coming up tomorrow *wink wink*.

PS- check out how to make your own body scrub here

PPS – If you want to win Lancome goodies, enter my giveaway here