Original Source Black pepper and Chilli Shower gel for Men

Despite the fact that this clearly stated that this was for men on the front I thought the scent and flavour combination had to be tried by me. I liked the cardamom and black pepper one they did before and thought this might be just as nice.

ORIGINAL SOURCE SAY

"Black Pepper and Chilli Shower Gel After a hard day of whatever life has thrown in your direction, this hearty shower stuff contains two of nature's most fiery ingredients! What more could you want to help re-invigorate those tired, achy muscles and get them ready for your next awe-inspiring challenge in record time! The little chillies making an appearance in this invigorating hair and body wash score over 100,000 scoville scale - a measure of their hot and spicy nature! When blended with distinctive black peppercorns, the result is this warming, revitalizing shower experience. Showering will never be the same again!"

Doesn't that sound tempting? I just love shower gels with a bit of a tingle in them like mint or tea tree so thought this would do something similar. I took the lid off to sniff in the shop as I always do and it smells quite spicy, quite manly I agree but sweetly spicy and aromatic, really nice I thought.

ORIGINAL SOURCE ETHICS

Original Source is a company that I do quite like the products from and it is rare that I come across one that I don't like. I like their ethics and philosophy and that makes me feel happier buying their stuff.
Original Source was not originally British company but they state on their website:

"We are a member of the Aromatherapy Trade Council and also work closely with the Vegan Society. Our products contain either pure and natural essential oils or natural extracts. We're not big fans of flying our products in from here, there and everywhere, so we source and produce as much as we can in the UK. After all, it's nice here."

So I assume they make their products in each country they sell them in which is good as that means that they source their ingredients locally and also employ local people which makes me feel positive about buying their products.

They also promise on their website:
"WE WILL:
Use natural ingredients
Never tire of looking for new ingredients
Never stop messing around with new ingredients and packaging
Never test our products on animals
Always test our products on ourselves
Never be wasteful"

All good as far as I am concerned as I do try to buy products from animal friendly and environmentally friendly companies as much as possible and when I know.

PACKAGING

My bottle of Black pepper and Chilli Shower gel is in a clear plastic bottle with a black flip top lid, which is really easy to remove and replace. The bottle is a strange shape, square edged but tapered to be thinner at the top which I suspect was designed to make it easy to stand up safely on bathroom shelves and on the sides of the bath, without the danger of tipping accidently and this does do the trick. Clearly written on the front of the bottle are the words Original Source and Black pepper and Chilli Shower gel. The front is decorated with the text proclaiming the fact that this a shower gel for men and the name of the product. On the back label there is all the blurb about the ingredients stating that this contains chillis and peppercorns. The bottle is recyclable plastic.

MY EXPERIENCE

I love the smell of this it is almost Christmas sort of spice as it has a sweetness and aromatic smell that blends with the pepper and chilli to create a very lovely smell. It is a bit like a muscle rub but nicer but that sort of spicy warming scent. A manly warming Christmas spice scent I think describes it perfectly.
The fact that it is a bright red colour is also very festive too so fits with my Christmas theme for this. It is a clear red thick liquid that comes out easily through the lid.

It lathers up well and while it doesn't tingle as you use it I do find it leaves a slightly warming feel where I have used it. A very mild sort of warming and nothing like a muscle rub ointment as that would be a bit drastic. It just feels like a warm glow.

I tried using it as a bubble bath and once again it bubbled nicely and made a lovely spicy smelling bath with a good thick coating of bubbles. The bath water felt nice but didn't have the same glow effect that I got when using the gel directly onto my skin.

I found this a very pleasant smell and it works well as a shower gel and bubble bath. It isn't particularly moisturising but it doesn't claim to be. I had no nasty skin allergy reactions from using it and my skin didn't feel tight and dry after using it either.

SOMETHING NOT QUITE SO GREAT:

Sodium Laureth Sulfate or Sodium Lauryl Sulfateis listed in the ingredients on this bottle and indeed you will find this in almost all products that produce foam. This is a controversial substance, which has been linked with carcinogens and is avoided by those who prefer natural products. This does not go with the natural claims of this product but I do know it is actually pretty difficult to find any bubble bath that doesn't contain it. However if you are one of those who really strongly believes in totally natural products then this may put you off.

CHILLI FACTS FOR FUN
A method for measuring a chilli's 'heat' was invented by Wilbur Scoville in 1902. The highest rated strength is pure Capsaicin, at 15 million Scoville units, 10 million more than US police pepper spray.

The hottest chilli is grown in the UK and it is the The Naga Viper rates an astonishing 1,359,000 on the Scoville scale, according to British researchers.

"The previous record holder was northern India's Bhut Jolokia, or ghost pepper - is so spicy it has reportedly even been weaponised by Indian armed forces

The Indian Government has examined ways of using the very hottest chillis such as the Bhut Jolokia to produce a spice bomb that would incapacitate enemies without killing them." Taken from the Daily Mail ( on line I rush to add as it would never cross our doorstep).

The chilli pepper is the fruit of the plant Capsicum, a relative of the tomato and potato in the nightshade family.

The spelling of the chilli is varied in different places. In USA, it is called chile or chile pepper; in UK, it is known as chilly or chili; and in India, it is known as chilly, or mirchi (Hindi), marchu (Gujarati), and molzhukai (Tamil)

There are 400 varieties of chilli.

When chilli is eaten it makes the brain produce endorphins , a natural pain killer, they also lower blood pressure and help fight against cancer.

To get rid of the burn after eating a chilli eat something with fat in it like yogurt, cheese, ice cream or similar as water does nothing because capsaicin is not water soluble.

There are so many more but hope I have tempted you to look into the might chilli so small yet packs a real punch.

Summary:
I really like this shower gel despite the fact that it is aimed at the male market i just love the smell. It isn't the most moisturising shower product but the smell makes up for that and it also leaves me with a warm glow after using it which is going to be great in winter.. My skin has never had an adverse reaction to this product and this is one I would buy again so thanks Original Source this one is a keeper.

I bought this in Tesco fairly recently and I believe it was about £1.50 on special offer and that is about the average price I pay for Original Source products as I only ever buy them when on offer.
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