First Impressions: NEW Yes To Coconut Hydrate & Restore Head-to-Toe Restoring Balm

Purchased by Me

So I finally found three of the products in the new Yes to Coconut line at my local Walgreens last week--I had been looking for the display since my original post about two weeks ago. Hopefully, if you've been looking for this new line too, you've been able to find it at Walgreens (I haven't seen it anywhere else as of the time of this post).

There are three items in the Yes to Coconut display at Walgreens but there are actually three ADDITIONAL products on the Yes to site here (Protecting Hand & Cuticle Cream, Eczema Relief Spray and Coconut Oil Body Wash). I decided to purchase the Restoring Balm (I'll show you close-up pics of the other two products now at Walgreens at the end of this post). I originally wanted to buy the Ultra Light Spray Body Lotion, but then I saw this little tidbit on the Restoring Balm tin:

Yes to Coconut Hydrating Head-to-Toe Restoring Balm
(retail: $9.99, 3.0 oz)

Notice the little blurb in green on the right-hand side of the label above that says "Awesome Applicator Included". SOLD. I simply had to know what this "awesome applicator" looked like. I mean, this could potentially be revolutionary, right? An applicator inside a tin? I don't recall ever seeing a body balm/cream in a tin with its own self-contained applicator before (at least at the drugstore)! 

Note that the label indicates that you may see some discoloration due to the natural ingredients in this product. I expect that the balm should deepen in color over time. 

completely safety-sealed

So now for the big reveal! When you open this tin, here's what you'll see:

There is piece of white poster board cut in a way so that it doesn't rest completely on the balm (one side rests on the lip of the tin) and on top of the poster board, there is a...sponge. As in, the kind you may find in a drugstore face powder compact.

The sponge itself is not terribly rough, but it's not super-soft or dense either (you can sort of see how "airy" it is above). Of course it doesn't need to be extremely soft considering that you're only going to be applying it to places like your hands, elbows and feet. Also, it's quite resilient--I've used it several times and no ripping or tearing so far.

The balm has a true balm-like consistency (it's not a body cream masquerading as a balm). It's firm, but not as firm as a Badger Balm. Yet it's not as soft as petroleum jelly. It's smooth like petroleum jelly though (it's not gritty at all). In other words, it's a true balm, but it's not super hard or super soft.

There are no directions on the tin, so the first time I used this, I just gently swiped the sponge across the surface of the balm and this is what it looked like:

After swiping the sponge across the back of my hand

Swiping the sponge across the surface of the balm actually yielded the perfect amount of product for both of my hands. This product sinks in beautifully if used sparingly like this--it really delivers the perfect amount of product. And the balm itself does not leave any type of sticky feeling behind. I'm super impressed by how quickly it absorbs given how many natural oils are in this formula.

But I'm afraid that the whole poster-board-and-sponge thing did not perform quite as well as the actual balm...

After about 24 hours, the oils in the balm started to destroy the poster board. This is getting even worse now that I'm a week into owning this product, and I'm sure I'll be throwing the poster board away in another day or two.

So then I'll be left with a sponge that has to rest directly on an oil-rich balm. I'm a bit of a germaphobe, so that's just not going to happen. I also don't feel comfortable swiping this sponge directly onto my hands and feet, so I'm having to swipe it on the back of my hand, then transfer the product to my feet. The whole process is a bit much for me, because I'm finding that I want to wash the sponge every few days. I've actually tried to deep-clean it, but because there's so much oil embedded deeply into the sponge at this point, I don't feel like my Dr. Bronner's Liquid Soap (which usually does a nice job at cutting through oil) is really getting to the oils in center of the sponge. 

Long story short (not really since I'm already spending way too much time discussing this sponge): I'm tossing the sponge completely. It's a nice concept and I appreciate the thought, but it's just not practical for me personally. HOWEVER, it is because of the sponge that I now know that less is more when it comes to this product. Using a clean finger, I find that swiping my finger gently across the surface of the balm provides the perfect amount for hands (or elbows). I do need a bit more when I'm applying this product to my feet, in which case I do this:

Using my fingernail, I just do a "reverse scoop" (to avoid getting product under my nail) to pick up a bit of this balm, and that's the perfect amount for both of my feet. Granted, this much product is not going to absorb quickly due to how many natural oils are in this formula, so be careful walking on slippery floors. Again, you will only need half or 1/4 of this amount for both hands (including cuticles). So one 3 oz tin is going to last a very long time.

It's only been one week but I can tell you, so far, that my favorite way to use this balm is on my cuticles. Just a tiny bit makes my cuticles look fantastic, and I can see this becoming a go-to cuticle balm for me going forward. I don't like it as much on my feet, but that's only because I personally prefer more creamy, lotion-like products on my feet. I do love it for my hands and elbows though, and I really love that if you use a small amount, it sinks in quickly. So impressive for a balm of this nature!

The big question: what does it smell like? Sadly, this does not smell like real coconut to me. I'm very familiar with the way real, just-cracked coconuts smell, and this lacks the natural, creamy coconut fragrance that I was hoping for. To me, this smells more like coconuts mixed with suntan lotion. It's not a bad scent (I actually like it) but I get more suntan lotion from this than I was anticipating. 

PRELIMINARY VERDICT: So far so good for my hands, cuticles and elbows! My cuticles in particular have been looking great for the past week (I've been applying this twice a day to my hands). I love that if you use a small amount, this balm sinks in very quickly (more quickly than some other balms of this nature that I've owned). There's no sticky residue and one tin should last you a very long time if you're just using it on key areas (it would be a bit much to use this as an all-over body moisturizer). The scent is nice, but it doesn't smell like real coconut to me, which is kind of a letdown. I'm also a bit bummed about the "Awesome Applicator" which ended up being a bust for me personally. I was hoping that there might be some type of little spatula secured on the inside of the lid, so I was surprised to see a sponge resting on a piece of poster board when I opened the tin. My suggestion? Toss both and just use a clean finger or your own little spoon/spatula. Other than that, I'm enjoying this balm--you'll be the first to know if anything changes moving forward.

As promised, here are some close-up pics of the other two items in the display at Walgreens:

Yes To Coconut Hydrate & Restore 
Head-to-Toe Restoring Balm ($9.99, 3.0 oz)
Cleansing Wipes ($6.29, 25 wipes)
Ultra Light Spray Lotion ($9.99, 10.0 oz)

So just to confirm, the back of the packaging for the wipes says that they can be used on "face, hands and body". 

Do you own any of the new Yes to Coconut products yet? Thoughts?

The products featured in this post were purchased with personal funds. For more information, click here.