Review: Pacifica Island Vanilla & Indian Coconut Nectar Perfumed Hair & Body Mists

Purchased by Me | Affiliate Links

During the last Ulta 21 Days of Beauty event, I picked up two of the new Pacifica Hair & Body Mists because, you know, I already had free shipping for being Platinum during that event, and they were on sale, plus there was a $5 off $15 code. Hard to pass up considering that I'm a long-time Pacifica fan who loves their fragrances--and body mists in general.

I've been a Pacifica fan for decades. Literally, decades. I remember being drawn to their candles back in the late 90s. Mexican Cocoa was my jam back in the day and while that scent is no longer available on the Pacifica website, there are still some available on Amazon in case it was your jam too and you're in the mood for a revisit.

Enough reminiscing. Let's get to this review:

Pacifica Island Vanilla & Indian Coconut Nectar Perfumed Hair & Body Mists

(retail: $12 each at Ulta, 6 oz.)

100% vegan

Cruelty-free

Formulated without alcohol

Made in the USA

Let's start with performance, formula, and all that good stuff. Then I'll review each particular scent.

I'm always excited to try body mists that don't contain alcohol, however I'm also always scared to try body mists that don't contain alcohol. I've had a few disastrous run-ins with body mists that were alcohol-free, because they are notorious for staining clothing and leaving your skin and/or hair greasy or coated in a weird film. It's tricky business developing a base that's alcohol-free. It has to be light enough to not leave splotches on your clothes and coat your skin/hair with oil, but the base also has to carry enough fragrance oil so that you can actually smell the product after 5 minutes. That's a delicate balancing act.

So I'm pleased to tell you that this Pacifica formulation is pretty darned good. It does not leave any oily residue on my skin or clothes, and as long as I spray it at least 5-7 inches away from my hair, it does not leave my hair feeling or looking greasy. Now that's not to say that this formula isn't wet. When you first spray it, it WILL be wet on your skin and/or hair because it doesn't contain alcohol, which makes things evaporate/dry quickly. So you need to give it a minute and let the mist dry, and then I think you'll see that there's no greasy residue left behind. It can be a tiny bit sticky after it dries, if you spray a lot on your skin, but if you hold the bottle at least 5-7 inches away when you spray, I think you'll be happy with the results.

As for staying power, again, I'm impressed. Body mists are notorious for being fleeting, but both of these mists perform quite well for me. I find that during application, both scents come on strong. The fragrance is VERY noticeable during application. So strong that you might be wondering if you're spraying perfume instead of body mist. But after about five minutes, things settle down and the fragrance isn't overpowering. You can definitely still detect these fragrances, but they're not eye-watering strong.

For me, these fragrances tend to last the longest in my hair (5-6 hours) and I find that they do a good job at masking other scents in my hair. Mr. G and I were at a Japanese yakitori restaurant recently and we were sitting right next to the grill. The smoke from the yakitori was billowing in my general direction for about two hours, and it's all I could smell after we left (that's a delicious scent, but not after you're stuffed and don't want to even think about food for a few hours!). So when I got home, I spritzed my hair with about five pumps of Indian Coconut Nectar and BOOM! The grill smoke was gone. Completely gone.

As for my skin/clothes, I find that these body mists last a good 3-4 hours before I have to put my nose right up to my wrist to get a whiff. And when they become skin scents, I can still detect them for a few more hours (even longer on my clothes). Not bad at all for body mists, right?

Both of the scents that I purchased smell identical to their perfume counterparts, in my opinion. Now I don't actually own either perfume at the moment, but I have in the past and they smell just like my memory of them.

ISLAND VANILLA

If you've never smelled Island Vanilla before, you should know that this isn't a rich, dessert-type vanilla. It's one of the freshest vanillas I own. Pacifica describes this scent as "vanilla absolute, with honey-jasmine notes and a touch of fruitiness, against a deep and beautiful base of tea." To me, the tea really comes out in this scent, so there's a lovely herbal quality to it. It's a clean, fresh vanilla and I think it would be perfect for you if you generally avoid vanillas because you think they're too sugary sweet, heavy or cloying.

INDIAN COCONUT NECTAR

During initial application, Indian Coconut Nectar always smells like coconut bubblegum to my nose. And if you're me, that's not a bad thing! Pacifica describes this scent as a "warm, sultry blend of coconut and delicate creamy vanilla that is pure ambrosia." But I feel like there's something more going on here than just coconut and vanilla. After a few minutes on my skin, I get something fruity here. Maraschino cherry, maybe? And I also get a tiny bit of whipped cream and marshmallows. So I feel like Pacifica's inclusion of the word "ambrosia" in their description is a subtle nod to ambrosia salad. Which is not bad thing (for me, at least)!

FINAL VERDICT: if you're gun-shy about alcohol-free body mists because you've tried some in the past that have left stains on your clothing or a greasy residue, I think these are going to be a pleasant surprise for you. As long as you're a little patient and allow them to dry (and you don't hold them too close to your skin or hair during application), these perform quite nicely and the fragrance level and longevity are very impressive for body mists. If Pacifica releases body mists in their Tuscan Blood Orange and Malibu Lemon Blossom scents (two of my favorites from them), I will be buying immediately.

Again, you can find these body mists on the Ulta website (I'm not seeing them anywhere else right now--I checked the Pacifica website, Target and Amazon and nothing as of time of publication). There are three scent options currently available but I hope there will be more soon.

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