Philosophy Marshmallows For Toasting Gift Set Holiday 2011 Review

My first Philosophy Christmas item of the year! Too bad it didn't quite work out for me... But first, let me show you the set.

This is the Marshmallows for Toasting set. It comes in a big sturdy box shaped like a house with a little window for viewing the products inside... though, you can't see all three items, so not sure how useful that little cutout is. Also, I could really do without all the babies on every Philosophy package!


Here's what's inside. A Marshmallows for Toasting 3-in-1 Shampoo, Shower Gel, and Bubble Bath (4 ounce), a Marshmallows for Toasting Body Lotion (2 ounce) and a full size Marshmallows for Toasting Lip Shine (.5oz).


The Marshmallows for Toasting 3-in-1 is really pretty. It's all pearlized and sparkly and just barely tinted pink.

The Marshmallows for Toasting Lip Shine is really gorgeous. It's a sheer (very sheer) milky pink with fine white shimmer and larger (but still fine) opal rainbow sparkle. Go ahead and enlarge these. You'll see little flashes of pink, yellow, pastel blue, pastel green and even a little red.


Sadly, I think I'm going to have to return this. This is a first for me. A Philosophy scent that is completely unwearable. Let me try to explain...

The 3-in-1 shower gel smells all right. A little bit like plastic, a little bit like nothing, a hint of something kind of off but overall generically sugary.

The Lip Shine is a little better. A nondescript sugary sweet, no real marshmallow or vanilla notes. The plastic smell is barely noticeable.

But the lotion.... Yeeeeesh. I've never had a Philosophy product that smelled this bad before. The main scent is vinyl- fresh vinyl. You know how when you get a brand new vinyl shower curtain, it smells up the whole bathroom with that vinyl chemical smell? This smells like that. But, underneath the vinyl is a disturbingly savory scent... Sort of like.... goat cheese. Or brie. Vinyl and brie. Then, underneath the cheesy vinyl aroma is sugar. A little bit like cotton candy, but not sweet if that makes sense. It's too creamy and savory and not at all sweet and marshmallowy.

It's just completely unusable for me. I can't handle it. It's too gross. I have never had to return a Philosophy product because it smelled gross. And the worst part is that it stays with me. You know how when you smell a really good smell, you can't get enough of it and you have to keep reapplying? But then when you smell a really bad smell, it's all you can smell and you can't get it to go away... This won't go away. A shower and a dozen hand washings and I can still smell it on my hands.

I really like the Lip Shine, though. It doesn't have that bad cheese and vinyl smell like the 3-in-1 and the lotion have. I mean... it doesn't smell great, but it's not bad either. The color is really, really pretty and I don't want to give it up. I think I'll probably return this and get this set instead so I can still have the Marshmallows for Toasting Lip Shine.

I thought this would be more like the Ooey Gooey S'mores or Melting Marshmallow scents, 'cause those were amazing. Ooey Gooey S'mores is my all time top favorite Philosophy scent. The Marshmallows for Toasting doesn't smell like marshmallow at all. Huge sadness.

Oh well... Maybe I'll have better luck next time. Anyone else try the new Philosophy holiday scents? I'm super curious about all those ones that are supposed to smell cold/snowy. Might have to order them.

In case you wanted to check this out or buy it, I got mine at Sephora. The Marshmallows For Toasting set is only $22 so it's a pretty inexpensive little gift for someone who actually enjoys the scent.