Body Oil Comparison

I didn't really understand how an oil could be 'dry' and why people would want to apply something so liquid onto their skin. Now that I've been able to try out a few varieties of body oils, I thought I'd do a comparison post.

The competitors are Live Clean Sheer Light Dry Body Oil* ($), Clarins Body Treatment Oil* ($58CDN, 100ml ), Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Moisturizing Body Oil* ($5CDN, 250ml), and Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Soothing Oil* ($5CDN, 150mml).

I'm looking to see which of these truly absorbs quickly and leaves a dry touch, moisturizes well and is the lightest feeling on the skin. They all promise to be lightweight and absorb without leaving greasy marks but in practice, I experienced differently. Also, their ingredients are worth noting.

	Application	Texture	Scent	Absorption	Moisturization
Clarins Tonic Body Treatment Oil	pour; oil can dribble out and onto bottle	medium weight	herbal and minty	takes a little while and it warms as you apply it onto your skin, quite pleasant	moisturized well
Live Clean Sheer Light Dry Body Oil	pump; oil does get onto the bottle	light	light warm near shea scent	very quick	quite moisturizing for such a light weight oil.
Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Soothing Oil for Dry Itchy Skin	spray; no oil on bottle	slightly lighter than Live Clean	baby powder and chocolate but not long lasting and very faint	faster than the Palmer's Body Oil but not as fast as Live Clean	moisturized ok but nothing amazing
Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Moisturizing Body Oil	pour; oil can dribble out and onto bottle	slightly heavier than Clarins	canola and chocolate	takes a long time and leaves greasy marks	moisturized ok but nothing amazing

Application: All bottles needed multiple pours and generally left the bottles greasy. The type of pour method seems to depend on the viscosity of the oil. I much prefer the pump over an open top. A spray is nice but doesn't seem to work with thicker oils.

Texture: Yes all of these are oils so they have a slippy oily feel when you're rubbing them on. However, they do have differences in heaviness. See chart for comparison. I don't mind the weight of Clarins actually since it absorbed better than one of the Palmer's which had lesser weight.

Scent: I really liked the scent of Clarin's but I like herbal mentholated scents to begin with. 

Absorption: The winner here, by far, is the Live Clean option. It really does absorb quickly and my hands are barely left with any greasy trace. I would only use the Clarins just before going to bed and if felt like some of my bedding soaked a little in. The Palmer options sat on the skin for longer and I didn't enjoy those as much.

Moisturization: In terms of ingredients, I much prefer those Live Clean which doesn't use cheap oils like canola or soybean (both Palmer's) as its base. It's also free of mineral oils, petroleums, parabens, silicones, phthalates, dyes, and preservatives, and moisturizes better due to its fast absorption. The Clarins option moisturized about equally well but it does take longer to absorb.

The winner here: Live Clean Sheer Light. Even though its more expensive, the ingredient make up, light weight feel and truly fast absorption make this my preferred body oil. A close second is Clarins which, even with its weight and absorption style, really gave a spa type experience with its scent. 

Have you tried a body oil before?