When the lovely and talented Kristin Omdahl asked if I’d be
interested in writing a review of her new no-rinse delicate wash, Wrapture by
Eucalan, I jumped at the chance.
Seriously, what person who has ever wielded a crochet hook wouldn’t be
thrilled to have a chance to associate herself (or himself) in even the
smallest, most tenuous way, with Kristin?
I mean, beeyotch, puh-leeze!
Am I right? Of course I’m
right! She’s among the most
talented of designers; she’s beautiful; she’s the nicest person ever; and she
lives within a short drive of my favorite vacation spot on the planet! Naturally, I wanted to be a part of
this project.
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| Kristin Omdahl |
Never having used Eucalan before, I didn’t really understand
what I was promising. You see,
there’s the slightest teensy-weensy little problem. I’m allergic to wool. That is, I can work with wool, but only for limited time periods,
and I definitely can’t wear it next to my skin. I have extremely sensitive
skin. Let’s say for example that
you meet me somewhere for coffee, and you happen to be wearing something
particularly itchy. I will break
out in hives the moment I see you. The mere fact of you sitting near me experiencing the
slightest discomfort will cause my immune system to generate a huge histamine
reaction. So, lanolin is an absolute no-no for me,
and as if that weren’t annoying enough, I’m also allergic to most floral scents
and additives.
What to do – what to do. The last thing I wanted to do was let Kristin down. Here, one of my top crochet idols had
asked humble little me for a favor.
I had to come through. So
what did I do? Did I confess the
truth? Did I ask someone else to
try the product? Did I test it on
a gift I was making for someone else?
No! Of course not. I did what I always do. I procrastinated until I felt terribly
awkward about the whole thing, and then, eureka! I had an idea.
The first thing I did was to ask Mandy, owner of Chicago's finest yarn store, Windy Knitty (located at 5653 N. Clark St., Chicago), to try the product. Mandy informed me that she’s used Eucalan delicate wash often, and she
really likes it. It’s very gentle,
and because it has lanolin, it sort of re-invigorates wool garments and fibers. She also uses it to block pieces. Instead of dipping them in plain water
and then pinning them out, she adds a little Eucalan to the mix. Since I never make anything wool for
myself, I hadn’t done a whole lot of research on best blocking methods for
wool. Mandy also said she’d opened
the bottle of Wrapture I’d given her, and liked the scent a lot.
Armed with the information Mandy provided, I decided to do a little more
research. What exactly are the
ingredients of Eucalan delicates wash?
They are: essential oil (pure, natural oil from lavender, eucalyptus, and
night
bloom jasmine. So far, so
good, though florals could be a little dangerous); ammonium lauryl sulfate (vegetable based soap); ammonium
chloride (a pinch of salt never hurt anyone, right?), cocamide MEA; purified water
(probably obtained from the office water cooler, wouldn’t you think?); hydroxypropyl
methylcellulose (I’m not a chemist, but I’m thinking some kind of
water-soluble plant fiber?); methylchloroisothiazolinone (preservative
and anti-bacterial); and PEG 75 lanolin (ah – there’s the
rub).
Okay, I now knew it wouldn’t be a good idea to use this product to
wash anything I’d be wearing close to my skin.
The next step was the sniff test. I would open the bottle and smell the contents. If it made me sneeze, I’d have to give
the whole project up.
I opened the bottle and sniffed.
I can’t remember exactly what happened next but it seemed I was
transported to a magical fairy-land of fragrance from which I never wanted to
return. I swear, there was harp
music in the background and little mythical creatures frolicking around. Birds were standing on the window sill,
chirping and whistling. Squirrels
were making the bed. I found
I was wearing a ball gown and glass slippers. Bibbity bobbity boo!
I wanted everything I owned to smell like Wrapture. I wanted to shampoo my hair and wash my
dogs in it. I wanted to paint my
walls with it. I wanted to build a
swimming pool in the backyard and fill it with Wrapture.
And then I sneezed. The
harsh sting of reality.
It was only a small sneeze, so I decided to try the product
anyway. I read the instructions,
and washed a small load of lingerie using Wrapture. Then, to be extra careful with my oh-so-delicate skin,
I did put the load through the delicate rinse cycle...twice. Then I hung everything up to dry and
forgot about it.
The next day, I walked past the room containing my drying
unmentionables, and a diluted version of that wonderful fragrance wafted toward
me. This time, the results weren’t
quite as dramatic as when I first opened the bottle. After all, it was only a small amount and it had been
through two rinse cycles. No
mythical creatures appeared, but I’m pretty sure that for a second there, my
refrigerator did turn into a golden carriage. I know what you’re thinking. “Impossible!
For a plain white refrigerator to become a golden carriage!” Well, all I can say is, you’ve never smelled
Wrapture before! “Impossible
– things are happ’ning every daaaaaaay!”
So, after all this, what’s my review of Wrapture? Well, if you like Eucalan, then you
already know all the good things about it. What makes Wrapture special is its scent – night bloom
jasmine. The press release describes it as
romantic and intoxicating. And
honestly, as silly as it sounds, if ever there was a scent that was romantic
and intoxicating; this is it. I
will definitely be keeping a supply of Wrapture in my home, and using it to
launder all of my hand-crocheted pieces, for blocking, and for all my delicate
washables. I say this as a
person with a pretty serious lanolin and floral allergy. And that’s probably a good thing
because if I didn’t have those allergies, I’d probably buy Wrapture by the
gallon and use it to wash everything I own.
Try Wrapture!
You’ll love it! And your wool and delicate washables will live happily ever after.
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| © Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved. |
Comment on
this blog post about your experience, either with Eucalan or with Wrapture for
a chance to win a free bottle of this great new scent by Eucalan. One name will be chosen at random on 12/15/12.
