What Winter Doldrums?

When I interviewed Erin Cotter, GOOP’s VP of Beauty, earlier this fall she raved about Jao's Goe Oil, an all-natural, plant-based hydrator she said smelled like a tropical vacation. Sounded nice but I wasn’t totally motivated to try it until this week when Mother Nature dumped eight inches of snow on Ann Arbor, and I started to feel like I was never not buried in a goose down coat and heavy Sorel boots.

My tube arrived two days ago, and I’ve been slathering it on nonstop. It does smell like vacation, but not in that cloying, obvious Piña colada way. The oil’s primary scent is Monoi, a perfume oil created by soaking Tahitian gardenias in coconut oil. There are also 28 plant, fruit and flower oils/butters that round out the fragrance. If I had to define it, I’d say it’s a warm skin, faintly-sweet, sultry floral. In short: divine.

Looks like A&D ointment, smells like an escape to the tropics.

I must, however, warn you that when I initially squeezed the oil out of the tube, I got the slightest whiff of something akin to A&D Ointment…which I hate…but it dissipated almost instantly. After that, it was all Tahitian paradise.

Another plus: Goe Oil is not that slippery kind of oil that gets all over your clothes—or smudges your computer or smartphone keyboards. It comes out like a creamy yellow ointment but absorbs very quickly. It’s more like applying a light lotion than an oil or butter (but as hydrating as the latter).

I’ve been using it primarily on my hands. This time of year, my cuticles seem to be chronically parched, tear easily and bleed. Yuck. After just two days of applying Goe Oil three times a day, though, they are noticeably softer and one cuticle that was sore and red looks and feels normal again.

Finally, at just under $50 a tube, this oil is not inexpensive, but a little goes a long way, and it can be used almost anywhere: hands, body, face, even hair—plus its mood-boosting benefits further lower its cost per wear in my mind. Find it here or here.