The Basin White store in Las Vegas, Nevada
All work and no play makes moi a cranky beauty addict, but the Las Vegas Basin White store, a beauty brand I’d never even heard of before, saved me from myself.
The company has just two stores for now (Vegas and Orlando, Florida). The Vegas one, located among the Grande Canal Shoppes at The Venetian Hotel, is brand spankin’ new. If you’d like to learn more about the company, the line’s also available online.
I guess it’s fitting that after their Downtown Disney store in Orlando, Basin White chose the Disney-like Grande Canal indoor mall for their second location.
Gondolas packed with tourists weave through Venetian-inspired canals as shoppers cross footbridges and live opera singers provide the background music for ambiance. Yeah … it’s Vegas cheesy, but still pretty fun. 🙂
The store itself stopped me in my tracks. It’s gorgeous and smells wonderful. There are other brands out there like Basin White, with similar rows of colorful glycerin soaps, tubs with gigantic bath bombs and various scents, but this one stood out to me for a bunch of reasons.
Like Lush but with subtler scents
Their products look Lush-y — similar shampoo bars and solid moisturizers — but I think the shopping experience at Basin White beats Lush hands down, as a lot of Lush’s products pack too much fragrance for my sensitive schnozz. Sometimes it’s just too much.
Basin White’s products smell lighter and generally less synthetic to me. Granted, scent’s a very personal thing, but I absolutely love Basin White’s approach to fragrance.
Time to play, aka the shopping experience
The store feels like a spa. The open layout, lighting and black/white tiled floor reminded me of a Pottery Barn-inspired bathroom.
Like any good beauty store should, Basin White makes samples of everything available to smell, touch and test. The highly interactive staff isn’t pushy either, and they encourage product playtime, waiting at the ready by testing sinks with paper towels and smiling faces.
Quality ingredients
Josh Jacks, one of the sales associates at the Vegas store, gave me the background on Basin White while showing me around.
With only two physical locations, the line’s still pretty exclusive, but I expect that to change. Their products are made without synthetic fillers, parabens, alcohol or mineral oil and contain high-quality ingredients like shea butter, beeswax and sunflower oil.
A few bestsellers…
Shampoo Bars ($8): Scents like Margarita and Oatmeal Honey make these solid shampoo bars smell good enough to eat. They’re are also made without preservatives.
Solid Moisturizers ($12): Packed with natural ingredients like beeswax, sunflower seed oil and cocoa butter, these solid moisturizing bars come in yummy scents like Almond Coconut, Oatmeal Honey and Pink Sugar.
Bath Bubbler ($5): These fizzy bath bombs add bubbles and scent to the bath while also moisturizing skin. Scents include Pineapple Cilantro, Apricot Camomile and Japanese Cherry Blossom.
How to buy
You can still give Basin White products a try even if you aren’t headed to Vegas or Disney World soon.
The online store sells the full line and ships throughout the US and Canada. Josh tells me the company’s working on broader international shipping, too.
I was tempted to clean out the store but left with just one thing — their solid moisturizer bar in a scent called Satsuma ($12).
I love it. It’s portable, highly moisturizing and has a light orange scent. It takes the place of a bottle of body lotion, so for my next trip, I plan on cutting and bringing a small slice!
What fun! On your next trip to Las Vegas, stop by the Basin White store if you can. You won’t be disappointed. 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
I heard of Basin YEARS before I ever knew about Lush! I have gone to the one on the Disneyland Citywalk everytime I visit Disneyland! I LOVE their bath bombs and their handcut soaps! My fave soaps are their Rubber Ducky one (with a shape of a rubber ducky in the soap bar) and the Hawaiian Pikake (Hawaiian Lavender) soap!!
And they feel a little classier and less hippy-dippy than Lush! LOL!
Hi Mariah,
Aww, shoot! I dunno how, but I missed the Hawaiian Pikake. Next time I go back I’ll have to sniff it!
I love the bath bombs in Pink:)
.-= Tavia’s last blog post… MAC Cosmetics Warm & Cozy Winter 2009 Collection =-.
Hi Tavia,
Team Pink can always count on you! 🙂
I know what you mean about Lush – the first timeI walked in there I thought I was going to pass out from the smell! As much as I love some of their products, the scent does have a tendency to be a bit overwhelming. Basin White sounds like a good alternative… I like how the solid moisturizer looks like a Lego 😛
.-= Rebecca’s last blog post… My New Makeup Best Friends, from M.A.C. DSquared =-.
Hi Rebecca,
Ha, that’s so true! I like that bumpy side — it feels all massage-y!
I love the look of the store… it seems less overwhelming than Lush, and the prices look reasonable too. I’m checking the online store out now!
Hi Shiny,
The store is much less hectic than Lush. 🙂 I hope you find something you like online!
I like how clean and serene the store looks and that is has all natural ingredients. Too bad it is not in Canada yet but there are quite a few bath and body type stores in Canada, so I am never without a selection of products! I guess it like the time when there are no Lush shops in the USA and you guys have to order from the Canadian website or come up here. I will definitely check out their website.
.-= amy’s last blog post… NOTD (Nails of the Day) Sephora OPI Nail Lacquer in Ocean Love Potion, Mermaid to Order and Dark Room and Haute Nails Art Stickers =-.
Hi Amy,
Yah, I totally remember when Lush was a hard-to-find commodity here in the US. 🙂
I really hope this line expands soon! I like their stuff a lot.
I too like the look of the store. It also seems a tad cheaper than Lush, and you get more product for what you pay. That’s a winner in my book!
.-= Kajal Couture’s last blog post… Sephora 20% OFF F&F Plus an Extra 4% OFF!!! =-.
Hi Kajal Couture,
More product for less is always a good thing!
How has your day been so far?
I absolutely love the layout of the store! I will definitely have to check this out. 🙂 One question though, what is a solid moisturizer and how exactly does it work? I’ve never heard of one…nor seen one.
Hi Pinksoysauce,
It works just like a regular moisturizer, except it’s in bar form. You rub the bar directly onto the skin and then rub it in. Mine feels a little heavier, which makes it good for my super dry skin!
Just when I thought I was over bath products, you post this. I am seriously considering dropping some major $$$.
I’m still more a lush fan because I like their hippie aesthetic and scents but it seems like white basin has WAY better value on shampoo bars and solid moisturizers (my two favorite lush items).
.-= lAUREN’s last blog post… Walmart Roundup? + Twins =-.
Ahh, those solid moisturizer bars looks interesting…but pardon this silly question: how do you exactly use it? 😀
.-= gn.’s last blog post… True Blood [Beauty] Give-away! =-.
omg… i do not need another obsession. You should see all the Lush items I have in my bathroom. hhhmm… I wish they had more stores because i really need to smell the item before I purchase it. Hopefully they will make it to the Bay Area soon.
.-= Marisol’s last blog post… SoCal visit =-.
We just don’t have stores like that in Ohio. And that fact makes me GREEN with Envy!:/
.-= Smarie’s last blog post… Olay Active Hydrating Cream [Original] =-.
I am so lemming the pirate soap! 🙂
the store looks more “organic” and more spa like as compared to lush. Although I do love the intoxication smells that lush always seems to have!! I kinda find the packaging of white basin more classy:)
.-= Blovet Beauty’s last blog post… G-DRAGON + GWEN STEFANI + HARAJUKU INSPIRED FOTD!! =-.
i am actually going to vegas this weekend and now i must try this place out. thanks for the tip!
That store is gorgeous! I may have to do an order. I find Lush products to be too heavily scented sometimes. It smells great, but sometimes it can be overwhelming.
.-= Christy’s last blog post… Mail Time No. 3 Cherry Culture & NYX Makeup Haul =-.
OOh, looks pretty nice! I wonder how many bazillion years it will be before they open a store in Canada.
Heres something I’ve always wondered, I assumed that when you have photos of yourself in stores at home that el hub usually takes them… But how did you manage to get a pic of you and the sales guy from all the way across the store? Or is that someone else with the same red sweater as you?
.-= Briana’s last blog post… Intense midterms, procrastination, and time management =-.
Oooh we love Basin at my house. When The Boy was small he dragged us in when we were at downtown Disney one day and he became a bath bomb addict. I love their moisturizers so much. I tried to turn him on to Lush (save a drive)but he still insists Basin is the bomb, LOL
Hi Lisa,
LOL! I can see why those bath bombs are addictive. When I tried one out at the store my hands felt so soft afterwards.
Have you tried any other products besides the moisturizers and the bath bombs?
If you have sensitive skin- who doesn’t?- you should try the milk bath product. My skin has never felt so soft and NOT ITCHY after a luxurious soak. Not drying at all like so many products that claim to soothe the skin. This one DOES!!!!! Just delicious.
I accidently stumbled into this store while in Vegas. LOVED it! Reminded me of Lush, but much preferred the scents. I bought a tube of bath bombs and the lip scrub! I bought a lemon grass bar of soap. So fresh smelling. I tried the scrub and wish I had bought that too. I will be checking out online store.
Years ago at Disney FL we discovered Basin and fell in LOVE with the original Milk Bath. I used to put it in the kids baths and it left them smelling heavenly. They quit making it several years ago and I have yet to find anything that it similar :-(. Every so often, I email the store and ask if they have any plans to bring it back or make anything with a similar scent but no luck…
I guess I am the odd ball who thinks Lush is way better, but then I am one of those who likes highly scented things. I went into the Basin in Disney springs this weekend and really wanted to love it, unfortunately almost everything I picked up had virtually no smell to me. All of the soaps just smelled like glycerin to me. I did end up picking up a few of the bath bombs and did use one, but I just was not that impressed. There was a severe lack of foam and it actually dried my skin out, whereas the lush bombs and bubble bars are extremely moisturizing to my skin.
I guess beauty products will always be a personal thing! 🙂