I Made 3 Recipes From the Bottles of Philosophy's Bath Products to See If They Were Legit

Typically, when you use a shampoo, the bottle is the last place you would expect to see a recipe. However, Philosophy's line of 3-in-1 shampoo, shower gel, and bubble bath products not only smell like sweet desserts, but they give you the recipes, too.

This was exactly why when I was gifted a bottle of the shower gel over the holidays, I wanted to know if Philosophy's recipes actually work. So I put my curiosity to the test, took a trip to the store, and got cookin’.

First, I decided to try the raspberry sorbet, in hopes the recipe would be simple and easy to follow. Since I wanted to follow the recipe as close as possible, I used the directions as written on the bottle:

Raspberry Sorbet

• Prep Time:0
• Cook Time:12 hrs
• Total Time:12 hrs
• Servings:16
• Easy

Ingredients

• 5 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
• 2 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups fresh-squeezed orange juice
• 1 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice

• Step 1

  In a large pot add raspberries; then, add enough water to cover raspberries.

• Step 2

  Boil until raspberries begin to pop.

• Step 3

  Drain and blend.

• Step 4

  Dissolve sugar over berries, while they are warm.

• Step 5

  Stir in fresh-squeezed juice.

• Step 6

  Pour into deep pan and freeze overnight.

I considered the “popping” raspberries done when the majority of them had floated to the bottom of the pot. I also decided to add the sugar to the raspberries before I blended, that way the berries were warm and the sugar could dissolve easier. 

Overall, this recipe was super simple to make and was fairly straightforward. The sorbet tasted fruity and tangy, had a bright magenta color, and I was definitely impressed at how quick it was to make not to mention how good it tasted.

Next, I decided to take on a bigger challenge and try their vanilla birthday cake recipe, frosted with their pink marshmallow buttercream. Again, I decided to follow the recipe as written on the bottle.

Vanilla Birthday Cake

• Prep Time:0
• Cook Time:1 hr 30 mins
• Total Time:1 hr 30 mins
• Servings:12
• Hard

Ingredients

• 3 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1/4 cup cooking oil I used canola
• 3 cup sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1 tablespoon butter flavoring

• Step 1

  Combine flour and salt.

• Step 2

  Beat margarine, butter, and oil for 30 sec.

• Step 3

  Add sugar and beat until fluffy.

• Step 4

  Add one egg at a time and for beat 1 min after each.

• Step 5

  Combine milk, water and flavorings.

• Step 6

  Bake 325°f for 1 ½ hrs.

• Step 7

  Cool 15 min. Remove from pan. Cool on wire rack.

I opted out of using the butter flavoring and decided to utilize my resources by adding two tablespoons of vanilla extract instead. I tried to follow the directions as written, but this recipe required more fill-in-the-blank. 

I hit a road block while reading the recipe because it doesn’t say when to add the flour back into the rest of the batter, so I decided to add it in at the end, once all of the wet ingredients were mixed. The recipe also doesn’t say to grease or flour the pan before adding the batter in, but I sprayed some non-stick cooking spray in case. Cooking the cake for 1 ½ hours was not enough time, and the inside was still raw while an oddly hard shell formed over the top of the cake.

Despite the hard shell, the inside of the cake was moist. The cake was also sweet but didn't have a strong vanilla flavor.

Next came the frosting. As written, the directions stated:

Pink Marshmallow Buttercream

• Prep Time:0
• Cook Time:10 mins
• Total Time:10 mins
• Servings:1
• Medium

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1 jar marshmallow crème
• 2 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon pink frosting

• Step 1

  In large bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy.

• Step 2

  Add marshmallow crème. Whip for 2 min.

• Step 3

  Add confectioner’s sugar and continue to beat for 2 min.

• Step 4

  Add vanilla and food coloring.

The frosting recipe was fairly straightforward, though it was super sweet. The only thing I changed was using two drops of red food coloring to get the pink color, and I added some sprinkles to make it look ~fancy~.

All in all, the recipes were usable with a few adaptations. Both the cake and the sorbet had a good flavor, and they proved to be average recipes that are good to use in a pinch. So the next time you go to buy a Philosophy shampoo, try out the recipe, too.