The Driest Desert on Earth Was No Match for Dove's Deep Moisture Body Wash

Being a beauty editor means you test a lot of products. New mascaras, buzzy perfumes, must-have self-tanners—the parade of new formulas that crosses my desk is endless. Not that I'm complaining mind you! It just takes something extra special to pique my curiosity and prove that a product is actually worth the hype. Traveling 19 hours and 4,500 miles to shower in the desert next to a volcano? Yeah, I'd say that would do the trick. That's exactly what I did to try out the new Dove Deep Moisture Body Wash.

Now I'm a dry skin girlie naturally; I don't necessarily need to hop, skip, jump to another continent to know that my epidermis craves hydration. On a good day, I can apply a lightweight lotion after the shower and go about my business without any additional irritation. In the winter or in a harsh climate (like that found in Chile's Atacama Desert) my skin is basically gasping for moisture the second I turn off the water. If I don't oblige with a body moisturizer, I essentially shrivel up into a dry, scaly mess. In other words, I do not play around with the idea of skipping a body cream, but the team at Dove promised that, after 15 years of innovation and planning, they had finally developed a body wash that could deliver 24-hour lotion-soft skin right out of the shower—no additional moisturizer required. Intrigued, I boarded the ten hour flight to Santiago (and then another two-hour flight to Atacama, and then a 90-minute bus ride to the desert) to find out. What can I say—I'm very dedicated to my job.

While I've experienced some desert landscapes before, and love nothing more than going for a hike in upstate New York, seeing the stark terrain of Altacama was truly unbelievable. It looked as if we had left New York and landed on Mars with all of the red rock and volcanos that dotted the horizon. And with a UV index that usually hovered between 10-14 during the day(in other words, the sun was very strong) this is clearly a part of the world that does little to support your skin's moisture barrier. How could I leave the shower and feel hydrated without immediately slathering on lotion?

Well, the pioneering production team at Dove didn't stop at just inviting us to Chile—they gave us a chance to use the new body wash out in the desert itself, exposed to all of the elements. A true extreme wash test, if you will. That meant showers. in. the. desert. Not in a building next to the desert—I mean an outdoor shower setup with a few active volcanoes in the background. There's a first time for everything, right?

Clad in about 45 pounds of sunscreen—plus sunglasses and a hat to shield myself from UV damage—I gamely stepped up to one of the three outdoor showers (which used water that would later be recycled and returned to the local community) and started to lather. The rich, creamy formula utilizes plant-based moisturizers and "millions of MicroMoisture droplets" to regenerate the skin's natural moisture for 24 hours. Given that the blazing sun and desert wind were both doing the most during my 60 second shower (as you can imagine, this was not a hot water situation) I was anxious to see how my skin would fair once I rinsed off and stepped back inside the tent.

Much to my surprise, my skin felt... absolutely fine post-shower. I wrapped myself up in my Dove robe to dry out (which took about ten seconds given the arid environment) and sat in the shade to drink more water and enjoy the stunning desert landscape. But that tell-tale dry, itchy feeling that typically follows my morning cleanse? It never made an appearance. My knees and elbows had zero ashy skin and my hands (where I typically struggle with eczema if I don't moisturize) were irritation-free. How can this be? I wondered, my eyes roving over my body to check for dry patches. Well, the sulfate-free and microbiome-friendly formula simply managed to deliver on its promise, which, as most beauty fans know, isn't always the case with these types of lofty claims.

Granted, I'm probably not going to be showering in the driest place on Earth again anytime soon, but given how much I struggle with dry skin at home in New York, I'll gladly make the swap to this deeply moisturizing body wash to keep dehydration at bay. It's going to come in handy this summer when the idea of applying moisturizer and walking outside in 100 percent humidity feels particularly unappealing. Even if you're not crossing continents to put the Dove Deep Moisture Body Wash through an extreme wash test of your own, I'm fairly certain your skin will appreciate the upgrade in your daily shower routine—no volcanos required.