Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

As a background, I have been doing yoga for more than 15 years and have used many different mats, both personal and studio mats. I am spoiled by the Manduka Black Mat, which for me is the best there is. I do different styles of yoga, Iyengar and Vinyasa mostly. I bought the Eko mat hoping it would be a good light weight alternative to hauling the Black Mat to class. Unfortunately, it is nearly useless. Yes, there is the smell, which I know goes away, I have another rubber mat (Jade) which had that smell but no longer does,. The Jade is also far superior to the Eko for practice, btw. My main complaint is although the Eko mat is touted to be sticky, it only feels sticky and in actual use I find my hands creeping forward in down dog (I am at least an upper intermediate yoga student and do not have this problem with any other mat.)I find this mat to cause a sweat to form under my feet, which makes them slip. I have washed the mat to the manufacturer's specifications, let it dry indoors - but if has gotten worse, not better. I am disappointed and will have to find another alternative. Manduka makes a great mat, but I really don't like the Eko - other than the obvious green factor. The mat also has a hardness to it that is unlike anything I have ever used, and it does not feel welcoming.