The Body Shop Haul and Mini Reviews

Body Shop Haul

 

The Body Shop used to be the haunt of my youth and then I kind of drifted away for 20 years. Every so often I'd be given Body Shop products for Christmas and I remember thinking that they were the same products that I remembered from way back, so I just formed the impression that The Body Shop remained static in the market.

Almost thirty years on and this is absolutely not the case (if it ever even was). Granted, you still get the same names I remember (White Musk oil perfume, kids of the 80s?) but I don't remember them doing such a wide range of make-up and all of those beautiful around-the-world-ingredient products.

 

So back in early May I picked up some of their All-in-one BB Cream (review here) and then went back for some of their Drops of Light Resurfacing Peel and some Honey Bronze Drops of Sun. And then I was kind of hooked!

 

The Body Shop: £18.00 for 145 ml

 

According to the Body Shop:

This quick fix brightening essential will visibly brighten appearance after first use. Transforming gel-to-peel technology that traps and gently peels off impurities and dead skin cells to unveil healthy-looking skin that feels resurfaced from first use. With continued use, skin looks more luminous and skin texture looks refined.

 

Ingredients:

 Aqua/Water/Eau, Alcohol Denat., Propylene Glycol, Glycerin, Carbomer, PPG-26-Buteth-26, Palmitamidopropyltrimonium Chloride, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Quaternium-80, 3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid, Parfum/Fragrance, Sclerocarya Birrea Seed Oil, Behentrimonium Chloride, Palmaria Palmata Extract*, Cetrimonium Chloride, Isopropyl Alcohol, Linalool, Phenoxyethanol.

 

*Palmaria Palmata extract (also known as dulse) is a form of red algae, which is used as a skin brightener. It is Rich in vitamin C, minerals and nutrients.

 

Application:

Dispense 2 pumps on to fingers and massage into dry skin for several minutes.

The liquid is a semi-opaque gel consistency with a slight chemical scent.

 

And this is where the fun starts! Almost immediately, you will notice what looks like clumps of tissue that have been left in a pocket and gone through the washing machine all over your skin!

It's great fun and I defy you not to let out a wondrous 'oooh!' as you're rubbing it around.

Is this really my dead skin coming away or is it just the product pilling up to make it's own exfoliator?

 

 

Wash off all the gunk with water and you can definitely notice the brightening effect. My skin felt very smooth too, slightly tight (but alcohol is the second item in the ingredient list so that'll be why) and very fresh without having that scrubbed-raw look that can happen after some physical exfoliation.

BUT, you are also left with small gummy bits attached to any bits of downy hair on your face!

 

Thoughts:

The Body Shop recommend using 2-3 times per week, but as I already use a daily exfoliating toner I don't want to over-exfoliate, so use this just once a week (Saturday morning seems to be my preferred time slot!).

Apart from spending the rest of the day picking off stubborn remnants of sticky bits from my skin, I'm really loving this resurfacing peel. I don't seem to have re-created that extraordinary glow and brightness from the first ever use, but there's always a marked difference in my skin when I use this.

 

 

I saw on Ebay that a seller was selling a huge amount of unopened Body Shop items (including another Drops of Light resurfacing peel) plus some Camomile cleaning oil and three items from the Vitamin E range - I got it all for just £15.00!

Also pictured are four travel sized items that I picked up in Leeds in the Body Shop sale (costing just £5.75 - I ended up paying 75p because I had £5.00 on my loyalty card).

These items were the Seaweed Oil Balancing Toner; White Musk Body Wash (because I want to remember that signature scent of my teens!); Italian Fig Shower Gel (not yet tried) and some Smoky Poppy Seed Scrub (not yet tried).

 

I've been using the Seaweed Oil Balancing toner in rotation with my glycolic-acid based toners for when I need something a bit more gentle. It has the loveliest scent and because it is alcohol-free it really is very gentle and calming. I'd definitely like to try more of the products in the Seaweed range.

 

The Vitamin E products (cream cleanser, toner and sleeping mask) have all been added to my stash as I have too many products open at the moment. But I was very eager to open the Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil.

 

 £12.00 for 200ml

 

According to the Body Shop:

 

This all-in-one refreshing oil cleanser will quickly remove all your make-up in one simple step. Your skin will be left feeling beautifully clean and soft, after every use of this nourishing oil formula.

• Suitable for sensitive skin and contact lens wearers
• Camomile extract from Norfolk, England.
• Removes all make-up including waterproof
• Clean, fresh skin

 

Ingredients:
Glycine Soja Oil/Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil (Emollient/Skin Conditioner), Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil/Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil (Skin-Conditioning Agent), Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil/Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil (Emollient), C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate (Emollient), Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (Emollient), Ethylhexyl Palmitate (Skin Conditioning Agent), Isohexadecane (Emollient/Solvent), Polysorbate 85 (Surfactant-Emulsifying), Sorbitan Trioleate (Surfactant-Emulsifying), Sesamum Indicum Seed Oil/Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil (Skin-Conditioning Agent), Octyldodecanol (Emollient), Parfum/Fragrance (Fragrance), Linalool (Fragrance Ingredient), Tocopherol (Antioxidant), Limonene (Fragrance Ingredient), Anthemis Nobilis Flower Oil (Fragrance/Essential Oil), Citric Acid (pH Adjuster).

Application:
Pump dispenser (but more on that later!!) in a plastic bottle. Pump 2-3 squirts of oil and apply to dry skin, including eye area.
The scent is amazing - a beautiful camomile-slightly citrus scent - very fresh. I think I may just prefer oil balm cleansers for the massaging effect but this oil just gets straight in and does the job immediately without the need for too much rubbing and massaging. It feels like quite a light oil (if there can ever be such a thing) and as someone with skin that can veer towards the oily side, this absolutely doesn't feel like the kind of oil that would clog my pores or sit too heavily on my skin.
Wash off with water (I use a soft flannel to ensure it's all removed).

Thoughts:
I absolutely adore this cleansing oil - the scent, the texture, the application, the way it leaves my skin soft and clean after use. It's intended to get rid of waterproof make-up but I find that I do have to go over my eye make-up with micellar water afterwards.
But unfortunately, my biggest gripe with this product is the terrible pump dispenser. At first try, it squirted out an angle and the oil covered several things on my shelf. It did take me a couple of uses to get used to how badly it dispenses, but even then, there's nothing I can do to prevent the oil leaking from the dispenser down the bottle and onto the shelf - I spend as much time wiping up the spills as I do taking it off my face. I certainly wouldn't be able to take this bottle with me when travelling as it would just get oil on anything it touched. Despite this, it's great value for money and a little goes a very long way.