Review: The Body Shop Vitamin C Microdermabrasion

Do you feel like your skin is feeling rough and unloved during the winter months, as you go from your heated house or office, to the lashing wind and rain?  If so, this scrub may be for you!

The Body Shop has a whole range of vitamin C products for your skin which are meant to help your skin repair itself and stay healthy.  To be honest, the amount of vitamin C in these products is probably minute, so I'm not too sure about these qualities, but I love a good scrub and the mention of 'microdermabraison' swung it for me!

The Body Shop Vitamin C Microdermabrasion face scrub is a treatment that I use once or twice a week after I've cleansed my face and removed my makeup. I apply small amount to damp skin and use small circular motions to exfoliate, paying particular attention to any dry areas on my cheeks and to my t-zone, where my skin can be especially congested.

 

When I heard the word microdermabrasion, I instantly thought that this would be rather harsh for my skin but I was pleasantly surprised that this wasn't harsh at all.  The exfoliating beads of garnet are teeny tiny and feel like very small grains of sand.  They don't feel too scrubby although as there are so many of them you can really feel them working.  You need to be careful how much oomph you put into your scrubbing though, you have to be very gentle whilst rubbing it in.  I also have to mention the scent, as it smells like a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice!

I always make sure to moisturise afterwards and I've found by using this a couple of times a week, it really makes a difference to the condition of my skin.  It feels smoother and certainly softer.

Verdict

This scrub is perfect for those who like to really feel their skincare actively working whilst they use it.  I would think it is probably best suited to those with combination skin to help regulate it  and would advise those with sensitive skin to stay away as it would probably be too harsh for you.  It isn't super cheap at £12 a tube but given that it is a weekly or twice-weekly treatment, it will last a  long time and The Body Shop often have offers online and in store.

4/5

Price - £12.00

Where to Buy-  The Body Shop

Review: Neal's Yard Seaweed Salt Scrub

As part of my efforts in attempting to use more natural products and reduce the amount of chemicals I use on my body on a daily basis, I decided to give a couple of products from Neal's Yard a try.

For those of you who are not aware, Neal's Yard is a company who pride themselves on producing products that are free of parabens, sulphates and all other potential nasties and indeed this product is 6% organic.  The Seaweed Salt Scrub claims to stimulate and tone for fresh smooth skin, by gently exfoliating dry patches.  

On first impressions, the packaging for this body scrub looks quite plain, however, Neal's Yard say that all of their packaging is designed to keep out the light to ensure ingredients are preserved and do not lose their efficiency quickly.  I rather like the packaging as I think it goes well with their brand ethos and lets the products and their ingredients do the talking.

Upon opening the scrub, you are immediately hit with a strong sea smell, however this initial scent is not unpleasant and merely smells like a walk along the beach on a crisp autumn day.  When squeezed out, the scrub does not look overly attractive and is a medium brown colour (I will leave it up to you as to what that reminds you of but for me it was not chocolate mousse!).  Neal's Yard suggest that the product should be used once a week but I found the grains contained within the scrub quite fine and I usually prefer a more scrubby scrub, if that makes sense!   I felt I needed to use this about 3 times a week to get any benefit and even then, it did not really exfoliate adequately.  I did find it fairly moisturising, probably due to the essential oils within it, but I don't tend to have super dry skin so a scrub that has moisturising properties is not vitally important to me.  

I finally have to mention the scent which was the biggest negative point for me.  It is very, very strong and takes over the bathroom for a good half hour or so after you are finished showering. The initial scent you get when sniffing the product is not the same as the fragrance when using the scrub, as I find it reminds me more of a derelict beach with lots of smelly seaweed on!  I was expecting a seaweed scent but I did think it would be a more beachy scent, like that of a summers day and for me the scent in this scrub was a major turnoff.

Verdict

Based on a combination of factors, mainly due to the scent and the fact that it was just not scrubby enough for me, I would not repurchase this product. I think this was possibly a bad choice by me though as I tend to prefer fruity scents and if you like more earthly notes, this may be more to your liking.  

3/5

Price - £16.35

Where to buy - Neal's Yard

November Empties

Not a great attempt this month but I am so close to finishing quite a number of products so I predict December will be good, unless I get sidetracked!

No 7, 4 in 1 wipes x 2, £7 - I got through a ton of these in Thailand and wouldn’t travel without them. I always pick some up when I have numerous No 7 £5 vouchers to spend.

Green & Spring Relaxing Body Lotion, £22, 300ml - This was a travel size that I received in a gift pack. It has a very strong lavender fragrance, so if you are not a huge fan of lavender I don’t think this would be for you. I used it in the evening, before bed, and found the scent very relaxing, however it does stick around for quite some time. The consistency of the lotion is rather thick so it does take some time to rub in and absorb and I didn’t find it particularly moisturising, and I expected better for the price. I would not repurchase, mainly as I have heaps more body lotions to work my way through.

Soap & Glory, Scrub Your Nose In It, £7.40 - I reviewed this previously here (Review – Soap & Glory Scrub your Nose in It) and my opinion of it has not changed. It is a perfectly acceptable scrub but I think there are probably better ones out there, especially for oily skin and I wouldn’t repurchase this. As an aside, I have yet to find a Soap & Glory product that blows me away, as I find most of their products fairly average. But then again, perhaps I am not trying the right products?

Nivea Had Lotion Express Hydration  , £3.05 - This was reviewed last month here (Review – Nivea Had Lotion Express Hydration) and now that my hands are less cracked and dry, it does seem to be a very good lotion which is not oily or greasy. I do still prefer scented hand products but I would repurchase this as it does the job well for a very reasonable price.

Cowshed Lippy Cow Natural Lip Balm, £5 - I really disliked this! I received it in a Cowshed order some time ago and it is everything I don't like in a lipbalm – greasy, oily and it just sits on the lips and provides no moisture at all. It has no discernible scent and although it goes on clear, it doesn’t particularly give an attractive sheen to the lips, it looks greasy and not at all attractive. This This is the only Cowshed product so far that I have disliked and I would definitely not repurchase it.

Review: The Body Shop Coconut Body Scrub

Using a body scrub is part of my daily routine and I am constantly looking to try new scents and formulations to jazz up my shower. I picked up this Coconut Body Scrub form the Body Shop a couple of months ago as I love the smell of coconuts -it reminds me of holidays in dreary, winter weather. I went through a phase of not buying anything from the Body Shop for quite some time as I used to own practically everything from them in my teenage years (does anyone else remember the small balls filled with bath oil you could get for 20p?) but I am now rediscovering some of their range and have been pleasantly surprised.

What strikes me immediately when I open this scrub is the overpowering scent of coconut. The consistency of the scrub is fairly gritty but not so gritty it will take half your skin off with it! It is also not too runny either, with more of a creamy consistency, as I have found that some scrubs can be too thin and just end up sliding down the plughole before I have had a chance to work them in.

Whilst using this, the scent of coconuts fills the bathroom and it can still be detected an hour later. The overpowering scent of the product is the main reason I wouldn’t repurchase this. Yes, I like a strong scent in many products, and it is nice for it to linger but I could still smell it at lunchtime, and it was overpowering my perfume! All I could smell all day was coconuts and not my Lime, Basil and Mandarin Jo Malone!

Verdict

As a scrub it is pretty average, and it performs its duties in a perfunctory manner. I wouldn’t repurchase this as although I liked the scent, it was overpowering and was all I could smell throughout the day. However, if you like strong coconut fragrances, you will probably enjoy using this. I may be tempted to try some of the other scrubs from the range as there wasn’t anything particularly bad about the product, it was just too strongly scented for my sensitive little nose!

3/5

Price –£12.50, 200ml

Where to Buy –The Body Shop

Review: Soap & Glory, Scrub Your Nose In It

Soap & Glory products seem to have a huge following, with many of my fellow bloggers praising their releases.  I have always been a bit on the fence with them as sometimes I feel they work and other times (Sit Tight for example) they fall flat and do not deliver what they promise.  I was in the market for a new facial scrub and thought I would give ‘Scrub Your Nose In It’ a try as it promised to reduce pore sizes, and give a noticeable reduction in my oily patches around my t-zone. 

Scrub your nose in it can be used as either a regular facial scrub or as a mask, which they suggest leaving on for 3 minutes around once a week for a deep-cleansing treat.  I have been using it mostly as a wake up exfoliator in the shower each morning.  I have used it as a mask once or twice but can’t say that it makes much of a difference to my oily areas and for a deep cleansing mask, I prefer my LizEarle Deep Cleansing Mask  that I use twice a week.  The packaging is your typical pink quirky packaging common to the rest of the brand which I am personally not a fan of but I know many others are.

The scrub itself has the usual minty scent that one comes to associate with Soap & Glory products and has a green tinge.  It is of medium thickness, as you can see from the swatch below, and it spreads easily, with only a  pea-sized amount required to cover the whole face.  The scrub grains are of average size and I did feel that there were sufficient to feel as though they were doing some good.  My skin can be fairly sensitive to harsh products and heavy scrubs but I had no adverse reactions or breakouts after using this 4-5 times a week.  I didn’t however notice a particular difference in my pore size or in the oiliness of my skin which the product claims to minimise, but my skin did feel refreshed and I felt it did achieve what I would expect from a basic scrub in that it made my skin smoother and ever so slightly brighter.    

Verdict  

If you are in the market for a new scrub you could give this a try as it does leave your skin feeling noticeably softer and smother.  However for very oily skin, you may not find it is efficient enough at minimising pores and controlling oil. The tube has lasted me well over a month with no end in sight yet, providing good value for money, especially as Boots often have Soap & Glory products on 3 for 2 offers.

 3/5

Price - £7.40 for 125ml

Where to buy – Boots, Harvey Nichols