A Body Shop Haul

I've always been a massive fan of The Body Shop, ever since my first whiff of satsuma bubbles as a little 'un. I always have a few body butters on the go (my current favourites are the passion fruit and vineyard peach ones) and my shower gel of the moment also happens to be one of theirs but I must admit I haven't really bothered with their skincare much in quite a long time. However, when a recent offer of a free night cream with a day cream purchase coincided perfectly with the latest episode in my never ending quest for the perfect moisturiser I took it as a sign...

So let's start with the day and night cream combo. Now I'm 30 and while I might not feel particularly old my skin is starting to remind me I'm not 18 anymore so I opted for the Nutriganics Smoothing Day and Night creams which are designed to hydrate for 12hrs, tackle first signs of ageing and generally smooth, plump and revitalise skin.

The day cream is lovely and light but still delivers a good dose of hydration to my dry, dehydrated and generally grumpy skin. It's been noticeably happier in the horrible Office Air conditions at work (y'know the sort of thing - dry, warm, recycled through a few too many people's lungs). It does look a tad shiny when first applied but quickly sinks in leaving a nice base for makeup. The night cream is a little heavier, as one would expect, but is absorbed just as readily and feels rather more luxurious than its price tag suggests. It also mixes wonderfully with the Trilogy Rosehip Oil I use each evening. They both smell yummy too - sort of citrusy with a hint of liquorice. Weird but oddly refreshing!

I've been using both of these fairly religiously for the last 3 weeks and I'm really pleased with them. My skin is loving the extra dose of hydration, which is also helping prevent my makeup from disappearing into my pores, and I am seeing some small improvements in the lines on my forehead and general texture of my skin. I don't think this is entirely just down to these creams as I'm using the REN Resurfacing AHA Concentrate religiously too but they do seem to be working together very well and I'm interested in seeing how longer term use works out.

This wouldn't be a haul if all I talked about was two moisturisers and since one of them was free I had to find something to make my cart up to the minimum for free postage. Well, two things and I blame TBS entirely for this next one as they made it too good an offer to refuse - a tub of Seaweed Ionic Clay Mask half price because I have a Love Your Body card. This is your typical clay mask designed to draw out impurities, clarify and refresh the skin and as a bonus it smells considerably nicer than most (although I'm sure this must be added fragrance). While this does do the clay mask thing pretty well, especially cleaning out pores, I do find it stings somewhat as it dries which would certainly irritate sensitive skins and means I limit use to once a week at most. It's nice but probably not one I'll repurchase as there are plenty of other similar masks out there which don't feel as irritating.

My final purchase was borne out of pure curiosity. I tried the tea tree range when I was younger and while it was ah-mazing at helping blemishes it was far too harsh for regular use on my skin so I was intrigued to try the new Tea Tree Cool & Creamy Wash which promised the same tea tree benefits but in a kinder cream based cleanser which also leaves skin feeling cool and oh so fresh. I must admit I was expecting this to be a bit harsh but it cleaned really nicely without leaving my skin feeling at all tight or stripped, and my goodness it really does give skin an icy blast! This is definitely more of a morning cleanser as it's great to help wake you up but I suspect wouldn't be great at removing makeup. While it won't be my every morning cleanser I'll definitely be keeping it around for skin freak out moments and mornings when I just can't wake up.

Do you use Body Shop skincare? What are your favourite products?