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The Body Shop Chocomania

Feb 14, 2012 | Post by: Thom Watson No Comments

For the perfect, last minute Valentine’s gift, then I’m certain I’ve found it and you can thank me later. The Body Shop has launched a new chocolate body range that smells and looks like the real thing. There’s a soap, body butter, lotion, scrub, lip balm and shower gel. I’ve tried the shower gel, body scrub and lip balm.

The awesome, soap-free shower gel has the consistency, texture and fragrance of chocolate sauce, with a stunning lather which leaves the skin ridiculously soft with a light chocolate fragrance and contains real cocoa butter!

The Body Scrub looks and smells like cake mix, and I should point out that all the packaging is plastered with not suitable for consumption labels, because it really does make you want to eat it. The scrub is best used dry and then rinsed off in my opinion. It contains cane sugar as the exfoliant and again, real cocoa butter; great prep for a moisturiser.

The lip balm is quite light and not greasy at all, containing… you guessed it, real cocoa butter, it gives long lasting protection and hydration. I love the pot and spent more time smelling it than putting it on my actual lips.

Perfect for a romantic bath or shower with your loved one this valentines, your skin will be left feeling silky smooth and decadently chocolatey, and as it’s The Body Shop, you know that the ingredients are Community Fair Trade and that the love is spread around the world with your purchase this Valentine’s Day.

The Body Shop Chocomania Collection at The Body Shop Online / In Store

Clarins Relax Body Treatment Oil

Feb 02, 2012 | Post by: Thom Watson No Comments

Actually labelled as being recommended for use after sport, the Clarins Relax Body Treatment Oil is a present from heaven it really is. For those aching joints and muscles, massage this in to any area of the body (or if you can get someone else to do it then even better!) and feel all the tension just drift away.

Petit Grain, Geranium, Camomile and Basil are the fragrances which are by no means ‘girly’, and leave the skin smelling invigoratingly fresh and clean. Hazelnut is the moisturiser in this, which leaves skin smooth but not greasy once it’s had time to sink in from massage. As long as you use this product sparingly, you can pop your clothes on relatively quickly after applying it and it won’t leave grease stains or anything like that.

Personally, this product is great after a steaming hot shower from a workout to then massage into the skin in firm, pressing, circular motions. It’s perfect when topped of with Clarins Energizing Emulsion

Clarins Relax Body Treatment Oil £36/100ml at Clarins Online

The Scottish Fine Soaps Company Seaweed Soap

Feb 01, 2012 | Post by: Thom Watson No Comments

How excited can a person be about a soap? Well, it turns out very!

Seaweed Soap from ‘The Scottish Fine Soaps Company’ is one of the nicest bars of body soap I’ve ever had the privilege to use. To begin with, the packaging is stunning; every soap is presented in a brightly coloured and embossed metal tin which keeps it lovely and fresh and means that it can be easily transported (making it great for the gym!). The fragrance is simply stunning: it’s light, clean and ever so ‘plenty’. Their website describes it as:

“A fresh green ozonic fragrance with top notes of seaspray, gardenia, freesia and green floral notes supported by a heart of lily of the valley, geranium, rose and a hint of tarragon. These descend to a base of musk, sandalwood and seaweed.”

I couldn’t agree more, but I will point out that it’s not girly!

So, onto the testing. I jumped in the shower and got started: the lather is unlike anything I’ve ever come across in a soap- there’s so much from so little! It’s beautifully rich which means it stays on the skin so you can really work it. Now, the really cool thing about this soap is that it contains little bits of loofah which leaves your skin not only feeling well cleansed, but also much smoother. I hopped out of the shower feeling squeaky clean and smelling fresh!

Who would have thought that so much care and attention to detail could be put into a bar of soap? This is a truly luxury product and I believe it earns the Manface seal of approval. I can’t think of a more deserving product to be the very first winner of the “Manface Approved Award!

The Scottish Fine Soaps Company Seaweed Soap £4.95/100g at The Scottish Fine Soaps Company Online

Clarins Energizing Emulsion

Jan 30, 2012 | Post by: Thom Watson No Comments

Clarins Energizing Emulsion was recommended to me on my last visit to the Clarins Spa. Designed as a muscle coolant, this lightweight hydrating lotion is perfect for use after a session in the gym to ease those aching muscles and joints.

Even though it’s designed for the feet and legs, it can be used all over the body (with the obvious exception of the face) and will leave an intense cooling sensation.

The magic lies in its use of St. John’s Wort, Camomile, Cypress and Witch Hazel, which all aid relaxation and the icy breeze effect.

It works best applied to clean skin that’s just been blasted from a red-hot shower or bath right after working out.

Clarins Energizing Emulsion £24/125ml at House of Fraser Online

Best Body Exfoliators and Scrubs

Dec 25, 2011 | Post by: Thom Watson No Comments

Why hello there, this article is all about exfoliators, apologies if the title got your hopes up.

As my time in cosmetics has gone on, and on, and on, I have come into contact with so many different kinds of facial and body scrubs, and exfoliators all boasting about how wonderful and unique they are. So, here’s my breakdown of some of the loveliest, scrubbiest scrubs on the market:

Clarins Toning Body Scrub

More of a luxury treat rather than your regular, this stunning salt scrub fragranced and packed full of essential oils really packs a punch. I’ve never had that much of a love affair with salt scrubs as many of them tend to slip right off before they’ve had chance to be worked into the skin; this however, really stays put and allows you to really work it in before rinsing it off, leaving your skin ridiculously smooth and lightly fragranced.

Clinique Sparkle Skin Exfoliator

See Review

The Body Shop Cocoa Body Scrub

A cream based scrub that really does wonders for the skin, it sticks well allowing you to really work it in whilst also being packed full of grains of walnut shell, cocoa and others. Containing the body shops beautiful sourced community fair trade cocoa butter from Ghana. This was my regular exfoliator before working for Clinique as I can now luckily get Sparkle skin at discount, but that is literally my only reason from moving on from it. Available for a mere £12.50 for quite a hefty tub, which lasts for ages, it’s definitely worth a try.

Clinique Skin Supplies for Men Facial Exfoliator

Powerful, is the word I would use to describe this exfoliator. This mentholated, clay based formula is ideal as a pre-shave, to de-flake and smooth skin before shaving. Ideally left on for 2 minutes, it really opens the pores up and helps dig out dirt and is ideal for blocked pores. If you are a dryer skin type, you will need to make sure you moisturise after use as it will remove any trace dead skin cells. I tend to use this once or twice a week and usually don’t use clarifying lotion after it as there’s often very little need as my skin is a little oiler, but as well as using moisturiser, dryer skin types might still want to clarify as well as multi-level exfoliation helps reduce the build-up of flakes through the day.

Bobbi Brown Adzuki Bean Grains

Made to mix in with your cleanser, this powerful little jar of grains really softens the skin. You need only the tiniest amount and pour it into your palm, mix in then gently rub all over the face, obviously avoiding the eye area as with any face scrub. This isn’t as powerful as the Clinique men’s exfoliator and if you’re not a user of clarifying or scruffing lotion, then using this fairly regularly is a good idea, bear in mind that the oiler you are, the less you need to exfoliate, only around every 2-3 days, if you’re dryer and your skin is a little duller then every day to every 2 days is good; just gage it by how your skin feels after a few uses, if your skin starts to feel ever so slightly raw, then use common sense and scrub less.