Glistening Sheen: the body shop

Good Day Everyone,

A couple of months ago I was re-organising the toiletries cupboard in our en-suite bathroom when a sudden wave of shame overtook me. I had just come across something that I had bought more than three years ago and never actually used, like not even once! All of a sudden I felt sooo guilty for wasting money on something I hadn’t used and whilst I (mentally) scolded myself I took the item out of the cupboard and placed it beside my sink so that it was there right in front of me and I would have no reason not use it.

The item I’m talking about is my round body brush from The Body Shop. I had bought this brush a few days after I'd been chatting to a guy (yes a guy) about dry skin brushing. I was feeling Bridgette Jones style motivated about how I was going to improve the condition of my skin and made the purchase on a whim. Whilst I hadn’t used the brush, it did make the trip from England over to Singapore. As one of my new year’s goals is to focus more on skin care this year, what better reason and timing could there have been for my discovery, and not to mention my shame and guilt ;o)

Since the New Year I have been using this brush three / four times a week on dry skin before showering and I am amazed at the results! The first couple of times I used this brush it felt a little harsh on my skin but now that I’ve gotten used to it, it doesn’t feel harsh or uncomfortable in any way. Plus it’s down to me as to how much pressure I apply when using the brush. I use long sweeping strokes, starting from my feet and work my way towards my heart. I’ll use circular motions over my knees and on my thighs. I tend to focus primarily on my legs, arms, hips and bum. I don’t use this brush on my chest (or on any psoriasis patches) as that skin is very delicate but I do use gentle strokes on my stomach area.

Immediately after I’ve used this brush my skin feels sort of invigorated and alive. The way I look at it is that dry skin brushing is like exercise for my skin – it gets stimulated and leaves me feeling energised. After I’ve showered I use a nice smelling body butter or lotion to hydrate my skin. Currently I have The Body Shop cocoa body butter in use which leaves a deliciously sweet but not too sweet scent that lingers for hours. The days that I dry brush my skin I tend to use a shower gel whereas the days that I don’t dry brush my skin, I tend to use a body scrub so that my skin is being exfoliated one way or another.

In just a few weeks my skin is the smoothest and softest it’s ever been with a bit of a natural glow. Even my hubby has noticed the difference ;o) I’ve definitely noticed an improvement in the slight dimples that I had on the backs of my thighs and the skin definitely looks and feels firmer there. Dry skin brushing has great internal, as well as external, benefits;

It is great for exfoliating the skin and removing dead skin cells.

It helps to firm up the skin and improve the look and feel of it.

It massages the skin and stimulates acupressure points, improving overall well being.

It improves lymphatic drainage eliminating toxins, and boosts blood circulation.

Given how much time I often spend looking after the skin on my hands and face, it's only right that I look after the skin on my body. It is after all the largest and most exposed organ that also detoxifies - playing a vital role in keeping me healthy.

Are you a fan of dry skin brushing? How do you look after the skin on your body?

Love Sheen xxx

Good Day Everyone,

A couple of weeks before I fly back home to England for our bi-annual visit, I usually spend a bit of time on the Boots, Superdrug and The Body Shop websites to see what deals they have on offer that I might want to take advantage of :o) This is so I can order things online and have them delivered to my parent’s house ready for when we arrive thus saving valuable time.

Whenever we go back home our schedule is sooo jam packed trying to catch up with everyone that I don’t always get as much time as I’d like to go shopping. I tend to go shopping in half days as I get very tired very quickly due to my arthritis and given that I’m the kind of person that can rarely buy clothes without trying them on first (I hate the hassle of returning), I tend to save my shopping time for clothes, and buy as many toiletries as I can online. Makeup is also like clothes, where I like to try / swatch beforehand, but I can often do that in Singapore so I will order things like eye shadow palettes (like my Urban Decay Naked palettes) online and have them delivered for when I arrive home.

This recent trip was no exception and luckily when I was perusing The Body Shop website (UK website) they had 50% off hand creams / butters. There are Body Shop stores in Singapore but, as with most things, they tend to be more expensive than in England plus they weren't offering the 50% discount. So I stocked up because a girl can never have too many hand creams... right?! The Body Shop tends to offer pretty good discounts on a regular basis, especially online, so I certainly recommend checking it out every now and again.

I bought the large size of the Hemp Hand Protector, the Absinthe Purifying Hand Cream, small size of the Wild Rose Hand Cream with SPF 15 (great for the Singapore sun) as well as the Wild Rose Nourishing Hand Butter. I absolutely love ‘rose’ anything! It’s one of my ALL time favourite scents and I was a little disappointed that the large size of the Wild Rose Hand Cream was sold out so I bought the small size, which is great for on the go, as it fits nicely into all my handbags.

(Excuse the crumpled tubes - they got a bit squashed in my suitcase!)

The consistency of the hand butter isn’t as ‘thick’ as I would expect from a ‘butter’ having used The Body Shop Body Butters for many years. In fact, it’s rather thin and runny and I actually feel that the Wild Rose Hand Cream has a slightly thicker consistency –I was expecting it to be the other way round. The rose fragrance isn’t as ‘rosy’ (rose-like, if that makes sense) as I was expecting either. To me, the smell of the brazil nut oil (which both the Rose Hand Butter and Cream contain) seems to be fighting with the rose scent and I have to say, it may even be winning this little ‘scent fight’ in the case of the Hand Butter! More so than the cream. For some reason the rose scent seems to be a little stronger in the cream compared to the butter! Either way, I personally, would prefer (and was expecting) a stronger rose scent in both products. Now that you’ve had my two cents worth (haa haa see what I did there ;o) on the smell let me tell you about the butter and cream itself. I use the butter at night, before bed, and I wake up with really soft hands. Both the cream and butter absorbs quickly into my skin, without leaving a greasy residue and leave my hands feeling very moisturised. I also don’t get that ‘sticky’ feeling that some hand creams and butters tend to leave where you are desperate to wash your hands just to get rid of that stickiness.

The Absinthe Purifying Hand Cream is definitely my favourite out of the three, scent wise. It smells very fresh, clean and spring like. In fact, whenever I use this my mind conjures up images of an alpine forest and takes me on a trip down memory lane to when I went skiing in Les Diableret in Switzerland many many years ago. It has that alpine freshness to it which I really like. The scent does linger for quite a while after I’ve used the cream but it’s a very light, pleasant scent so I don’t mind it lingering. The scent is quite unisex so my hubby will often help himself to this hand cream too. As a moisturising cream, its light weight and again non-greasy and not sticky but I do have to say that if it’s heavy duty moisturising that you’re looking for then I would definitely recommend the Hemp Hand Protector over this (and the rose one).

The Hemp Protector has quite an earthy scent. When I was a teenager I tried fresh henna on my hands a couple of times and this reminds me of that smell – its earthy, muddy and soil like (if that makes any sense?!) Again, it’s quite a unisex smell and probably my least favourite of the three scents. But where this little baby triumphs is as a moisturising cream, which lets face it, is the primary purpose of these products! This is absolutely amazing for dry hands, in fact it’s sooo good as a moisturiser that I will often use it on my elbows too. It’s much thicker than the other creams (and the hand butter), but it still absorbs easily into my skin without any kind of greasy residue or stickiness.

In a moisturising contest for dry hands the Hemp Protector would win – hands down – no contest really. It-is-the-business! I tend to reserve this for when I travel back home in December each year as the weather is really harsh at that time of year for us dry skin sufferers or when I’m traveling on planes as I find that the air conditioning really dries my hands out. Day to day I tend to use the other two creams and reserve the hand butter for before bed.

Have you tried any of these Body Shop hand moisturisers? What were your thoughts? Which scent did you prefer?

Love Sheen xxx

(Note: I bought all of these products with my own money)

(The Body Shop Singapore website)