If you’re a regular reader of my blog, then you might remember my post from last year about a Body Shop Event that I went to in Reading. As I mentioned in that post, I’ve been a fan of The Body Shop since childhood, and I feel like it’s a brand that has grown with me as the years have gone by. Last week, I was invited to another local Body Shop, this time at Festival Place in Basingstoke, for a Bloggers Evening to find out about a few new launches. As a long-time Body Shop fan, it’s always exciting to hear about new scents and products, and this time round there are certainly some gems!
When my Mum and I arrived at the store (after a slightly stressful journey over, getting stuck in the longest traffic jam in history!) we were given a friendly welcome by a couple of members of staff, before catching up with the other bloggers there. It’s always so nice to see other local bloggers at events, especially when it’s people I know quite well like Dawn from Dear Mummy Blog and Laura from Loopy Lou Laura. After a bit of chatting, we were offered a selection of drinks in the prettiest glittery glasses and told to help ourselves to various types of fresh fruit that had been laid on for us.
Then we got down to business and the assistant manager talked us through a few of their new launches, which will be coming out over the next few weeks. First up were some new products in the Shea Butter range. The Body Shop are celebrating 25 Years of Community Trade Shea this February, and to mark the occasion they have brought out some exciting new Shea based products. First up is the Shea Butter Hair Mask for Dry Hair, Prone to Damage. This sounded right up my street, as although I wouldn’t say I have particularly damaged hair, I do think it could do with some moisture and nourishment.
The second Shea based product we were shown was probably the one the team were most excited about – 100% Natural Ghanaian Shea Butter. This is multipurpose, and the idea is that customers will use it to create their very own products. That could mean mixing it with some sugar to create a lip scrub or adding a few drops of an essential oil to create a scented moisturiser, or even using some as a melt in the bath. The staff were full of ideas of different options to try, so if it’s something that appeals to you I would definitely get chatting to someone at The Body Shop to share ideas on the things you could use it for. I didn’t realise how many benefits Shea Butter has, but you can find out all about them here. These two products, along with many more, are available in-store and online now!
Another range, which will be coming out in time for Mother’s Day, is a brand new scent for The Body Shop – Cactus Blossom. The store had just managed to get their hands on the Body Yogurt and Body Butter to show us at the event, and I’m so glad they did! When they told us what the scent was, my first thought was ‘I wonder what Cactus Blossom smells like?!’ I kind of imagined it to be fairly boring if I’m completely honest, but when I rubbed a bit into my hands I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the scent is! Cactus Blossom smells very fresh and clean – perfect for moving into the spring and summer months. Dawn described it as smelling of a mixture of aloe vera and cucumber, and to me that pretty much hit the nail on the head (although I’m guessing the official scent description will be a lot more complex than that!) After thinking I probably wouldn’t like it, I left telling myself I would be keeping an eye on the website for when the range is released because I loved the smell so much!
I don’t know about you, but I love a good face mask – I think they’re the perfect way to set aside a bit of time to just relax and unwind, although I do find some can get a little messy! That’s why I really like the idea of using a sheet mask, and at the event we were told about the new Drops of Youth Youth Concentrate Sheet Mask, which definitely sounds like something I would like to try. I’ve already used a couple of products from the Drops of Youth range and found them really good, so I’ll be interested to see if the mask follows suit. It promises bouncier, healthier-looking skin in just 15 minutes, and, even more importantly, this mask is biodegradable. It is enriched with a concentrated dose of their Drops of Youth formula and includes edelweiss, criste marine and sea holly plant stem cells from the Italian Alps and Brittany Coast. It’s also 100% vegan, 99% of their ingredients are of natural origin and it won’t break the bank at a very affordable £5.
There were quite a few other new (and old!) products that looked good, but there were a couple that really caught my eye. The first was the new Fresh Nude BB Cream, which sounds perfect for me, as I will often go for a lighter BB cream over a full coverage foundation. It’s suitable for sensitive skin, offers 24-hour hydration and is transfer and sweat resistant, so just what we need as the weather begins to get warmer. The downside is that there are only five shades, so I’m guessing the colours won’t suit every skin tone. But hopefully that’s something The Body Shop will be working on.
The other new product that jumped out at me was the Pink Grapefruit Body Yogurt. I loved the idea of the Body Yogurts when we were introduced to them at the event last summer, so I was excited to see that they’ve now brought one out in one of my favourite fragrances, Pink Grapefruit. It’s a deliciously citrusy scent and always brings back happy memories of summers gone by, as for years my Mum’s favourite tipple has been pink grapefruit squash mixed with sparkling water – a love she has passed on to me! It almost smells good enough to eat (although I wouldn’t recommend it!) The Body Yogurts are brilliant if you’re in a hurry but still want to moisturise, as they absorb a lot more quickly than Body Butter and can be applied directly to damp skin after showering. And they don’t leave a sticky residue either, which is always a plus in my eyes.
In my previous Body Shop post, I mentioned that they were working with Cruelty Free International to take a stand against animal cruelty by asking their customers to sign a petition. If the petition reached 8 million signatures, they would present it to the UN. So I was pleased to see that they smashed their target and took an historic 8.3 million signatures to the United Nations calling for an end to animal testing in cosmetics worldwide – the biggest campaign against animal testing ever! If you want to find out more about their fight against animal testing, they have a whole page with information and ways to get involved.
The last part of our evening was spent finding out how hydrated our skin is. The Body Shop offer skincare consultations using a special moisture monitor, so, of course, each of us decided to have a go. Two out of three of us had pretty dehydrated skin (I won’t expose who was dehydrated, but let’s just say I didn’t come out of it very well!) But the good thing was, armed with this information; the staff were then able to talk us through some products that could help our dehydrated skin (alongside making sure we drink more water!) The first moisturiser we tried was the Vitamin E Moisture Cream for all skin types. It’s fairly lightweight and absorbed easily into my skin, leaving a matte but soft finish.
We were then given the Vitamin E Gel Moisture Cream to try out, which is similar to the first cream but in a gel consistency. I was drawn more towards this one for two reasons – I really like the gel formula because it feels cooling and refreshing on the skin, and a bit lighter than the conventional cream. But also because it contains raspberry extract and smells amazing (I’m a sucker for a good smell!) The last moisturiser we were given to try was the Drops of Youth Youth Cream, which is a bit more expensive than the other two. It has an air-whipped texture and left my skin feeling soft and bouncy. Out of the ones we tried, all three of us seemed to sway more towards the Vitamin E Gel Cream, and I’m pretty sure it was the scent that swung it!
After a lovely evening, we left the store with a bag of goodies kindly gifted to us by The Body Shop. It included a little tub of Shea Body Butter, a few samples of moisturisers, facemasks and hair products and a cute peppermint scented reindeer bath bomb, possibly from the Christmas range. I had a lovely evening with The Body Shop Basingstoke, Dawn and Laura and will definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for the Cactus Blossom range coming out soon!
Are you a fan of The Body Shop? What’s your favourite range? And what do you think about the new products coming out over the next couple of months?
