The Body Shop Strawberry Body Polish
Here’s the hazard: you’ll open the tube, squeeze it onto your hand, massage it in and then take a big bite out of your own arm. You won’t be able to stop yourself – it smells divine (won’t go into the taste). It’s like every perfect Wimbledon summer in a tube. And on top of that, it contains pieces of walnut shell and honey which left me really soft, smooth and clean. If you want luxury that works, there’s nothing better.
Price: ?12.95
Dove Gentle Exfoliating Body Scrub
I love Dove. And this shower gel and scrub is lovely. With the ubiquitous ? moisturising cream, you get smooth and moisturised skin. I really liked the ‘ultra-fine exfoliants’ – I could feel the rough skin sloughing away. And this product lathers up as well, which made me feel really clean after a shower. The 200ml lasted over a month – and that was with daily use. A bargain you can use every day.
Price: ?3.08
Marks And Spencer Papaya Exfoliating Shower Scrub
If you’re looking for good exfoliation, try trifle instead. The packaging says: “Rich in vitamins, papaya’s are renowned for their skin-caring properties. With natural enzymes they help to remove dead skin cells and soften skin”. Once recovered from the redundant apostrophe, I jumped into the shower to give it a try. Lovely lather, really clean, but didn’t really feel much exfoliation going on. More worthy as a really yummy shower gel, or for very sensitive skin.
Price: ?4
Avon Planet Spa Regenerating Body Wash and Polisher
Yum yum yum! Now here’s a cosmopolitan body polish: it’s sold as ‘Japanese Sake and Rice’ body polish, boasts instructions for use in eight separate languages and is made in Poland – not noticeably renowned for it’s Eastern cuisine. However, the iridescent scrub with its super-fine exfoliants smelt gorgeous and left my skin beautifully smooth all over. There wasn’t much of a lather, and I’m not sure how clean it left me, but I keep returning to this one because it’s just so pretty.
Price: ?6
Available from: 22 323090
Nivea Care Peeling Rice and Lotus
No idea what this one claims, as all the instructions for use were in Greek. But this really worked! The exfoliants are good and chunky – I could almost feel the dead skin peeling away – and the product itself is thick and creamy. I used this after a long hot day at the beach, and came out of the shower clean, smooth and gorgeous. And the following day, though I was sun burnt, I didn’t have any of the usual peeling skin. Despite the lack of lather, this does everything you could wish for at a great price.
Price: ?3.68
Casyopea Peeling Soap French Lavender
This claims to: “Wash the body cleansing intensively the epithelial layer”, which made me resort to the dictionary. That aside, this is fine-grained mauve scrub/gel that lathers up nicely and exfoliates very gently. When I looked at the ingredients with my usual sceptic’s eye, I was surprised to find a lack of dodgy chemicals – this contains such things as lavender oil, sand, peach powder, sweet almond and sea salt. And here’s the main advantage: it has such a lovely aroma that I keep the bottle beside my computer just to have a quick relaxing sniff whenever I get stressed.
Price: ?7.70
Available from: 26 930805
Virgin Vie Go Hawaii Sun Soaked Body Buffer
I splurged. Not only did I get the Body Buffer, I also bought the Sun Seeker Shimmering Body Souffl? to go with it. And then I got in the shower and was whisked away to the islands. Virgin have bottled the tropics. It wasn’t the best exfoliation – though using a sponge, I got a good lather going – probably better for sensitive skin. But the amazing fruity smell really woke me up and got those positive vibes flowing. And then I slathered myself in iridescent Shimmer. And now I’m going to quit work and take my beautiful body off to Hawaii. Aloha.
Price: ?8.75
Available from: 26 322494
