Hi folks!
As you are probably well aware by now, since moving to Korea I have become somewhat of a beauty/bath product connoisseur/hoarder. To be honest, hoarding has always been in my genes, but it has reached a new high (low?) over here. Firstly it started with just the Korean brands, as they are obviously abundant and ridiculously cheap, so who could resist? No one, that’s who! But it has since moved onto quasi-Korean brands (L’Occitane) and eventually to completely unrelated, non-justifiable purchases that I am continuing to make anyway.
Which brings me to the topic of today’s post!
When I was in Tokyo a while ago (you know, as you do) I picked up The Body Shop‘s Papaya Shower Gel ‘for Gavin’ cough. Honestly, I really did get it for him, and I thought I was getting a bit of a deal and that the prices in Japan were cheaper than Korea. Nope and nope. It wasn’t expensive or anything, but it wasn’t any different and he didn’t really love it anyway so I ended up using most of it. What a hard life I lead! The other product I also bought in Tokyo, The Body Shop’s Strawberry Body Purée and this one was bought for myself with full transparency.
Speaking of transparent, I took a snap just before they were empty (they are all but cleaned out now), have a look here:
Cute, no? What a pair! I used to have such a thing for The Body Shop, as my mum really loved it growing up and I just followed suit, as kids do. Do you remember The Body Shop of the late 90s? It was so much fun! At the time it was so eye-opening for me, as no one else was doing body butters and their Shea Body Butter was the ish. I also remember their makeup and specifically the bronzer beads that I thought were just so cool. I would have been about 10 or 12 and their products were always really accessible and comfortable for me. Loved it.
After a few years, I found their prices to be a bit prohibitive for my broke teenage self, and didn’t buy any of their wares for a few years. However, a little while ago my mum sent over some of their White Musk Body Creme in a care package for me here in Korea, and although I usually don’t like that scent, I really enjoy using that creme. It’s thick, rich and feels so luxurious. I think this product was sort of the gateway that opened my mind to repurchasing from them. That and the fact that the Guri Lotte Department stocks them and it is just so easy and fun to shop there!
So that’s my thoughts on The Body Shop for you. Now, the question you’re all wondering: has it returned to its (in my opinion) former glory? Well, I can tell you that this Papaya Shower Gel is scrumptious and so fresh. I really love the scent, it is quite strong and so fruity, yum! I am actually glad someone spurned my gift to them, because then I got to use it and it is a great shower gel. Over winter I was getting into using cleansing oils, but sometimes there is nothing like a thick, lathered shower gel to keep you feeling fresh! I really looking forward to it and would definitely buy it again or as a present.
How about the Stawberry Body Purée? I love the smell of this stuff, which is basically the reason why I bought it. As a fancily-named body purée, this product is much lighter than normal moisturisers and is almost (but not quite) gel-like in its consistency. It’s sort of watery and light, which makes it a great summertime moisturiser. I actually used this a lot over late summer/autumn when I first bought it, and it was great as a non-greasy moisturiser that won’t make me feel like I’m covered in butter when the temperature starts to rise. Always a good thing. However, if you’re looking for a rich, luxurious body cream, this isn’t for you… although it does smell scrumptious and I would quite like to eat it.
All in all, these products impressed me and I am back ‘on’ with The Body Shop. I have heard good things about their body scrubs and I do love a good exfoliator (more in theory than in practice) so that could be next on the list. Except for the fact that I already have a few waiting for me. Sigh. What’s a girl to do? I obviously can’t stop shopping; as much as I try that just ain’t gon’ happen here. These cosmetics stores know exactly what they’re doing, and every week it seems like at least one of them (often more) have a huge sale. Who am I to resist?!
That’s it for today, if you’ve had any experience with these products (or any other Body Shop products) I’d love to hear from you! The more the merrier.
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Until next time,
Steph x