Feel Silky Smooth & Beautiful in The Body Shop Beautifying Oils

We love The Body Shop. All of us have our fave prodz from this awesome shop - maybe it's a perfume (White Musk!), one of their luscious Body Butters (Shea Butter!), or perhaps a delicious shower gel (Satsuma!). Or if you are as old as I am, maybe you remember when they had their super cool perfume bar. It was like a little tower in the middle of the shop, full of wonderful perfumed oils that you could wear on their own, layer together, or, add to your fave body product from their unscented line. I mourned the end of those oils, and have even trolled Evil Bay to find some of them- Indian Gardenia, a old fave, is now "vintage" and hard to find for under $60. 

Marual Nut

Marual Nut Oil

So, imagine how happy was I to read about The Body Shop's new Beautifying Oils collection! From their site: "Beautifying Oil is pure beauty in a bottle. Made with a lightweight blend of nut oils including Community Fair Trade marula oil, it gives instant hydration and a shimmering finish". They are gorgeous and luxurious, can be used on hair or skin, and have a lovely scent that does not overwhelm or irritate. And "shimmering" is just the oil effect- there is no glitter or anything like that in the oil. I am huge fan of oils for skin and hair treatment. In the winter, they soothe, nourish and protect the skin, and in the summer, they do the same thing while making your skin glow. No dry ashy legs allowed in shorts/sundress season! That is right up there with the Open Toe Shoe Pledge. Friends don't let friends get flaky. 

Ok- so, my faves? Right now, Strawberry is in my top rotation. Yes! It's The Body Shop Strawberry we loved forevah! Also, Satsuma, which is probably one of the loveliest orange prodz out there, and Shea, which is sweet and comforting. Moringa, sort of a tropical-white floral-tiare scent, is quickly becoming another fave. The scents are very subtle and nowhere near what their small perfume bottles are, but that's ok as the texture and feel of the oil makes you want to slather yourself head to toe.

At under $15 for 100ml, these are easy on the wallet while making your skin glow and smell yummy. Verdict? Love. Obsessively. Go get- now.

Kiss My Face? More Like Kiss My Feet

Further to the summer-ready feet theme, I thought I would share a recent find that help keep your feet massage-ready. I recommend a professional pedicure to start off the summer, unless you are like me, and obsessively pamper your feet year round. Once you have a smooth and lovely canvas to work with, its all about maintenance. Kiss My Face, one of my fave natural and organic skincare lines, has two lovely prodz perfect for summer feet. Their peppermint Foot Scrub and Foot Crème are the perfect line of defence to keep your feet fetish-worthy all summer.

The Foot Scrub exfoliates and polishes with natural pumice and walnut shells, and refreshes tired hot feet with tingly peppermint. I love to use it in the shower. Tip - using a little of this scrub on a nail brush banishes dry cuticles and cleans all the little cracks and crevices your hands can't get to. Try it, you will be amazed. I even use it on my hands after gardening (once a year....).

The Foot Crème softens and smoothes with a whole bunch of butters (shea, coco, mango, kokum) moisturizing oils and more peppermint. It feels amazing at bedtime after a long day on your feet, and you wake up with silky soft feet.

See how chic bare feet are? 

Available wherever Kiss My Face is sold, the 4 oz tubes are around $9 each.

Despite The Name, This Cream is Udderly Wonderful

Udderly Smooth Cream has been on the shelves for years. I never ever tried it because I find the name so off-putting. Yes, I have Bag Balm and love it for cuts & scraps and deep moisturizing of hands & feet in the dead of winter. But it at least has a cute and charming kitschy tin and some old fashioned farm-y appeal. Not the case with Udderly Smooth. I judged it for trying to cash in on the cow-moisturizer-for-humans trend, and found it's spotted cow hide styled packaging derivative. Silly me.

I'm not sure what made me try the original Udderly Smooth Cream when I was shopping last week, but I did. Maybe it was the under $3 price for a big 4oz tube. Maybe it was that I'd heard it had a lovely scent (which I didn't believe but anyways...). So- it actually does smell really nice- very soft, kind of old fashioned, like a gentle skin scent. I say old fashioned because it reminds me of something but I can't put my finger on it. The scent disappears within minutes which is too bad really, because I really like it. The cream itself soaks right into the skin beautifully, leaving zero residue behind, so if you really dislike a greasy feel on your hands, you will love this. It has a thick creamy texture but really melts away, leaving nothing behind. I now want the big container to use head to toe.

Verdict? I still kind of hate the name, but I adore the cream. Shopping info for the US here, and Canada here.

I'm All Soft & Silky Thanks To LUSH Ro's Argan Body Conditioner

Skincare fanatic that I am, how could I NOT try LUSH Ro's Argan Body Conditioner? A cream you apply in the shower just before hopping out then rinse off to feel all moisturized and soft? Yes please. In spite of the silly name. 

Firstly, the "Ro's" is a play on words and by that I mean ROSE. This product has rose coming out the yin- yang, even though it was created by a lovely lady named Rowena. Rose, as we know, is basically heaven for your skin and senses and is full of all kinds of goodness. It's also one of my favourite beauty ingredients, perfume and skincare-wise. Combined with a skin beautifying cocktail of coco butter, almond oil and the miraculou argan oil, the scent becomes like a sort of candied rose but also warm and comforting. I love it. Unlike many LUSH products, Ro's Argan Body Conditioner is actually softly scented and the scent stays close to the skin. It is uber concentrated so one needs only the tiniest amount to spread head to toe to reap the benefits. Trust me- I applied way too much the first time. I was doubtful that this product would actually deliver what a million drugstore body washes promise to and fail to do. You know, moisturize in the shower? Before rinsing off? How does that even work? Well, it does. Amazing, frankly. 

Rose Harvest ~ Henry Siddons Mowbray 1887

This product would be perfect for someone who doesn't feel like putting on lotion after the shower (hello- most men?!) or if your skin is so dry you need to seal in that moisture. This is serious moisture therapy and I am loving it. No itchy dry skin! LUSH Ro's Argan Body Conditioner comes in a big tub for around $30.  My only complaint would be that it would be better in a squirt bottle. I hate repeatedly dipping my fingers into any beauty product, and it gets water in it in the shower. But whatever, not a deal breaker.

Weleda Sea Buckthorn Body Oil Is a Drink For Dry Thirsty Skin

Weleda Sea Buckthorn Body Oil is my new skin obsession. After hearing beauty editors and my fellow beauty bloggers raving about how they banished the flaky dry skin  on their legs (one of the charming side effects of central heating) with this miracle product I had to try it for myself. I’m a huge Weleda fan- their lovely soothing and natural products have a luxe feel that can only come from quality ingredients. They smell and feel great, but more importantly, they deliver. With the crazy weather we have had, winter, blizzards, hot enough for sundresses & flip flops, then back to sub zero temps, my skin needs all the help it can get.

Sea Buckthorn is a berry that is chock full of essential fatty acids that replenish vital moisture. Add some organic sesame oil & this power moisturizing duo adds intensive replenishment to moisture starved skin. Sea Buckthorn Oil has a fresh orange-y citrus scent that is like a little ray of sunshine. Citrus scents have mood & energy boosting aromatherapeutic properties so add soft skin to a good mood and we are talking win-win. Sea buckthorn oil has all kinds of skincare benefits, likely because it has very high levels of vitamins A and E, both of which are necessary for healthy, young looking skin. These vitamins help destroy free radicals, keeping your skin looking great.

I like to use my Weleda Sea Buckthorn Oil after my shower, when I’ve shaved and exfoliated my body into submission, & my skin just drinks it up.  Sometimes I mix a few drops of Sea Buckthorn Oil with my beloved Nivea Q10 body lotion - an amazing way to enrich a simple body lotion and fill it with skin - quenching goodness. And I would have believed it until seeing it with my own eyes- there is not one flaky dry part of my skin to be seen. 

Available at drugstores, health food stores and online.

Spa Wisdom™ Polynesia Monoi Miracle Oil Smells & Feels Beautiful

I have always loved monoi oil- it makes your skin feel great, look gorgeous and smell delicious. Monoi (pronounded mah-noy) oil is made from a coconut oil that has been infused with Tahitian gardenias (also known as tiare) and has been used in the French Pacific for softening skin and hair forever. There really is something about the coconut-gardenia scent combination is so delicious and beautiful. It really does conjure up images of a tropical sunset with richly scented air that is practically intoxicating. 

Gardenia aka tiare soaking in coconut oil- mmmm

As per my usual preference though, I like a soft monoi. Some are suffocatingly sweet, some are obviously synthetic and plastic smelling, and some (most?) are actually based in mineral oil, not coconut oil. The scent is not the same and I’ve been disappointed in the past. I’m a better label reader now though, and had pretty much given up on finding a soft sweet floral monoi that would sink into my skin locally. I just happened to be in The Body Shop recently however and, always being on the lookout for skin oils, spied their Polynesia Monoi Miracle Oil which is part of their Spa Wisdom collection. A quick scan of the ingredient list confirmed no mineral oil or silicone- yay! And good stuff like coconut, almond and sesame oil and of course, tiare gardenia.

The delicate scent is intoxicating...

The real kicker here is how soft and light the texture of the oil and the scent is. Not a cloying sickly sweet fake flower concoction, but soft and gentle, in an oil mixture than just sinks into the skin. I have used in the my parched hair this summer as well. Highlights combined with driving a convertible have not been kind to my hair. So I rubbed some of the Monoi Miracle Oil on my hands and pulled it through the ends of my hair and let it soak in for a few hours with my hair twisted up. I shampooed & conditioned as usual and the ends of my hair were silky smooth. I add a few drops to towel dried hair for a touch of shine and scent as well. I am a moisturizing scenting fiend, as you know.

And my hair smells like I am here. Perfect.

My favourite way to apply the Monoi Miracle Oil to my skin is to emulsify a few drops in my hands then add a few drops of my body lotion and apply head to toe as usual. My skin drinks it up and it adds a lovely sheen and a dewy appearance. I used it in conjunction with my Body Shop Baby Buriti body lotion for a fantastic combination that smelled so beautiful I wanted to chew my arm off. But it also pairs quite nicely with my unscented go-to Palmers Body Lotion. I will add a little comment about the bottle and the dispenser. It has a tiny hole that nicely dispenses a perfect amount of oil in little droplets so you never end up with a handful of oil making for no waste. Nicely designed.

I got my 150ml bottle at The Body Shop near me for $20. A little goes long way so this will last a long time. I would LOVE a perfume that smelled this good. Gentle soft gardenia with a sweet twist- perfect.

Palmer's Skin Therapy Oil Makes Skin Beautiful

If you have been reading this blog, you know I am a huge Palmers fan. I have the CocoButter stick in my car at all times for lips, cuticles, knees and elbows, and of course, the unscented Palmers Coco Butter Lotion is a staple in my moisturizer arsenal. During the deep cold dry months of winter, the Coco Butter Formula solid in the jar is often the only the only thing that helps. 

So I was quite happy to hear that Palmers released their Skin Therapy Oil. My readers also know I am a lover of skin oils, especially when bare legs are on display. This Skin Therapy oil is preservative-free, and fairly lightweight, although it's not quite what I'd call a "dry oil". It contains an exclusive blend of key ingredients formulated to help improve the appearance of scars, stretch marks, dry, damaged skin, uneven skin tone, aging skin and fine lines and wrinkles. Sort of along the same lines as the lotion. I definitely notice a difference in skin tone the appearance of stretch marks from diligent use of the Palmers lotions so colour me a lover of palm oil for the skin. 

Palmers Skin Therapy Oil has sesame oil in it, which I love. It is light and delicate and feels like it sinks right into the skin. There is a touch of silicone in this product but its just enough to give the product a nice slip when applying. If you have oily or acne prone skin, as I do, I would not recommend using the Skin Therapy Oil on your face. But, it is amazing on the body. I have been using it at bedtime and definitely notice a difference in how my skin looks in the morning. Smooth soft knees, elbows and feet (yes feet!) and it is especially nice after bathing when you've spent a long day in the sun. Amazing.

Betty Grable legs- a "DO"

It does have that yummy chocolate-y Palmers scent, which is lovely, but these days I prefer scent free body products. Granted, it does not last long, but it does interfere with my perfume so my solution is to be sure I apply it well in advance of leaving the house, or the night before. If you like using a skin oil, I highly recommend giving this a try! For around $10 for big 150ml bottle at Walmart, this is an easy buy!

Gwyneth's legs- yeah, these are a "DON'T"