Garnier Body Intensive 7 Days Ultra Softening Lotion; Dry to Extra-Dry Skin Shea Butter: My Holy Grail Body Moisturiser

I saw Garnier's Body Intensive Lotion a good few months ago when looking for something else on the Superdrug site.  When I was next instore, I picked it up..amongst other things I didn't really need.  It was on an introductory offer for £1.99 so it wouldn't have been a massive loss has I not liked it (usual price for this size is £2.99).

It's availabe in the following variations: 

• Aloe Vera: Normal Skin
• Mango Oil: Dry Skin
• Honey: Sensitive Skin
• Cocoa Butter: Dry and Rough Skin
  
• Shea Butter: Dry to Extra-Dry Skin

I have the latter.

The main draw with this was the claim that "skin feels intensely hydrated for up to seven days".  I thought that this meant you could whack it on one day and seven days later, you're skin would still be soft.  That isn't what they mean.

What it actually means is that if you use it twice daily for four weeks and then have a week off, your skin will remain intensely hydrated for that week off.

The cynic in me was thinking "wouldn't that happen with every moisturiser you use?  And what's with the twice daily bit?"

So, I decided to test it out.

Twice daily for four weeks I used my previous body moisturiser (this Aveeno one).  I then left it a week.  Then for another four weeks I managed to slap this on twice a day.  I also left that for a week.

What did I discover?
Firstly, moisturising twice a day is time consuming if you don't have the right moisturiser.  And skirts are your friends during these times.

My previous moisturiser really takes a while to sink in when I compare it to the Garnier one and using it twice a day makes me feel icky.  It also doesn't moisturise as well as I first thought as my skin was very dry for that last week.

The Garnier one applied like a dream, sunk in nicely and didn't give the feeling of ick.  I applied it twice a day and it didn't make me feel greasy and my skin stayed nicely moisturised for the week off.

I shower every single day and that is usually the cause of my dry skin.  Whilst carrying on this experiment, I didn't cease with the showering.

I was more than impressed to see that the Garnier moisturiser held up to its claims whereas the Aveeno one literally hung me out to dry.  Usually when I don't moisturise, my skin looks flaky but during my week off from Garnier, it was soft, smooth and moisturised.

Another plus side to the Garnier one is that it doesn't sting after I've shaved my legs whereas one of the Aveeno variants did this..I believe it was the Lavender one.  One of the main issues I have with body moisturiser is that my feet dry out really quickly as I don't wear tights.  When I use this, my feet stay hydrated all week long.

I stopped using the Garnier moisturiser for a few weeks and then went back to using it once a day and even with that, it keeps your skin moisturised for the week off.

My skin has never felt as soft as it does at the moment and it is all down to this moisturiser.

And Garnier get extra points for:

• The smell: it's nice but not overpowering.
• The consistency: PERFECT.  Not too heavy and it sinks in with ease.  
• The packaging: Notice how the bottle dents in a bit at the sides?   I thought that was just a quirk of design but they've actually thought about that and it's dented so that it's easy to hold and doesn't go flying out of your hand.  Good thinking Garnier!
• The price: Full price for the size I have is only £2.99 and for the larger one is £4.99
• The range: I'm impressed that they haven't just brought out a one size fits all soloution and that they have different moisturisers for different skin issues.
• The size range: It comes in two sizes.
• How long it lasts: I can get about eight weeks constant usage from one bottle.  For £2.99, that ain't bad!  It's even better when it was £1.99 but skincare is always on offer so keep your eye out.

At the moment, you can pick the smaller sized one for £2.99 and the larger one for £4.99 but in Boots, they're in the 3 for 2.  I'm on a no buy but as I've "gifted" my other moisturisers to my mum, I'm allowing myself to stock up.

Garnier Soft Essentials Rose Water Toner aka the product that saved my dodgy skin

Towards the end of the last year, I had a skin crisis which seemed to be something that would never be fixed.  My skin went from being combination (at best) to being super dry.  My nose and cheeks were really flaky and nothing helped restore adequate moisture.  I used products that left me feeling greasy and yet dry at the same time.  Then I picked this toner up..not expecting great things.

My cynicism was clearly built on a weak foundation as this pink unassuming bottle rescued my skin from the flakes and adequately plumped it back up to its normal self.

I find that being stingy with this is the best way to use it as otherwise, it takes ages to dry and I find myself dabbing my face with a tissue to get some excess moisture off.  I find it makes my skin clean and also gives enough moisturiser so that I don't need to moisturise afterwards.

It does have a smell but it's a nice smell, it's not overly natural or overly synthetic, you can't really notice it unless you sniff it out.

It has really transformed my dull winter skin into my usual non winter skin.  I find it also does the job of a cleanser at times as it is very good at removing City grime that collects on my face on a daily basis.

I have been using it in conjunction with the matching face cream which is surprisingly light considering it is for people with dry skin.

I took this photo when I had just started using it and it is nearly all gone now.

Both this and the moisturiser cost me less than £4 but even at full price I don't think it is too expensive.  The range is currently on offer in Boots (2 for £4).  I haven't linked you up because it's not the website but I've seen them instore!

A tale of 12 moisturisers..

I jumped onto the bandwagon of daily body moisturising back in 2005 when I had finished my law degree and was working the summer before doing my LPC..a bandwagon which I quickly disembarked when I realised just how heavy the workload of the LPC was.

But, I hear you say, that was nearly 6 years ago, why are you still packing heat?  Well, I was moisturising during the interim, albeit sporadically.  I also kept buying more and more in the hope that I'd once again have the time to moisturise everyday because, you know, getting the LPC out of the way was the hard part, not what came after it *ahem*. 

I've reviewed the Aveeno ones in detail here but pace yourselves for a speed review of the rest.

Olay Body Quench Mousse:  If you use too much, you will feel sticky and greasy for ages.  I find the best way to use this is to squash it into your skin and then slide your hand down to let it soak in.  This makes your hands sticky and this will transfer onto the canister.  On the plus side, the bottle lasts an age.  It is also very cheap.  It cost me £1 from the Pound Shop and it is a permanent fixture as I have always seen it there.  They have another variant for people who have normal skin.  If you moisturise after shaving/waxing, don't use this as it stings like a motherfudger.  

Would I buy it again? No.  It doesn't give my skin enough moisture and takes ages to dry properly.

The New Skincare Routine

Did anyone see The Inbetweeners this week when they went to "Waterside?"

Well that place is actuallly called The Chimes and it was built when I started sixth form and I had my first "proper" retail job in there; good old H&M..which has just recently been refurbished and looks TERRIBLE.  It was nice and bright in there before but now they've brought the ceiling right down and it's really cramped.

All three products here were also bought from that very shopping centre.

The Boots (which was featured behind Will and Simon discussing their cinema plans) is the place where me and the Skin Tonic first started our fleeting romance *sob sob*.

I'm more than convinced that it has been discontinued now because when I went to check the two shelf places where it usually is, there were other products there.

My mixture toner stopped working for me so I decided to buy a new one as I use a toner to get rid of the City grime that builds up on my face during the day.

I've worked it into my skincare routine and I'm quite pleased with how well these three products work together.

I find that the toner removes the grime but leaves my skin feeling moisturised.  I prefer it to this toner as it makes my skin feel plumped up and tingly clean.  I apply the toner both in the morning and the evening.  In the mornings I follow it with the Garnier eye roll on and then the Mattifying Lotion.  I find it easier to use the eye roll on first as otherwise you get a milky deposit around your eyes and you have to remove it with a tissue.

The roll on has finished and I'm testing out a cream at the moment but the roll on is idiot proof (hence the love) and you can moisturise on up without tugging at the skin.

In other news, it's recently turned a lot colder so I've taken to camouflaging myself whilst in bed so that I can score an extra few minutes, do you think it's working?

What's your current skincare regime? Any tips for us combo ladies? Do you try and camouflage in bed during the winter in the vain hope that you will get an extra five minutes?