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.

A right peachy pear: Fruit Works Peach and Pear Shower Gel and Body Butter

It's no secret that I appreciate a fine smelling bathing condiment...Can you call them condiments? Would water be the meal? The consistent? I'd say so..

I've run the gamut with fruity smelling shower gels..from lemon meringue to capsicum and dragon fruit.  In all this time, I've never found a decent smelling peach-y one.

Enter the Fruit Works Peach and Pear shower gel.  I spent ages smelling it and trying to figure out whether it was more peach-y or pear-y and I came to the conclusion that it's an exact mixture of peach and pear but with an extra kick of pear at the end.

I've showered with it non stop since I got it and can only say this about the scent..when you apply it to your body, you smell peaches but when you wash it off, the pear scent comes out.  If you pour it on your hand and have a smell, it smells like beer.  Rest assured though, you don't smell like a lush once you step out of the shower.

It behaves well as a shower gel, I find that some dry my skin out really badly but this doesn't.  It doesn't really foam up so maybe that's why? It doesn't have a lot of harsh detergent in it?

I was using it in conjunction with the body butter of the same scent which helps smell reinforcement.  This is something that I need as my body seems to reject the smells so you can't even tell I've had a shower.

The body butter takes longer than I'd like for it to sink in but on the plus side, it makes your skin feel really nice and smooth.  I don't think I've had a body butter or moisturiser ever leave my skin feeling this smooth instantaneously.

If you use it on your legs after you've waxed or shaved, your legs will feel like satin.  My legs get dry really quickly when I don't wear tights and they get that horrible white scaley thing going on.  You know what I mean..that white cast.  This has gone a fair way in keeping my legs well moisturised.

The smell fades quickly and isn't overpowering once the butter has sunk in.  When I was using this religiously, I'd go without perfume as it acts well as a smell maker. 

Both items are extremely budget friendly with the shower gel coming in at £2.50 and the body butter is £3.00.  There is also a scrub for the range which is also £2.50.  You can see the rest of the scents available here.

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.

Your mum still buys your..moisturiser?!

A good few weeks ago, I bought my mum three Chanel lippies.  My dad thinks it's wrong for me to spend this much money on her so he made her come shopping with me so she could buy me whatever I wanted.

This is what I got..

I've never seen ANY of these items in Boots before, I had a list of moisturisers I wanted to try, the main one was the vanishing cream which I didn't get as the lady behind the counter told me it wasn't in the offer.  I bought the moisturiser in the middle because it smelled pretty nice, I was going to get the Botanics oil free moisturiser but it smelled of rotting veg.  The eye cream was a last minute addition which I wasn't going to buy but as I could find nothing else I liked, I got it as Boots had their 3 for 2 on.  I swatched it in the shop and it had no glitter (yay!)  My mum was the one who found the glycerin and rosewater toner, I did see it but she was the one who suggested getting it.

I got a Dove heat protection spray but forgot to photograph it.

I picked up these two from The Body Shop:

This is a facial massager which I had wanted for some time..it cost me £6.00/£7.00.

This looks like my facial brush and it just that but a bigger version for your body.  They had quite a few in the store but the lady working there said that this was best for using in the shower.  It cost £5.00. 

I know it looks like I didn't buy that much but I did get a fair amount of clothes which proved too hard to photograph because I was dead on my feet and just shoved them into a cupboard.

If you want reviews of anything, let me know! I know I'm going to review two items already but I'll keep them a secret for now!

Review: SkinMD Natural Shielding Lotion

The first review of February!

I was sent this by SkinMD Natural to trial so I obviously didn't part with any cashola.  Regardless of that, I've had it a good few weeks now and I've tested it properly.  For a while I tested it out at my place with the Mr, then he went to France for a week (he's back now, yay!) and I moved back to my parents.  When I test a multi-person item like this, I make my whole family use it..which is why the reviews usually take a while.

SkinMD claim that it is "far more effective than conventional moisturisers and that it promptly absorbs and transforms the outer layer of skin into a hydrating invisible shield..finest natural ingredients together with a quantum advance in skin hydration..regeneration is fully realiused within a few days".

The bottle

Ingredients

The lotion

What did I think?
The instructions said to use the lotion every 2-8 hours and then every day.  I didn't follow these instructions as I don't think people have time to be moisturising arms and legs that often..I can't see people whacking the legs on their desks during the working day and moisturisng away without getting a few strange looks.

With that in mind, I moisturised whenever I felt I needed to.

I should mention that this cream has been used for anything and everything whilst its been in my possesion.  The Mr used it as a handream, my brothers used it as a handcream and my dad used it as a footcream.  It sounds very unhygienic but as this isn't a tub, it's very easy to just dab some on your hand and be done with it, no risk of cross-contamination.  My mum used it as a night cream and I used it to moisturise my arms and my legs.  Oh, I also used it as a cuticle massager thingy.

How did it work?
In short, VERY WELL.  It's a lotion so it's very light but it really does moisturise your skin well.  I used it on my arms for two consecutive days (as I do with my normal moisturiser) and then I found that I could skip a day and my skin would not be dry.

My brother has really dry hands and he used to moisturise every day but with this lotion, he uses it twice a week and his hands no longer look ashy.

My mum has dry skin and she used to use another cream over night which made her really greasy in the morning, this lotion hydrates and doesn't make her greasy.

My dad had hard skin on the bottom of his feet and this made the softer..he told me this and I wasn't in a rush to check myself!

It's what I've always wanted in a body moisturiser, a lotion that isn't sticky, doesn't take an age to dry and moisturises like a body butter without the added strain of having to rub it in for 5 million years.

Oh, there's no SPF in this bottle but then I don't think it's really needed for a body moisturiser? They do have a version of the lotion with SPF in it which is aimed for the face.

Oh oh, another thing I forgot to mention, there is no palpable smell from this so men won't feel overly girly after having used it and it won't get in the way of your perfume.

Purchase?
I'd buy it.  It seems costly and when I go the bottle I did think it was pretty small but it lasts and lasts and lasts! The fact that it's a lotion means that it's easier to blend in than body butter and it actually moisturises.

SkinMD Natural Shielding Lotion retails for £15.35 and you can buy it from Lloyds Pharmacy.