The Body Shop: 3 Masks

After my fabulous experience with The Body Shop's body butters, I decided to try their face masks.  I am a mask person - I use one every week, depending on what my skin seems to need at the time.  That can be moisture, purifying and deep cleaning, exfoliating, or simple stress relief.  While daily cleansing will help remove dirt, makeup, and surface impurities, a mask can treat deeper levels of your skin to correct damage that comes from exposure, pollution, poor diet, perspiration, and stress.

After using each mask a few times, here are my thoughts...

1. Blue Corn 3 in 1 Deep Cleansing Scrub Mask (normal to oily skin)

This is intense, y'all.  It's thick, blue, and smells a little odd, but not bad.  As soon as you put it on, you can feel it opening your pores - it's a slightly cooling and slightly warm feeling at the same time.  The feeling fades as you wear it for about 10 minutes, and as you rinse, the gritty texture exfoliates the skin.  It absorbs oil and helps remove some dead skin, but it's not drying.  I use this when I need some extra cleansing.

2. Tea Tree Mask (best for combinaton skin, or anyone who wants to prevent blemishes)

Another fun feeling when you put it on - this one is very cooling.  It's a smooth consistency, and smells exactly like you'd expect it to - like tea tree oil (fair trade, from Kenya).  It helps absorb oil and refresh the skin.  Leaves you a hair drier than the blue corn mask, but not tight.  You can use it a little more often than the blue corn as well.  I generally use this once every couple of weeks to help prevent any blemishes/excess oil.

3. Warming Mineral Mask (all skin types)

This is a more gentle mask, and the most fun thing about it is the magical heating factor - as you rub it onto your face, it immediately gets really warm to open your pores.  I can't say this mask would make a huge difference on its own, but it's a fun product that could help with deep cleansing when paired with another cleanser.  I keep this one in the shower to use any time.


Price points on all of these are amazing - really cheap!  Good value for the money, and any of these make good additions to your skin care regimen.  Now I want to try ALL of The Body Shop masks - including Aloe (protects and restores sensitive skin), Honey & Oat (for moisturizing and smoothing removing dead skin), Nutriganics (does everything!), Seaweed/Ionic Clay (detoxing), and Vitamin E sink-in mask(deep moisture).  More to come on those as I get to try them!

Body Moisturizers on Parade

I readily admit that I am a body lotion/cream/butter/oil fanatic. I simply don't feel remotely OK with tight or slightly dry skin. I must feel SUPPLE, people!

I blogged last year about Tree Hut's Body Butters, which I still really like, especially the Brazilian Nut scent. http://productsforrealgirls.blogspot.com/2012/08/body-butters-yum.html

Since then, I've tried several other products - thoughts here:

1. L'Occitane Ultra Rich Body Cream with Shea Butter

This doesn't feel as thick and moisturizing as other body butters.  Plus, I don't love the scent; it's not bad, but it's not pleasant, either. The moisture quality is fine, and lasts a good while, but I wasn't wowed by this, especially for $42 a tub. http://www.sephora.com/ultra-rich-body-cream-rich-in-shea-butter-P238001


2. First Aid Beauty, Ultra Repair Cream

The price point is more reasonable for this product; Sephora carries two sizes for $28 and $39.  Still, not cheap.  Again, I don't love the smell.  It's a bit menthol-y and fresh. It's also not super thick - it's more whipped and light.  I don't feel like it soaks into my skin much.  It seems to create a soft, moisturized layer on top of my skin instead of really absorbing. The benefit of this one seems to be that it can be used for all types of skin allergies and irritations/disorders, and it can be used on the body AND the face. 

http://www.sephora.com/ultra-repair-cream-P248407

3. The Body Shop, Shea Body Butter

Here, I stumbled on my new favorite body butter! It's made with Fair Trade ingredients, and comes in a myriad of scents. The shea happens to be my favorite, as it's a yummy scent that's not overpowering.  This is much thicker than other body butters, but soaks in beautifully and leaves me feeling moisturized for hours. It even makes freshly-shaven legs feels amazing, which can be tricky.  Best of all?  The price is great.  The JUMBO is on sale for $15, typically $25.  That's a lot more product than other brands.  http://www.thebodyshop-usa.com/shop-by-line/shea/jumbo-body-butter-shea.aspx

In some instances, I recommend spending more for beauty products, but this is one instance where higher dollars doesn't seem to always mean a better experience.  After buying this body butter, I decided to grab a few other Body Shop products that are highly rated, and will be blogging about those soon...