April empties - Origins, L'Occitane, Saaf, Korres, The Bath House, The Body Shop

Body Shop massage oil – I wanted to like this, but I was disappointed. It sounded promising and exotic, but it smells too much of ginger. It might as well be called Ginger massage oil. I would not repurchase as there are other oils in the range.

Saaf face oil serum – love a facial oil. My face is dry and needs hydrating throughout the year. Have already repurchased. I’m very interested in this range of products. 

L’Occitane Jasmine and Green Tea soap 100g – love this and I’ve already repurchased, it looks like it’s discontinued but it sometimes crops up during sales so I stock up whenever I see it.

Origins Night-A-Mins 30ml sample – I've been using silicone-free products lately so this feels way too silicone-y for me and I didn’t really notice much difference after regular use either. I wouldn't repurchase. 

L’Occitane Verbena shower gel 500ml – this massive body wash came as part of a gift set of Verbena products from L’Occitane. I love the authentic fresh fragrance of this body wash, but don’t love the drying sulfates, would repurchase only if L’Occitane ever decide to reformulate to remove the SLES.

L’Occitane Mango flower hand cream 30ml – this is one of the really thick formulations that I prefer to use in cooler weather (the summer ones have more of a gel consistency). I’m not crazy about the fragrance. I have other hand creams in the stash.

Korres Guava Lip Butter – I really like this. I don’t wear this during the day as this guava one turns your lips white, but I use it each night as an overnight treatment. I used to wake up with parched lips each morning and the first thing I’d reach for would be a lip balm, but this works at keeping the lips hydrated. I’m not keen on the ingredients though, looks like there’s nothing but a bunch of plastic in there. I have the Pomegranate one to try next.

Pretty Perfect Orange Blossom shower gel – a sulfate-free body wash bought on clearance from TKMaxx. Great scent, quite unisex with sandalwood. Would repurchase, but I believe this is discontinued. The Bath House offer several other fragrances.

L'Occitane Verbena shower gel review

L’Occitane Verbena shower gel 500ml – this massive body wash came as part of a gift set of Verbena products from L’Occitane which also included the shampoo, body lotion, the shea butter and bonne mere soaps and a hand cream. The usual 250ml size offered is £13 and a 500ml eco refill pouch is £19.50. 

I grow lemon verbena plants outside in the garden in pots each year (it's tender so I have to bring the pots in for winter) and I love the authentic fresh fragrance of this body wash, but what I don’t love is the presence of drying sulphates and I would repurchase only if L’Occitane ever decide to reformulate to remove the SLES.

Here's a list of the ingredients:

Aqua, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Coco-Glucoside, PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate, Sodium Chloride, Lippia Citriodora Flower Extract, PEG-120 Methyl Glucose Dioleate, Parfum, Magnesium Nitrate, Magnesium Chloride, Methylisothiazolinone, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Propylene Glycol, Tocopherol, Benzyl Benzoate, Citral, Geraniol, Hexyl Cinnamal, Cotronellol, Limonene, Linalool, Gardenia Florida Fruit Extract, Cl 42090/Blue 1, Cl 19140/Yellow 5, Cl 14700/Red 4.

i Coloniali Refreshing Shower Gel of Japanese Yuzu review

i Coloniali Refreshing Shower Gel of Japanese Yuzu – Oh, i Coloniali, you put me in such a quandary. On the one hand, you have some of the most indulgent and exotically fragranced products I’ve ever used, on the other hand, you put glycols, parabens and sometimes a dash of mineral oil in your products and that puts me right off. My favourite products from i Coloniali are the solid soap bars and the mango soft shaving soap. 

This 150ml shower gel was a gift with purchase from Marks & Spencer when I bought some of the soap and I’d ignored it because of the ingredients, but thought I’d use it up this month just to be done with it - by the end of the year I aim to be using more natural products. It has the usual intoxicating i Coloniali fragrance that you’ll recognise immediately if you’ve ever tried anything from their body line, but with an extra kick of menthol to give you a morning jolt in the shower. 

Overall, I ignored the ingredients list and ended up enjoying using this and have to admit that I didn’t totally dry out with the SLES. I wouldn’t purchase again unless it was reformulated, but that signature i Coloniali scent keeps pulling me back. I wish they bottled it and sold it as an EDT, I’d wear nothing else.

Here are the ingredients:

Aqua, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Parfum, Acrylates Copolymer, Glycerin, Sodium PEG-7 Olive Oil Carboxylate, Citric Acid, Limonene, Methylparaben, Sodium Salicylate, Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, Menthol, Benzyl Salicylate, Tetrasodium EDTA, Citrus Junos Peel Oil, Menthyl Lactate, Sodium Hydroxide, BHT, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, PPG-26-Butheth-26.

Yikes!

Unique Nature Organic Shampoo and Conditioner review

You can’t rely on TKMaxx having your favourite brands, but they usually have an eclectic mix of salon brands and organic natural brands that's well worth having a root around. Unique Nature is a BUAV approved Danish company and I picked up these huge bottles of sulphate free shampoo and silicone free conditioner. These 1 litre bottles have a pump dispenser and herbal scent. 

Being SLS and SLES free (although there is Sodium Coco-Sulfate in there), the shampoo doesn't lather up too much, but I don't mind that, as long as it gets my hair clean without stripping it and irritating my scalp. Here are the ingredients:

Aqua, Whey, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Decyl Glucoside, Sodium Coco-Sulfate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Centaurea Cyanus Flower Water, Glycerin, Xanthan Gum, Sodium PCA, Taraxacum Officinale Leaf Extract, Alcohol, Sodium Beznoate, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid, Perfume, Citral, Limonene.

I like the conditioner as it's effective and silicione free, plus I find it easy to rinse out and it doesn't leave that familiar sticky silicone residue. Here are the ingredients:

Aqua, Whey, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Ceterayl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Cocoglycerides, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter Extract, Glycerin, Octyldodecanol, Coco-Glucoside, Glyceryl Oleate, Centaurea Cyanus Flower Water, Helianthus Annus, Taraxacum Officinalis Leaf Extract, Alcohol, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Sodium Benzoate, Perfume, Potassium Sorbate, Citric Acid, Hydrogenated Palm Glycerides Citrate, Tocopherol, Citral, Limonene.

These are good for someone who wants to try a more natural hair product and I would repurchase if I ever see them again.