The Body Shop Skincare | Haul

Who doesn't love The Body Shop? I know I do, so much in fact that two years ago I decided to become a Love Your Body member. If you're a big Body Shop lover like myself, you can easily become a member for only £5 a year! You get 10% off every purchase and also receive a free product worth £5 after 4 transactions (that basically pays for the membership itself!) and one for £10 after 8 transactions. One of my favourite perks is that you also receive £5 off any product in your birthday month! As if this isn't tempting enough, you also get emails with exclusive offers and savings, a lot of which are for members only!

I have to admit, I've neglected my membership for a while, and haven't set foot in The Body Shop or browsed it's website for quite some time... Is there a specific reason? Not really... I think the only thing that's deterred me is the fact I have more than enough bath products - countless body butters, scrubs and shower gels... 
Recently however, I've been seeking change in my skincare routine, and what better way to do it at The Body Shop, during a 40% sale!

I have combination skin, whereby my forehead and chin become quite oily yet my nose and around my eyes can become dry and flaky... Not a good look... I also suffer with blemishes, mainly on my forehead and chin, and sometimes my cheeks too. Thankfully, they're not regular guests on my face, and typically appear during that dreaded time of the month (girls, you all know what I mean) or when I'm ill and run-down. Tackling all of these problems can be difficult, as products often work against each other rather than with each other, leaving oily areas oilier, and dry patches drier... The Body Shop offer some great products, and I decided to splash the cash and give some a try...

The first area I wanted to address was the oily areas of my face. The seaweed range of skincare is associated with combination/oily skin, and combats excess oil. I've tried some of the seaweed products before, I think they were in-fact the first Body Shop products I ever purchased... I didn't feel like they did much for my skin at the time, but I was young and naive, chances are I just didn't realise! 
The first thing I picked up was the Seaweed Iconic Clay Mask (£13). The "best seller" label certainly jumped out at me, and I couldn't resist! This face mask aims to purify, cleanse and remove impurities and excess oil, just what I was looking for! It smells very fresh but not at all overpowering. 

As someone who suffers from enlarged and exposed pores, I wanted a product that was able to reduce their appearance without clogging or drying out the surrounding skin... Hence my next purchase of the Seaweed Pore Perfector (£12)! Again, designed for combination/oily skin, this product reduces pore appearance and also helps control blemishes - double bonus! To achieve the best results, it's to be used after cleansing and before moisturising...

My next agenda - dryness... I bought the Aloe Soothing Day Cream (£4-£11), but because I'm an idiot, I only selected the 15ml tub... Fortunately, my idiocracy paid off, because I also accidentally ordered two of them... Hence two tiny 15ml pots of cream... I guess they'll be handy for travelling! Aloe has many great properties, it's great for sensitive skin, is soothing and provides calming moisturisation! The cream is of a light consistency and isn't too thick, has no fragrance and no added preservatives. It helps my skin feel fresh in the morning and leaves it feeling that way throughout the day, and is instantly reviving. Another Body Shop bestseller, and one I'd highly recommend to battle those areas in need of a little re-hydration!

Finally, blemishes, and what better way to banish them than tea tree? As I'm sure most people are aware, tea tree has amazing natural healing abilities. I was instantly drawn to the Tea Tree Oil (£7), as simply dabbing a few drops onto a cotton bud and applying it on the affected areas can get rid of any spots in a matter of hours! The only downside to this product is that it tends to get rid of spots once they've appeared, and the ideal situation is to prevent them altogether... Despite this, it has been my spot-saviour! 

To try and provide a more permanent solution, I also picked up the Tea Tree Cool & Creamy Wash (£5), which gets skin spotlessly clean without over-drying - perfect! I've incorporated this into my daily routine, and have been loving it so far! It also includes Community Fair Trade organic tea tree oil, which makes it all the more special.

As I mentioned earlier, I love The Body Shop and their amazing products! They use some of the best fair trade products from around the globe and never test on animals - factors which clearly shine through in the great quality of pretty much everything they sell.

Are you a Body Shop enthusiast like myself? Have you tried any of the products I've mentioned in this haul, or are there any you swear by yourself? Leave me a comment and let me know!