4 of the Best Body Lotions for Any Season!

When the weather begins to heat up, blog readers are often inundated by moisturiser reviews and the focus is generally on getting your body ‘smooth and bikini ready!’ I like to keep my body moisturised all year round, and so have been loving a few bottles of body cream for quite some time now. Winter means scaly skin inundated with indoor heating and summer means air con ravished skin, so whatever weather you are enjoying these products are for you!

I have a bit of an obsession with the Victoria’s Secret body products, and the best I’ve tried is the Amber Romance body lotion which I bought from Sydney airport when I was over for IMATS 2012. A strong mix of “sultry amber and crème anglaise”, this is a ‘sexy’ scent and I am head over heels for it. The lotion itself is thick and moisturising but not greasy or heavy on the skin, which of course means I now want to add to my VS lotion stash as soon as I can! I’ve heard of a website called Secrets on Sale where you are able to buy VS online, have any of my readers ordered from them before? It is so hard to get your hands on here in Australia!

 

In contrast with the heavily scented Amber Romance, the Dove Body Milk* ($8.39/400ml) is a plain creamy scent that I love using when I don’t want my body lotion to clash with my perfume. It sinks in with ease and is more of a light lotion than a body cream (hence the term body milk I suppose!) though it does a really great job of moisturising nevertheless. I would say those who are in hot climates would be drawn to this, as it is a perfect summer lotion to throw on when the sun is blazing and you don’t want to faff around with luxe lotions.

The Clarins Eau des Jardins Smoothing Body Lotion Cream* is definitely the more luxe out of the four mentioned, with a lovely floral scent and a great formula that sinks in fast enough and is thick and nourishing on the skin. I have used and loved the matching Body Wash in this scent before, and the two together is a match made in heaven! The Palmer’s Skin Smoothing Lotion with Alpha/Beta Hydroxy & Shea Butter ($7.40/250ml) is a favourite of Chris’ as it rids him of the dreaded ‘chicken skin’ or keratosis he gets on his upper arms. I believe Palmer’s have repackaged and rebranded (possibly reformulated?) with a mention of anti-aging on the bottle, but if it remains similar it is definitely worth picking up! The scent is quite strong and masculine, and if I’m in the mood for a scented lotion I like keeping my skin smooth with this lotion.

What is your favourite body lotion?

What do you recommend  I buy next?

*Provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

 

 

February Empties

The penny has finally dropped, and I’ve begun finishing things before moving onto something new. Keep in mind I’m talking body/shower products more than anything, I still have a different outlook on makeup usage but I’ll save that for another post. I’m enjoying using something and reviewing it before getting to try something new, it is true what they say about anticipation making things more exciting in this respect!

Palmer’s Cocoa Body Scrub- reviewed here, this was a delight to use and something I will definitely be putting into my shower routine again in the future. Love the creamy but scrubby texture that moisturises my skin without leaving the gross film that others do.

Original Source Orange Oil & Ginger shower gel – love this brand for their tangy and true-to-life scented shower gels. This one was nice but the ginger wasn’t for me, so I probably wouldn’t repurchase this particular scent for myself. Still on the hunt for the choc mint version that I can’t seem to find!

Korres Rose shower gel – as I said in my last empties (in regards to the Guava version) these really didn’t live up to my expectations. They didn’t lather all that well and the scent just seems a bit off, so I’ll be sticking with the lip butters from this brand and leaving their shower gels on the shelf.

Palmolive Body Butter Strawberry Smoother Exfoliating Body Wash – long name, and took a long time to get this one out of my shower. I wanted to love this, I really tried to, but the scent was too artificial and didn’t sit nicely with me at all. Definitely won’t repurchase, though I am tempted to try the Mango version to give Palmolive a chance to redeem themselves…

Watson’s Moisturising Facial Mask with Cucumber Extract – one of my Thailand purchases, but not my favourite from the bunch I picked up there.  I don’t feel like this makes a huge difference to my skin, though it is still a nice sheet mask.

Priceline Round Cotton Pads – I use these to remove eye makeup each night before I go in with my Dermalogica Precleanse for the rest of the face, and they are wonderful. I am trying the Daiso cotton squares at the moment which are much softer, but I still think I might prefer these cotton rounds.

Maybelline Lash Stiletto Voluptuous Mascara – Quite a dry formula that gave my lashes a nice bit of length. I used it up quite a while ago and it has been at Chris’ place so I can’t give a thorough review based on the vague memory of it all.

Norsca Anti-White Clear Sport deodorant– not a fan of this, it did leave white marks for me (being a true Melbourne girl, black rules my wardrobe!) and left me feeling quite damp immediately after application. A nice big can for the price, but the formula was a let down so I won’t be repurchasing.

Rexona Women Crystal deodorant – I kept this mini in my handbag to freshen up after a swim or during a long work day, and I really liked it. I will be repurchasing another for my handbag as soon as I get to Priceline.

 

 

Hopefully there will be some more makeup featured in my next empties…do you find it hard to use up cosmetics as well?

 

Scrubbing with Chocolate // Palmer's Cocoa Body Scrub

Being a total body scrub snob, I initially dismissed the Palmer’s Cocoa body scrub when I bought a cheap pack which contained it alongside a body butter. The idea of a lotion-like scrub filled with sparse particles put me off, but being a fan of the brand I threw it into the shower anyway. I should know by now not to judge a book by its cover (or a product but the formula!) as this silky scrub has changed my opinion of what a body scrub can be. The chocolately scent is pure heaven (and has been helping me steer clear of Smarties…) while the texture of the scrub is really working for me. It is moisturising without leaving a noticeable film behind (pet hate right there!) because of the shea butter, cocoa butter and Palmer’s staple vitamin E, so it is almost like applying a body butter, in the shower! The scrublets in this are actually crushed up cocoa beans, which I think is pretty rad, and they do a top job of smoothing out my skin. All in all, this impressed me greatly considering I didn’t have high hopes for it at all. In fact, since it is only $10.99, I am going to repurchase when the chocolately goodness runs out, lest my skin get mad at me.

 

Are you a fan of foodie scents in the shower? Does the thought of scrubbing yourself with chocolate turn you on, or off?

 

 

*Bought this all by myself. Honesty, always.

bye bye goose man!

Chris had been mentioning that he had developed tiny bumps on his upper arm and bicep, and I was clueless as to how to fix his problem. He said 'you're the beauty blogger!help me!' and so off I went to find out what to do. Okay, so as I googled I became distracted reading some of my favourite blogs, but lo and behold there the answer lay!

Vita from Making Up 4 My Age is one of the sweetest bloggers I know, and she mentioned the Palmer's Skin Smoothing lotion in her empties here. Vita mentioned that it contained alpha/beta hydroxy and worked well at keeping her keratosis (or goose flesh!) under control! I connected the dots and realised that my man was suffering from keratosis as well, so I nicked up to Priceline and picked him up a bottle.

Palmer's Skin Smoothing lotion claims that it will "remove dry skin cells...[and] uncovers healthier looking skin".

The lotion is based on the Palmers cocoa butter formula with vitamin E. Palmer's says that

"This fast-absorbing lotion helps redue the appearance of fine line and wrinkles and evens skin tone. Your skin will feel soft, smooth and healthy with no greasy after-feel."

Chris is much more confident since using this smoothing lotion and his skin is moisturised and goose-flesh free. I am absolutely enthralled with the fresh yet masculine scent it has, and can't help but snuggle up to Chris once he applies it. It's so refreshing to find a product that does exactly what it promises plus more, and is affordable and easy to find.

This is a definite repurchase for me, it is a lovely lotion even without the benefits of the Alpha/Beta Hydroxy, and so Chris is happy to use this each night over any other I've purchased for him. If you suffer from keratosis or know someone who is driven crazy with it, let them know about this!

Palmer's Skin Smoothing Lotion retails for $9.95 for 250ml and is available from Priceline, Target, Kmart, Big W, Price Attack, Hairhouse Warehouse, pharmacies and supermarkets.

More information about Palmer's can be found here.

Have you ever suffered from keratosis?

 What producs from the Palmer's range do you love?

This product was purchased with my own moolah. Honesty, always.