In the past few years The Body Shop have certainly upped their skin care game. Going from a brand known purely for their body care products to now being seen as one of the best skin care brands on the high street.
Although my personal favourite skincare product from The Body Shop is the Himalayan Charcoal Purifying Glow Face Mask, as it gives outstanding results, I know that their Drops of Youth range has been loved by many for the past few years and has received some glowing reviews both on and offline as a range to use before signs of ageing become visible. Wanting in on the action, I am 29 after all, I've been putting two new products from the Drops of Youth collection to the test and I can say they've slotted into my skincare routine rather nicely.
Drops of Youth Youth Liquid Peel
£18.00/145ml
Peeling Gels have been popular for many years in Asia as they exfoliate well but don't come with the abrasion of a physical exfoliating product such as a scrub, which can be a source of irritation on some skin or just leave the skin red and over scrubbed looking! Making peeling gels an ideal way of going about exfoliation, especially if you are looking for instant results!
This clever gel-to-peel formula gets to work in seconds by massaging a few drops over dry skin. Instantly the gel will start to ball up in little pieces extracting dead skin cells and the day's grime from your skin on a deeper level than cleansing will (you use this on makeup-free clean, dry skin). Not only is this highly satisfying as it's a very visual and texturable process but on washing off the small pieces of residue on the skin you can instantly feel a difference to your skin with it feeling much smoother. With continued use, as something I've seen, the skin starts to look more youthful and brighter. However, as it's removing dead skin build-up which does happen on a day-to-day basis if you defer from using the product 2-3 times a week your skin will pretty much instantly start to feel back to normal, losing that fresh/smooth feel!
On first application of the gel as it does start to ball up instantly I really couldn't believe it was working that well so to put it to the test I decided to use it on one foot only to be able to compare it to the other! Using the same amount as I would for my face, I massaged the gel over areas of dry skin and again it balled up removing dead skin, in fact even more so! This left me with much softer skin and my dry heel problem was nearly resolved... I'm now actually thinking this product could be used anywhere on the body you are wanting to remove the dry/dead skin from, especially the feet in summer!
As peel gels aren't really a 'thing' in the UK I'm so glad The Body Shop have launched this product and really think a lot of people will be thoroughly impressed with the results! The Liquid Peel is also available in the Vitamin C and Drops of Light ranges which I really can't see being too dissimilar from this product.
Drops of Youth Youth Fresh Emulsion SPF 20 PA+++
£22.00/50ml
To follow up from the liquid peel and to help complete a full skincare routine The Body Shop have released Drops of Youth Youth Fresh Emulsion SPF 20; a hydration light cream that helps to reduce signs of fine lines and tired skin, while helping to defend the skin from UVA & UVA rays. This light gel feeling cream can be used in place of your normal moisturiser or alongside it, depending on your skin type and skin needs. Personally, having an oily T-zone and combination skin I see this as a perfect day cream for me, apply just a single pump to my entire face every morning after cleansing.
Feeling fresh and with a typical natural The Body Shop-type scent the emulsion takes a minute or so to fully soak into to skin, leaving zero tacky or product feel to the skin, yet leaving it feeling slightly more plumped and hydrated. Although really oily skin types may want something even lighter that instantly soaks into the skin, this kind of cream works for me and I imagine will suit all other skin types, from sensitive to dehydrated and dry skin if used alongside another cream.
The main benefit for me has to be the addition of SPF 20, which although would probably require topping up on a sunny day (on hot days I would still use an SPF 50 facial sunscreen) means every day my skin has some protection from the sun without clogging my pores or feeling too heavy. This is a huge deal for me as I often skip daily sun protection yet know the anti-aging benefit it can bring! I also like that the emulsion hydrates the skin well, again adding that youthful skin appearance, especially when used in conjunction with the above liquid peel.... in fact I really think these two product work together well.
My only criticism of these products would be the price point, being somewhere between hight street prices and high end, however, once The Body Shop release more new products you can always use one of their generous voucher codes to receive a good discount! I'd also say it's worth trying products in-store first to feel textures etc, even asking for a sample to take home and try first before committing.
Although I have been enjoying both products I feel the star of the show here is the Liquid Peel as it's a pretty unique product and is such a clever way to exfoliate, especially if you still want to use something manual that gives instant results instead of going down the chemical exfoliator route.
Let me know if you've tried any products from the Drops of Youth range!
Fee xo.
