The Body Shop Honey Bronze Face Gel & Tinted Leg Mist

My neck and body have gone on a vacation, while my face has been living in Antarctica. Thus, I've come to the realization that I should probably take a break from my Asian "whitening" skincare products, as there is now a massive difference between the colour of my face and the colour of my neck and body. What's been helping me out? The Body Shop Honey Bronze Face Gel ($16). And while my legs are darker than my face, they're still a little pasty-looking from winter so The Body Shop Tinted Leg Mist ($20) has been helping me get my Summer glow on. 

The Body Shop Honey Bronze Face Gel

The Body Shop Honey Bronze Face Gel smells exactly like The Body Shop Honey Bronze Highlighting Domes, a light floral/sweet scent. It could bother some but it fades away within 5-10 minutes of application. The gel feels super light weight, almost watery in texture and slightly cooling.  The colour is a tad orange but extremely sheer and subtle without a trace of shimmer/glitter/iridescence, perfect for matching for my light-borderline-medium complexion to the rest of my body. The gel texture of the product sinks immediately into the skin, lasts ~6 hours and it's neither moisturizing nor drying. 

The Body Shop Honey Bronze Tinted Leg Mist

The word "mist" is misleading. The spraying contraption atop the Honey Bronze Tinted Leg Mist is kind of messy and sprays more product than you'd expect. It's runny and you'll definitely need your hands to distribute the product. A word of warning, you might want to apply this naked (or with minimal clothing) because it will stain. The good news? It's not at all streaky or shimmery. The colouring of the Honey Bronze Tinted Leg Mist is a little more potent than that of the Face Gel. Furthermore, it's slightly less orange and more bronze. Again, it works perfectly with my colouring for a subtle yet sun kissed tan. I have yet to experience the product transferring onto my clothing and it seems to last until I shower the product off. 

It's important to note that both the Honey Bronze Face Gel and Honey Bronze Tinted Leg Mist are non-permanent, wash-off tanning products. Overall, they both serve they're purpose. Since I'm working in an office this summer,  I'll happily be using these to look like I went on a vacation without needing to sit out in the sun! 

Do you use bronzing products on your face or body to colour correct? 

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The Body Shop Honey Bronze Highlighting Domes in 01, 02 & 03

The Body Shop has expanded its Honey Bronze collection. The Body Shop Honey Bronze Highlighting Domes ($16 each) in the shades 01 (bronze), 02 (champagne), 03 (pink) are the collections latest makeup additions. 

The name for these products is quite confusing. As far as I’m aware, if you’re within the range of very fair to quite tan, only one of these is a highlighter (shade 02). The other two (shade 01 and 03) would be more suitably named as both blushes or bronzer and blush. 

Names aside, the product is housed in a cute little dome. Upon opening the dome’s plastic top, you get a sweet fragrance (presumably the Ethiopian fair trade honey). I’d describe the texture as a … waxy cream. All three are not particularly smooth but feel lightweight on the face, perhaps a touch gritty due to the shimmer particles. 

The colour pink and champagne colours are soft and sheer but buildable with multiple swipes and fairly blendable with fingertips.  In terms of shade, I think the pink and champagne colours will suit most people. The bronzer appears slightly muddy on my face and I find it patchy when blending. The shimmer for all three is on the verge of being too much but it’s not over glittery and right at my level of sparkle-tolerance. 

The colour lasts 4-5 hours on my cheeks but a slight shimmer can remain for the entirety of a day. 

Overall, they aren’t particularly ground-breaking but The Body Shop Honey Bronze Highlighting Domes are easy-to-use (just swipe, blend, and go) and thus are good option if you’re looking for a shimmery highlighter, blush, or bronzer that’s travel-friendly.  Lovely new additions to The Body Shop Honey Bronze Collection! 

Have you tried the Body Shop Honey Bronze Highlighting Domes? 

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The Body Shop Virgin Mojito Body Scrub & Body Butter

Like happy hour for your body and a vacation for your nose, the limited edition Virgin Mojito Body Range from The Body Shop is right up my alley. The scent is on par with my love for all things citrus. There isn’t a hint of lime so much as a punch. It’s an acidic and powerfully refreshing scent that leaves your body and bathroom smelling like a party (minus the alcohol and sweat) as soon as you step out of the shower. 

Not much to say about The Body Shop Virgin Mojito Body Butter ($20) other than that the Body Butters are my fave hydration product from The Body Shop. This one is no exception and the scent makes it even better buy. 

As for The Body Shop Virgin Mojito Body Scrub ($22), I find that it’s less of a scrub and more of a gel with little beads that aren’t quite abrasive enough to remove dead skin. If you’re into non-abrasive, gentle body scrubs then this product is better suited for you than me. Don’t get me wrong. Scrubbing properties aside, it’s a good body wash that leaves me feeling clean and smelling nice. I’m still going to use it. 

Overall, I’m highly in love with The Body Shop Virgin Mojito Body Range. If you like strong citrus scents, be sure to check this out because I have a feeling this limited edition will get swept up quite quickly. That being said, instead of typing away at my laptop in a cold, air-conditioned office on weekdays, I’d like to slather Virgin Mojito all over my body and laze in the sun all day long. 

Have you smelled the Virgin Mojito line? 

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The Body Shop Matte Kajal Eyeliners in Black & White

If I could only own two shades of eyeliner, I would have a black and a white. The Body Shop has recently released the Matte Kajal Eyeliners in both Black and White ($15 each). At a glance, my first thought when seeing these eyeliners was "HOW IN THE WORLD DO I SHARPEN THESE?", but upon testing them out, I began to realize that it didn't really matter... 

The Body Shop says that their Matte Kajal Eyeliners enriched with Community Fair Trade Beeswax from Cameroon are perfect for creating a smokey eye, easy to use, and smooth to apply. 

While the product is quite pigmented, they're by no means super duper ultra-black or white. The shapely handle of the liner does, indeed, make the product easy to use but the product itself isn't great for lining the lids because of the tip isn't precise. 

Now back to my thing about sharpening... I was a bit mind-boggled. Anyways, the eyeliner is a bit too fat to create a precise line and it's clear that without some sort of sharpening mechanism the more you use it, the less and less precise the liner will become. BUT if I don't set the black, it transfers immediately onto my hooded crease and setting my eyeliner is a step that I'm too lazy to take. That being said, the Kajal Eyeliners smudge wonderfully and when set last about 8 hours. So, the Body Shop Matte Kajal eyeliners are much better as cream eyeshadow bases. Think NYX Eyeshadow Pencils in Milk and Black Bean but a little less sticky and longer lasting. 

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Tea Time with The Body Shop Fuji Green Tea Body Wash, Exfoliating Soap & Body Lotion

It’s tea time. But don’t drink this tea. Slather it all over your body. 

The Body Shop recently released its Fuji Green Tea line – a range with everything from the classics (body wash, fragrance, body butters, etc) and gift sets to a bath tea, along with a matching bath infuser… all infused with antioxidant green tea from Japan! The Fuji Green Tea scent is fresh and crisp yet subtle. It’s not sweet nor is it floral. I like to think this is the aroma of a shirtless, handsome man after climbing Mount Fuji in Japan. 

Scent aside, The Body Shop products perform well, as expected. The Body Shop Fuji Green Tea Body Wash ($9), which contains Community Fair Trade honey from the UNESCO Sheka Forest Biosphere Reserve in Ethiopia, lathers quite nicely without drying out the skin. 

The Body Shop Fuji Green Tea Exfoliating Soap ($6) was surprisingly gritty, in the best way possible. The scrubbiness of the exfoliating soap is perfect for all over the body, especially in my areas prone to skin flakies like the back of my upper arms, elbows, and legs. The soap contains Community Fair Trade Shea Butter from Ghana but what’s impressive is not the moisturizing properties of the soap but its ability to schluff away dead skin cells. 

Finally, The Body Shop Fuji Green Tea Body Lotion ($13) is infused with sesame oil and provides lightweight hydration. I hadn’t tried a lotion from The Body Shop in years. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it was quite a rich lotion (but not as thick as the Body Butters) that sank into my skin in an instant.

Unlike other scents from The Body Shop, this one doesn’t leave my shower smelling like candy. Besides that, I’ve been appreciating a scent that’s a little more subtle and clean than my typical smell-me-I-smell-like-fake-fruits! (though The Body Shop does have that as an option). 

Do you like the scent of green tea? 

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The Body Shop Lip & Cheek Velvet Sticks in Universal and 40 Red

New at the Body Shop are the Body Shop Lip & Cheek Velvet Sticks ($15). These adorable little crayon products are multi-purpose for use as either a blush or lippie. There are 6 shades available - 10 nude, 20 pink, 30 bronze, 35 coral, 40 red, and universal. I got two to review, 40 Red and Universal. 

LEFT - Universal; RIGHT - 40 Red

Formulated with Community Fair Trade Marula Oil, the Body Shop Lip & Cheek Velvet Sticks are meant to be matte and a decadent velvety smooth texture. Yes sir-ee, the Lip & Cheek Velvet Sticks are smooth as velvet and also smell of a subtle floral. They feel like almost like a non-hard yet pigmented lip balm (think a drier EOS with a punch of colour). On both the cheeks and lips the product appears matte. 

40 Red is a poppy red colour, while Universal appears black in the tube but has a pH-matching feature that adapts to your skintone. On me, the Universal shade turns into a rich purple-y pink. Both colours are about 60% opacity. If you want full-coverage pigmentation, you'd have to pass over the lips a couple times. 

LEFT - 40 Red; RIGHT - Universal

On the Cheeks: Three stripes of colour on the face and then blend away with the fingertips. It's creamy yet it dries down to a soft, non-dewy powdery finish. Super easy to use on the cheeks. Furthermore, the product lasts on my face for 6-ish hours which is more than standard for my oily skin. 

On the Lips: While the chubby crayon stick packaging is not particularly helpful for a sharp lip line, it feels soft and doesn't skip or pull at the lips. As aforementioned, it feels much like a dry balm. The colour wears down after 2-3 hours and both the red and universal leave a bitten/popsicle kind of stain. 

Overall, I likey. The stick form makes the product super easy to toss in your purse for on-the-go. And more importantly, the product performs. 

Have you tried the new Body Shop Lip & Cheek Velvet Sticks? 

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The Body Shop Smoky Poppy Poppy Seed Body Scrub

Valentine's Day may be long gone but you can still feel sexy with the Smoky Poppy scent from the Body Shop. Early this year, the Body Shop released a line of Smoky Poppy scented products - from bath bombs, body butters, massage oils, perfumes, and shower gels. If you a sultry scent, then you can upgrade your entire body care routine into this. I've attempted to incorporate the Body Shop Smoky Poppy Poppy Seed Body Scrub ($20) into my shower routine. 

Admittedly, this scent is not for me. It's one of the sexiest scents I've ever smelled. It smells good but I'm preferential to fruity scents (mango, satsuma, vineyard peach) and very light florals. Smoky Poppy reminds me more of a deeper floral perfume. It's not overly heavy but it's more sexy and euphoric than sweet. 

As for the product, I like the idea behind the ingredients (as with most of products from the Body Shop). The scrub contains Community Fair Trade Cane Sugar from Paraguay. The poppy seeds are a very gentle exfoliant. I find that they're not as concentrated or as harsh as I'd like them to be for a deep-cleaning exfoliation. 

Overall, while the product works and the scent is nice, the Body Shop Smoky Poppy Poppy Seed just wasn't for me. Perhaps if you have more sensitive skin or like a sexy, sultry scent, then this product would be better suited for your needs. 

Have you smelled the Smoky Poppy scent from the Body Shop? 

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Last Minute Gifts from the Body Shop

Today marks two days until Christmas, so if you still have gifts to buy, then the Body Shop is a great place to shop for everyone on your list (because everyone needs skincare, body wash, shampoo, and fragrance). 

The Body Shop Glazed Apple Body Butter ($20) 

A new scent this holiday season, the Body Shop has released a plethora of Glazed Apple products including bath sprinkles, body polish, lip balm, fragrance oil, bath jelly, hand cream, and more. I opted to review favourite product from the Body Shop - the Body Butter. The Glazed Apple Body Butter looks and feels just as amazing as others I've tried - smooth, hydrating, thick and creamy. As for the Glazed  Apple scent, I expected it to be a bit more bright and punchy (like the scent of green apple) but this Glazed Apple scent is more subdued and sugary. 

The Lip and Cheek Doll  ($15) 

The Body Shop Lip and Cheek Doll is the perfect stocking stuffer for any beauty lover. The special edition Geisha doll packaging is adorable while the product inside (the Body Shop Lip and Cheek Stain) is a bright, warm red with subtle hints of golden shimmer running through it. On both the cheeks and lips, this dual-purpose product can be worm as a natural flush or can be built up for a bolder look. 

The Body Shop Strawberry Premium Selection ($45)

Give a loved one this entire set or separate the set into smaller gifts. The Body Shop Strawberry Premium selection is pre-packaged in a gorgeous red box wrapped up with a silver bow. Inside, there's the Strawberry Body Butter, Strawberry Body Polish, Strawberry Body Mist, Strawberry Lip Butter, and a Red Mini Loofah (a total value of $59!). Personally, I'm not a fan of the Body Shop's Strawberry scent but this set will be going to a home that I know will appreciate it much, much more. Luckily, the same set also comes in Olive, Pink Grapefruit, Satsuma, Shea, Wild Argan, Moringa, Coconut, and Mango, for those of you who like a bit of selection. 

And there you have it! Three quick gifts from the Body Shop - a body butter, a makeup item, and a set. The Body Shop has on-going sales, so the prices of these items are likely less than the full retail prices shown here. Plus, if you wait until Boxing Day, you can stock up! 

Do you have all your Christmas shopping finished or are you a last-minute person? 

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Sweater Weather Nail Art Inspired by Tim Horton's Coffee Cups

HAPPY DECEMBER! I don't drink coffee but I purchased one solely for the purpose of pairing the Tim Horton's holiday cup design with my nails. Silly me got a small instead of a regular and ended up with a brown cup instead of a red one ._. whooops. Anyways, behold the sweater-inspired nails! 

There's not much to it. I did my nails like I normally would using a base coat (Essie First Base) and a couple coats of my current favourite winter red (Essie Plumberry). For the sweater pattern, I dipped the finer side of the Body Shop Nail Art Pen into a white polish (Quo by Orly Purity*) and carefully drew a combination of dots and lines onto my nails. It's pretty simple, granted it did take quite a bit of time. For the snowflake-esque nail (ring finger), I used a bit of scotch tape to create clean lines that were not so simple with the Body Shop Nail Pen*. To seal in the deal, I used my favourite gel top coat that's supposed to be paired with the Revlon Gel Envy Base + Color polishes but I use it with everything (Revlon ColorStay Gel Envy Diamond Top Coat*). 

Products Used: Essie First Base, Essie Plumberry, Quo by Orly Purity*, Revlon Gel Envy Diamond Top Coat*, The Body Shop Nail Pen* 

The Body Shop Nail Pen ($6) is truly the star of the show in this little nail art design. Contrary to the name, the Body Shop Nail Pen is actually a dual-ended DOTTING TOOL. I used it to draw fine lines and make polka dots. Although the fine point does not create lines quite as precise as a striping tool or tape but it does the trick if it's the only tool you've got on hand. 

In all honesty, this wasn't the simplest or quickest of nail art designs, but the end result proved to be worth it. I must have received 5+ compliments for each day I wore this out albeit... they were probably only looking at my left hand. 

What do you think of this nail art design? What are you wearing on your nails this holiday season? 

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The Body Shop Colour Crush Nail Polishes [Crimson Kiss, Frosting Fancy, Pink Cream, Meet Me at Dusk, Peach Babe, Mint Cream & Got the Blues]

Me and nail polish, we're good friends. New formulas from different brands are always fun. New and shiny at the Body Shop is the Colour Crush Nail Polish ($6 each). The formula boasts "nail-loving" (enriched with Marula Oil) , quick drying, and high gloss. It's also vegan-friendly and 5-free in 24 shades. I tried a combination of brights, pastels, and one dark colour - Crimson Kiss, Frosting Fancy, Pink Cream, Meet Me at Dusk, Peach Babe, Mint Cream, and Got the Blues. 

The brush is square and medium in width, allowing for one layer of polish to be applied in three easy swipes. The nice thing about these polishes is that the formula is consistent. From the darkest to the lightest colours (with the exception of Pink Cream), all of the polishes require two coats for full opacity. Furthermore, the polishes lasted me 4 days before chipping, which is pretty impressive. 

The "quick dry" claims are very, very true. I'm a fidgety person notorious for getting polish on white shirts and laptop keyboards. I can only wait 2-3 minutes between coats. So far, I haven't experienced any sort of smudges or accident. 

The "high shine" claim only just met my expectation. If you like ultra-shiny nails, you'll still want to add a top-coat. As for the "nail loving", I can't really say. None of these polishes stained my nails nor have I seen dramatic results to my nail health. Perhaps we shall see in the long run... 

Anyways, time for swatches!! (warning... very photo heavy!!) :) 

110 Crimson Kiss

810 Frosting Fancy

340 Pink Cream

820 Meet Me at Dusk

220 Peach Babe

640 Mint Cream

620 Got the Blues

All in all, a high-perfoming formula of nail polish that's vegan-friendly and nail-friendly. These polishes definitely exceeded my expectations in terms of colour and lasting-power. Beyond the 7 Body Shop Colour Crush Nail Polish shades shown here, there are 17 more beautiful colours available... all for $6 each, too! Keep in mind that the Body Shop almost always has some sort of deal both online and in-stores, so you can definitely snag these awesome polishes for even less and get more bang for your buck. 

Which colours of the Body Shop Colour Crush Nail Polish would you like to try? 

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The Body Shop Tea Tree Flawless BB Cream in Medium

Tea tree oil is the natural alternative to harsh chemical acne treatments. Now here's an ingenious thought, mix little tea tree oil into some BB cream and you get the skin-evening of a foundation product with the blemish-fighting properties of tea tree oil aka the The Body Shop Tea Tree Flawless BB Cream ($15, available July 2014). 

The bottle appears to be tiny ("fun size"). In actuality, a regular sized foundation is 30 mL or 1 fl. oz. So, in fact, the 40 mL Body Shop Tea Tree Flawless BB Cream contains more product for approximately the same price as a drugstore foundation (in Canada).  The shade range isn't amazing but at least there's options - light, medium, and dark. 

For a couple years, I've been using tea tree oil as a spot treatment. I'm also a huge fan of The Body Shop Tea Tree Exfoliating Wash. For the most part, tea tree is a disinfectant. The antibacterial properties are then, in turn, meant to prevent and heal blemishes. As for the blemish-clearing and preventing of the Body Shop Tea Tree Flawless BB Cream, it seems to be working. I've been using the Body Shop Tea Tree Flawless BB Cream about every other day for the past couple weeks. I've had blemishes (due to a special time of the month) but they've cleared up quite quickly. I'm sure that's the tea tree doing its job. 

The Body Shop Tea Tree Flawless BB Cream has two simple claims - "instantly spotless-looking skin" and "natural-looking shine-free coverage". Luckily, it delivers. The coverage is slightly heavier than just light, sheer, and non-existent. The product evens out the redness on my nose and the acne-scarring around my mouth. The product itself is extremely thin and feels like nothing on the face. It's easy to smooth out, even in dry areas such as my nose. 

The finish is natural but not completely shine-free. At the beginning of the day, I need to apply powder to my nose and t-zone and the BB cream will last up to 7 hours. The colour "Medium" is slightly too tan for me but I'm in the spring-summer transition, so hopefully within the next few weeks it will be the perfect match! ...The only thing that's missing is the SPF! Sun protection, where are you? 

Overall, I really like this BB cream, certainly more so than the others that I've reviewed previously (RoC, Biotherm Aquasource, Rimmel, and Lioele). It's a decent colour match and a natural looking finish. Plus, with the added ingredient that is blemish-treating tea tree oil, I'm quite enjoying slathering this stuff all over my face on the daily. 

Do you use tea tree oil in your skincare routine? 

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