Three weeks ago, I swapped the Chanel Hydramax cream in my skincare routine (read about my routine here with a new product, The Body Shop Vitamin E Aqua Boost Sorbet. This new addition to the Vitamin E range of The Body Shop seemed really nice, claiming to have a light formula which gave deep hydration, just what my combination skin needed. I have been using this cream since 3 weeks now, in the mornings only, not at night. Read on to know how it fared on me……
CLAIMS
“The Vitamin E Aqua Boost Sorbet, which is a blend of Wheatgerm, Soya Oil and Shea Butter, is the perfect moisturizer for all skin types! This moisturizer is unique because it is nourishing and super light at the same time due to its Aqua Sphere Technology. Our breakthrough product contains microscopic moisture spheres that act like tiny reservoirs and hold hundreds of times their weight in water. Each jar contains over 2 million aqua spheres delivering a 24 hour feed of moisture to your skin!An instant cooling sensation for all day hydration!”
PACKAGING
The Aqua Boost Sorbet comes packaged in a glass jar with a screw-on lid. Some people might have an issue with that since you have to dip your fingers in it. Personally, I don’t mind it since I use it with clean fingers anyway. And obviously, nobody else is going to get their hands in my cream!
TEXTURE, FRAGRANCE AND EFFICACY
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| A blob of the sorbet on my wrist. |
At first look, The Body Shop Vitamin E Aqua Boost appears to have a “grainy” gel-creme texture, something similar to “ghee” – clarified butter (though ghee is not light pink in colour…lol). Sorbet is an apt term to describe it’s texture. It doesn’t feel grainy while applying though. Perhaps those “grains” are the microspheres they mentioned?
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| Doesn’t it look like I’m rubbing “ghee” on my wrist? |
There definitely is a cooling sensation when applying the sorbet which I’m not too fond of given that winter is going to start soon (hopefully). It blends in instantly and gives a total matte look. No dewyness, just matte. So those of you with oily skins should definitely try this out. Actually, it feels more like a primer than a cream when applying! You know the kind of “slip” a primer’s texture has? I’m unable to explain it clearly, but if you try it, you will understand what I mean.
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| And here, all blended in…and totally matte! |
The Aqua Boost Sorbet has a weird but mild clinical kind of smell that I’m not too fond of. Thankfully, it doesn’t linger on my face, but it certainly does on my fingers.
As for the hydration, the matte look defies the hydration you get. My skin didn’t feel dry or stretched after applying this, though after about 5 hours, the T-zone did start start getting oily. I anyway have combination skin which has got a bit dry now that the humidity levels have gone down and the sorbet fared pretty well on me. Those of you who have really dry skin would find this inadequate. Oh, and it didn’t break me out! The rash that I had got was because of a heating face mask!
INGREDIENTS
However, it’s not all hunky-dory with The Body Shop Vitamin E Aqua Boost Sorbet. Take a look at the ingredients and I’ll explain further…
I know, it isn’t too clear, so here are the ingredients taken from TBS’s UK website. I like how they have explained the function of each ingredient:
Aqua/Water (Solvent), Glycerin (Humectant), Dimethicone (Skin Conditioning Agent), Alcohol Denat. (Solvent), Silica (Absorbent), Butyrospermum Parkii Butter/Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter (Skin Conditioning Agent – Emollient), Sodium Acrylates Crosspolymer-2 (Absorbent), Phenoxyethanol (Preservative), Divinyldimethicone/Dimethicone Crosspolymer (Film Former), Ammonium Polyacrylolydimethyl Taurate (Emulsifier), Polysorbate 20 (Emulsifier), Tocopherol (Antioxidant), Triticum Vulgare Germ Oil/Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Oil (Emollient), Glycine Soja Oil/Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil (Emollient/Skin Conditioner), Caprylyl Glycol (Skin Conditioning Agent), Xanthan Gum (Viscosity Modifier), Parfum/Fragrance (Fragrance), Menthol (Fragrance/Cooling Agent), Sodium Hydroxide (pH Adjuster), C12-13 Pareth-23 (Surfactant), Linalool (Fragrance Ingredient), C12-13 Pareth-3 (Emulsifier), Menthoxypropanediol (Flavour), t-Butyl Alcohol (Denaturant), Benzyl Salicylate (Fragrance Ingredient), Geraniol (Fragrance Ingredient), Citric Acid (pH Adjuster), CI 14700/Red 4 (Colorant).
The third ingredient, silicone. Didn’t I say it felt more like a primer than a cream? The ingredient after that, alcohol! Explains the cooling sensation, as does the menthol in it.Along with the silicone and the alcohol, phenoxyethanol also features pretty high up in the list of ingredients. There’s another form of alcohol further down the list as well all of which puts me off a bit, though not so much that I’d stop using it. There are other, high end creams which contain these ingredients as well.
PRICE
A 50ml jar of the Vitamin E Aqua Boost Sorbet costs ₹1195.
MY VIEWS
Initially, I enjoyed using this sorbet, the cooling sensation felt nice in the Bombay heat. I’m not too sure how people living in colder places would like it though. Body Shop should have launched this sorbet in summer! After reading the ingredient list, I feel a bit put off. For the very same price, I can buy the SN-T Plant Stem Cell Cream which worked absolute wonders on my skin and which doesn’t have alcohol either! (read full review here). I wish The Body Shop hadn’t added these ingredients to the sorbet. However, even a high end cream like Chanel Hydramax + Active also has these same ingredients along with parabens (read about it here). So, unless you’re very, very finicky about the ingredients in your moisturiser, the Vitamin E Aqua Boost Sorbet is a good buy.
Disclaimer: PR sample. Honest, unbiased opinion.
Hi dolle can pls say something which can work wonder to get rid of white heads and back neck tanning….pls pls
Hello Dollie,
Fantastic review! My first thought when I saw this on your arm, was that looked very similar to a primer. Then I read the ingredients–this is basically silicones wrapped up in a pretty little jar, lol. These days it seems as if everything contains silicones–I’m happy to at least see parabens were excluded.
-Maria
Heoll
Miss
THe ingredients worry me too! I thought maybe I wont be able to use it as i have oily skin but now that you have confirmed that it would be good for combination skin I might try it…not too sure though.
i love to buy TBS products whenever there is a sale..Nice review ..
thanks Dollie…had been waiting for this review…
Smita| missprettypink