The Body Shop is one of my favourite brands – not only for bath and body care but also for skincare – and I always am very excited when I hear about their new launches. In the month of February, they had a few new skincare launches of which I am going to review 3 – the Japanese Matcha Tea Pollution Clearing Mask, the British Rose Petal-Soft Gel Toner, and the Chinese Ginseng & Rice Clarifying Polishing Powder. Usually, with skincare products, I try them out for at least 2-3 weeks before reviewing them but for products such as face masks, toners and washes you do get a good idea of their efficacy after a week of use. So here are my thoughts on these new launches.
The Body Shop Japanese Matcha Tea Pollution Clearing Mask
Price ₹1,895 / 75ml . Available here.
“Enriched with matcha green tea from Kakegawa, Japan, dandelion extract and soul-soothing Community Trade aloe vera from Mexico, our indulgently creamy, 100% vegan masking formula deeply purifies, gently exfoliates and liberates your skin from the weekly build-up of city pollutants and everyday impurities.”
The Body Shop Japanese Matcha Tea Pollution Clearing Mask is the latest addition to their Superfood face mask range. It is a pale mint green, creamy mask with tiny brown flecks in it which is apricot seed powder. It has the refreshing fragrance of green tea too. Because of the apricot seed powder, this is a mask and exfoliant in one so you feel like you’ve given yourself a mini-facial when you use this.
While this is a clay-based mask, it doesn’t feel as drying as other clay or mud masks do because it also has hydrating and nourishing ingredients such as olive oil, glycerine, shea butter, aloe vera extract and dandelion root extract along with, of course, the Japanese Matcha Tea leaves. I have used it 4 times so far and love how gentle it is and yet how fresh, clean and radiant it makes my skin look. The key ingredients in this mask are:
- Japanese Matcha Tea, known for it’s anti-oxidant properties for healthier looking skin.
- Dandelion extracts from France for it’s ability to reduce the negative effects of environmental aggressors on skin.
- Community Trade organic Aloe Vera from Mexico for it’s calming and soothing properties on skin.
Ingredients
Aqua/Water/Eau, Kaolin, Propanediol, Olea Europaea Fruit Oil/Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, Luffa Cylindrica Fruit, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter/Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Phenoxyethanol, Parfum/Fragrance, Caprylyl Glycol, Polysorbate 60, Sodium Polyacrylate, Prunus Armeniaca Seed Powder/Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Seed Powder, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice Powder, Tocopherol, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Taraxacum Officinale Rhizome/Root Extract/Taraxacum Officinale (Dandelion) Rhizome/Root Extract, Menthol, Sodium Hydroxide, Tetrasodium Pyrophosphate, Limonene, Citric Acid, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, Caramel, CI 19140/Yellow 5, CI 42090/Blue 1.
The Body Shop British Rose Petal-Soft Gel Toner
Price ₹ 1,695 / 250 ml
“Enriched with real rose petals and organic Community Trade aloe vera from Mexico, our extra-gentle, alcohol-free formula leaves skin feeling soft, soothed and replenished.”
I am IN LOVE with this one! The Body Shop British Rose Petal-Soft Gel Toner is one of the most unique toners I have ever tried and I would call this instant-hydration-in-a-bottle. It is 100% Vegan and mentions that it is formulated without alcohol though there is Benzyl Alcohol listed among the ingredients. However, when I did a bit of research on this, I found out this…
“Many alcohol-free products would appear to non-scientists to actually contain alcohols, as close examination of the ingredient list may reveal compounds such as phenoxyethanol, cetyl alcohol, benzyl alcohol or many other variations. Strictly speaking, the products are “ethanol-free”. The old term for ethanol was ethyl alcohol – hence the use of the word “alcohol”.
These products are still “alcohol-free”. The reason for the apparent confusion is the difference between the terms used by scientists and those used by the general public. To the layman, beer, wines and spirits, etc. contain alcohol; to the scientist, they contain ethanol. To the layman, alcohol is a single substance, but scientifically speaking the term describes a whole group of substances with differing properties.” (source)
Ergo, it is indeed alcohol-free.
This toner looks good enough to drink! And it has the same heavenly fragrance that the other products in the British Rose range have. I have been using this toner every day after cleansing my face morning and night and I love how soft and smooth it makes my skin adding a layer of hydration before I apply moisturiser. Initially, I applied it using a cotton pad as is the recommended way but seeing how pulpy and thick it is, I now just take a little blob of it and smooth it all over my face. If any rose petals are stuck on the face, they come off when I smoothe on the moisturiser. Of course, I wait a couple of minutes for the gel to get absorbed a bit before applying the moisturiser. So, in a way, I use it more like a hydrating essence rather than a “toner” in a traditional sense. If you have dry or dehydrated skin, I highly highly recommend this one. Those with oily skin might not like it though.
Ingredients
Aqua/Water/Eau, Propanediol, Methyl Gluceth-20, PPG-26-Buteth-26, Glycerin, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, Parfum/Fragrance, Ethylhexylglycerin, Caprylhydroxamic Acid, Rosa Gallica Flower Powder, Panthenol, Sodium Hydroxide, Methylpropanediol, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Rose Extract, PEG-30 Dipolyhydroxystearate, Trideceth-6, Benzyl Salicylate, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice Powder, Limonene, Benzyl Alcohol, Citronellol, Geraniol, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Linalool, Citric Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate.
The Body Shop Chinese Ginseng & Rice Clarifying Polishing Powder
Price ₹1,295 / 33gm.
“Enriched with Chinese rice and ginseng extract and organic Community Trade sesame seed oil from Nicaragua, simply mix this gently cleansing powder with water to customise its exfoliating power, leaving skin feeling instantly smoother and with a more even, illuminated complexion. “
If you’re a regular reader of my blog or follow me on social media, you would know that I love using rice flour in my DIY skincare masks and scrubs. In fact, I even use leftover Dosa batter as an all over body scrub because rice flour, while being a great exfoliant and making skin smooth, is also very gentle and can be used by those with sensitive skins too! You can check out my skincare hacks video here.
The first time I used TheBody Shop Chinese Ginseng & Rice Clarifying Polishing Powder, a light bulb flashed in my mind that went “Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant” because this is nearly identical to that in terms of texture and efficacy. I haven’t compared the ingredients yet, however so can’t comment on that.
Don’t mistake this for a makeup remover though, because it is not one. This Ginseng & Rice Clarifying powder is meant to be used on makeup-free skin so at night I use it after removing my makeup with a cleansing balm. This makes the skin so smooooooooooooth that the skincare products you apply after it just glide on. And get absorbed better too. My skin also appears brighter after cleansing with this. Since this is a powder, it is great for travel and also doubles up as a face mask for when you’re travelling. Just mix with water to make a paste, apply and leave on for a couple of minutes before scrubbing and rinsing it off. Bright, smooth skin in minutes. I love it!
Ingredients
Talc, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Perlite, Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Parfum/Fragrance, Tapioca Starch, Aqua/Water/Eau, Sesamum Indicum Seed Oil/Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil, Maltodextrin, Salicylic Acid, Allantoin, Limonene, Carica Papaya Fruit Extract/Carica Papaya (Papaya) Fruit Extract, Propylene Glycol, Panax Ginseng Root Extract/Panax Ginseng (Ginseng) Root Extract, Citral, Citronellol, Linalool, Eugenol, Dextrin, Oryza Sativa Extract/Oryza Sativa (Rice) Extract.
To Sum It Up
As you can tell by this post, I absolutely LOVE all these 3 new launches – they are all very effective, deliver on their claims and are 100% vegan too! Yes, they are priced a bit on the higher side in keeping with the pricing of all of The Body Shop products but I think they are worth the price because of how effective they are.
Have you tried out any of their new launches? Which of them is your favourite?