The Body Shop Gets You Summer Ready

The Body Shop in Centre Court Shopping Centre, Wimbledon, is a little oasis of skin care filled with little gems designed to make your skin feel look and feel fabulous. It’s also good to know that The Body Shop hasn’t lost its founder and social activist’s, Anita Roddick’s, philosophy for natural, ethical and cruelty free skincare from the four corners of the globe. She’s been known to travel the world learning natural skincare and developing the worldwide brand that is The Body Shop. With so many divine products on offer, I pick my top five products for this summer.

Vitamin C Glow Revealing Liquid Peel

In summertime we spend much more time outside, but this exposes your skin to pollution and the harmful effects of the sun resulting in dull, damaged and dry skin. This peel is a formulated to be used on cleansed and dried skin. About two to three times a week. It only adds a few minutes to your evening cleanse so there is no excuse. It has a low pH level that removes dead skin cells quite easily to reveal the glowing fresh skin underneath and smoothing fine lines that have appeared on the forehead and cheeks. This peel utilises the Peruvian Camu Camu berry which has copious levels of Vitamin C and is rich with other flavonoid antioxidants to reduce free radical damage from the sun. Vitamin C is required to produce collagen for younger healthier looking skin. Camu Camu berries are indigenous to the rain forests of South America and are ethically farmed and nature preserved.

Hemp Hard Working Hand Protector

I was introduced to this product by a wonderful nurse at the hospital I used to work at. We would wash our hands regularly and apply sanitising gel several times every hour which is great for clinical hygiene but leaves your hands dry and chapped. The Hemp hand protector was the perfect antidote to parched skin. Hemp seed oil is a natural source of Gamma Linoleic Acid (GLA), a fatty substance, that is used to treat skin conditions like psoriasis and eczema. The Hemp used in this product is made without any of psychotropic elements of cannabis but all the healthy properties of GLA. It’s not just for those working in hospitals. If you like gardening, cycling or DIY, make this hand cream the one you reach out for to restore you hands back to softness.

Drops of Youth, Youth Concentrate

By naming a product range ‘Drops of Youth’ you’re already making bold claims. This concentrate in its classic medicinal green vial with pipette looks reassuringly confident to target the first signs of ageing. Does it live up to its claims? A definite YES. For a serum it is more of a gel and only a few drops are enough for even coverage of the face. It is best used after cleansing and just before moisturising. The Drops of Youth concentrate has an instant hydrating effect making your skin silky soft and smooth to touch. Fine lines are less visible, and my skin felt noticeably brighter and tighter. It is made using babassu oil from Brazil and the stem cells edelweiss from the Italian alps, criste marine and sea holly from the Brittany coast. A very simple yet effective addition to your skincare routine that can be used every day.

Himalayan Charcoal Purifying Glow Mask

Charcoal is like a natural sponge that detoxifies and purifies the skin. This tingly charcoal mask draws out impurities and minimises pores for a glowing and smoother textured skin. I was surprised at how easy it was to use. After cleansing the skin and drying, you can apply the mask with your fingers or, better still, a mask brush avoiding the mouth and eyes. Leave it on for up to 10 minutes and then rinse off with warm water. It can be a little messy in the sink but redeems itself by giving you beautifully healthy glowing skin. It contains bamboo charcoal from the Himalayan foothills for the purification, green tea leave from Japan for detoxification and organic tea tree oil from Kenya for the antiseptic tingling sensation. Use it two to three times a week for best results.

Skin Defence

It is vital to use sun protection on a regular basis, The Skin Defence sun screen is a revelation. For a sun screen it is very easy to apply being of a milky water texture that absorbs quickly without leaving a white sticky residue. It provides a high sun protection factor of 50 and protects against both UVA rays that promote skin ageing and UVB rays that damage the skin. It can be applied on top of your moisturiser or regularly when you’re out in the sun. It makes no claims about being water resistant so make sure you reapply after you’ve been for a dip in the pool. Skin Defence contains red algae extract to brighten dull complexions and anti-ageing vitamin C to counterpunch free radical damage. The bottles are slim and easy to carry around so there is no excuse to not reapply during the day.

With summer around the corner, you can have beautiful skin ready for those long days enjoying the best of the sun.