IT’S HERE!!! ‘Tis the season! The Body Shop’s Festive Scents of 2020 have arrived!
Okay, okay I’m going to tone down the excitement, but it’s become a tradition at this point that I review these limited-edition goodies every year and I’m sticking to it (I know reaaaally suffering for my art here). For the first time ever, I actually really liked all three scents (no duds this year!) and so picked up this awesome mini body butter set which included all three; Warm Vanilla, Festive Berry and Winter Jasmine.
I also picked up the matching soaps in warm vanilla and festive berry, but since my local branch of The Body Shop had already run out of the winter jasmine soap (I’m guessing customers favourite this year) and I spotted a different festive set that featured both a body butter and bath lily I improvised with what I already had for my photos reusing my (slightly different) green bath lily from The Body Shop’s Festive Scents of 2018.
WARM VANILLA
The Body Shop Warm Vanilla: Body Butter
Starting off strong with this warm vanilla scent, I’d say it’s just as sweet as their vanilla marshmallow of 2018 i.e., not sickly sweet but more of a vanilla-based perfumy scent (but again I’m a sweet tooth so my tolerance for sugary sweet might be slightly higher than your average person…what can I say; my pancreas hates me!).
All three body butters have the slightly harder consistency of the two kinds The Body Shop makes (the other being a softer lighter creamier texture), which is perfect since that’s the one I prefer to use during the harsher winter months. If I’m just using these mini body butters as my hand cream, then I can easily get 3-4 weeks’ worth of daily use. However, if I’m also using it as my leg moisturiser then I think I would only get 3-4 leg shaving days’ worth. It’s the perfect quantity as a sampler or for travelling (when that’s a thing again).
The Body Shop Warm Vanilla: Soap
I usually prefer The Body Shop’s clearer soaps like the strawberry one (e.g. the ones you would use for a soap brow) and while I’m not a complete convert to the creamier opaque ones (can’t replace my first love I’m afraid), the more moisturising lather is definitely appreciated this time of year especially with all the handwashing from the current “pandora”.
The soap in question has a much fainter smell than that of the body butter so if you’re put off by the strength of the latter you can always just use the former and have that little festive boost anytime you wash your hands…the vaccine can’t come soon enough!
FESTIVE BERRY
The Body Shop Festive Berry: Body Butter
It’s usually the berry festive scents from The Body Shop that end up being a dud for me every year as they always seem to have an artificial or chemically after smell. But this year they’ve nailed that freshness of a berry and perfectly blended it with sweetness. It’s basically a raspberry version of The Juicy Pear limited edition scent from 2019’s festive scents…yum!!!
The Body Shop Festive Berry: Soap
Just as delicious as its body butter counterpart but with a fainter scent, this soap is another must have. I literally have zero complaints other than…why does it have to be limited edition?! sniff
WINTER JASMINE
The Body Shop Winter Jasmine: Body Butter
The most unisex scent out of the trio which is surprising since from the floral name that would be the last thing you would presume but it has got an evergreen undercurrent which I think is what balances it out nicely and gives it that unisex quality. It’s the hardest one to describe, you really just have to smell it for yourself.
The Body Shop: Bath Lily
As I mentioned earlier I cheated for this one, I spotted a duo set with just the body butter and a bath lily and just recreated that duo for the photos. The bath lily was a slighter darker green and matched the packaging of the body butter better but #hakunamatata you get the idea. Plus, since I don’t actually use bath lilies as my exfoliators (my brother does, so he gets them), it would have been a bit of a waste of money for me.
But as I’ve mentioned in a previous post, all their bath lilies are made from 100% recycled materials, so you don’t have to feel guilty for the planet if you are someone who uses them. I mean The Body Shop is a real leader when it comes to their ethics as a company, and I for one, welcome the overall shift in the cosmetics and skincare industry towards recyclable packaging as a result of global awareness-raising efforts.
There you have it my pick of this year’s festive scented sets. I think if I was to pick a favourite it would be the festive berry, just because I’ve never really liked their limited edition berry scents in the past and therefore it feels more unique this time around. Don’t get me wrong, anything with vanilla is always going to be a staple in my book and winter jasmine has a je ne sais quoi element to it that also singles it out, but my winner has to be festive berry.
Have you had the opportunity to smell these? Which one is you favourite?
We’re lucky here in Belgium that shops selling personal hygiene products (like The Body Shop and Di) get to stay open (with carefully regulated mask measures, hand sanitising and limited number of clients per store, of course). So, I got to sniff these through my mask before purchase. But I know the UK hasn’t been that lucky.
xxxemma