As part of a gift set of Boots Extracts products I received for my birthday some months ago was a miniature version of the Almond Body Wash. I'm not especially brand loyal when it comes to body washes/shower gels so am willing to give most things a try, although admittedly, if the purse strings would allow it, the Molton Brown Heavenly Gingerlily would be a permanent fixture on my bathroom shelf!

I tend to purchase shower gels more for their smell than anything else as there are very few out there that astound me with their ability to radically soften and moisturise my skin like most of them claim to do (although Nivea Cashmere Moments is one that does stand out for me in that respect) and usually prefer the fresher smelling ones such as Nivea, Sanex and Johnsons etc. For this reason I probably would never have tried te Extracts Almond body wash as the thought of having my skin smelling like marzipan all day is not particularly appealing to me.

The body wash comes in a squeezable tube which stands on it's flip top lid. The usual size of these in Boots is 200ml, but mine is a smaller sample version of 75ml, although it is an identical copy of the larger tube. I very much like the packaging on this almond version, the colouring is nice and muted with purples and greens and on the whole is very subtle (unlike the yellows and oranges of the mango version!). The big claims for the Extracts range are that they "contain Fairtrade ingredients". How different this is to actually being a fairtrade product I don't know, but every little helps when it comes to the morals and ethics of mass-production in my opinion. Worryingly, when it comes to recycling the product it comes in two parts; the tube and the cap. The tube can not be recycled and the cap says to check local recycling. For a range such as this I would expect the whole thing to be easily recyled without question so this is a big negative as far as I'm concerned.

The front of the tube claims that the body wash "gently cleanses, conditions and moisturises, leaving skin feeling soft and smooth" and on the back is further information about ingredients (Fairtrade honey used for it's moisturisation of the skin), how to use the product and the usual warnings about keeping it away from children etc.

Using the product is very easy. The tube is a good size to hold and you merely have to flip the lid up, squeeze a small amount onto a sponge or shower puff and massage it into your skin, then rinse it off. The flip top lid is sturdy and shows no signs of snapping off like some can, and I always appreciate a flip top lid on products like this so you don't have to worry about screwing the lid back on with hands covered in water. As the tube stands on the lid for storage it also means that it is easy to get all the body wash out of the tube rather than having to waste any or get the scissors out!

On first using the almond body wash I was pleasantly surprised. I'd been expecting an overwhelming smell of marzipan or something similar but there isn't really a hint of almonds to the fragrance, it's just a really nice, fresh, pleasant smell and one that I don't object to at all. The body wash itself is average in consistency, not too runny that it slides off my shower puff before I can do anything, but not so thick that it makes getting it out of the tube difficult. It doesn't lather especially well however, giving more of a smooth foam rather than a thick bubbly lather.

I was quite surprised by how long this smaller tube of body wash lasted. I took it on holiday with me so as not to have to lug a big bottle of shower gel around with us for three weeks and this small tube lasted almost two weeks with showering every day, sometimes twice a day as it was so hot. In fact, it lasted so long that, initially I was using it sparingly to try and make it last the remainder of our holiday but eventually I started using loads of it every time to try and use it up so I wouldn't have to bring it back home again!

As far as it's functionality as a body wash goes I would say it is average, like most shower gels. Yes it gets my skin clean, including when it's been coated in layer after layer of suncream and red dust, and it leaves me feeling fresh and clean, but I think the freshness is mostly down to the smell of it rather than any miracles working. I can't say, however, that I noticed my skin feeling any softer or smoother than normal and in the two weeks of using it I didn't notice any changes in the appearance of the condition of my skin either.

I'm not particularly disappointed in this as I find it to be the case with most other shower gels I've tried and, if I were to receive it as a gift in future I would most definitely use it again, if for nothing other than the lovely smell, but would I buy it for myself? Probably not, no. At full price it costs £4.25 in Boots or on their website and at the time of writing this review is on special offer at £2.83. But, as you can always find other comparable shower gels on much better deals than that then I would not pay either of these prices for a body wash I consider to be just average.