Soap and Glory..a retro beauty brand brought to local stores by the founder of Bliss. Offering us gorgeous beauty treats for our face and body alongside makeup and a perfume, Soap and Glorys popularity continues to rise.

*~*~*Scrubbing Up With Help From Soap & Glory*~*~*

There are currently 7 scrubs available from S&G. The scrubs offer different scents and ingredients allowing a potential buyer to select their preferred option. A body scrub is designed to be used in the bath or shower to rid our skin of rough skin and allow it to be beautifully soft and smooth. So lets see what options do S&G offer us beauty lovers?

*The Breakfast Scrub - the newest scrub addition with maple fragrance, golden sugar, oatmeal and shea butter to name a few key ingredients.

*Scrub Em' and Leave Em' - scented with Mist You Madly, this scrub contains babassu oil, sea salt and oils.

*The Scrub of Your Life - scrubbing beads are present and a gorgeous fruity fresh aroma awaits.

*Some Like It Hot - a thermal scrub containing various sugars, oils and Therminerals for a hot shower experience.

*Sugar Crush - brown sugar scrub with oils to even out scaliness!

*Flake Away - super strength polish to give radiant skin delicately scented.

And then we have Scrub Actually which I shall be reviewing. Lots of choice but can you be tempted?

*~*~*Is It Love Actually? No baby..its Scrub Actually!*~*~*

Scrub Actually is one of S&Gs award winning body buffers/scrubs. It won the award of Best New Bath and Body Product in 2009 courtesy of Cosmetic Executive Women UK.

Scrub Actually offers us the benefits of not only one sugar, but two. Brown and white sugar blend together to produce the scrubby bits. To protect whilst the scrub works its magic, a healthy dose of natural apricot kernel oil is added to the mix. Whilst these are the key ingredients, we are also treated to kukui oil, mango butter and vitamin E for good measure.

*~*~*Design*~*~*

Scrub Actually is housed in tall, plastic tube which is clear on the back. The dispensing hole is hidden at the base under a gorgeous pink lid. The retro and pink design that S&G is well known for, is very much present here with a black and white image of a showering lady on the front. The tube is loaded with product claims, ingredients, directions for use etc and also witty comments which never go amiss with S&G. The tube can be recycled and the scrub should be used up within 24months from first opening.

*~*~*How Do I Scrub Actually?*~*~*

Scrub Actually is best to be used in the shower as it can get a bit messy in the bath. It is recommended that you dispense a big blob of the scrub onto your hand and work onto damp skin, 60secs of gentle massaging should suffice before rinsing it off the skin. Dry off skin and apply a moisturiser or body butter.

*~*~*Availability and Price*~*~*

Soap and Glory can be purchased through the website www.soapandglory.com, Harvey Nichols or Boots. A 200ml tube will set you back around the £6.50 mark. 3for2 offers or 1/3 off offers are regular in Boots.

*~*~*My Scrubbing Experience Continues*~*~*

I am a self confessed Soap and Glory addict and take great pleasure in treating myself to a few select items whenever the offers are on in my local Boots store. The price tags may seem a bit excessive but the scent and effects of their products more than make up for this small aspect. Although I adore my Flake Away, just before Christmas I picked up Scrub Actually on a 3for2 offer. I will be making some comparrisons to Flake Away in the rest of this review.

The tube for this scrub is very pretty and girl and it sits well amongst the mass of S&G products I have in my bathroom. It is easy to hold in the shower when my hands are damp and I love the appearance of this scrub on dispensing. It gently sweeps from the hole and is thick and very pink! It offers a striking resemblence to those strawberry lace sweets which are covered in sugar. It is quite an intense pink within the tube but it lightens as it squeezes from the tube and is heavy coated in sugar particles.

I do need a big blob to get a scrubbing good rub down but I tend to start off with a small blob and work it on ensuring a cover each part of my skin only the once. The thickness of the scrub is evident on my skin and I find it quite awkward to get it moving from my hand at first. I am immediately treated to a gorgeous, intense fruity and ultra sweet aroma which takes my mind of the time it takes to get the scrub going. The scrub sits heavily on my damp skin and the sugar can be felt as soon as it makes contact. I have dry and sensitive skin but I do like a scrub that i can feel but not be too harsh on my skin and this one works well in this aspect.

I use my hand to apply and massage the scrub onto my skin and it feels gentle but effective. The sugar particles are quick large to begin with an remind me of granulated sugar as opposed to caster sugar. Although white and brown sugar is supposedly present, the white is most visible to my eye. The particles do need the full 60seconds to work and even then they don't full disintergrate into my skin. Within 30seconds, the sugar particles begin to shrink and slide about my skin. A light and floaty lather developes and sits above the sugar, gently caressing my skin in a softness to soothe the sugars actions.

The sugar can be felt scrubbing the dry and rough areas of my skin and I take extra time over my elbows and knees which suffer with dryness the most. The sugar feels more effective on application but by the 60sec deadline, it is still visible but feels more creamy with little bumps on the skin. The scent that fills my shower is beautiful and reminds me of a much sweeter version of the signature S&G scent that I adore.

Rinsing the sugar and lather from my skin is quite a process as I find it sticks rigidly to each and every contour of my body. I need to swish it off for a good minute or two under the hot, running water and even when I go to get out the shower, I can still feel little bits present on my skin. Once rinsed off, my skin doesn't feel all that clean so I tend to add an light body wash over the top but not every time. Stepping out the shower and drying off with a soft towel, and my feelings are somewhat mixed.

The scent which surrounded me in the shower quickly disappears and I can only detect scent if I have used a shower wash over the top of the scrub. I was surprised by this as most S&G products leave that delicious, sweet aroma present for quite a bit of time. My skin although it appeared less dry and slightly smooth, it felt a tad tight and I needed to slather on my Righteous Butter for hydration and scent. Although the scrub wasn't too harsh, it did leave a slight redness on my skin which disappeared following moisturising.

*~*~*Comparrison, Conclusion and Recommendation*~*~*

I don't appreciate Scrub Actually to the same extent of Flake Away. Firstly, I find Flake Away gives a better, in shower experience in terms of scent, scrubbing and time taken to rinse the product off my skin. With Flake Away, I didn't always feel the neccessary to slather on body butter and the gorgeous scent remained on my skin. I also need quite a bit more of Scrub Actually to get it working and this therefore means I am using the tube quicker than the tub of Flake Away. The prices may be similiar but you get 100ml more in Flake Away so this is another aspect to consider.

I do like this scrub but I don't think I will buy it again when it is finished. I have been using it once per week and using Flake Away once per week as well as scrubbing too often can be bad for your skin so twice a week is more than enough. I think I could be tempted to try another in the range but revert back to Flake Away if none stand out.

Thanks for reading :)