I adore the "Cranberry Joy" range of festively-fragranced body care items that is released by The Body Shop each year at Christmas time. I had requested the Cranberry Joy Gift Set from Santa, and was delighted to receive it among my other gifts on Christmas morning. This review will outline my experiences of using "The Body Shop Cranberry Joy Shower Gel."

I received the full-sized bottle of shower gel among the other items in my gift set, and this bottle is a generous 250 ml in size, with it costing around the £6 mark if purchased separately. The Body Shop's Cranberry Joy range is seasonal, so it is really only available during the winter months. In saying that however, I have occasionally managed to obtain some bargains from the range during some of The Body Shop's many sales that appear in store and online at their website during the course of the year. In addition, there is a small range of Cranberry Joy products still available - at discounted prices - at The Body Shop's website (www.thebodyshop.co.uk) as @ February 2013, although the shower gel doesn't appear to be available at this time. I have also bought several items from the range at www.ebay.co.uk at the start of this year.

The packaging for the product is in keeping with the rest of the Cranberry Joy range, which has had a recent face-lift, I believe, during 2012. The bottle's appearance no longer resembles that shown at the top of the Dooyoo page, instead featuring the new Cranberry Joy logo on the front of the bottle, depicting a fresh looking cranberry covered in snow, surrounded within The Body Shop's logo, but with some attractive snowflakes at the top. The plastic bottle is clear , so I am able to see the bright red liquid contained within. There is a useful 'flip up' cap on top of the bottle and the lid's plastic is coloured in an attractive shade of gold, which co-ordinates with the gold font/text used on the front of the bottle too. There is nothing remotely un-festive or plain-looking about any aspect of the product at all, and I think it makes a lovely gift for somebody special.

The packaging not only looks great but has proven to be of a very high quality and design. Firstly, I find that the materials used in the plastic bottle are not so robust that they make it difficult to squeeze the bottle to dispense the liquid contents within. This is a significant problem I have had with other products, and is a surprisingly common difficulty I need to endure, mainly because I have limited mobility and struggle with weakness in my hands. Secondly, the 'flip up' cap at the top of the bottle opens and closes easily, and I can manage to use the product quite easily and without any help. There is no aspect of the product's packaging that has caused me any complaint or difficulty.

The liquid Shower Gel is quite thick in its consistency, and is certainly thicker than the previous product I was using. That is not to say that it is so thick that it is a struggle to pour it from the bottle, however, and I can do this easily. I tend to use all of my shower products in the bathtub, mainly because I opt to have more baths than I do showers, and so I like my shower gel products to be versatile enough to cope with this practice. The Cranberry Joy Gel has proven that it is surprisingly adaptable, and I have found the product suitable for use in either the tub or the shower, which is a definite plus point for me. To be quite honest I have only used this particular gel in the shower once or twice, so this review will focus on my experiences of using the Gel in the tub.

I tend to pour a couple of 'blobs' of the bright red Gel under the running tap when the bath is filling. I find this is really more than ample for my own requirements, and is enough to produce a small flutter of small bubbles that gracefully adorn the bathwater's surface. True, this result does not compare when considering bubble bath products that produce mountains of foamy bubbles to relax in, but I think it is important to remember that the Cranberry Joy Gel IS only marketed as being a shower gel, after all.

As soon as the product is poured into the tub, I can easily detect its fruity aroma which smells wonderful. As the fragrance develops, I find it's core reminds me of juicy apple, with a rich, fragrant berry-like aroma coming through easily. This 'berryness' develops and deepens as the bathtub fills, filling my bathroom with the most beautiful fragrance of fruity berry and I find its glorious aroma is completely enticing. There is something very uplifting to be found from the rich, fruity aroma too, and I have found this has felt rather revitalising during the cold, dark winter months. Settling into the tub, I am delighted to notice the fragrance lingers easily as I soak in the fruit-scented water, making the whole process of bathing with the gel feeling completely worthwhile.

It is true to say that the fragrance dissipates from the skin's surface afterwards, but I find that using co-ordinating toiletries from elsewhere in the Cranberry Joy range will encourage the faint berry aroma 'whispering' from my skin to linger for slightly longer. Indeed, bathing with the Shower Gel product acts as a pleasant 'base' by 'prepping' my skin, on which I can 'build' and 'layer' the Cranberry fragrance after bathing. Using the Cranberry Joy Body Butter in particular really allows the beautiful berry tones delivered from the shower gel's aroma to become captured, developed and matured, combining neatly into the Butter's richness, providing a more robustly-scented end result. The practice of using co-ordinating toiletries from within the Cranberry Joy range works beautifully, and I find the end result is excellent, providing a longer-lasting overall aroma that is easily detectable for several hours after bathing. 'Layering' and 'Co-ordinating' my toiletries to such a positive outcome is really only possible in rather 'premium' products in my experience, with products of a poorer quality proving to be disappointing in this regard. For this reason, I have no doubt that the Cranberry Joy Shower Gel is a product of a very high quality.

There have been no negative discoveries when using the Gel in the shower either, and it has proven to be equally as pleasant to use here too. A little really goes a long way, I have found, when dispensing the product onto a wet flannel or 'scrunchie' as the liquid Gel quickly and easily lathers up enough for me to cleanse myself sufficiently. Any more than this just feels like a bit of a waste, and I do like the fact that the Gel feels economical to use, especially considering the slightly higher-than-average purchase price of the bottle.

As with all products from The Body Shop's assorted ranges that I have tried out to date, I have experienced nothing in the way of aggravation or irritation to my sensitive skin - and in particular, the troublesome eczema which 'flares' easily - which is obviously a huge and very welcome bonus for yours truly. It is true to say that many products - particularly those with a strong scent to them - can often aggravate my sensitive skin, but no such unwelcome side-effects have been evident from using the gorgeous Cranberry Joy Shower Gel, thankfully. In actual fact, I have found the product contains something of a rather mild formulation, which is perhaps down to the fact that the Gel contains no soap, which can often cause dryness to my sensitive skin. Whatever the reason, I have no hesitation in recommending the Shower Gel for use by those consumers with either very dry or sensitive skin.

For the reasons outlined in this review, I cannot recommend the Cranberry Joy Shower Gel enough; I find it is a wonderfully uplifting product to use during the cold winter months, and I find its fruity aroma feels surprisingly delicate, without any hint of anything false or synthetic. Not only that, but I find the product is caring and gentle, allowing my hyper-sensitive skin to enjoy it without suffering in any way. The end result is cleansed, spotless skin that feels wonderfully fragrant, nourished and rather protected.