The Body Shop (BS) is a beauty company which aims to find natural ingredients for their products. They have ethical values including not testing their products on animals and supporting Fair Trade and other charities.

The Body Shop offers various beauty treats from make up to shower gels and perfume to body butters. Their body products are mainly based around scents or specific ingredients. You can purchase a shower gel plus matching butters, perfumes etc in scents such as strawberry, mango and coconut. There are lots of options to suit your personal tastes.

*~*Japanese Cherry Blossom*~*

The Japanese Cherry Blossom (JPB) range offers an Eau de Toilette fragrance, a shower gel, body puree, body spray and body butter. The items are available individually or often enough, as part of gift sets. They can be used seperately or together to build on the scent. The JPB scent reflects the natural beauty of the cherry blossom tree. The scent is described as being a floral and fruity musk on a bed of sandalwood.

The shower gel is the first step in layering up the scent. The gel is soap free designed to cleanse the skin and wrap it in a hint of the cherry blossom scent. It contains Community Trade honey which is from Ethiopia which whilst soothing and moisturising the skin, supports bee keepers in Africa.

*~*Design*~*

The bottle containing the gel is tall and made of a thick plastic. It has a black, flip top lid which places itself at the top of the bottle. The clear plastic is decorated with a light pink label with a cherry blossom tree design emblazed on it. White writing confirms the product name, ingredients etc. The bottle can be recycled and can be safely used for 12months from 1st opening.

*~*Availability and Price*~*

This shower gel can be bought from the Body Shop website www.bodyshop.co.uk or at your local store. A travel size 60ml bottle is priced at £3.00 and the 250ml fullsize is £8.00.

*~*My Thoughts*~*

I find Body Shop a hit and a miss for products due to previous experience where I have been let down. I find them to be very overpriced but they do lovely giftsets. I picked up a Japanese Cherry Blossom gift set from a local charity shop for £3.50. I would never pay full price for the sets but I would guess that due to this containing a 50ml EDT, a 250ml shower gel, 50ml body butter and a body puff, it would have been around the £20.00 mark.

I do love the choice of scents you can get in Body Shop though Japanese Cherry Blossom wasn't one I had considered..I much prefer the fruity offerings! I decided that I wanted to use these products together if I liked the scent but things don't always go to plan. The rest of this review will confirm why I tend to avoid Body Shop and moreso their shower gels!

*~*Whispering Floral Nothings In The Shower*~*

The bottle is pretty in design and sturdy though the flip top cap is a nightmare to open especially with wet hands! The shiny, pink gel is a beautiful sight but it turns slightly transparent with only a hint of pink colour when dispensed. I now apply my shower gels with a body puff to make them last so my experiences are based on this. The scent on dispensing is light floral with a hint of subtle sweetness. It isn't overpowering as many are but offers the right concentration.

Ensuring my skin was thoroughly damp, I applied a blob of this to my puff and got to work. Immediately on contact with my wet skin, a beautiful, thick and indulgent lather begins to form. It is fluffy and quite heavy covering every inch of my skin in its exceptional creaminess. Despite being soap free, the mass of bubbles forming was surprising but not unexpected as I have used a BS shower gel before and discovered this.

The scent was gentle and quite soothing. The cherry blossom wasn't too floral but more of a subtle, pleasant fresh aroma sweeping around an infusion of sweet fruits and just a hint of musk. Its scent would certainly not be out of place on a man or women making it very vesatile. Once I felt clean, I rinsed my skin under the shower and the foam ran off with ease. Feeling clean, I stepped out and dried off..this is where it gets annoying.

*~*Tingle, Burn, Wash It Away!*~*

Now I remember why I avoid BS shower gels! My last experience involved the Shea one which left my skin feeling tight and warm. The JCB one followed suit. As soon as I had dried off, my skin felt clean but no where near moisturised. For £8.00 a bottle, I expected some softness and hydration. My skin is sensitive but surely products with no soap shouldn't aggrivate it?

My skin felt too warm and this continued. I applied the matching body butter and it soothed it so I gave it the benefit of the doubt and tried it again the next day. The same results followed so I jumped back in the shower and basically scrubbed my skin to get rid of it. The scent didn't even last the first time and had it not been for the body butter and perfume following, you couldn't even tell I had washed with it.

Perhaps I just don't get on with BS shower gels? I can handle highly perfumed and expensive shower gels but not soap free ones for some reason. It must just be the shower gels though as my skin is fine after applying the body butters and perfumes etc so it must be one the ingredients within the gels that causes a reaction. As a result I will be offloading this to my Mum or sister as I'd rather use something that doesn't abuse my skin!

*~*Conclusion and Recommendation*~*

Fair enough, I know lots of people who speak highly of Body Shop shower gels so perhaps its just me but I don't appreciate the way they make me feel. They smell nice, lather up well and make me feel clean but for the price, I expect better results so this gets a thumbs down from me. Further reviews on the perfume and body butter will follow this week.

Thank you for reading :)