Never one to turn down a freebie, I raced off to a local branch of The Body Shop to use a £5 voucher snipped from one of the weekend papers. The small print said that the voucher could only be used against a product from the Earth Lovers Range so I chose this Watermelon and Eucalyptus Shower Gel. A 250ml bottle is priced, quite conveniently for the offer as it meant that no additional spend would be required, at £5.00.

The 'earth lovers' (sic) range is one of The Body Shop's newer ranges and this shower gel is one of four in the range. Although The Body Shop prides itself on its green credentials, you could say that the company is actively promoting this range as being the one that exemplifies these values. The gel is one hundred per cent biodegradable and comes in a one hundred per cent recycled plastic bottle (and, I was pleased to find, has the number 1 in that little broken triangle on the back label which confirms that it is one of the two grades of plastic that my local council, Gateshead, accepts for recycling). The gel contains no sulphates, no parabens, no colourants and is soap free. The aloe vera used in this gel is fairly traded.

I'm a bit of a lazy shopper unless I'm buying something that gets me really excited (I could spend hours looking at wines or real ales, spices or speciality hot sauces) and I want the products to jump off the shelf and into my basket. I like colour coded packaging so that I can find what I'm looking for instantly so the 'earth lovers' range is rather vexing for me. The bottles are identical with only the name of the product and the illustration of the main ingredients changing as appropriate. The picture is done in rather delicate colours so it doesn't stand out very well and though I can recognise the range well enough, my eyes are never drawn to the picture. There's a lot of text on the bottle front too (the same information is given in English and French) and while that's full of useful information, it does make identifying the product I want too time consuming for an impatient person like me. I didn't have to endure any of that nonsense. I had previously bought an item from this range so I already knew about the various green points, and as I was laden with heavy groceries when I was in the store, the assistant kindly told me she had some bottles behind the counter, rather than directly me to the display at the other end of the shop. She called out the varieties and I chose the one I could remember her saying (probably the last one).

The bottles is pretty standard with straight sides, no concession to being user firendly in the shower or with wet hands, though I can't say I found any problems in this respect. Perhaps, though, because it is made from this recycled plastic, the bottle is rather tough to squeeze so it is fortunate that the consistency means that the gel runs quite easily from the bottle. The flip top cap is easy to use and can be done with the same hand that's holding the bottle. The plastic has a slightly green tint to it but the gel, when it is dispensed, is a clear straw colour.

On flipping the cap, the watermelon fragrance is quite prominent; the eucalyptus isn't there at all. The watermelon is mild at this point with an almost floral aspect to it, certainly not zingy fruit. I find that when using this product in the bath there's no development of the scent, but when using it in the shower the watermelon intensifies and becomes much more vibrant. The eucalyptus also comes through when you use this in a hot shower but it is still quite gentle. Weirdly there appears to be a male/female divide when it comes to the scent. The other day Himself was taking a shower when I needed something from the bathroom; when I dashed in there the room was filled with the aroma of watermelon. When he came out I mentioned how strong the scent was and he told me he hadn't noticed, but liked the eucaplyptus because it reminded him of a sauna.

There's no mention of absence of an artifical frothing agent on the packaging but I can only assume that's the case because this gel has minimal frothing. It's not a problem to me, but I would have appreciated just a little more lather. The Body Shop describes this product as being suitable for sensitive skin which I rarely suffer from but I do occasionally experience some irritation from very cheaper, heavily perfumed products. I found this gel to be gentle but effective and after using it my skin felt refreshed and clean, and didn't feel dry. The residue rinses off easily. The scent doesn't linger long on my skin which is disappointing as I do find it very pleasant.

I liked this shower gel well enough but in these financially straitened times I think it's pretty expensive. I do appreciate all the green advantages but I guess I don't place enough importance on them to justify paying so much for an everyday gel. However, it's not all doom and gloom as The Body Shop has daily offers at the moment so I would advise anyone who likes the brand to sign up to the newsletter because there are some excellent offers; most notably you could buy three of these shower gels for the bargain price of £6 recently. (The Body Shop is also a partner of Topcashback; please contact me by private message if you would like a referral link).

At its full price I wouldn't buy this shower gel but when there are special offers available this product becomes much more attractive.

In this range:
Fig & Rosemary (which I previously reviewed for this site)
Cucumber & Mint
Unfragranced
Pear & Lemongrass
Apricot & Basil
Lemon & thyme