During my yearly splurge in The Body Shop (if I did it more than once a year I'd have no rent money and would have to drop out of uni), I stocked up on products for myself and my Mum. As I got to the till, the cashier informed me "Woaah you haven't spent enough, come on spent £1.25 more and we'll give you a FREE body butter, come on it's vitamin E and it's lovely!" - well, it would have been rude not to. Normally this product (200ml) would set you back £12.50, so it wasn't a bad deal at all.

The Vitamin E range in The Body Shop comes in pale pink packaging so it's easy to spot. I am familiar with this range, as I bought some of the handcream last year. I have noticed that items from this range often appear in Beauty magazines, more recently including the Times beauty wishlist, so it is highly acclaimed from even the bigwigs.

The Claims:

"This sumptuous body butter contains a host of moisturising ingredients to leave the skin feeling divine and hydrated up to 24 hours."

Now, I must say that no product ever gets 24 hours to work on my skin as I shower at least once or twice in between that, however I do put moisturising products on my skin, particularly my hands and feet which are quite dry, overnight.

When you open the tub, you are greeted with a pale pink moisturising cream which appears solid but is quite light to the touch. Despite it being called "body butter" it is quite a light formula, and isn't at all greasy as you might imagine it would be from the title. It has quite a pleasant smell to it, which smells exactly like the Vitamin E handcream. Imagine a light smell of roses, clean fresh linen and your halfway there. Thankfully it's not overpowering in the slightest, and does not appear "perfumed".

The cream itself is soft to the touch, and glides effortlessly across my skin and is also very easy to rub in, particularly when using it on my hands. This is the kind of product to use after a bath or before bed, particularly if you have dry skin. I have previously used some of the other more flavoured Body Butters, for when I am going out to make my skin smell extra nice, however this is more of a treat to re hydrate the skin.

As it's in a tub and not a squeezy bottle, I find it much easier to apply to large areas of skin and also in a shorter amount of time. You can also ensure you use up every last drop unlike a bottle. However the full size tub (200ml) is slightly bulky, although you can buy it in a smaller tub if you wished to have some in your bag. The packaging is also very beautiful yet understated, and would be fabulous as a present for someone special (or just for yourself!). I definitely plan on keeping the packaging once it is empty, if not just to store all my hair pins. It looks great on my desk!

As with all Body Shop products, this body butter is rather addictive! The cream soaks very easily into skin, and gives a lovely cooling sensation. Also, it doesn't leave my skin feeling sticky or horrible, which is my pet hate with moisturisers which clearly haven't been tested or developed to be suitable for use on the skin.

My overall opinion of this product, is it's a very well developed and effective moisturiser, which is suitable for all skin types and will not feel heavy or sticky on your skin. I find it really refreshing to use, and it's made all the more suitable to be used on the body as the packaging allows for easy access and distribution of the cream. It doesn't have an overpowering smell, not does it leave icky residue on the skin.

At £12.50 (unless you get it free in a special offer as I did!), it is a little steeper in price then a body moisturiser from The Body Shop. However, they do know what they are talking about and this is certainly a fantastic product! The 200ml tube is actually a lot more generous looking than it sounds, and I'm confident this will last me a long way despite being addicted to it.

My advice? Try it in store... this is a product you are sure to love.