A shcrubber gel (The Sanctuary Body Scrub)

Member Name: abbadabbado

Product:	The Sanctuary Body Scrub
Date:	24/04/09 (133 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: smells lovely

Disadvantages: doesn't feel as a scrub should

I am a big fan of using a body scrub at least once a week, and since I seem to be over run with Sanctuary products in my bathroom, my body scrub of late has obviously been from the Sanctuary.
When I received the gift set for Mother's Day, I think I was expecting something different from the scrub, certainly not something that looked more like the tube of shower gel that was in the same set.

The scrub is packaged in a tube with flip lid on the base of the product. I like this design in products as it means I get less wastage from the dregs at the end. There's nothing worse than waiting for the last drops to fall out of the pot.
The tube is clear so you can see the calming orange colouring showing through the tube. I also like to see the product before opening the packaging for a couple of reasons. The first being when I'm in a shop, I can see what I'm buying, and the second is that I can tell how much I have left without having to guess by the weight of the product.

The spa essentials range from the Sanctuary all carries the same scent. It's quite a distinctive scent that I believe gets better on your skin once it's had chance to absorb it. I also think it's one of the ranges on the market that does actually work better when you use various products from the range at the same time, i.e., shower, gel, scrub, body lotion etc. as part of a routine.
I find it smells quite woody, with a sweetness attached that is quite feint on the skin. The product actually includes patchouli and orange oil, none of which I get a strong sense of.
Overall it's a scent that has grown on me since I was first introduced to the range and one I now love.

As I mentioned I was expecting different things from the appearance of my body scrub. I thought it would look more like other scrubs in pots rather than mixed in with a gel base.
You can clearly see the small pieces of natural pumice floating around in the product, and it does give a nice effect to look at.

There are two ways to use this product on your skin, and for once with a product I have found I prefer this one without a shower puff.
You don't need a lot of the scrub to be able to feel the pumice on your skin, but it lets itself down with the lack of lather the gel gives you. I appreciate this isn't a shower gel, but as it contain gel, it does feel funny and slightly sticky against the skin without enough water.
With a shower puff, the gel lathers up better but I feel that you lose the pumice pieces into the base of the puff and don't feel the benefit on your skin.

After effects to the body scrub aren't as wonderful as I was hoping. It does leave my skin smelling nice, and I can sort of tell I have used a scrub in the sense that my skin is slightly softer.
It lets itself down against other brands that have their scrubs without a gel base, as they seem to work a lot better and you can really feel you have given your skin a treatment.

Overall I don't think I'll be buying this one again. For Sanctuary showers, I'll have to look around for an alternative scrub within the range or save the Sanctuary range for when I don't want to incorporate a scrub into my routine.
My 200ml tube cost me £4.88 from Boots, but will last me a good few months as I only use it once a week or less. For this reason it does give you value for money, but not for me on my skin.

Summary: an average body scrub that suits a shower gel more