Roughing It (The Sanctuary Salt Scrub)

Member Name: cmh4135

Product:	The Sanctuary Salt Scrub
Date:	21/04/09 (131 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good scent, effective product

Disadvantages: Will go off over time

Body scrubs are one of those things you either love or hate. If the idea of scrubbing yourself with paper-free sandpaper fills you with horror then you'll fall into the hate camp. If, like me, you love the satisfaction of thinking that you're rubbing away the bad to be greeted with the new then you'll fall into the love camp.

The Sanctuary Spa has long been associated with high quality body and skincare products. The ladies-only day spa in London's Covent Garden is the root of all things Sanctuary and the products used to come with a price tag to match. Over the last 5 or so years Sanctuary has cashed in on the high street desire for branded products and, as a result prices have dropped slightly (in real terms) and the product range has expanded.

The Sanctuary Salt Scrub is part of the original Sanctuary range (now known as "Essentials"), characterised by its orange hues and grey-blue Sanctuary fish logo. Packaged in a kilner jar this is a product that could look elegant on the shelf and the good seal keeps the product fresh for a long time.

The base of this product is rough Dead Sea salt which has been mixed with jojoba, coconut and almond oils. The resultant product has a weird texture that's not far off the consistency of a home-made dough that's slightly too wet but the rough salt makes it far from soft and allows the product to come apart in a way dough never would.

The scent is in keeping with the rest of the original Sanctuary range and is a light fragrance which always makes me feel quite relaxed. Although this contains both coconut and almond oils neither of these is really evident in the scent, which, although reasonably feminine would not be offensive to men. There's something quite exotic about the scent without it being flowery. It's spicy yet fresh.

Application of the scrub is simple. A handful of the scrub can be clawed out of the jar (just don't do this with newly manicured nails) and then spread on the skin in the bath or shower. Personally I prefer using this in the bath as it allows the oils more time to nourish the skin. You will lose some of the product on application although unlike a dry salt scrub this is insignificant and doesn't make the product hard to use. The bits that fall into the bath will dissolve and you'll find yourself sitting in a slightly milky looking bath! The scrub is massaged into the skin (and I've found circular movements work best) and then simply rinsed off.

On application the sensation is quite rough but, as the product is dispersed and water added you can really feel the oils getting to work on your skin. Skin is left feeling silky (rather like skin after an oil-based moisturiser has been used) and this feeling will persist after towel drying.

I've not experienced any irritation as a result of using this scrub although as it's a salt based one should exercise caution if there is any broken skin. The high salt content had left me wondering whether the product, although good at sloughing, would ultimately have a drying effect on my skin but this has been proven not to be the case.

I find this product effective at softening the skin and getting rid of dry or rougher patches. It's also quite good at getting any in-growing hairs to resurface, particularly around the knees.

I find that a large jar, retailing at around £9 will last a fair while and offers good value for money. One point to note, however, particularly if, like me, you rotate products, this product will deteriorate after about 18 months. Whilst it will continue to look acceptable the oils will eventually go rather rancid and alter the scent of the product to a point at which it becomes unacceptable. In fairness, most people will use the product well within this time but if you're considering the occasional indulgent treat then it's worth bearing this in mind.

Go get sloughing!

Summary: An effective scrub with an alluring scent