Southampton Bloggers: The Body Shop Event & Haul

On Wednesday evening I headed to another blogger's event with the lovely @Sotonbloggers. This one was hosted by The Body Shop, at West Quay, and was to showcase a few of their newest products. Now, I'm going to be honest here, The Body Shop isn't somewhere I ever pop into and I can't even tell you the last thing I bought from there, perhaps a solid perfume back in '09? Every Christmas and birthday I'm fortunate enough to be absolutely swamped with new toiletries to use, so much so that in my twenty years of life I don't think I've ever bought myself a bottle of shower gel. So, popping into The Body Shop just isn't something I ever find myself doing, as prior to this event, the only things that came to mind when I thought about them were shower gel and body butter. Two things this girl certainly doesn't need any more of... But, this event really changed my opinion of the brand, and I think I could be a convert, particularly to their skincare. 

The event itself was to showcase all of their newest products, particularly the body yogurts and face mists. Both are 100% vegan, which, whilst I don't live a vegan lifestyle myself, is never anything but a good thing. After we'd all arrived at the store, we had a little wander around and then were given a talk through of the products in question. Of all of the mentioned ones, the yogurts were the ones that interested me most. They're body moisturisers with a gel consistency and The Body Shop claim they sink in within 15 seconds. Which, can I just say, if it's true could absolutely revolutionize my skincare habits. So much so, that I knew I had to buy one on this premise alone.

They've launched six scents in the yogurt but my favourite by far was the Almond Milk one. It smells really clean and fresh, and isn't overpowering in the slightest. From what I could see, the Almond was the most popular scent at the event by a country mile, so if you're looking at getting one, that seems to be the blogger's pick. They retail for £8.50 a pot, and I'm really excited to see if it lives up to expectations. 

During the event I also had a skin consultation. I was looking at the plethora of skincare bits in the shop (including a terrifying-looking metal blackhead remover) and didn't really know where to start. After a couple of tests with some interesting devices, it became apparent that my skin was very very dehydrated (note to self: get swigging that H20), and wasn't anywhere near as oily as I thought it was. I was also told the importance of toning, which is something I've never thought was that much of a big deal and hence haven't ever really done. Not toning is apparently, and I quote, 'like washing dishes in soap and then not rinsing them'. Oops. My poor skin.

 I was recommended a whole routine's worth of new products but decided I'd start with the toner and take it from there. My skin can be pretty temperamental, and bombarding it with a whole routine's worth of new products is a bit of a risky move that would only ever end in tears. The toner I bought was the Chinese Ginseng and Rice one, which claims to brighten and smooth the skin. Two things that my acne scar ridden cheeks are always screaming out for. I've used this a couple of times already and I'm actually quite impressed, my skin feels lovely and looks a bit brighter. This retails at £9.50, and could very much be a skincare game changer for me if I keep loving it as much as I do currently. 

We were lucky enough to be gifted a few products to take home with us, one being one of the new face mists. There are five different mists, all targeting different skin types and qualms, and personally, I chose the Mint one. It's the mattifying one, which, in the summer I think is going to be ideal. A fresh scented, mattifying, refreshing facial mist? Sounds good to me. These can be used both on top of and underneath makeup apparently, but don't work as a setting spray, so won't prolong the duration of your makeup. I haven't used this yet, but when I have I'll certainly be reporting back. The other bits in the goodie bag were a British Rose Shower Gel and a Strawberry Conditioner - neither of which I have used before, but both are fully vegan too! Which, as always, I'm sure you'll hear all about once I've tried them.

Thank you for a really nice evening The Body Shop, I'm sure I'll be back soon to pick up the rest of the skincare bits I was recommended and maybe another yogurt or two...