Review: The Body Shop's Strawberry and Cranberry Body Polish

The body shop is another store that claimed a large share of my babysitting earnings when I was a teenager. The body shop's offerings pleased me so much that they inspired me to make my own bath and body products. So it is easy to imagine my delight when one of my friends decided that I could use a little pampering and gave me two 200 ml bottles of The Body Shop's Body Polish, one scented with Strawberry and the other with Cranberry.

The first thing that I noticed about the body polish was its heavenly scent. Both the strawberry and cranberry polish were strong and rich without being overpowering. The scent was so decadent I almost felt guilty for using the polishes...almost. By the time I finished using the product the scent had spread to two rooms of my house.

The Body Shop, true to form, chose some natural ingredients to include in the body polish, namely fruit seeds and small pieces of crushed black walnut shells. The fruit seeds used seem to differ based on the body polishes scent. The cranberry polish contained cranberry seeds while the strawberry polish contained strawberry seeds; both polishes contained walnut shells.

At first glance the walnut shell pieces in the polish made me nervous. I am all for ex-foliation and use of fruit seeds is acceptable but using walnut shell pieces that could be hard and potentially sharp was pushing it. I was pleasantly surprised though by how soft and smooth the walnut shell pieces were; they had just enough texture and abrasiveness to ex-foliate my skin without irritating it. The included fruit seeds added to the effect. The product left my skin soft and smooth for the rest of the day.

There are many body scrubs on the market. Some of these scrubs are oily, some are foamy and some are simple dry. The body shop's body polish is one of the foaming variety. When I used the body polish with a bath pouffe it created a foamy lather that rivaled most shower gels. This effect was greatly lessened however when I used either my hands or a washcloth to apply the polish. I had to use a lot more of the polish to achieve the desired effect when I used those methods instead of the bath pouffe.

I left my addiction to the body shop's products behind when I reached adulthood because pricey bath products do not pay the rent. At a price of roughly $16.00 for a 6.75 ounce bottle the polish is certainly not inexpensive or even what the average person would call affordable. When used with a bath pouffe I estimate based on my own very indulgent use, the product will last for 12 generous uses. When used with restraint the product should last for about twenty uses.

While not affordable enough for everyday use without guilt this product is still economical enough to purchase as a gift or to use when you need a little pampering. Overall, I was very satisfied with the product. It is still not something that I would regularly buy because of the price. However I may on rare occasion splurge and treat myself to a bottle. I also plan to start dropping hints to friends and family regarding what I would like for my birthday and Christmas. Ahem. cough *body polish* cough.