The Body Shop Seaweed range pore-cleansing facial exfoliator review

(So I've sort of decided to put out 2 posts every Tuesday and Thursday until I work off this backlog of stuff I meant to review, but I'll need to slow it down next year so the schedule will probably be 1-2 posts a week. P.S. at the moment I'm working through reviews but if there are other types of posts you're interested in seeing, let me know in the comments below ^_^. )

    Today’s review is on the Body Shop’s pore-cleansing facial exfoliator, from the seaweed range. I’ve always seen the Body Shop around, and I’d heard of their sustainable sourcing methods etc. and was interested, but their prices were always too much for me to pay, at least for a product that I’d never tried before. They have recently (as in like 3 months ago) lowered the price of many of their products by a few dollars, so if you ever thought the Body Shop was just a bit too expensive, check them out now and see if you’re happy with the new prices.

taken from the bodyshop UK website

    Anyway, late last year my skin was in need of an exfoliator and having an oily/acne breakout fest, so when I wandered into the Body Shop and saw their seaweed exfoliator for $21.95, I figured, what the heck, I don’t use exfoliator daily, this’ll last me a while.  

So I bought it.

At full price. O.O

    In my defense the Body Shop very rarely has sales of any kind, So when I saw this product I figured I might as well buy it and thus see if the Body Shop Products were worth the extra cash. 

    The seaweed range from the Body Shop is supposed to combat excess oil, and while this exfoliator didn’t get rid of the shine on my forehead and nose completely, I was always less shiny the day after I used this in the shower, and overall slightly less shiny when i used it regularly (i.e. 1-2 a week). I still got acne, but hey adolescence, what can you do?

The exfoliator came in a strong, flexible squeeze tube with a cap made of decent, hard plastic. The cap was also well-designed, sealing in the exfoliator gel so there was never any dried gunk. The bottle was clearly labeled including the ingredients list. There was only one problem I had with the packaging occurred because I accidentally dropped it. Somehow some tiny important piece of plastic broke off when I dropped it because afterwards the lid never clicked closed. I’d close the lid and it would just open again, apparently because the nib that held it in place had come off. This ruined the air-tight seal in the lid and the gel began to dry up and plug the tube. I was annoyed at the waste of product but thankfully the tube was mostly finished when this happened.

    This exfoliator comes out smoothly as a translucent brown gel with lots of crushed seed-like bits suspended in it j(ust like the description). Looks a bit funky and coarse but when I massage it in, it's just the right size for me to feel it's doing its job, but not taking half my face off with it. Those who like a really mild exfoliant will not like this, although I can say sensitivity is no issue at least; my skin does react to harsh scrubbing and I didn't have any problem with this product. It has a faint smell of what I think seaweed smells like (seawater + slight earthiness), and it foams up well. The exfoliating bits are also dense enough that you don't need a lot of gel to exfoliate your whole face, which is great because using less product per wash means the bottle lasts longer.

    After washing my face with the exfoliator, my face would feel soft and smooth and clean, and I wouldn’t immediately feel the need for moisturizer. It felt as though it scrubbed off all the tired skin and dirt, ALL of it, like fresh new skin that needed protecting has been uncovered (not in a painful way just in a delicate way). My skin felt so refreshed and moisturizer went on better and absorbed faster. While this product alone didn’t stop my acne breakouts it definitely improved my skin.

    The only reason this isn’t my holy grail exfoliator (really K, talking about holy grails already?) is because a) if my skin is inflamed, e.g. when I’m sick this exfoliator is too strong, and b) I tried one that was just a little bit better (it helps to soothe my irritated skin O[]O . . . )

    So if the above review didn’t clue you in, I love this product and consider it worth ever cent I paid for it, which coming from Captain Cheapskate over here, is saying a lot. 

    I would recommend this product to everyone, although dry skins might not want it for the oil control properties. Also if you have rosacea or otherwise delicate, thin skin, it probably would not be a good idea to use this exfoliator, or in fact any exfoliator really.

P.S. Since I am considering repurchasing since I liked it so much, I might do an updated review when I repurchase it (which could be a while yet since I have 1 and a half bottles of facial exfoliator at the moment) you know, with ingredients and stuff.

Effectiveness: 9/10

Feel: 8/10

Packaging: 8/10