New finds: The Body Shop, Urban Rituelle, DB Twist ‘n’ Go Polish Remover

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I’ve been trying out a whole bunch of things lately – here are the ones that’ve made it to the top of my “yes!” pile.

Urban Rituelle have released the new Dreamweaver range, which includes 2 summery fragrance blends – Island Blossom, a mix of jasmine, frangipani and berries, and Coconut & Lotus, which is a sugary blend of coconut, lotus and musk. I’ve only smelt the Coconut & Lotus range so far – it’s absolutely gorgeous and makes me long for warm beach days. The body wash is non-drying, and the lotion is lightweight but still nicely moisturising – it’s based on sweet almond oil and aloe vera.

My chin is suffering from a severe case of clogged pores, which I’m maybe 80% certain is from using heavy sunscreens. I’m a bit reluctant to stop using Bioderma though (have you seen those UVAPF figures??), so I’ve been using all manner of oils and acids to try to make amends, but nothing seems to be really working so I’m admitting defeat and am back on Biore Aqua Base Watery Essence.

In my travels through all of the oils though, I started using The Body Shop’s new Oils of Life range, which has some pretty interesting ingredients in shiny packaging.

The Intensely Revitalising Facial Oil is a blend of a host of exotic and not-so-exotic oils:

• caprylic/capric triglyceride (processed coconut oil)
• olive
• jojoba
• camelina
• rosehip
• tea (camellia) seed
• black cumin seed

It feels lightweight for an oil and glides on smoothly, so a few drops go a long way, plus it smells exotically smoky which makes it very pleasant to apply. I’ve noticed that my skin does look smoother in the morning, and slightly glowier than usual. I’m not entirely convinced that it’s that much better than straight-up rosehip oil on your skin, but from an aesthetic point of view, it’s really nice to use. If you hate the feel and smell of oils, this one’s for you. The matching Intensely Revitalising Cream is a a nicely firm moisturiser with a similar scent to the oil, and isn’t too heavy on the face (though with my oily skin, I can only use it as a night cream).

Intensely Revitalising Oil: Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Olea Europaea Fruit Oil/Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed Oil/Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Camelina Sativa Seed Oil, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Camellia Oleifera Seed Oil, Nigella Sativa Seed Oil, Parfum/Fragrance, Tocopherol, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-t-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Limonene, Linalool, Citronellol, Geraniol, Pelargonium Graveolens Flower Oil, Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Oil/Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary Leaf) Oil, Origanum Majorana Leaf Oil, Anthemis Nobilis Flower Oil, Coumarin, Lavandula Angustifolia Oil/Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Lavandula Hybrida Oil, Citral, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis Peel Oil/Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Oil.

Intensely Revitalising Cream: Aqua/Water/Eau, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Dimethicone, Glycerin, Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate, Cetyl Alcohol, PEG-40 Stearate, Glyceryl Stearate, Octyldodecanol, Olea Europaea Fruit Oil/Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii Butter/Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Fagus Sylvatica Bud Extract, Phenoxyethanol, Polyacrylamide, Sorbitan Tristearate, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Camellia Oleifera Seed Oil, Caprylyl Glycol, C13-14 Isoparaffin, Glycine Soja Protein/Glycine Soja (Soybean) Protein, Mica, Parfum/Fragrance, Tocopherol, Adenosine, Nigella Sativa Seed Oil, Laureth-7, Linalool, Myristyl Alcohol, Stearyl Alcohol, Disodium EDTA, Citric Acid, Limonene, Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Geraniol, Citronellol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, Benzoic Acid, Tin Oxide, Sorbic Acid, CI 77891/Titanium Dioxide, CI 19140/Yellow 5, CI 14700/Red 4.

I’m often too lazy to wait for peel-off base to dry, and I hate removing glitter (any polish, really), but this Twist ‘n’ Go pot from Designer Brands that I got in my Lust Have It! bag last week has blown my mind with how quickly it removes glitter! It’s a pot with a thick sponge inside that’s been soaked in acetone and ethyl acetate – you stick your finger in a jagged crack in the sponge, then twist and pull your finger out – all the polish melts away, leaving a few bits of glitter hanging on. It’s magic! It doesn’t dry out your skin too badly either, which is a relief. I’m just wondering how long it’ll be until the remover is so saturated with polish that it’ll do a crappy job of removing it – we’ll see.

These products were provided for review, which did not affect my opinion. For more information, see Disclosure Policy.