The Body Shop has always been known for their bodycare products, with their body butters constantly topping my Christmas wishlist year after year. They have a huge variety of products to choose from, all with incredible scents. They have recently expanded their makeup collection to include a new 'All in One BB Cream', new eyeshadows, lipsticks and brushes. I was offered the chance to try out some of these products for review and I thought I'd give you my opinion on them.
Colour Crush Eyeshadows*
The Claim:
'An intensely pigmented, pearlescent or matt eyeshadow (dependant on colour) with a silky-soft texture . It’s easy to blend and great for building layers of colour.'My Thoughts:
I was incredibly impressed with The Body Shop Colour Crush Eyeshadows. I'm a bit of an eyeshadow lover, I've tried eyeshadows from the highstreet but always go back to the higher-end products from Urban Decay and MAC. I find that highstreet eyeshadows usually offer poor pigmentation and have a very chalky formulation. However, I was really surprised with both the pigmentation and the texture of the eyeshadows. The eyeshadows have a very smooth texture and are easy to apply and blend on the eyelid. They are not chalky and I didn't experience any fall out. Wear time was also impressive, over primer these lasted all day on me (although I don't suffer from oily eyelids). Pigmentation was really good, the swatches you can see in the photos are only 2 layers. I could have gotten away with one but wanted to show how intense the colour is. The lighter eyeshadow is slightly hard to see on my arm, but that's because I have very light skin.
The two colours I have are 'Golden Girl' and 'Sweet Pea'. The light vanilla eyeshadow is perfect for highlighting your brow bone and the inner colour, while the light green is great way to add a subtle, yet different twist to your everyday makeup.
The Colour Crush Eyeshadows cost £7 and are available from The Body Shop.
Colour Crush Lipstick*
'This luscious lipstick gives a stunning pop of colour and rich moisture, infused with a subtle rose scent.'My Thoughts:
I've heard a lot of hype over The Body Shop's new Colour Crush lipsticks and was excited to see whether or not the hype was worth it. The shade I have is called 'Darling Blush'. It's a very 'my lips but better' shade. When I wear it on my lips it adds a it of colour to them and gives them a nice sheen. It's a great colour if you want something that's subtle for work or if you just want to wear a more understated look. I really like it if I'm wearing heavier eye makeup as it compliments it without clashing with it.
The formula of these lipsticks is really nice. They're really creamy to apply and don't cling to any dry bits on your lips. They moisturise your lips and have a pretty good wear time of around 4 hours. I really like this lipstick, the formula is good and they rival the lipsticks from the other highstreet brands.
The Colour Crush Lipsticks are £10 each and available from The Body Shop.
The Body Shop Smudger Brush*
The Claim:
'A soft, foam-tipped applicator for blending eyeshadow or smudging eyeliner. Perfect for smoky eyes.'My Thoughts:
I haven't used foam-tip applicators with my eyeshadow since I used to buy those huge sets of makeup for under £5 which came with those really cheap applicators that you were supposed to use for your eyeshadow that inevitably broke after two uses. I was a bit skeptical when going to use this for the first time as I'm used to using synthetic brushes to do my eye makeup. However, I found that it did do a good job of smudging my out my eyeshadow to create a smokey look. It also did a good job of smudging out pencil eyeliner. The brush feels firmer than those you usually find in palettes, but it still doesn't feel as firm as a traditional brush would.
The Smudger Brush is £9 and is available from The Body Shop.
All-in-One BB Cream*
The Claim:
'Our new All-In-One BB cream transforms from a white cream to suit your skin tone. Pigment-filled capsules burst when applied to the skin, releasing the colour inside. Just blend for a perfect match and an even, undetectable finish. It’s make-up and skincare in one.'My Thoughts:
First off, it has to be noted that the colour I have (03) is actually too dark for my skintone, which explains why it doesn't appear to blend into my skin in the photos. However, I think if you compare the photos from when I first put the product on, you can see that it does become a lot lighter on my skin, so I think with the correct match it would blend well into the skin.
The way the product works is that it comes out in a white cream, you then rub this and the pigment capsules burst and the colour begins to appear in your skin. If you continue rubbing you will achieve an even finish. The colour can look very scary at first, but once you spread it out it becomes much more wearable. I was impressed with how little product was needed to cover your entire face. As you can see in the first photo I didn't use that much product, but it was enough to cover a good portion of my arm (and I could have tried to cover even more if I had wanted). This means this tube would last you a good while as you only need the tiniest bit in order to cover your whole face.
Coverage-wise, this offers some coverage if you have slight redness or discoloration but it's not going to cover serious skin problems and nor is it designed to. If you have pretty good skin with the odd bit of redness I'd recommend this as a lighter alternative to a full coverage foundation.
The Cream claims to offer 24 hour hydration, I never wear makeup for this long but I can say that it didn't cling to any dry patches which is good for a face product as I have incredibly dry skin on my cheeks and nose.
I think the product is innovative and would be good if you have good skin and just want a bit of extra coverage. it blends well and has a nice finish. I've also found that the BB Cream can be used underneath foundation to give it a bit more colour and make you look more bronzed, so that is also an option.
The BB Cream is £12 and available from The Body Shop.
All of the products in this post are part of a 'Get the Look' campaign, in which the Body Shop shows how to get certain looks such as 'Pastel Purple' using the 'All-in-One BB Cream' and the Colour Crush Range. If you are interested in finding out more, click here.
*Product was sent for consideration for review
