England Week Day 2 - The Body Shop Mango

The Body Shop is one of England's first body product brands that still inspires copycats the world over. The philosophy of the company and how their use of natural and fair trade ingredients is revered by both their fans and competitors alike. Mango is the first body butter that this company every launched in 1992 and still to this day remains a top seller.

Of all of the products from The Body Shop that I own, Mango is the line of products that I have repurchased the most and done so usually right after I finish up the container. I first tried the Mango products in my junior year of college and quickly got hooked on the Mango Body Butter (even as I was still working at Bath and Body Works). I loved the natural fragrance of the mango and how it wasn't candy sweet as many mango fragrances on the market today turn out to be. From this collection, I have purchased the Mango Body Butter, the Mango Shower Gel, and the Mango Body Scrub.

The Mango Body Butter is meant for very dry skin, however I have no problems using it all the year round becuase it is not greasy to the touch on my skin. I have also found many hidden benefits of this product. It soothes burned/sunburned skin and helps to hydrate and calm my skin when my self tanner is wearing off (skin can get itchy at this point in the tanner cycle). It has also soothed rashes and works great on my sensitive skin, this is the product that I turn to when something else is making my skin flare up. One of the key ingredients of this product is the mango seed oil, which is the hydrator of the product. It also contains cocoa butter to help hydrate. The sweet almond oil in this product provides essential fatty acids to help repair, hydrate, and protect the skin.

The Shower Gel for this collection has many of the same features and benefits as the Butter. It also is formualted for very dry skin and therefore does not contain many of the soaps and detergents found in traditional formulas. I have found that this product is runnier than many other gels that I have tried and doesn't lather as well on my shower pouf. But I can live with that since it doesn't dry my skin out in the colder weather and I still love the fragrance of it.

The Mango Body Scrub is my least favorite of all the items that I have tried in the collection. It is a salt scrub and I prefer sugar scrubs overall. I also always felt like I still had a film on my skin anything that I rinsed this product off and I hate scrubs that aren't clean rinsing. It states in the description of this product that some sugar is contained in the formula but it feel too much like a salt scrub for my liking. This product also contains organic soy oil to help repair skin and maintain the natural moisture barrier. I most likely will not repurchase this product unless the products are on some type of special (that's how I ended up with this one in the first place).

The only products from this collection that I haven't tried yet are the Whipped Body Lotion (lighter version of the butter), a clear soap (not really interested), and a clear lip balm (really want to try this one out). The Mango Body Butter is a staple for both myself and many more women around the world so if you haven't given this one a shot, I highly recommend getting yourself to a Body Shop store soon.

photo courtesy of The Body Shop