Body Shop Vitamin E Facial Cleaning Bar

I like finding new little treats for my skin although like many girls I know, I struggle to actually stick to any skin care routine I devise for myself. I am terrible with my skin. I get acne breakouts, patches of severe dryness and flaking so believe me when I say I have problem skin.

For the purpose of this review I will state that this is the only product I used to clean my skin during the test. I do use acne treatment prescribed by my doctor but I hadn't used it for months. My skin has been in alright condition, few spots so I thought it was a fairly good time to do a review.

Now onto the review! Here is the product: Body Shop Vitamin E Facial Cleaning Bar

This facial bar appealed to me for several reasons. Firstly it is a Body Shop product. I am a big fan of The Body Shop; their products are not tested on animals and are suitable for vegetarians (disregarding L’Oreal). Secondly, it is a vitamin E bar. Vitamin E is an essential nutrient to keep skin healthy and nourished. Thirdly, it’s price. This gem only set me back £3.00. Generous for The Body Shop and generous for how long it will last you. I estimate this product would last up to a month and a bit, and for three quid, I don’t think that’s too bad.

I came across this product by chance really; I was in the body shop looking for some Vitamin E or Jojoba oil for my stretched ears and I came across this. It was set aside other Vitamin E facial care goods but at a fraction of the price for its siblings, I thought I might as well take a chance on this. I was in the market for some new skin products to try, as I was getting used to the usual acne/spot fighting gloop I usually pick up. The girl in the shop warned me that this product is rather drying on the face, so I picked up some Simple skincare 12 hour moisturiser to go with it.

What I will start off by saying about this product is that it smells divine! It’s hard to explain but I suppose it is a light clean floral-rose scent but nicer. Seriously trust me, the smell is lovely. It lathers up very well. Just lather it between your hands as you would a regular soap and rub onto your face, avoiding eye and mouth area, then wash off with warm water.

Immediately after using it, my skin felt very clean and fresh, but very dry. I had to apply the moisturiser because my skin had become so tight. After that though it was great and my skin felt soft, clean and fresh.

Now, I had intended to use this product for seven days before I gave a review on it but by about day three I was having problems. I have combination skin; as I said I can get terrible spots and awful dry patches, generally on my t-zone area. It was around day three that I got huge spots all over my face! Those horrid red ones that you can’t pop and really hurt appeared around my nose, chin and forehead. This is not what I wanted from a product that is supposed to take care of my skin. It has to have been the soap because my diet had not changed and I have been using the simple moisturiser for ages.

Right now I am not using the product and have gone back to my doctor prescription treatment to rid me of the spots. Now I do feel bad blaming it all on the soap bar; I haven’t used it long enough to really be having a dig at it and I have been ill recently which can give me spots.

I do want to give the product another go, and I will do once these spots have gone down. In the meantime I’ll be sat in my room, all the lights off avoiding mirrors until my face becomes more socially acceptable. Although having said that I do look rather terrifying at the moment so perhaps this can all be put towards my Halloween costume ideas!