The Body Shop Vitamin C Skin Boost



The Body Shop Vitamin C Skin Boost was a product that came highly recommended to me by the sales assistants and is apparently meant to boost the radiance and smoothness of the skin.  Though I didn't buy this straight away (the scary price sticker put me off), having such lofty claims, I'd stop to test out this product every time I was in the store.  The Vitamin C range is definitely up there when it comes to my favourite products from The Body Shop and the microdermabrasion exfoliator from the range is hands down the best exfoliator I've tried till date.  So naturally I was intrigued.  Every time I tried out the Skin Boost in store, I was wowed by the texture and scent and this was on my must have list of products to pick up which I did during the huge semi-annual sale.

However, now that I've had the Skin Boost for a few months and have had the chance to use this on an almost daily basis, my thoughts on this could not be further away from my initial perceptions.  Which just goes to show, merely swatching something in store does NOT give you a true indication of just how awesome (or awful!) a product really is.  

Let's start with what I love.  The packaging is pretty neat and being opaque, the actual product is protected from the adverse effects of light, oxygen and temperature.  The pump also disperses controlled amounts of the product so there's no wastage involved.  Love that!

The product is light, almost serum like and has a silky smooth texture without being oily.  There is also an obvious citrus scent on application which I find rather refreshing.  (Not to worry though as the scent quickly dissipates).

Sadly, that's where the plus points end.  On having a look at the ingredients list, I was quite surprised to learn that the product contains more fragrance than Vitamin C, evidenced by the fact that the entry for Vitamin C (listed as ascorbic acid) is listed after fragrance!  For a product that has Vitamin C as a key part of its name, you would think that it would be a more substantial amount to actually benefit the skin.

The instructions say to apply in an upward, circular motion after moisturizing and so by definition I would essentially classify this as a primer.  It also claims to be the perfect base for makeup.  I find however that this doesn't help my makeup last any longer.  In fact, the "slip" that this gives my skin causes my makeup to slide around and rubs off with the slightest touch!  This also doesn't fill in any fine lines and pores which is what a makeup base is supposed to do.

To combat this and keep the Skin Boost away from my makeup, I tried using this as a serum under my skincare routine.  Though it works better in this manner, the high amounts of silicon sitting directly on my skin are a little worrying and I wonder if this will actually do me more harm than good.

So, is this a primer or a serum?  Sadly this fails as both and though my skin looks brighter when the Skin Boost is applied, there have been no tangible improvements in the brightness or texture of my skin.  Regardless of how lovely it smells, the Skin Boost confuses me to the core and I will not be repurchasing.

Have you tried the Vitamin C Skin Boost?  I'd love to hear if it worked for you.  

3 comments:

  1. Unfortunately I've never tried this product before, but that's too bad that there is more fragrance than vitamin C. I'll check the ingredients next time I buy a product! ;)

    Laura | http://www.furiouslychic.ch/

    ReplyDelete
  2. thaaaaaanks! this was quite a helpful read...and I've tried body shop products and didn't like the result. Kinda relate to you..

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love their products! I used to be really into buying all the Vitamin C stuff. Thank you for sharing :)

    ReplyDelete

Powered by Blogger.