You know what? I actually remember when the Body Butters by The Body Shop were first popularized. Yes age is showing and all 😛 I was quite into them. My favourite was the Shea Butter one because of the lovely smell. I used to buy the special mini tubs too and had tubs lying around everywhere – Mango, Shea Butter, Satsuma… you name them, I’ve probably owned them at some point.
But after a while, I got tired of them because while they were lovely in cold dry winters, they were sticky and oily in our hot humid weather, it can really mess with your sheets if you apply before bed. Also, I realized that not every part of my body needed that sort of intensive moisturization that the body butter is made for.
I guess The Body Shop realized this too when they released their Body Butter Duo – half lotion, half body butter. Not everyone needs or wants to slather thick heavy body butter on their skin because it can feel heavy, sticky and oily. Yet there are parts of the body that could benefit from this e.g. elbows, knees, heels, toes… etc…
There are 4 scents available – Vanilla, Sweet Pea, Macadamia and Floral Acai. The one I was provided with is Floral Acai – not my first choice. I’d have gone for Vanilla because the rest are just too sweet smelling for my taste. Vanilla, while sweet, suits my nose better. So, does this make me more hardworking in applying body lotion then?
Well, not quite 😛
I’m terribly lazy to apply body lotion. I should. My skin is looking a bit dry in areas. The lotion half of the Body Butter Duo is actually quite nice in this regard. Its light, applys smooth and soft, and absorbs quickly into the skin without leaving too much of a sticky feel.
You can see that the lotion half is quite liquid. I stored this on its side for a while <- Do NOT do this!
So the lotion is all pooled at one end. There is a foil cover which I didn’t remove initially, so it didn’t cause a mess, but I now store this flat. The butter side, as you can see, is so thick it doesn’t even move.
I use the thick side on my elbows and on my feet which are drier than the rest of my body. It seems to help. Skin doesn’t look as scaly, but it needs constant application to maintain, which as I’ve noted, I’m lazy about.
The Body Shop Body Butter Duo L-R: Lotion, Body butter
Also the other problem for me, is the scent of the Floral Acai, which is quite strong and quite sweet. The tub and the lotion and body butter is tinted purple and it smells of purple, if you know what I mean. Its not awful, but its just a tad sweet and I’m not very good with sweet especially if I have to sleep in it.
What I sometimes do, is mix the lotion and body butter to get a lighter consistency. It feels nicer on some parts of the body that may not need very thick creams, yet for which lotions may not be sufficient.
In a nutshell
Useful concept to have two different textures of lotion and butter for the body. Lotion is light and nice on the skin. Body butter is thick and works quite well on dry areas. Scent in all 4 tubs are a bit strong and sweet. Packaging could do with a larger portion of lotion vs butter.
Pros: Useful concept, Lotion works well on normal skin
Cons: Strong and sweet scents, Body Butter side can feel sticky and oily until fully absorbed
One more interesting note. I find I use more of the lotion as opposed to the body butter, because the former is lighter and more suitable for my skin. So what I think The Body Shop might have done better was to have included a larger section of lotion with a smaller section of body butter, because most of us will not need or use that much body butter. If we did, we’d just get the full tub as opposed to the Duos – food for thought.
Here is the ingredient list taken off the website:
Aqua (Solvent/Diluent), Butyrospermum Parkii (Skin-Conditioning Agent/Emollient), Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter (Emollient), Glycerin (Humectant), Isododecane (Solvent), Neopentyl Glycol Diheptanoate (Skin Conditioning Agent – Emollient), Glyceryl Stearate (Emulsifier), Cetearyl Alcohol (Emulsifier), PEG-100 Stearate (Surfactant), Cera Alba (Emulsifier/Emollient), Dimethicone (Skin Conditioning Agent), Glycine Soja Oil (Emollient/Skin Conditioner), Orbignya Oleifera Seed Oil (Emollient), Bertholletia Excelsa Seed Oil (Emollient), Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil (Skin-Conditioning Agent), Phenoxyethanol (Preservative), Parfum (Fragrance), Dipentaerythrityl Hexahydroxystearate/Hexastearate/Hexarosinate (Skin Conditioning Agent), Xanthan Gum (Viscosity Modifier), Phenethyl Alcohol (Fragrance Ingredient), Caprylyl Glycol (Skin Conditioning Agent), Propylene Glycol (Humectant), Linalool (Fragrance Ingredient), Benzyl Alcohol (Preservative), Disodium EDTA (Chelating Agent), Tocopherol (Antioxidant), Euterpe Oleracea Fruit Extract (Hair Conditioning Agent), PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil (Emulsifier), Hydroxycitronellal (Fragrance Ingredient), Sodium Hydroxide (pH Adjuster), Citronellol (Fragrance Ingredient), Citric Acid (pH Adjuster), Limonene (Fragrance Ingredient), Ethylhexylglycerin (Skin-Conditioning Agent), Citral (Fragrance Ingredient). [+/- CI 17200 (Colour), CI 19140 (Colour)].
Are you a fan of body butters? Do you like this concept of a duo lotion/body butter tub? Do share if you have tried this, sniffed this or just have anything to say 🙂
Paris B
The Body Shop Body Butter Duos retail at RM65/200ml at all The Body Shop stores
I’ve been wanting to try these for a long time already. Thank you for the review.
You’re welcome Marina 🙂 Do give them a go in Winter – I think the scent will be more tolerable and your skin will love it more then 🙂
I always prefer lotions or creams from Crabtree and Evelyn or from Yves Rocher, they smell more natural and some are organic too. I find Body shop stuff smells synthetic and fake
I’m actually into body oils at this point in time 🙂 They are perfect in terms of texture and scent for me but oh so pricey! I keep forgetting to talk about them 😛 I generally find lotions or creams from most major brands too strong/powdery/sweet in scent
isn’t too oily to use oil in Malaysia cause of the weather?!
That’s the beauty of it – nope! Oil in fact absorbs much more quickly into my skin without a sticky oily feel. I’ll write about the ones i use some day 🙂
I’ll be waiting for it!!!!
I still have a tub or two of Body Shop body butters lying around at home… the scent was rather strong and got to me after the first few applications. I wish they would come up with an unscented version – I’d be so all over that! 😛
Yup I do find the scents a little too strong too. And sweet. Perhaps we’re just sensitive 😉
Sounds interesting! My friend gave me a tub of passion fruit body butter, it worked great on elbows and feet and when I travel too cold countries, but otherwise it is sticky, so I still have a huge tub left! I will consider getting this if the duo tub is more travel friendly (because it needs to be stored flat) 🙁
The passionfruit one smelt quite lovely didn’t it? I didn’t buy it because at that time I had a gazillion of these little tubs lying around 😛 These Duos don’t come in travel sizes unfortunately. They come in just one size – 200ml so no way to take these travelling!
hey me too!! I love satsuma, mango and strawberry. never liked shea butter cos the smell I find it too sweet. as i am considered very lazy and inconsistent in moisturising my body, the thick body butter helps a lot during those times when my skin feels the driest and i then become lazy for another 3-4 days or so ;P
this one looks interesting…
forgot to add… another body butter worth checking out is from marks & spencer. they absorb really well into the skin leaving no sticky feeling. then again, could be because i only moisturise my skin once a week ;P
Unlike you I found the rest too sweet! Haha… I’m as lazy as you are – or maybe lazier since I sometimes forget to apply body lotion for weeks at a time! :O
ahhh, i can hear my skin giving dying gasps at the amount of alcohol.
Even on your body? Wah that’s bad – everything has alcohol in it 😛
Thanks for the review Paris! 😀 This product really piqued my interest as I was left wondering what it was (I never actually stopped by to check it out despite passing by The Body Shop a few times oops :x), and now I know haha! It’s a good idea, really, but like you I see that people would have more use for the lotion (And thus use it more and more often) than the body butter (For certain spots e.g. knees, elbows), unless they’re somewhere in between and mix both parts equally haha 😀
You’re welcome Stephanie 😀 I do really think TBS should have allocated a bigger section for lotion because by comparison, I use so much more lotion than the butter. So when the lotion finishes, we’d be left with half a tub of butter 😛 Back to square one.
I looove body butters!!! I think the lotion would suit my skin better, the butter would work well on suppper dry areas of my skin…
If you prefer lotions, my suggestion is to get a bottle of lotion because you’d just end up using all the lotion and leaving half a tub of butter lying around LOL!
hi,
I used to b body shop fan… i love the shea… the body butter is a bit oily but then the Shea scrub is way too oily.. haven’t try the duo butter yet… herm currently using the soap n glory righteous body butter n body lotion… guess soap n glory also should come out wit some duo butter…the soap n glory smell nicer compared to bodyshop…n not sticky at all… as I havent try the duo butter… wanna ask which is better??? in terms of moisture n also the texture n feeling after applying??? thanks
I’m not sure which ones you mean in terms of comparison – Soap & Glory vs TBS or Body Butters vs Lotions? I haven’t used the ones by Soap & Glory. I’m not into body butters or lotions very much.
This is an interesting concept! Myst check it out! Thanks for the review.
Wait for the colder months Jamilla – it’ll probably work better then 😀
Nice!! Is it limited edition? The concept is pretty unique too. Maybe I can go check it out tomorrow. Thanks for the review Paris!
I believe its permanent 😀 But for a limited time, you might be able to purchase it at a special promo price (Not sure if its still ongoing) Do let us know which you end up with 😀
What an interesting concept! I love the Body Butters, they are so moisturizing and perfect for my very dry skin. This, though, seems a better option for summer. I’ll check it out, thanks for the review.
Yep! I think this might work well in summer – although by Autumn or Winter you’d only have the body butter side to contend with 😀
i am a fan of body butters because it really helps for my dry skin areas. yes, i like this concept because you get 2 in 1 product! i hope this is already available here …. 🙂
I hope so too Issa! Do let us know how it works for you if you try it 🙂
Your age is definitely not showing. If you can still use Vichy Normaderm gel wash, you, my friend… are young! 🙂
Haha! That’s true too isn’t it? 😀
I love the body butters, but I don’t like the duo. Too heavy for me and not into the scents.
The scents are really strong. Pity because the concept is great!
thx for the review, it answers a lot of my questions =)
Paris, can u tell which of these 4 has a lighter smell? unfortunately, there’s no tbs store around where i live but i think one or two of them has a lighter smell (my friend told me that, she tried one when she travelled oversea though she couldnt remember which one was it D=)
Hi Diane, I’m sorry I can’t remember which one has a lighter scent. I personally quite liked the Shea butter one but that’s because I like the smell of shea butter. Sorry I’m no help.