I remember St. Ives – hands up if you don’t 😉
In fact, its quite silly to say “I remember” because they’re still around but I just stopped paying attention to them. I used to be a great fan of their medicated face scrub. It was the first time I’d learnt about salicylic acid and the wonders it did for my skin, helping clear up spots while keeping skin smooth. I never really used their body stuff though. Or maybe I did but it didn’t stick around in my memory.
Recently, it was brought to my attention that St. Ives has launched some new products in the past year, amongst which we find a bunch of new body washes. Hurrah! I love body washes! I go through them quite easily so I always have a good stock of them around.
The 3 new ones are Mineral Therapy, Energizing Citrus and Oatmeal & Shea Butter. Have you noticed them in stores or used them before?
These new St. Ives body washes are now paraben free and claim to be 100% made from natural ingredients. The former is commendable as there are people who are concerned about parabens or who are allergic to them, but I’m not too sure about the latter. I’m not all that well versed in this subject anyway so I’ll let others tackle it. I just tell you what the label says 🙂
The 3 new scents interestingly also come in 3 slightly different textures although they are all body washes. I’ll break it down for you.
- Energizing Citrus – This one has a lovely scent of grapefruit and lime that importantly, does not smell like dish detergent! Very important. It smells lovely and refreshing and has a nice effect of perking up the senses in the morning or at the end of a long tiring day. The texture of the body wash is slightly light and gel like and a little translucent. I like this one a lot but my complaint will be that the scent does not last. After my shower, my bathroom has a lovely zesty fragrance of peeled grapefruit but once I step out, I can’t smell it on myself anymore. It would be nice if it lasts longer.
- Mineral Therapy – The texture of this one is an opaque cream with a slight sheen to it. It smells a little metallic and not very strong. It cleans the skin but I wasn’t too taken by the texture or the scent so this is not one I will purchase.
- Oatmeal & Shea Butter – The texture is also creamy with a thick lush feel when applied on skin. Rather like applying body lotion, except its a body wash. The smell is typically shea butter and makes me think of vanilla chocolate for some reason. The scent is warm, rich and creamy and very relaxing if you like that sort of scent. It also seems to make my skin feel less dry after showering. Its a more lush shower experience.
For the sake of experimenting, I passed this out to 2 other people to try it and let me know what they though and their thoughts were in tandem with mine. Everyone loved the Energizing Citrus one for a good wake-me-up scent and the Oatmeal and Shea Butter one for a warm relaxing end-of-day shower. But each of us was flummoxed by the Mineral one which we just couldn’t identify with. It was alright for a body wash, just not memorable.
In a nutshell
The 3 new St. Ives body washes are nice to have in the shower. They wash out clean without drying out the skin and the Oatmeal & Shea Butter one in fact, seems to make the skin feel more comfortable and softer. Energizing Citrus has a lovely zesty scent and a nice light gel texture while the other 2 have a more creamy texture. I didn’t know these new ones existed but now that I do and since I do like them, I will probably repurchase Energizing Citrus and Oatmeal & Shea Butter. I can’t make my mind up about Mineral Therapy. It just wasn’t memorable enough.
Pros: Cleans skin without drying, No parabens, Scent in all 3 body washes is not too strong and not cloying or too sweet
Cons: It would be nice if the Energizing Citrus scent lingered longer
Who will like this: Anyone who enjoys using scented body washes, Anyone who wants something paraben free
Here is the ingredient list for each of the 3 new St. Ives body washes
Have you seen these new St. Ives body washes? Have you tried any of them or are you a St. Ives fan and have more stuff to recommend?
Because the prices are quite wallet friendly, I’d suggest picking up Energizing Citrus for the morning and Oatmeal & Shea Butter for the evening.
Paris B
St. Ives Body Washes come in 3 variants Price: RM17.90/400ml (watch for discounts where they can go for just RM12.88!) Availability: Most major pharmacies
dom says
I initially thought that parabens and disodium EDTA were pretty much the same thing (i.e. preservatives, stopping product rancidity) but I did my research and realized that there is a subtle, yet very important difference between the two (referring to the ingredients list for the Oatmeal one). Anyhoo. I’m impressed that that Citrus and Oatmeal ones have both citrus and oatmeal pretty high up on the ingredients list. Many a time I have been disappointed to see something with an “extract” of some sort, only to see said “extract” much lower down the list.
I’d probably purchase this on sale – the use of glycerin (a rather cheap moisturizing agent) doesn’t warrant the RM17 for me :p Thanks for the review 🙂
Paris B says
Heh I actually thought a shower gel under RM20 was a great deal 🙂 I’m not too familiar with parabens myself as I am personally not bugged by them but I do know of people who are allergic to them so its great to know that there are brands taking that into account (as well as riding the wave of the no-paraben hype of course 😉 )
Sue says
I’ve trying their energising citrus and I have to say that citrus smell does give you an oomph! Best part is it’s not cloying and my skin felt good after using it.
Paris B says
Glad you agree! 😀 I love it in the mornings. I guess the good thing about the scent not lingering is that it doesn’t mess with my perfume 😉
Jesz says
Paris, u really tempted me with the Energizing Citrus…I’m going to get one, will look out for the promo 😉
Paris B says
A friend told me its still on promo at Guardian so its a good time to pick it up! 😀 Hope you’ll enjoy it too!
Jesz says
Yep, I manage to pick up one at promo price last weekend. I enjoy the smell!
Found the Mineral Therapy smell not bad too…maybe pick up next time =D
Jyoan says
I’ve never tried anything from St Ives before. For some reason, this brand just doesn’t seem to tempt me.
But I do like scented body washes, especially those that are therapeutic.
Paris B says
*hands up* Me too! I never really paid attention to this brand 😛 But its good to know that these body washes were quite nice to use without being too sweet and without drying out my hands 🙂 Many cheaper brands tend to dry out my sensitive hands but these didn’t 😀
lissa grace says
I’ve been using this body wash since the past 2 months right now & it’s awesome! it makes my skin smooth & moisturized through out the day (plus, i also use the lotion from this brand too). I’m using the oatmeal & Shea butter for the moment but i also have the other type which is collagen elastin. these 2 are my total favorite!!
Paris B says
Its great to know you’re enjoying using these body washes too! I haven’t tried the Collagen Elastin one but I seem to recall it from long ago – I didn’t quite like it then but maybe they’ve reformulated it. Will take a look! 😀
Sukie says
I am a fan of anything Citrusy so I will be stalking the shelves in Boots / Superdrug in hopes of finding this! Surprisingly enough I have never tried anything from St Ives even though I’ve seen tubes of St Ives Apricot Face Scrub sitting in my grandmother’s shower ever since I was a child. About time, perhaps? 😉
Paris B says
I hope you find the Citrus one there Sukie! I remember they weren’t terribly pricey. I only ever religiously used the St. Ives Apricot scrubs until I felt that the granules were a bit too harsh on my skin. They were nice on the rough bits of the body though! 😉
Petrina Alescna says
St Ives’ Facial Apricot Scrub and Myd Miracle for hair were my high school staples! It was only when I was in Uni & they must have changed the formula coz the grains were so coarse that I switched lol.
I also used to love their VanillaBody wash – so maybe I should have a sniff at this Shea butter one 😉
Paris B says
Oh you noticed the coarseness of the apricot granules too! That’s why I stopped using them too. Too painful 😛
Kaolee says
I love the face scrub as well. Thanks for the review. I’ll definitely try these out since I need a body wash. I was just using regular soap before.
Paris B says
I hope you find a scent you like Kaolee! 😀
Jaslyn says
These body washes are not new, they were around since eons ago, and paraben free too!
I’ve tried both the Citrus one and the Oatmeal one. Love them both! The Citrus one has a wonderful zesty grapefruit scent, but it is slightly drying on my skin. The Oatmeal one smells gloriously gourmand, like white chocolate, and it’s so moisturizing! Love St Ives <3
Paris B says
Ah thanks for clearing it up Jaslyn 🙂 I was told they were new (but could have sworn I’d seen the Shea Butter one around before!) Maybe what they meant was repackaging instead LOL… Good to know we both like the same ones! I couldn’t quite get the Mineral Therapy one 😛
Grace says
I haven’t tried any of them but Oatmeal & Shea Butter sounds interesting and it nice t known its does not dry the skin out …So should add it to my latest discovery list… Thanks for sharing
Paris B says
Indeed! I liked the fact they weren’t drying on skin, best 🙂 Hope you’ll like them if you try them!
plue says
A bit out of topic, but I think St Ives pulled out from Watson, I haven’t seen them there in ages! Best bet is to go to Guardian straight, they usually have it, be it the skincare or the body wash. Energizing Citrus isn’t new, I used them way back in 2010, though the packaging is now different.
I might have seen the body lotion for these, in Guardian too, have you seen it around?
trah says
Oatmeal and Shea Butter sounds great, I shall give it a try. Being paraben-free is a plus factor in my book 🙂