Amy and I always strive to make it really clear when we’ve been given products to review and when we’ve paid for them, because that always effects our reviews, even if we try to not let it. Another ethical dilemma that I’ve come up against recently is what happens when the product I want to review is a gift? So, full disclosure, for Xmas the lovely Lisa gave me this body scrub. It was an excellent present – she knows I like body products, and she also knows that I love the smell of vanilla and spices. So, absolute props to Lisa for the thoughtful gift. But she’s not under review here, the scrub is. Does it do what it says it does?

Get smooth, radiant skin this season with a luxurious creamy exfoliating scrub with nutmeg and natural exfoliants to leave skin feeling soft,smooth and delicately fragranced with the comforting scent of toasted nutmeg and vanilla.

Well, it smells lovely in the shower, although the scent doesn’t carry much further afterwards. And it does feel luxurious and creamy. But it doesn’t feel like a scrub! I know that I have strict scrub requirements (I like it to feel really really rough) which both products I’ve disliked (Celebration Banana Cream Pie scrub) and products I love (Nature’s essence) fail at, compared to my awesome homemade sugar scrub. This Bodyshop scrub contains crushed walnut shells and petunia seeds for exfoliation, so it feels a little gritty, but not very. Plus, the petunia seeds look kind of like bugs, and so they’re not very much fun to have all over you – although it’d be hilarious to give to someone who’s been smoking P and is already freaking out about insects anyway. It’s a bit messy in the shower floor and walls, but washes away pretty easy with a direct stream of water. If you just want a very very gentle scrub, it could suit you, or you could use it with a scrubbing mitt for a real good go. It was a present so I don’t know how much it cost, but Bodyshop stuff in general isn’t very cheap. You can feel virtuous that the honey in it is fair-trade, but for an every day thorough scrub, I’d recommend you invest in some almond oil and a nice essential oil and make your own instead.