The Body Shop Vitamin E Serum-in-Oil & Mask Review

I am somewhat a bit of a recovering skincare fiend. I changed my skincare routine pretty much every few weeks, and made small alterations to include new products that I couldn't resist. However, I've more or less amended my ways and now vow to stick to a strict regime, changing products only when necessary (seasons changing or a monster zit suddenly making an appearance).

As I was moving house for the billionth time, I decided to work my way through some of my older products that either needed finishing up or a chance to actually be used. Unfortunately, this lead to some rather bizarre skin reactions from messing with my usual routine, and what can only be described as a light chemical burn on my cheeks. After throwing out the remainder of the offending items, I went in search of something that would sooth my skin as well as plump it up again.

I remembered a few years ago when I'd received my first ever set of Body Shop products, and that they worked a treat on my dry skin. Fortunately The Body Shop has not changed their packaging much in the past, so it was incredibly easy to find what it was I was after.

I came across a duo that contained the Vitamin E Overnight Serum-in-Oil and the Vitamin E Sink-In Moisture Mask for just £18, saving me £7 overall, which I didn't think was too shabby. Apart from the fact that it was a great bargain, I'm glad I went for the Serum-in-Oil, as the huge amount of stress and weird weather was playing havoc with my skin, and all other moisturiser was just being slurped up within seconds due to my current skin condition. While I generally only use this in my evening routine now, I can say that it repaired the patchy appearance of my cheeks and soothed the agitation within a couple of days.

What's nice about this product is that it isn't overly greasy despite being an oil, in fact I'd say it has more of a silky feel to it, so I was able to use it in the mornings without people staring at the greased-up weird girl. It isn't overly fragranced either which is a nice bonus, though one of the ingredients is Parfum/Fragrance which is a big product turn-off for some I know.

Another great thing about this product is that a little goes a long way. With the handy-dandy-truly-spiffing pipette system, I can pop out around for drops without getting the product everywhere.

The only downside I can see to this product is that if you're afflicted with oily skin, this is going to be a big no-no. I found I was washing my hair more often after a few months of use (long after the flakes had vanished) because my fringe was getting so greasy and gross from my forehead. If you're like myself with combination, I suggest skin-mapping with your products to avoid any overly oily areas.

The Moisture Mask is a dream come true. I have a bit of a hoarding issue when it comes to those masks that you can get in a packet, even though I rarely use them. I find they put too much product into the sachet, so you end up with loads of wastage unless you depot them, which is more money. Of course it could just be me and my tiny face, but we'll analyse that another time. I've tried to find face masks in tubes and pots that are more suited to my needs, but most of them are, for lack of a better description, utter kak.

This tub is like angel delight and jelly made the beast with two backs and then had a baby, the consistency of the product is so weird. It smells gorgeous though, very fresh and clean, once again not to all of our product tastes. I personally love the smell though.

My first impression of this mask is that it was cooling, but not to the point where my skin felt as though it had a cold burn. Admittedly I didn't use this on my skin while it was still looking chapped from the chemical burn, as my usual expectations are face mask + sensitive skin = horrible burning pain. I've never felt like my skin was melting like those nazi dudes who opened the ark of the covenant while using this on my usual dried up skin, but it's amazingly refreshing on a warm summer evening.

After using this my skin immediately feels wonderfully plump and fresh, I could just pinch my cheeks for hours. Using this product followed by the oil leaves my skin feeling baby soft for days. It's like I've grown a whole new face! It's definitely going to be purchased again once I've scraped the tub clean.


The Vitamin E range of products is available from The Body Shop online and in-store.