The Body Shop Honeymania Body Butter Review

Hello everyone!

After a lot of pondering and hesitating and waiting and more waiting, I took the plunge and started my blog. This thing was in the pipeline for sooo long, that I don’t even remember when I opened a wordpress account. But life has taken a big turn for me, and given me time to think, decide and do. Just do. So here I am, with my first ever beauty product review. I’m excited as hell 😀

The Body Shop is my most loved brand when it comes to skin care, so starting the review section from a TBS product became pretty obvious for me! Let’s start…

So finally the winters have arrived in Delhi! Well, we Indians have a hard wait for this season, after almost 7 loooong hot humid months, the time comes when we can bring out our pretty sweaters and cardigans, and my favorite jackets and long coats which sit behind in the almirah…yayyy I’m really happy. But sadly, I can’t say so for my skin, which suffers terribly especially in these weather changing weeks. Thankfully, I discovered the body butters a couple of years ago, and since then, some of my problems regarding my Sahara desert sort of dry skin have ebbed away…

When you call a product ‘body butter’, the first name that comes to my mind is ‘The Body Shop’, well, there are a lot of other companies with body butters too, but the concept was introduced by Anita Roddick, the founder of TBS. Enough trivia for today 🙂 Let’s get to the review.

I am reviewing the Honeymania body butter today. This is a permanent line of products which have replaced the Sweet Lemon permanent range. Personally, I hated the sweet lemon scent, and as much as I hated sweet lemon, I equally adore, love, worship the honeymania range. Read on for why.

Ingredients:

My experience:I love TBS body butters. Period. I am a body butter fanatic, totally obsessed with them. I buy them in bulk when in sale, and always have some 3-4 jars being well used at any time of the year. My mom loves them too, it soothes her itchy dry skin, and she loves the sheen that these leave behind on the skin. And don’t even get me started on the scents. I L.O.V.E. their scents!! (Not all of them.. but yes honeymania is one of my most favorite TBS scents now) This line was launched in the US sometime last year in October, and launched in India in February this year. I tried this butter in the US in December 2013, and frankly, I didn’t like the scent that much then. I ended up buying the Vanilla Bliss at that time. But then, when it launched in India, I ventured into the store leisurely, and tried it again, and man, I was in love. As soon as it went on sale, I grabbed myself a jar (~INR 800 at that time), and have been using it. This is my tub no. 2! And well, this will always remain in my home now, I love it so much.

Texture:  The texture is similar to the other body butters meant for dry skins (Hemp, Vanilla Bliss). It does not have the whipped cream texture like that of the fruity body butters (Strawberry, Satsuma), it is hard, but I have read that the harder body butters are better for dry skin, so I’m not complaining!

Effectiveness, Moisturization: It glides on my skin like a dream. I use it immediately after a shower on damp skin to retain moisture. It leaves my skin soft and smooth for a good 24 hours. No lying. I can tell you from my experience of using body lotions and body creams and what not, after 12-15 hours, if I scratch the skin on my arm or leg, it leaves behind a white mark of dryness. But this has never happened since I started using body butters; it suits my skin that well. It actually keeps my skin nourished for about 24 hours, so the company isn’t making a tall claim when they write ’24 hour hydration’ on their tubs. The experience is the same with the honeymania butter. It contains cocoa butter, shea butter and sesame oil, all of which are great sources of vitamin E for the skin. And being ‘honey’mania, it contains an exotic Ethiopian honey, known as Sheka honey, which contains nectar of wildflowers. I read it up and came to know that it is one ridiculously expensive honey 😉 The best part about this body butter is, yes, the fragrance. Though it is a personal choice, but I feel the Indian noses would find it appealing (both men and women-women on themselves, and men, well, on their women..hehehe). I didn’t find it very strong in the tub, but when it melts on the skin, I feel drenched in something heavenly…divine..and exotic J It is quite a sweet fragrance, but has floral notes to it, not cloying or nothing too strong to give a headache, just a beautiful, pleasant scent. And boy, it lingers long. When I initially opened the tub, and started using the product, I could smell it ALL. DAY. LONG. Oh yes. BUT, and this is the most frustrating part, is that after a few months of opening my first tub (~2-3 months? Don’t remember, but yes, I used this one sparingly, saving it up for the cooler months and finishing up the fruity butters first), the fragrance has DROPPED, immensely. Neither did it last all day, and I needed more butter to smell as good as what a little bit gave me earlier. Humph. Yes I’m angry. So So for my tub number 2, I’m using it well, before the fragrance ebbs away. It is too good of a fragrance to be given up just because of this reason.

Rating: 4/5

Price: 1195 for 200 ml (I got it in a sale at 20% off for Rs. 900). Well, don’t even get me started on these prices. I don’t know why, but I feel that everytime I venture into a shop to buy some stuff, priceshave risen. Someone please help us achieve a hike in salary just as fast…pleassse!!!! One more thing, rest of the body butters are for 1095, this one is 1195, and is almost treated like a premium range in the Indian stores, with everything from this range slightly more expensive than the rest of the ranges.

Value for money: I, however, feel it is a high value for money: you get a perfumed body moisturizer that makes you smell heavenly. The moisturization power is great too. I even feel that if there might be a heaven on earth, it would smell just like this, at least for me 😀 I am planning on buying its EDT in sale, would be good for layering. I have also bought the shower gel from the same line (to be reviewed shortly!)

Pros and Cons:

PROS:

• Loooove the fragrance
• Provides upto 24 hour hydration, really keeps the skin soft and prevents dryness and flakiness
• Makes the skin healthier (I personally feel my skin getting soft, and I have really dry skin)
• The tub would last quite long
• It is mostly a natural product (all the natural butters, honey..I feel like eating honey right now!)
• No animal testing, and TBS is engaged in fair trade practices, so every time you buy something from them, you are helping some farmers and beekeepers.

CONS:

• The fragrance can diminish with time, I don’t know, probably due to oxidization or what. That’s the biggest shortcoming for me.
• A bit expensive, but TBS does have offers, and I prefer to buy them during sale period only.

Repurchase: Most definitely yes. This is going to remain on my bed-stand, dressing table and cupboard forever. Just hope they don’t discontinue this line! I will really cry if they do.

Thanks for reading! You will be seeing a lot of me in the blogosphere, I promise!

Have you tried anything from this range? Did you like it, or would miss it? Do drop in a line!