The Body Shop Honeymania Hand Cream Review, Price India

Loving skincare products has been a new obsession of mine, solely going back ~4 years or so. Earlier, I was a Pond’s cold cream and Vaseline body lotion kind of person, but then they were replaced by exotic scented body butters, special face gels and creams, some sera, and yes, hand cream. Though I am more of a hoarder and less of a user, I love to try new things, because who doesn’t like to splurge on themselves? And it’s only one life we have, but so many beautiful things to see and try (and sniff 😛 and I don’t mean drugs! I refer only to the beautiful scented products we now have!). Though I sound materialistic and shallow, for me it is pretty therapeutic, buying something for self care. It makes me feel I am looking after myself in the fast paced world, and this is so important! Caring for the body is important after all. So, I also try and experiment with a lot of hand creams to give my dry hands some respite (though more often, I forget them in unused handbags, and then end up with even drier hands…). I remembered that I had bought TBS Honeymania hand cream almost a year ago and placed in a random handbag, and now, once I have rediscovered it, I wanted to review it. Enjoy!

Product Description and Claims: Here is a brief description of The Body Shop Honeymania Hand Cream from the TBS website:

Perfect for on-the-go hydration, don’t leave home without this handcream. Infused with the scent of fragrant honey, the light, gel-cream formula absorbs quickly, helping to soften and protect the hands.

• Hand cream
• Nourishing
• Light, non-greasy texture
• Sweet, floral honey scent
• Travel size
• Community Trade honey from Ethiopia
• Community Trade shea from Ghana

ALSO READ: THE BODY SHOP MORINGA BODY BUTTER REVIEW

Ingredients and Chemistry: This is the complete ingredient list for The Body Shop Honeymania Hand Cream, and the function of each ingredient in brackets:

Aqua/Water (Solvent/Diluent), Glycerin (Humectant), Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (Emollient), Mel/Honey (Natural Additive), Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis Oil/Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil (Skin-Conditioning Agent), Sodium Polyacrylate (Film Former/Viscosity Increasing Agent), Cetyl Alcohol (Emulsifier), Parfum/Fragrance (Fragrance), Pentaerythrityl Distearate (Skin Conditioning Agent – Emollient), Phenoxyethanol (Preservative), Caprylyl Glycol (Skin Conditioning Agent), Cetearyl Alcohol (Emulsifier), Cetearyl Glucoside (Surfactant), Glycine Soja Oil/Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil (Emollient/Skin Conditioner), Orbignya Oleifera Seed Oil (Emollient), Butyrospermum Parkii Butter/Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter (Skin Conditioning Agent – Emollient), Myristamidopropyl PG-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate (Skin-Conditioning Agent), Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate Skin Conditioning Agent), Xanthan Gum (Viscosity Modifier), Hexyl Cinnamal (Fragrance Ingredient), Disodium EDTA (Chelating Agent), Benzyl Salicylate (Fragrance Ingredient), Myristyl Alcohol (Emulsifier/Emollient), Stearyl Alcohol (Emollient), Geraniol (Fragrance Ingredient), Linalool (Fragrance Ingredient), Limonene (Fragrance Ingredient), Citric Acid (pH Adjuster), CI 19140/Yellow 5 (Colour), CI 15985/Yellow 6 (Colorant), CI 14700/Red 4 (Colorant).

Packaging: TBS hand creams have always come in medicinal looking aluminium tubes. The new range of core TBS hand creams come in similar tubes, but having used the classic tube of their Hemp handcream, I can easily tell that the tube of The Body Shop Honeymania Hand Cream is softer and easier to use. The caps remind me of Boroline 😛 No issues with that, but sometimes they are hard to handle, being so small in size. However, now I am pretty used to these tubes and hope to find every hand cream in such packing! These tubes are leak proof and travel friendly (probably making this the reason I forgot it in my handbag…)

Color and Scent: The cream is a pale yellow in color, and has the distinct beautiful scent of TBS honeymania range, which is the fragrance of a sweet floral garden, or a gorgeous floral bouquet. I would say it is one of my favourite scents ever! You have to try it to believe it.

My Experience: Coming to the overall experience with this product, I would say that the factor which made me pick this cream (it was a gift, chosen by me and gifted by someone 🙂 ) was my fascination with the scent of honeymania range of products. I have really dry skin and very dry hands, so they thank me when I care for them in any way at all. Post washing my hands (which is pretty often), a large drop of The Body Shop Honeymania Hand Cream is sufficient to moisturize the hands and cuticles. As soon as you begin massaging it in, it gets completely absorbed in a jiffy! You cannot even feel any hint of grease or oil. It does leave your hands immediately smoother and softer, making it the perfect office hand cream. What it does not help much with is healing extremely chapped hands. I have terribly dry cuticles and the skin around my nails gets hard (well yes, due to my own negligence for prolonged periods when I sleep without moisturizing hands and don’t moisturize them enough during the day…). So this hand cream will not heal such kinds of cracked and hard skin. It is sufficient for normal hands, and yes, if you have dry hands and are caring well enough for them, this cream can be sufficient once you make its application pretty habitual apart from moisturizing your hands with another heavier cream a couple of times during the day. Otherwise on its own, it can work only for normal hands and yes, definitely as an office mood up-lifter too, because of its refreshing fragrance! The good part is that the scent of this cream lingers even after washing hands with soap, which is a huge plus!

ALSO READ: THE BODY SHOP HONEYMANIA BODY BUTTER REVIEW

Reapplication After How Long? While testing The Body Shop Honeymania Hand Cream, I did find that I need to reapply after 2-3 washes, as it retains enough effectiveness and maintains some suppleness in hands for a couple of washes.

 

Price: Rs 375 for 30 ml. I feel this is a significant con for this product as it is definitely expensive for this quantity.

FFS Rating: 3.75/5

Where to Buy: TBS stores across the world.

PROs and CONs:

PROs:

1. Mindblowing fragrance, which instantly lifts you up
2. Travel friendly packing
3. Sufficient for normal hands
4. Fragrance lingers even after washing hands
5. Reapplication needed only after 2 or so washes
6. Leaves no greasiness on the hands, making it perfect for office use

CONs:

1. At this price, it is one of the more expensive hand creams
2. It is insufficient for dry, calloused hands
3. I don’t find it sufficient for night time use as it is not heavy enough

Final Verdict: Normal hands seeking a hand cream? Go on and buy this! Dry hands and want a hand cream? Well, buy this but remember to moisturize hands with a buttery lotion in the night and then use The Body Shop Honeymania Hand Cream throughout the day to derive maximum benefit! The fragrance will leave you enchanted for sure.