Neal's Yard Remedies Geranium and Orange Product Review

Like any female over 12 years old, I've been inundated with soaps and 'smellies' over the Christmas season. Smellies as gifts are often derided for being from the unimaginative gifter, but recently I've come to think that the best smellies come from the people in life who know you the most. My boyfriend's family (well let's face it, his mum) got me some gorgeous smellies this year. In previous years we haven't known each other too well, so we've tended to buy each other gifts that we like, hoping they will like it too! Do you guys ever find that? That's not to say it's a bad thing- we obviously like our own taste, and hope others will too. With that in mind, I'm going to do a product review of what she got me.

Neal's Yard Remedies: 'Vibrant'
Includes: Geranium & Orange Shower Gel 200ml, Body Scrub 200g and Body Butter 200g

First: the Shower Gel.

I think that the Geranium and Orange smell is an aquired smell. It smells much more like your flower garden than your bathroom cabinet. This makes it a bit different and sets it out from the rest as a mature, together, woman's body product. As for me, I like it. A lot. It's unusual, and my first introduction to Neal's Yard, it's a smell I will remember.

The shower gel itself is nicely packaged, the branding and design of the labels is very effective, original and aesthetically pleasing. It says on the label for this particular shower gel: 'can also be used as a shampoo'. I was intrieged by this as the notion of my hair smelling like geranium and orange appealed to me. I added a little in with my original shampoo and I have to say, it worked very well! It worked better, even as a shampoo than it did as a shower gel! The texture is more like a shampoo; liquidy with some weight and no soap suds (though it didn't weigh my hair down at all, it gave it a smooth silky texture). So I would recommend this as a shampoo, not a shower gel. For the record my hair, despite its terrible condition -which even my hairdresser commented on, despite it never being coloured- is fairly normal, on occasion dry.

Second: the body scrub

The body scrub I love. I just can't get enough of it. It's so addictive, I have it on my desk while working and when I need a pick-me-up, I scrub it on my arms and hands. You're supposed to wash it off afterwards, because it has dead sea salts in it that you can feel on your skin, but I usually brush them off (I am lazy).

Third: the body butter

I have to say I'm a bit biased with body butter because imo it is the most useless product in the world. Who uses it, and more importantly, why do you use it? What is it for? I don't think I will ever understand body butter, sorry world! I guess if you just want your body to be smooth and perfumed but not exfoliated, then choose the body butter over the body scrub.

Overall I would say it was a perfect gift set and well worth the price (particularly if you look at the cost of the items individually, it's a steal! I think I might buy a gift set for myself now!

A little bit about Neal's Yard...

Neal's Yard brands itself as an extremely ethical and environmentally responsible brand. This can lead people to be very critical of their medicinal claims. (When uncomfortable questions about the claims they make regarding alternative/holistic medicines and homopathy were put to them by Guardian readers, they failed to respond.) I don't support treatment without scientific evidence (especially if the scientific evidence actually supports that the product may harm!) so I won't discuss their treatments here.
Their makeup and skincare, personally, is another matter which can often and happily be discussed away from politics. By some of the product reviews on their website some people find their products help their skin so by all means, have it as an option, but if you have skin problems, see your GP/doctor first guys! Their products are high-end, with shower gels ranging from £9.30-£38.90. Think Bridget Jones' mum (and probably yours)- she'd love it.

Do you like Neal's Yard Remedies? What have been your favourite products? And (I would be particularly interested to know comments on this one) have you used any of their remedies, and what was the result?