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Anti-bacterial hand products can be pretty boring but the last two years have shown us what a necessity it is. So I was thoroughly surprised to discover this fabulous extended Lemon range from The Body Shop. You may remember the old Sweet Lemon range, I reviewed it on here almost 10 years ago, but this is very different.
The Body Shop have a brilliant ability to make the mundane fun, and without it costing the earth. The entire range I bought here was £12.
The products I bought were:
- Lemon Purifying Hand Wash
- Lemon Cleansing Anti-Bacterial Hand Sanitiser
- Lemon Purifying Hair and Body Wash
All those together would normally be £26.50 so it’s over a 50% saving. I’d have been more than happy with my purchase if it had have been at full price; the products are worth it.
The Body Shop Lemon Range: Perfume or Real Lemon?
The overall range has an incredible smell. I mean it’s Lemon like no other – the products are so zesty and green and are some of the best smelling lemon beauty products I’ve come across to date. However, I’m not entirely convinced it’s down to the actual lemon peel oil…
For example, looking at the ingredients of the Hair & Body Wash, it’s in an even lower concentration than the Bitrex (denatonium benzoate) they add in to stop kids eating it and with that you add in only the teeniest-tiniest amount.
However, Parfum is about halfway up the ingredients list, and experience dictates this is about right for the level of fragrance they kicks out. So, I’d be inclined to say the lemon peel oil is there as a token just to say it’s there, rather than having any efficacy and this also isn’t a wholly unusual practice for The Body Shop and language on products in the range like “with natural lemon essential oil extracted from lemon peels, known for its purifying properties” is a touch misleading.
So I’m taking these products at face value and as far as delivering what they say they do in terms of an effective and intoxicatingly fragranced body wash; a gentle, zesty and effective anti-bacterial alcohol gel and a gentle liquid hand soap – they win.
The Body Shop Lemon Purifying Hand Wash
As someone with dermatitis, I have to be really careful with hand washes. Over the last two years its been a nightmare finding a balance of keeping extra-clean, but not causing my hands to crack and become painfully raw. For that, despite having used everything from Molton Brown to Aesop, The Body Shop hand washes always win out. Particularly the Tea Tree Hand Wash has been a saviour during these times.
The Body Shop appears to have come up with a winning formulation of effective cleansing, I mean they really will cleanse your hands of anything, but whilst delivering a burst of luxuriously rich lather whilst keeping hands soft and, whilst I will always use a moisturiser afterwards, not leaving my crying out for one.
The Lemon Purifying Hand Wash is no exception. It gives a thorough cleanse and leaves hands soft but also lemony fresh with that green, mouth-watering lemon fragrance – whoever designed it needs an award.
The other thing to say about The Body Shop hand washes is that they last forever; they’re very concentrated and whereas you need almost three pumps of Carex these days (I swear they’re watering it down) one pump of this and you’re good to go.
The Body Shop Lemon Purifying Hair & Body Wash
I’m very bougie with my shower gels, I like LUSH, Clarins, Aesop and Molton Brown, all of which have a decent price tag to boot. I fell out of love with The Body Shop shower gels because I felt over the years, they’ve gotten thinner – that is to say, they seem a little less concentrated as a possible cost saving mechanism. But the Lemon is an exception to that. It feels about twice as thick as standard The Body Shop shower gels and instantly bursts into this thick and creamy lather.
I wear spray deodorants and really strong ones – whatever nuclear powered creation is the latest from Sure’s laboratories. These can be notoriously difficult to shift in the shower, but this does it no problem. That’s also not to say it’s stripping; not at all. My skin is left very soft and not crying out for moisturiser and as mentioned throughout this post, the smell is just something incredible.
I haven’t and probably won’t use the body shop lemon shower gel on my hair. I have coloured hair and use a good bit of heat with it, so I stick pretty much only to Olaplex or Aveda Deep Moisture these days as most other things leave it dry and matted together when I get out the shower. So whilst I don’t know if that’s the case with this, I’m not going to find out. However on short hair, I bet this would be great, as much as the Fuji Green Tea Shampoo mother Manface bought for the other Mr. Manface who absolutely loves it.
I do lament that there’s no accompanying conditioner as it reinforces to guys particularly that you don’t need a conditioner, when you really do.
The Body Shop Lemon Cleansing Anti-Bacterial Hand Sanitiser
I hate the smell of alcohol hand sanitisers, to the point these days where they make me feel a little nauseous. However The Body Shop has been with me and Mr. Manface since day one of the last two years with their Mango Hand Sanitiser. If you don’t believe me, see the photo below this one of our current ‘stock levels’…
The Body Shop always seems to do so well with their simple fruity fragrances and have made hand sanitisation something enjoyable. The lemon fragrance it leaves stays on the hands a good while but it’s not cloying or grating. When you’re out and about, you know that when the fragrance fades, it’s probably time to use it again, so the fragrance acting as a hygiene indicator which I’m sure is a happy accident.
It’s also very giftable and I think most people including myself, particularly those who may be front line or wanting to be very careful in the current environment, would be very pleased with a The Body Shop Lemon gift set, either one done up pick ‘n’ mix or this prepackaged hand care set.
In conclusion, this range is gorgeous. In addition to the body wash, hand wash and hand sanitiser, there’s also:
- Lemon Purifying Face Wash
- Lemon Protecting Hand Body Lotion
- Lemon Anti-Bacterial Hand Sanitiser in Pump Bottle
- Lemon Caring and Purifying Hair Mist
What I like:
- Stunning fragrance shared by all products
- Hand products are kind and not drying
- Body Wash is rich, concentrated and lathers well
- A fun way to fight bacteria and viruses
- Great price/offer almost always available
What I don’t like:
- Feels misleading as to efficacy/concentration of actual Lemon Peel Oil
- Shampoo has no partner conditioner
- Lemon Hand Sanitizer 100ml is a little big for convenient carrying
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