NEW Liquid Peel formulas from The Body Shop are reviewed here.

These Liquid Peels from The Body Shop have been out a few months now. The brand clearly thought they were onto a winner as they introduced them into the Vitamin C, Drops of Youth and Drops of Light skincare collection.

They’re a relatively new product concept on the wider skincare market, but do run the risk of seeming a little gimicky. But are they?

All the peels are pretty much the same formulations with the exception of a few ingredients that relate to each range. They’re both lightweight and nicely fragranced gels that you apply to the face and work in using gentle circular motions. They start to ‘clump’ up and ball up on the skin – this is their design. The residue is then to be removed afterwards using a facial cloth or muslin cloth.

Sadly and rather disappointingly, the first shared ingredients are very poor and don’t particularly do anything. At their most basic, the’re very, very mild exfoliators that are frustratingly loaded with a huge amount of alcohol. Once the alcohol evaporates, the carbomer then starts to clump up giving a ‘peeling’ effect.

Skin feels smoother afterwards simply because you’ve very midlly exfoliated and also wiped the skin down with alcohol. Try wiping the back of your hand with a spot of rubbing alcohol and notice how smooth it feels; same thing with these.

The Body Shop claims that this effect of peeling lifts and unclogs dead skin cells and impurities in the skin and pores. I just don’t see it, either with my eyes, hands or looking at the ingredients.

Now I’m a huge fan of both of these ranges and have been for a long while; I particularly love the Vitamin C 10 Day Glow Boosting Concentrate that I reviewed very recently. However with the Liquid Peels – both of them – I just didn’t feel they did a thing at all. They’re fun products and smell great but from looking at the ingredients and testing them out with extreme hope; nothing.

I’m really disappointed in the Liquid Peels and I can’t stress any more how much I didn’t want to be. Their full ingredients are at the bottom of this post. If you’re looking for gentle chemical exfoliation that cleanse and help unclog pores, check out the following great options:

• La Roche-Posay Effaclar Purifying Micellar Water
• Bioderma Hydrabio H2O Cleansing Micelle Solution
• Bioderma Micelle Solution Micellar Water
• REN Clarifying Toning Lotion

The Body Shop Liquid Peels Drops of Youth Full Ingredients

Aqua, Alcohol Denat., Propylene Glycol, Glycerin, Carbomer, PPG-26-Buteth-26, Palmitamidopropyltrimonium Chloride, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Quaternium-80, Parfum, Behentrimonium Chloride, Linalool, Citronellol, Cetrimonium Chloride, Isopropyl Alcohol, Crithmum Maritimum Extract, Eryngium Maritimum Extract, Leontopodium Alpinum Callus Culture Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Citric Acid, Xanthan Gum.

The Body Shop Liquid Peels Vitamin C Glow Revealing Full Ingredients

Aqua, Alcohol Denat., Propylene Glycol, Glycerin, Carbomer, PPG-26-Buteth-26, Palmitamidopropyltrimonium Chloride, PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Quaternium-80, Parfum/Fragrance, 3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid, Mel/Honey/Miel, Limonene, Behentrimonium Chloride, Cetrimonium Chloride, Benzyl Salicylate, Hexyl Cinnamal, Isopropyl Alcohol, Linalool, Myrciaria Dubia Fruit Extract.