Four Skincare Faves from The Body Shop

My younger self would associate The Bodyshop with fuzzy peach shower gel, playdough soap and white musk perfume. But in more modern times they have really stepped up their game with impressive skincare and makeup ranges that rival the high street and, in some cases, even luxury brands. 

I have chosen my four favourite skincare items from three different ranges. Two of them are items that I buy in bulk so as to avoid the dreaded ‘panic repurchase’ – you know, when you realise that you’ve run out of product and can’t face to go even one day without it. And to replenish my stocks, I take full advantage of the 3 for 2 deals that are repeatedly cropping up in store.

Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil - £11 for 200ml

 

There is a reason this one is a best-seller. I have used many high end cleansing oils and balms in my time – most of which are three times the price - and I must say that this oil outshines them all! I use it as the first step, to remove makeup, in my double cleansing routine. It manages to melt away even the most stubborn of waterproof mascaras in an instant, leaving skin feeling clean and fresh. I use around 2 pumps – 3 if I’m sporting a generous amount of eye makeup – and massage it in to my skin for a few minutes. I then wash it off with warm water and follow with a second cleanser (at the moment I’m using one from Aesop). This is the first of my two ‘bulk buy’ items mentioned above and I defy you to feel differently once you try it.

Vitamin E Moisture Serum - £13 for 30ml

Another best-seller and bulk buy item number two! This is a fuss-free, yet effective serum that performs exactly how you would expect. It glides over skin and works with any moisturiser you place on top to keep skin feeling plump and smooth all day. If for some reason I forget to use this, I find that even with a rich moisturiser, my makeup starts to crack and flake by the end of the day (no, not a great look). It is also great for sensitive skin as it doesn’t have any harsh scents.

Seaweed Mattifying Day Cream - £12 for 50ml

There is not much I can say with regards to this product besides -- if you have oily skin, this is the moisturiser for you. I am not particularly oily but I do find that by the end of a warm or humid day I can have a tendency to look like a bit of a grease-monster. This moisturiser works well under makeup as it balance excess sebum and gives a matte, shine-free complexion whilst still moisturising dry areas. It works particularly well when layered on top of the Vitamin E Serum (above) and yes, you guessed it - this is quite rightly another of their best-sellers.

Vitamin E Overnight Serum in Oil – £15 for 28ml 

 

A non-greasy, lightweight oil infused with vitamin E, as well as sesame and wheatgerm oils. I like to pat a few drops of this in to my skin at night time after my cleanser/toner and I find that it leaves my skin looking rested and glowing the following morning. Because it combines the powers of both oil and serum, it can be layered with other products; if I’m feeling particularly dry one evening, I follow it immediately with a small amount of nourishing moisturiser (such as the one by Eucerin featured in my Winter Skincare post) for an extra moisture hit.


Let me know if you have tried any of my faves and if there are any that you think I may have missed.

The Creamiest Tomato Soup (that’s also vegan and gluten-free – astonishingly!)

There is nothing more comforting than a bowl of steaming tomato soup on a wet and miserable day. And whilst we are now in to the summer months in England, Mother Nature clearly didn’t get the memo!
I wanted to replicate that old classic tomato soup that we all know and love from Mr Heinz. It’s creamy and smooth, and very ‘tomatoey’ but also on the sweeter side.




As I try not to consume too many animal fats, I wanted to find an alternative to cream. Having recently enjoyed a delicious cashew cream dessert from a local deli I immediately knew that cashew nuts were going to be my new favourite super ingredient (sorry coconut, we had some good times together, but it’s time to move on).

Makes 4 starter-sized bowls

 

Ingredients:

1kg vine tomatoes (I used a mixture of larger vine tomatoes as well as piccolo for their sweetness)
2 medium carrots, diced
3-4 cloves of garlic
1tsp olive oil
8 – 10 raisins (for sweetness)
60g raw cashews
250ml vegetable stock (1 tsp of this bouillon from Marigold mixed with boiling water is a great vegan alternative to fresh stock) 

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Method:

Preheat oven to 160C/gas mark 4. Halve any larger tomatoes and place in a baking tray with the carrot and smaller tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil and bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes. After that time, the tomatoes should be soft but not caramelised. Add the cashews, garlic and raisins. Bake for a further 10-15 minutes, until the cashew nuts are golden. 

Heat the stock until just warm. Ladle half the ingredients in to a mixer (I used my Nutribullet – yet again!) and mix with half of the stock until smooth. Empty the soup to a container or pan and blend the other half of the mixture with the rest of the stock. I use the remaining stock to deglaze the roating tin to achieve maximum flavour potential. Either heat the soup through and eat immediately or store in the fridge for up to four days.

To make soups extra special – or just a little more exciting – I like to top them with flavoursome ingredients. Here, I fried field mushrooms with black kale and garlic and also included some roasted cashews.

Now, my husband enjoys dunking a great hunk of crusty bread, which doesn’t exactly follow the gluten-free trend, but then again I’m not sure he has cottoned on that this soup is fit for even the strictest of vegans (shhhhh)!