Few things feel as luxurious as a heavy glass tube of one of The Body Shop‘s face masks – which make them a perfect treat for your skin on a day you want to treat your skin.

The two masks I’ve been using off and on for the last few months are their Chinese Ginseng & Rice  Clarifying Polishing Mask and the Himalayan Charcoal Purifying Glow Mask. I use one of those soft flexible masking brushes to apply them to my face (it’s basically a small spatula) after I’ve washed my face, and then wear them for roughly 15 minutes.

The Himalayan Charcoal Purifying Glow Mask is 100% vegan and is infused with bamboo charcoal, green tea leaves and organic tea tree oil. It’ll draw out impurities and refine the appearance of pores for healthy-looking skin. It’s probably the most fun to wear (between the two in this post) just because it’s got little leafy bits in it and it changes colour from brown to dark brown as it dries on your face. It also tingles a little bit which I really appreciate in a skincare product because I like to know that SOMETHING is happening!

The Chinese Ginseng & Rice Clarifying Polishing Mask is inspired by Chinese traditions of blending ginseng extract, rice extract and sesame seed oil into a creamy exfoliating face mask. They do recommend using it 2-3 times a week, but I really don’t mask that often – for me it’s a once every two weeks kind of thing (which means I may not get the intended results). This is one of the more comfortable face masks to wear as it doesn’t dry down and there isn’t any stinging sensation on your face. It promises to improve your complexion by making it brighter-looking and more supple, and I do get a teensy bit of brightness out of this mask, but I really don’t use it as often as they suggest so I doubt I’m getting the full impact. Still… it’s fun to use for a little bit of at home pampering!

Do you have a favourite mask by The Body Shop? Let me know!

Products featured in this post were send to me for consideration. Post contains affiliate links.

With marijuana becoming legal in Canada this coming fall, it’s no surprise that the hemp jokes are coming out fast and furious at this point. For example, The Body Shop‘s Hemp range is using the tagline “It’s so good for dry skin, they should make it illegal”, which I’ll admit gave me a good chuckle when I read it. The Body Shop‘s Hemp range has been around since 1998, so they’re celebrating a whopping 20 years of promoting hemp’s restorative powers on the skin.

For those unaware (and frankly, I’m one of them – I don’t know a lot about cannabis by-products or even smoking myself so I had to do some research), hemp and marijuana come from the same cannabis plant. However, those that are grown for their fibres and seeds (such as those used in creams) are low in THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) which is  the chemical compound that gets you high when you smoke or ingest it.

Hemp seed oil forms the basis for The Body Shop‘s Hemp range – a product that is exceptionally good for dry skin. The Body Shop indicates that: “Hemp seed oil is made up of 80% essential fatty acids including omega 3, 6, and 9. [snip] Plant oils work with your sebum (the skin’s own oil) and natural moisturizing factor to enhance the skin’s barrier function. This reduces trans-epidermal water loss, which means skin is better hydrated. Hemp acts like an armour that seals in moisture and defends your skin against the elements”.

Thankfully (for me) the moisturizers and creams don’t smell like weed, but instead have a more herbal/medicinal scent. I asked my husband what he thought it smelled like and the first words out of his mouth were “Florida”, which made me laugh (and honestly, I didn’t really understand). When asked to elaborate, he said it smells like arborvitae trees. The products are super moisturizing… to the point where I feel they’re actually a tad heavy for the summer and more suited towards colder weather. That being said, if you’re in the garden constantly, and need something to restore your hands you may be deeply interested in their Hemp Hand Protectors.

Let me know if you’ve tried out The Body Shop‘s Hemp range and what you’ve thought of the products you’ve tried!

The products featured in this post were sent to me for consideration. Post contains affiliate links.