I have a love-hate relationship with salt scrubs. I love the way they exfoliate, but they always seem to be horribly oily messes. I was intrigued when I came across The Body Shop’s Spa Wisdom AfricaXimenia & Salt Scrub. This doesn’t look like the standard salt/sugar-suspended-in-oil concoction. For one, it is solid! Hoping that it wouldn’t be so messy and difficult to use, I thought I’d give it a try! To see my thoughts, keep reading….
Like I said, this salt scrub is solid. It kind of looks like solid, but softened shea butter. That could be because it contains Community Trade shea butter from Ghana to moisturize and soften the skin. It also has Community Trade Organic beeswax to not only moisturize and condition skin, but also to help seal in moisture by acting as a barrier against the elements. To further soften skin, The Body Shop has included an oil harvested from trees native to Africa that is called Ximania oil. Together, these ingredients will moisturize, soften and protect the skin, while the salt grains gently exfoliate away dead skin. All that, and it won’t run all over the shower, drip out of your hands, or make a nice slick floor that increases the chances that one will fall on his or her bare arse! J
This scrub is quite gentle, yet still effective. I find it rare that a scrub fills both shoes. The salt grains in this scrub are fine in texture, as opposed to the rather jagged sea salt so commonly included in scrubs of this type. The fine grain salt feels gentle on the skin, but still gives that scrubby sensation that leaves you feeling as though you’ve actually done something to exfoliate your skin. I feel like the solid moisturizers that carry the salt granules also help protect the skin from a direct salty assault as well.
Since the scrub is solid, it is much easier and less messy to use than the oily scrub varieties. You just scoop out a bit– I tend to take enough for one portion of the body at a time before shaving (after shaving may burn due to the salt coming in contact with slightly irritated skin) – and simply rub it in to damp skin! No drips, no grease, no mess. I do step out of the main shower stream to avoid immediately dissolving the scrub because it does turn into a creamy body wash as it comes in contact with water. This scrub is amazingly convenient to use and it doesn’t turn your shower floor into a giant oil slick!
This milky exfoliating body wash not only exfoliates and moisturizes, but it also cleanses the skin with a very subtle unisex aroma. The scent is quite mild and kind of spa-like. It smells a bit like straight shea butter to me. It’s definitely a very gentle unisex scent, so I think anyone would gladly use it without objection. Finally! An all-in-one body washing scrub that moisturizes without smelling like a field of flowers! J
The scrub does exactly as it claims. It gently exfoliates, it softens and hydrates the skin, and you leave the shower feeling clean and silky without the oil! I really enjoy this scrub! I find that, though adding moisturizer afterwards makes me feel even softer and more hydrated than using the scrub alone, I can definitely get away with just exfoliating with the salt scrub. I still feel soft and hydrated after showering, without feeling greasy. No sticking to the sheets! I love that it’s a cleanser as well as a moisturizing salt scrub. It eliminates a step, though I often skip the cleanser when I use a scrub anyway, but then I never feel quite as clean. I would definitely recommend checking out the Spa Wisdom Africa Ximania & Salt Scrub from The Body Shop the next time you’re looking for a body cleanser or exfoliator. This is a great all-in-one creamy cleansing shower exfoliant.
The Body Shop’s Spa Wisdom Africa Ximenia & Salt Scrub comes in a generous 13.5oz flip top heavy-duty plastic container similar to other oily salt scrubs. They always remind me of homemade canned jams. I will say that the packaging is not the greatest, especially for travel, but I’m not sure how else it could be easily dispensed. It can be difficult to keep the jar out of the water stream, and the latch on the lid is rather awkward. It does have a water-tight seal, which also makes it more difficult to close, but it’s all worth the minor hassle for such a wonderful cleansing scrub!
The Body Shop’s Spa Wisdom Africa Ximenia & Salt Scrub retails for $28, though The Body Shop almost always has some sort of sale or special promotion running. I would definitely recommend checking it out! J
