Search Results for: spa of the world

A few weeks ago I wrote about The Body ShopSpa of the World Firming Ritual and I’ve been giddy with excitement since to write about its sister set, The Body ShopSpa of the World Relaxing Ritual ($50, The Body Shop).

I picked up both sets during Boxing Day – both were limited edition releases that came out for the holidays and retailed for $50. I picked it up for 50% off making both sets a total bargain considering how massive each tub of treatment is!

The Ritual line from The Body Shop is meant to bring the spa to you – a full range with all sorts of spa-like goodness and treatments that you can do at home and at a bargain compared to visiting an actual spa. I couldn’t contain my excitement when I saw that the Relaxing Ritual went on sale online and promptly ordered it because this girl needs some TLC after the holidays holiday!

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Spa of the World Relaxing Ritual

The Spa of the World Relaxing Ritual consists of two products to make your relaxing ritual complete: the Japanese Camellia Body Cream Moisturizer ($36, available here) and the African Ximenia Exfoliating Body Scrub ($32, available here). Take an hour every week or so of your weekend to indulge yourself and your senses and feel renewed for the new week!

Let’s kick things off with the African Ximenia Exfoliating Body Scrub ($32, available here) – I love to indulge in this just before I jump in the shower – it adds a bit of oomph to my routine, and I love how the scent lingers after I’m done. I try my best to exfoliate before I shave or do any depilation so I feel this routine helps slough off all the dead cells making the shaving process more effective. I love that this scrub is not oily – there’s no lingering oiliness in the bathtub that might cause accidents (really important if you share your bathroom!) Although the ximenia fruit seed (the key ingredient in this scrub) itself has healthy oils for the body, the overall scrub has that creamy scrub texture that won’t be dripping all over the bathroom if you’re using it as a pre-shower ritual.

The scrub has mild grains and scent to it. It’s not overly abrasive which is one of my main gripes about scrubs – I tend to prefer scrubs with larger granules as I feel they are less abrasive on my skin (sugar over salt for example). Considering how expensive this scrub is without the discount, I try to indulge in this 1-2x a month! I feel that timeline is more than enough time in between scrubs so to not dry out the skin.

I can’t get over how incredible the Japanese Camellia Body Cream Moisturizer ($36, available here) smells! This velvety-like moisturizer just smells like an aromatherapy treatment in a tub! It has a light whip-like consistency that doesn’t get tacky on the skin whilst still giving that lingering scent on the skin.

The Japanese Camellia Body Cream a rich moisturizer and you can feel how soft and supple your skin feels afterwards. I think the only reason I would ever repurchase an expensive moisturizer like this is the scent. There’s really no denying this Japanese camellia will win a lot of hearts. It smells like an expensive treatment and I love applying this before I go to bed since my PJs and bedsheets get to smell amazing thanks to the lingering smell.

I personally think there’s plenty of options that are cheaper from Lush or Bath and Body Works – they just don’t achieve the same spa-like scent ambiance like the Spa of the World treatments do though. I would encourage you to check this out when it comes on sale otherwise wait until the holidays where you can pick up a value set that might take some of the sting from the price a little bit.

Have you tried The Body Shop Spa of the World Relaxing Ritual routine?

Everyone loves a good me time – the holiday season and celebrating a new year reminded me just how important self-care is when it comes to keeping the body happy and mind clear and focused. I indulged myself during the holidays and really felt the difference when I’ve taken some time for myself. I usually indulge myself with a bit of at-home spa treatments (lighting up that candle I’ve been saving), 2-3 face masks and reading a book or two. Lately, my go-to brand for all-things self-care has been BodyShop. Specifically, with BodyShopSuperfood Expert Facial Mask Collection and the The Body ShopSpa of the World Firming Ritual ($50, available here).

BodyShop has never been my number one, or go-to place for self-care skincare beauty products. However, three fantastic finds during Boxing Day last year changed that. Now, I need to make a conscious effort to stay away from the store whenever I’m at the mall.

The Body ShopSpa of the World Firming Ritual Body Collection ($50, available here) was a limited edition set released for the holidays and featured 2 full-sized products: the French Grape Seed Body Scrub and Ethiopian Green Coffee Firming Body Cream. Retailing at $50, it was a great value set to purchase for yourself or as a gift, but getting the gift set at 50% was an even better deal!

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There are actually three products in this particular range: a scrub, body lotion, and a body oil. Each range is colour coordinated, so you can match the products in the entire range. I wasn’t really sure what the firming in this set was supposed to do or what kind of results I should be expecting, but needless to say, $25 for two full-sized products that rarely go on sale was the primary reason of me splurging on this.

Spa Of The World™ French Grape Seed Body Scrub

Right off the bat, I can tell I was going to be in love with the French Grape Seed Body Scrub ($32, available here). There’s a freshness to the scrub that just feels so invigorating. I couldn’t wait to try this in the shower! The scrub features grape seed powder from France in addition to organic sugar from Paraguay to invigorate, exfoliate and refine your skin. I much prefer sugar scrubs over salt-based scrubs as they are less irritating on my skin (the larger granules make them less likely to aggravate my skin).

I don’t tend to exfoliate regularly – maybe every other week as I feel my skin is sufficiently nourished to avoid regular scrubbing. Grape seeds is one of those ingredients that pop up regularly in a variety of skincare products and range: it soothes, and is a powerful antioxidant that isn’t as harsh on the skin as ingredients like charcoal might. Apparently you can use the scrub on wet and dry skin, depending on the intensity of exfoliation you want.

I feel like I personally get the same results from the variety of scrubs I’ve tried, whether drugstore-priced or high-end. My skin is generally in a fairly good condition so the only concern I would have is the odd dry skin on the elbow or hyperpigmentation from old scabs and scars. Otherwise, sugar or salt-based scrubs provide equally great results.

Spa of the World™ Ethiopian Green Coffee Firming Body Cream

The Ethiopian Green Coffee Firming Body Cream ($32, available here) feels like a body souffle on the skin and I love it. I was expecting it to be overwhelmingly cucumber-y, and almost intoxicatingly sweet so it was a pleasant surprise to discover a subtle fresh coffee scent that isn’t too overpowering or will keep you awake after you apply it.

The silky cream melts on the skin the way a softer body butter would melt on your skin. There is a bit of tingling sensation once you apply that’s supposed to work with the warming sensation from the scrub.

Have you tried the Spa of the World range? Which range/scents are your favourite? Let me know in the comments section below!

I am so very new to the world of K-beauty so I got pretty excited when I saw the arrival of belif, landing in-stores at the Face Shop. My knowledge, as far as Korean skincare goes only extend to: 1) the 10-step skincare routine, and 2) adorable animal face masks.

Upon doing some research, it appears that their cult hero product is the The True Cream Moisturizing Bomb which is their #1 top-selling product since 2013. I was immediately intrigued when a brand has a moisturizer that does so well in the K-beauty market and also is one of the top-selling moisturizers in Sephora US.

I recently had the opportunity to try out two new products from the belif skincare range, the True Cream – Aqua Bomb ($47, available here) and the Hungarian Water Essence ($51, available here). The moisturizer I have, the Aqua Bomb, is an alternative to the Moisturizing Bomb and is more suitable for those with oily and combination skin.

belif | the packaging

Believe it or not, I am kind of obsessed with this packaging. The simplistic black and white design with touches of blue is very chic, elegant and is a refreshing change from the overly colourful skincare products in my collection. It reminds me a lot of Deciem’s The Ordinaries packaging range if you are familiar with them. The plastic white bottle/tube does take away from its luxurious appeal though – I wouldn’t have believed that this should cost anything more than $15 from the plastic packaging.

I also appreciate that the artwork design is very much to the point and presents the claims in a more scientific / mathematical way (with bar graphs) – like I mentioned earlier, a refreshing change.

belif | the true cream aqua bomb

I have normal/dry skin so I was curious to try the Aqua Bomb. It has a blue-ish tinge and a cooling gel texture which feels refreshing on the skin. There is a slight herbal-like scent to it, but pleasant overall – it reminds me a lot of a facial treatment! As it is a gel-based product, it sinks very quickly and doesn’t leave any traces over the skin.

I didn’t feel that it significantly moisturized my skin which is probably attributed to the fact that this is designed for a different skin type than mine. However, when paired with a face oil or serum, it works just as well. Recently, I’ve been loving pairing this moisturizer with a face oil as it reduces the oily / greasy feeling of the face oil.

belif | the Hungarian Water Essence

To boost the hydration factor, I’ve been a little obsessed with the Hungarian Water Essence. I’ve largely stayed away from essences like this after a disastrous experience with Shiseido’s Eudermine Revitalizing Essence which left my skin super dry and flaky. I had a poor reaction to that product because the second and third ingredients were derivatives of alcohol.

I can confirm that this water-based formulation hasn’t gone rogue on me and sinks right into my skin just like any other serums.

belif | final thoughts

When it comes down to it, I think belif makes a valiant attempt at breaking the saturated skincare market. I am in love with the premise of the product and certainly would justify the price of the products if I really wanted to. What I think makes the biggest difference to me is the natural scent of the products. When I am applying the serum or moisturizer, I feel like I’m being transported into the calming dark spa room and gave me the illusion of applying spa-grade skincare products!

Although I won’t be replacing my skincare routine entirely with these, I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for any value sets from the brand so I can try out more products from their range!

Do you have a favourite from belif?