When I think of body butter, I picture the greasy tubs of thick white lotion that you scoop out and lather all over your body - I certainly don't think of a solid, cream-coloured mass like Buffy. It's not the most attractive product that Lush have ever released, and it's certainly not one of the better smelling ones. However, it's been designed to carry out a particular job, and that it does exceedingly well.
What is interesting about this product is what it contains to make it so effective. Firstly, Lush have included cocoa butter and shea butter as the main ingredients - both known for their moisturising properties amongst another characteristics. Cocoa butter is a staple ingredient in the cosmetics industry and with good reason; it combines well with other ingredients and reacts to the temperature of the body, melting slowly which makes skin look and feel supple and smooth. Shea butter is a lighter ingredient, absorbing into the skin really easily as well as aiding the absorption of other active ingredients. Together, these two butters help to moisturise, soften and condition the skin wonderfully.
Aside from these two ingredients, Buffy also contains aduki beans, rice and almonds, all of which have been ground up to create a slightly grainy consistency in the bar. Not only do these ingredients create a lovely nutty scent, but they help to exfoliate and scrub away dead skin cells when the product is in use. Finally, this body bar contains both lavender and lemon oil, both of which not only help to replenish the skin and add a wonderful glossy shine afterwards, but also add to it's overall scent, albeit rather subtly.
Altogether, Lush have created a solid body bar, free of preservatives and other nasties, that not only moisturises and replenishes your body, but helps to banish dried patches, support suppleness in the skin and leave a non-greasy polished look for you to enjoy for the rest of the day.
To use, I would recommend that you lather this all over your body just before you're planning on exiting the shower. Try to keep the bar away from the flow of the water as you don't want it too wet - this body bar will disappear rather quickly if it's exposed to too much water. I tend to step outside the spray of the water when I apply this bar, rubbing my skin in a circular motion to remove stubborn skin and stimulate blood circulation just below the surface. Then simply rinse off and pat yourself down as per usual.
I found that Buffy tends to make my skin feel very slightly greasy when in the shower, but this disappears the second I towel myself down - it's wonderful how invigorated my skin really feels after using this product. My skin really glows and I'd recommend using this after a day at the beach - when your feet are stained yellow by the sand and the moisture has been sucked out of your skin from overexposure of the sun and sea.
Buffy is currently priced up at just under £6 for a 100g block, which is not too badly priced. When I buy this, I tend to get a good 8-10 full-body uses out of it, so it's a little more expensive than a soap but not far off. However, I wouldn't use this as a regular product, only as a treat once every so often. For this reason, I can justify the expendature. However, I can imagine if you were using this daily, it might end up being rather costly.
Quantitative Ingredients: Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, Ground Rice, Ground Almonds, Ground Aduki Beans, Perfume, Lavender Oil, Lemon Oil, *Citral, *Limonene, *Linalool.
Vegan?: Yes.
2016 Price: £
great review like always jen! i love passing the time by going through your blog and figuring out which lush products i should buy next. not too sure if you're aware of it but on the mobile version of this site the drop down option for shampoos/conditioner is completely gone figured i should let you know. stay beautiful!
ReplyDeleteNot only shampoos, soaps and shower gels are also missing.
ReplyDeleteThank you guys! I have no idea why they decided to disappear! They should be available now - I hope you can see them :)
ReplyDeleteI love Buffy. I feel sure that once upon a time it had a longer name, something like Buffy the Backside Slayer...only now as I write it down I am doubting myself and my memory, and I don't think it's a google search that I really want in my history, as I am now imagining all kinds of Vampire Porn and references to being impaled on a...oh gosh, this has taken an altogether different turn than I expected!!
ReplyDeleteBefore I lose my sanity completely, can anybody help me out here? DID Buffy previously have a longer, copyright infringing moniker? I recall it being around the time they had a few products that fell foul of copyright and trademarks such as a Carmen Miranda soap, and the amazing and much missed Middle Earth Turns to Stone(or Rock, can't remember is stone or rock) which was rich with rhassoul mud, exfoliating with some volcanic rock or something, creamy and smelled of vetiver - it was later reformulated slightly and reintroduced as Waylander Rhassoul although it wasn't quite as good (though still excellent). I saw Waylander in the kitchen not long back, to my delight and nostalgia.
Aaanyway, Buffy. I received a small block last Xmas from a friend, and I honestly can't remember why I stopped using this, as it is a great product. I have the same experience as you in that while in the shower it feels like my skin will be greasy, but once out it isn't at all, it leaves it super soft, moisturised and comfortable, and I actually rather like the smell. Paired with The Olive Branch shower gel it gives me very happy skin!
Have you ever tried using the regular massage bars in the shower? Not so long back I had a small piece of Tender is the Night massage bar left, and I also had very dry skin, so I decided to give it a go. It works beautifully, I have tried it with samples of a few of the bars now, and it leaves skin beautifully moisturised and smelling gorgeous. Like buffy, it can make the floor of the bath/shower quite slippery, so do be careful with it, and I too recommend standing out of the water, otherwise you'll have very little massage bar very quickly. But if, after washing, you step from the water, rub the bar in your hands and then over the skin (or the bar itself depending on how dry is your skin), then step back under the water for a quick rinse, it distributes the oils more evenly on the skin, and really penetrates rather than sitting on top. Once out and toweled dry your skin will feel amazing. I like this method as I find it hard to use creams and lotions due to disability, but using the massage bars in the shower is much quicker and easier and yields great results.