Burt's Bees Body Butter

I was a lucky one along with nineteen others who were selected to be a part of the Burt's Bees VIP trial team several weeks ago.  The products we got to try out were the body butter and sugar scrub.  I was sent both products nearly a month ago, and today I will be reviewing the Cranberry & Pomegranate Body Butter.

First off the bat, let me let you in on a little secret... I am not just a pretty face (if a pretty face at all, ha)!  Out of the 3 yummy scents, I chose cranberry & pomegranate for two reasons.   One: I have heard all about the anti-aging properties of both fruits and liked the idea of an anti-aging body care product.  Two: as much as I loved the sound of the other scents (mango & orange, and honey & shea) I decided to pick cranberry & pomegranate because I knew that I had more of a chance of winning (because it's not as popular as the other scents, therefore it increased my chances as I wouldn't have been up against so many others.  While I'm not sure if this was the case, it certainly worked for me, did it not?  Winner winner, chicken dinner!)

Close up of the inside of my tub of the Burt's Bees Cranberry & Pomegranate Body Butter.

Anyway.  Having said all that, I'm quite pleased I picked cranberry & pomegranate, because it smells rather yummy.  It has quite a light, soft fruit-ish scent.  Once rubbed in, you can't really smell it unless you put your nose to your skin and sniff.  I prefer heavily scented products, but this would be good for those who prefer a less obvious scented product, or for days you don't want to clash with your perfume.  It has been perfumed with a natural fragrance so there shouldn't be any issues for those with sensitive skin.  The first few ingredients listed for the body butter are quite pleasing to an organic & natural skincare lover such as myself: aqua, sunflower seed oil, glycerin, coconut oil... I already use coconut oil on its own as a body moisturiser, so I'm quite happy with the ingredients.  

The rest of the ingredients are as follows: cetyl alcohol, sweet almond oil, parfum (natural fragrance), sucrose stearate, cranberry seed oil, punica granatum seed oil, shea butter, jojoba butter, cocoa seed butter, tocopherol, lactic acid, magnesium aluminum silicate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, glyceryl laurate, sucrose polystearate, soybean oil, xanthan gum, phenoxyethanol, oakmoss extract, citral, citronellol, farnesol, geranoil, limonene, linalool.  Now I must admit, I'm no scientist and I have no idea what the last 14 ingredients are.  They don't look natural (but what do I know?)  On the website it states that it is a 99% natural product, so I suppose I will have to take their word for it.  Note to self: google is your best friend!

The rich, thick texture of the Burt's Bees Cranberry & Pomegranate Body Butter.  (Don't mind my extremely dry hands!)

Besides the lovely, natural fruit scent, I quite enjoyed the richness of the butter.  It is a butter, after all, so you would expect that it would be thick and extremely moisturising.  It is very smooth and easy to apply, but it takes a bit of work to rub in because it looks white until it starts to absorb into the skin.  So don't overdo it with this moisturiser!  A little goes a long way (as I learnt the hard way, haha).  It's been nearly a month and I have used this product every single day after a shower (sometimes twice a day), and my tub is still about half full.  A 185g/6.5oz tub retails for $29.95 here in Australia, so it's not too bad considering it is a natural product that will last you quite a while.

My only gripe with the Burt's Bees body butter is that it is thick... too thick for me!  Which is not a bad thing for dry skin, as I do have, but it's so thick that it doesn't seem to absorb quickly enough.  I like my moisturisers to leave no residue whatsoever.  The butter kind of leaves a sticky feeling on your skin, which annoys me because during hot days, who wants sticky skin?  I don't think I would mind so much if this were winter.   However, it doesn't last for long, just for a couple of minutes after I've applied it so I usually will just wander around the house naked before I get dressed (sorry, neighbours)!  The fact that it does that, though, tells me that it will keep my skin nice and hydrated.  Which, after using for nearly a month, I have seen that my skin no longer looks dry and scaly, even after I've shaved my legs (I usually look like a lizard afterwards).  So being rich and thick is a good thing!  It lasts all day, too.

Overall, I have enjoyed using the Burt's Bees Cranberry & Pomegranate Body Butter.  It has kept my skin soft and hydrated and I've had no adverse reactions from using it.  I do have keratosis pilaris, but it hasn't aggravated my skin condition at all.  It hasn't made it go away, but hey, nothing will!  Daily moisturising is key in maintaining kp, and this body butter has done it's job well.  I will most likely purchase this myself, but would want to try the other scents (available at Myer, David Jones, Priceline).

If you want to find out more about the product, or about any other Burt's Bees product, do have a peek at their website: burtsbees.com.au.  Thank you Burt's Bees for giving me the opportunity to give this a try!  It is honestly a product I would have overlooked, in favour of using just plain old coconut oil.  But I'm glad I've tried it, as now I know there is another product out there that will help keep my skin soft and smooth :)