Product Review: Marks and Spencer Gentle and Soft Shower Gel

Gentle and soft, just like Duffy bear.

The skin of the body is not as delicate as that of the face, so I usually just ignore body skin care and focus more on my acne-prone face. My skin care for the body is simple, cleansing with a bar soap, scrubbing, and applying lotion. But I must admit guiltily that I only usually adhere to the cleansing step and neglect the rest of the regimen. 

Then one day, I went shopping to Marks and Spencer. I was really into shopping that day, and decided to buy a shower gel to replace my ordinary bar soap. I wanted to have some kind of luxury for shower use but is at the same time affordable, and so I bought the Gentle and Soft Shower Gel.

Product Name: Gentle and Soft Shower Gel

Price and Availability: P295.00 / 250ml (Marks and Spencer)

Ingredients:

Aqua, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Chloride, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Glycerin, Parfum, Chamomilla Recutita (Chamomile) Flower Extract, Sorbitol, Propylene Glycol, Disodium EDTA, Phosphoric Acid, Tetrasodium EDTA, Citric Acid, *Sodium Hydroxide, Magnesium Nitrate, Methylparaben, Magnesium Chloride, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone 

*Note: According to cosdna.com database, sodium hydroxide scores 5 out of 5 scale for irritancy.

Review:

The first time I bought the Gentle and Soft Shower Gel, I was already looking forward to taking my next bath. The daily showers I had was so boring because I only use an ordinary bar soap. It's always interesting to buy a different soap/shower gel each time for variety. 

I chose the Gentle and Soft Shower Gel because of its promise for being non-irritating. Although I don't think I have a super sensitive skin on the body, some soaps do make my skin very dry and reddish, so this is something worthy to try.

Here's what the product looks like close-up:

And the back of the package:

As you can see, the product is contained in a plastic tube. The gel inside has a clear color and a very runny consistency. Some contents poured out a bit outside the tube as soon as I opened the cap. So always be careful when using this product to avoid unnecessary spills!

The fragrance is soothing, yet faint. But what do I expect? It's supposed to be faint so as not to irritate the skin. The gel isn't as foaming as I'd expected though. It's actually the least foaming of all the shower gels I'd ever tried. I assumed it must be due to the non-irritating formulation. It takes some time getting to master the technique to make it a bit more foaming.

What I really liked about this shower gel is it's very moisturizing on the skin. After the bath, I didn't see any red marks which sometimes appear on my skin after using other soaps. The cleansing power is so-so, I didn't see any remaining dirt on my body (I was using a shower puff along with the product). So to my skin, the shower gel is indeed gently cleansing. 

Pros:

- soothing fragrance

- gentle on the skin 

- affordable

Cons:

- doesn't foam much

Verdict:

I might buy this again but not so soon. I would like to try other shower gels from other skincare lines from Marks and Spencer first. Overall, this is a nice shower gel that people with sensitive skin might love to try. 

Rating:

4/5

How to Have Beautiful Hands

Source: breahn | Flickr

Having soft and smooth hands is something what many woman would love to have. It is particularly important in the dating world. Men love the feel of the soft and smooth hands of their date. However, having the desirable skin may not always come easy to some people.

If you're a housekeeper, machinist, or health care worker, you are especially prone to a condition called irritant contact dermatitis. Activities in those fields often expose the hands to water, soap, and harsh chemicals that are irritating to the skin. These factors strip the skin off lipids that act as natural barrier. Once this layer is disrupted, the skin becomes dry, flaky, reddish, and irritated.

It is therefore a good practice to apply hand cream after every hand wash. Water alone can ironically contribute to dry skin, especially hard water. By using hand moisturizers, the moisture is immediately locked in the skin. Hand creams can also soothe an already irritated skin. They act as a protective layer and may even speed up (especially skin care products containing ceramides) skin renewal.

Hand Cream (Photo: Amazon)

Do you really need a cream specifically for the hands? Well, body lotion and hand creams basically have the same formulation, only that body lotion is lighter in weight and is more convenient to use for the whole body. If you have normal skin, a body lotion may already be sufficient for your hand care. If you have dry and sensitive skin type, you may need a hand cream that have heavier formulation. In fact, it is even proven by a scientific study by Günter Kampf and Joachim Ennen that using a hand cream after each wash improves the skin's smoothness.

I've seen an episode of a Japanese show wherein a foreign resident claimed to have never used lotions or creams after washing. Some places in Japan have good quality of water that are gentle to the skin. Well, lucky for them! For us who live outside Japan, we should just stick to using hand creams because our water may not be as soft as in places like Japan.

Types of Sensitive Skin

If you are like me who enjoys shopping for skincare products, you would surely know that there are indeed a wide range of products to choose from. The labels and ingredients could be very confusing. There are many products claiming that they are best for oily skin, dry skin, combination skin, or sensitive skin. But should we really believe on what these labels claim? Is it just as easy as following the claims?

The "For Sensitive Skin" label specifically, could in fact become a misnomer. Not all sensitive skin types are similar. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, there are four types of sensitive skin: Acne, Rosacea, Burning and Stinging, and Contact Dermatitis. A certain ingredient may work well for acne but may be irritable to a different type of sensitive skin. Therefore, it is best to identify which type of sensitive skin you may have before choosing a product.

Acne is a condition that is caused by excessive oil and bacteria. Products with noncomedogenic ingredients, or ingredients that do not clog pores, work best for this skin type. Antibiotics, benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, and retinoids are used to treat this condition.

Rosacea is characterized by redness in the skin. It is also marked by pimples and the appearnce of broken blood vessels on the face. Treatment includes the use of anti-inflammatory ingredients such as caffeine, sulfur, sulfacetamide, feverfew, chamomile, green tea, and licorice extract. Acidic ingredients such as alpha hydroxy acids (AHA) and vitamin C are the common irritants to this skin type.

Burning and stinging is a sensation that comes after applying stinging irritants such as lactic acid, glycolic acid, vitamin C, alpha hydroxy acid (AHA), benzoic acid, and azaelic acid. Usually, a lactic acid is applied to a patch of skin to test for this type of sensitive skin, but some people with burning and stinging condition do not always sting to lactic acid.

Contact Dermatitis is caused by allergens or irritants. People with this condition should refrain from products with fragrances, dyes, preservatives, and formaldehyde. Different people have different reactions to specific allergens. If you have this type of sensitivity, you have to conduct a patch test first before using a new product. Note that even organic ingredients may also cause allergies.

Source: American Academy of Dermatology