Body Time Haulin’!

Hi lovely readers,

I haven’t really  been on my blog as consistently as I’d like, but it’s mostly because I didn’t have anything beauty related to say… until I recently bought out made a hefty purchase from the boutique where I work, called Body Time in Berkeley, CA. This is pretty atypical since I don’t spend $ on anything besides massive amounts of food and the occasional lipstick, but today was my last day with my employee discount. (Surprise! I just got a job somewhere new and will write a blog post specifically about that because it’s sooo exciting!) Anyway, after working at this boutique for half of the year, I decided to use my discount and purchase the products that I’m sure really are wonderful.

The breakdown: I purchased an assortment of products here, and they can be separated into face products, La Lavande french soaps, bath salts, lotion and an essential oil room/body mist.

I nabbed a cleanser and a moisturizer both by Body Time. These are both products from the Botanicals line, which means they are made with natural/ plant based ingredients. Yay! Perfectly fitting since this is the place I learned to be more conscious of what I’m putting on my skin. Anyway, the cleanser is called the Combava Face Cleanser and I looove it. It is a light yellow creamy looking formula, and includes small jojoba beads which gently exfoliate the skin. Since it has blood orange essential oil in it, it smells fresh and citrus-y. Other nourishing ingredients include calendula oil (very healing!), ylang ylang oil, rosemary extract, and, of course, combava (alternatively, kaffir lime) peel oil. Yummy! It feels like a lotion and a scrub got married and had a wonderfully smelling baby! Okay, next product is the Firming Renewal cream, which I bought for my mom since it is meant for skin that has been exposed to, and I quote, “sun, stress and time”. How delicately worded… Beyond the packaging, this is a very rich cream that is apricot kernal oil based and packed with essential oils like ylang ylang, linden blossom, rose, and mandarin orange peel, such nourishment! It also has shea butter and squalane, which I’ve seen pop up on the scene as being a great anti-aging oil. I have used this cream several times, and enjoy it, but I find it a bit too heavy for my own face. No matter, my mom will hopefully enjoy the sh*t out of it because it is such a great face moisturizer. And, nothing artificial!

Moving on to my serious obsession with things that smell good. I have always been the crazy lady at the store sniffing anything that was meant to be sniffed, and having smelled so much, my little nose knows what’s up when it comes to soaps. I bought a lot of these bar soaps because I can’t help myself from sniffing them when I pass by or explain them to customers. I’m surprised it has taken me this long to buy them, but my last day of work seems perfect! Here, I have scented muguet (lily of the valley), one honey almond round, one wild rose broyee, one verviene broyee, and one lavender broyee. These are all made by a french soap company called La Lavande, and while they’re a bit pricier than something you’d find at the drugstore, the shea butter base makes them higher quality. They’ll last longer, won’t over strip the skin of natural oils and the fragrance remains until the very end! All of them smell totally divine! The muguet is this soft, pretty and almost creamy scent – I have a  feeling this one will mix well with my personal Tracy smell (everyone has their own scent, and I have a theory that this scent comes out after your soap smell fades and before your BO sets in). The rose, verviene and lavender are more strongly scented, and they’re also interesting in texture because there contain small plant bits as part of the bar, which eventually exfoliate the skin (functional!). The honey almond round is a really sweet smelling soap as you can imagine, and also has scrubbing beads which will be nice. I am SO excited to use all of these soaps- the shower is a place for my relaxation, brainstorming, singing, and obviously, grooming myself. Such a wonderful luxury to have and I’m very grateful!

Detox bath soak: before working at Body Time, I never bathed… strictly a shower girl. Of course, after smelling this lovely and sweet, almond-y and cherry- like scent, I was sold. I swiftly went to TOWN and scrubbed my tub bright white and squeaky clean so I could try this one out, and it was worth it. I now love to take baths when it’s cold or when I just want to sit for a while. It’s also fun to watch the bathwater become opaque because of the powder… it is this pretty, light blue and white-ish color. I also just tried out my loofah today… not really sure what to think of it. It’s kind of like a stiff sponge, but I do think it at least helps me scrub off some dead skin. Mine is made out of a dehydrated squash, LOL!

When I first started working at BT, I was all for the more popular moisturizer we sell, since it is thicker, ‘creamier’ and gave me the feeling that it lasted a very long time. Fast forward to now, I’ve learned a lot more about the ingredients used in these lotions and was a bit disappointed to see that my former favorite is actually mineral oil based, which is why it leaves a greasy film on top of my skin and fooled me into thinking it was long lasting. ANYWAY, I’ve found a new lotion love in the Hydrating Sea Algae Lotion. Also a member of the Botanicals family, it has a safflower seed oil base and includes only natural ingredients like aloe, shea butter, and rosemary extract. I used it earlier today after I dried off from the bath, and it went on SO well. It was much lower maintenance since it is less thick than the butter I have, and smooths on quickly. I checked back to see if it had absorbed, and my skin felt softer, without feeling greasy or heavy. What’s also wonderful about this lotion is that it comes unscented, but at Body Time you can choose from the perfume oils and/or essential oils to blend into it. I chose to scent with a bit of vanilla, which was perfect since I like just a hint of sweet. A great, natural and no fuss lotion that works!

Refresher– A cool item Body Time also carries is called the Refresher, and this is an unscented formula which is meant to be blended with an essential oil or perfume oil in order to spruce up a room, and/or clothes/sheets/towels and/or yourself. I scented this with lavender and a drop or rose geranium because I was feeling adventurous ;), which I’m now using in my room and on my bed to get my sleepy zzZZZZzz’s on. I love how versatile this item is- it’s a perfume but can also be functional. For example, I’ve scented refreshers with blends of certain essential oils to create natural bug repellents, and customers have always told me that they work so well. Thankfully, I don’t have any fleas or mosquitoes to repel, but with my lavender I’ll hope to attract some restful sleep.

Well, that’s all for my “Body Time Experience”. If you’re interested in these products, you can check out the website here. Only bummer is that they only ship to the states, which makes sense since they are a smaller business in the bay area. I’m pleased with these products and the amount of product knowledge I’ve picked up here. Oh, and here’s a picture of me as a sales lady. 🙂