This is a great product to have on stand-by for those days when your skin just isn't feeling great. A very gentle and soothing milk bath, it is excellent for sensitive skin, dry skin and troubled skin. Some of our readers even use it on their babies (lucky babies!!).

Not many bubbles at all, but that doesn't seem to matter... the water goes cloudy and you might feel a bit Cleopatra-esque!

There's no real fragrance to it, just a good clean scent - if you do like a scented bath try adding a few drops of essential oils as it's a great 'base' product.

Afterwards, skin feels comforted and moisturised - some less dry skins may get away without a body lotion.

For dry or problem skin Elemis recommend daily use for 12 days as an initial treatment - you can then reduce use (if you wish, but you probably won't want to!).

Extremely dry skins can use this as a cream as well. Used this way it absorbs well and dries quickly, with no greasy residue.

At £39 for 400ml it is pricey, but a little goes a long way (in fact a little seems to work better than a lot) and if you suffer from sore, dry skin in particular then it's worth investing in.

Availability:
BeautyExpert
QVC
re-aqua
timetospa.co.uk (Elemis)
SalonSkincare

A rich fragranced body lotion to compliment Donna Karan's Cashmere Mist fragrance.

The texture is thick and creamy, it absorbs well and leaves skin feeling soft and smooth. Soothes and softens skin immediately and over time it improves skin texture and hydration.

The fragrance is quite strong and lingers all day - if you don't like too much fragrance you won't need the perfume as well, or you may prefer to use the body lotion during the day and the fragrance for special occasions.

Available from:
Island Cosmetics

Try this if you like:
Penhaligon's Artemisia

We were really impressed by this, so much so that some of us re-ordered before we finished the tube!

Light, cool and silky. It absorbs into the skin so well, it's not sticky (though a little drying time is recommended - not long though) and skin is left so smooth and soft. Especially good on legs which stay smooth and silky-feeling all day.

The scent is 'Soft & Sensual' - a delicate feminine fragrance, great for layering with most floral perfumes. The scent isn't strong, so don't be put off if you don't like floral fragrances. We are hoping they'll do this in the 'Soft & Fresh' fragrance too!

Availability:
Discontinued by Avon

We had mixed feelings about this product....

Firstly, Gingerbread. What Gingerbread? We were expecting this to be that lovely warm gingerbread fragrance - not in the slightest I'm afraid. Instead it's a very fresh smell - a hint of lemon, but not quite, it's difficult to quite work out what it smells like.

After we got over the fact that this isn't gingerbread - "it's just the colour that's gingerbread, get over it" - we actually tried it out!

It is slightly sticky when you apply it - it doesn't absorb quickly, but it does apply evenly. If you can wait a few minutes after application it will leave skin feeling ok - just ok mind you, not fabulous.

The bit we liked most about this product was the shimmer - probably no point for the palest of skins, but it will give a nice subtle shimmer. The darker your skin the better the shimmer seems to be - always subtle though so don't expect sparkles galore.

Let us know if you stock this product!

'Tightening and firming' is certainly an attractive phrase when considering your bust!! Sadly, this promising product (as most L'Occitane products are) was a disappointment.

None of our testers found a tightening or firming result, even after 4-6 weeks of use. Skin tone was often improved, but that was about it and, to be honest, any body lotion could do that.

The texture was very good though, a cream gel which felt soft and soothing - we wouldn't dismiss this completely if you need improved skin tone and have sensitive skin, especially if you have found a body cream too rich on the bust area.

Not an unpleasant fragrance, quite neutral in fact, so layering with other lotions and fragrances wasn't a problem.

Contains almond extract, almond milk and almond oil.

Availability:
L'Occitane
SkinStore

Of course anyone with wobbly bits would be attracted to a product called fatgirlslim, but some of us were unsure - we've tried many cellulite creams and shaping products, so will it REALLY work?

The texture is a gel-cream which glides on and is well absorbed - massaging in for at least 20-30 seconds is recommended. If your skin is dry you may find you're using more than expected as it absorbs so quickly. Our tester with particularly dry skin (using twice a day) found she got through half a pot in 14 days.

The smell is not too bad for a cellulite product - it's a little strong on application but it doesn't linger for too long.

Common areas of application for our testers are: upper arms, thighs, bottom, stomach and back.

fatgirlslim is a 'commitment' - it's a twice-a-day application if you truly want to see results. Some of us have been using it once a day, others twice a day and some are just forgetful (apparently!).

Those using it twice a day saw an improvement within 7 days - skin looks and feels smoother and some felt that dimpley thighs were less dimpley. After 14 days there was even more improvement. For those using it once a day they still noticed the same improvements, but not so quickly. And our forgetful tester still found a small improvement and is continuing with the treatment.

After 6 weeks everyone has seen a difference - the testers using this twice daily with the odd forgetful moment have found the biggest improvement - while some dimples still remain they are barely visible and skin tone is much improved. Some saw a reduction in thigh size of just under 1cm. Could we keep using this longer term? Yes, but we did get through a lot of the product - our testers who were using it twice a day are now going to use it once a day to see whether that maintains current results.

The testers using it once a day for 6 weeks also saw improved skin tone, but not as much of a reduction in dimples - so if dimples are a problem go for twice a day. Upper arms saw good improvements when using once a day - skin tone was the biggest difference, but many also saw a reduction in size of arms too.

Overall it was felt this was one of the better products on the market for cellulite and skintone, but the downside is you can potentially get through just over a tub in a month, especially if you have dry skin.

Some testers are also using The Love Handler in addition to this product (review to follow).

Available from:
Bliss
HQ Hair

Any fan of philosophy is bound to love the shower gels... well, we say shower gel, but their 3-in-1 products are a real treat, working well as a shampoo and conditioner as well as a luxurious body wash.

Pina Colada is a true cocktail fragrance, so much so that it's very tempting to taste it - please don't though!!

As a shampoo and conditioner the fragrance lingers in your hair all day, so Pina Colada is a great choice for summertime and holidays.

The fragrance lingers less so on the body - as designed by Philosophy - so you get a fabulous scent while bathing or showering, but you can still wear your usual body lotions and fragrances without worrying about clashing with a fragranced body wash.

We believe Pina Colada has been discontinued by Philosophy.

Thalgomince Cream is formulated to help reduce excess fatty deposits and restore skin tone and firmness. We tried this out in several places - tummy, thighs, hips and upper arms.

Most improvement was noticed on thighs - thigh size was reduced and skin tone was much, much better. Overall, we're not convinced this product will reduce size for everyone, though all of us noticed improved skin tone and most of us felt skin was firmer. Those who saw the greatest improvement were following a healthy diet and/or an exercise plan and those on such a regime felt that Thalgomince is a product they'd continue to use. For the less health-conscious (!) it was felt that this was too pricey to see enough of a result and that other, cheaper, products gave a similar result.

Availability (links will open in a new window):
Thalgo
Re-aqua

The new name for Superbalm Concentrate, with new packaging for 2007. Despite this, the formula is just as fabulous as it has always been... a rich night-time treatment to heal and replenish skin with argan oil (rich in vitamin E), avocado and rosehip oil.

Available as a 10ml rollerball and a 28ml bottle from www.lizearle.com

Disappointing... we love the Skin So Soft range from Avon, but this body moisturiser, which builds up a tan, really disappointed most of us. It is thick and creamy, but too creamy, the texture is not easy to smooth onto the skin and we found it didn't sink into the skin very well and some of us found that it started to rub off very easily.

The colour is great, a very natural-looking tan, with two colour choices (for fair skin and for medium skin tones), so it's a real shame that this is not a pleasure to use.

Availability:
Avon