Tuesday 12 August 2008

Radox Shower Smoothies



RRP: £2.49 for 200ml
types available: natural balance (yoghurt, honey and almond), energy therapy (ginseng, guarana and lemongrass), and soul soother (blackcurrant, camomile and cranberry)

--What does the promo say?--
"Wake up with our energising shower smoothie. It’s a luxurious blend of natural herbs and minerals that are good for your body and mind. Like ginseng and guarana to help recharge your tired body and real lemongrass for some extra zing. Just what you need to kickstart the day.

Our shower smoothies may smell good enough to drink, but please don’t. If you get some in your eyes, just rinse them well with clean water.."

--Packaging--
The clear squeezy plastic bottle with flip-top lid, is, if we're honest, pretty average. But then again, just how many ways are there to design a shower gel bottle? It's functional, easy to use, and non-leaky, so there's really no grounds for complaint. Plus, the cuddly-looking brightly-coloured Shower Smoothie logo and motif jazzes things up slightly. The only thing striking me as being slightly dubious is the 'DO NOT EAT' warning in big letters on the front label. On the back label I could understand its presence, but to have it on the front is really patronising. Frankly, if you're stupid enough to eat this, you probably deserve to die.

--Usage--
Rub all over body in shower, and rinse off. Nothing out of the ordinary here.

--Scent--
Very fruity (I have the blackcurrant one) and natural. I'd imagine that the others would be less tart and perhaps slightly sweeter. However, the scent sadly doesn't linger after showering, which surprised me.

--Texture/consistency--
The gel is creamy (although slightly watery), smooth, and a little bit gloopy without being lumpy. The blackcurrant one also contains cranberry seeds, which you'd think would provide some exfoliating power, but you can barely feel them.

--Appearance--
Brightly coloured, but not freakishly so; vaguely translucent too. On the skin, you really have to work to lather it up, and afterwards there is no visible residue.

--Longevity--
Unfortunately, the scent doesn't linger, and while it makes your skin feel soft enough, I didn't notice any other effects to differentiate this from other shower gels.

--Value for money--
This shower gel doesn't deliver anything special, which is rather a shame for Radox given all the media attention this product has received. At this price, for the same fruity goodness, I'd rather go for Original Source.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Interesting review. Out of interest, what would you regard as special in a shower gel?

BiancaP said...

Hi Colin

Thanks for commenting on my blog.

The answer to your question will of course be different for everyone. However, for me I would look for 2 things: a stronger scent that lasts for longer on the skin throughout the day (you'll note that I found that the Radox scent was already disappearing from the skin even when I stepped out of the shower), and better exfoliating and/or medicinal qualities (I suffer from acne on my shoulders and chest area, so anything to ameliorate this is always welcome!).

So as you can see, the qualities that I would pinpoint to make a product (whether that's shower gel or any other product) 'special' combine functionality with just general pleasantness. The fact that the seeds in this shower gel didn't seem to do anything, and the fact that the scent didn't last, really let this shower gel down.

I hope this answers your question and I hope you enjoy the other reviews on my blog :)