Preview: Weleda's Birch Body Scrub

We've been spring-cleaning ourselves with Weleda's brand new Birch Body Scrub and thought we would share our thoughts on it with you.

It's got a creamy feel to it rather than the typical, slightly oily effect most natural body scrubs have. Weleda tells us this scrub gently invigorates our skin using micro-beads of natural wax, since "aggressive peeling can damage the skin's structure and it can become dry and thin, even flaky, and lose some of its elasticity." We see the point and Weleda's scrub is very gentle indeed, but must admit we like our body scrubs to scrub a bit more than this one. We do like its creaminess, though.

Ingredients-wise, we couldn't have asked for more. It's packed with (processed) organic silver birch leaves, which should help to get rid of any toxins. Organic rosemary, Butcher's Broom evergreen and apricot kernel oil are added to tone and soothe the skin. Different kinds of natural waxes, including beeswax, give it the creamy and exfoliating -- we won't call it scrubbing -- properties.

While it doesn't feel as purifying on the skin as we'd have hoped, it does cleanse well, making us feel fresh. We like that it leaves the skin soft and that the lovely, citrussy-apricot scent stays on the skin for a good few hours.

Like Weleda's other products, it hasn't been tested on animals and as it's completely natural, the product itself is biodegradable.

The Weleda Birch Body Scrub costs £8.95 for 150ml and is available from selected health stores and in Weleda's online shop.

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