Neal's Yard Remedies Geranium and Orange Shower Gel Full Review
Posted: 27 March 2008 by Rikke Bruntse-Dahl
We were determined not to let the Neal's Yard Remedies' (NYR) fancy-looking, blue trademark bottle cloud our first impression of the actual product. And it didn't. In fact, when we first smelt the gel in the bottle, we found the scent too sweet and slightly too pungent.
But when we got it out of the bottle and mixed it with water on our skin, we loved the orangey scent. Its consistency is perfect -- neither too thick nor too thin and it has a nice, not-too-exaggerated foam. The old-fashioned bottle makes it too easy to use too much of the concentrated gel, though. And while £7 for a 200ml bottle of natural shower gel isn't outrageous at all, we would really rather not waste the precious stuff.
The calendula, lavender and chamomile extracts in the gel are organic and the mix is supposed to be uplifting, which we didn't notice in particular. Despite the strong orange scent, the concoction does feel very mild and can even be used as a shampoo. Besides the extracts, the ingredients list is short and looks nice and natural to us. On top of that, we can rest assured that like any other NYR product, it hasn't been tested on animals and it doesn't contain any GM ingredients, petrochemicals, synthetic fragrances, artificial colours, parabens or sodium lauryl sulphate.
When the first NYR shop opened in Covent Garden in 1981, it was one of the first body care establishments to shun synthetic chemicals and embrace a holistic approach to body care products in general, using lots of herbs and essential oils. Today, NYR also uses a good deal of certified organic ingredients and actively promotes organic farming. All the company's products are made in the UK, which we really appreciate.
So what more would we have liked to see in this product? Well, it would have been great if all the ingredients were certified organic and if the orange oil was from certified Fairtrade oranges. The bottle could have been made from recycled plastic and it would have been nice with some sort of dispenser so we could regulate our 'portions' a bit better. But all this is finicky stuff, really. And NYR does sell pump dispensers for £1.25, which fit all bottles and can be reused again and again, so if you get hold of one then you'll be set. Nice green touch as well.
Being one of the natural beauty product pioneers, NYR has the expertise -- which we learned through our interview with the company's medicines director, Susan Curtis -- to make a good quality, natural product. We would expect nothing less from NYR and it definitely hasn't let us down this time.
Quality
Value
Ethics
Green
Tell the world what you think of Neal's Yard Remedies Geranium and Orange Shower Gel, write a review.
