Punkee Tries: The Body Butter You’re Definitely Getting For Christmas

Despite being from England, now that I live in Australia, the second that there’s a cold breeze or the temperature drops, literal scales appear on my skin. 

I go dry, crusty and scaly in an instant and it’s… gross. Particularly because I’m such a shade of pale that when my skin is in this state I almost look iridescent. Like Edward in Twilight but with significantly less hydration. 

This means that I need some heavy-duty body moisturiser to keep the scales at bay. 

I’ve been on quite the journey to find ‘the one’ for me, so when a pot of The Body Shop’s Shea Body Butter rolled across my desk, I wanted to test it out immediately. 

But rather than jumping the gun immediately and reporting back in a flurry, I got serious with my research and tested out this Body Butter for one whole month so I could share my proper thoughts with you all. So, here you go, the full review. Let’s see if I can de-scale in 30 days. 

What does it claim to do?

The Shea Body Butter has a very bold claim slapped on the front of it: 96 hours of nourishing moisture. 96 hours? I don’t usually measure my time in hours, so let’s do a quick conversion. That’s four whole days. Monday to Thursday hydration. Big call. 

It also describes itself as having an “extra rich buttery texture” with a “non-greasy and non-sticky formula” and that it’s perfect for people with super dry skin. I’m not going to say I’m worried that this little pot of hydration is talking too big of a game, but I am. Surely it can’t do all of this?!

My first impressions…

As a crusty-skinned gal, I was intrigued by the thickness of this body butter. I usually seek out a moisturiser that feels like it’s really covering and smothering my skin, so I’m optimistic about this texture. 

It’s actually so thick that when I go to scoop it out of the pot, I need to use my fingernail to break into the butter. It comes away in generous chunks and doesn’t melt into the heat of my hand until I rub my hands together. 

But when I do smear it out, the scent starts wafting out. It smells like a creamy hot chocolate that’s had hazelnut and almond syrup whipped through it. AKA heaven to a nostril.

I cake my legs in the Shea Body Butter and while it does take a bit of elbow grease to work in the butter, I feel instantly moisturised – but not in that icky, sticky kinda way. It’s almost the sensation of having a protective, hydrating layer that’s keeping my skin nourished and blocking any nasty dryness from getting in.

So far, so good.

In the thick of the road test…

I wove the Shea Body Butter into my daily routine, making it my go-to after a shower to lock in smoothness and avoid crusty skin altogether. 

It became such a soothing part of my day, taking the time to smoosh the butter into every inch of my body. I don’t want to get too woo-woo about it all, but touching and acknowledging every part of your body every day is quite lovely. It feels like I’m taking the time to thank my skin for doing its thing and noticing the way my body looks and moves. 

And I don’t want to brag, but it is looking damn good once it’s slathered in the Shea Body Butter. It gives my skin a soft glow and there is not a single scale in sight. 

I also noticed that while I was in the thick of the road test, I just stopped using perfume altogether. The scent of the shea butter stuck around for the whole day and just smelt so delicious that I didn’t want to smell of anything else! 

The verdict…

I’m pretty sure that The Body Shop wasn’t talking a big game and instead actually followed through on all of their bold claims. 

I was moisturised for 96 hours after I first used the Shea Body Butter. It did have a rich, buttery texture. It was non-greasy and non-sticky. And while it didn’t claim to do this, I did smell like an adorable nutty hot choccy the entire time. 

My skin has never felt smoother, richer or lovelier to the touch for this month. And even though I’ve been lathering it on daily, I’m about a quarter of the way through my pot, so I know I’ll be loving this Shea Body Butter for a long time. 

This piece is an unbiased editorial piece, but we do have commercial partnerships with The Body Shop

Image credit: Supplied + Punkee