HG Moisturizer: The Body Shop - Seaweed Mattifying Day Dream

Awesome. Love it. Absolute HG. Will repurchase many timesss.

My skin is realllly oily; so finding this product was a miracle. Before using this moisturizer, my skin would become shiny within 1-2 hours :(

I first heard about it from saaammage on youtube. She raved about how it was her HG and she always featured it in her monthly favs. I was quite intrigued by it and read reviews on it on Makeup Alley. Groupon released a coupon for $20 for $45 worth of products from TBS and I took full advantage of it :P.

It costs $16 CDN for 50mL of product. It is quite pricey IMO for a moisturizer. But it is worth it. It comes in a jar format, which I'm not too fond of; but whatever. It also has a lil clear cap under the lid which is great to keep the jar air tight. Also, I often just take moisturizer off of the cap rather than sticking my finger into the jar.

( btw, the french label is facing forward in these pictures. I didn't notice :/. fyi, In Canada, labels have both English and French text :) )

What is claims:

"Shine-control moisturization with oil-balancing technology"

" Community Trade seaweed and oil-balancing technology condition and mattify where and when skin needs it, to control shine throughout the day. Skin feels soft, supple, matte, and oily free"

First off, It is a light gel consistency and a little bit goes a very long way. This much is enough for my whole face:

In retrospect, paying $16 is quite good compared to having to use 2-3 times as much product for something that is cheaper.

Anyways, so when I first applied it, I immediately felt the mattifying effects. It made my skin look and feel matte. It is not as moisturizing as I would like it to be, but I always wear a suncreen on top; it balances out. Since the suncreen is a bit oily, the combination of the two leaves the skin looking perfectly moisturized and yet still matte. It also has a nice light clean scent which is really refreshing

I did a little test over the past few days to see how long it holds back shine ( as in, the amount of hours i could go without needing to blot):

TBS alone - holds back shine for 6+ hours ( my face is matte for a ridiculously long time lol )

TBS + SPF 15 moisturizer - holds back shine for 5ish hours

TBS + SPF 30 sunscreen - holds back shine for 4ish hours

I remember one saturday I applied in in the morning and at around 9pm that night, my face was STILL MATTE. Holy crap, amazing eh?

After that, I was pretty much sold. I apply it in the morning at around 8am before my sunscreen. By the afternoon my skin is still quite matte ( of course a bit of oily production has occured, but not too much). If you apply a mattifying powder on top, the mattifying effects will be extended even longer! I haven't broken out or anything too!

Overall Rating: 9/10

I would recommend this to anyone with Oily skin. I wouldn't recommend this to someone with combo skin because I feel the mattifying effects will only make your dry areas more dry. It's worth a try though :)

- toastie