Beauty Clinic: Natural shower gels

Q. Can you tell me if there is a natural shower gel out there? A. The answer is a resounding 'Yes' – and really quite a lot to choose from as we found when our ten-tester panels trialled a total of 50 body washes and shower gels (same thing really) for our recent book The Ultimate Natural Beauty Bible.

Just to clarify our protocol: ten testers trial each product in every category, fill in an extensive questionnaire and give each product a score out of ten. We then average the scores and rank the products. The top ‘Award Winners’ make it into our books.

With natural products, we also give them a separate daisy rating that indicates just how natural they are. One daisy goes to products that are mostly natural with a small percentage of synthetic and/or petrochemical ingredients. Two daisy products are botanically derived with no synthetics or petrochemicals. Three daisies are reserved for those products certified organic by one of the leading international certification bodies.

So…we are happy to tell you the two top-scoring three daisy products in this crowded category were:

L’Occitane Lavender Shower Gel, with 8.86/10 average score, and REN Moroccan Rose Otto Body Wash, with 8.5/10.

Testers for the Lavender Shower Gel made comments such as ‘Refreshing, calming, foamed perfectly’, and one from an aromatherapist who said ‘I’m very sensitive to synthetic lavender but this conveys the most natural, fresh, earthy, fragrant aroma of the lavender plant that I have ever experienced in a lavender product’, £14 for 250 ml.

The REN Moroccan Rose Otto Body Wash suited all the testers, and particularly one who gave up soap for skin sensitivity reasons. ‘I have very sensitive skin which is irritated by a lot of products but I was able to use this with ease’. Another found it ‘truly gorgeous and pampering – definitely one of my star products’, £18 for 200 ml.