The Body Shop Rainforest Balance Review

I think the product picture for this post is more exciting than The Body Shop Rainforest Balance shampoo and conditioner pack itself. I wrote this post mainly because I wanted to upload these pretty pictures! When I later tried these products (a while after these pictures were taken actually) they turned out to be not as amazing as I’d expected, but they were still acceptable.

I bought them ages ago because they were on sale at £4 per pack and I needed a new conditioner. I’ve never tried The Body Shop’s hair products before so I guess it’s a challenge trying something new. This particular package is not available at the moment through their online shop, but some The Body Shop retail stores might do similar offers every now and then. However, you can still purchase a small bottle 60ml for £2 each. It’s good for travelling or just to test them out.

The Rainforest range is their most popular hair product range and I got the Balance one, suitable for oily hair. There’s also other options, like Rainforest Shine, Volumising and Radiance. I got this one because it was summer (good old days), and my hair tends to be a bit more oily during the hot seasons. As you can, the little package came with a comb, which is rather convenient. 🙂

The Body Shop Rainforest Balance – Overview

The Body Shop Rainforest Balance Shampoo (£2/60ml or £4.50/250ml)

Product Description:

“Cleanses to reduce excess oil for hair that looks clean and fresh all day. Contains pracaxi oil, white nettle, seaweed and Community Trade sugar and aloe vera. No silicones, no sulphates, no parabens and no colourants. For oily hair.”

(Smell): if you’re a regular reader then you might already know that I often buy my shampoos based on the smell. I didn’t actually get to smell this particular pack at the shop but I was not at all disappointed when I opened it for the first time. OMG! I absolutely adore the smell of “rain forests”! It’s no doubt refreshing and awakening, but sweet and floral at the same time. I find it rather difficult to describe the smell of this shampoo in relation to the fragrance wheel because it’s very distinct! The base tone is definitely green, but it’s got a mix of these different top tones like fruity, citrus and a woody heart tone. So definitely a little foresty.

(Texture): I don’t think there’s anything interesting about the texture. It’s just the typical shampoo texture, haha. (Result): It’s a little unsuitable for my hair right now because my hair is not as oily as it was a few months back. However, it does wash my hair very well, especially after applying a treatment oil, e.g Eden Organic Care Avocado Oil. My hair usually feels oily one and a half days after washing, but I could go two days with this product. The main thing I didn’t like about this product is that it left my hair rather tangled.

The Body Shop Rainforest Balance Conditioner (£2/60ml or £4.50/250ml)

“Lightly conditions to reduce excess oil for hair that looks clean and fresh all day without weighing it down. Contains pracaxi oil, white nettle, seaweed and Community Trade aloe vera. No silicones, no parabens and no colourants. For oily hair.”

(Smell): I prefer the smell of the shampoo over the conditioner. The conditioner smells a lot more woody, maybe even a little smoky, and less fruity, but it’s still refreshing and awakening because of the green base tone.

(Texture): The texture is a little thick for a conditioner, so it’s a little harder to squeeze out. I obviously didn’t think through this when I bought it. Having studied a little bit of design in the past, I try to look at things from a user-experience perspective as well. I have in many of my previous posts complained about the inconvenience of bottle designs when it comes to thick textured products, and this conditioner falls under that category. So I found this conditioner (just the conditioner) a little difficult to get out even with the lid unscrewed.

(Result): The Rainforest Balance Conditioner complements the Rainforest Balance Shampoo and they work well together to treat oily hair. However, my conditioner didn’t last as long as the shampoo because it was rather “dry” so I had to use quite a bit (maybe half a bottle) each time. Most conditioners leave my hair a little silky, but this one made them tangled and difficult to style. Maybe I’m expecting too much from my hair products because it can’t possibly remove oil and be detangling at the same time, can it?However, this is just my opinion. Maybe I don’t have oily hair during Autumn and that’s why they left my hair slightly tangled.