The Body Shop Seaweed Gel Cream Review

I’ve struggled with combination skin for pretty much my entire adolescent and adult life, and I’ve always had such a hard time finding decent moisturizers to fit my skin type. In the winter my skin gets ridiculously dry in certain spots, but for basically the rest of the year, my face gets super oily around my nose, forehead, and even my chin. Since my skin is so finicky, especially living in New England with constantly changing seasons, it leaves me really prone to breakouts and shiny skin (the bad kind of shiny—like, greasy shiny). No matter which products I would try, nothing seemed to minimize my oily skin and still help to moisturize the dry spots. It can get really frustrating when you can’t seem to find the right skincare products, even when you spend a bunch of money and time to try to find the best ones.

I’ve always loved The Body Shop and the huge range of products that they offer, so I was super psyched when one of the staff recommended the Seaweed Oil-Control Gel Cream to me, along with a couple other products. I told them I was looking for a moisturizer for my dry skin that would work well under makeup and wouldn’t make my face too oily within the T-zone. When I was pointed to the little blue containers on the wall behind me, I immediately had a bunch of questions—will it dry out my skin too much? Can I wear it overnight too? Should I pair it with other products? All my questions were answered patiently, and after I bought one container (plus some Vitamin E Hydrating Face Mist and Moisture Cream), I went home to try it out.

The Seaweed Gel Cream is exceptionally smooth and smells just like seaweed, so the name is very fitting. I began using the cream on my whole face the first few times and found that it wasn’t as much of a moisturizer as I had hoped (which it is not advertised as, anyway). It does, however, work wonders on oily skin! After realizing this, I started using my Vitamin E Moisture Cream for the dry parts of my face and the Seaweed Gel Cream for my T-zone where I would get oily. The Seaweed Cream creates a matte finish on the face so you don’t end up with super shiny skin, and it works best paired with other toners and cleansers that fit your skin type as well. Occasionally I’ll use the Seaweed Cream as an overnight cream if it’s exceptionally hot out so I don’t wake up with a really oily face, but mostly I use the Vitamin E Moisture Cream for overnight hydration. This is really important for those with combination skin who want to use this product—the Seaweed Cream does dry out your oily skin, so using it on areas of dry skin will make it even drier. Use a true moisturizer at night to keep your face fully hydrated and at its softest! For some added moisture throughout the day, I love the Vitamin E Hydrating Face Mist. Spritzing my face a couple times throughout my day feels refreshing and keeps my face feeling healthy!

All in all, I wouldn’t recommend this product just as a general moisturizer for combination skin, but if you have oily skin or even just oily patches of skin, this will do an amazing job reducing shine and giving you a matte finish! It’s not heavy at all, and it gives my skin a nice, healthy glow once I put it on. It smells fantastic, feels amazing (use it on damp skin for the softest feel) and is a great product that does exactly what it advertises!