Tesco Cocoa Butter Body Lotion

I'm a big fan of the Palmer's cocoa butter so when I saw that Tesco had their own brand version at a fraction of the price, I decided to give it a try - mainly out of curiosity, to be honest! This is just £1.15 per 400ml bottle, which compared to £5.29 for the same sized bottle from Palmer's is extremely cheap. I was actually quite hesistant to buy this because the price is so low - I didn't think for a minute that it'd be much good, however I decided it was worth trying as if I did like it, I could save a bit of money in the long run by switching brands.

This is one of Tesco's best selling products and it can be purchased in store or via their website. Tesco say that this body lotion is specially formulated with cocoa butter and vitamin E to help smooth and soften skin. I was really suprised that this actually contains real cocoa butter as I had assumed that it would just be scented to smell like cocoa. I was also impressed that vitamin E is in the ingredients as this is the main ingredient in the Palmer's cocoa body butter and it does wonders for the skin. It is also stated that the lotion is easily absorbed, non-greasy and suitable to be used all over the body.

The body lotion comes in quite an unattractive, rather bulky plastic bottle which is rectangular and quite wide. It is dark beige in colour with brown and light brown writing on the front. There is the Tesco logo at the very top and then in large font it says 'soft & smooth'. Underneath this it states that it is a body lotion with cocoa butter and vitamin E. It goes on to say that it moisturises and softens and cocoa butter is written in bold font. There's then a picture of a cocoa bean and a blue circle which says that the fragrance has been improved. In smaller writing it says that the lotion is dermatologically tested and the ingredients etc are listed on the back of the bottle.

The bottle has a chunky blue flip lid which I find ugly as it clashes with the colour scheme of the bottle. Once flipped open there's a small hole and to get the product out you need to turn the bottle upside down. This is a bit awkward because the bottle is hard to grip due to the width of it and it is also quite heavy when it is full. The bottle is not very squeezable and it is instead pretty rigid. I feel that the bottle would benefit from a pump mechanism although I suppose the basic packaging is what keeps the cost down.

The body lotion itself is a pale shade of beige. It is much runnier than the Palmer's version, but it is still reasonably thick and it doesn't drip off of my skin or anything. The lotion has a smooth, lightweight texture and it spreads nice and evenly across my skin. I need a few blobs of this to cover the areas of skin that I apply it to, whereas with Palmer's, a little goes a long way. The lotion doesn't have a very 'rich' or luxurious feel to it and it feels like an average body lotion, unlike Palmer's which is lovely and thick and it feels like nice treat when applied - this is just really average.

The scent of the body lotion is a little overlly sweet for me personally and it doesn't smell particullary natural, but it's nice enough - very chocolatey. The smell lingers on my skin for five-ten minutes before fading away. The lightweight lotion absorbs into my skin quickly and it leaves the skin with a very slight sheen. There's no sticky or greasy residue left behind and my skin is left feeling moisturised, soft and nourished. I use this all over my body including dry patches on my elbows and ankles. This has made a difference and my skin is much smoother and no where near as dry and my skin is really soft to the touch.

I do reccommend this body lotion as it is an effective moisturiser which smells pretty nice and it's very cheap too - don't let the packaging put you off!