Dry skin is a real problem for me not so much on my face but my body. Ever since I was little, I can remember especially upon my return from a summer beach holiday, my skin would suffer with an uncomfortable dryness and a stinging sensation which culminated in the most severe urge to scratch after showering. This affliction would be suffered by my whole family so much so, that my father phoned the water board and British Gas to check our water supply and the tank in the loft for possible contamination, such was the severity of this ghastly itchy skin post shower. Over the years whether I have returned from holiday or not, I suffer the same problem after showering however, the strangest thing happens when I have a bath, I do not suffer this! How weird is that? I’ve even been to the doctor and all they do is the usual, they’ll ask if I’ve changed the laundry detergent, used a different body cream or shower gel which just frustrates me because no one can tell me why I get this after a shower but it seldom happens after a bath. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that this is just something I will have to live with and probably won’t resolve so with that in mind, it has been my mission to find a body cream to hydrate and to soothe, one that won’t further irritate my skin.
Lancome Nutrix, a gorgeous luxury brand that nourishes my skin and doesn’t irritate, I use sparingly as it’s too pricey for everyday use.
I have tried body cream after body cream and a multitude of shower gels, actually, the shower gels aren’t really the problem although I try to stick to unscented as much possible but when I go out, I like to pair my perfume with matching shower gel and body cream. It’s part of that whole ritual of getting ready for a special night out – a process that I adore especially when I am away and have the benefit of the luxurious bathroom at my disposal! It just sets the whole scene and evokes a sense of immense wellbeing which makes for a fabulous night out. I do like to feel special whenever I can and I don’t want to deny myself especially when I am away. I have to admit though, I have found one luxury body crème which doesn’t irritate my skin and that is LancomeNutrixRoyal which I use when I am away or going out but at £40 a tub, you don’t want to be using this every day.
Back to the task at hand and resolving this sensitive skin of mine. I came across this beautiful body cream by complete accident in my monthly subscription of My Little Box. My Little Box was created in Paris and brings to you French inspired beauty products, fashion tips and other useful goodies with a different theme every month, you can find out more and how to subscribe right here. It’s a box full of surprises and arrives on my doorstep once a month and like a child at Christmas, I eagerly anticipate it’s arrival to see what’s in the box. It’s in one of these very boxes that I discovered a small bottle of Mixa Body Lotion and I really didn’t think much of it. Many of the beauty products in My Little Box are French based companies and of course I love anything French. With my body lotion running on empty and with a bit of trepidation, I decided to try Mixa as it just happened to be there and I needed body lotion desperately. Once I tried it, I was hooked.
My Little Box, the last two months, Wild Summer and Seashells
So let me tell you a bit about this wonderful cream. The first thing you notice is the beautiful fresh scent, straight away it has a familiarity about it that I can’t quite put my finger on and I don’t really know how to describe it other than to say it smells like a dewy spring morning, fresh, light, almost how baby products smell, creamy, soft with a “shower fresh” gorgeousness that I don’t think clashes with any perfume and I know you’ll really love it too. It has a lotion texture in a pump bottle but it’s not that yukky thin watery stuff that disappears and doesn’t do anything, this is rich and hydrating and doesn’t leave any residue. I apply it and dutifully wait for the customary tingling sensation to happen but to my delight, nothing happens and I think to myself “don’t get too excited Helen” but really, I apply it all over and there’s no irritation! I am absolutely amazed. I think it could be a fluke and so I apply it after every shower for a week. I then decide to try a little experiment and use another body lotion because I was already dismissing Mixa as just another cream that just happened to be in my French beauty box. The other lotion although formulated for sensitive skin, has the effect of every other body lotion that I’ve used in the past and the tingly sensation returns. I use Mixa again and hope that it wasn’t a fluke, but why was I doubting this sensational body lotion? I can completely confidently say that Mixa really does do what it says on the bottle, it works, it treats my sensitive skin, it feels nurtured, supple and soft and smells gorgeous.
My own bottle of Mixa Restoring Body Lotion, thank goodness for Superdrug for stocking it.
I decide to find out more about Mixa as I am curious about this company, it was the brain child of a young French pharmacist called Dr Roger. He opened his pharmacy 93 years ago in 1924 where his expertise and passion in mixing different active ingredients created ointments to treat skin irritations. During that time, the city of Boulogne was known as the centre of Parisian launderettes – All the laundry for wealthy Parisians was hand washed in Boulogne by young women but this never ending routine of hands immersed in water scrubbing clothes resulted in dry, sore, cracked and weary looking skin. Dr Roger used his expertise of mixing active ingredients to formulate an ointment to soothe their weary cracked skin thus the brand “Mixa” was born out of the word mixing which is essentially what Dr Roger did. Dr Roger’s ointments became famous and so Mixa laboratories went into full scale production. Years later, the Mixa brand is just as well known and innovative in producing lotions and creams to treat exceptionally dry skin.
Mixa, where it all began in 1924
The Mixa body lotions are basically four types to treat varying degrees of dryness, the peach bottle to treat very dry skin called Restoring Body Lotion (my personal favourite) the pink bottle called Soothing Body Lotion is for dry and sensitive skin, the blue bottle called Anti-Dryness for mild skin dryness and the peach bottle called Cica Repair is to treat severely dry skin. I like that each type of body lotion is identified by it’s different coloured bottle, I found the soothing body lotion (pink) for dry/sensitive skin not quite rich enough for my skin, I think the blue would be the same but the Restoring Lotion is just perfect. Next on my list will be the Cica for exceptionally dry skin (peach bottle) just because I’m curious to see if there is a difference. Mixa also make the same lotions for the hands in their Cica, Restoring and Anti Dryness range and a Cica balm which is a really rich barrier type cream ideal for use in extreme weather conditions to guard the skin against the ice and snow, great for when you’re on a skiing holiday and relief for excessive dry patches which can be used for the whole family. There is also Mixa Firming Body Lotion in a purple bottle for dry sagging skin, that’s an interesting one to try.
Just some of the other Mixa Body Lotions, the main ingredients are listed on the bottles.
Mixa have continued to grow all over the world, their one vision, to restore and heal dry sensitive skin continues to this day and is what sets them apart from other brands that are cheaply made, highly perfumed and just sit on the skin causing more irritation. Mixa can be found all over France, if you happen to love Paris as I do and I am frequently there, I know I can stock up whenever I go and it’s probably cheaper but thankfully, Superdrug have decided to stock this wonderful body lotion and I’m thrilled to hear that. More importantly, what these lotions have in common are natural and fast acting ingredients that are paraben free such as Panthenol (vitamin B5) Allantoin, Coriander Oil, the century old Cold Cream, Urea, Oat Milk and the renowned Vitamin E, you can read more on Mixa’s ingredients here. These ingredients work in synergy to provide dermatological tested creams of the highest quality and has seen Mixa win Number One Body Lotion in the French market for 10 years in a row and that’s good enough for me.
Mixa retails for £8.99 for the 400ml size at all Superdrug branches. All views and opinions about Mixa are my own.
You can find out more about the Mixa range here.
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