I must start by confessing my undying love of The Body Shop. I absolutely love the store, love the products, love the ingredients and formulas, and I especially love their ethical fair trading, non-animal testing,  human rights defending, planet protecting, self-esteem raising values and foundations.

But I have a qualm. A few months ago I purchased a package of the Seaweed Line Face products; little sample sizes to give the entire line a try without devoting myself to the big bottles of each (another reason I love The Body Shop). You can see my review of the products here, but as a quick recap I generally thought the line of products were decent, some of which I wanted to repurchase. Yet my qualm, since writing that review, now lies with The Body Shop’s Seaweed Clarifying Toner. A few months ago I wrote that the toner “leaves my face feeling quite greasy the next morning,” yet I still gave the toner the benefit of the doubt, and continued using it in conjunction with the rest of the Seaweed line. Yet after a recent bout of obvious damage to my face this past week (red burn-like appearance to my cheeks and itchy as all hell) and some trial and error, I’ve discovered that this toner is to blame. After donating the bottle to the drawers of my mother’s makeup cabinet, the same thing happened to her within a day, both of us having not-so-sensitive skin. So what the heck?! Both of us have been trying to counter-act the feeling with familiar products and a heck of a lot of moisturizer, but still we suffer. So I just wanted to put this out there, let other people know that after a few months of nothing, the product suddenly didn’t agree with me. Please be warned…it’s quite uncomfortable. But by all means PLEASE do not be turned off of The Body Shop’s products. Because they are truly wonderful. (more Body Shop reviews to come soon – Vitamin E line is my best friend)

Please….share your thoughts. Should I possibly try to return the product? I’m not usually one to complain about anything, but should I bring it back the The Body Shop and let them know what happened to me? Have you ever had this happen to you with any products? (not necessarily The Body Shop). But remember….The Body Shop is seriously wonderful.