This High Street Bodycare Range Is Better Than Any Expensive Buys I've Ever Tried

I'd be lying if I said I didn't love boujee bodycare. I'm a sucker for Aesop's geranium-scented body scrub and a huge fan of the Nécessaire serums and creams—but they certainly don't come cheap. Of course, we all deserve a treat now and again, but for regular, everyday use, the high street can often come to the rescue.

Recently, I set out to find some affordable bodycare buys that won't break the bank but can still offer a luxury experience. I've been trying to save my pennies a little, and considering things like body cream are everyday essentials, you get through them pretty quickly, meaning spending big bucks on them can seem a little frivolous. Plus, the number of fantastic drugstore offerings these days means you don't need to drain your bank account to reap the rewards.

Enter: the Garnier Cocoa + Ceramide range, which I've utterly fallen in love with. Now, when I say "range", it only has two key products, however, it's certainly small but mighty. I've already raced through not one, two, but three tubs of the body butter, and am on my first tube of the hand cream, which I already know will be on my re-purchase list. They're both under £10, and are some of my favourite high street beauty products I've ever found. Here's why...

Three reasons to love Garnier's Cocoa + Ceramide line

1. The ingredients list

As part of the brand's Superfood range (which also features hair masks and other scented offerings), the Cocoa + Ceramide line is created for "very dry skin," meaning its ingredients list has been designed as such.

The vegan formulas contain between 97 and 98 per cent natural origin ingredients, with ceramide and cocoa butter spotlighted as the key contributors. While ceramides are known for their repairing properties, which heal and maintain the skin barrier, cocoa butter is a deeply nourishing hydrator. Shea butter is another notable ingredient within the range, which moisturises deeply and leaves skin feeling super soft to the touch.

Both products have a gorgeous, rich cocoa buttery scent, too, which makes the ingredients list all the more appealing.

2. The textures

I am extremely fussy when it comes to the 'touch' element of bodycare products. I like to enjoy body creams as part of my self-care ritual, meaning I prioritise decadent, luxe-feeling textures that make me feel like I'm at the spa.

Both Garnier's Cocoa + Ceramide products have this appeal; they are thick but lightweight, feel rich but also sink in beautifully, and just make for a really elevated experience despite the lower price point. The hand cream has a beautiful whipped texture that deeply hydrates the hands, but doesn't leave a sticky film, which means you have to sit for ages while it absorbs. In short, these feel much, much pricier than they are.

3. The cost-per-use element

On the more practical side of things, these products have given me a renewed sense of trust in drugstore beauty products, and prove you don't have to buy into inaccessible brands selling £50 body creams (unless you can and want to, of course).

The hand cream is just £4.99 for a generous 75ml tube, and a little goes a very long way. Similarly, the body butter is a mere £9.99, and a tub of this will honestly last me the best part of a month, even when I reach for it daily (sometimes twice). There's also something so satisfying about having a big tub of product to dive into after your weekly "everything shower," leaving limbs feeling super soft, smelling divine and deeply hydrated.