The Body Butter Wars: Who has the best body butter? Body Shop vs. Bath & Body Works Review

Since I have tried so many body butters, I thought I would compare two of the most popular brands - Body Shop and Bath & Body Works. I love both stores and covet their products. However, when it comes to body butter, one brand outclasses the other, in my opinion.

Let's first talk about scent.

Body Shop has several gorgeous scents to choose from fruity, nutty, clean, floral, and more. My current favorite is Body Shop Pink Grapefruit Body Butter but Satsuma comes in a close second.

Bath & Body Works has plenty of scents as well including classic scents and new ones like Japanese Cherry Blossom. The Body Shop just came out with their own version of this scent but I have yet to try it. (It's on its way to me!)

Both companies make body butter in great scents but I lean toward the Body Shop for the most natural, fresh smelling butters. I would say, though, scent choices and fragrances are pretty much a tie.

But a body butter isn't all about scent. It's about hydration and performance. Here is where I think The Body Shop pulls way ahead. For one, TBS has different formulas for different skin types - normal, normal to dry, dry, and very dry skin. Bath & Body Works doesn't. Their body butters come in just one formula. Being able to pick a formula that is right for my skin is important and I have found TBS to be reliable in their labeling of which butters are good for each skin type.

While I like the scents of Bath & Body Works, the actual butters feel matte and a little strange to me. They look gorgeous but go on feeling rubbery and don't seem to blend well with my skin. The Body Shop's Body Butters are all fantastic and spread on thick, rich, and so hydrating. I have never gotten a weird plastic feeling from any of TBS's body butters and I have tried and own them all. Meanwhile, the two nicest smelling BBW body butters I own, Exotic Coconut and Japanese Cherry Blossom, look and smell great but feel strange on my skin and simply do not want to absorb. I much prefer BBW's fragrant body lotions and creams to their butters.The Body Shop wins this category.

Ingredients make a difference too! Body Shop uses many natural ingredients such as shea butter, cocoa butter, and grapeseed oil. In addition, they use community trade ingredients that support third world and underprivileged countries by purchasing their ingredients from poor villages in places such as Northern Ghana. It's a feel good thing to buy product that you know are helping other women around the world.

Bath & Body Works doesn't divulge their ingredients list. At least I couldn't find one when I went looking on their site. I can't compare without finding BBW's ingredients so I will just call this a tie, although I am leaning toward The Body Shop's ingredients.

The sizes of tubs are comparable - between 6.8 and seven ounces each. In the price category, Bath & Body Works wins with body butter going for $14.00. The Body Shop's body butter is a whopping $20.00 on the site and in the store and $18.00 from a representative. A Love Your Body Reward card is available that does give you 10% off of all purchases though. They do sell 1.7 ounce tubs for $10.00 but it seems such a waste to pay so much for little.

Packaging for both brands is beautiful and the look of both brands is nice. I personally prefer that my body butters have a dash of color to them. TBS's Satsuma is light orange, Pink Grapefruit is light pink, and so forth. Bath & Body Works' body butter is white. This could be a plus or minus considering the added coloring in TBS's body butter is just another unnecessary ingredient.

The bottom line though, for me, is that I will choose The Body Shop's body butter over Bath & Body Works' any time. I love the scents that BBW has to offer and their body creams and lotions are wonderful. Their body butter just isn't as good for my skin as The Body Shop's.

If you are looking for skin type specific, rich, fragrant (never chemically or plasticy scented) body butter, look to The Body Shop. Bath & Body Works' Body Butter isn't a dud but a side-by-side comparison by me shows that TBS's body butters hydrate and feels better on the skin. After all, that's what really counts isn't it?

5 stars for TBS body butter and 3.75 for BBW body butter.

Comments and rebuttals welcome!