Pure Fiji Body Mates Gift Set with Toiletry Bag

A travel size body wash, lotion and scrub in a reusable toiletry bag. Small enough for a gym bag or an overnight bag, and the bag stays useful once the three are empty. A sensible way to try the range before moving to full sizes, and an easy gift when you do not know what someone already uses.

How to use it, and how much

One order that works: wet the skin, use the scrub, then the body wash, then the lotion. Washing after the scrub rinses away what you have lifted, which is why it goes second.

Use the scrub on the areas that go rough, such as knees, elbows and heels. As a general guide, about a tablespoon covers both legs, and once or twice a week suits most people. More often than that and skin can feel tight rather than smooth.

For the body wash, a twenty cent coin on a cloth is usually plenty.

Lotion spreads best while skin is still slightly damp, so apply it in the first few minutes after you towel off. A fifty cent coin per leg is a fair starting point, less on the arms.

Who it suits, and who it does not

• Travel, the gym, a guest bathroom, or a first look at the range.
• Gifting, because nothing in it asks the person to change what they already do.
• Less useful if you use body products every day and want them to last. Travel sizes will not keep up.
• Leave the scrub alone on skin that is sunburnt, freshly shaved, waxed or broken.
• If you are sensitive to fragrance, read the pack before you use it.

Living with it in New Zealand

Through an Auckland summer, a thin layer at night tends to feel better than a thick one in the morning, when the air is already humid. In winter, dry indoor air from heaters and heat pumps can leave skin feeling drier than the weather outside suggests, so lotion after every shower matters more than extra scrubbing. In parts of the country with harder water, skin often feels tight after a shower, and moisturising while still damp is what helps the feel. UV is strong here through the warmer months. Nothing in this set is a sunscreen.

The honest limitation: travel sizes are a sample, not a supply. The toiletry bag will outlast what came in it. If you are flying internationally, check each container against the 100ml carry-on liquid limit rather than assuming a travel size clears it.

Verdo Cosmetics is an authorised Pure Fiji stockist in Parnell, Auckland.