Picture the scene: it’s been a long, hot day. The sun is shining. The waves are splashing. You’ve got sand in places you never knew existed. You’ve eaten a whole bag of paprika Lays to yourself. There’s now lemon Fanta (with ice, lots of ice) running through your bloodstream. Your skin feels satisfyingly tight. You’ve spent hours slathering on sunscreen.

You inhale its familiar scent: that instantly recognisable creamy, powdery, bright, happy smell that simultaneously fills you with nostalgia and reminds you of all the sunny holidays you’ve ever taken because, let’s be honest, that’s the only time you’ll ever get a whiff of it. 

OK, we’ll stop before we get carried away. Sorry to burst that bubble and bring you back to reality with a very big bang, but given the current global pandemic we’re currently going through (which brings with it a very serious lack of travel) that sunny scenario we all just imagined probably isn’t going to be happening anytime soon. No lemon Fanta, no paprika Lays, no sun loungers, and judging by today’s weather, not even any sunshine.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t let the ol’ imagination run wild. The cheapest and most effective way to do that? With shower gel, of course. May we now introduce you to Nivea’s Sunshine Love shower gel, £1 (that’s not a typo, it really does only cost one singular pound! One hundred pennies!). 

Disclaimer: this is a product that has been around for a couple of years, but only recently has the Stylist beauty team been made aware of its existence, so may we apologise for not bringing it into your lives sooner.

Please believe us when we say it’s a game changer, simply because it smells like holidays. Plain and simple. It’s not the usual coconutty smell that most ‘summer scented’ products have. It’s different, it’s much more… boring. Except it’s not boring. 

Sure, it’s literally just the smell of suncream, but it’s an instant mood-booster and it fills you with joy. It leaves your skin – and bathroom – smelling like summer. It’s reminiscent of that shower you take after a long day at the beach, the one where your skin feels warm from the sun and is probably a little bit burnt, but you feel content. That’s the exact moment that it captures. 

And right now, that’s important for all of us. This £1 shower gel is proof that scent is so incredibly powerful. It can take you back to a very specific moment in time and it can, for a few minutes, make you feel like you’re somewhere else. It can make you forget everything else that’s happening in the world, it’s the perfect bit of escapism, and it’s fair to say we could all do with a bit of that right now.

So, next time you’re doing a Boots order, pop a bottle in your basket. It’s enriched with aloe vera so it’ll leave your skin feeling super soft, too. It’s a win win situation.

Oh, and if the shower gel doesn’t quite satisfy your appetite, it’s recently been turned into a perfume that’s currently available to buy on Amazon.

You can thank us later. 

Images: courtesy of brands