I'm very picky about my body lotions. And not in the way you might think. A few years back, I did a story for a natural health magazine about beauty tips for pregnant women. I'll always remember one of the naturopathic doctors telling me that women—even non-pregnant ones—shouldn't apply products with parabens on the fattier areas of the body, such as bums, boobs, thighs and tummies. (The thinking being that these places are more likely to absorb and store the nasty chemicals.)

Of course, the jury's still out on whether or not that's true... but I like to be on the safe side, so I've tried to use paraben-free body lotions ever since. My most recent discovery is the Tropical Bergamot lotion from UK line <a href="http://www.organicsurge.com/" target="_blank">Organic Surge</a> (now available at Shoppers). Not only does it contain 91 percent naturally-derived ingredients and certified organic extracts, it also smells yummy and fresh, and absorbs quickly. (I just HATE it when body lotions are too greasy, especially in the summer... don't you?)

Is it the most natural body lotion in the world? No, of course not. (You'll notice they said their <em>ingredients </em>are natural/organic... NOT the body lotion itself.)  But still—for $7.99, it's good value, and I'm happy to do without the chemicals, thankyouverymuch.

Bonus: I LOVE that the company actually puts asterisks beside some of the ingredients on the label that are hard to pronounce, and explains that they're naturally-derived. (Like tocopherol, for example—it sounds scary but is in fact just the chemical name for plain old vitamin E.)

<em>Priced at $7.99. Available at Shoppers Drug Mart stores across Canad</em><em>a.</em>