Thursday, August 13, 2015

- - L'Occitane | Haul | Part 1 - -


Hey everyone!

Today I am back with another "haul" post. This time around it's an official full-size haul rather than a mini one. I'm actually not sure what constitutes a full-size haul, but there seem to be enough products in the photo above to consider this as one.

Last week I went shopping at L'Occitane en Provence ("L'Occitane" for short) at a major mall near me. I rarely shop at L'Occitane since it's a pricey brand, but I absolutely adore their products!

I will tell you more after the jump. :)


For anyone unfamiliar with the brand, L'Occitane is a French retailer that was established in 1976. The company has stores in over 90 countries, and it is a beloved brand because of its skincare, bodycare, and fragrance products - all of which are cruelty-free, and made with natural and organic ingredients.

L'Occitance has a variety of collections, but perhaps they are most well known for their Shea Butter products - including a highly popular 20% Shea Butter Hand Cream that I got to try for the first time way back when. Two other collections that seems to be pretty popular among their customers are the Almond and the Verbena lines.

As time goes on, I am discovering more and more L'Occitane products that I enjoy. I will try to share them with you as time goes on. For now let me show you what I picked up at L'Occitane last week!


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*Please note that all the prices are in Canadian dollars.*

1 || 5% Shea Light Comforting Cream || $30.00 for 50 mL


I think a good place to start this review is to tell you why I went to L'Occitane in the first place. Back in (I think) March I got a free gift kit with a purchase at one of their locations, which included a deluxe sample of the 5% Light Comforting Cream. I liked the cream right away at the time, but it has taken me until now to incorporate it into my skincare routine.

I have normal to sensitive skin and I find that this cream works really well with it. The texture is light and the cream tends to absorb quickly. I do find that especially in the mornings my face looks a bit oily after using the cream with my toner and serum, but that's nothing that a little powder can't fix.


The scent is light, very pleasant, and basically a lighter version of the popular 20% Shea Butter Hand Cream.

2 || Iris Bleu & Iris Blanc Hand Cream || $12.00 for 30 mL



This hand cream is part of L'Occitane's newest collection, La Collection de Grasse, which features a series of strong floral notes. Out of all the flavours, my absolute favourite is the Iris Blue & Iris Blanc scent. The pairing of the blue and white Iris produces a very light, calming, and velvety fragrance. The best part is that this cream absorbs super fast and it doesn't aggravate the eczema on my hands. Everyone I show this hand cream to falls in love with it, so if you find yourself at a L'Occitane location, give this one a try!

3 || Verbena Eau de Toilette || $58.00 for 100 mL


I love, love, love L'Occitane's Verbena line - it has such a pure citrus scent (think lemons)! L'Occitane actually has two Verbena lines: Verbena and Citrus Verbena. The difference is that while the regular Verbena line has a very true lemony fragrance, the Citrus Verbena line has grapefruit in it, so it's a much sweeter scent. Although both fragrances are amazing, I tend to prefer the Verbena scent, which is why I decided to splurge on the Eau de Toilette.

Having said that, although I really like the scent, I doubt I would buy this Eau de Toilette again. The scent is nice, but it just doesn't last. On my wrist it lasts for a while, but I find that on my body and clothes it doesn't. I have to drench myself in this fragrance and even when I do, I can't smell it anymore within 20 minutes (and it can't be because I have gotten used to it).

I also think that the spray is kind of poorly designed. With each spritz, a little bit of the liquid flows down, so my hands and the area around the spray cap are wet every time. I've only had this perfume for a few days now, but because of that leaking problem the silver paint around the top of the bottle has began flaking off. Thumbs down for that.

4 || Almond Delicious Soap || $6.00 for 50 g


This soap is a great way to try L'Occitane's Almond collection without spending a lot of money since it has the same scent as all the other products within that line. I have tried it before and it's quite a lovely soap. It lasts for a few weeks, really cleans and softens the hands, and there are little almond bits in it to help exfoliate.

5 || Citrus Verbena Stick Deodorant || $24.00 for 50 g


Alright, here we go with the deodorants again! I actually picked this up so that I could get the free gift pouch with my purchase. At $24 ($18 US), this is definitely the most expensive deodorant I own, but I like it and have no regrets.

The cooling effect can really be felt when you first put it on...but not really anytime else. Nonetheless! I like that this deodorant keeps everything fresh throughout the day and it doesn't feel sticky, creamy, or heavy at all.


Aside from me constantly wanting to pop off the twist cap, this may just be my favourite deodorant yet.

6 || Magic Key || $10.00



Another product that I picked up on one of my trips to L'Occitane last week was this Magic Key. Online, this is only available on the USA site, but it is available in stores in Canada. The whole point of the Magic Key is to allow you to squeeze out every last drop of cream from a tube. This is intended for the L'Occitane hand and foot creams, but something tells me you could probably use it with similar tubes from other brands.


This is a fun and useful thing to have, but in my opinion it is in no way a necessity. I have been able to squeeze out practically all of the cream from L'Occitane's tubes with no problem at all in the past. So if you're debating whether or not you need this product in your life, let me be frank with you and tell you that no, no you don't.

7 || Free Gift Kit ||  $46.00 FREE


I made two trips to L'Occitane last week and during the first one I received this kit free with my purchase. L'Occitane constantly has some sort of gift pouch (while quantities last) with a specific purchase amount, but the down side is that it's a one-per-customer kind of deal. Nonetheless, since you now know of my love for Verbena, you can imagine how happy I was to get this kit! The gift pouch includes:

Verbena Body Lotion (75 mL/2.5 fl oz)
Verbena Shower Gel (75 mL/2.5 fl oz)
 Verbena Eau de Toilette (10 mL/0.33 fl oz)

Samples!



At the end of my shopping trip I was loaded up with sample packets. Since I went to L'Occitane twice, I got double the samples. In total I received 6 Almond Milk Concentrate packets (6 mL each) and 4 Shea Butter Hand Cream packets (3 mL each). Foil packet samples might not be the greatest way to try a product since they're mostly one-time use and you can't really seal them up. But if there are enough packets you can put them into an empty pump container, which is exactly what I did with the Almond Milk packets. Suddenly 36 mL looks pretty good!

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This was part 1 of my L'Occitane shopping haul. I still have a few items coming my way via FedEx, so once I get those I'll post a Part 2 as well.

Have you every shopped at L'Occitane? What is your favourite product?

Thanks for reading!

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