A long while ago, I read an opinion on Ciao about L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream which inspired me to buy the product, and I was very impressed (potential for a future opinion I feel). I have bought a few other L’Occitane products when I am feeling rich and like I deserve a ... Read review
Advantages: Smells great, work well, reasonable price, no adverse reaction Disadvantages: Can be difficult to get hold of
A long while ago, I read an opinion on Ciao about L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream which inspired me to buy the product, and I was very impressed (potential for a future opinion I feel). I have bought a few other L’Occitane products when I am feeling rich and like I deserve a treat, but my most recent purchase is their Ultra Moisturising Night Care.
•• THE COMPANY ••
L’Occitane is ... ...some marvellous beauty products. It was created in 1976 by Olivier Baussan a native of Provence. Using the traditional method of extraction, he developed L’Occitane’s very first products based on essential oils extracted from local plants. He later went on to develop a humanitarian-partnership with African women. In the Burkina Faso village in Africa, the native women harvest Shea nuts and are the co-producers of L’Occitane’s ... more
A long while ago, I read an opinion on Ciao about L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream which inspired me to buy the product, and I was very impressed (potential for a future opinion I feel). I have bought a few other L’Occitane products when I am feeling rich and like I deserve a treat, but my most recent purchase is their Ultra Moisturising Night Care.
•• THE COMPANY •• L’Occitane is a wonderful French company that uses natural ingredients to produce some marvellous beauty products. It was created in 1976 by Olivier Baussan a native of Provence. Using the traditional method of extraction, he developed L’Occitane’s very first products based on essential oils extracted from local plants. He later went on to develop a humanitarian-partnership with African women. In the Burkina Faso village in Africa, the native women harvest Shea nuts and are the co-producers of L’Occitane’s complete Shea Butter Collection.
L’Occitane are also famous for their ‘different’ packaging, as their products are packaged in aluminium tubes, canisters and unbreakable bottles. They look simple but trendy. They were one of the first companies to include Braille on most of their packaging so that blind and partially sighted people were not disadvantaged.
In case you haven’t already been convinced, this should do it - Kylie Minogue is apparently a fan of L’Occitane.
•• SHEA BUTTER •• Shea Butter is retrieved from the fruit of the Shea Tree found exclusively in Africa. Shea Butter moisturises, nourishes and protects extra dry and sensitive skin. Many other companies such as the Body Shop have also struck up partnerships with African villages to harvest and use Shea Butter in their products.
Other Shea Butter products from l’Occitane include: foot cream, shampoo, conditioner, bath and shower cream, soaps, body lotion and pure shea butter (very expensive).
•• THE PRODUCT •• L’Occitane Ultra Moisturising Night Care comes in an aluminium tube (like a toothpaste tube) containing 75ml of cream. This is inside a brown cardboard box with a mainly blue label, which can obviously be recycled. The smell of the shea butter range is wonderful, but very difficult to describe. It is very rich, but not overpowering and a very clean smell – I love it. The cream contains 15% shea butter and other moisturising agents: corn, almond and honey.
When you squeeze the tube a thick white cream comes out. It spreads very easily and not much is needed. It is particularly recommended for dry and sensitive skin, which is why I bought it as this describes mine perfectly. It also claims that ‘Shea Butter and natural moisturising agents regenerate and nourish the skin optimising the repairing benefits of sleep’.
I think this is a wonderful product. It smells marvellous and is extremely moisturising as it claims. It is not particularly greasy and is absorbed well, although not too quickly, as this cream is supposed to give you all night protection. I have had no adverse reaction to it (as I have with some Garnier products), and I wake with my face feeling nice and soft. It contains no SPF being a night cream, so should not be worn during the day. It doesn’t claim to reduce wrinkles like many similar products, and I haven’t noticed mine reduce, but then I have never noticed my wrinkles reduce even using expensive products that DO claim this!
•• WHERE TO BUY IT •• I actually bought mine from Calais whilst on a day trip to France and it cost about £11.00. You can also buy it from L’Occitane’s website for £13.95 at www.loccitane.com but you will be charged £4.95 p&p, which is a bit excessive in my opinion. However, the web site is quick to load and easy to use. L’Occitane have shops at Bluewater Kent, Brighton, Cambridge, London (5 stores: Kensington High Street, Queensway, off Oxford Street, Regent Street and Kings Road) and Solihull, but they also have a limited range available in many House of Fraser Stores.
•• CONCLUSION •• I recommend this product for a number of reasons. They are an ethical company (although I was unable to find anything about their animal testing policies), the product is a reasonable price compared to other night creams (e.g. double the price for Clarins and Clinique), it works well, it smells gorgeous and us ladies deserve a treat!
