L’Occitane Shea Intensive Hand Balm

L’Occitane Shea Intensive Hand Balm

This is a hand cream I purchased on a whim. It was my birthday and I got an email from L’Occitane that said “happy birthday! Enjoy a free candle on us” or something along those lines. I said to myself “Cool. I will pick it up on my way home” and of course I picked up a hand cream, an eye cream and don’t forget the candle…so there you have it, story of my life :)

What L’Occitane says/product description:

• formulated with a very high concentration of 25% shea butter to provide intense nourishing care
• forms a protective film for skin that is very dry or uncomfortable due to environmental aggressions (cold, air conditioning)
• melts into the hands and nails from the moment it is applied and massaged in
• enriched with allantoin, it helps to immediately soothe the skin, bringing comfort and softness
• used daily, it helps to protect hands from dryness
• RRP AU$46/150ml

My experience:

L’Occitane is well known for its handcreams. This hand balm has the highest concentration of shea butter out of all the handcreams L’Occitane offers and should be therefore the most nourishing. I use it as my night time/bedside handcream and it ticks all the boxes for me.

Surprisingly, the texture of this hand balm is not as thick as I expected and it is easily absorbed into the skin after a quick massage. It is emollient and beautifully nourishing but is not sticky, tacky nor oily. I only need a little every time I use it because it spreads quite easily. I used it through this Sydney winter and my hands have not felt dry at all. And I don’t even use it every night because I either don’t remember to or just don’t bother sometimes…Still my hands are in good condition given all the washing up I do with a little one. My daytime handcream is the Aveeno Intense Relief Hand Cream which I adore and have gone through at least seven tubes. The Aveeno one has a gel-cream texture and is absorbed instantly. I believe that the combination of the Aveeno hand cream during the day and L’Occitane at night has kept my hands and nails in good condition.

The hand balm has a soft clean scent, similar to the regular shea butter handcream by L’Occitane. I am not sure if it is what shea butter smells like or it might just be the fragrance but I enjoy the scent very much. I prefer the scent to floral or fruity scented handcreams because it just feels more sophisticated.

It is not cheap for a handcream, and if your hands are not exceptionally dry you might just be as happy with the Aveeno Intense Relief one for around $6.

Repurchase? I might, if my hands suffer from extreme dryness.

Clarins Tonic Body Polisher

Clarins Tonic Body Polisher

I enjoy using body scrubs in general as I find the whole experience relaxing and almost therapeutic for me. I have to admit though nothing beats a pair of exfoliating gloves or dry body brushing in terms of the polishing/scrubbing effects. But body scrub is still a regular in my weekly routine because the whole experience is just really uplifting for me, especially after a long day.

What Clarins says/product description:

• features essential oils of rosemary, rosewood, mint, sugar and salt crystals
• feels luxurious as it smoothes away dry cells, flakes and impurities to reveal the glowing skin beneath
• leaves skin looking toned, radiant and sleek.
• RRP AU$48/250ml

My experience:

Clarins is a brand that is a bit underrated in my opinion. We don’t hear much about it on social media and often associate it with words like “mature”, “dull” or “old fashioned”. I happen to find Clarins products to be very reliable, especially its range of body products which I religiously used during my pregnancy and I have very few stretch marks now (also thanks to my mum). The Tonic Body Polisher is another one of those reliable products – it is not love at first sight, but I miss it when I don’t have it.

The polisher is a mixture of sugar and salt crystals that are quite fine. I personally like a rough body scrub so this one is on the gentle side for me. But it still sloughs away dead skin cells beautifully and my skin feels really smooth after. I can even skip the body lotion when using this polisher because the essential oils really nourish my skin. It doesn’t leave oily residues, just a thin layer of moisture that makes my skin looking radiant as claimed. I can’t say much to the toning claim because I did not see any. And I didn’t expect a body scrub to tone my skin anyways…

The scent of the essential oils is heavenly and very spa like. It is not overpowering, just enough to lift my mood and feel relaxed. It is definitely the reason why I kept coming back to this scrub. It is a great balance of exfoliation, moisture and beautiful scent. The price is a bit on the high end for a body scrub, but still reasonable and definitely worth its price (I have tried body scrubs that are more expensive but much less enjoyable than this one). Please let me know if you have found a great body scrub that is more budget friendly!

Repurchase? I still have so many other scrubs I want to try…but I can definitely recommend this scrub and will probably repurchase with a GWP.