My thoughts & feels on this swanky face cream. Let's go!
This cute little tub was sent to me in a Glossybox aaaaages ago, and whilst I was really happy to see this brand in the box, I wasn't too keen on the product itself upon first glance. Right off the bat, this stuff smells really strongly. To my nose it smells like freshly cut grass but with a denser underbelly and a lashing of citrus. That could be the lime oil, but I'm not too sure. One thing I do really like, however, is the consistency. It's really thick, thick enough to hold it's shape in peaks as detailed in the picture below, yet it just melts into the skin like butter.
As for the cream itself. It's okay. L'Occitane preaches; "Velvety and silky smooth, the Hydra Vital Cream helps to enhance the skins ability of self-hydration throughout the day, helping to revitalize and protect it against external aggressions. This cream provides 48 hours of hydration, making the skin seem more comfortable, plumper, smoother and radiant". Now whilst I do agree that some of this is true, not everything matches up to L'Occitane's promises.
As you can see I've used up about half of the tub, and I don't know which skin type this cream is aimed at or if it's an "all skin types" jobby, but it only seems to work on some areas of my face? My oily areas like my t-zone do seem to be more hydrated and I really have been less oily recently, and I think it's down to this cream. However my dry patches are still dry? I don't have much dry skin, just a few patches along the left side of my jaw and my left cheek (I know, specific), and no matter now much of this I use I see no difference. Which is crazy to me and I can't make heads nor tails of it.
Is the cream "velvety and smooth"? Yes.
Does it "enhance the skins ability of self-hydration"? Kind of.
Does it "provide 48 hours of hydration?" Yo, I don't even know cos I wash my face about 4 times in 48 hours.
Does my skin feel "more comfortable, plumper, smoother and radiant"? No, no, yes, kind of.
So whilst some of its aims are met, it also falls short on a few promises.
Would I purchase this again? No, probably not. For the price that this retails at (£32 for 50ml, £14 for 20ml, available at uk.loccitane.com link), I expect it to be amazing and this isn't. And the smell. Gosh, it's like I've been rolling around in freshly cut grass. No thanks.
Have you tried this cream? How did you find it?
Thanks for reading!
xo.
Washing your skin 4x a day could easily be the reason you have dry patches. No cream can sort that out because you are overwashing your face. 2x a day is completely enough, especially on days when you don't wear make/up. I also reckon that using a cleansing balm or cleansing oil, regardless of your skin type + micellar water is a perfect way to double cleanse at night. Hope this helps :)
ReplyDeleteHi, thank you for your comment! I've said that I wash my face 4 times in 48 hours, which divides into twice in 24 hours; twice a day, so I don't think over-washing is the problem. But thank you very much for your recommendations, I'm interested in micellar water so I'll be having a look!
ReplyDeleteAaah, I see - my mistake. 2x a day is completely fine, ideal even. Sorry, never intended to come across as pretentious - I truly was certain that I've read 4x a day and it really wasn't a shocker as one of my friends does wash her face 3x a day so even 4x was plausible in my mind :D
ReplyDeleteMicellar waters - I definitely stick with them and if you want to try them out, Bioderma is your best bet. However, if you want to go cheaper and get an almost identical product - Garnier has a wonderful one as well. Take care dear, was lovely chatting with you.
xx
Wow! That is a lot of face washing!! I've actually picked up the Garnier one from your original recommendations and I'm enjoying it so far! Thanks again for commenting, love! It's been excellent chatting with you too :) xo.
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