L'OCCITANE Amande Collection

I've always been intrigued by luxurious skin care products. My fascination deepened after trying creme de la Mer for the first time in my mid 20s. Since then, I've gone on to try products from various luxury brands for face, neck, and décolletage. And it eventually led way to body care products. I've had my share of hits and misses from various top brands, but when it comes to body skin care, l'Occitane is where I made most re-purchases closely followed by Annick Goutal. Here's a review of my favorite l'Occitane body skin care products.

L'Occitane has a body care line that implements almond oil as the core ingredient. Almond oil contains combination of two essential fatty acids and antioxidants that are well known to nourish the skin. My favourite products from this line are Almond Milk Concentrate, Almond Tonic Body Oil (Limited Edition), and Almond Shower Oil. Great products for those of us that want the deep soothing moisture without the heaviness of thick creamy-greasy feeling.

L'Occitane Almond Shower Oil is definitely not your typical shower wash. It has almond oil scent that's sweet yet refreshing. It's a moisturising, oil-infused shower wash. As with most typical shower wash products, when in contact with water it turns into foam; a luxurious silky foam that's gentle on the skin yet effectively cleanse the skin.  Note that it will only turn into frothy foam with a shower puff/sponge. When used with hands or cloth, it will turn milky and only slightly foamy. Latter would be the better way if you have extremely dry and sensitive skin. It effortlessly rinses off the skin with water, leaving no trace of oiliness. Does it leave the skin with satin-like softness as l'Occitane claims? Yes! Skin is left clean and refreshed without stripping the natural oil. If your skin is oily to normal, or for days that you're too lazy to moisturise after shower, this may be enough to skip moisturizer especially in summer weather. Otherwise, if you have dry to extremely dry skin, this will gently clean and calm the dryness of your skin like no other shower wash, but it's still not enough to skip your after shower moisturising. This large pump bottle lasted about five months with 4-6 uses a week, and refills are also available.

Almond Tonic Body Oil is a limited edition product. This is a lightly scented body oil with core ingredients being almond and pink pepper oils. It's a dry-oil type that absorbs into skin well, leaving no trace of oiliness. A similar product from the same line is Almond Supple Skin Oil, which is supposed to target stretch marks, whereas this one is more so to promote lymphatic drainage. This is slightly less moisturising compare to the Supple Skin Oil, but it has better tightening effect. I wouldn't recommend this to someone looking for a moisturizing body oil. As the name suggests, it a toning oil. It's a great product to massage in areas where you need toning. But keep in mind that this is no magic oil: it will not tone your skin/body in any way if you are simply just spraying it on your skin. If you want to experince the full effect of this product, use it with lympathic drainage massage techniques. Again, even with all kinds of massaging, this isn't going to erase cellulites or firm saggy skin, but, with consistent use, it will smooth out and tone the skin. This glass spray bottle slightly less than a month with 4-5 sprays four times a week.

Almond Milk Concentrate is a luxurious body moisturiser with consistency between gel and cream. Does it smooth and beautify as the label says? Yes! It makes the skin amazingly soft and supple with a lasting moisturising effect that's lightweight. This is perfect for those of us that has moisture thirst skin but can't stand the thick oiliness of body creams and butters. The scent is absolutely heavenly (well, at least to me!) but not overpowering; it smells like light sweet vanilla with hint of almond. One jar lasted about two months with using generous amounts for about four times a week.

I've purchased these l'Occitane products multiple times, and as I'm writing this post, I'm already thinking about repurchasing the Almond Milk Concentrate again. One downer would be the Almond Tonic Body Oil: mainly that it's a limited edition item!  I've gone through two bottles of it, and now I can't find it at my local l'Occitane store. Sorry... when you click on the product photo above it will take you to the Almond Supple Skin Oil instead, but on the U.K. l'Occitane site it's still available! And, I'm not too crazy about the heavy duty glass bottle spray: some of the oil incessantly ends up on the floor when I sprayed it directly on the body; I think a pump would be better. Other than that, these products work really well together, but just as lovely on their own.

♡

Lisa