FREEBIE FRIDAY L'Occitane En Provence celebrating 40 years gift box product review

I was lucky enough to claim a freebie goodie bag from L'Occitane en Provence recently and I hadn't got around to publishing the review until now. There were a few boxes going around with various goodies inside. My gift box included the following: L'Occitane En Provence Dry Skin Hand Cream with Shea Butter (which retails at £19 for a 150ml tube), a small tester post of their Crème Divine moisturiser which retails at a whopping £74(!) for the 50ml tub, Gel Douche Verveine Verbana Shower Gel £15 for 250ml and the Shampooing Shampoo essential 5 oils which is about £17 for a 30ml bottle. Quite an expensive freebie gift to celebrate 40 years of L'Occitane! I love the travel size bottles as they make it so much easier when travelling. I won't be reviewing the L'Occitane En Provence Dry Skin Hand Cream with Shea Butter as I already know I love it (see it here).

First up I tried the Crème Divine moisturiser which comes in two versions, a lighter formula which has SPF15 in the formula and the version that I tried. I loved this little moisturiser, it really works to rehydrate the skin. A little goes a long way with the Crème Divine moisturiser as it spreads really quickly. Like the name suggests the formula is super creamy although there was no overpowering scent just the smell of moisturiser when I opened the pot. I loved the Crème Divine moisturiser as it made my skin feel refreshed and hydrated. I can definitely see why it's so expensive but I won't rush out to stock up when I run out, I can't afford £74 for a moisturiser!

Next up was the Gel Douche Verveine Verbena Shower Gel which had quite a pleasant lemony scent. I'd definitely take the travel size version of Gel Douche Verveine Verbena Shower Gel away with me in my toiletry bag. The small 30ml bottle is perfect for when you have to travel light and limit your liquids to under 100ml! As for using the Gel Douche Verveine Verbena Shower Gel on a regular basis however, I'm not sold just yet. The Gel Douche Verveine Verbena Shower Gel doesn't foam up like most shower gels so I didn't really feel like it cleaned my skin. This is a definite downside if I was to take this away on archaeological digs. The Gel Douche Verveine Verbena Shower Gel is perfect for holiday's but it's quite pricey considering that I don't think it cleans very well.

Lastly, I tried the Shampooing Shampoo essential 5 oils which I was reluctant to try out and with good reason. Previously, I've tried out shampoos that are packed with oils and found that they dry my hair out and overload my hair with product. The Shampooing Shampoo essential 5 oils was no different as my hair felt heavy and dirty, particularly greasy and laden with product. I really disliked the Shampooing Shampoo essential 5 oils and I wouldn't recommend it for long, thick hair. It just doesn't work to clean the hair and seems to sit on the hair instead. (The picture below is only temporary so I will get a better one when I have a better camera and re-post this!)

Two out of four products weren't bad especially as they were free but I wouldn't rush out to replace the dwindling supplies of the products any time soon. Did you get a freebie 40 year anniversary box? What did you think and what was your favourite product? Let me know in the comments below xx

Original Source Mint Tea Tree Oil and Lynx Man Washer Shower Tool product reviews

I had my first ever professional wax at the grand old age of 24 recently. Don't get me wrong I've waxed before with cold strips, hot sugar wax (see my Sally Hansen review here), used hair removal cream in abundance, epilated and shaved so it's not like I'm not familiar with hair removal. I am however an absolute wuss with pain so I've put off getting a professional wax for so long. Needless to say I totally wussed out getting waxed but that's another story. As part of a deal, I got an underarm, half leg and Brazilian wax and all were fine except for the Brazilian wax. A few days after the wax I developed something which I later Googled and found out was called folliculitis. The horrible part of folliculitis if you don't know what it is (I didn't until recently) is that I developed small painful spots on a rather intimate area where the follicles had previously been. Some people don't develop this reaction at all, some have it quite mild, I had a very severe case of it. You're told no to touch them or squeeze them but I had to do something so I actually did get rid of mine by doing that.

I had however read on the internet that Tea Tree Oil is the remedy rather than picking them which encourages scarring. Rather than applying raw Tea Tree Oil to the affected area (which I didn't think would have been the best idea) I went on a rampage for some Original Source shower gel. I misread the bottle and was lured in by the bright green liquid in the bottle so I assumed I had picked up Tea Tree Oil only. When I first used it however it became apparent that what I had picked up was the Mint and Tea Tree Oil infused shower gel. The Mint is really quite overpowering and is very strong when you're showering. As Mint and Tea Tree Oil are both natural products however I was happy to carry on using the two ingredients. I've been using the Original Source Mint Tea Tree Oil for about four weeks now and there's been no further bouts of folliculitis to report. Prior to my next wax I planned to use the Original Source Mint Tea Tree Oil to see if this can prevent the folliculitis recurring. So far so good after having my second wax. There were a few small spots this time but nothing compared to the discomfort from last time. I think from now on I'll definitely use the before waxes and the tea tree oil really seems to prevent the folliculitis from returning.

I also bought the Lynx Man Washer Shower Tool, essentially a double sided robust loofah that really gets to work and scrubs off the dirt. It annoys me slightly that the Lynx Man Washer Shower Tool are marketed solely for men and women instead get the flimsy, delicate loofah's that unravel easily. Stererotyping aside I really liked the Lynx Man Washer Shower Tool. There's a rough scrubbing side that can be used as an exfoliator and a more robust loofah on the other side. My qualm with this gender specific product however is that it's ergonomically designed so it fits perfectly in your hand regardless of whether your male or female. The Lynx Man Washer Shower Tool is so much easier to use than a flimsy loofah that is usually geared towards women. At around £4 as well the Lynx Man Washer Shower Tool is a lot dearer than usual loofah's but of course you pay for the quality because it is clearly better made. I really like the Lynx Man Washer Shower Tool and having applied the Original Source Mint Tea Tree Oil onto it I use the loofah to scrub the gel into my skin. It's a great product that helps to exfoliate the skin pre-tan I Just wish it wasn't solely marketed towards men.

I'd love to know what you think of either of these products. Do you agree with me about the gender marketing? Let me know what you think in the comments below xx