Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a girl who, through neglect and the evil spell of “laziness”, found herself slowly morphing into a lizard.
It started at the furthest of her extremities, with the skin on her toes first drying out and flaking. But did she pay attention? Oh no! (If she had right then, there wouldn’t be a story to tell would there?)
The evil spell and gentle morph from human to scaly reptile slowly crept up the feet and legs, turning once smooth, soft skin into dry, hard, scales. Skin was stretched and shiny and lined through neglect. Things came to a head one day, when lizard-gal discovered a very dry and itchy patch of skin on her shin.
Thinking it was mere skin irritation or a bug bite, she gave it no mind, but scratch she did. Until one day, she looked down (finally!) and noticed the scales and the red, angry, bumpy, itchy, irritated patch of skin on her legs.
Panicking, she turned to Dr. Google, which told her it could be anything from psoriasis to cancer (Isn’t Dr. Google a consolation?) But more digging prompted a different diagnosis. It might just be skin that was too dry, which had cracked and allowed itself to be infected.
So Lizard-gal started oiling herself up like a salad daily, yet it didn’t stop the slow encroachment of scaly skin. Until one evening, her eye fell on an old gift which had been sitting on her bedside table for the longest time.
Now, the problem with Lizard-gal is that she hated using body lotions and body creams. Living in the tropics as she did, body creams and lotions tended to be sticky and to leave a greasy, oily film on the skin that could be very uncomfortable, especially on warm nights.
It didn’t help that the salve was called the L’Occitane Ultra Rich Body Cream Rich in Shea Butter, which conjured up images of butter on toast, and a sticky date pudding.
But desperate times called for desperate measures, if Lizard-gal was to stop the onslaught of the scales.
The product came in a fairly large tub, which is a hefty 200ml size. It was so hefty, it resided quietly on the bedside table, hidden under a pile of other potions and lotions, unobtrusive and unnoticed.
Opening up the Ultra Rich Body Cream yielded the scent of shea butter and baby powder. It wasn’t Lizard-gal’s favourite scent and left to her own devices, she would never have picked this up in store. But it said “Ultra Rich” and it said that it was an “ideal beauty balm for dry or dehydrated skin” and Lizard-gal had both.
Picking up some of the cream, she was intrigued that it was not a hard, thick cream as she had been expecting. In fact, it had a lovely consistency of double cream. (If you don’t cook nor bake, that’s a consistency heavier than pouring cream, but not more solid like sour cream)
So, with this tub of salve at her side, Lizard-gal began a nightly routine of slathering this cream over her limbs, in a hope to reverse the evil spell and stop the slow morph into a scaly reptile.
Despite her misgivings, she was gratified to notice that the cream, whilst labelled Ultra Rich, did not sit on the skin like cream frosting. Instead, it seemed to absorb into the skin and left a light feeling to the skin. On warm nights, she had to be careful not to mark her furniture with the residual grease on the skin. But in an air-conditioned environment, it felt more comfortable. Some days, when not even the Ultra Rich Cream felt enough, she would add a few drops of body oil to help the texture along.
About a week later, Lizard-gal noticed that the itchy patch on her shin had stopped itching. The angry red spots were slowly disappearing, and the scars were starting to heal. The skin on her legs too felt lighter and more comfortable.
It wasn’t until 3 weeks later that she noticed that she had slowly reversed the evil spell, and her legs (and arms) were slowly human again. The skin was smoother to the touch, without the rough bumpy flaky skin that preceded it, and it was starting to lose its scaly, shiny appearance.
Was it attributable to the 25% shea butter that this Ultra Rich Body Cream contains? Or was it just the effort of combating the evil spell of laziness? Lizard-now-human-gal couldn’t quite say, but she vowed to never allow the evil spell to capture her again.
She’s still applying this body cream religiously every night before bed in an effort to maintain her soft, smooth human skin and to hold the evil lizard-skin morphing spell at bay. The spell still clutches on to her toes where the skin feels and looks dry a lot of the time, but she’s working on eradicating the nasty spell. The smell does still take a lot of getting used to, but when a balm works as well as this one, to stop the evil lizard-morphing spell, it can be tolerated.
And they lived happily ever after.
The End.
IN A NUTSHELL
The L’Occitane Ultra Rich Body Cream with 25% Shea Butter is fairly thick cream with the consistency of double cream, that isn’t greasy or oily on the skin. It absorbs well and an amazing job transforming my very dry, scaly skin on my body to smooth, moisturised skin. I had been labouring under a lot of neglect so I still have a way to go, but this body cream has changed everything. When I want even more moisture and comfort, I add some body oil into the cream, but be careful because some scents don’t go well with the powdery scent of this product.
PROS: Absorbs well and quickly into the skin, Does not leave an oily, greasy feeling on the skin, Works very well on very dry skin to transform it to smooth, comfortable skin on the body
CONS: Pricey, Strong powdery scent, Not portable because I’d love to travel with this!
WHO WILL LIKE THIS: Anyone with very dry, dehydrated, scaly, tight skin, Anyone who is also battling the evil lizard-changing spell
Here is the ingredient list for those interested:
Have you used this body cream? Do you use a body cream regularly?
I take care of my face, but my body has suffered. It doesn’t help that I love long, hot showers. These days, I’m a lot more careful and much more diligent. I don’t want to wake up one morning and discover I’m a lizard 😀
Paris B aka Lizard-gal
L’Occitane Ultra Rich Body Cream Rich in Shea Butter Price: RM180 | US$44 for 200ml Availability: L’Occitane stores or online (MY) (USA)
[show_shopthepost_widget id=”581391″]
Hi Paris,
Very interesting story =p. Anyway your story is very similar to mine, I’m extremely lazy with body lotions too. You should try giving nivea body conditioner a shot, as you use it in the shower and wash it off (similar to hair conditoner). I find I’m more incline to use it in the shower as compared to normal body lotions. Best of all its easy on the wallet!
Thanks for the Nivea rec, Verona 🙂 I’m actually using it too but when my legs were at their driest and scaliest, it didn’t help me at all. But now, I use it as a form of ‘maintenance’ and it’s ok. Not something I’m crazy about though 🙁
LOL I love this tale of Lizard-Gal hahaha!
I believe you! I just tried the Almond Shower Oil and LOVE it. And like you I HATE most body butters-I’m hot and flash remember so anything like that is just too much for me. But I think I can handle this for sure! Because I’m starting to turn into a lizard too lol!
Hehe thanks Tracy 😀 I love the Almond Shower Oil! So happy you love it too and gosh in your cold weather, I’d be Lizard-Gal in no time at all! Not necessarily with crime-fighting abilities 😛
Tale of a Beauty Lizard Gal.. cheers me up Miss P.. well done!
Glad you enjoyed it Shija 😀 Kick off the week with a smile 😉
Dear me! I wouldn’t want to turn into Lizard-gal just because I don’t apply lotions and creams diligently. *cries* I think I’ll morph starting from my feet. I still haven’t found a more affordable one that replaces the Clarins foot cream (which worked great but ran out too quickly for the price!). Any recs?
I haven’t tried the Clarins Foot cream! I didn’t even know they had one LOL I did like their hand and nail cream though. One of the better hand creams I’ve used. As for foot cream erm… I don’t use any. I just use this cream but on my feet 😀
Glad to know the scales sloughed off, LG – er, I mean, PB!
Thanks Ginny! xoxo LG 😉
Good scary story !! ^_^
Haih, I too apply my skincare but always “forgot” to apply my body lotion. And Yikes, my toes are dry with scaly skin as well. The weather gave me a bonus on my heels too. I can peel off the thick hard skin layer by layer but thankfully no bleeding, which makes my itchy hands more itchy to peel more :p
I’ve apply argan oil, body lotion for dry skin and even hydrating cream for face but still no improvement. Still need to work hard finding the right one for my feet. Lily’s love on Clarins foot cream sounds promising as I love their Hand and Nail treatment.
Hehe hope you didn’t read it at night Bugs! 😉 I’m really bad with body lotion. I thought I was doing well with using body oils on my arms at least, but apparently, it’s not enough anymore sigh… Ooh and don’t peel your skin la, it isn’t good. I think they sell these grater things that you can use to remove hard skin on heels right? You see, I’m so bad at caring for my feet, I don’t even know what these things are called! LOL
Oh my, I could be your Lizard Sister! I too have scaly skin…on my legs! I have tried so many lotions and potions and even “mixed” my own concoction of creams and oils for the so called ‘perfect’ cream that works! Maybe I should give THIS a try! But oh boy do I hate the smell of shea butter….someone should try making gula melaka scented body butter! That would convince me in a hurry!
High 5 Lizard sister! 😉 I know exactly how you feel. I thought I was a goner, when even using body oils didn’t help slough the scales off! Eventually I think what did it was a combination of cream and oil. So, if you have a thick cream on hand, mix in some oil and see if that helps you? I’m not too much a fan of the scent of shea either and gosh! Gula Melaka scented body butter? YES PLEASE! 😀
hahahaa… very nice bedtime story indeed.. me need some good cream too. I’m now just simply trying to finish up all the previous lotions/creams etc I bought. And I have plenty gifted (ain’t complaining). Just remembering to apply them does help in the long run. Let’s keep up the good work!
Fortunately you didn’t say horror story haha 😀 Yes, I hear ya about remembering to apply the creams. I try to make it into a routine before bed these days but then, sometimes… I still forget! 😛
Yay for happy endings! I may be under a lizard-transforming spell myself, although in my case it started as a small patch on one finger and is slowly taking over my left hand. My L’Occitane Shea hand cream isn’t quite rich enough; maybe this one will reverse the spell 😉
Yay indeed Angela! 😀 Goodness, this lizard transformation spell is quite wide-spread isn’t it? I hope you manage to hold it off or banish it for good! Not very nice having a lizard claw for a left hand right? 😉
I apply body lotion and foot lotion every day to prevent lizard skin! Otherwise I’d look like a reptile.
That’s so diligent of you Mrs Tubbs! I’m trying hard to stick to a routine myself! But in your weather, I can imagine the lizard transformation happening a lot more quickly. I used to have lizard legs when I was in the UK previously – horrors!
*slowly retrieving my body lotion and slather them on*
I’m such a pemalas on lotion/body cream routine. Me = lizard gal..
Haha Lizard Gal #2 😀 Not to worry DJ, I’m a real pemalas myself 😛 I try to make it a routine now, but then I still end up forgetting some evenings sigh…
I do love the lizard girl story haha, very interesting! I have to say, I kinda feel guilty about not slathering body moisturisers diligently, even when my skin is all itchy, dry and bright pink after hot showers (I too love long hot showers – my place to think random thoughts and sometimes even hold a karaoke session). Maybe it’s just my laziness, I just find after my face skin care routine, I’m too lazy to do anything else, thus just lie in bed procrastinate haha. #thestudentlife
Thanks for telling me you enjoyed this Robert 😀 Don’t worry about feeling guilty, I feel the exact same way and in the UK where it’s so cold all the time, hot showers are a MUST! Plus, as a student, I’d not only have hot showers, I’d wear warm tracks and jeans all the time, without applying anything on my legs! It’s no wonder when Summer comes around, I’d not even recognise them 😛
I love this story, Lizard Gal! I need body creams too, even if the weather’s stinking hot. If not, I won’t be a lizard gal. I’ll be Mistress Snake. 😛
Haha Mistress Snake, you’ll have a pal in Lizard Gal 😀
I knew you were bone dry but THIS dry 😀
Haha yeah, it was bad but much much better now! 😀