Kiehl’s Richly Hydrating Lavender Hand Cream will calm chapped hands and frazzled nerves this Christmas

Hello friends!

Gosh! It feels good to finally be back online. Had some internet woes the past few days and well, you know how that is. It’s incredibly frustrating! Often, we just don’t realise how reliant we are on being connected to that great wide web. While nice to detox, it’s frustrating when you need to get work done.

But whining aside, let me show you something cheery instead.

When I was down in Singapore a few weeks ago, I met up with Mag of makeupstash.com, a beauty blogger I’d known since our early blogging days. We finally had the chance to meet up after all these years and I have to say that it was one of the most incredible meet-ups I’ve ever had! We were jawing on like old friends (which we technically are) and spent a mind-boggling 7 hours just chatting and doing a bit of makeup shopping – as you do! ;) I had loads of fun!

One of our pit-stops was Kiehl’s because the cheery Christmas decorations drew us in, and I wanted to snag a sample of their new face oil. In the process, I ended up with one of the limited edition Christmas items – the Kiehl’s Richly Hydrating Hand Cream in Lavender. There are 3 scents – Lavender, Grapefruit and Coriander. I know… Coriander?! Bleh… :P I don’t even eat it, much less want to smell like a herb salad :P

It’s funny that I’d pick up a hand cream though. I’m not your usual hand cream user. In fact, I don’t use it at all! But I blame the lovely lavender scent that drew me right in and made me pop the tube into my basket.

I know Kiehl’s makes a hand cream (which I’ve never used) so I don’t know how this is different. All I know is that the 3 scents and perhaps this formula, are limited edition for Christmas 2015.

There was a sampler set with all 3 scents, in limited edition Peter Max box packaging, but I opted not to get that, because I wasn’t keen on the other 2 scents. Coriander, while interesting, smelled too green for my tastes, while Grapefruit, while interestingly fresh on paper, didn’t sit well on my skin. For some reason, I have this love-hate relationship with Grapefruit scents. Often, they end up smelling like pee on me :P

So, it was Lavender by default, and also because it was such a lovely burst of comfort! I liked the slightly thick hand cream texture, that melts right into skin without feeling the least bit sticky or greasy. After a little while, you don’t feel it anymore.

The scent of lavender is a rather sharp, fresh scent, that doesn’t smell powdery or musty. It smells refreshingly relaxing, if that even makes sense. But happily (or unhappily, depending on how you feel) the scent doesn’t linger very long on your hands.

I find that when I first use it, I get to breathe in the wonderfully relaxing scent of lavender, which is a nice way to wind down in the evenings, or to bring a spot of calm in the middle of your day. But after a little while, the scent dissipates, and I don’t smell it anymore. I like that, because it means it doesn’t mess with my perfumes of the day.

So what I bought was the full size 75ml tube of the Lavender hand cream, and I got everything else gratis! I don’t know if the full size is sold here in Malaysia (the Kiehl’s website is very unhelpful in that regard) but I paid S$27 for the tube.

The lovely SA at Kiehl’s Ngee Ann City packed it for me in the limited edition Peter Max gifting pack, together with a generous bunch of samples and even a very very useful travel sized body wash because she found out I was visiting! While I bitched about product samples recently, I have to say that this generosity did bring a song to my heart and a bounce to my step :D Never underestimate the joy of freebies! LOL! :D

IN A NUTSHELL

The Kiehl’s Richly Hydrating Hand Cream is a limited edition range of hand creams available in 3 scents for Christmas 2015 – Lavender, Grapefruit and Coriander. I picked Lavender due to the fresh scent of lavender that relaxes and calms. The texture of the cream is fairly thick, but absorbs quickly into the hands without a greasy or sticky after-feel. I think it’s a pretty decent hand cream, and the lavender one smells absolutely lovely! There is a sampler set containing all 3 scents in limited edition box packaging, and I don’t know if the full size version is available here in Malaysia. This was purchased in Singapore.

PROS: Not greasy or sticky, Does not leave hands feeling oily, Absorbs quickly, Lavender smells lovely and fresh and relaxing

CONS: Limited edition

WHO WILL LIKE THIS: Anyone who dislikes oily or sticky hand creams, Anyone who likes the scent of lavender

PRICE: S$27 | US$15 for 75ml

AVAILABILITY: Kiehl’s stores

For those interested, here is the ingredient list for this hand cream

Did you check out Kiehl’s Christmas offerings for this year? Would you have picked up a Coriander scented hand cream?!

I admit to a morbid fascination, enough to smell the Coriander scented hand cream at the store, but nope. I usually pick coriander out of my food, and while I’m slowly now eating it, when I can’t help it, or when the dish calls for it (I love Vietnamese and Thai food and salsa, and there’s a LOT of coriander in there!) I will opt out of putting it on my hands :P Quite a strange scent to include, if you ask me :P

Paris B