L'Occitane Archives | Page 2 of 7

French Pharmacy Skincare Finds at the famed Pharmacie City Pharma in Paris

July 15, 2016 Paris B 44 Comments

Bonjour mes amis!

I’m back from Paris, and if you had joined me on my trip on Instagram and Snapchat, I hope you enjoyed it! I was on my own a lot of the time so it was nice having you along! Now, I was in Paris for a beauty related event, but it didn’t stop this beauty buff from keeping her eyes peeled for OTHER beauty brands and products. Oh yes, I have to admit to a roving eye when it comes to beauty!

And we all know that French pharmacy stocks some of the better, affordable beauty products out there don’t we? You don’t? Ah, now you do! My skin takes incredibly well to many French pharmacy brands and formulations of skincare, which is why over the years, I eventually moved away from Asian skincare and American brands. It’s a personal preference and it’s not a recent thing, but been going on a while. I mix it up a little more now, but if I’m trying something new, I usually know that a European or French brand would likely work better for me.

City Pharmacie aka City Pharma at 26 Rue Four, 75006 Paris (Corner of Rue Four and Rue Bonaparte Metro: Saint Germain des Près (Line 4) or Mabillon (Line 10))

There are pharmacies on almost every corner in Paris. Some are larger and better stocked than others. But almost all carry the major French brands – Vichy, La Roche Posay, Avene, Nuxe, Bioderma, Caudalie etc. Before I went, I did my research and while it was easy to find most of the products and brands I was interested in most pharmacies, the one I kept coming across as a must-visit was City Pharma at Rue Four.

I’m not quite sure if City Pharma (or Citypharma) is a chain, but I came across another in the Tolbiac area (Metro: Tolbiac), when I was there for Vietnamese Pho (oh yes, I ate pho in Paris and it was among the best I’ve ever had! 😀 ) But the one you want to visit is the City Pharma at Rue Four because in this store, the prices can be significantly cheaper than in others! It’s even a bit cheaper than the one in Tolbiac which shares the same name. I’m not sure why this is so, but it’s an open secret because the store was HEAVING with people when I arrived at about 3.30pm. Oh dear!

In the L’Occitane x Pierre Hermé Holiday Collection 2015 you can have the macaron maestro without the calories!

November 27, 2015 Paris B 2 Comments

When I was first told that L’Occitane was pairing with famed pastry chef Pierre Hermé for their Christmas or Holiday collection this year, I had an “Eh?” moment. Pierre Hermé, famous for his macarons, was an unlikely collaboration, I thought. Then again, Laduree has a makeup range that has nothing to do with pastries or macarons, so who am I to judge right? LOL

As it turned out, I thought the combination of scents quite fascinating. Must be to do with that chef’s palate. I mean, who’d have thought to marry the bitter-citrus note of Pamplemousse (grapefruit) with the sour note of rhubarb?! Incidentally, I LOVE rhubarb, and don’t tell anyone, but after the press event, a few sticks of rhubarb went home with me in my bag and into a delicious crumble 😀 shhhh…..

Ahem! Now, let me quickly tell you about my thoughts on the scents. It’s just a quick overview, nothing too detailed because scents are very personal things. I was gifted with the Jasmin-Immortelle-Neroli fragrance, so I will be able to tell you about that one after some wear 🙂

L’Occitane Immortelle 28 Day Divine Renewal Program: 28 days! Challenge accepted!

October 5, 2015 Paris B 17 Comments

One of the first things I shared with you when I kickstarted my YouTube channel, was to tell you about this brand new product from L’Occitane. It was a sneak preview back then, because this is only now available in stores, and I was all about tickling your interest!

This, is the L’Occitane Immortelle 28 day Divine Renewal Program, a set of products that promise to transform your skin over 28 days. What you get in a lovely gold box, is 28 vials of oil, corresponding to 4 weeks of specific use.

Containing the oil from the immortelle flower that is known in Corsica to repair and renew skin, each week promises something different to your skin, starting with:-

Week 1 Gentle Exfoliation – the oil will gently exfoliate your skin to give you more even toned skin
Week 2 Hydration and Nutrition – After the exfoliation, week 2 nourishes the skin and promises transformation
Week 3 Balance – Week 3 then balances the skin to make it stronger
Week 4 Renewal – The final week promises you smoother, more radiant and plumper, rejuvenated skin

What this is therefore, is a whole program to stick to, and I’d note that this is to be considered a “treatment”. So, you don’t use this often. In fact, you are only advised to use this programme once or twice a year (during the change in seasons) to rebalance your skin, as it faces a new season. Well, here in the tropics, you’d be hardpressed to find seasons to face, so you could use it perhaps once a year, just to give skin a kickstart.

This then is what the L’Occitane Immortelle 28 day Divine Renewal Program is. 28 days to a promise of better, more renewed, more radiant skin. Now, the proof as they say, is in the pudding! I was very very excited about the availability of this product, because I’d come across it much earlier in the year on Xiao’s blog. I’d been intrigued ever since, so when I was invited to preview it, I was so quick off the blocks to say yes, you could almost see the electronic dust trails left by my reply LOL! 😀

After a little more than a month, here’s my experience with it. It’s going to be a wee bit long (as per usual 😛 ) so settle down with a cuppa! I just needed to be thorough.

Tried it, didn’t like it Vol 3: Popular skincare products I can’t get behind

July 8, 2015 Paris B 16 Comments

Amongst the plethora of skincare products that I try out or are gifted with, or buy, there are loads of good stuff. I share those good stuff with you vocally and often. But quite often as well, I run across duds. Not duds in the true sense of the product being a dud, but a dud for me because I wasn’t wow-ed by it the way I should be.

These, I don’t share often enough. But instead of dedicating a whinging post on one product (as much as I like whinging posts, I prefer writing happy ones, although some do deserve their own whinging post) I thought I’d pull together a bunch of products I don’t like, or more accurately, did not work for me, and share them all in one post. Tried them, didn’t like them so here they are! Incidentally, most of these appear to be quite popular products, so I’m clearly in the minority here!

I’ll share below why these didn’t work for me and if you’ve tried any of them, I’d love to hear your thoughts as to whether you liked them (and why I should) or if you didn’t like them. Just because it didn’t work for me doesn’t mean it won’t for you! 🙂

Instagram @parisbmws – You don’t know what you’re missing