Last summer I was desperately dependent upon L'Occitane's Green Tea with Mint Leaf-Light Body Gel. I was living in a fifth-floor walk-up apartment in an old city apartment building, and I would arrive home from my hour-long, subway-and-bus commute drenched with sweat, only to realize that the apartment was even hotter than the world outside. I couldn’t think clearly or do anything else, for that matter, until I had taken a cold shower and covered myself with Leaf-Light Body Gel.
The Body Gel belongs to L’Occitane’s Green Tea with Mint fragrance line, and it’s one of the few scented products I can stand to smell or even to touch when the temperature rises high into the 90s and beyond. I purchased a new bottle at the beginning of this summer, and it is still my salvation on sticky days. The gel is fluid, even a bit watery, and it provides light hydration to the skin. Its real appeal, however, is its cooling effect: its alcohol content evaporates for several minutes, seeming to lift body heat away with it. The gel includes real tea extract, and the Green Tea with Mint scent has a top-note of bitter orange and a heart of spearmint, creating what L’Occitane calls a “tonic green aroma”.
Green Tea with Mint Leaf-Light Body Gel is packaged in a faceted plastic bottle with a convenient flip-top cap, and its label design, inspired by decorative Moroccan tile-work, alludes to mint tea’s importance as a regional specialty of steamy North Africa. I must admit that my own city does not get quite as hot as Morocco, but all the same, I’m glad to know that my Body Gel is waiting in the refrigerator. It never fails to revive me during a heat wave. Afterwards, I apply a green-note fragrance such as Malin + Goetz Lime Tonic or the new Diabolo Rose from Les Parfums de Rosine, and I feel refreshed and slightly better prepared to cope with the heat, the humidity, and the feeling that even my usual lotions are too heavy to wear.
Feel free to share your own favorite summer-survival body products, mint-scented or otherwise!
Green Tea with Mint Leaf-Light Body Gel sells for $28 for 250 ml. Purchasing information is available through the L’Occitane website.
Does the gel differ in staying power or aroma from the EDT? You make this stuff sound fabulous.
This summer Nanadebary Green has been my frequent companion: citrus and bergamot; basil and cardamon; vetiver, musk and thyme. Both the top notes and the base resemble refreshing spearmint on my skin, but the touch of musk keeps things soft and away from turning too sharp. I don't know why spearmint isn't a more sought-after note or why it's paired with eucalyptus.
As soon as I read the headline on this review, I thought, “Ooh, I'll have to tell Jessica about this stuff.” Then I saw the byline.:)
This gel sounds like a wonderful weapon against the worst summer heat and humidity, from which we are thankfully getting a respite today.
Oh, I don't know about this one (I do sympathise with the trouble of finding good scented products for when the heat is scorching though!), you make it sound delicious.
The Malin+Goetz eycalyptus shower gel receives accolades in the NYT today, btw. Thoughts on that one?
Personally I love the Felce Azzura (=Blue fern) shower gel and powder from Paglieri (an Italian brand) which is very herbal and cooling for the summer.
I also enjoy a lot the Korres Jasmine shower gel as well as their newest Fig one. They smell succulent, fresh and lovely. And they do leave a faint but lasting trail of scent on the skin.
Hi Jessica, you're describing this so convincingly, I can practically feel the cooling property on my skin and smell the minty fragrance. Makes me want to place an order for this right away, I need some here in our sticky NC summers. So far I've tried three of the L'Occitane products, all of which I liked. One of these things is the L'Occitane Gentle Honey Water, which I originally purchased for my kids, but I like to use it too on days when I don't feel like putting on anything too perfumey. I also love using it to freshen hair (mine and my kid's), it works great; it takes any bad smells out and imparts a lovely, very light scent (I discovered this when, one night, we had to go somewhere and there any time to wash my daughters hair).
Hi, Quarry. I think the fragrance of the Gel is nearly identical to the EDT, although the EDT has more staying power. I've never tried them together, but perhaps I should! I should also try the Nanadebary Green (the original Nana was too gingery for me!).
Ah yes, well, you know how much I love summer… although I've never let a 100-degree forecast get in the way of a good perfume shopping trip. 😉
Hello Helg! I'll have to check out that M + G review in today's times. I am a big fan of M + G's Bergamot shower gel, which has a very true and refreshing scent. I believe they use essential oils in all three of their shower gels! And Korres is a line that I need to spend more time exploring. Their Basil Lemon Body Water is another summer favorite of mine. Thanks!
Hi Sabina, I'm sure your summers are far more oppressive than the ones we have in the NYC area, so I shouldn't complain! lol. I'd love to own some L'Occitane Honey Water someday. I've used the Honey shower gel and incense sticks, both of which are delicious, and the Honey Water must be even more refreshing. 🙂
oh yes, this also my favorite for hot summer horror days. i'm not very fond of green tea by itself, but i love it paired with the mint, it gives it a nice twist in the right direction. plus, when it's so hot you can barely walk the streets (as it has been this year in europe) and you don't really feel like apllying any perfume, i wear the gel, it stays long close to skin, even after sweating like hell. a keeper for sure for all the next summers to come.
I agree… green tea by itself seems a little bland to my nose, but with the spearmint, ah! It's just right. Keep cool! 🙂
I really don't like either Nan Pink or Nan Bronze, but oh my gentle Nan Green. 🙂
Hi, Jessica, this is late, but I've been away from computer access for several days so I'm catching up on the blogs. This product sounds great, I tried the L'Occitane Green Tea & Mint edt a couple of times and really liked it. My own favorite summer sweat-buster is Dr. Bronner's Peppermints Castile Soap, the original liquid one with the writing all over the bottle. I dilute it half & half w/water and shower with it at the end of a day like you described. It actually chills the skin and is wonderfully refreshing. Peppermint soap is a cheap thrill that my whole family considers a summer necessity. I'd love to try the L'occitane gel you describe so perfectly on top of a peppermint shower!
Hi Rosarita! Dr. Bronner is a classic (if a somewhat eccentric one!), and that sounds like a perfect combination! 🙂