I am a little surprised to see we've never reviewed one of L'Occitane's shea butter hand creams, but hey, most of you are probably familiar with the product — according to L'Occitane, they sell one every three seconds. It's a thick hand cream in a metal tube, sometimes with colorful decorations, sometimes without. The formula is 20% shea butter,1 but it sinks in nicely and doesn't leave hands greasy. And it works, or at least, I find that it works quickly when my hands are parched in the winter.2 The metal tubes seem to hold up pretty well, which is more than I can say for some metal tube hand creams, which split along the sides before you've finished the product.3
Happily for perfumistas, L'Occitane regularly introduces new limited edition fragrances — actually, I'm not sure I've ever tried the "regular", non-scented version, but I often have one of the 30 ml travel tubes, in one scent or another, tucked in my purse. Last year's Mango Flower scent was nice if you like bright, sweetish fruity florals, and sometimes they have scents to match their personal fragrances: right now, you could try Honey, Rose 4 Reines, Spring Cherry, Cherry Princess, Fleur Chérie, Lavender or Pivoine Flora.
Today's review is about three recent limited editions: Passionate Jasmine, Subtle Violet and Fleur d'Or & Acacia. I also tried the new Rose Petals briefly in store (nice enough), but I missed the Date Bouquet — if you tried that one, do comment, and for that matter, do tell us if you have a favorite fragranced hand cream we should know about.
Passionate Jasmine
This is a pretty jasmine, light and clean. White-floral-phobes need not be overly concerned about the "passionate" part, it's not indolic in the least, and it's not even that heavily floral. If I was naming it — and it's surprising, isn't it, that L'Occitane has not hired me to name their consumer products? — I'd probably call it Whisper of Jasmine, or maybe Ephemeral Jasmine. And that's my biggest complaint: the scent does not linger on my skin for more than say, 5 or 10 minutes? I do not generally like my hand creams to be too strongly scented — I don't want my hand cream to overpower my perfume, for instance — and I don't necessarily want the scent to last for hours, but this one was a little too light and short-lived for my taste. Enjoyable enough, but I probably won't repurchase.
Subtle Violet
So you would think that the "subtle" part would be worrisome since I didn't find the "passionate" jasmine strong enough, but no, actually this one has a little more presence, albeit no more than a little. The lasting power of the fragrance is likewise a bit better, but it still leaves much to be desired. All the same, it's a pretty boudoir-ish violet, very lady-like and old-fashioned, and it turned out to be my favorite of the three. I don't know how long these will be on the market, but I'll probably pick up another tube of Subtle Violet next time I'm in the mall.
Fleur d'Or & Acacia
So Kevin reviewed the Fleur d'Or fragrance yesterday, and yes, he's right, I liked it in the store, on a blotter, but I never tried it on skin and he's quite possibly right that I wouldn't like it if I did. (I still think the Vanille & Narcisse is the nicest of the Grasse collection so far.) In a hand cream, though, the honeyed mimosa fragrance, over a soft woody base, is not so overpowering, even though it has far and away the most presence and lasting power of the three scents I'm trying today. It's just warm enough to be enjoyable in the winter cold, and just bright enough to be cheering. Very much worth a try for mimosa fans.
L'Occitane Passionate Jasmine, Subtle Violet and Fleur d'Or & Acacia shea hand creams are $12 each for 30 ml.
1. Plus a bunch of other ingredients, including some I could live without, like silicone (admittedly, it's what makes the cream feel good on the hands) and methylparaben.
2. Really bad winter hands, however, the kind with cracking and splitting skin, require Zim's Crack Creme. If you use the L'Occitane regularly, hopefully yours won't get that bad and you won't have to deal with the smell of the Zim's (someone on Amazon helpfully described it as "like cloves mashed with leftover moose parts").
3. Yes, I'm looking at you, Weleda Skin Food, and your buddy, Weleda Sea Buckthorn. You have slimed the bottom of my purse for the last time. I do admit that I have not bought a tube in so long that I'm not even sure they're still using metal — if they've switched to plastic, I'd love another tube of the cheerful, creamsicle-scented Sea Buckthorn.
I love the Subtle Violet, too! I liked it so much I bought a tin of their body cream in the same scent. I use it under violet scents to amp their lasting power.
I also really like the lip balm. It fixed my freaked out lips when nothing much else would. Heads up–the Fleur d’Or is not a balm, but a gloss; very different product. I have tubes of the lip balm scattered at home, work and in my bag
Be well.
So is the body cream more moisturizing? I saw it had more shea butter. If it had not been in a tin, would have bought it right away — although the tin really is pretty.
And what does the violet lip balm taste like??
This will sound odd, but the body cream has a lighter texture to me then the hand cream. It may have a higher percentage of shea butter, but the formula is lightweight and quickly absorbed.
As for the balm, it has the merest hint of candied violet, and then it tastes (?) of petrolatum. It is not sticky, like a gloss. If one is anti petrolatum, that will be a negative, but it really worked for me. Hope that helps!
It does, thanks so much!
I’ve not explored scented hand cremes. I keep a tube of Eucerine Moisture Therapy in my desk, and it feels good, doesn’t leave me slimy and doesn’t interfere with my perfume, so that’s fine by me! That said, years back in my pre-perfumista days, when I lived in Minnesota with it’s brutally dry winters, I suspect I could have been far more discerning and possibly swayed by a pretty scent!
I’m still pretty easily swayed for things like hand creams & shower gels…I probably have 8 or 9 scented hand creams at the moment. But I do actually use them up, which is more than I can say for my perfumes.
I can see that. Don’t I recall you mentioning that you hardly wear perfume out of the house any more? I wonder if that’s part of the difference, other than climate. . .
Oh, could well be! Plus, it’s way easier to sway me on a $12 tube of cream that I know I’ll use up than on another bottle of $100+ perfume when I have so much already. Ack.
Yes, I can completely see that! I don’t have illusions of using up all of my perfume, but I *do* still have some well-loved bottles I anticipate finishing some time along the way! I had to replace 3 this last year.
Hand creme I use far more sparingly, but as I say, it’s not as crucial here in Oregon as it was in Minnesota.
“like cloves mashed with leftover moose parts” oh, that’s hilarious!
I’ll have to check these out, the violet one sounds great!
I’m a compulsive hand cream re-applier and usually stick with Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand & Nail cream. There are two versions: standard and fast-absorbing although I really don’t notice any difference between them. Both are good – fast absorbing with great texture, zero grease or stickiness and reasonably priced. No scent, but I’m okay with that
It is — but the stuff works, at least for me.
I like that Neutrogena. If they scented it, I’d buy more
My favorite is probably Clarins’ Hand and nail Treatment, which works really well and does not need to be reapplied every 2 hours! Also, it has a really nice scent – orange, I think. The drawback is the price. Because its so expensive I tend to not use it even though I have a tube. Waiting for it to go off, or something!
The rose hand cream from the Body Shop is another I enjoy, but, it comes in one of those metal tubes and will probably start breaking long before its finished. I prefer it to the almond one in the same range as I find the almond one a little too strong-scented. Also, I prefer a hand cream that leaves me feeling fresh to one that is heavily gourmand.
And, a L’occitaine one I like is the Bonne Mere honey lotion for face and/or body. The one in the tube is perfect to carry in a hand-bag and has a really nifty screw cap. It smells good, and it’s convenient that its ok for the face too.
Thanks! That’s funny — use up the Clarins!! I should give the Body Shop one a try, don’t think I’ve ever tried their hand creams although I did use to buy the Body Butters.
I went on a trip last year and someone there had the almond hand cream and every time she used it it smelled so good that when I got home I got myself a tube – only to discover that while it was nice to smell it on occasion on someone else (and perhaps borrow it once or twice) using it oneself, on a regular basis, was just too much of a good thing.
Another really nice hand cream is Lush’s Helping Hands. It comes in a tub so its no good for the handbag, but I keep it next to my bed. It absorbs really well and has a pleasant enough scent. What I most like about it is that although it does not leave ones hands greasy, it also doesn’t just disappear. I want to say it feels like there is a protective barrier left on the skin – but that sounds unpleasant while the feeling is actually very nice!
I have a tub of Helping Hands! I do wish Lush would switch to tubes for hand creams though. I just don’t use it up as fast in a tub — which I guess means I’m *really* lazy.
Tubes are good for carrying around so basically I never know where all my tubes are; lost in handbags, and cosmetic pouches, etc! So for me having one tub that doesn’t get carried around works. At least I know where ONE hand cream is!
I was most interested in the jasmine…but a whisper of a jasmine…doesn’t sound for like it’s for me!
You might need a different one, yeah.
Last month, they were giving away 30ml tubes of those hand creams with Marie-Claire (UK). These days I only buy magazines if there’s a freebie I really want. I tested the creams in a store and tracked down Subtle Violet. I loved it so much I looked for another one and bought it. They weren’t easy to find: most tubes had been removed from the plastic wrappers of the magazines.
It’s really lovely. The scent is, as it says, subtle, and the cream is very rich. You only need a tiny bit. I hope it remains available for a long time. I didn’t like the other scents so much, but the violet is delicious – and violet is not even one of my favourite notes.
Hey, that’s a nice freebie! If they do that sort of thing here, I don’t notice at all.
Did you happen to try the Date Bouquet?
No, I haven’t. I’m so behind in everything…
Aren’t we all…there is too much product to keep up.
I carry a 50 ml of Soap & Glory Hand Food in my bag year-round. It has shea butter, macadamia oil, and marshmallow. What’s not to love? Have never tried the L’Occitane hand creams but now I definitely want to.
And I’ve never tried the Soap & Glory! Do you get that at Sephora?
Yes. They come in a 1.7 oz and 4.2 oz there so one for the purse and one for the house is quite handy!
Thanks!
I love the smell of the S&G range, but it’s a bit too strong. I have a mini jar of the body butter and just sniff it from time to time.
I am so late to this, but I have the Date hand cream-about 4 tubes to be precise-its my favorite of their hand creams so I hoarded a few tubes when they were on sale recently. I find it a bit woody and not as sweet as their others and the scent lasts until I wash it off.
Huge thanks — I think I am going to have to order some then!
Sounds gorgeous. I adore their original as well as Pivione Flora. Jurlique’s hand creams are a very close second.
I have a Jurlique in my yoga bag, those are really nice too.