16 posts tagged "L’Occitane"
A Peony For Your Thoughts
Since launching its peony-inspired debut color collection last spring, L’Occitane has been steadily building its makeup junkie fan base. Fall’s limited-edition, orange-blossom scented Chérie range certainly helped matters—and its latest release is poised to do the same. The new, limited-edition Pivoine Flora line is inspired by the Mediterranean and features the region’s warm color palette. Enriched with skin-softening peony extracts, the collection includes two different eye shadow duos, an eye shadow quad, a face powder, four new lipsticks, and four new lip shines. Our favorite new arrival is the Facecolor Cream Duo, which features a double-sided pan of blush and highlighter, with three different super-blendable shades (we like Arabesque Apricot best). For the record, the largest bouquets of peonies that we’ve ever seen were being hand-delivered to celebrities on La Croisette in Cannes, and while we never received our own bunch (what gives?), the soft scent and gorgeous textures of these products hint at what it must be like to get the star treatment.
L’Occitane’s Orange Crush
The scent of orange blossom has been beloved for centuries in the Mediterranean region. Brides wove it into their bouquets for luck and prosperity, and legend has it that the Italian princess, Anne Marie of Nerola, was so fond of wearing the delicate, airy aroma that its essential oil—neroli—was named after her. Her admirers also made a habit of dabbing on the scent, and it eventually became one of the most popular varieties in the court of Queen Elizabeth I. In a nod to its fabled history, L’Occitane is celebrating the tiny white blossom with its new Fleur Chérie collection, launching this week. The six-piece fragrance range includes a rich Eau de Toilette layered with soft woodsy accords and a zesty Bath and Shower Gel. The Body Lotion leaves just a subtle trace of citrus behind, perfect for those who only want a whiff of scent; and we’re also quite taken with the Flowers Soap, which looks like a pretty bas-relief sculpture sitting in a soap dish. But the Scented Candle is what we plan on stockpiling for gifts. Its dewy sweetness is just the thing for warding off the winter blahs.
L’Occitane And J.Crew Cozy Up For The Holidays
First came an obsession with Essie Nail Colors, then a fling with NARS lipsticks in Funny Face, a bright fuchsia, and Heat Wave, an orange-red. Now, in a move that demonstrates J.Crew creative director Jenna Lyons’ equal-opportunity approach to beauty shout-outs in her brand’s popular catalogs, skincare is getting the spotlight for December. L’Occitane’s fan-favorite Shea Hand Creams have just arrived at 214 J.Crew store locations, and beginning December 1, the ultra-rich emollient lotion will get prime placement in the company’s holiday circular. Think of it as a way to pre-treat your winter weather-worn appendages before slipping them into a pair of J.Crew’s cashmere-lined zip leather gloves in Tuscan Olive or Bronzed Clay.
A Chaste Antiager Grows In The Mediterranean
MYRTLE / (mur-tuhl) / n. / 1. / Also known as Myrtus communis, a dense evergreen shrub with white flowers that grows in great abundance in Corsica; / 2. / A durable plant that can reportedly live up to 300 years; / 3. Deep green leaves woven into wedding wreaths as a symbol of purity and beauty; / 4. / An essential oil that stimulates the production of the skin’s longevity proteins and increases its collagen and elastin levels; e.g., “Look to myrtle for wedded bliss and firm skin.”
Try it: L’Occitane Divine Extract Ultimate Anti-Aging Serum with Myrtle Extracts, $105, at www.usa.loccitane.com.
L’Occitane Takes The Silver
L’Occitane stood tall on the medals podium at London’s Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show this week, winning a Silver Gilt award for its interpretation of a lavender-filled Provençal garden. The French brand is one of only a handful of beauty companies to ever present a garden in the very storied 150-year-old history of the show, let alone to win a prize. It’s quite a feat; green thumbers are a seriously competitive bunch.
So, why leave its creams-and-lotions comfort zone to do battle with the horticultural set? “It’s the only venue in the world that enabled us to express the soul of the brand wordlessly to the public,” said brand manager Simon Ford. “People come in and a huge smile breaks across their face because it reminds them of their holidays in Provence, and that feeling of wellness and health that comes from being in the south.” Celebs from Helen Mirren to Ringo Starr—not to mention HRH the Queen (for whom they had to close the gardens)—turned up to take a whiff of the L’Occitane magic, which boasts swaths of lavender, juniper, olive leaf, almonds, and verbena, the lattermost of which is at the heart of a new perfume collection slated to debut in July. To commemorate the event, the company has created a limited-edition Royal Chelsea Basket, so you can take the smell of Provence—or London, as the case may be—with you wherever you go.