LAURA MERCIER’s hand saviours: Crème brûlée and Fresh Fig

Tags

Crème brûlée, Fresh Fig, hand cream, Laura Mercier, Laura Mercier Hand Crèmes, saviour, skincare, winter

I have to admit that I’m not the biggest hand cream lover!

Therefore if I can avoid applying it regularly I’m the happiest!… Which never happens during the cold winter months when, even I have to recognise that a good hand cream really does wonders!

I’m not a big fan of hand creams mainly because I hate that sticky, sweaty and cold sensation they often leave on the skin after the application ( anyone with me?! nope!? just me?!?? ). And on my perpetual cold hands that’s the least I want to feel at -15º Celsius!

Which brings me to the fact that I am very, very picky when it comes to choosing a “good” hand cream for myself! It has to absorb fast and never leave a greasy or, knock on wood!, a sticky film on my hands! The scent doesn’t have to be offensive! The smaller the packaging the better; a big packaging always discourages me from using it!

In the colder months I feel drawn towards gourmand scents: vanilla, crème brûlée, honey, coconut and pistache while during the warmer seasons I prefer lighter, barely there floral scents.

The ones that fall in all the categories above are the Laura Mercier Hand Crèmes and the fact that I repurchased them for the second winter in a row, that makes them a extraordinary… at least in my books!

My first choice is Crème brûlée – a warm and decadent combination of gourmand ingredients with a list which includes delicious notes of warm caramel, spun sugar, and French vanilla bean. Simply delicious and mouth-watering and the most gourmand scent on a skin care! If you ever had the chance to set foot in a French pâtisserie, that’s the right aura and the aroma of this hand cream.

My next option is Fresh Fig. Different from the crème brûlée vanillary scent, Fresh Fig is still a sweet, fresh and almost intoxicating gourmand scent. The main ingredients include the indulgent essence of the most fresh Celeste figs, to which there were added fruit bouquets of apricot nectar and ylang ylang. This particular scent has a smooth and sweet creamy base which blends in with green, earthy elements creating an unique and sensuous, very appealing scent. This is the one that sits on my desk at work, that I received so many compliments wearing it!

Inspired by her French heritage, Laura Mercier decided to create these decadent, delicious and at the same time sophisticated hand care formulas which are unbelievably hydrating and penetrate deep into the layers of your skin to comfort and soothe your hands, the result being a thoroughly moisturized and velvety soft skin and an amazing general mood.

Now that I shared mine, what are your hand saviours during winter?

See you soon, beautiful!

xx, Annie

 

L’OCCITANE – 2014 Bag Essentials

Tags

face mist, Frisson de Verveine, hand cream, hand sanitizer, L'Occitane, perfume, refreshing, review, Verveine

The things a woman carry in her bag!?…

It is a mystery even for herself how the smallest bag can carry so many things… And let us clarify one thing: everything in there is necessary ( yeah, sure!!!). No wonder a woman can not find a thing in her bag when she needs it the most!!!

And being the woman that I am, my bag is a mess too – to use an elegant term!

So the seasons changed – we are half way through September, already?! I felt like I needed a change. So, since the classic haircut was not enough this year, I felt it would be the right time to change my bag!

While going through the stuff in my “summer bag”, I came up with the idea of this post. Why not to let you guys know which were my absolute essentials for the hot, summer days… Between me and you, it seems like summer was not enough this year!

At a closer look, the products I found inside my bag are most of them from the L’Occitane Verveine Collection. Étrange coïncidence!

I absolutely love the Verveine range from L’Occitane. So refreshing! And the scent is so zesty, and citrusy even though the verveine is not part of the citrus family. And before I forget, this scent complimented so well my favourite summer perfume – the Annick Goutal Eau d’Hadrien. If you do not know what I am talking about, here is the link to the review of this amazing, gorgeous, unique perfume! 

In the picture above you can see the actual products that “lived” in my bag this summer.

From left to right I had:

– a mini roll-on perfume to apply whenever I needed to freshen up a little… and did not managed to “locate” my Travalo with my Annick Goutal fragrance – two perfumes = double the chance to find my refreshing scent in that hot mess

– a hand sanitizer – not much to say about it. A hand sanitizer is… a hand sanitizer!

– a lightweight hand cream – this one is simply amazing! No greasy residue, no tacky hands, no weird after scent, no feeling like I-need-to-wash-my-hands after the application, it absorbs in a matter of seconds. It instantly became my go-to/ holy grail hand cream for summer

– a face mist – not going to talk much about this one since I have a full post dedicated to it and the other face mists I used this summer, read it here. And believe me, from all the face mists you will see in that post, I have so little left in that L’Occitane can and in my Caudalie Beauty Elixir spray bottle

– and the last item, missing from the picture though, was a pack of wet wipes from the same Verveine Collection. Those were the first to go, but I always make sure I have a new pack with me when the weather is hot.

I also carried with me a travel size of the L’Occitane Frisson de Verveine Shower Gel instead of a hand soap, and from the same line the Refreshing Gel for tired feet. Ladies, you are wearing heels too! You know what tired feet mean, right?!

Which were your bag essentials this summer, beautiful? Please share!

See you soon!

xx, Annie

 

 

Caudalie – Focus on brand & A few empties

Tags

anticellulite, Caudalie, Divine Oil, empties, face mist, fair trade, grape water, hand cream, natural ingredients, review, shampoo, skincare

What a better way to advertise a product than flashing it under your eyes when it is empty?! The Caudalie products that I have to show you will be featured in this post just because I loved them and it is been such a pleasure to use them. And by the way, Caudalie does not sponsor me. Maybe you should, Caudalie! Hehehe!…

 

But first let me share with you some information meant to justify my love for this brand.

def.: Caudalie n. <kodali> (oenological term): Unit measuring the duration of the wine’s flavor on the palate. For each second the flavor remains, this is a caudalie. The finer a wine is, the more caudalies it has.

The brand has been created in 1992 by Mathilde and Bernard Thomas. It all begun when they first have registered a patent for extracting and establishing grape seed Polyphenols – the most powerful antioxidants in the plant world.

As for the ingredients, the vine and the grape used to create their products come from the vineyards in Bordeaux, Champagne and Burgundie. To create the wonderful products organic grape water, grape-seed oils and Vinoleuvre® as well as plant oils which come from fair trade as well as the shea butter, argan oil, borage, evening primerose, hibiscus, sesame sage, camomile, flax seed, avocado, and apricot butters, ginseng, ginger and echinaceea, orange and lemon plant waters, and natural extracts of Indian Hyssop, juniper, broom, geranium, rosemary and fresh peppermint… To all that they add moisturizing active ingredients ( Cassa Augustifolia and Pea ) and natural emulsifiers.

Caudalie has said a big NO to: parabens, plunoxyethanol, mineral oils, genetically modified organisms, paraffin, synthetic artificial colouring, phatalates, animal-derived materials.

And also NO to animal testing.

They use recycled and recyclable papers and plastics; less Co2 emissions, less wastes and reuses wastewater.

The Caudalie Hand and Nail Cream. This is the best hand cream I have ever used. It also comes in the biggest tube ever. The smell is mild and takes you to a walk to the vineyards in bloom every time you use it. Its biggest plus is that it does not leave that greasy feeling on your hands, no matter how much you use.

The Caudalie Grape Water is an 100 % grape infused water toner enriched with moisturizing polysaccharides and mineral salts. It is a lighter, healthier, less drying version of the Caudalie Beauty Elixir, which I hate. I hate the smell of it and it dries my skin because of the alcohol in it. And yeah! It will smudge your makeup if it is not waterproof. The Grape water is unscented and the mist that comes out is fine and even.

The Caudalie Divine Oil is a cult product on the Internet. I really do not think that there is a single person with interests in beauty, skincare that has not heard about it. It is a lightweight oil, good for you hair, face and body. The smell is amazing and the biggest plus is that it comes with a spray-pump-thing which diffuses the finest, rich mist.

The Caudalie Contouring Concentrate is an anticellulite product which used regularly and combined with the Caudalie Tea ( … and sports, and diet, and discipline, and moral support, and… you name it! ) it really works. It has the consistency of an oil but when massaged in it leaves no greasy residue. And it smells like ginger.

And the last product featured in this post as an empty is the Caudalie Gentle Conditioning Shampoo. One of the best shampoos I have ever used. There was a good period of time when my hair went so crazy I had no ides what to do to it. Well, this shampoo because it is so conditioning started to make my hair look as healthy, soft and shiny as I knew it. No more tangles and the smell – remember that walk? Yeah!… 

So these are the my Caudalie empties for now! Some of them are already repurchased some I will repurchase soon!

See you soon, beautiful!

xx, Annie

Diptyque Eau Rose Hand Lotion – The poem of a Rose

Tags

Beautik Haute Parfumerie, Diptyque, Eau Rose, hand cream, perfume, rose

Ah! The Rose… The Queen of all flowers!

A flower with as many facets as a diamond. But beside its beauty it also has multiple uses discovered during the centuries: as a tonic to revitalize your skin, as an essential oil for a good bath, or for you to take delight in drinking a cup of calming tea.

Diptyque chose the rose scent to wrap your hands up in a luxurious floral scent. The main notes are Rosa Centifolia and Damascus Rose mixed with bergamot, blackcurrant, musk, cedar and honey. The Eau Rose Émulsion Pour les Mains is a light weight hand lotion which penetrates your skin in just few seconds, hydrates it and protects it at the same time thanks to a blend of macadamia oil and calming aloe vera oil.

The scent is quite strong and sharp, the bergamot, blackcurrant, and cedar giving it an extra kick and making it different from your traditional rose scent.

The packaging is so poetic that needs to be decoded to be understood. An intricate black on white design with roses placed on a small and delicate white English yard, where only the flower itself focuses your eye with a subtle off-rose colour…

The actual product comes in a 50 g squeezing tube with the same beautiful floral design on the front.

It is an amazing product in its own unique way. But then… Diptyque always spoiled us with such distinctive, luxurious products!

See you soon, beautiful!

xx, Annie

PS.: Can you tell I have a rose anything addiction?!