Hair:
L'Oreal Elvive Nutrigloss Sparkling Conditioner: I was sucked in by the new product advertising and purchased the matching shampoo which I am yet to finish. The shampoo is so pretty- a pink jelly with sparkles! The conditioner however is not so pretty, just a plain creamy milky pink in colour, and to be honest it made my hair feel soft like any conditioner would, but also quite heavy and weighed down even though I had rinsed it all out. I didn't like it, and won't be buying it again.
John Frieda Full Repair Deep Conditioner: This I bought after using it back in September (full review here), it softened my hair and made it easier to comb through. As deep conditioners go, it is a good one, but as always the tub size doesn't last me that long!
Charles Worthington Mineral Hair Rescue: I loved this. This was really effective in what it did, it wasn't as heavy as other conditioners and a little seemed to go a long way. I noticed good results with this and will buy it again.
Body:
L'Occitane Almond Shower Oil: (Full review here) This is a wonderful, luxury product. It smells like almonds in a nutty way, rather than an amaretto way. It lathers nicely, though not greatly, leaves skin feeling clean and soft and best of all is is paraben and SLS-free.
Original Source Vanilla Milk and Raspberry Shower Gel: I adore the smell and consistency of this. It is so foamy, yet it still feels gentle on the skin. I try not to buy this often, but it is on offer quite a lot and I can't always justify splashing out on the more expensive, kind to skin shower gels.
Burt's Bees Fabulously Fresh Peppermint and Rosemary Body Wash: (Full Review here) This is a good value for money shower gel, it's free from nasty ingredients and it's 350ml lasts a long time. The scent is fresh and herby, and it lathers and foams really well. The scent lingers on your skin for a little while too, I love that fresh feeling.
Original Source Lemon and Tea Tree Shower Gel: Just a small travel size shower gel I took with me when I was staying in London for a week. It's so so, not as nice as the vanilla milk and raspberry one, and again, I do try and avoid SLS as much as I can.
Thanks for reading,
E.
L'Occitane Almond Shower Oil, £17.50 for 250ml.
Following on from my post about chemicals and ingredients in skincare last Monday I thought it best I review a product that is free from all of those I listed. L'Occitane Almond Shower Gel is easily accessible- it is available from L'Occitane shops & their website and is also stocked in larger Debenhams stores and online too.
It is a luxury showertime treat, being fairly pricey at £17.50 for 250ml, however I imagine this is partly due to the ingredients- it is free from SLS which is a very cheap 'bulking' product to make bath time products foam and is normally second on the ingredients list of most shower gels (proving it's high content.) The absence of SLS leads me to think the ingredients including in this shower oil are premium or of good quality and therefore worth paying a little extra for.
Lets get down to the details. In my head I was expecting what is the often assumed almond scent in artificial products- that potent smell like amaretto or marzipan. It's a smell I love but I appreciate that the scent of this almond oil is more true to life and less synthetic, it is very subtle and almost nutty, a lot more elegant and a lot less overwhelming. An element of sweetness remains but this isn't overpowering, resulting in a product that both males and females can use without worrying about an after-scent seeming either too masculine or too feminine.
The oil in consistency is runny, as expected. Both it's liquidity and colour could easily be likened to olive oil! I was worried about an oil feeling heavy on the skin or leaving an icky film behind but thankfully this product does neither of these things, it lathers up in a natural, not overly bubbly way and washes off easily leaving skin feeling cleansed and smoothed.
Something I have noticed since using this is my skin seems calmer. I have never thought that I experienced skin sensitivity, particularly on my body but I had noticed recently that after showering my back and legs would become so itchy. This had just become the norm and to be honest I hadn't put two and two together (duh!) and am now certain that something in my old shower gels was irritating the skin in these areas.
I know this product has a certain amount of 'blogger fame' and while I am always a bit wary of such claims I can honestly say that this is worth the hype. It is lovely to use, though understandably a higher price tag than many would like to pay for a body wash. However if you are concerned about SLS, parabens and so on, I would urge you to give this a go- I love it.
Let me know if you have used or continue to use this product. If you can recommend any other shower products that are free from SLS etc then please do let me know as I am really keen to try more!
Thanks for reading,
E.
