Review: Clinique Turnaround Overnight Radiance Moisturizer

This is my favorite Clinique product, bar none. Unfortunately, it's not available in the Philippines; I've had to ask friends in Europe to buy this for me. It moisturizes very well, yes, but it also really lives up to its name as a "radiance moisturizer." It gives my skin a terrific glow. I use this with the Clinique Turnaround Concentrate Radiance Renewer.

Review: Clinique Turnaround Concentrate Radiance Renewer

I'm very fond of this serum. Clinique says it makes the skin more radiant, and does it ever. I've never had bad skin, but I've never had especially beautiful skin, either, until I tried Clinique's products for radiance. I use this with the Clinique Turnaround Overnight Radiance Moisturizer.

Review: Clinique 3-Step Skin Care

I've always had good skin, a little on the dry side, but no major problems. When I hit my 30s, though, I decided to get a little help. I've been using Clinique's 3-Step Skin Care for several years now, on and off. It's very effective, but I don't always feel the need for it. I do keep it on hand in case I get a zit on my forehead or I feel that my skin is getting rough from stress. I'll go back to using it for a few days, then I'll go without it again. I suspect, though, that when I reach my 40s I'll need to be more consistent about skin care.

Clinique's three steps include a cleanser, a toner, and a moisturizer. Clinique identifies four skin types: (1) very dry to dry, (2) dry combination, (3) combination oily, and (4) oily. The cleanser, toner, and moisturizer you use for each of your three steps depends on your skin type. I'm a type 2, or dry combination. This means my face is dry in the cheeks but comfortable to shiny in the T-zone (forehead and nose).

My 3-Step Skin Care consists of Clinique's Mild Liquid Facial Soap, Clarifying Lotion 2, and Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion. The Facial Soap is available as a liquid and as a bar and comes in three formulations: Extra Mild for skin type 1, Mild for skin type 2, and Oily Skin Formula for skin types 3 and 4. I've tried both the liquid soap and the bar soap, and they're both very good, making my skin cleaner and smoother. While I'm generally a fan of bar soap, I prefer the Facial Soap in liquid form because it's more convenient to have it in a bottle with a pump.

The Clarifying Lotion is actually a toner. It's available in four formulations, one for each of the four skin types. The Clarifying Lotion has never failed me; it really does make the skin clearer.

The moisturizer already has a new formulation, called Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion +, but I haven't tried that yet because I haven't used up the lotion I bought last year. (That's the new formulation in the photo, though.) The lotion is for skin types 1 and 2. For skin types 3 and 4, Clinique recommends the Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel.

Clinique's 3-Step Skin Care works really well for me. It's a great feeling, knowing that it's there whenever I need a beauty boost. I think it's odd, though, that Clinique recommends a basic moisturizer as part of the three-step regimen and then also recommends other Clinique moisturizers for specific needs. When I do have other Clinique moisturizers on hand, I usually skip the Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion; my skin isn't so dry or wrinkled that I need to layer moisturizers.

L'Occitane bath power set: Moisture on a budget

If you need a lot of moisture in your life and you have room in your budget for only two L'Occitane products, make it these two. The Ultra Rich Shampoo with Shea Butter will keep your hair soft and shiny even without a conditioner. The Almond Shower Oil is one of L'Occitane's most popular products and is a moisturizing powerhouse; you might not need body lotion after you've showered with it.

L'Occitane bath power set: Fresh

I recommend this set if you just want to feel fresh after your shower. The Ultra Rich Shampoo with Shea Butter cleans your hair gently and moisturizes it even without a conditioner. The Verbena Extra Gentle Soap with Shea Butter leaves your skin clean and soft and has a beautiful refreshing scent.

L'Occitane bath power set: Gentle

I recommend this set for children and for people with sensitive skin. The Ultra Rich Shampoo with Shea Butter is gentle and rich, maybe a little too rich; children, who usually have nice soft hair, can use just a little bit and dilute it with plenty of water. The Milk Extra Gentle Soap with Shea Butter is mild and non-drying, with a comforting scent.

L'Occitane bath power set: Sweet-scented moisture

This set features L'Occitane's highly popular, sweet-scented almond products: Almond Shower Oil (second from right) and Almond Delicious Soap (far right).

The shower oil is the most highly scented of L'Occitane's almond products and is a worldwide best seller. It's extremely moisturizing; I usually skip body lotion after I've showered with this. The soap is an exfoliating soap and should only be used a few times a week. It's a good product to alternate with the shower oil.

I put the Ultra Rich Shampoo with Shea Butter (far left) and Ultra Rich Conditioner with Shea Butter (second from left) in this set because they won't clash with the almond scent of the shower oil and the soap, and like the shower oil, they moisturize very well.

L'Occitane bath power set: Rich moisture

This set is for people with dry hair and dry skin. The Ultra Rich Shampoo with Shea Butter is highly moisturizing on its own. With the Ultra Rich Conditioner with Shea Butter, it's a one-two punch of rich moisture. The Milk Extra Gentle Soap with Shea Butter creates abundant lather, cleans thoroughly without drying your skin out, and has a mild, comforting scent.

L'Occitane bath power set: Zingy fragrance

I recommend this zingy, zesty set for the summer. L'Occitane's verbena products are highly popular, and with good reason. The scent is like nothing else: refreshing, citrusy, and long-lasting. In this set are the Daily Use Shampoo with Organic Verbena Extract, Daily Use Conditioner with Organic Verbena Extract, and Verbena Extra Gentle Soap with Shea Butter.

The shampoo cleans hair thoroughly, maybe a little too thoroughly: my hair is on the dry side, and using this shampoo everyday didn't help. I prefer to use conditioner only a few times a week, but with this shampoo I had to use conditioner everyday; fortunately, the conditioner works well. (Alternating this shampoo with the Ultra Rich Shampoo with Shea Butter helped me achieve a better balance.) I think this shampoo would be great for normal or oily hair.

The soap is one of L'Occitane's best sellers. It leaves the skin squeaky-clean without drying it out, and the sparkling verbena scent is unbeatable.

L'Occitane bath power set: My ideal set

Today I'm putting together what I call "bath power sets" of L'Occitane products for different needs. This is my ideal set, containing all my favorite L'Occitane bath products: Ultra Rich Shampoo with Shea Butter, Ultra Rich Conditioner with Shea Butter, Verbena Extra Gentle Soap with Shea Butter, Almond Shower Oil, and Almond Delicious Soap.

The shampoo and conditioner work very well individually. Together they add up to extraordinarily beautiful hair. Sometimes I do a double take when I see myself in the mirror, that's how nice my hair looks.

I recommend the verbena soap because it has a refreshing scent, cleans thoroughly, and doesn't dry the skin out. This soap is for days when you need to feel really clean.

The shower oil has grown on me; it moisturizes the skin very well, and while I used to think it smelled too sweet, I've grown to like the scent. It's for days when you feel that you need to take better care of your skin, or when you want to feel pampered.

The almond soap has the same scent as the shower oil, but more subtle and not as long-lasting. Like the shower oil, the almond soap leaves the skin soft, but because it's an exfoliating soap, I don't think it's intended for daily use.

Review: L'Occitane Almond Delicious Soap

I tried this a few days ago and I'm already hooked. I consider it a huge improvement over the L'Occitane Almond Shower Oil, which is very moisturizing but smells too strong for me. This soap has a more subtle scent, and best of all, it's a bar soap. It's smaller than most soaps but fits well in my hand. It contains crushed almond shells for exfoliation. The shells are pretty coarse and scraped my skin slightly the first time I used the soap, but I just took a little more care the next time. The soap lathers very well and rinses off easily. I was surprised how soft and smooth my skin felt afterwards. I probably shouldn't use it everyday because I don't think it's a good idea to exfoliate so often, but I can't help it. It's so much fun to use and it does such a good job.

Review: L'Occitane Almond Shower Oil

This is one of L'Occitane's best-selling products. I tried it for the first time a few days ago. I'm really a fan of bar soap; I like that it's solid and also that it's traditional and unassuming. But I have dry skin and I need gobs of lotion to stay moisturized, so I was attracted to this product, which, reviews say, is highly moisturizing.

This shower oil really does moisturize very well. I tried for the first time at night, before bedtime. When I woke up the next morning, my skin was still soft, even though I hadn't used lotion. I'm not crazy about the scent, though; it's too sweet. People who do like the scent will be glad to hear that it lasts very long. I greatly prefer the scent of L'Occitane Verbena Extra Gentle Soap with Shea Butter and wish it lasted as long.

Another minus is that this shower oil does not lather very well. I miss the abundant lather and squeaky-clean feeling that I get from L'Occitane's bar soaps. But this shower oil is really good at moisturizing the skin. When I do put lotion on afterwards, my skin feels luxuriously soft all night until the next day.

Review: L'Occitane Verbena Mint Eau de Toilette

This is a limited-edition fragrance, a variation on L'Occitane's regular verbena scents, which I don't like – I think they smell sour. This eau de toilette is perfect because it's citrusy but also sweet. I hope L'Occitane adds this to the regular line.

I tried this for the first time a few weeks ago. At first, I thought the scent didn't last long enough. Another time, I put on too much and gave myself a headache. I've found a balance now where I don't make myself ill but I can still smell the fragrance on myself at the end of the day.

Review: L'Occitane Ultra Rich Lip Balm with 10% Shea Butter

I used to use Chapstick. It made me dependent; my lips would get really dry when I wasn’t using it. Also, in the last few months, it started to leave a thick residue on my lips that I would have to scrub off. I tried this lip balm for the first time a few days ago and felt a difference immediately. It creates no residue, except when I leave it on overnight, and even then it doesn’t create as much residue as Chapstick does. Also, it feels light and smooth on application, unlike Chapstick, which is sticky. Best of all, my lips don't seem to be dependent. I don’t use the lip balm round the clock, but my lips don't get too dry. My only complaint is about the scent; it smells like candy. I wish it were unscented.

Review: L'Occitane Citrus Verbena Cooling Deodorant

I tried this for the first time a few days ago. I bought it because I wanted to try a deodorant free from aluminum salts, alcohol, and parabens. I was apprehensive because I sweat a lot and this is not an antiperspirant, but so far it’s worked very well, even in humid Manila. I guess I must be sweating more than I used to since this doesn't block perspiration, but I haven’t noticed, and I don’t feel any discomfort during the day. At the end of the day, I feel and smell clean, and my skin actually feels smoother. This deodorant has a distinct citrus scent which I don’t mind, even though I prefer unscented deodorant.

Review: L'Occitane Milk Extra Gentle Soap with Shea Butter

This is the first L'Occitane product I discovered. I was very happy with it until I tried the L'Occitane Verbena Extra Gentle Soap with Shea Butter, which I like even more. This soap has all the good qualities of the verbena soap, but the scent is mild and baby-like, almost powdery; I prefer the refreshing scent of the verbena soap. I think this would be a good soap for children.

Review: L'Occitane Daily Use Conditioner with Organic Verbena Extract

I use this with the L'Occitane Daily Use Shampoo with Organic Verbena Extract. It doesn't smell as good as the shampoo does, but it moisturizes my hair adequately, which is a good thing because the shampoo tends to be drying.

Review: L'Occitane Daily Use Shampoo with Organic Verbena Extract

I tried this because I love the L'Occitane Verbena Extra Gentle Soap with Shea Butter, and I wanted to smell like verbena from head to toe. This shampoo does smell very nice, and cleans hair thoroughly, but it dried my hair out. I had to use it with the L'Occitane Daily Use Conditioner with Organic Verbena Extract every time, which I didn't like to do; I prefer to have some days of the week where I only use shampoo and no conditioner.

I think this shampoo would be great for people with normal to oily hair. It does clean very well, and I think it would leave normal to oily hair really shiny. Also, the bottles look beautiful in the bathroom.

Review: L'Occitane Verbena Extra Gentle Soap with Shea Butter

I have good skin, on the dry side, but with no major problems. I had eczema as a child, and I grew up using Dove, which caused no irritation. I had no complaints. I thought that was as good as soap got. When I discovered this soap, it was a revelation. It's the best soap I've ever tried. It smells beautiful, lathers very well, and rinses off easily. It leaves my skin feeling clean and soft. Also, the bar stays solid to the end. It doesn't splinter or turn mushy.

I've read reviews saying that this soap lasts a long time. It doesn't that last long for me, maybe because I enjoy using it so much.

Review: L'Occitane Ultra Rich Conditioner with Shea Butter

I only use this every few days because the L'Occitane Ultra Rich Shampoo with Shea Butter works so well. It’s a good conditioner that really amplifies the moisturizing effect of the shampoo. The conditioner itself is runny and does not feel rich, but it’s very good on the hair.

Review: L'Occitane Ultra Rich Shampoo with Shea Butter

I’ve always had good hair, but as I’ve grown older, my hair has grown drier. This shampoo is great for dry hair. It makes my hair soft and shiny.

Before this, I used Pantene shampoo and conditioner. For a time, when I ran out of L’Occitane, I used Pantene, and my hair looked like a broom. When I went back to L'Occitane, my hair went back to being soft and shiny.

Like other L'Occitane products, this shampoo is expensive, so to make it go a long way, I use it with plenty of water.