April empties - Origins, L'Occitane, Saaf, Korres, The Bath House, The Body Shop

Body Shop massage oil – I wanted to like this, but I was disappointed. It sounded promising and exotic, but it smells too much of ginger. It might as well be called Ginger massage oil. I would not repurchase as there are other oils in the range.

Saaf face oil serum – love a facial oil. My face is dry and needs hydrating throughout the year. Have already repurchased. I’m very interested in this range of products. 

L’Occitane Jasmine and Green Tea soap 100g – love this and I’ve already repurchased, it looks like it’s discontinued but it sometimes crops up during sales so I stock up whenever I see it.

Origins Night-A-Mins 30ml sample – I've been using silicone-free products lately so this feels way too silicone-y for me and I didn’t really notice much difference after regular use either. I wouldn't repurchase. 

L’Occitane Verbena shower gel 500ml – this massive body wash came as part of a gift set of Verbena products from L’Occitane. I love the authentic fresh fragrance of this body wash, but don’t love the drying sulfates, would repurchase only if L’Occitane ever decide to reformulate to remove the SLES.

L’Occitane Mango flower hand cream 30ml – this is one of the really thick formulations that I prefer to use in cooler weather (the summer ones have more of a gel consistency). I’m not crazy about the fragrance. I have other hand creams in the stash.

Korres Guava Lip Butter – I really like this. I don’t wear this during the day as this guava one turns your lips white, but I use it each night as an overnight treatment. I used to wake up with parched lips each morning and the first thing I’d reach for would be a lip balm, but this works at keeping the lips hydrated. I’m not keen on the ingredients though, looks like there’s nothing but a bunch of plastic in there. I have the Pomegranate one to try next.

Pretty Perfect Orange Blossom shower gel – a sulfate-free body wash bought on clearance from TKMaxx. Great scent, quite unisex with sandalwood. Would repurchase, but I believe this is discontinued. The Bath House offer several other fragrances.

L’Occitane Mango Flower hand cream review

L’Occitane Mango flower hand cream 30ml – this is one of the really thick formulations that I prefer to use in cooler weather (the summer ones have more of a gel consistency). It has a screw cap which can be fiddly when you've just used some, but that's ok. The only thing I don't like about this is the scent. I’m not crazy about this mango fragrance as it’s very strong and fruity, even for me.

Here's a list of the ingredients taken from the back of the tube as the ingredients aren't listed on their website:

Aqua, Butyrospermum Parkii, Glycerin, Dimethicone, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Hydroxyethyl Acrylate/Sodium Acryloydimethyl Taurate Copolymer, Mangifera Indica Seed Butter, Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil, Rosmarinus Officinalis Leaf Extract, Brasica Campestris Sterols, Cocos Nucifera Oil, Ceteareth-33, Polysorbate 60, PEG-100 Stearate, Sorbitan Isostearate, Ethylhexlglycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Benzoic Acid, Dehydroacetic Acid, Parfum, Limonene.

Origins Drink Up Intensive overnight mask review

Origins Drink Up Intensive overnight mask – the first time I looked at this, I thought "an overnight mask, are you kidding me?" I had no idea how it worked and since I sleep on my face, I didn’t fancy having a sloppy mask go all over my pillow. Anyway, this was another 30ml sample size gift with purchase that I thought I’d crack open just to use it up. 

Turns out I really like this mask. It has a thick consistency which is easily spreadable and has a fruity, apricot scent which I wasn’t crazy about, but I’m used to it now and even find it soothing to fall asleep to. I often use this instead of a night moisturiser. Already repurchased. Twice. They had a great GWP offer that week. Don’t judge.

This 30ml sample size has a screw top lid, but the full size 100ml tube has a flip lid which is much easier to deal with. 

I've photographed the back of the 100ml full size tube as the 30ml sample tube doesn't list the ingredients (and neither currently does the Origins website). Here are the ingredients:

Water, Rosa Damascena (Rose) Flower Water, Myrtus Communis (Myrtle) Leaf Water, Citrus Aurantium Amara (Bitter Orange) Flower Water, Anthemis Nobilis (Chamomile) Flower Water, Glycerin, Cetyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Polymethacrylate, Dimethicone, PEG-75, PEG-8, Glycereth-26, Sorbitan Stearate, Citrus Aurantium Amara (Bitter Orange) Flower Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Amara (Bitter Almond) Kernel Oil, Rosa Damascena (Rose) Flower Oil, Cinnamomum Camphora (Shiu/Camphore Leaf) Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Sweet Orange) Oil, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Kernel Oil, Osmanthus Fragrans (Osmantus Absolute) Flower Extract, Ribes Nigrum (Blackcurrant) Seed Extract, Linalool, Limonene, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Cladosiphon Okamuranus Extract, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Extract, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Extract, Triticum Vulgare (Wheat Bran) Extract, PEG-100 Stearate, Sucrose, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Peel Wax, Panthenol, Pantethine, Cetyl Ethylhexanoate, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Kernel Oil, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Butylene Glycol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Punica Granatum (Pomegranate) Sterols, Tocopheryl Acetate, Oryzanol, Bisabolol, Caprylyl Glycol, Caffeine, Hexylene Glycol, Sodium Hyaluronate, Dextrin, Potassium Carbomer, Disodium EDTA, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Phenoxyethanol.