L’Occitane is one of those wonderfully reliable brands that you can count on when you’re looking for a treat or a gift. High quality ingredients, gorgeous packaging and that very French feeling of well being makes L’Occitane one of my favourite beauty indulgences.
In celebration of new additions to the Pivoine Flora collection, L’Occitane held a bloggers evening at its Covent Garden store. We were invited to try out the new products and discover more about the brand while grazing on delicious pastel macarons and mini cupcakes.
The Pivoine Flora collection pays tribute to the peony and this year, L’Occitane have added an Eau de Parfum and stunning cosmetics to the range.
L’Occitane was one of the first beauty brands to distil essential oil from peonies, which are harvested each year in May around the Mediterranean basin. L’Occitane sources peonies from the nurseries of Jean-Luc Rivière, whose family has cultivated them for over 160 years in the Drôme region of France.
The Pivoine Flora collection also includes an eau de toilette, rollerball perfume pen, shower gel, hand cream, beauty cream (for the body), beauty milk and petal soap.
The eau de parfum is a modern floral fragrance with just enough sweetness to lift the peony rose and make it feel fresh and young – a perfect summer day fragrance. It also includes notes of bergamot, grapefruit, magnolia, violet petals, vanilla, cedar and musk.
Another great perfume discovery at L’Occitane was the spicy oriental Labdanum, which I first detected on fellow fragrance nut Katie Chutzpah and instantly loved.
The whimsical make-up collection, also containing peony extracts, features beautiful watercolour ballerinas on cream card packaging. The ballerina illustrations were inspired by peonies moving gracefully in the spring breeze.
The eye shadows are highly pigmented, silky soft and have a subtle shimmer. They come in a range of soft pastels and bolder shades of plum, olive and black.
There are four lipsticks in the collection and they have a lovely sheer finish, creating a fresher look for the summer. I tried the lipstick in Tourbillon Cerise and loved that it had a light texture but acted as a long-lasting lip stain.
There are also four shimmery tinted lip shines and a clear lip shine that enhances the natural colour of your lips once applied.
The three Facecolour Creams come in pink, apricot and beige and are perfect for creating that pretty English Rose look.
The Healthy Glow Face Powder looks so gorgeous that you won’t want to use it. The trio comes with two matte contouring powders separated by a line of sunkissed gold.
We also had a sneak peak at the upcoming Angelica skin care range, which is perfect for young skin in need of extra hydration (L’Occitane recommends the Immortelle range for mature skin).
Organic angelica extract reinforces natural skin hydration and the range is full of refreshing, summer-friendly products such as the Cleansing Gel, UV Shield SPF 40, Hydration Cream and Eye Roll-On.
L’Occitane kindly gave us a goodie bag full of Pivoine Flora products to try out and the Pivoine Flora eau de parfum has now become part of my ever-growing library of rose day fragrances.
The Pivoine Flora collection is available now at L’Occitane.
All photos by Chérie City.
