This shower gel was a present from my mum this Christmas and it has proved an invaluable aid in waking me up these cold dark mornings before work when all I want to do is snuggle under the duvet.


About L'Occitane
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For those of you unfamiliar with this brand L'Occitane is a French company with its roots in the Province region. They try to use natural ingredients within their products and try where possible to also use organic products if possible. They try to keep to a minimum artificial preservatives and silicones within their goods. If you want to know more about them they have a very good website http://uk.loccitane.com. Within the UK they sell their goods either over the internet, in a few L'Occitane boutiques up and down the country and some of their goods are available via QVC.


What is it?
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The shower gel comes in a clear plastic embossed bottle with a flip top lid that is easy to use and dispenses a nice amount with a gentle squeeze. The bottle has no hanging hook for the shower but this doesn't bother me as it just stands on the shelf by the bath and shower in our bathroom. The gel itself contains organic verbena which is from Corsica, an invigorating lemon oil from Sicily and a bracing grapefruit extract from Italy. This blend is designed to gently cleanse your body and the fresh fruity fragrance is to wake you up. Verbena if you are unfamiliar with it as a scent is a lemon fragrance that is said to energise and stimulates the senses to banish tiredness and stress.



In use
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The first thing you notice about this gel is the fragrance it just bursts out of the bottle when you flip the top open. The fragrance that hits me is a lemony burst however this is a gentle lemon that is totally natural and reminds me of freshly squeezed lemons or homemade lemonade rather than a synthetic lemon like washing up liquid or other cleaners. The other scent that comes through afterwards is a sharp grapefruit smell. I find the scent very invigorating which is great in the morning at waking me up.


The liquid is a wonderful yellow colour but this doesn't translate into the foam it produces which is a soft white bubbly mass. A small amount on a scrunchie in the shower produces enough lather to go all over the body so a little does go a long way. The lather it produces is lovely rich foam that is nice and gentle on my skin and has caused no reactions to my skin which is a bit more sensitive at the moment due to my pregnancy. The foam washes off nice and easily but leaves a glorious summery scent on my body that to me is reminiscent of Mediterranean lemon and grapefruit groves. The scent last at least all morning so it is great for keeping me feeling all bright and summery in these dark dismal winter days. The scent reminds me of summer so keeps me nice and awake during the day and leaves my skin feeling soft and fresh smelling after use.


As you need only a small amount I still have a good half of the bottle still left after a full month of use so I am hoping this bottle will last me a few months.


Overall
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This is a great luxury shower gel and if I had the money I would buy it a lot more of this shower gel due to its glorious scent that wakes me up in the morning and lingers all day on my body. The shower gel produces nice foam that cleans and moistures the body that leaves it feeling nice and soft and clean. However at £13 for 250ml bottle it is definitely a treat item but one that I was more than happy to get as a gift this year.