I am a great fan of L'Occitane so when earlier in the year I was going into hospital for a few days to have our second son my husband got me a wash bag with a few small travel size L'Occitane goodies in it. This Pivoine Flora shower gel was one of them and is a delightful favorite of mine.

About L'Occitane
*****************
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.

The claims
**************
This shower gel is formulated using a natural plant foaming base and peony extract. They claim it gently cleanses the body and leaves skin delicately perfumed with the flowery scent of peonies, without drying the skin out.

In use
***********
I was a little disappointed at first to find the shower gel was clear as the bottle seemed to indicate that it was a delicate pink colour but it is actually just the packaging that is pink. Despite this clear appearance the gel is beautifully scented with peonies whether in the hand or the bottle it. The gel is nice and thick and comes out slowly out of the bottle rather than gushing and wasting it. On lathering this up in the shower it produces a soft foam with small white bubbles. The foam is velvety to the touch and as it goes across the body feels nice and pliable to rub into your skin. The scent of the peonies is nice flowery as the bubbles foam up and the scent is not overwhelming or so faint that it isn't noticeable. The gel also does a great job of removing any marks on my skin and when I was in hospital it was great at removing some dried blood around my wound area. Once the foam has gone and I have dried myself the scent still remains and last for several hours in the day which was great when I was in hospital and wanted a nice comforting smell that made me feel more human after my c section. My skin is also left feeling nice and silky and smooth following using the gel and stays that way throughout the day.

Now whilst this was a great gift to receive and I find it a lovely shower gel and the scent is wonderful at a price of £13 I am not sure it is one I can justify on a regular basis. However it is one I will ask for again for a gift if anyone asks as it is just such a unique scent that I have not smelt in the more commercial shower gels I use such as Radox and this alone makes it worth a try for a change.