The verbena "hand cream gel" I'm reviewing is referred to as 'cooling' not 'ice' as in the Dooyoo description. However it is the same product but has had a very slight shuffle of the name. This is another hand cream from a set of 5 I received for Christmas, with each one I try I'm impressed more and more with the quality and results from this excellent ethically and socially sound company. If you would like to find out more about their involvement with certain initiatives, their support of local growers and rare plant species, and how they do not test on animals or use any animal products (other than beehive produce) in their ranges you can check them out on their own informative website http://uk.loccitane.com/FO/Home.aspx

This cream like other of L'Occitane's fragranced creams costs £13.50 for the full size of 75mls and is the Dooyoo picture, the tube I have is a smaller size and a silvery metal plasticised tube. The tube is easy to handle, and dispenses the cream smoothly and easily. What I like about a non pump action delivery system is that you can cut open the tube when you think you've used all the cream and get another portion or so out by sweeping your finger around the inside.

This product is a lightweight gel formulation and has a much more cooling feel on the skin than the other fragranced hand creams in the range. Although it is a gel cream it looks more like a cream, and holds its shape albeit softly with a very slight spread when dispensed. I am impressed with the way that the different 'flavours' in my selection box are not the same cream with different scented oils added, but have their own individual blend of ingredients.

This one has as its second listed ingredient alcohol, which explains why it is so cooling and light in texture; the faster evaporation of the alcohol will give a pleasantly fresh cooling sensation. I assumed that having alcohol present as a high percentage of ingredients would mean that the gel was less effective at moisturising than the other creams in the L'Occitane stable. I was pleasantly surprised as this sinks in almost instantly leaving a matte velvety slightly powdery finish, and is remarkably effective at moisturising my skin. L'Occitane say that this powdery finish helps to reduce perspiration and the formulation helps to relieve the feeling of swollen hands in hot humid weather. Although the weather is cool at the moment over Christmas I was rushing around in a hot kitchen with hands in and out of hot water and hot ovens and this cream did seem to help to keep them from turning into purple sausage fingers. Even though the cooling sensation itself didn't last very long, my hands stayed comfortable all through the day (with a couple of applications)

I can't say that this cream is as deeply moisturising as the richer 20% shea butter creams, or the other scented L'Occitane creams as although it does a good job and my hands feel comfortable for a few hours I do feel the need to reapply more often than with any of the other creams I've tried so far. This has meant that the 15ml tube has only lasted about 9 days rather than about 11-12 for the other scented creams so for me less economical.

I do wonder if the verbena cream/gel might be unsuitable for people with skin conditions such as eczema as the alcohol content may sting or aggravate sore skin with a compromised barrier, as the skin is not just the broken but very sensitive to irritants. Perhaps this is one to test if possible before purchase if you do suffer from a skin condition but really fancy trying the verbena range out. This is just my opinion as I haven't been able to test this theory as my skin as far as eczema goes is fine at the moment. I do have a few little nicks in my skin from over enthusiastic potato peeling at Christmas and I have found this formulation absolutely fine on these areas.

Most of the hand products from L'Occitane contain she butter but this hand cream doesn't (certainly not in the first several ingredients and I can't find it further down the list either). It does however contain other moisturising ingredients such as castor oil, glycerin, flower and fruit extracts.

The scent is clean and fresh with a slight citrusy, general fruity and 'green' tone to it, if you've smelt anything from the verbena collection the scent is distinctive and this cream doesn't veer from that. It isn't as long lasting as the more 'sensual' rose, cherry blossom, or lavender scents, but is still apparent on the skin a little while after use. I think that this would be an ideal unisex product, definitely something my husband wouldn't be embarrassed about smelling of.

This is another lovely product from L'Occitane, though I don't think this is one I would buy for myself regularly as I prefer a richer formulation. However this is great for those who need their hands to be completely dry straight after use, and gives a really fresh clean feel and scent to the skin. Even though I usually prefer a deeper moisturisation level I can see me reaching for this on a hot sticky day and enjoying the whole experience very much. Although the formulation is not one I prefer I would not hesitate to give it a 5 star rating as it is superb at what it intends to do, and could be just perfect for someone else.