I was in town for various things and on a whim (though I’ve been thinking about this for a while) visited the orthodontist that fixed my son’s teeth and made a consultation appointment next month regarding braces for my lower teeth. My upper teeth are fine and reasonably well aligned. But, over the past couple of years my lower teeth have become wonkier. My dentist said this sometimes happens as we age and if it didn’t seem like it was deteriorating (ie, getting even wonkier) I’d leave it alone. But, it is becoming more of an issue both for aesthetic reasons and because I now – every once in a while – nip my inside lower lip. Which is unpleasant.
I imagine, assuming I go through with treatment, this will eat into my perfume budget. But, we’ll see. I’m still getting that Knize 10 bottle in Vienna.
I had written most of a piece about two samples but abandoned it as 1) the fragrances are limited edition and 2) I think you can only find them here, in the UK, and on reflection that just seemed a silly thing to focus on.
So, scrabbling around for something else I noticed the l’Occitane display at the farm shop. And here we are.
The only thing I could spray on was a men’s fragrance called Baux. On the label, it looks like BAVX and I went off to the website looking for it thinking it would be some sort of in joke. But no, it appears to be the name. Per the site, the scent is meant to evoke “the magic and mystery of chivalrous tales surrounding the ruined Castle of Les Baux”.
Notes on the site include incense, cypress and cardamon. Smelling my wrist, I had wondered amber. It’s nice enough. A bit too sweet. But, if you’ve got a young man looking for something better than Linx you wouldn’t go wrong with this. Except: it’s £60 for 75ml. So, maybe not.
I realise this is actually cheap in the current scheme of perfume.
As with many l’Occitane lines, you can get this fragrance in EdT plus shower gel and other add-ons.
I like l’Occitane’s Verbena shower gel and the almond. And I think the Shea Butter Hand Cream is awesome – and have bought multiple tubes at Duty Free.
But, the brand is very pricey overall for what it offers, IMHO.
If I had a choice to buy Verbena shower gel or Lush Rose Jam it would be Rose Jam all the way.
So, what say you about l’Occitane? Do you have a product you adore and re-buy? Overpriced and overhyped?
NB: After a couple of hours I sprayed my beloved Perfumer H Smoke over Baux. Much better.
Pics: Pexels and mine
I have enjoyed L’Occitane products in the past, mostly bath products and the wonderful hand cream. My hubby uses their foot cream. I used to like their The Vert (green tea) scent in the summer. The bath gel and lotion, etc. I still have a tiny tin of solid perfume. I’m not a big fan of solid perfumes, though, so I place the tin on an electric mug warmer, and it acts as a room scent.
I like l’Occitane but not enough to have purchased. I think it’s a little pricey for bath gel and while I liked some of the scents they weren’t that compelling..
Spot on, IMHO. If someone gave as a gift, I’d think ‘oh, that’s nice’. Not enough going on to fork out for though.
I haven’t smelled L’Occitaine in ages, despite having a verbena gift box (omg – it’s been here for nearly as long as I’ve been here!!!) – I do like the Almond, especially in the hand cream.
Maybe time to break out the gift box? I love the hand cream — very luxurious and it works.
Hey Cinnamon,
I can’t remember who told me this story but Brad Pitt is an Eau de Beaux wearer and they had to open the shop after hours for him to come and buy bags of all the products.
Amusingly, I have both Rose Jam and Verbena shower gels going at the moment to make my bubble baths. Separately.
Portia xx
Hmmm, I’d have thought Brad would be more of a classics guy but what do I know. He’s got the dosh to buy a whole shop of things. I haven’t had Rose Jam around in a long while but I think it’s now time to invest in a bottle again.
I was horrified at the prices in Lush last week.
What horrified you? (remember, this is my first LUSH purchase in… maybe ever? So (insert shrug emoji)…
I thought the RJ prices were very reasonable – but I might be comparing them to Malle prices… who knows?
And maybe I think they’re reasonable because that little $24 tub of S&beSeen will probably last a year – or more. It’s very strong!
They’re on a par with L’Occitane for the bath stuff. The previous time I’d visited 500ml of Rose Jam shower gel was about £18 now it’s £26. Used to be prices like Body Shop. No longer
Your post has sent me to the L’Occitane UK website. I haven’t browsed it for years.
They have a couple of offerings that peaked my interest. This year’s Verbena flanker, Verbena Geranium & Amber Almond EdP. I’ll check them out when I’m next near a store.
I passed the l’Occitane products so many times in the farm shop, each time thinking I should stop and check things out again. But, no. The shop stocks a number of similar brands — things people pick up on the go as gifts when they are visiting friends/relatives or as last minute birthday stuff. The place does have some nice candles …
Ha, I just smelled these on a whim at the Vancouver duty-free. I think they’re nice and straightforward; the almond and the verbena are probably my favorite.
I think I like the Verbena best. I used to have a friend who was obsessed with it and always asked for bottles for birthday/Christmas.