Stylemum / 13 September 2016 / Categories: Specialty

L'Occitane - Leicester

As someone who tries to be an ethical consumer I am careful about the companies & brands I support. I swapped my Kiehls lip fuel, for the L'Occitane equivalent when I found out the brand marketed as the NYC mom and pop apocathary was actually owned by L'Oreal and unimpressed with reports in the press of them whiting out people like Beyoncé on the basis that black models sell less product than white models I now avoid. (the fact Beyoncé allowed herself to be edited in this way is a different issue but I digress)

Back to L'Occitane, a mid to high priced luxury skincare beauty brand on the high street. I have been using their almond hand cream for about 6 years and the reason I love it so much is no residue, I hate lotions and creams for the simple reason they never soak in entirely and leave clothes and other stuff a bit greasy and messy. Also a little goes a long way so even though you might feel like you've been asked for your first born for a small tube you'll find it lasts.

I went into the store in Leicester (I usually purchase from a duty free concession) to buy a gift of the new refirming oil for a friend, at £74 for a small bottle I haven't tried it myself yet although my friend insists it is a miracle and I should, and the experience and service was so exceptional I wanted to share the positivity. The young lady that helped me was friendly, positive, well informed about the range and very passionate about the products without being pushy or over selling in any way. When I asked about gift wrapping, no charge which was another pleasant surprise as some higher end brands like All Saints do.

Although L'Occitane En Provence is now a publically listed company they seem to have retained some of the qualities their founder and now Creative Directer Olivier Baussen instilled when he took a risk and recommissioned an old soap factory to go back to making soap traditionally without parabens and palm oil. After my purchase I immediately received an email thanking me for shopping with them and asking about the experience. In this day and age that's a brave brand looking to engage after sale, usually they take your money and head for the hills just in case so an all round well done L'Occitane.