L'Occitane....cream.....actually lathering...PICS!

[JohnP]

I know folks, hard to believe. I've had this before and it was crap. Completely.
I am starting to think they've improved it, however, after recently a clerk insisted I try a sample, even though it had not worked for me in the past....
Mind you, in the past, using the SAME brush, no amount of work or water would make ANY lather for me... I tried the sample, on a whim, after it had sat on a shelf for a month...and well, it must've been reformulated or something, because this stuff is NOT the crap I tried before. This, well I would consider actually buying. It gave me 3 good shaves before I decided to take pics, so there wasnt much left....but here's the pics. I got pretty excited because to me, this is news. I've also posted these over at SMF-and considering in the past I've given them gloomy reviews of their cream, this is GOOD NEWS. We are being listened to, I believe....

The sample packet (whats left, anyway)

Not much to work with, but enough for demonstration purposes

Whats this, Lather???? This is the same brush I used a year ago when L'O would not work at all....

The lather is very wet, a lot like Musgo Real. Not much here but could be due to the tiny amount I had left to work with.

Somebody's been doing their homework, as this wouldn't have happened at all with the stuff I tried a year ago by the same name. I'm sure others would agree....

All I can say is, wow. I got a no kidding good shave, 3 times....from L'Occitane. Something that unless they've changed their cream, would never have happened in the past....my skin also feels soft, might be my imagination, but I think the shea butter or whatever in it is soothing....
Samples are free, try em for yourself. I am tempted to go buy some of this again, but rest assured I'll be checking to make sure its the new stuff....
John P.

 

[DUQ]

Was the lather that wet when you used more product to start with?

 

[JohnP]

While I posted that review some time ago, yes the lather was pretty wet, similar to Musgo Real as I recall.
That said, let the buyer beware. Please notice that I am using a sample packet I received from the store. The only reason I even tried it was the (amazingly beautiful, bikini-model looking) girl at the counter insisted it had been reformulated from the full tube I had purchased before.
I did not get results this good with the tube I had tried before, in fact it was pathetic. Unless all the "old formula" tubes are off the shelves, and replaced with the new one in the sample packets,
I would steer well clear of this product, or at least purchase from a place that will let you return it if not satisfied (I purchased mine at Sephora and they let me return it)
Your money is far better spent on their IMHO outstanding shaving soap.
be careful, and YMMV
John P.

 

[Scotto]

Here are some more pics of it lathering. I get fantastic results, but apparently almost no one else does. Must be my super powers.....

 

[JohnP]

Ahh, but look, Scotto....
Even in your (admittedly much newer) review, you are also using the same sort of sample packet I used for my review...both of us got lather from those small packets.
I did not get the same results from the full tube I had purchased, and in fact it was so expensive and at the same time so wretched that I am leery of purchasing it again until I know that the stuff on the shelf in a tube is going to be the same stuff that is in the new sample packets.
Out of curiosity, have you managed to get the same results when actually using a tube of it, as well? I want no part of buying the cream again until I know the horrid old stuff is gone.
My results from the 30 dollar tube were pathetic. The only reason I posted the above review was due to my surprise that the sample worked, contrary to the stuff I had bought some time before...
John P

 

[TimmyBoston]

I'm very glad for those of you who've gotten it to work. Unfotunately I couldn't get either the sample or tube to work worth a darn.

 

[JohnP]

I got the sample to work ok, but haven't gotten the tube to work.
IMHO for the price they want for the cream it should almost lather itself...
Personally given the choice based on my experiences these days I would walk right past it and get the Cade shaving soap as I actually do like it quite a bit. Hard to imagine how the same company can make such good shaving soap, and then turn out that really really bad cream.
John P.

 

[fuerein]

The only reason I even tried it was the (amazingly beautiful, bikini-model looking) girl at the counter insisted it had been reformulated from the full tube I had purchased before.

Where do they get those girls? Most of the girls working the mall may be attractive but the girls at L'Occitane are just plain hot.

Anyway. A couple months ago (after the reformulation), I went in and they didn't have sample packets, but they took the demo shave cream tube and placed it in a small sample tub. Tried the stuff about three times, got lather that looked like yours, but for some reason it just did next to nothing for assisting the shave. I'll pass on their cream.

 

[JohnP]

So far that's my take on it too.
I did get lather from the sample pack, but it wasn't IMHO worth what L'Occitane charges for it.
No idea where they find those girls. Makes a guy feel guilty for going in and not buying...almost.....
The soap on the other hand, and some of their scents, are quite good.
John P.

 

[crackstar]

why couldn't the sample I had lather like that?

Jeff

 

[berzerkeleyan]

I bought a tube a couple of months ago, prior to reading up on it here. No lather. But combine it with a preshave oil, and it's not a bad shave as a brushless cream. Makes my skin feel tingly clean afterwards.

I must say, had I read B&B first, I would never had bought it, esp. at $28/tube.

 

[JohnP]

why couldn't the sample I had lather like that?

Jeff

Jeff,
FWIW I was hugely surprised when the sample I had lathered, my results were similar to Scottos more recent review the first time I used it, which is what prompted me to take pictures using the tiny amount remaining.
The tube I actually bought, however, did nothing of the sort. It simply absorbed into the brush and rinsed away. Nothing I could do to it seemed to change this result.
To be honest, I don't have 30 bucks to risk on trying it again to see if the problem with the tubes has been remedied, especially when for the same price I can get a nice tub of Trumper, or add a little and even get Castle Forbes....
let alone some of the less expensive star performers out there....
John P.

 

[Scotto]

I refuse to buy a tube, since I am too scared it will be the old crappy stuff. Luckily I snagged about a dozen samples last time I was there, so I dole them out slowly.

 

[JohnP]

ah HAH...
seems the last time I was there I was a little too distracted to consider asking for a LOT of samples....
lesson learned! Do not look directly at the super-hot sales girl, she is meant to distract...
John P

 

[sphughes]

I posted a review on this product and the sample that I had was squeezed from a tube into a traveller for 3-4 shaves worth. I won't rehash what I said on the other page, but I got lather and it performed for me. I just felt it was unremarkable at $28 a tube when the soap cake is such a home run.

I do want to know where the hot sales girls are though.......Hardly fair they aren't at my location......I spend as much as the guys that get the hot ones.....

-Scott-

 

[JohnP]

Fashion valley mall, San Diego. L'Occitane there seems to employ only swimsuit models, or at least that was my experience last time I was there
Very hot.
I'm sure YMMV....
I also agree with the above, that even when I got the sample packet that lathered, it was unremarkable. Nice, but not worth 30 bucks...
John P.

 

[ramtip]

I enjoyed a L'occitane Cade shave today, using both the sample cream & ASB. I have fairly hard water, but didn't have any problems getting good lather from one sample packet and a C&E best.

Most ASB's I use are unscented, or very light, dissapearing scents. I'm really fond of the Cade scent though -- in fact this is one of the few ASB's with a lingering (although subtle) scent that I like. If a cologne is used afterward, one really should use a scent that complements well. I find it goes very well with cedar-based colognes. Cade + Tommy Bahama =

One concern I do have is it seems no one seems to have any success using a full tube of this stuff. Should I just use the soap instead? From what I've read the cream is universally hated, while the soap is loved(?)

 

[doctorsimon]

I must go down to my local L'Occitaine in the mall. See if the UK girls are as hot as you guys describe. I'll pick up a sample or twelve if I can too. I like samples for the travel bag! Bikini-godesses you say?

 

[doctorsimon]

Useless place! She was not a hottie. And she gave me only one sample. I only realised she gave me the ASB when I got home.



I hate them even more now.

 

[fuerein]

Useless place! She was not a hottie. And she gave me only one sample. I only realised she gave me the ASB when I got home.



I hate them even more now.

Maybe it is only US L'Occitane stores that get the attractive clerks...