L'Occitane Magazine Freebie: First Impressions

Hello my lovely readers!
Just a quick update to let those of you who haven't seen it yet know - in this months UK edition of Marie Claire you get a 30ml (travel size) L'Occitane Shea Butter Dry Skin Hand Cream (usually £7.50, here) - or you can also get one of the limited edition hand creams.
I chose to pick up the original - I've always wanted to try it and it's a great freebie for right now since the cold weather can do terrible things to your hands.
On first impressions I'm really impressed - you get quite a bit of product. I have to confess I love the smell of Shea Butter - it's just light and elegant and warm. The texture of this is thick but not oily or overly creamy. It spreads pretty well - I find that this is enough to use for both hands:

My hands instantly feeled soothed and softer after rubbing it in. And they smelled great. Obviously it's early days so I can't tell if they do anything to improve the skin but I'll certainly be using the travel size until it's done. Right now I'm doing my hands once in the mornings and once in the evenings, although I'll probably use it after work as well. I like that it's not scented with anything flowery or anything, as I sometimes find that heavily scented hand creams cause a bad reaction in my hands (feels like swelling?).
This is really lovely, and if it keeps being as good as it is now, I'll definitely repurchase. Also, don't you just love the packaging? Something about it just really appeals to me. It's not too clinical and medical looking, but it's not all floral and ultra-girly either. Sophisticated and classic, I think.

Don't forget to enter my Halloween giveaway, which ends on the 18th October at midnight GMT. Click here to enter. Don't forget that you have to subscribe to my GFC feed AND comment the post with your GFC name and 'enter me'. Unless you do both it won't count. Go on and enter for the chance to win Models Own, Sleek and Barry M products! 


S xx