Musings of a Muse

Ahhh L’Occitane, glorious, French L’Occitane. Isn’t there something terribly special about the brand? Don’t you simply love it?

I know this Muse does!

Jump for a review on L’Occitane Rose 4 Reines Hydrating Face Mist.

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The Muse sincerely hopes (and prays to the makeup Gods) that the new L’Occitane Makeup Collection makes it’s way to the US sometime soon.

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Are you broke yet?  No?  Allow me to push you over the edge and tell you about four Friends and Family Events happening now or about to start.

Jump ahead if you dare.

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Hey kids, now steal this!

L’occitane Fresh Face Water is a gentle make-up remover rich in shea to moisturizer and tone skin in one step plus it’s over 6 oz in size for $10 bucks! Sweet!

Wonder if they have this cool steal in store? Paying shipping would defeat the purpose of the deal…hmmmmm! L’occitane here I come!

The weather isn’t quite right yet for the beach or the pool sigh. If you live in New York you’ll understand exactly what I mean as it’s not much of a Summer here in the Big Apple. However, this doesn’t stop me from thinkin’ up what I need for my beach bag or in my case pool bag as the Muse doesn’t do the beach to well (seaweed, sand, eek!).

So here’s a few items that are making a starring appearance inside my beach bag this Summer!

Everyone wants beach hair, everyone. Tousled, windblown locks that are soft, seductive, and sexy. Indeed, beach hair is where it’s at! A great item to toss in your beach bag for a full head of alluring hair would be Philip B Maui Wowie Beach Mist, smells just like tropics plus I just really dig on the name.

When you’re at the beach or pool you want clean, natural makeup that wears well and wears long. Morgen Schick Cheek and Lip Stain is my go to for long wearing color on my cheeks which is waterproof and incredibly flattering for a sunkissed glow!

If you’re at the beach and you’ve SPF’ed yourself to death as is the Muse’s routine you probably won’t get much of a tan but you can flatter your pale white skin with hints of iridescent pink on face, eyes, and cheeks with a dollop of Eyeko Cream!

Tarte 24/7 Lip Sheers used to be my all time favorite lip treatment. Don’t overlook these little tubes of pigmented joy for a Summer lip look that’s natural and laced with SPF.

Keep your hair conditioned and protected from the sun with Blossom Under Cover Conditioning Mist with SPF. Frizz be gone!

Eyeko Face Off Wipes aren’t great for removing a full load of face makeup but they are nice for toting around in your purse and freshening up your face with. Each box contains 10 individually wrapped wipes!

A little touch up of cooling mist for your face is always a pleasure when sitting out in the hot sun. Pack up some Evian Mist in the travel friendly can to mist your skin with to keep it fresh and dewy!

I’m the first one to admit that Loccitane Citrus Verbena Summer Fragrance tends to not linger very long however I find that in the Summer heat it manages to give off a very subtle, fresh lemony scent that I find rather ideal for beach or pool lazying!

Give your face a kiss of sun with Eyeko Face Tint! Amps up your Summer tan or gives your pale white skin a touch of Summer sun.

Hope you enjoyed my picks for hauling in my beach bag this Summer!

What are some items you stash in your beach bag?

Tell the Muse!

There’s something terribly attractive about peaches. Sweet, juicy, and fuzzy….ok, well maybe the fuzzy part isn’t all that appealing!

L’occitane obviously knows the value of a good peach which is why they have a brand new collection dedicated to that sweet, juicy, fuzzy fruit!

L’occitane Peach Blossom is a brand new exquisite fragrance that combines the scent of velvety white peaches with lemon, and bergamont with a base of
musk, iris, and tonka bean.

Considering how much I adore the lemony goodness of L’occitane Verbena I could probably quickly get on board with L’occitane Peach Blossom.

The collection is an array of limited edition pieces that include an EDT, lip gloss, body gel, shower gel and more! Prices range from $12-$46 USD. I was particularly delighted that the EDT was $46 USD as isn’t the 3.4 oz normally around $67-$76 USD or am I totally losing my mind here?

I’m feeling the love so I think I’ll head out to L’occitane too to nab some for a review.

What do you think?

Loves it?

Leaves it?

Tell the Muse!

Have you caught the Twitter bug yet? I’m a Twitter-a-holic! I love following my favorite celebs, brands, and friends on Twitter. It’s a great way to keep people abreast of what you’re doing or get info on coupons, releases, etc….Although it’s a social networking tool it somehow turns into a whole lot more!

Do you Twit?

Check out some of my fav beauty brands that are on Twitter!

Urban Decay is prob one of my fav brands to Twitter as they are so interactive in replying to their fellow Twitters! It’s also a great way to hear about their new products!

Follow Urban Decay

Kenzo Parfums is new to Twitter! Looking forward to hearing what the peeps at Kenzo have to say!

Follow Kenzo

Our friends from Lush UK Mail Order are on board the Twitter express train!

Follow Lush Mail Order UK

Check out what Tarte Cosmetics is up to!

Follow Tarte

Heck, even Beauty.com Twitters!

Follow Beauty.com

Learn about the latest from Benefit with their friendly daily Twits!

Follow Benefit

Bliss has lots to tell daily!

Follow Bliss World

L’occitane keeps us abreast of all that’s happening in the land of beautiful skincare, fragrance, and bath and body delicacies!

Follow L’occitane

Starting following your favorite brands to learn all about what’s happening in their beauty worlds!

Do you Twitter?

What beauty brands do you follow?

One brand that probably doesn’t get nearly enough love from the Muse on her blog would be L’occitane. Weirdly enough I don’t think I’ve ever done a single blog about this amazing brand!

I’m a big lover of L’occitane and it justly deserves it’s own special entry! Sadly, it’s not all about L’occitane as this blog was inspired by Lush’s new hair gel King of Mods.

I just wrote a rather delightful review about King of Mods (You can read my review of King of Mods by clicking here) and was hinting at some products that would go well with it and I can think of nothing else that would be go fantastically with it then none other then L’occitane’s Lemon Verbena collection!

I have the biggest love affair with lemons. I love the wicked combination of the scent of lemons. It’s a tart sweetness that’s the perfect contradiction. It’s fruity and it’s slightly sweet but it has a wicked tartness that’s eye opening! And what better way to wake up in the morning than with some yummie Lemon scented products?!

Nothing captures the essense of lemons like L’occitane’s Lemon Verbena collection! Four of my absolutely must have Verbena items are the Shea Butter Extra Gentle Soap, The Verbena Shampoo and Conditioner, and the Verbena Shower Gel!

If you happen to pick up a jar of King of Mods I can tell you that washing your hair with L’occitane’s Verbea Shampoo and Conditioner and finishing with King of Mods will leave your hair delightfully scented in a beautiful array of fresh smelling citrus that will last all day long!

Sadly, L’occitane’s products are not cheap by any means but they are well worth the price tag in my humblest opinion!

The Shea Extra Gentle Soap is delicately scented with Verbena and is extra moisturizing. The only quirk I have with L’occitane’s soaps are they are so monstrously big and over sized! These are 8.8oz which is about triple the size of your normal soap. It’s good because it’s a large chunk of soap for $10 bucks but it’s quite bulky to use when in the shower! It most definately gets my seal of approval for the smell and skin benefits but the size is definately something that turns me off!

Lucky You! I just started a new bar this morning! Here’s a chunk all yummie and awaiting my use!

Verbena Shower Gel is probably one of my favorite in the line! It’s a bit pricy at $20 for 8.4oz but I must say it’s one of my guilty pleasures that I just adore. Nothing gets me awake in the morning like a burst of yummy tart lemons and this shower gel most definately tantalizes with the smell of lemons! It suds very nicely and the smell actually does linger sometime on the skin which is always a plus! It doesn’t dry my skin out which I do have a problem with when using shower gels so it gets an A+ for that!

Last but not least would be the perfect companion to King of Mods so as promised I bring you Verbena Shampoo and Conditioner which are equally as gorgeous and lemony smelling as the soap and shower gel! Perfect for layering all together to create a beautiful fresh scent! Both are very light so you don’t have to worry about build up!

A few items I use and haven’t mentioned would be the Verbena Eau de Toilette and Verbena Lotion. The lotion is lovely and very moisturizing and it layers well after using the Shower Gel! As for the Eau de Toilette it’s sadly something that fails to linger. The throw is a bit weak and you really have to spray yourself down for it to have any lasting quality. It’s quite disappointing as the fresh smell of lemons is beautiful in this spray but it just doesn’t last long enough to justify it’s cost. I wish they’d consider doing a strong Eau de Parfum!

Overall, the collection is beautiful and is very Muse approved and of course perfect for layering with the new love of my life King of Mods however I must say that if L’occitane can capture the essence and freshness as well as Lush they’d most definately have me throwing a ton more money at them but until that day I definately approve of the Verbena Collection they do have available!