little white truths

L'Occitane claims/product details:

• Effortlessly rid your skin of impurities 
• Enriched with nourishing 5% shea oil, this facial cleanser transforms into a soft emulsion, removing even the most stubborn waterproof makeup to reveal a cleaner, fresher complexion
• The perfect first step in a double-cleansing beauty skincare routine
• Thoroughly cleanses skin without causing dryness or tightness
• Preserves skin’s natural hydration
• Offers a healthy radiance to the skin
• Suitable for all skin types
• RRP $32 AUD for 200ml

The product comes with a pump and that's always handy for cleansing oils because they can be messy.

Worth noting now is that the reviews of this product are very good (see eg au.loccitane.com), and most people seem to enjoy it - so it's one to test if you can get your hands on a sample.

Verdict

This is a lovely cleansing oil and I'm enjoying it. Indeed, I've been looking forward to using it every day for the last couple of months, and it's lasting me a while because I only need one pump each time.

It's a yellow oil that's on the thick side and it has a light shea butter scent that's not too strong so it shouldn't bother most people. Note that I've never had an issue with it going into my eyes or giving me blurry vision - which is something I've experienced with cleansing oils in the past - so that's a plus.

At the moment I'm using it in the morning and the evening. As with all oils and balms, it's the first thing I whack on my face when I get out of bed, then I leave it there for twenty minutes or so while I get the kids organised before going back in and adding water etc later on.

I love it for the morning spot because it feels hydrating on my dry skin. Not all oil and balm cleansers work like a hydrating mask, but this one does. While the Bobbi Brown oil (linked above) is more nourishing because it seeps into the skin better (this one sits on top a bit), it still suits the morning spot and I enjoy using it this way.

I also use it in the evening as my first cleanse to remove makeup. While I don't normally use expensive cleansers for that purpose (I prefer budget makeup removers for that, saving my good stuff for skin cleansing only), I'm having a break from micellar waters at the moment because I'm sick of going through so many makeup pads each month, so this cleanser has been a nice change.

It removes most of my makeup beautifully, and it also does a reasonable job with waterproof mascara. Indeed, before I started using this in the evening I found myself waking up with black under my eyes that hadn't been removed from my lashes the night before, but since I started using this in the evening, that's stopped happening and this oil removes most of the black stuff while the shower removes the rest.

On the claims: yes it removes makeup well but I wouldn't say that it removes impurities because it doesn't offer a deep clean; yes it cleanses without causing dryness or tightness; and yes it preserves my skin's natural hydration and offers a healthy radiance after use.

Overall I think this is a great cleansing oil and I recommend it. While it's not my favourite, it's still very good and it's not too expensive for the amount of product you get so I think it's worth trying. My skin enjoys it - especially now that it's colder and my face is getting drier - and I look forward to using it each day.

Lovely.