L’Occitane Immortelle Divine Harmony

L’Occitane are taking things to another level on the skin care front. In many ways, I liked L’Occitane more when it was just all about making sure we had a  jolly nice bath and smelled delicious. But, the Immortelle Divine Cream is their best selling product – I don’t know anyone that’s used it that doesn’t love it – so with that in mind, it makes sense to add in an even more luxury offering. It’s interesting that my materials here for reference are definitely skewing away from the ‘anti’ part of anti-ageing creams (this is absolutely a trend that grows by the day – addressing older women’s needs without the scare tactics) and instead focussing on the well-being of the skin and women’s ability to take charge of their skin care rather than be led by the fear of a wrinkle.

You could say that the cream is the star in this show although there is a serum as well. What I like about the back story of this product is that it’s been literally years in the making because of the main ingredient, Jania Rubens algae. Instead of dredging algae from its natural place in the sea, L’Occitane set up a sustainable cultivation programme. A single algae fragment was taken from the sea (L’Occitane has worked closely with Stareso, a research centre working to preserve Corsica’s marine life) and then cultivated in vitro and kept in tact the natural actives within the plant. Combined with Immortelle Milesimee (also from Corsica and also sustainably grown) the cream targets facial volume and skin texture.

Both the pot and the serum have refillable elements with the central core coming out of the casing so you only need to buy the actual pot once. Although, thinking about it, if you’re not fussy, you could just buy the cores and save a few pounds. The stats I have here are good, especially for facial volume (74% found their skin was plumper and fuller) and skin texture and tone (84% experienced a brighter complexion) but the test is small – only 33 women over a 3 month period. I think if Imortelle works for you, then this will, too.

Price wise, you may need to sit down for a moment. The L’Occitane Immortelle Divine Harmony Cream is £126 (refill £109) and the Serum is £139 (refill £118).

You’ll be able to find it in stores from September. I really come and go with ‘luxury’ creams because the world is full of women who swear by a tub of cold cream and others who swear by La Mer. So, I guess it’s all about what works for you. What’s true is that production costs on this are high – you don’t work for ten years to refine a process and expect it to come in cheaply although I don’t think the packaging is bringing anything much to the party.