LBS Beauty: L’Occitane Shea Butter Collection

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It’s hard to believe I’m only a day away from my 29th birthday. Among all the things I’m excited about, walking into another year of life, celebrating the last year of my 20‘s, I may be most proud of the condition of my skin. I may hate my post-baby stretch marks and my slowing metabolism, but my soft & seemingly ageless skin makes me really proud. Emphasis on seemingly. At the end of the day, though I was blessed with incredibe genes, my skin ages just like everyone else’s. It needs protection, prevention and proper moisture to stay flawless.

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Just 2 weeks ago, I stepped into 2016 with a brand new beauty look by cutting and coloring my hair. Now that my face is really the center of attention without the long, curly hair, it’s even more important for this skin to be on fleek.

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So when L’Occitane reached out to me about trying the new launches under their Shea Butter Collection, I was all for it. Not only am I obsessed with shea butter as a main ingredient in my beauty products, I’ve also been a huge fan of L’Occitane’s shea butter hand creams for years now. They are so rich but light enough to moisturize without feeling super oily. That’s hard to find in a hand cream. Hence, their hand cream can almost always be found in my handbag (check out my recent Essence interview where I quoted them as a beauty must-have here).

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More than just being an awesome quality skincare brand, I really and truly love the mission behind L’Occitane. Here at LoveBrownSugar, we’re about empowering women of color through style and beauty. And that’s very consistent with L’Occitane’s mission. In 1980, they opened a small co-op in West Africa offering employment to local women in exchange for the fair trade harvest of shea butter. The co-op has grown to employ over 17,000 women and promotes a combination of literacy programs, and entrepreneurial projects to empower these women. So here you have a beauty brand with amazing product AND a powerful mission? I’m sold.

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So let’s dive into their two newest launches, shall we? First up is the Shea Butter Comforting Oil ($42) which is a lightweight yet moisturizing facial oil that is perfect for combatting dry skin during the winter months. Just a little of this stuff goes a long way, so use only 1 pump per application.

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Even though it’s an oil, it’s not heavy, which I liked. It absorbs quickly and makes for a great overnight moisturizer to keep skin supple. Also perfect for sensitive skin – it doesn’t clog pores.

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I really like the Shea Butter Soothing Fluid ($49) for daytime. I substitute it for my moisturizer because of its nourishing ingredients like calming rose hip oil, calendula oil (anti-inflammatory – yassss!) and of course shea butter. It’s really light and sinks into the skin quickly.

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For those of you skincare-obsessed beauties like myself looking for a product line with great ingredients and a powerful mission, look no further than L’Occitane. I’ll be using these shea products so people still ask me for ID at bar. Hah!

Have you tried L’Occitane products? Which are your faves? Soundoff below!
This post is sponsored by L’Occitane. All opinions above are my own and not those of the company.

Christina Brown

Lifestyle influencer and digital mompreneur Christina S. Brown is a New York native, LA resident, and the founder of LoveBrownSugar.com and BrownGirlsLove. She's an award-winning storyteller, a motivational speaker and an advocate for confident millennial black women.