L'Occitane

To celebrate International Women's Day on March 8, L'Occitane is allowing women to indulge in a little bit of self-pampering while giving back at the same time. The beauty brand is releasing its Women's Day Soap ($8), which is made from fair-trade shea butter and produced in a completely women-run factory in African nation Burkina Faso. All of the proceeds from the soap sales will help build literacy centers for women there. Pick up your soap on March 8 and help spread some girl power around the world. Who said beauty was a shallow affair?

When people bring up exfoliation, it's usually in reference to the teeny bikinis and bare legs of Summer. Since exfoliation smooths things out and your skin is most exposed in the warmer months, this seems only natural. But it's just as important to bring out your sloughing treatments in the colder months, too, even though you're covered in layers. Here's why:

1. Exfoliation helps dry skin. Those dehydrated, cracked hands that plague you in the Winter are easily remedied by regular sloughing. Pick up a scrub specifically for your palms, like L'Occitane's One Minute Hand Scrub ($22) to gently remove dead skin cells and restore your hands to their pre-Winter glory.
2. Exfoliation keeps your pores clear. One of the more important parts of your skin care regimen is exfoliating, and many women let this fall by the wayside when it's cold. But keeping up your scrubbing is essential to making sure your blemishes stay away and your pores keep clean. Kate Somerville ExfoliKate Acne Treatment ($65) has the right ingredients to smooth away your blemishes.
3. Exfoliation helps you absorb more moisture. Cold air sucks the moisture right out of your skin, but exfoliating away your dead cells makes your skin more accepting of lotions for warding off dryness. So scrub up, and then smooth on a moisturizer like Clinique Deep Comfort Body Butter ($28). Your legs will be radiant with hydration.

It's only natural to give an eyebrow raise to any moisturizer that claims to be suitable for your hands, body, and face. But L'Occitane's Bonne Mère Gentle Cream ($22) actually does its job. The silky cream smooths onto skin and dries in no time at all, leaving behind zero greasy residue. And the scents aren't overwhelming, either. Bonne Mère comes in both milk and honey varieties, fragrances which are sweet without being cloying. And while the packaging says it's suitable for all skin types, those with oily skin may want to scale back on their application; the cream is quite hydrating, which can give shiny faces a bit too much moisture. And if you can't find the land of milk and honey, L'Occitane's latest may be the next best thing.

Fall is a paradox. It can be described as warm and cozy, yet crisp and dry. With L'Occitane's Bonne Mere Gentle Body Wash in Honey ($34) you'll get plenty of the warm and cozy, but none of the dry. The creamy body wash, as its name suggests, contains the subtly sweet scent of honey, with a tinge of fresh, clean, powdery notes.

The results envelop the senses, from touch, smell, and sight. Speaking of sight, you won't get much bubbly action overflowing from the bathtub, as the outer labeling appears to depict. In the shower, however, this moisturizing wash lathers up nicely. And if you're not crazy about strong fragrances, you'll revel in the whisper of a scent it leaves behind.

If you don't speak French or Italian, you could become tongue-tied by some of the big names in fashion and beauty. Brands such as L'Occitane and Yves Saint Laurent can prove difficult to pronounce for those not in the know. (Who can forget Nomi Malone's "Vur-sayss" faux pas in Showgirls?) Fortunately, the Internet provides a handy cheat sheet that can save you the awkwardness of mispronouncing designer names. Yes, it's Pronunciation Manual to the rescue. Turns out we've been saying these names all wrong, according to the YouTube channel's flawless enunciation of L'Occitane, Versace, Gucci, and Yves Saint Laurent. Spot on. Got a question on how to (really) pronounce a name? Leave it in the comment section and we'll do our best to help you say Versace.

Here's a look at natural deodorants from OnSugar blog The BrownFace B.E.E.:

Once you go natural (with your hair), I think something is stirred inside you to go natural with everything else. Well, at least for me. One of the first things (after my hair) that I went natural with was my deodorant. My husband has not used any antiperspirant or deodorants in like 15 years, and believe it or not, he does not smell (um, there are those days, but it is so not as bad as you would think). His was not a natural choice, but he realized that the antiperspirants were messing up the underarms of his light-colored shirts.

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