BellaSugar

Watch Your Spirits Will Soar With L'Occitane's Adorable, Charitable Soaps

Jaime Richards — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:20:00 PDT

There's nothing plain about these cute little planes. In fact, for every sale of L'Occitane's limited-edition Get on Board For Sight soaps ($6 each), 100 percent of the proceeds will help support Orbis, an organization that strives to help end preventable blindness. Available in pink (a fruity-floral scent with notes of grape, white rose, and blackcurrant) and blue (a sparkling, zesty scent with notes of grapefruit, verbena, and lemon), these charming cleansers will have your spirits soaring in no time flat.

How to Pronounce Foreign Brand Names (or Not)

Annie Tomlin — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 13:12:50 PDT

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.

See Three Great Beauty Gifts Under $40!

BellaSugar — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 11:00:20 PST

Need a quick, fun beauty gift to give your friends for the holidays? We've got three ideas right here - all priced under $40. See why we think they'll fit almost anyone on your list.

Tried, True, and Reviewed: Natural Deodorants

OnSugar Blog — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:00:18 PDT

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.

Find out more when you keep reading.

We Sniff Summer's Hottest New Scents

BellaSugar — Tue, 25 May 2010 10:00:00 PDT

Looking for a lighter scent that's good for warm weather? Curious about what the fragrance world has in store for you this season? Then you've come to the right place. We Bellas sat down and sniffed a whole bunch of new fragrance releases designed to keep you cool and smelling great this Summer. We're describing how these perfumes actually smell, not just listing off notes, so if you want to know what someone means when they say something has a "solar accord" or an "infusion" of some note you really like, get ready to have your questions answered. To see what we had to say about 10 new releases, just click through.

Reader Review of the Day: L'Occitane Immortelle Very Precious Cream

BellaSugar — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 09:00:25 PDT

With cooler weather on the way, dry skin is about to become a problem for a substantial number of us, and that means one thing: a darn good moisturizer. I'm on the hunt for something new and great myself, so I liked this review of L'Occitane Immortelle Very Precious Cream ($75). Reader ejfish provides a helpful breakdown of the product's pros and cons:

"Likes: Leaves a velvety soft film on my skin every morning (not an oily slick shine). It doesn't cause breakouts/congestion. Once absorbs into the skin, it doesn't feel heavy at all. After three weeks of use, my skin feels visibly softer and smoother. Dislikes: Certainly isn't one you'd buy without thinking twice. It's worth it for me since the last 50mL jar of cream I had lasted me a year (of course, that's with me straying to different brands in the meanwhile). Tip: The cream is thick and solid because of winter (I think). I usually warm it up between my fingertips and pat it all over my face before I massage it in. Note: My skin is very dry-to the point that it peels. This moisturizer stopped that from happening while I was using it"

Found something else pricey but precious? Looking for a new moisturizer, too? Take a pleasant jaunt over to the Product Reviews pages, then. Other readers (and me, too) have reviewed over 50,000 products, and awesome community members write new ones daily. They're fun to write, informative to read, and they make the pursuit of beauty a little easier for all of us.

Reader Review of the Day: Shea Butter Extra Gentle Soap - Milk

BellaSugar — Mon, 18 May 2009 08:00:22 PDT

Sometimes, simplifying your routine is the way to go. And that's exactly what reader Bellazmom had in mind when she purchased Shea Butter Extra Gentle Soap - Milk ($7). Here's why she is so fond of this extra-gentle cleanser:

I am getting back to the basics of life and trying to buy more natural products. This soap is certainly a keeper. The smell is very mild, but pleasant, and it is very gentle for bar soap. The shea butter leaves my skin very soft. It also lasts a long time, so it is worth the price.

What products are you dying to tell us all about? Share your opinions on the Product Reviews website, and check out other featured reviews while you're at it.

New Product Alert: L'Occitane Anniversary Body Creams

BellaSugar — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 14:00:53 PST

L'Occitane is known for its sumptuous shea butter cream, but what you may not know is that the cream is now 20 years old. What's more, the brand has a fair trade setup with workers in Burkina Faso, buying the shea butter from women to help them earn living wages. Two years ago, L'Occitane bought an astounding 75 percent of Burkina Faso's shea butter produced for the beauty industry, and that percentage is growing every year.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary, the brand has created five shea butter-laden creams featuring the scents of African flowers: Acacia, Frangipani, Vanilla, Rosebud, and Ylang Ylang. So if one of those is your favorite scents, you might want to check it out. (Confidential to C. Foster Kane: Rosebud smells like flowers, not sleds. Sorry.)

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BellaSugar's Top Five Hand Cream Picks

BellaSugar — Mon, 19 May 2008 09:00:35 PDT

I'm a hand cream junkie, so it is with great pleasure and conviction that I present my top five favorites to you. Over the past year, I've tested many a cream in search of my favorite, and I have two. The first is June Jacobs Green Tea and Cucumber Hand Cream ($46) because of its quick rate of absorbency, non-greasy feeling and soothing scent.

The second is L'Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream ($25) because of its rich, thick texture and unparalleled soothing results. If there's one thing I've learned from my experiences, it's that the key to a good hand cream is shea butter, and the higher the content, the better. Below are three runners-up that I use regularly to soothe dry, chapped hands. What's your all-time favorite hand cream?

Kiehl's Unusually Rich - But Not Greasy At All - Hand Cream with SPF 10 ($15.50) takes the cake when it comes to consistency since it's not too thick and not too runny. It's also not greasy whatsoever and it's a great sports cream since it contains SPF 10.
Liz Earle Hand Repair ($28.50) smells like heaven and works wonders on dry cuticles. A little goes a long way, and there's also a travel tube available for $8.
Yu-Be Cream ($15) is a high quality Japanese yellow-tinted hand cream that moisturizes on a healing level. I highly recommend this fast-absorbing lotion - if you can handle the strong camphor scent.

Wonderful Ways to Warm Winter Skin

BellaSugar — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 16:00:08 PST

Take a break from the cold and indulge yourself with a warm and wonderful at-home spa treatment. Both of these products contain ingredients that self heat when applied to the skin to help draw out impurities and detoxify. Not only do they feel divine when there's a chill in the air, but they also smell delicious.

My interest in warming treatments began when I tried the Retexturizing Thermal Exfoliator from Cornelia and ever since then, I've been hooked on thermal products. So go on and pamper yourself - baby, it's cold outside!

L'Occitane En Provence Grape Warming Body Wrap ($30) is a moist pink and white mud mask that helps absorb excess toxins in the body. The result is unclogged pores, soft skin, and overall improved in skin tone.

Upon contact, the mud heats up and stimulates circulation, which also helps promote cellular metabolism as well as relaxation - doesn't this sound fab!

For another wonderful, Winter warming product,

read more Lancôme Pure Focus Masque ($28) is a self-heating face mask made with marine extract, salicylic acid, and zinc glutonate to help control oil and shine, deep clean, and prevent new breakouts. It will also tighten and refine your pores as well as soften your skin and create an overall matte finish.