L’Occitane en Provence

L’Occitane is a beautiful boutique company that sells high quality body products. I’ve gone into their stores before but generally bought very little because they are expensive. The smells in the store are amazing, light natural smells not fake over perfumed scents like other body stores. I got back into L’Occitane because I’m taking a trip to Southern France and was thinking of visiting their factory, otherwise I probably would have forgotten the brand because they don’t have many shops in the Boston area (2?)
I have been dealing with itchy winter skin again and will pay anything to calm it, so when I saw they had an oil based body wash I decided to go. I liked that I could try out the different products in the store including body washes by using their pretty sink in front. Again, the scents were amaaazing and the Almond Body Oil I got was not a sicky sweet baked goods scent I expected, but a very light floral almond scent.
The staff, of note, was incredibly not helpful and very brisk. Even with the basics of asking if I needed help. I saw one of them really put off a customer who came in while I was at the register because the cashier interrupted our conversation to briskly ask if she needed help without actually meaning it. When it came time to make a purchase and use a VIP deal I got in an email, it was very tough. The first time I asked the said I needed to show the email as proof because they had no idea what I was talking about. So I had to walk around the mall to get reception and then eventually I pulled up the email. Then she argued with me about what the promotion was, I showed her the fine print to prove that it was indeed a promotion and indeed available online and in store. Then she rifiled through some boxes behind the register and pulled out the promotion item but still didn’t think it was the promotion item. Then she believed that it was and flipped through a stack of papers to «find the code» I gave her the code I got but I guess she needed something else. She couldn’t find it so she said «I’ll do this instead» and did something random on the register acting like she was doing me a huge favor. Urgh. At least I got what I wanted, but seriously they need to train their staff better if they expect us to want to buy their products.

We just went to this store but were unable to make a purchase using their own gift cards because employees are not trained on how to accept them. A complete waste of time. What kind of a store allows people to work if they don’t know how to accept their store gift cards? Absolutely horrible customer service skills.

High end, luxury hand & face creams,
offered up in the haute couture heaven
that is the Prudential Mall of Back Bay!
The sales clerk was very attentive & patient.
The creams were priced to pay their high rent,
but silky, soothing and pleasantly scented.
THE DEAL: Get on their mailing list,
and «Like» them on Facebook,
to receive specials & coupons.

Some of their stuff is quite pricey, some stuff is more reasonable, but almost everything is wonderful. I adore their scented candles. They are small but well made and last a long time. The lavender essential oil roller ball is only $ 15 and a great way to incorporate some relaxing lavender essence into your daily routine. Sign up for their mailing list and you will get lovely samples and discount offers in the mail. The sales staff here is always very welcoming, accommodating and helpful and never pushy like the staff at the Body Shop.

The Good:
Every time I have been to this shop, all staff was very helpful and attentive without being pushy and aggressive, in addition to being polite and informative (I would give staff five stars!). Packaging is beautiful and if you’re gifting, the products really don’t even need to be gift wrapped. I have loved all the products that I’ve been using for several years, until I decided to investigate the ingredients and the company further, and…
The Bad:
…what I found was that my favorite product (the «Immortelle» moisturizing cream) earned a score of 8 or «High Concern» (1 being lowest, 10 being highest) on a «Hazard Rating» system developed the non-​profit group EWG (Environmental Working Group) as listed on their resource guide website,
:
Additionally, I learned that the company did not /​would not sign a ‘Compact for Safe Cosmetics,’ a campaign that supports the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011 (H.R.2359). This act, in a nutshell, wants US cosmetics companies to fully disclose all of their ingredients and generally follow the European Union’s Cosmetics Directive, which is like the EU’s FDA for hair/​makeup/​skin products.
When I went to L’Occitane’s website, they said that they «keep abreast of the latest studies and the position taken by the world’s bodies responsible for cosmetic regulations»…really? Then why wouldn’t they sign the Compact for Safe Cosmetics?
I was surprised and disappointed by all of this and now need to find new moisturizers.

This is my new favorite brand that I learned of from a magazine. The products are natural and they work (better then Chanel and more affordable)! The website has unedited customer reviews. Last week was my first time in a store. I had a free facial given by Jordan. He was friendly and professional. Really knowledgeable. I will go back to the store, even though online shopping is so simple.

3.5 stars. I am somewhat familiar with the products, but I was looking to pick something up for a friend. One of the associates offered her assistance. I told her I was looking for something small or possibly a sampler with a price range in mind. She quickly showed me what would fit the bill. She pointed which ones were the more popular ones to help narrow my options. She was very helpful. Good experience overall.

Nice lotion. The French really know their stuff. I bought a gift set from here for a friend (lemon smell I think) and that friend seems to really appreciate it. However, I still prefer Sabon (products from Israel) because I feel Sabon has more diversity in nice smelling products, plus Sabon has really great scrubs.