This may seem surprising as winter approaches, but it is the time chosen by a number of brands to launch or develop their ranges dedicated to Provence. Sun-drenched treatments where olive oil takes pride of place in good and due form. Enough to warm up the first frosts… A little sunshine in cold water, as Françoise Sagan would say!
Provence is increasingly seducing the GMS facial skincare products
A major instigator of this trend in supermarkets, Le Petit Marseillais remains more than ever faithful to these ingredients that smell good in the South, such as honey or olive butter (latest innovations released: Shampoo Cream Nutrition Honey of Provence & Shea or Shampoo Repair Balm Olive Butter & Royal Jelly, ml, between €2.50 and €2.80 each; Conditioner Nutrition Honey of Provence & Shea or Conditioner Repair Olive Butter & Royal Jelly, ml200, between €2.50 and €2.80 each; Mask Nutrition Honey of Provence & Shea, ml300, between €4 and €4,70), while waiting for its new line of facial treatments Délice de Miel, entirely made with honey from Provence, which should arrive next January (we will talk about it again).
For its part, Le Petit Olivier, after having opted for almond blossom for its anti-pollution facial skincare range launched before summer, offers an original Olive Oil Shower Butter (200 g, €3.99) that washes and hydrates in a single step.
But it is to L’Oréal that we owe the great sunny launch of autumn, a range of 13 certified organic facial and body treatments simply called La Provençale. For facial care, Anti-Aging Youth Cream (50 ml, €13.09); Moisturizing Radiant Cream (50 ml, €10.89); Night Serum Youth Oil (30 ml, €13.09); Anti-Aging Youth Cream (50 ml, €13.09) and Cleansing Purity Mask (100 ml, €7.15). On the body care side: the Nutritive Flower Honey scent Shower, the Moisturizing Marseille Soap scent Shower or the Fleur de Grasse Resourcing Shower (500 ml, €5.39 each); the Authentic Extra Pure Soap, 100 ml, €3.85 ; Face, Body and Hair Beauty Oil, 100 ml, €14.19; two deodorants 24H Freshness (Fleur de Grasse or Marseille Soap scent, 50 ml, €4.95 each) and Hand Nutrition Ointment (l75 ml, €4.29).
The brand whose logo is a Provençal harvester intends to restore the organic tradition to its former glory. Olive oil is treated as a super star (a better way to avoid palm oil and to favour locavorous ingredients). Here it is obviously organic and has an Provence registered designation of origin.
It is extracted within 24 hours of harvesting.
Other product constants: formulas containing between 98% and 100% natural ingredients and French manufacturing to support the local economy.
The company’s social commitment is also reflected in the fact that cases and vials are 100% recyclable and many of the packaging is made of glass. The fragrance of the treatments, which we owe to Mane, is particularly successful.
On the side of the Marseille soap makers….
The Compagnie de Provence, like Marius Fabre, launched their first facial treatments. Happy Moisturizing Cream (Moisturizing facial care, 50 ml, €29.90 or 100 ml, €44.90) with 98% natural ingredients for the first. Moisturizing face & body cream named Olivia for the second (100 ml, €17.50). Certified organic, the latter, with a more “family” vocation, also highlights olive oil.
As for the Marseille horseshoe soap maker, he imagines eight new flavours of Liquid Marseille Soaps very much rooted in the southern soil (Fleur d’Olivier, Fig tree leaves, Honey and Almonds… 500 ml, €11.50).
Finally, the Provençale brand of Maison Bronzini olive oil and cosmetics offers two new products (Shimmering Beauty Oil, 50 ml, €17; Brightening Cleansing Foam, 150 ml, €14) which contain - like all the products in the range - the quintessence of the olive tree (flowers, leaves and fruits extracted by an innovative eco-process): Phenoliv Complex®, a cellular energy activator with anti-oxidant properties.
The South is also celebrating in the hydrolats
Basil, noble laurel, savory, lemon balm, fine lavender, helichrysum, clary sage, peppermint, spearmint… the latest organic hydrolats from Aroma-Zone also feature the most emblematic ingredients of Provence! (Organic Pure Hydrolat of Linalool Basil, 200 ml, €4.50; Organic Pure Hydrolat of Laurel Noble of Provence, 200 ml, €4.50; Organic Pure Hydrolat of Fine Lavender of Provence, 200 ml, €3.90; Organic Pure Hydrolat of Melissa of Provence, 200 ml, €4.50; Organic Pure Hydrolat of Savory of Provence, 200 ml, €3.50 ; Organic Pure Hydrolate of Peppermint of Provence, 200 ml, €4.90; Organic Pure Hydrolate of Green Mint of Provence, 100 ml, €2.90; Organic Italian Helichrysate of Provence, 200 ml, €3.20; Pure Clary Sage Hydrolate, 200 ml, €3.50).
