CAUDALIE LIP CONDITIONER, HAND CREAM & ‘ZESTE DE VIGNE’

I picked these up at pharmacy in Portugal after I ran out of perfume. If you’ve tried these, let me know what you think!

Here’s my verdict on them (a little mixed)…

The Lip Conditioner and Pamplemousse Rose (Grapefruit) 30ml Hand Cream Set was an absolute bargain at 6 euros. The lip balm is fantastic, slightly vanilla scented, 99.5% natural, made with Sunflower Seed Oil, Castor Oil, Rice Bran Wax, Shea Butter, Grapeseed Oil, Apricot Kernel Oil (and other ingredients). Probably one of the most perfect lip conditioners – for me – and as I’ve gone off pots of lip balm recently this one’s going to be purchased again, that’s for sure.  I also don’t like vanilla that much but the taste of this is spot-on. Really pleasant and non-intrusive.

You’ll find it at Feelunique.com HERE £5.50 (26 great reviews, not surprising)

…and it’s  a “yes” from me

I’ve just found the same set I bought in Portugal here on Feelunique.com – for £6.40. So for 90p more than the Lip Conditioner alone, you get the hand cream.

These are such cool little mini gifts for summer.

Caudalie’s ZESTE DE VIGNE Eau Fraiche

There are 4 summery fragrances in Caudalie’s Eau Fraiche range – Fig, a Green Floral, a Tea-based scent and a Citrus. I couldn’t make up my mind in the chemist between the Fig de Vigne and the Citrus one (Zeste de Vigne – Sweet Lemon, Petit Grain, Bergamot). I had a bus to catch and without giving them enough time to settle/do whatever they do with your body chemistry, I plumped for the Zeste de Vigne, Citrus one – 21 euros for 50ml.

30 mins later on the bus, though, I couldn’t even smell the faintest trace of it.  It had vanished through the window into the warm Algarve breeze. Too chiffony and disappointing. Maybe it would last longer on someone else’s body chemistry – but…

…the Fig still lingered. Obviously, these are Eau Fraiches, not EDTs, not EDPs, so you don’t really expect as much staying power as an EDT or EDP but the Zeste de Vigne’s lemony fruitiness lasted for about 15 minutes then vanished, like a scented butterfly.

The glass bottle is even prettier in real life, the grape “relief” almost looks like luminous bubbles, love the packaging! And the tubes are great for travelling, you could pack this knowing it won’t shatter en route.

Next time I’d go for the Fig de Vigne, which FeelUnique.com have as well – in fact, it’s the only one they seem to stock currently out of the four. There’s also bergamot, white cedar and Bulgarian rose along with the fig, giving it “longer legs” and better lasting power. I though it was quite lovely. Lighter than Diptyque’s much-loved Fig fragrance Philosykos which also has white cedar in it but that’s an homage to an entire fig tree and in another (price) league and you can’t really compare  apples and pears.

So – verdict!

YES to the Lip Conditioner which I really recommend if you’ve just run out of yours and feel like something new (but get the Feelunique SET, above, as it’s almost the same price so the 30ml hand cream works out almost free).

NO to the Zeste de Vigne because it was so fleeting and has left me wishing I’d bought the Fig now.

And probably a yes to the Fig de Vigne. It was a real summer-is-here, feminine fig – could be on the list for next time.

CAUDALIE have a Vanity Case offer on at the moment on their own website for purchases of £40 or over.

 uk.caudalie.com