I’ve been pretty gutted at the lack of magazine freebies the past couple of months. I think we were spoiled over the Summer with so many good ones, so my ears pricked up when I read tweets about the gorgeous hand creams available with November’s UK editions of Marie Claire and In Style, both of which I like to read anyway.
I wouldn’t buy a rubbish mag just because it included a freebie, but if it’s a freebie I’d like and the mag is a good one: win win! I’ve used L’Occitane hand cream before and know it’s great. Cowshed is a brand I’ve heard quite a lot about and really wanted to give it a go.
So what are the products like?
Cowshed
Cowshed is available in two types: moisturising or soothing. I chose soothing ‘cow slip’, because I liked the sound of the fragrance: ‘essential oils of sweet orange and peppermint’.
The moisturising version contains essential oils of grapefruit and coriander, which admittedly also sounds delicious. Which is more than I can say for the name of the cream ‘cow pat’ (not the first thing I’d choose to smother my hands in.)
The texture of Cowshed hand cream is a thickish lotion, which rubs in easily.
The fragrance is quite minty (in fact it reminded me of toothpaste at first) but soon mellows and isn’t overpowering.
I like different types of handcream at certain times of day… for example I hate anything too perfumed when I’m cooking and prefer something with a gentle fragrance last thing at night, when I’ll be sleeping with my hand beside my face (I do have two; I just keep one beside my face, princess style).
L’Occitane
Like I said earlier, I’ve tried L’Occitane hand cream before (with another freebie actually!) and loved it, so knew this was a safe bet. I chose the Cocoa Flower, as I imagined it to be the richest option.
Three others to choose from are: Desert Rose from Morocco, Egyptian Hibiscus, or the original Shea Butter (which is the one I used before).
You can see the much thicker texture of L’Occitane in this pic. The fragrance is of a mellow, slightly sweet cocoa butter. It’s nowhere near as strong as Palmer’s Cocoa Butter, for example. It sinks into the skin leaving a nice sheen, without any tackiness.
I must admit the L’Occitane feels more nourishing, but then I did choose the soothing version of Cowshed, so the moisturising one could be quite different. Oh dear I may have to purchase another…
If you decide to get these, Sainsbury’s gives £2 discount when you buy 2 magazines. Rude not to really.
The third offer, which I haven’t acquired (yet) is £10 off any Molton Brown purchase when you buy the November edition of Red magazine.
Anyone else a sucker for magazine freebies?
