L'Occitane's New Brightening Skincare - Treating Hyper Pigmentation & Dark Circles with Care

When I hear 'brightening' in reference to skincare my hyper pigmented brow always raises an inch. You see the return of the sunshine means one thing for my visage and that's the return of the dreaded uneven colouration of my skin tone as my melanin loses it's marbles and goes into overdrive. 

Thankfully L'Occitane have, this month, added to their Brightening Skincare range with a newly formulated Brightening Essence, a Brightening Touch Targeted Corrector and an Eye Care & Mask Duo for Brightening Correction. I was lucky enough to trial them for the past several weeks and the results are in. Can we say 'WHOOT!'?

L'Occitane Brightening Essence: €53.50

Formulated by combining the essential oils of Corsican immortelle flowers (better known for their anti-aging wizardry in the L'Occitane Divine skincare range) and extract of wild daisy (for its brightening properties), this Brightening Essence has quickly become a staple in my morning routine. 

Slightly more viscous than any serum I have used, it is packed full of active molecules that promise to, not only reduce hyper pigmentation (they do) but to even the skin tone and brighten and smooth the overall skintone (they do that too). A little goes a very long way with this Essence and the amount shown above is exactly enough for my pre morning moisturising ritual. 

I found that the Brightening Essence is tackier on my skin quicker than any other serum, which speeds up my morning routine but it seems to boost my daily moisturiser too - currently Origins GinZing. Despite the glorious sunshine this past fortnight, my forehead has remained relatively uniform in colour and tone and I'm hoping that's a direct result of this Essence. 

L'Occitane says it is as this Essence works in 3 stages to prevent hyper pigmentation:  

• Limits the production of the enzyme responsible for melanin synthesis (ie going WAILD)
• Reduces function of this enzyme
• Inhibits the transfer of melanin to the skin's surface

Neat, huh? My forehead says absolutely. 

L'Occitane Eye Care & Mask Duo Brightening Correction : €37

Second in the new additions to the Brightening line up is the Eye Care & Mask Duo Brightening Corrector. Again, I'm a sucker for this packaging. The metal applicator is instantly cooling on the delicate eye area and works to calm puffiness and aid circulation. 

I've been having a rough time with sleep evading me of late, so much so that the boss has walked in on me with two cold spoons over my eyes to help my burny eyeballs so when I tell you this has been a manna from heaven, that's no word of a lie. 

This snazzy dual purpose treatment means that not only does it provide instantaneous cooling relief for tired eyes but it can be left on for 10 mins as a mask as a late night (or early morning after a late night) treat. My eyeballs thank you, L'Occitane, truly they do. 

L'Occitane Brightening Touch Targeted Corrector: €30.50

Another of my serious beauty addictions is to brightening pens. I'm talking over 10 of these bad boys in my stash. The Brightening Touch Targeted Corrector is slightly different to most of my twistable loot though as it actually works to brighten both dark spots and conceal dark circles. 

I apply this under the eye in the three stroke format above but also to any area of the face that I'd like to highlight that day (under the brow, bridge of my nose & cupid's bow). I've noticed that not only is it soft and workable under my makeup but it is also delicate enough to use over. 

Of the three new Brightening products, if you didn't hare out and buy all three, this is the one I would recommend until the cows come home. Last Wednesday I survived a day at the office on just 2 hours sleep the night before with 3 applications of this and four times, FOUR, people commented how fresh my skin appeared. I'm adding this to the Divine Cream Hall of Wizardry, to be purchased again and again and again. 

Are you a L'Occitane fan? Any of these Brightening beauties tickle your fancy?