L'Occitane Facecolour Powder

When I saw that L'Occitane was coming out with a color collection, I sort of roll my eyes and didn't pay much attention. It actually took a huge promotion (3-hour 50% off sale with GWP!) to get me to take a closer look ^.^ In the end, I picked up this Facecolour Powder in 01 Helene Martin Peony.

01 Helene Martin Peony, all pictures taken in natural light without flash.

I noticed the paper packaging first and foremost. The outer packaging is just a thin paper envelope, and the powder itself is housed in a paper pot, taking after Paul & Joe.

Outer paper envelop and paper pot.

That said, my honest opinion is that L'Occitane's paper packaging doesn't feel quite as sturdy as Paul & Joe's. In fact, I had bought another powder, which also came in a paper envelop and paper pot, and it arrived completely crushed even though the whole order was packaged very carefully and cushioned with peanuts. Perhaps that fragility reflects more of the actual press powder than its packaging, but I still feel the paper is not tough enough to mingle in my makeup bag.

Another thing I noticed is that the naming convention of these point makeup items is rather convoluted, not so much with this particular item, but you'll see when I put the other Facecolour Powders up. It gets a bit confusing. This Facecolour Powder is 01 Helene Martin Peony. 

But aside from the 2 minor things I mentioned above, I really like the concept of their Facecolour Powders. They are multi-purpose powders that can be used all over the face, on the cheeks, and depends on the color, on the eyes as well. I purposely picked this 01 Helene Martin Peony for its versatility. I didn't expect much, but was pleasantly surprised by the silky smooth texture of the powder. It may not be buttery like Maquillage eye shadows, but it is much smoother than the Lancome blushes I own. It is scented with a light and fresh flower fragrance, though I'm not sure if it's a "peony" fragrance because the descriptions didn't explicitly say so, and it's not like I know what peonies smell like.

01 Helene Martin Peony: pearly satin, low intensity, a very pearly champagne color that, perhaps, is a tad too opaque to be used as a highlighter for the face. Then again, I haven't tried using this on my face yet, so I wouldn't know. From the swatch though, it would probably make a gorgeous wash on the eye lids.