L'Occitane en Provence

So, I've been in Montreal for several months now, and I haven't yet splurged on anything truly ridiculous. I decided that today was my day and, being out of bath salts (a hot bath being the best way for me to unwind--srsly, try it), I decided to stop in at L'occitane en Provence, near my apartment. I had no idea what this place was, but the bars of soap in the window looked promising, so in I went. Apparently they use primarily natural ingredients, and were begun in 1976, in Provence, in France. For a more in-depth background on their products and history, go here

The clerk was very nice. She gave me a free cup of tea. Probably so I would feel obliged to buy something (I did).

My Purchase

Holy overpriced batman! I got a set of four lavender bath fizz-bombs for $20 with tax. . .that's around a $5 bath bomb. $5 bath bomb had better be pretty damn good, right? 

Closeup of the bath bomb

Well, let me tell you--I don't know if it was worth $5, but it was probably the best bath bomb I've experienced (and I'm something of a connoisseur) . It fizzed for about five minutes all told (normally you're lucky if you get a minute of fizz), and filled the bathroom with the scent of real lavender (not the choking chemical iteration of lavender). The water was turned a pleasant pink color by the bath bomb, but the color did not stain the tub (bonus!). The water was so soft, and now my skin is super soft too!

The clerk also tossed in some free samples:

Free samples!

. . .of which I tried the conditioner. I have no idea what they call the scent (the packet didn't say) but it smelt *exactly* like a summer afternoon on the prairies. The kind where its hot, and the air is still, and all you can hear is the sound of grasshoppers an the occasional bird. Someone has to know what I'm talking about.

So, L'Occitane en Provence -- I probably wouldn't splurge like this again for myself (except maybe for the nostalgia of prairie in a bottle) but for gifts, this is definitely some high quality stuff. Altogether, with the tea and the free samples included, I'd say this was definitely a $20 experience.