L'Occitane Brightening Moisture Cream

I bought this at the airport on my way to Antigua earlier this year, I had never tried L'Occitane products before but this brightening cream caught my eye and as it was duty free I thought I would give it a go. I did not use this while I was away because I wanted to test this in the UK rather than in the hot Antigua climate.

The reason I wanted to try this one was because I thought my skin was looking a bit dull and I had heard good things about L’Occitane - this cream is supposed to give you a youthful radiant glow - just the job. WRONG, this product did not work at all for me! Which is a shame because it has a lovely fragrance and a light gel/cream texture which I thought would be good for my oily/combination skin type.

This cream can be used morning and night, I personally did not see it as a night cream, it did not absorb deeply into the skin like I would expect out of a night cream. However, I did not like this as a day cream either – it dries quickly and leaves a powdery layer on the skin. The main test for me is how it sits under foundation as I wear make up almost every day and I sometimes find that moisturisers make my skin a little oily with foundation over the top.  This had a different effect, the foundation did not mix well with the powdery finish and made it hard to blend, (sort of like putting face powder on first then foundation) I tried two different foundations and they both had the same outcome. I also did not see much in the way of brighter skin, I think if I was able to use this more as a day cream then I would be able to see the difference but I did not see the pot to the end.

So overall I did not find this good for morning application because of how it reacts with foundation and not great as a night cream as it’s too light and I don’t like how it dries on the skin.  I think this cream would be good if you do not wear much foundation (unlike me who cakes it on thick) or if you want a lighter alternative as a night cream.
I am not ruling out L’Occitane products though, I should have done my research before buying this moisturiser! I would like to try the hand creams because I have seen them a few times in magazines and I think they are the best sellers.

Have you tried this brightening cream? If you have and liked it I would be interested to know what skin type it suits