Diptyque's L'Art Du Soin

Diptyque’s new bodycare line, L’Art Du Soin or Art of Care, is based around the theme of travel and discovery. Each product has been inspired by a destination such as Florence or Cordoba for its ingredients and fragrance as well as its “gesture” as the Diptyque literature states. This of course sounds lovely, but my ears really perked up while visiting the San Francisco boutique this spring when I heard L’Art Du Soin was going to be free of phthalates, parabens, glycols, and PEG; glycols and PEG being petrochemicals. (Their literature also states no “aluminum or sulfates derived from petrochemicals.”)  Scrutinizing the ingredient lists shows that this does not mean 100% free of petrochemicals or synthetic fragrance, but to be fair, L’Art Du Soin appears to be extremely close. I know that many Scent Hive readers are Diptyque fans who must be thrilled they now offer products free of parabens and phthalates.

Lait Frais (Fresh Lotion): Inspiration, Alexandria on the Mediterranean

Smoothing Lait Frais on the skin is reminiscent of freshly crushed leaves that gives it a hearty green scent. It’s vibrant and lively; what you’d expect from a petitgrain fragrance as petitgrain is the essential oil extracted from the leaves and twigs of the bitter orange tree. Petitgrain is often used in men’s colognes, but Lait Frais is unisex in the way that it will become feminine on a woman and masculine on a man. Honeyed orange blossoms appear further down the road, about an hour later, adding to its summery appeal. The lotion itself is nourishing and softens the skin with macadamia oil and organic sweet almond oil. Never greasy, Lait Frais is perfect for summer, especially humid climates. Impressive sillage is also part of the deal as its fragrance wafted around me as my arms swung, and after five hours it was still going strong.

Gelée Lactée (Creamy Body Wash): Inspiration Aleppo, Syria

Diptyque wants to “revive the pleasure of bathing” with this creamy, olive oil based body wash. I wasn’t aware this pleasure needed reviving, but Gelée Lactée certainly brings gratification to the shower. The milky wash produces an abundance of luxurious, foamy suds that has a silky slip on the skin. Rosemary, bay laurel, and lemon are the notes listed on the product information, but rosemary, which typically knocks your socks off with its aroma, was no where to be found. Instead, the shower was gently consumed by the scent of bay leaf and soothing citrus, which was both refreshing and serene.

Huiles Précieuses (Precious Oils): Inspiration Florence, Italy

Huiles Précieuses is a very masculine fragrance oil, loaded with soapy iris, and potent cedar. This was simply too strongly scented for me to use liberally so I can’t comment on its efficacy as a moisturizer. Ultimately it was my least favorite of the L’Art Du Soin line (even on my husband) as its derivative masculine scent was too tenacious and overbearing.

Creme Riche (Rich Butter): Inspiration Byzantium

Creme Riche is a very effective moisturizer laden with goodness for your skin like organic argan oil, organic honey and rose water. It’s silky and absobs rapidly, leaving no trace of the butter. Just smooth, soft skin. Myrrh and Damask Rose provide a lovely dusty, woody rose scent that lasts for hours.

Baume Généreux pour les Mains (Luxurious Hand Balm): Inspiration, Cordoba, Spain

Diptyque’s Luxurious Hand Balm is drop-dead gorgeous. Organic argan oil shows itself again as well as shea butter and apricot kernel oil in this luxurious concoction. With ingredients like that, it would be hard not to butter your hands up with nourishment. But even if didn’t, I’d still want this stuff all over me…it smells that good. Juicy apricots and the vanilla-covered almond flavor of tonka bean swirl over you after massaging this balm on your skin. Just try not to nuzzle yourself too much in public when you wear this.

L’art du Soin is available at Four Seasons Products, and Beautyhabit.com

posted by ~Trish