BEAUTY | YVES ROCHER: What to buy (and what not)

For most of you Yves Rocher probably isn't the go to beauty brand, and I'm not even that surprised. If you live in the UK, Yves Rocher isn't as well known as L'Oreal or even Lush. It's just one of those online brands, which is a terrible shame. Now hear my out why! I have been a loyal Yves Rocher customer for more than 10 years - can you believe it? I don't buy a lot from them (for the same reason as you most likely, I just forget) but when I do buy something, it's always a rather luverly purchase which keeps making me happy until the last scrapes of the pan, the last drops in the bottle. Even my very first make-up purchase with my own money wasn't Rimmel, it was a pearlescent lip gloss from Yves Rocher (by the way, I'm still on the hunt to get another one, a decade later!). So which products you definitely should (and shouldn't) buy from Yves Rocher?
FRAGRANCES I've got a rather strange taste in the fragrance department - I very much dislike your traditional perfumes from Britney Spears to YSL, it just doesn't cut it for me. There are a few exceptions (Burberry's Body, mmmm, or Stella McCartney) but in general I like slightly different scents. For instance I love Clarins fragrances and I love the new Library of Fragrance (read more here). And I adore Yves Rocher perfumes. I've tried all the ones in the picture above and they all smell so unique and amazing (pinky promise you that if you try them you will be impressed by the uniqueness). My absolute favourite is The Vert - the green tea fragrance, it smells so refreshing and I always get a ton of compliments (read a review here). Another favourite is their Vanille Noire - the black vanilla fragrance, which is really sweet but also kind of dark and mysterious.
SHOWER GELS My mum always gets me these shower gels when I come to the Czech Republic for visit - they are not very big but they smell delicious! One good thing about these is that the scent lasts on your skin even after you've showered - I think that's one of the reasons why they make matching scents to some of their fragrances!
SKIN CARE Now in all honesty I haven't tried a ton of their skin care but the ones I did try were great. I really like how they use quite creative packaging in their lines and quite aesthetically pleasing colour schemes. Their ranges are not particularly expensive however the packaging gives it a touch more luxurious feel.
MAKE-UP My lip gloss nostalgia story aside, I'm a fan of Yves Rocher lip products in general. I used one of their red lipsticks in a blog post here and apart from the formula which is really creamy on lips (not super long lasting, but as you probably know you either get hydration and multiple reapplication or long lasting colour and dry chapped lips), the lipsticks also come in the prettiest packaging. They make really lovely presents too as they have this luxe look to them! I also found these loose pearl eye shadows on their website which look uncannily like the lip gloss I've been rambling on about. That's a thought, right there.
And what to not get? I'm not too fussed about their hair care - I've only tried it once or twice and it was okay, but the experience obviously wasn't wow enough for me to be memorable. I've also never tried their deodorants and although I've never tried them, they just don't lure me in with their design.
You can get all products mentioned (not the lip gloss though, le sigh) on Yves Rocher website. And don't forget! The Black Friday sale is running from today until 1st December! There's a selection of 40 products (including some of the above, yay!) which you can get for up to 70% off - which makes some of their products an absolute bargain - eg the shower gels only cost about £1 something with the discount! Right - if you're unsure about Yves Rocher and maybe want to dip your toes in but don't want to swim, this might be the best time to try some of their products.
Have you tried Yves Rocher before? What are your thoughts on the brand and what are your favourite products?