Last week I wrote about Aurelia’s amazing Firm and Revitalise dry oil; this week it’s Roger & Gallet’s Huile Gourmande that’s taking centre stage. Or I should say that it’s the scent of it, the Fleur de Figuier that’s taking centre stage; it’s quite a loud and colourful summer smell that lingers on the skin and it has that kind of warm headiness that’s so appealing when you’re away somewhere hot.

The nose behind Fleur de Figuier is super-perfumer Francis Kurkdjian (he created Jean-Paul Gaultier’s Le Male, Elie Saab’s Le Parfum, the amazing Narciso Rodriguez For Her) and interestingly, he hasn’t gone for that ever-popular green kind of fig scent. That leafy, almost woody fig that transports you straight to the med. It’s nothing at all like Philosykos from Diptque or even Jo Malone’s slightly fruitier Fig & Cassis; this is a full-on fruity floral with quite an obvious hit of mandarin. (I find the Eau Fraiche fragrance from the same range to be slightly greener and earthier, so that’s well worth a look if you love your fig scents.)

Other fig-scented things to browse…

But I’ve become distracted with smells; it was actually the oil’s beautiful texture that I wanted to talk about. It’s really quite gorgeously sumptuous; the effects are long-lasting and the spray bottle makes it so easy to apply. The oil is rich and silky on the skin without leaving too much of a residue – you can feel it on the surface even after an hour or so, but it’s not a sticky or greasy finish. Just beautiful. There are quite a few plant oils blended into the Huile Gourmande; nourishing grape seed, Pomegranate seed, blackcurrant seed and also olive, avocado and sweet almond oils. Between them all they have pretty much everything covered; soothing, anti-inflammatory, nourishing, moisturising, regenerating…

I think that this is a great summer oil. Light enough to use in hot weather but with enough clout to really help soften and nourish the skin, keeping it supple and stopping it from drying out when you’ve spent all day on the beach. It’s usually £25.50 but Escentual.com have a third off their Roger & Gallet supplies this month, so it’s down to a much more purse-friendly £16.83 here. And if oil’s not your thing then I seriously can’t recommend the Bois d’Orange cream enough. It’s just amazing. That’s a tenner here.