Empties: March 2018.

Well hello!  

March seemed to simply whizz by and after an exceptionally slow start to the month empties wise I seemed to fly through products in the last few days. Let's take a look at the twelve full sized and twenty two samples that I finished in March.

Skincare.

This month I only managed to use up three full sized skincare items plus a sheet mask!

I dislike wearing most sunscreens so Lancome Bienfait UV 50+ was a pleasant surprise for me as it felt comfortable on my skin and provided enough hydration that I didn't have to use a daytime moisturiser under it. This oil free sunscreen left no white/grey cast on my skin and although there were a few products that made it ball up, it did layer well with most things, and it didn't cause me to break out once.

Vichy V Mineral 89 is so good! This Hyaluronic Acid rich 'booster' (I used it in the place of a serum) made my skin look plump and smooth, the huge 50ml bottle lasted for ages. This is such a good product for the price (it is under $30.00) and I love the fact that I can easily grab some in my local drugstore.

Mabel+Meg Enchanter Hydrating Eye Serum is another Hyaluronic Acid rich product. This clear gel didn't do anything for me besides providing a burst of immediate hydration to my eye area. I think that if you are younger and haven't many concerns about the area around your eyes you may like this, but if you need a little more help then I don't think this is for you. I also found that this had quite a runny consistency that wasn't the best for use around the eyes as it meant that it was quite easy to get it into them by accident.

Nature Republic Aqua Collagen Solution Sheet Mask was saturated with product and a good fit for my face but, honestly, I don't think it did anything in terms of making my skin feel softer or more hydrated. It actually made my face feel a little itchy when I was wearing it... I'm still not convinced by sheet masks I'm afraid!

Although full sized skincare empties were a little thin on the ground this month I did use up eleven skincare samples.

Omorovicza Cleansing Foam had a nice whipped mousse like texture. I quite liked this as a morning face wash, it didn't dry out my skin and was a luxurious start to the day, but I did find that it's strong Neroli/Cologne type scent was an odd pick for a facial product. This falls into the range of 'super expensive facial cleansers' and although it was nice enough I don't think that it is worth it's high price tag.

Aquareveal Satin Bright Soft Water Peel and Sonya Dakar Flash Facial were both quick daily exfoliating products. These two gels both turned watery and then into a white balled up substance when rubbed over dry skin. I thought that both of these were somewhat gimmicky. I didn't notice any difference after I used them and I hated having to wash the balled up product from my face as I found it a somewhat messy procedure. I was disappointed by both of these.

I have used Caudalie VinoPerfect Serum before. I don't find that it does much in terms of brightening my skin but it does do a good job of hydrating it and I like the fresh smell and feel of it. It's a good daytime serum for me.

A good night time serum for me is Sunday Riley Luna. I don't love the smell of this but it is a lovely gentle retinol encapsulated in soothing Blue Tansy Oil, such a clever combination of products that suits my skin well and layers beautifully with my favourite Sunday Riley Good Genes to form a simple and effective night time routine.

3Lab M Serum is an exceptionally good serum. I love how this feels on my skin and how it makes my skin feel. I'm always happy to get 3Lab samples as not only do they produce results they are far too expensive for me to even consider purchasing!

I used three samples of face creams. Vichy Liftactiv Supreme was okay, nothing bad about this one but nothing special either. Chantecaille Rose de Mai Cream is a gentle hydrating gel cream that is very lovely to wear as a daytime skin plumper. Kat Burki Bio Correcting Face Cream is rich and luxurious, it makes skin feel instantly softer and appear smoother. It is very good but it is another very expensive product.

I didn't experience any noticeable cooling effect from Lancome Energie de Vie Eye Gel but I did find that it made my whole eye area look a little fresher without irritating my eyes. I'm always on the lookout for the perfect eye cream and although this wasn't 'the one' it did impress me enough that I would buy a full size next time I see an enticing Lancome GWP.

Finally for skincare Goldfaden MD Facial Detox Mask was a non drying clay type mask that was easy to rinse off. It left my skin looking clear, even, and generally fresher and brighter. I didn't love it's strong menthol and citrus fragrance but I did like the results.

Two make up minis I finished this month were Chantecaile Brilliant Gloss in the shade 'Lucky' and Becca Ever Matte Poreless Priming Perfector. I love Chantecaille Brilliant Glosses, Lucky is very similar in colour to my favourite shade in the range 'Modern' although Lucky has a little more shimmer. These glosses last a long time on the lips and Lucky is a great colour to layer over lipsticks for a little extra glitz and glamour. They also have a proper brush rather than a doe foot applicator which I much prefer. I didn't finish all of the Becca Primer I'm afraid. I found that although it did have a blurring effect on my skin it made my skin feel tight and dry. It did make my make up last a little longer but it was simply uncomfortable to wear and made me break out a little on my chin. It is a silicon free formula but I found it made quite a lot of my products ball up - so much so that I had to wash my face and start again on more than one occasion which was very very annoying. I really disliked this primer which was disappointing as I had heard such good things about Becca products...

Haircare.

Herbal Essences is one of my favourite drugstore brands so it's no surprise to find two of their empties in my bag this month. I love the light coconut scent of the Hello Hydration Shampoo and have used countless bottles of it over the years. The Hydra-licious Conditioner was okay. It was quite a thick conditioner with a fruity berry scent that I liked but didn't find it outstanding in any way.

I wasn't too keen on Hempz Blushing Grapefruit and Raspberry Cream Shampoo. It's fruity scent was too sweet and sickly and it was very runny in consistency.

L'Oreal Total Repair 5 Damage Erasing Balm was a 5 minute hair mask that I tried to use every ten days or so after a clarifying shampoo. It was very thick with a faint pineapple scent and rinsed away easily. My hair did feel quite soft whenever I used this and it didn't leave my hair flat or lank. The huge jar that lasted for a long long time and while I liked it well enough I can't see myself repurchasing this. (I use hair masks so sporadically that I can get by on the ones I receive as samples/GWP's etc).

Final haircare empty is a mini OUAI Hair Oil. I love this leave in hair oil, it is one of my favourite leave in conditioners that I find does a fantastic job of detangling hair. It never leaves my hair greasy looking either!

Body care.

Crabtree & Evelyn Lavender Bath and Shower Gel was a lovely formula. It wasn't mega frothy but it certainly produced enough bubbles and it didn't irritate or dry my skin. The fragrance was a straight up Lavender scent so although relaxing it was a little too Granny-ish for me. I'd say that this was more of a long evening bath product rather than one for a quick morning shower.

I used two samples of Dove Exfoliating Body Polish. I thought that this felt very gentle and creamy when I used it and it had a warm nutty fragrance that felt very comforting. When my skin was dry it was a little softer but nothing like as soft as when I have used other scrubs. It also made me feel a little itchy which meant I needed to be a bit heavy handed with my body lotion to relieve it. I'm guessing it contained something that didn't agree with my skin but after initially being so impressed I didn't enjoy this product.

Crabtree & Evelyn La Source Body Lotion is a very lightly textured body lotion. I actually prefer something a little thicker and richer but I didn't mind it's 'barely there' fresh fragrance.

C Booth body products are some of my favourite and their Lemon Sugar Body Lotion didn't disappoint. It's not marketed as a 'green' beauty product but it does have a fairly clean formula and I like that it contains an exfoliant in the form of Malic Acid. It's a fabulous consistency, rich and easily absorbed without any greasiness, and I love the scent of this. I'm not sure if this intended to be a dupe for Fresh Sugar Lemon or not, but it smells rather similar...

I also used a sachet of Rituals Ritual of Sakura Body Cream (not pictured). This was very rich and thick with a soft sweet cherry fragrance - such a tiny sample though - it barely contained enough for just my arms!

My empties pile wouldn't be complete without a mini hand cream - almost every month I finish one up. This month I had a handbag clear out and finished three(!) all of them by Crabtree & Evelyn. A mini pocket sized 'Rosewater' and two handbag sized ones in 'Himalayan Salt' and 'Florentine Freesia' fragrances all of which were lovely.

I also finished up a big bottle of Molten Brown Hand Lotion in 'Gingerlily'. I loved having this fancy bottle of hand lotion around, it's lighter in formula than the C&E creams but still very soothing and effective.

Perfume.

I used up three perfume vials:

Vera Wang Embrace Periwinkle: Surprisingly I liked this! It had a powdery Iris scent and smelled a lot more expensive than it was.

Diptyque Fleur de Peau: This is a warm musk like fragrance but it's a very subtle musk, so much so that after an initial whiff I couldn't smell it at all. What I could smell of it I liked, it was warm and musky, but I'm not keen on these new style 'no-fragrance' type of perfumes. I like to wear my scents loudly!

Diptyque Benjoin Boheme: I liked this woody warm amber scent. There weren't any vanilla gourmande type notes to it which meant that this unisex scent leant a little more on the masculine side which I don't mind as I quite like to wear a masculine scent.

That's all for March. I'll be back with more empties at the end of April and I'm expecting there to be a lot of skincare ones next time around.