Empties July 2019.

In July I managed to use up twenty-four samples and fifteen full-sized products.

Skincare.

I only managed to finish three full-size skincare items in July

I used my last bottle of the old formula of Sunday Riley Ceramic Slip which has been a staple for me for many years. It was great as a morning face wash. I loved its earthy scent and how cooling and refreshing it felt. It was particularly good for greasier skins, and it left my skin balanced and clean without being stripping. I don't dislike the new formula which is meant for all skin types but it is less liquid and clay-like with more of a gel type consistency that I don't find as refreshing. I'm happy to use the new version but don't see myself purchasing it sadly.

Ark Skin Perfector De-Stress Serum reminds me of Caudalie VinoPerfect Serum. It is a nice lightweight, wet-feeling, fresh-smelling serum. It feels very hydrating and was great to use after masks and treatments for calming my skin. The dropper system worked well but I did need to shake it before use as it tended to split (this was mentioned on the packaging, I didn't get a dodgy bottle!). It is a little pricy and I probably wouldn't buy it as I'm not sure how easy it is to get in the US but I did enjoy it immensely and found it a useful product to have in stock.

Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Liquid Sunscreen SPF70 is inexpensive and it works! Comfortable, no white cast, layers well with other products and it doesn't make my face look shiny. I have bought this many times previously and will do so again. I also like that the bottle isn't huge so it is easy to carry around and I don't have to worry about it going off. 

I used fourteen skincare samples, four of which were cleansers.

Drunk Elephant Slaai Cleansing Balm is great, it whisks everything away and rinses away cleanly leaving no residue. I like this balm a lot and it reminds me of Clinique TTDO Balm. However, I do like an aromatic balm so I'm not sure if I would purchase a full size of this simply because it is unscented - I realise this is a positive selling point for many people but it isn't for me I'm afraid.

 I finished a deluxe sample of the new Sunday Riley Ceramic Slip. It was good to try this and the old one side by side, but as I said I probably wouldn't buy this version although I am happy to use samples.

Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel is an old favourite, a lovely gentle pink gel that smells like Turkish Delight. It is gentle, non-foaming, non-drying and effective. I would use this as a first or second cleanse but I mostly use it as a morning face wash. I have bought this many times and will continue to do so.

Drunk Elephant B-Hydra isn't an exceptional HA serum but it is a very nice one that I would definitely purchase in full size. I always enjoy this. It leaves my skin looking plump and hydrated and it works very well with other products.

Revivé Anti Ageing Eye Serum is very light and runny. It lasts for ages but I don't feel that it does much beyond hydrating my eye area. I expect more from an item at this price point.

Rodial Bee Venom Moisturiser is another spendy item. I finished two different-sized samples of this thick moisturising cream. It has a scent that reminds me of honey and it absorbs well and feels moisturising, It does prickle a bit on application which makes it feel a tad gimmicky, to be honest
 it is a little underwhelming for me considering its price.

Dr Dennis Gross AB Exfoliating Moisturiser is very light, almost lotion-like in consistency. I used it at night as it contains acids and while I didn't dislike this cream I didn't really form an opinion of it as I only used it for a few nights.

Drunk Elephant Prontini is a moisturiser with a light almost gel-like texture. I used this over serums during the day and mixed it with a little oil at night. It made my skin feel incredibly soft and balanced my skin not leaving it greasy at all. I don't often rave about a moisturiser but I think that this is exceptionally good and it suits my skin very well, I also found that I needed to use very little of this for it to be effective. I would definitely get a full size of this if I ever need to purchase a moisturiser (unlikely) and much prefer it to Drunk Elephant LaLa.

Dr Haushka Lip Care Stick is a solid lip balm in the manner of chapstick. It is made from castor and other oils and leaves lips with a little sheen. Its quite soft and I used this up fairly quickly. I felt like this was one of those balms that sit on top of the lips without really doing much and I needed to apply it fairly frequently. It's not something that I would purchase again.

 I used two samples of Natura Bisse Diamond Cocoon Pollution Protection Spray. It is a water weight spray that you apply over sunscreen or makeup before going out. It protects skin from pollution and also blue light. It felt nice and refreshing and sat well over my makeup but I'm not sure how effective it is given that it only deposits a fine mist on the skin.

Finally, Peter Thomas Roth Camu Camu Power C Sleeping Mask is a declutter. I actually thought this had oxidised when I used it but after reading many reviews online it doesn't appear to have. It is orange in colour and has an odd strong fragrance (I thought it smelled like a sweet dessert wine) that lingered on the skin. This gel-like cream seemed to sit on my skin whenever I applied a generous layer of it and when I tried to rub this in it tended to pill. Also because of its colour, I wasn't inclined to sleep in this on my white sheets. The only good thing I have to say is that the pump packaging was very efficient otherwise, it was a total bust!

Haircare.

I enjoyed Windle & Moodie Nourishing Treatment Shampoo with Rooibos and Argan Oil. The pump worked well as this was quite a thin shampoo. It lathered and rinsed well and left my hair feeling good. I actually preferred this to the matching conditioner and this bottle lasted me for a long time. I think I would repurchase this although I wouldn't rush out to get the conditioner from this range again.

I'm continuing to use up my stash of hair masks by repurposing them as conditioners. I used up three mini Briogeo Don't Despair Repair Masks in this way. It is a rich, thick, slightly oily feeling mask with a light berry scent. It did leave my hair feeling soft and feeling somewhat thicker but it also left my bath scummy with oil which was annoying.

I'm trying to transition to better (ie more expensive ) hair care but one drugstore item that I can't see myself giving up is L'oreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil! I love this inexpensive leave-in hair serum/oil. It smells like Argan Oil, smoothes and detangles, keeps frizz away and leaves my hair feeling soft without ever weighing it down or making it appear stringy.

I used Oribe FeatherBalm Weightless Styler as a leave-in conditioner too. It smells divine as you would expect from Oribe and whilst it did detangle my hair and make it more manageable I found it difficult to know how much to use. If you have very very fine hair this may be good for you, otherwise, I would stick with Supershine because you just end up using too much of this version.
Living Proof Restore was a water weight leave-in conditioning spray. It worked well and didn't weigh my hair down, I liked this and was impressed that the pump on this sample was so efficient.

Sexy Hair Love Oil did work pretty well as a leave-in conditioner but it was very silicon like in feel and left a lot of build-up in my hair. I also hated the cringe-worthy name.

John Frieda Frizz Ease Glossing Mist is a declutter. I have had this finishing treatment sat on my shelf for so long. Every so often I will take it down and realise that the reason it is still on my shelf is that it makes my hair look oily when I use it.

Bodycare.

I finished six full-sized body products: two hand creams, two shower gels and two body lotions.

St Ives Purifying Sea Salt & Pacific Kelp Body Wash was surprisingly good considering how cheap it was (I think I paid 99cents for this as I found it on special offer and had a coupon!). This was a creamy body wash so it didn't make tons of lather but it was frothy enough. It had a fresh minerally sea scent and big chunks of sea salt for a natural exfoliation. I enjoyed this more than I expected to.

I didn't enjoy Olay Cleansing Infusion Body Wash, however. It was another creamy wash but it made my skin feel a little itchy after use and had silica for exfoliating. I bought this because I love the smell of ginger but it wasn't as gingery and zingy as I would have liked. Also, the silica scrubby bits stuck to my shower which was very messy.

I love Nivea Original Daily Moisture Body Lotion. It smells like classic Nivea and is very moisturising but it is one of the heavier lotions that Nivea make and is a bit too heavy for warm weather. Nothing wrong with this at all but it is much better suited to winter use.

What is great as a summertime body moisturiser is Bliss Grapefruit and Aloe Body Butter! While it is thick I wouldn't call it a body butter as it feels light in texture and the Aloe makes it more of a gel-cream. This literally melts into the skin and feels very soothing and hydrating. It has a subtle grapefruit scent that isn't too sharp and the Aloe lends it a cooling effect. I'm going to get more of this and I'm a bit gutted that I have stuck with the Bliss Lemon & Sage Body Butter in the past as I much prefer this one.

I used two hand creams. Grove Bergamot & Orange hand cream was lightly scented and had a light fairly runny texture. I liked this subtle orange scent and it did an okay job of moisturising my hands without leaving them feeling greasy. I love having mini Crabtree & Evelyn hand creams to carry in my bag, the formula is one of my favourites and this Festive Fig scented one smelled sweet and raisin-like without being lingering or sickly.

Makeup and Perfume.

 I used a full-sized bottle of Diptyque Philosykos EDT which I think is the best fig perfume, it is the perfect blend of sweet fig with a spiky greenness and creamy base notes. I always wear this scent in summer and have a mini backup in stock already. I will definitely be buying another full-sized bottle very soon.

I used up four perfume samples. Kate Spade In Full Bloom is a generic mixed floral scent with strong rose top notes. I found it to be not outstanding in any way and honestly it wasn't all that nice.

Giorgio Armani Si Passione is a strong, long-lasting fruity floral. This smelled quite apricot-like on me, it was an old fashioned department store type of scent that I found overly sweet and cloying, definitely not one for me. Juicy Couture Oui is a sweet fruity floral. It is youthful and easy to wear. I preferred it to the two above scents but it is still one of my least favourite offerings from Juicy.

L'Etate d'Orange Libre Cologne is a great warm-weather fragrance. It is very uncomplicated compared to other perfumes from this house, opening with strong classic 4711 Cologne like notes and soon becoming very lemony. I wouldn't say this is my favourite sort of scent but its very refreshing to have a spritz of in hot weather and its very easy to wear.

Finally, I finished two makeup items.

 I love Chantecaille Faux Cils Mascara, it adds darkness length and thickens without ever clumping. It gives a very natural-looking enhanced lash but it is very expensive - more than I would pay for a mascara - so I'm happy that I frequently get samples of it.

Hourglass Ambient Primer in 'Luminous Light' is a declutter. I love Veil Primer from Hourglass but this one failed to impress and I've had it sitting around unloved and unused for too long. It did even out my base colour and add a highlight effect but I felt like it sat on top of my skin and didn't really bond with other products in the way that Veil does.

And that's all for my July empties. I'm hoping to use up a lot of things in August as I will have some purchases coming up soon as GWP season is upon us!

All the Empties: 2018.

In 2018 I managed to use up a total of one hundred and thirty-two full sized products and an astounding four hundred and thirty-eight samples! 

That's a ton of samples but I did do a 'Month of Foil' where I tried to use as many samples as possible and a hair product 'Month of Foil'. (And yes, I do still have lots and lots of samples!) 

Read on for a breakdown of full-sized products by type. No breakdown of the samples used though because I'll admit categorizing samples is too nerdy, not to mention complex, even for a list-lover like myself!

Skincare.

I used fifty-five full-sized skincare items. 

Eleven of these were cleansers along with two bottles of eye makeup remover.

My love of spritzes and facial sprays shows no sign of abating and I used up nine of them. I also used one full-sized bottle of Glycolic toner and one pack of Glycolic pads.

When it came to putting moisture back into my skin I did pretty well, using up three full-sized eye creams, three bottles of facial oil and nine tubes/jars of moisturiser. I also managed to get through nine bottles of serum of various types. 

I mostly use sachets and samples of masks but even so, I used up three full-sized masks. 

I could do better when it comes to sunscreen. I only used up two bottles but again I did use quite a few samples.

Finally, I made an effort to finish some of the many opened lip balms and treatments that I have hanging around and used up five of them.

Bodycare.

I always go through a lot of bodycare and this year was no exception. I used forty-four full-sized products.

I'm not big on body scrubs as I use a loofah but even so, I used up two tubes. 

Daily showers saw me getting through fourteen bottles of shower gel. 

I also slathered on fifteen bottles of body lotion.

Thirteen hand creams sounds like a ridiculous amount, but most of them were handbag sized ones.

Haircare.

I've been using more expensive haircare as a rule this year,  and I do find that I tend to use a lot less of it than I do drugstore products. However, I still used up twenty -three items, seven of which were shampoo and nine of which were conditioners. 

I also used up four leave-in conditioners/oils/serums and one large pot of hair mask.

I tend to 'wash and go' mostly so I only used one hairspray and one texturising spray.

Makeup.

Makeup takes forever to finish so I'm quite pleased that I used up ten items.

On my face, I used one primer, two tinted moisturisers and one concealer/brightener. 

I used up two full-sized mascaras and one single pan eyeshadow.

Finally, I finished two lipsticks and one lip gloss.

I wonder how many products I will use in 2019?

Empties: September 2018.

Because I concentrated on using up foil sachet samples in September my empties pile of full-sized and mini products was somewhat smaller than normal. Nevertheless, I did use up six full sized products and thirteen minis/ non-sachet samples. 

Skincare.

I only finished three full-sized skincare items but they were all great. 

I love Sunday Riley Ceramic Slip Cleanser. It is great at balancing my combination skin without leaving it feeling stripped or tight and I love how easy to use it is and how cooling it feels on my skin. It's not cheap but a bottle lasts a long time as you don't need to use much of it. I've gone through quite a few bottles of it over the years and already have a new one in stock. 

Caudalie Grape Water is one of my favourite 'waters in a tin'. It is refreshing as a spritz and I also use it to spray between layers of product and as a rinse after cleansing. The nozzle delivers a fine mist and the can is huge. I'm currently working my way through the face sprays that I already have but when the time comes I will repurchase this. 

Kane Serum Savant was an item I found on sale (normally this all-around serum is eye-wateringly expensive). I loved the futuristic packaging of this and while I didn't dislike the serum I can't say that I noticed it doing much to my skin. I'm glad I got the opportunity to try this but I don't think I would repurchase it even if I saw it on sale.

I used six samples of skincare, three of which were cleansers. Cerave Foaming Facial Cleanser was too foamy and stripping for me so I ended up using it as a handwash. Tarte Deep Dive Cleansing Gel did a good job of removing makeup and felt gentle. It foamed ever so lightly without any drying effects but I wasn't too keen on the scent as it smelled a little washing up liquid like. I expected to like Dr Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Cleansing Gel more than I did. I used it as a morning face wash and while there wasn't anything wrong with it, it was just a little underwhelming and boring to use.

Eve Lom Rescue Mask is a classic clay mask with a Eucalyptus like fragrance. It deep cleans without drying out skin and flannels off easily, it also does a great job of drawing out and drying up spots and blemishes. 

I used Rodial Dragon's Blood Sculpting Gel as a serum. It is one of those products that seem to sit on the top of your skin and offer a temporary tightening lift but that's all it does. Unfortunately another underwhelming product for me that's not worth me buying. Natura Bisse Tensolift Neck Cream is lightly textured yet rich in feel. I don't dislike this but I don't feel the need for a targeted neck treatment so while I was happy to use this I would never buy it.

Haircare, Bodycare, Makeup and Perfume.

I used one haircare sample, Karite Hydrating Shine Day Cream. I liked this unscented leave in conditioner, it didn't weigh down my hair and left it detangles and nicely softened.

I used four bodycare samples, three of which were body lotions. Both of the Aveeno lotions (Daily Moisturising Lotion and Skin Relief Gentle Scent Lotion) were hydrating and soothing but a little boring. Free & Lovely Coconut & Rose Body Butter from Bodycology was a nicely textured cream that melted into my skin but I found the scent a little sickly. Molton Brown Shower Gel has a great formula and the 'Rose Absolue' fragrance of this one was lovely, a grown-up deep velvety rose and I liked it a lot.

I used up four makeup items. I'm gutted to have finished Kevyn Aucoin Single Eye Shadow in 'Soft Clay' #104 as these single powder shadows have seemingly been discontinued. This pale grey-pink shade has been my daily go-to colour for the past couple of years, not only was the colour easy to wear, the formula was great, very easy to blend with a strong long lasting pigment and very little fallout. ByTerry Terrrybly Growth Booster Mascara lasts all day and darkens, thickens and lengthens without getting clumpy. I've not noticed any extra growth in my lashes but it's a great formula that makes lashes look enhanced but subtly so.

Chantecaille Le Camouflage Stylo has a built-in click brush-type applicator that makes it easy to apply. It's easy to blend and doesn't settle into creases. I like to use this under my eyes, it minimizes the appearance of dark circles making my eye area and whole face look brighter. 

I'm not much of a face powder user but it was so hot and humid this year I found I needed one whenever I was wearing makeup. ByTerry Hyaluronic Hydra Powder is totally transparent and doesn't settle into fine lines. It is slightly mattifying which isn't my favourite thing but it did make my makeup last in the heat and it is so fine I couldn't feel it on my skin at all.

Finally, I used three vials of perfume. Hermes Twilly is a powdery white floral which I found a little heavy and old-fashioned. Victor & Rolf Flowerbomb is a strong yet sweet fizzy floral. It is much sweeter than my usual scent choices but there is something very joyful and fun about it that I like. Loewe Woman 001 is a warm sexy amber scent that I like a lot, there's something leathery about this one that I find quite seductive.

Added to the sample sachets I actually managed to work my way through quite a good amount of products in September so although it's a smaller empties pile than usual I am still quite pleased with it.

   

TonyMoly Changing Magic Foot Peeling Shoes.

I have been curious about foot peels ever since seeing them on YouTube, there's something gross yet compelling about watching footage (haha!) of these products. 

The most well known feet peeling socks seem to be 'Baby Foot' from Japan which cost around $25.00. I get regular pedicures so as my feet aren't in terrible condition and I didn't want to make a big investment, I was mostly interested in using such a product for the sake of trying something new rather than using it to address a cosmetic problem. When back in the summer, on my first trip to Ulta, I saw a pair of TonyMoly Changing Magic Foot Peeling Shoes which only cost $6.00 I picked some up to try out. 

The Product.

Packaging was similar to a sheet mask with instructions on how to use printed on the back. Also on the back was the rather embarrassing blurb 'Steps that can transform an average looking woman into an attractive lady'. I'm hoping that something was lost in translation here because I find the phrase very peculiar and a little offensive.

Inside were a pair of paper/cellulose booties the inside of which were again reminiscent of a sheet mask. Active ingredients included glycolic and salicylic acids, alcohol, urea, various fruit extracts and aloe. The smell of these was very reminiscent of Pixi Glow Tonic.

There were also two pieces of tape to secure the booties. I didn't find the tape to be that sticky and I needed to wrap some masking/painter's tape around my ankles to secure them properly. (You could also slip a pair of large socks over the top to keep them securely on your feet).

How to Use.

These were easy to use. You simply needed to slip them onto clean dry feet, wait one and a half to two hours until the serum/liquid had absorbed into your feet, rinse your feet well and then sit back and wait for your feet to peel over the next couple of weeks. 

The major drawback I found to using these was fitting them into my schedule. Firstly I needed an uninterrupted couple of hours, but the real difficulty was that as I didn't know how (or when exactly) my feet would peel I needed to wait until the weather cooled down enough that I was certain that I wouldn't need to wear sandals etc. I knew my feet were going to get ugly looking for the duration of the peel so I wanted to be able to wear socks for all that time.

I also wasn't sure how they would affect any nail polish I might be wearing so I didn't want to put them on when I had just had a pedicure (FYI they didn't remove or dull my week old pedicure of Essie polish and top coat). 

What Happened?

My feet became a little chilly wearing these so I was happy to finally remove them. After rinsing well I didn't notice that my feet were any different than from before so I calmly waited.

Day 4 (after wearing). Until day 4 nothing had happened at all and I was beginning to think that nothing would... then, as promised, I noticed some small blistered looking areas beginning to 

appear on my feet.

Day5/6. Largish pieces of skin began to peel off on the softer parts of my feet such as my instep and the bottom of my toes. My feet looked terrible! There's no way you could do this if you needed to have bare feet or wear open shoes.

After two weeks. Everyday I had been taking off my socks and they were full of flakes of skin. I took to wearing socks in bed at night it was so bad. If I went anywhere without wearing socks I left a dusting of skin flakes in my wake. It's kind of disgusting and I've been hoovering daily - at least the apartment is clean! I noticed that the bottoms of my feet were somewhat softer but some hard skin still remained. I'd say maybe 50% of my hard skin flaked away but I was really in need of a proper pedicure though as my nails had been neglected.

After three weeks. The last week the bottoms of my feet finally stopped shedding skin... And then the tops of my feet started!

Day 22 My feet finally stopped flaking and I went for a pedicure - hoorah! I was a little disappointed that the foot lady didn't said how soft and attractive my feet are (joking), she still attacked the skin on the balls of my foot and around my heals quite vigorously with a foot file.

Would I do it again?

It was fun to try out a foot peeling treatment, but honestly, I can't see myself repeating the experience. It was difficult to find the right time to fit it into my schedule and I really didn't enjoy having my feet shed flakes of skin everywhere for two weeks - I'd much rather commit to having regular pedicures!

I wouldn't recommend these, but if your interest has been piqued and you want to try out an inexpensive pair of foot peeling shoes you can find the TonyMoly ones that I tried at ulta.com

Empties December 2015

It's the final Empties post of the year and it's a good one with twelve full sized and sixteen samples hitting the bin. I'm on a bit of a mission to finish things up before a big beauty shop in February so I'm very pleased with the way that December shaped up.

 There are two great cleansers here that I hadn't used before: Tata Harper Purifying Cleanser (my new favorite face wash) and Skyn Pure Cloud Cleanser.  I also enjoyed two generous samples of expensive eye creams from Royal Fern and 111Skin, both of which were very hydrating. In fact all of the skincare that I used up this month was lovely with the sole exception being the sample of Neutrogena Healthy Skin Booster Facial Cleanser which was very drying - so much so that I re purposed it as a hand wash.

Makeup wise I was impressed with Fiberwig Mascara. It was a wetter formula which I don't normally enjoy but I really liked it. Once I had got used to it's oddly curved brush it wore very well and did all the things that mascara is supposed to do without any clumping or flaking. Of course I'm devastated (I'm exaggerating slightly) to finish my tube of Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer and am now on the search for a stateside replacement. Any ideas? Oh, and the sample of Eve Lom Flawless Radiance Primer was much much better than I was expecting it to be. It felt a tad oily on application but it did a good job of keeping my make up in place and it kept shine at bay in humid weather for a good part of the day.

Philip B Chai Latte Body Wash was lovely but I'm in two minds about smelling like chai... More to my liking were Crabtree & Evelyn Caribbean Island Wild Flowers Body Wash and Body Lotion - their beachy floral scent was suited to the mild weather we have been having and they made my bathroom smell amazing. Finally, Fresh Sugar Lychee Body Lotion is just about my favorite lotion ever. I was sorry to finish this up and I will certainly be replacing it at some point in the future.

Next up a look at everything that I finished up in 2015...