Finished! November Edition

Few things are as gratifying to me as getting to the bottom of a product. It helps alleviate the guilt of having bought so much makeup. I’ve actually been very good lately and my spending has all but ceased. With the exception of one pigment set from the MAC Tartan Tale collection (does anyone want a post on that?), the newest Sleek Palettes (apparently there is ANOTHER coming out by the end of the month) some tinted lip balms and £1 glitter liners I haven’t bought anything in the last month. Oh... that’s actually quite a bit. Never mind. Anyway the following products have reached the end of their lives and are heading to the great makeup stash in the sky. Most of this stuff has been reviewed by me so check the tags for full reviews if you want.  Skin care first;

Simple Kind to Skin Vital Vitamin Night Cream – Some people complain that this is too basic and not rich enough for them but I find this to be perfect for my skin. I’m 23, I don’t need super heavy moisturisers but I do have the odd dry patch. This does the job beautifully and I have already started using my next tub. It’s £5.99 for 50ml but Simple’s stuff is always on offer in Boots or Superdrug. 

Estee Lauder Gentle Eye makeup Remover – I know some people love this but unfortunately for me it was a disaster. The skin under my eyes reacted really badly to the point of flaking and peeling. It stung my eyes too. Just goes to show what works for some won’t work for everyone. Thankfully I got this free as a gift with purchase but needless to say I wouldn’t buy it. 

Nivea Q10 Lip Effect lip balm – This is what appeared when I asked my husband to pick me up a ip balm at the supermarket. I think this is supposed to be an anti ageing lip balm... All I know is it tasted pretty awful and didn’t do a whole lot for my lips. As such it was relegated to the post of ‘bedside table lipbalm’ to be slapped on before bed. I wouldn’t bother buying it again. 

It’s been a bumper month for mascaras going off. I’ve noticed that all of these have the older style wire bristles and I’m sure this type goes bad faster than rubber wand. Here are all the makeup items I’ve finished recently;

17 Clear Definition Mascara – I used this for my brows. It still has plenty of product left but as you can see traces of foundation have turned it a delightful shade of murky brown. I liked this a lot but I won’t buy it again because (drum roll please)...... I have found an even cheaper clear mascara for my brows. Yes, cheaper than £4.69. Score. 

Lancôme Virtuose Mascara – As mascaras go this was nice enough but it wasn’t ‘oh my god this is amazing’. I’ve had cheaper, better mascaras. Like the 17 Wild Curls actually. At £20 a pop I certainly won’t be buying it again. 

17 Wild Curls Mascara – This was definitely a winner for me. For £6.29 you get some rather sexy packaging and a really nice mascara. It had started the flake off and smell a little funky though so I knew it had reached the end of its useful life. I’ll buy another one day but I have a tonne of mascaras to use up first. 

Estee Lauder Lash Primer Plus – This was a little sample that came in a gift set. It’s just a white base coat. I didn’t find this did much for me and I spend long enough doing my makeup in a morning, I don’t want to add yet another step in! If lash primers are your thing you might like this but I wouldn’t personally buy it again. 

Estee Lauder Projectionist High Definition Volume Mascara – Again this is a sample size. I actually really liked this. I have lots and lots of quite thick lashes so normally volumising mascaras end up giving me one great big eyelash all clumped together. This did a really nice job of separating my lashes whilst making them even thicker and more dramatic. At £18.50 I’d have to be feeling very flush to buy a full size tube but maybe one day I will treat myself to one.

Collection 2000 Illuminating Concealer - This was a decent undereye concealer but thepen applicator got properly disgusting towards the end. Washing it made it worse. I don't think I'll repurchase it though I do still like it as a concealer.

And finally my Maybelline Dream Creamy foundation has bitten the dust. I *think* this is the UK version of the US Smooth Mousse but correct me if I’m wrong. Now I don’t think this is a bad foundation. I can see that it would be perfect for someone with dry- normal skin who wanted a dewy finish and light-medium coverage. Why I bought it with my combination/ oily skin, preference for matte finishes and full coverage I will never know. It looked waxy and oily on me and lasted roughly half an hour on my super oily nose. I persevered and used it up but I won’t buy it again. 

What have you used up recently? Have you been trying to curb your makeup spending too? Let me know in the comment xx

*I bought all of the above items apart from the 17 Wild Curls Mascara which I was sent by 17*

October Empties

I cannot believe it is the end of October. This month has been absolutely packed with course work (I’m doing an at home study course), exciting new projects at work, family chaos and general madness. As a result the blog has somewhat taken a back seat this month however changes are a foot. I’m slowly getting to grips with my new camera and editing software and I have plans to change the layout (again). Some more interesting posts are in the works too so stay tuned!

Madness aside October was quite a good month for getting rid of some stuff!

LUSH Snow Fairy Lip Tint – Ok so I’m cheating. I loathe this. The formula is cakey and strange, I hate that it’s in a pot and I’m not keen on the colour. It’s going to expire soon and there is no way I will finish it before it does so I’m cutting my losses and throwing it out. Good riddance!

Lancôme Define Cils Mascara – I bought this in an outlet centre and think it’s been discontinued. The formula is a bit clumpy and I’m not enamoured with the brown shade. I don’t think I could repurchase it even if I wanted to, which I don’t.

ELF Mineral Eyeshadow Primer – I love this primer! It stays as well as Urban Decay Primer Potion but is easier to blend over. Plus it only costs £3.50

Benefit BADGal Black Mascara – I love the formula but hate the wand so I won’t be buying it again.

Benefit You Rebel Lite – It’s finally gone!! I won’t buy it again to be honest. It has very little converage even for a tinted moisturiser and has a tendency to pull a touch orange.

Batiste Brunette Dry Shampoo – I go through at least one can of this per month and will continue to buy it again and again.

Botanics Skin Brightening Toner – Too harsh and packed full of alcohol. I won’t be buying it again.

Sanctuary Body Scrub – This is actually a good little scrub if, like me, you like your exfoliators grainy and hard core. Unfortunately I didn’t care for the scent and the packaging is awful. The scrubby bits kept blocky the nozzle making it a pain to get any out. For that reason I won’t buy it again.  

Carino Hair Mask from Aldi – I actually really liked this! It left my hair super soft and smells like a salon. Oh and it was dirt cheap.

ELF Makeup Remover Cleansing Cloths – I have another 4 packs of these and will buy them again once they are finished. They are my absolute favourite makeup remover wipes.

Neutrogena Visibly Clear Spot Stress Control – This did nothing. NOTHING. Waste of money.

Are you doing an empties post this month? If so please post the link below. I love reading them!

*All bought by me!*

Finished! October Edition

Over the last month or so I’ve gotten to the bottom of a whole load of products. So many they wouldn’t all fit in the one photo. Is it sad that it fills me with a real sense of pride? Even sadder is the fact that there is a little basket under my desk that I put finished items in till  I’ve taken a photo of them for this blog... and occasionally wave it under hubbies nose to say ‘look I do use all this stuff!’ Anyhoo...

Treseme: Heat Defence Spray: Love this. Leaves my hair super soft and really reduces frizz. I have already repurchased. In fact I believe this was one of the first reviews I ever did!

Garnier Night Cream: I did like this however there is a scent and I think it’s the perfume that stung a little if my skin was feeling particularly sensitive. Most days it was fine though. I won’t be repurchasing simply because I prefer the Simple night cream. 

Carmex: (original): Love this stuff. Have gone through hundreds of these little tubes and no doubt will go through hundreds more. Most of the flavours have SPF but the original doesn’t so this is the one I keep on my bedside table. 

Simple Eye Cream: It was nice and cooling to apply. Again this lacks SPF so because the eye cream that I used at night. I have a few others to try first but I’d be happy to buy this again in future. It probably wouldn’t cut it if you were looking for some heavy duty anti ageing but for my 23 year old skin it was fab. 

Smashbox Lash DNA in Burgundy: Loved the colour but hated the giant wand. Seriously it was bigger than my eyes... IT stank of play dough when I got it and progressively got smellier throughout its life. Needless to say I won’t be repurchasing. 

Blistex: Smells, tastes and feels foul but for severely cracked lips there is no better product. I hate it but I’ll never be without it. It sinks in quickly leaving your lips feeling so much better. This is usually the lip balm I have on my dressing table. I apply it first thing in the morning and by the time I go to apply my lipstick it has totally sunken in. Fab/ horrid. 

No7 Cleanse and Care Eye makeup remover:  Got this as a freebie thankfully. I really didn’t like this. It took loads to remove any makeup and I always still woke up with panda eyes the next day. Would not purchase personally. 

ELF Clarifying Pressed Powder: Honestly for £1.50 I wasn’t expecting greatness and I certainly didn’t get it. Mattified ok but quickly started to look cakey and unnatural. Euch. 

Lancôme Day Cream SPF15: Another gift with purchase. I expected this to be too heavy for my skin but I experienced zero breakouts or irritation. Whilst it is a little heavy for summer for me I may well repurchase during the winter. 

Rimmel Stay Matte Mouse (foundation of Dooooooom): Thankfully I dropped this (by accident I swear) and over half of it fell out. Their lightest shade is, on me, the colour of a Wotsit. I managed to use it up by mixing it with a lot of sunscreen to lighten it. I am not sorry to see the back of this!

L’Oréal Absolute Eye and Lip Makeup Remover: This was ok actually but I’ve used better, cheaper products since so I won’t be repurchasing. Everyday makeup wasn’t a problem but it really struggled with anything waterproof. 

Not a bad month really! X

*I bought the above products myself*

September Empties

One more down on my Project Ten Pan! Which leads me to a question. As I slowly start to run out of products to review what kind of posts would you like to see? I’m trying to do more FOTD/ EOTD posts but do you lovely people have any other suggestions? It would be much appreciated!

First down is my Clinique Super Balanced foundation. This is the actual bottle that I wore on my wedding day so I was a little sad to see it go. That being said my wedding was well over a year ago so it was about time this got used up. I liked it but I prefer other things I’ve tried so I won’t buy it again.

Two cans of Batiste. I’m not a huge fan of the Blush fragrance so I’m going to stick to buying the Brunette version.

Two Superdrug Hand Creams. I liked these, especially the Intensive version on the right. They were only a couple of £. I’m trying to stick with hand creams with SPF in them though.

L’Occitane shampoo mini, a hotel freebie. I’m currently using up my mini shampoos to deep clean my makeup brushes with.

To Miss Dior Cherie perfume samples. My goodness, everything seems to be in pairs today! I actually have a slightly bigger sample that I got in one of the Christmas gift sets to use up. Although I liked the fragrance I tend to get bored of perfumes quickly so I doubt I’ll buy the full size.

ELF Oil Blotting sheets. Now I know that ELF recently repackaged their blotting sheets. You used to get a pack of 50 for £1.50 whereas now you get 3 packs of 50 for the same price. Brilliant right? No. These new ones are too small! Yes they work fine but they are so tiny and fiddly. I’m going to try and track down the new Kleenex versions once I’ve run out of these.

Olay Eye Gel. Creepiest eye cream ever. It was totally clear and looked/ felt like snail goo. Do not recommend!

LUSH Lip Dip lip scrub. This came in one of the many Christmas box sets I had and is fantastic. The granules are smaller and less harsh than the original formulas yet it still does a fantastic job. Oh and it tastes like lemon sherbet. I have another jar that I’m trying to use up before it expires.

*All bought by me*

August Empties

I should clarify that I will be doing a project ten pan update shortly. Almost 1 month in! The only thing in this post that counts towards it is the No7 mascara. Anyhoo here are my empties for the last month. I’ve stopped buying skin care etc too for project ten pan and it’s nice to see my stash starting to look more manageable.

Raspberry Melon Lip Smaker from Primarni – Cheap and very very cheerful (I think £1.50?). Tasted gorgeous and did a good job too. I have a stash of these....

No7 Lash 360 sample size mascara – This was an awful mascara for me. Clumpy and unforgiving on dense lashes. It dried up very quickly too so overall thumbs down.

Carmex Mint SPF15 lip balm – I must have bought this dozens of times over the years and will continue to do so.

ELF Makeup Remover Cleansing Cloths – My holy grail face wipes. I bought 6 packs in the 50% off sale in July. Love them!

Lacura Face Wipes – Cheap and thoroughly miserable. Dry and they made my skin itch. DO NOT WANT.

Two packs of the old style ELF Shine Eraser sheets  - Yes two packs of 50. What can I say, it’s been warm and my face has been oily enough to stock a chip shop or a month. Ew. I actually prefer these to the new versions.

Little Neutrogena shampoo bottle from a hotel – I ran out of baby shampoo last month and I’m using up the million tiny hotel bottles by using them to wash my brushes. I’m never going to use them on me so it’s a great way to use them up!

Lancôme Bifacil Eye Makeup Remover – I adore this but at almost £20 a bottle I just can’t justify it. I find the Botanics version works almost as well and only costs a couple of quid.

Superdrug Mud Therapy Raspberry Exfoliating Mud Mask – This is only  couple of pounds but I really like it for helping clean out congested pores. I’ve bought several tubes in the past.

Batiste Tropical – I’m going to stick to buying the brunette tinted version as this was a bit hard to brush out. Not a huge fan of the fragrance either.

And now some stuff that isn’t finished but just has to go. The ELF Cream Eyeliner is a purple one that I loved but it has become so dry that I can’t use it. It’s strange as the others I bought at the same time are fine. Likewise the Urban Decay Ink For Eyes in Binge is unusable now despite Demolition, which I bought at the same time, being as good as new. The Calvin Klein gel liner is just  so awful that I never use it and I have two other good liners. Frankly I’m sick of looking at it so it’s time for the bin!

Everything was bought by me. Apart from the No7 mascara which was a gift with purchase. A disappointing gift like socks at Christmas. 

Finished!

I like the last post I did on items that I’ve finished recently. I think it’s useful to look back at a product, even if it’s already been reviewed by me, and ask myself whether I miss it enough to repurchase now that it’s gone. I may love or hate a product after the first few uses but by the end of a bottle/packet/pan you have a much better sense of it. Here are our goodbyes this month: (ones with a * have been reviewed here fully)

Simple Eye Makeup Remover * :
No no no no. I will not be repurchasing. I love many Simple products. This is not one of them. It stung the skin underneath my eyes and did not do a good job of removing waterproof mascara.

Lancôme Bi Facil Eye Makeup Remover * :
Love it! I will repurchase one day but not today. At just under £20 a bottle it’s just too pricey for me. This little sample lasted me a good long while though.

The Body Shop Mango Body Butter:
Mmmm this smelt so good. It was a rich, moisturising treat post bath. The cream is insanely thick and I found it to be very moisturising. I have another body butter on the go right now!

Simple Radiance Brightening Moisturiser SPF10 * :
I really liked this. It was a good, fairly light daytime moisturiser. The SPF could do with being a bit higher but at least it has some in it. It’s super cheap too. I’d be quite happy to repurchase this in future.

Garnier Makeup Remover Wipes * :
I hated these. They did a pretty shoddy job of removing my makeup and pulled at my skin whilst doing it. I won’t be repurchasing.

MAC Brush Cleanser:
The remnants of this are in a spray bottle but I need to pick up another ASAP (and will be back to MAC-ing the bottle once I have 5 more empties!). I love this stuff, I just wish they’d put a damn spray on it.

Boot Vitamin E Night Cream * :
I really liked this too actually and for less than a fiver I’ll be picking some more up in future. I’m currently trying a couple of other things though and when I was last in Boots they were sold out! Evidently I’m not the only one who likes this beauty bargain!

Lush Bubble Gum Lip Scrub * :
No I didn’t use this up. It exploded in my travel makeup bag whilst on a business trip. It took me 20 minutes to clean sugar out of my eyelash curlers... This was always the problem with this product though. It does a fantastic job for a reasonable price but it’s as messy as a toddler with a paint can. For this reason I won’t be repurchasing which means I’m on the hunt for a new lip scrub. Any suggestions?

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder:
Ah my dear, we knew it had to end one day. This thing is so old it’s in the old packaging and all the type has faded off. Look!

I really liked this stuff. I go through a lot of powder in an effort to keep my nose none shiny and this has been an invaluable companion in that quest. The Sam to my Frodo if you will (Ok who let the geek out?) Ahem anyway it’s a fab drugstore pressed powder that I will happily repurchase in all its shexy new green packaging. I need to use up a couple of other powders first but when I have I’ll probably buy it and give it the full review it deserves.

So it’s been a mixed bag. Some hits, some misses, some unnecessary Lord of the Rings similes. I always get such a sense of satisfaction when I finish a product. I prance about waving the empty container in my husband’s face in a triumphant demonstration of “see! I really do use all this stuff!” Do you get the same sense of satisfaction? Xxx

*I bought the above products with my own money. I always give my honest opinion of a product. For further info see my disclaimer in the menu on the left*

July Empties

Yes I know this is a bit early but the box I store my empties in for these posts was full and needed clearing out! I don’t know how I go through products so fast but I won’t complain, at least I know I’m getting my monies worth. Here are this months victims.

Baby Shampoo – I use this to deep clean my brushes. This bottle lasted a good few months and only cost a couple of £ from Sainsburys.

L’Oreal Elvive Anti Frizz Conditioner – Didn’t really stop my hair being frizzy. A mediocre conditioner so I probably won’t be in a hurry to repurchase. 

Batiste Dry Shampoo – This is the brunette version and I love it. I already have backups. 

Clinique Liquid Facial Soap in Mild (sample) – This is geared more towards dry skin so it wasn’t really right for me. I won’t be buying a full size. 

Superdrug Little Red Tin Strawberry Lipbalm – These things are super cheap (only a couple of pounds) and are always taunting me at the till in Superdrug. I love the strawberry scent and the 20g tin takes months to get through but at the end of the day it’s just a mediocre petroleum jelly based balm. Nothing to write home about. 

MUA Clear Mascara – I have another 2 of these in a drawer. I use these for my brows and at £1 a tube I don’t feel bad chucking it out when it goes all brown and icky within about 6 weeks. 

Clinique High Impact Mascara (Sample size) – Although I liked this for day time I couldn’t find much that was ‘high impact’ about it. I’m looking for something a little more dramatic so won’t be buying this again. 

Lacura 3 in 1 Facial Cleansing wipes – These dried out very quickly for me and were a little harsh so I won’t be buying them again. Unfortunately I have another packet, albeit a different type, sat in my backups box. 

No7 Protect & Perfect Hand Cream (sample size) – I liked that this had SPF15 and it sinks in quickly. At £11.50 for the full sized tube it’s a bit expensive though considering how quickly I go through hand cream. 

Boots Soltan Facial Sunscreen SPF 30 – I use this as my day time moisturiser in the summer. Although it takes a couple of minutes to sink in it doesn’t irritate my skin or cause any breakouts.  I’m currently working my way through another bottle of this then I’ll be buying the once a day version that they have come out with.

They have changed the packaging but are normally around £9 per bottle and are often on buy one get one deals. 

LUSH Vanilla Dee-Light (mini from a Christmas set) – I adore vanilla scents. When I’ve worked my way through some more body lotions I’ll definitely be taking a trip to LUSH to buy the full size!

Clean & Clear Advantage Fast Action Daily Wash – I liked this because although it’s aimed at fighting spots it didn’t aggravate my dry patches. That’s a pretty impressive feat for a product aimed towards teenage skin. I might be 24 but occasionally my skin does behave like a teenagers...

TRESemme Iron Style & Hold Spray – I could not wait to be rid of this. As a heat protectant it was fine but it left my hair feeling sticky and crunchy. I like the bottle with the purple label from them but I definitely won’t be repurchasing this one. 

LUSH Turkish Delight Body Polish – Again I got this in a Christmas set. It’s a touch pricey but I adore the scent. I will be repurchasing, just not quite yet. 

Norwegian Formula Hand Cream (unscented concentrated) – This stuff is a little miracle worker. IT doesn’t irritate my sensitive skin and sorts out chapped, dry skin in an instant. You need the tiniest amount and a little goes a very long way. A definite repurchase.

No7 Exceptional Definition Mascara - I wasn't as blown away by this as I thought I would be given everyone elses rave reviews so I won't be buying it again.

LUSH Doucle Choc Lip Tint - I haven't actually finished this because, well, it's horrid. It goes on a kind of frosty brown which makes my look like I've smeared Nutella on my face and it has a kind of bitter taste to it. Ew.

Givenchy Very Irresistible (Sample) - I adore this fragrance but I have a Million other bottles to work my way through. It's a possible future buy.

*Everything here was bought with my own money*

June Empties

It’s been ages since I’ve done one of these empties posts. I do find them very satisfying to do though so here are my empties for the last couple of months. Sadly there is only one makeup item, must try harder...

Lacura Concealer Pen – This performed pretty well considering it was only a couple of quid from Aldi. Just one problem. If anyone takes a photo of you with the flash on instant reverse panda eyes. It had a tendency to get a touch cakey too so I won’t repurchase.

Random eBay oil control tissues – Did the job fine.

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Serum sample – Loved this. One day, when I’m feeling a bit rich, I will buy the full sized. 

Boots Vit E SPF15 Eye Cream – Cheap and works. Sinks in really quickly so it’s fab under makeup. 

No7 Total Renewal Micro-dermabrasion Exfoliator – Loved it, I have a £5 voucher standing by to buy the full size. 

Simple Kind To Skin Cleansing Facial Wipes – As wrong as it sounds these weren’t quite ‘moist’ enough. And they irritated my eyes so I won’t repurchase. 

T-Zone Spot Zapper – This was actually the first PR sample I ever received (I haven’t received many) and I did like it. I’m trying a million other spot zappers at the moment though. 

Botanics Organic Face Moisturising Eye Cream – Love it! I think I scheduled a review recently for this so check that out for more details. Would happily buy it again. 

LUSH Rub Rub Rub salt scrub – Works well but it’s too messy. There are cheaper and easier to use alternatives. 

Revlon 30 Second Eye Makeup Remover – Evil stuff. I bought this in Thailand and I wish I’d left it there. It dried my skin out and stung my eyes. FAIL.

Botanics Moisturising Body Lotion – I’d buy this again, it’s a cheaper alternative to LUSH Dream Cream. I have a review scheduled for this too. 

Naked Rescue Intensive Care Shampoo – The sulphate free shampoo doesn’t quite leave my hair as squeaky clean as I’d like but my scalp thanks me for going SLS free. It really does make a difference to my skin. 

Aussie Take The Heat Conditioner – I would take this over the three minute miracle any day. Left my hair super soft and yummy smelling. I’d happily buy it again. 

Boots Expert Dry Shampoo – Didn’t do much to refresh my hair. Would not buy again. 

Batiste Dry Shampoo – Fabulous product! It doesn’t have the same horrid strong scent as the original and it doesn’t leave me with grey roots. I have another can on the go already.

*All bought by me apart from the T-Zone spot zapper which was a PR sample*

April Empties and Wedding Outfit

Enjoy! x

Finished! February Empties

My little no buy project is going well. I did get a whopping £140 worth of Boots points after sending some old phones to their recycling scheme (you can find out about it here ) so I did pick up some stuff but it’s going in a drawer until after my no buy ends and technically it was free so I maintain it doesn’t count :p This month I tackled a load of almost empty products that were lying around and managed to finish quite a lot! 

Chanel Chance Eau Fraiche – A lovely light fragrance that was my daily perfume for university. I tend to get bored or sick of perfumes though and by the end I was completely over this. I may repurchase but not for a few years. 

No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Serum – I’m 23 and I think my skin is just too young to feel any benefit from this so I won’t be buying it. 

Botanics Daily Hand Therapy SPF10 – One of the cheapest hand creams with SPF I’ve found so I’ll keep repurchasing (I have gone through several of these).

Jergens Extra Softening moisturiser – as a night hand cream I really do like this. It’s thick and very moisturising. 

Random Korean Oil Control Tissues – From eBay I got 3 packs of 25 for £2.05 (inc postage). These don’t leave a powdery residue and do a good job at removing oil without removing makeup. Fab! 

L’Oreal Lash Renewal Serum – This lasted over 6 months and I have reviewed it here. It did help thicken my lashes out and added some length which was more than I expected from this especially given that it’s well under £15. It’s whetted my appetite for a more heavy duty lash serum though. I think I’ll get Rapid Lash next instead. 

Urban Decay Lip Primer Potion – Worked fantastically but the formula is a little dry. I’m looking to try other lip primers. 

Maxfactor Masterpiece Mascara Sample – Loved this. It gives plenty of definition, it’s a possible future purchase. 

Mini No7 Lipgloss in Marshmallow – This didn’t really provide any colour but was extremely moisturising so I just kept it in my hand bag and slapped it on. It was essentially a glossy lip balm. I probably won’t repurchase as although I liked it I was wowed by it. 

The Body Shop Shower Gels – These were hanging around from a Christmas minis set I must have gotten a couple of years ago. I can’t stand Coconut and the other one was kind of manly smelling. Hubby didn’t like it though so I just used it up. I like some of the other scents but it’s a resounding meh for the shower gels in general. 

MAC Pro Eye Makeup Remover – Loathed it. Read my review for more info.

Clinique Take The Day Off Eye Makeup Remover Sample – Like this and will probably purchase a full sized bottle at some point. 

Estee Lauder Day Wear Plus Sample – Loved this but can’t really afford £30 for the full sized at the moment. 

Boots Vitamin E Night Cream – It’s a good little product for not many pennies. It doesn’t sink in very quickly but as it’s a night cream it doesn’t really bother me. I wouldn’t mind repurchasing again. 

LUSH Dream Cream – Moisturises really well but I really don’t like the scent. 

LUSH Iced Wine Shower Jelly – Don’t think you can get this now as it was part of the Christmas line. Smelled lovely but the jelly is a bit of a pain to use. 

Simple Soothing Facial Toner – I like alcohol toners so I liked this one. Cheap and cheerful but I want to try other toners. 

Batiste Brunette Dry Shampoo – Definite repurchase once some other have been used up. 

If you’ve done a similar post be sure to link it in the comments! Xx

Finished! December Empties

For the first time in my life I have overflowing drawers of products. I mean everything from shampoo, shower gel, moisturisers, cleansers. I want to make a point of not buying anything else until I’m actually running out of things. In future I’ll be including things like bath products and hair stuff. Although a lot of these products have already had full reviews I find it interesting to see if my opinions have changed by the time I get to the end of a product.  I didn’t get too much used up last month but here is the stuff that I did manage:

Lush Catastrophe Cosmetic Fresh Face Mask – This was a little too drying on my skin though it smelled lovely and didn’t irritate it. If you have oily skin this would be better for you (as opposed to me who has oily skin on my nose and dry everywhere else... yey)

Clinique Hand Cream Sample – Worked well but smelled awful.

Botanics Soothing Eye Makeup Remover – This is a definite repurchase. Worked really well, cost less than a fiver and didn’t irritate my skin or eyes. Love it!

Carmex Strawberry lip balm with SPF15 – I already had a mint one in the back ups box. I love these as they are thick enough to last a while on the lips and actually feel like they are doing something rather than just sitting on top of the skin like Vaseline does. 

L’Oréal Youth Code Sample – This didn’t provide enough moisture on my dry bits so I won’t purchase this.

Estee Lauder Makeup Wipes (sample pack) – These were actually pretty good and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t really like makeup wipes! Given that I don’t use them very often I won’t be purchasing a full sized pack though for fear of spending all that money (£19!) and having them dry out on me before I can use them all up. 

The Body Shop Shea Body Butter – I think I got this free with a magazine. I used this as a hand cream as I find that body butters don’t spread too easily on the skin and the last thing I want to be doing in the middle of winter is standing for 10 minutes in my freezing bathroom rubbing moisturiser in. It smelt fab but left my skin a little greasy so I won’t be buying it. 

Norwegian Formula Hand Cream – I did a fair bit of flying over the last few months and this always went in my carryon luggage as it is the mini size. I love this stuff, it does such a great job of soothing my horrid dry hands and you only need the smallest amount. I will definitely repurchase! 

Jergens Natural Body Moisturiser – Again I used this as a hand cream and it did a fab job. Smells inoffensive, moisturises well and didn’t leave my hands feeling overly greasy. 

Simple Kind To Skin Vital Vitamin Night Cream – This was my second pot and I’m sure I’ll buy more in future. It’s cheap, doesn’t irritate my fussy skin and provides just enough moisture for the dry bits without upsetting the oily bits. 

Urban Decay Primer Potion (in the scratty little pot) – I depotted a miniature one and still had a load of product left in it! Unfortunately the pot cracked and it dried out. I have to say I was falling out of love with it. Whilst it keeps shadows on and vibrant all day it’s a bugger to blend shadows when you use this. I do have another miniature which I won’t be opening until I’ve used my other primers up but once that is gone I don’t think I’ll buy it. 

What have you used up recently? Would you repurchase it? Let me know in the comments xxx

*All the above products were purchased by me*