June empties

At the risk of this turning into an Empties blog (I promise there’s some mascara reviews coming up!), here’s June’s…

Naked detox peppermint & sorrel leaf balancing shampoo – Ok first I have to tell you that this shampoo stinks. It really does. It smells like wet leaves and every time you move your head you get a whiff of it and it’s kind of gross. Unless you like the smell of wet plants. I bought it because I wanted to go sulphate-free, with regards to shampoo, for various reasons which I’ll explain in another post. This was on sale quite cheaply and so I bought it. It’s a good shampoo and really cleans your hair and leaves it shiny which impressed me and far outweighed the stink. I have however purchased some different Naked shampoos to use now this is finished.

No7 protect & perfect intense beauty serum – I have some weird lines on my décolletage which I think may be sun damage mixed with a bit of dehydration. I heard this may be good for sun damage so I dug out my teeny sample and started to use it. It’s a 5ml tube and it lasted me for EIGHT WEEKS! Madness. I also think I have seen some improvement in the lines so I purchased the bigger size of the original serum.

Dead Sea Spa Magik super night cream – without banging on about my dry sensitive skin too much… I bought this when I really needed some help and I think it did. It’s very rich and thick but it sinks in pretty quickly. I haven’t repurchased this as I think I want to try and step it up a notch now my skin isn’t so sensitive. Any recommendations of a good night cream that isn’t too harsh would be gratefully received!

May empties

I wasn’t expecting to be doing another ‘empties’ post again for a while but I finished quite a few products in May…

La Roche-Posay physiological micellar solution – this is my third bottle and I love it. It’s great for a quick cleanse in the morning if you don’t have much time, and it’s also fabulous at removing make up at night before your proper cleanse. It’s very gentle and my super-sensitive skin had no issues with it, although it is (lightly) fragranced so if you are sensitive to that then I would maybe give this one a miss. I have another bottle of this on the go already.

Avène thermal spring water – I had previously been using the La Roche-Posay thermal spring water spray as a toner before my skin could handle a proper one (see below). When I ran out of that I had a little search around and found that Avène do what is, as far as I understand, the same product but cheaper. So I bought this one instead. It’s very soothing and calming on the skin which is definitely what I needed when I first got this. I have recently been using it as a facial spray, before toner, but also I have been spraying my body when I’ve got back from the beach and boiled myself alive in the sun (with SPF on, obviously). Although if you do get burnt I imagine it is very soothing. I don’t know if I’d buy it again but I have two more cans of the LRP one to get through so I will be using it for a while still!

Aussie miracle hair insurance leave-in conditioner – My sister gets the credit for this find. She came into my room one day and said FEEL MY HAIR! I did and then the next day I went and picked up this conditioner. It’s actually for weak, distressed hair which mine isn’t but I only spray it onto the hair below my ears and it really does make it feel so soft. And the smell is divine! I picked up my replacement bottle yesterday from Savers for only £2.99 – that’s definitely the cheapest I have seen this. Boots and Superdrug usually have Aussie deals on too so just have a look around first if you are obsessed with saving money like I am.

Elemis soothing apricot toner – I am so impressed with this toner! Firstly because it is soothing and calming, but also because of how long this one bottle has lasted me. I bought it on 9^th January and it ran out at the end of May… It is pricey for a toner but considering it lasted almost 6 months I am happy to pay, especially for the quality of the product. Saying that, I have only ever purchased this when it’s been in the sale.  I also noticed that vouchercodes.co.uk often have codes for 20% off and free delivery which is great if you can hold out for one of those. I have already got another bottle of this too.

Dead Sea Spa Magik delicate boosting mask – I think I mentioned previously that my skin went crazy sensitive for a while, but it also went extremely dry and dehydrated. I would put my moisturiser on and literally 30 minutes later it would have sucked it all up and my skin would be flaking off. I used this mask to get some much needed moisture into my skin. I will say though that it did sting my skin slightly at first but it seemed to help the sensitivity (along with some other products) as my treatments went on. I have repurchased this already am currently using it, although I’m not sure my skin needs quite as much moisture anymore.

Decleor hydra floral anti-pollution moisturising gel cream for eyes (phew! Not pictured) – Hmm I just don’t know about this one. It is nice. It’s very light and sinks in easily. My skin drank it up in fact! I don’t feel like it’s my “must have” eye cream though. It’s not like I wouldn’t buy it again – I would, but not right now. I feel like I need to try some others to see if they have the WOW factor. If not, and this was the best of the bunch, then sure I’d buy this again.

My recent empties

Klorane Extra-gentle dry shampoo with oat milk – I have always liked the idea of dry shampoo but most of the ones I have tried actually just make my hair feel really clogged up and don’t seem to make my hair look any cleaner or less greasy. This one does. It’s so lovely! My hair feels soft and actually rather clean after I have used it. It also doesn’t irritate my sensitive scalp. I have already repurchased the full size of this from escentual.com.

Skin Doctors Ingrow go – Ooh I hate ingrown hairs; they are so ugly and painful! Since using this I have hardly had any and if I do get a tiny one occasionally then it is extremely easy to get it to come to the surface. I could not be without this now; such is that again I have already got another bottle of this on the go. I usually purchase this from feelunique.com.

Oilatum Natural repair face cream – as you can see from the photo (which is of ridiculous quality – apologies!) I have absolutely used every last bit of this moisturiser. I have extremely sensitive skin (you’re looking at a La Roche Posay Toleraine user of 3 years) but it seemed to be able to cope with this. It is extremely moisturising but I don’t find it too heavy either. It’s really helped me deal with some red and flakey skin I was getting around my mouth and nose area. Again, I have two bottles of this in my little stock box as Boots had a deal on recently.

Decleor Aroma Night Rose d’orient soothing night balm – my SAVIOUR! Seriously, this has done so much for my poor sensitive skin. It’s reduced the sensitivity and redness (hence I was able to branch away from my Toleraine moisturiser) in the long-term but in the short-term Oh My Goodness! Put this on at night before you go to sleep and wake up the next day, look in the mirror and say WOW! My skin always looks amazing the morning after I have put this on. It’s great for sensitivity, dryness, redness and even spots – which I guess you might not expect from a balm (they do one specifically for oily/spot-prone skin too but any spots I get are due to insane sensitivity to the whole entire world). This one was only the tiny 15ml size and it has lasted me from Christmas day until yesterday with usage of probably 5 nights a week. I was so impressed I now have the bigger size ready to crack open tonight and I’m so excited! This one is specifically for sensitive skin but they do cater for other skin-types too. The cheapest place I have found these is over at cheapsmells.com.

So,  for my first Empties post that’s a pretty good turn out in terms of buying, using up and then repurchasing products that I feel really work for me! The links are just to the cheapest places I have found the buy them but I am sure they are all stocked elsewhere.

My repurchased mascaras

1. L’Oreal Telescopic Mascara – the “what mascara are you wearing?” mascara

I believe I first wore this mascara in 2005 (yep, well before Cheryl Cole) and every time I wore it I would notice people weren’t paying attention to what I was saying but instead they were fixated on my eyelashes and would eventually ask me what it was. The next time I saw them they’d have purchased it and be raving to me about it. To me it just looked like your typical mascara but clearly it was far more than that. I have not worn it for a good few years now though but I will definitely be trying it again now my memory has been jolted by the recent release of the False Lash Effect Telescopic Mascara. Whether I will try that one or my original favourite (in the gold tube) remains to be seen! Oh, something I have just remembered – ironically I seem to react to the sensitive version of this.

2. Maybelline New York Colossal Volume Express Mascara – the “have you got false lashes on?” mascara

I wore this mascara solidly for around 2 years a few years back. I loved it. I had fewer people comment on this than the Telescopic one but when they did it was always wondering if I had falsies on. Some people might not like that response but for me it was great because essentially the reason you wear this kind of mascara is for volume, and if someone thinks you’ve got false lashes on then it’s doing something right! What I also like about the Colossal is that you apply as many coats as you like whilst the mascara is still wet. This is key – I often find with bulking mascaras that when you put your second coat on you’ll get some flaking or some clumping and there is no chance of that happening with this mascara.

3. No.7 Extreme Length Mascara – the “I just like it!” mascara

Ok so no-one has commented on my eyelashes whilst I’ve worn this (sob) but I love how it looks; lovely long, fluttery eyelashes. I love the brush as well because it’s quite slim which means you can get it right into the roots of every lash. I have bought this in Black (both waterproof and standard) and Black/Brown. The classic Black has to be my favourite I think.

And lastly a contender for my fourth repurchased mascara: Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara.

I’m wearing the waterproof version in Black/Brown. This is the first time I have worn it and it’s just one coat. I presume you can build up more volume but I will continue to try it out and report back. I have never seen my eyelashes look that long! I will also endeavour to do some photos with the above mascaras when I next repurchase them.

Review: Maybelline New York Unstoppable Mascara

image from Google

Maybelline New York Unstoppable Mascara is one of those mascaras which contain microfibres which sort of attach on to the ends of your real lashes, making them look longer and fuller. It claims to be 100% smudgeproof for 12 hours and as such performs like a waterproof mascara but removes like a err non-waterproof one.

I have to say I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this mascara. The first time I wore it I thought WOW my eyelashes look amazing! And they stayed amazing all day and all evening. The next time I went to wear it though it appeared to be a bit clumpy and my eyelashes looked too heavy and were getting stuck together by the formula. On the next occasion they looked fabulous again so perhaps it is just my naughty eyelashes messing around.

I am a big fan of this brush as it’s a good size, not too big or small, and there are lots of lovely bristles (?!) which pick up the mascara and the fibres and makes sure all of your lashes are coated. Here’s how it looks on…

My pre-curled eyelashes with no mascara on:

(cripes!)

My lashes with one coat of Unstoppable on my top lashes:

I don’t have a picture of two coats because frankly I don’t think it needs it. Don’t my lashes look super?! (Edit: I should have mentioned before when I first published this that these photos were taken EIGHT HOURS after I’d put the mascara on – amazing!).

The shade I purchased was Soft Black and I was a little dubious before I used it as it is a very soft black, almost a smoky grey colour. I didn’t think it would show up well or give much definition but I really love the colour now. I probably would repurchase this mascara again as when it works, it really works and I love the effect it gives with just one coat. The only issue I had with it is that I found it was quite messy and smudgy when attempting removal. I purchased mine from Cheap Smells here for only £4.10.

The search begins!

How the bloomin’ heck do I…

…get the bottom off of my MUA lipstick?! Yes you heard me right, the bottom!

Image from http://www.muastore.co.uk

You see that little circle of colour at the bottom of your MUA lipstick? The one that you thought was just to illustrate the shade? Yes, that bit you’re looking at right now. WELL, it actually comes off and there is a lip balm of the same colour inside. That’s right, you’re getting TWO products for £1 – madness!

Only trouble is you have to work extremely hard for the second product – I have tried almost everything to get the bottom bit to come off of my lipstick but I just cannot do it. It’s making me so sad. I love my new shade 13 lipstick (pictured – sorry about the stock photo, I couldn’t get my phone to do the colour of this baby justice) and I would love even more to have, what I am assuming to be, a sheerer form of the colour to use too.

Someone please help me! I think I’m going to have to contact MUA and see if they have any advice for me. If I manage it I promise I’ll let you in on the secret!

Latest in Beauty: YOU 20 years of Beauty Greats Discovery Box

Yaaaay! I was so excited or this box to arrive. I was one of the people who, last weekend, got onto the Latest in Beauty website to order the box only to find that the website had crashed. Argh! I emailed them straight away to see if I could reserve a box and thankfully they still had some left when I did this. It arrived safely packaged in a sturdy brown cardboard box, and the actual beauty box itself is white with a baby pink lid:

 

 

As you can see it is full of goodies! Included in the box is:

– bareMinerals Original Foundation sample – the amount is not written on the little jar but although it is small it will last a good while – I got a “30 day” sample last August and I am still using it.

– Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser (30ml) and a muslin cloth

– Sisleÿa Global Anti-Age Day and Night Cream (5ml)

– Dr. Nick Lowe Dermatologist Oil Control Day Cream (20ml)

– Lanolips 101 Ointment (1g)

– bamford Geranium Bath Oil (30ml), Body Wash (50ml) and Body Lotion (50ml)

Lalalala I’m so happy! The box is most definitely worth £5.95 plus £2.95 for delivery.

I have actually been using bareMinerals foundation for over six years now; in fact it’s pretty much the only foundation I have used in that time, so that will be going with my other stash of foundation. I do intend to do a review on it at some point as I know a lot of people prefer liquid or cream foundations but this is just so amazing if you apply it using the right technique. I also previously used the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish for a couple of years around five years ago so I’m interested to see if it’s still as good as I remember! I actually still use one of the muslin cloths with my current La Roche Posay cleanser because it is so fantastic, so I think I will do a comparison post at some point on how much difference the cleanser actually makes.

Everything else in the box I have no experience with whatsoever so I’m really excited to try them all out!

In search of The One

Oh, Perfect Mascara, where are you? I have been searching for you for over ten years now and I fear I am running out of places to look. I have tried cheapo mascaras and slightly more pricey ones but I still cannot find you. I know you are out there somewhere.

You are glossy and do not make my eyelashes look crispy. You are volumising but do not look clumpy. You are lengthening but do not promote spider-lash syndrome. You hold my pre-curled lashes and may even add to the curl. You are easy to remove but you do not decide to have a little dance over my eyelids half way through the day. You compliment my green eyes.

See, I know so much about you yet you still hide from me. I will find you.