Empties: Round Five

We're very much about using up things here at JodieMayBeauty HQ so, without further a-due, here's all the products I've used up over the last few months: part five.

Bath & Body

I feel like we need to talk shower gels, because oh my have there been some used up around here lately. I have a full sized Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Wash which I'd definitely buy again, I love how massive these are and the pump-style packaging is so handy, whilst they aren't the most lather-y of shower gels the scents make up for it and the Sugar Crush scent is my absolute favourite.

I've got a 50ml mini of the Therapie Boost Hair & Body Wash and a 30ml mini of the L'Occitane Verbena Shower Gel and I feel the same about both: the scents are amazing, and they're not stripping at all, but for the price, the lather just isn't there for me. You end up using so much product on each use because the formula refuses to lather so I on't be picking up more. Finally I've used up a 50ml mini of the Rituals Zensation Organic Rice Milk & Cherry Blossom Foaming Shower Gel Sensation, which I love. I've already bought a full size, the scent is amazing, the lather is lovely, it doesn't strip the skin and bonus: the packaging is lovely.

Another product from Rituals I've used up lately is a 70ml mini of the Fortune Scrub Invigorating Body Scrub. I didn't like this as much, the scent was fine but it wasn't quite scrubby enough for me. I've also finished a packet of the Serenity Dead Sea Bath Salts, I got these in a Birchbox a while back and it was hard to use them up a I don't really think they do anything: much prefer the Neal's Yard ones or the Therapie ones (they also seem to no longer be stocked on Brichbox's website).

For the boring bits I've gone through a Mitchum 48hrs Unscented Anti-Perspirant & Deodorant Stick and a Dove Original Anti-Perspirant Deodorant Spray. I think next time I'm going to go for a Mitchum spray as the Mitchum formulas work really well but I'm moving away from roll-one lately. And my final body product is the Soap & Glory Heel Genius Foot Cream. I think we're all aware by now that it;s my favourite and that I have backup upon backup of the stuff. 

Haircare

Not a whole lot for haircare this time around, but we do have both a full size and a mini of the OGX Renewing Argan Oil of Morocco Conditioner (which means I haven't done an empties since at least November - no wonder it's a mammoth one!). This is just my go-to repurchase-it-pretty-much-every-time conditioner now. I also finished off the L'Oreal EverStrong Reinforcing System Body & Strength Shampoo - same deal here, I'm not too fussed about which shampoo from this line I pick up but it's always from the Ever-Something range. Love that they're SLS free and this one gives nice volume.

A haircare product from L'Oreal that I wasn't so sold on was the PureColour Radiance Enhancing ystem Dazzling Colour Refreshing Mask. I just don't think it did all that much except make the hair a bit shinier than some things - but there's plenty of conditioners that are easier to use that do the same thing.

Makeup

I'm sure no one is surprised that I've managed to polish off two more compacts of Soap & Glory One Heck of a Blot Powder, need I say more on this stuff? It's been the only powder I've used for a solid year now. Love. I've worn an Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eyeliner Pencil in "Zero" down to a little nub. I prefer the "Perversion" shade that I'm currently using just because it's more of a true black.

The L'Oreal Lumi Magique Highlighting Pen was nice but was very similar to the New Look one, which seems to be a bit cheaper, so I think I'll go for the New Look one again next time. Similarly I've finally used up a bottle of the Urban Decay De-Slick Makeup Setting Spray but I don't think it doesn't anything more than the setting spray L'Oreal brought out recently.

And my last makeup product is the Bourjois Liner Effect Mascara - which did nothing for my lashes and was near impossible to apply without getting it on your eyelid or poking yourself in the eye. The brush had really long stiff bristles on one side and really short little nubs on the other side, such an awkwardly shaped brush.

Skincare

I've got quite a few single-use face masks in my empties this time around, the first one being the H&M Charcoal & Volcanic Soil Single Use Mask (only available in store - sorry!). This range of masks come in little 10ml pods so nice for travel but a bit wasteful in terms of usability - I feel like 10ml is enough for 2 applications but the packaging won't keep the product for enough time once opened to use it again. Other than my packaging gripe I really like these - I find this mask in particular to be a lot like the Origins Clear Improvements Active Charcoal Mask so if you were thinking of picking that up maybe try this first.

I've also tried the Superdrug Superfruits Exfoliating Mask. This one sets down on the face like a clay mask but has scrubby particles so as you rinse it you get a bit of exfoliation, I'd use this again. I've tried two masks from Nspa recently, the Deep Cleansing Mud Mask and the Radiance Boosting Mask, I did a review on these masks *here* and I don't really rate any of them, love a lot of things in the Nspa range but these masks are just so harsh on the skin.

I've managed to use up my Sainsbury's Vitamin E Cleansing Lotion, and while it wasn't anything special, it does the job. It's gentle on the skin and it's fragrance free so good for sensitive skin and it's a decent cleanser - I just have things I prefer so won't be picking up another. The story is pretty much the same for the Elemis Pro-Collagen Cleansing Balm, I used up a 20g mini of this and it's a decent cleanser, but not something I'll be repurchasing as I prefer other things.

I wasn't sure if my 25g mini of the Neal's Yard Frankincense Nourishing Cream was supposed to be for your body or your face a first but I looked into it and it's definitely a face cream. I feel like this is another one of those "it's nice but not nice enough" reviews, I enjoyed using the cream and the effect on my skin was nice, but I have other things at the moment and I'm not really missing this at all.

I got a 10ml tube of Clarins Extra-Friming Tightening Lift Botanical Serum and that is lovely, I'm trying to get through some other serums that I have in my collection right now but I can see myself picking this up again eventually. I've also worked my way through my La Roche-Pasay Serozinc which I already had a backup of in my collection and this is just one of those have-to-have-it products.

My final product is a bit of a weird one, I had a single-use sachet of the Derm Eyes Makeup Remover Wipe that I got in a Birchbox and I really couldn't make up my mind on just the one use. These are little individually wrapped pre-moistened makeup remover wipes and they sound like a great idea for festivals and things like that but they're £9.50 for 12 wipes so really not an affordable product. I just feel like I didn't have enough to go off with it and have really been enjoying the Olay Daily Facials Cleansing Cloths which are considerably cheaper.

Empties: Round Four

So it's time for another empties post, and this time it's a big one. I'm not sure if I've left it a little longer this time around or something but there seems to be a lot more here than previous empties posts I've done. But without further a due, lets have a look through my beauty rubbish.

For body I have two scrubs this time around: the Mr Bean Coffee Bean Scrub in the Mandarin scent. While this was a really good scrub for exfoliating, I just can't get behind how much of a mess it leaves behind. The scrub is black and completely dry in the packet and it goes everywhere and leaves black muddy marks all over the place. My favourite scrub of the moment is one that I've also used up recently: the Soap & Glory Pulp Friction this stuff is amazing. It really clings to the skin as you use it and the scrubby particles are perfect, the scent is also really nice. I'm yet to find anything better.

For body cream the only thing I've used up this month is a mammoth container of the Soap & Glory Butter Yourself body cream. I love the texture of the Soap & Glory body creams but the "Butter Yourself" scent really isn't one of my favourites. Will pick up another but in a different scent next time. I also made my way through a Mayan Spa Reviving Body Wash. This just didn't lather up enough for me, much better shower gels available on the market.

I've gone through another Dove Invisible Dry deodorant. This was my deodorant of choice for a long time but after trialing something else, I'm having a break from the Dove. I've been trying out the Mitchum range after having used up a mini of the Mitchum Spray Deodorant on my trip to Amsterdam and I loved it.

I finished up my mini of the Therapie Himalayan Detox Salts. While I do think I'll be going back and picking up some more, I currently have a massive collection of bath things that I want to work through before I buy anymore. These are a great pre-bed-time bath product that really get you ready for a good nights sleep.

The Soap & Glory Mist You Madly Body Spray is something I've been really enjoying as a day-to-day fragrance that I'd wear to work and such. While I love my luxe perfumes they're just too expensive to be throwing on all the time so this has been great.

On my weekend trip to Ireland I knew I'd only need to be washing my hair once so I took one-use sachets of the R+Co Gemstone Colour Shampoo and Conditioner. I really enjoyed these and a full size of the shampoo in particular will be added to my stash soon.

A shampoo that I wasn't so keen on was the Kebelo Clarifying Shampoo. I got a sample size of this in a Birchbox a while back and it's just a bit too clarifying for me. A shampoo I'm definitely going back for is the Bumble And Bumble BB Hairdressers Invisible Oil Sulfate Free Shampoo. I love this shampoo as it leaves my hair clean but silky smooth.

Finally for hair I have a Co-Lab Extreme Volume Dry Shampoo in the Monaco scent. Now I really wanted to try some Co-Lab products but I think I made a duff choice as Ive heard a lot of people saying the extreme volume collection was once of their less-successful launches. I'd like to try one of the normal dry shampoos as this one left a white cast and made my hair feel really product-heavy and apparently, the regular ones don't do that - will check back on that one.

I have a few different bits of makeup to talk about this time around, first of all the Urban Decay Perversion Mascara and the Subversion Lash Primer. I loved the Perversion mascara as it was super black and made my lashes look lovely but for higher-end mascaras, I prefer the Clinique High Impact Mascara. The Subversion lash primer wasn't my favourite, but I don't normally get on with lash primers anyway.

Sadly my Nars Creamy Radiant Concealer in "Light 2 Vanilla" has come to an end. I love this concealer but I think I need there to be 1 shade light as Vanilla is a hair too dark for me. I've been using the Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer more recently and that's a better shade match and it's very similar in formula. I've also gone through a whole bottle of Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in "N51 Light Vanilla". Again I loved the formula but the shade was a bit dark (come on brands! We pale folk need base products too!). Would repurchase if they brought out a lighter shade.

So now we're looking at my skincare empties and there's a whole lot of those this time too. Firstly we have a sample size of the Goldfaden MD Doctors Scrub. Not my favourite. I found this super harsh on my skin (it feels like it would be too much for my body, never mind my face), won't be using again. A sample size of the Bioderma Sébium H2O Micellar Solution has also found it's way into my empties bin. Again, not my favourite, I'd like to try the regular Bioderma micellar solutions but I preferred the Garnier one to this.

Another Yes To eye cream has been used up, this time it's the Yes To Carrots Moisturising Eye Cream. This is a lot creamier than the Yes To Cucumbers version but I don't think it was enough for me in terms of moisture. The skin under my eyes can get a bit dry at times and I need something a little more rich. I finally made my way through a whole bottle of the Superfacialist By Una Brennan Vitamin C Brighten Skin Renew Cleansing Oil. Already had a backup waiting once it started getting low. This is my favourite cleanser for makeup removal.

I've also finished off a whole Sarah Chapman Skinesis Intense Hydrating Booster. I did really enjoy this serum but for £59, it's a bit steep when for me, I like Indeed Lab Hydralyron just as much. The Sarah Chapman is a bit silkier and feels nicer going on as it's more liquid, but the indeed labs is less than half the price and give the same results for me.

And finally, we have two naughty skincare products. These products aren't in here because I used them to the end, they died on me. The Soap & Glory Off Your Face 3-in-1 Daily Purifying Cloths dried up before I could use all of them. I must admit I don't use face wipes very often but I don't expect them to dry up. And sadly, my REN Flash Rinse 1 Minute Facial seems to have gone off. I went t use it the other day and it had gone completely liquid and there was no way of it staying on my face. This was one of my favourite masks but I'm not sure about it if you have to use the whole tube really. I think I've only had it for around 5 months? :(