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? :(

November Favourites

So with the 30 Lips Challenge over I'm back to my usual schedule of Monday, Wednesday and Friday posts (because as much as I love writing posts, a post everyday when you work full time is just really difficult to keep up with). And despite my manic lip-product-testing extravaganza, I still managed to find a few products I've been using and enjoying pretty consistently this month.

So my absolute favourite of this month has to be the Steven Klein for Nars One Shocking Moment Blush Palette, I did a dedicated review post to this in late October when I first got the palette which you can find: here. All in all, I love it. It's everything you need for colour complexion colours from contouring/highlighting, bronzing and there's a good selection of blush colours in there too. Everything else in my cheeks drawer this month has been feeling pretty lonely since this hit my collection.

Another pick from the Steven Klein for Nars collection that I've spent the month falling in love with is the Single Eyeshadow in "Stud". This is an absolutely amazing shade and it's quite unique as well. It's a wearable cool taupe shade with flecks of glitter running through it that I can imagine looking great on most skin/eye colours. I just love how it's so wearable but it still manages to have that "wow" factor about it too.

For skincare I've been gravitating to a lot of exfoliating products and I've been using the Pixi Glow Tonic at least every other day, it's gentle enough to use morning/night but still leaves the skin feeling smooth and it still manages to have a light, pleasant scent to it. I can see this being a staple in my skincare stash.

When i want something that packs a bit more of a punch for exfoliation, I've been going for the REN Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask. This mask doesn't smell the best and it doesn't have the "pampering yourself" feeling because it's so gloopy and sticky on the skin, but as soon as I take it off my skin feels amazing. If I use this before I go to bed I see a noticeable difference to the look and feel of my skin the next day and I've just been really impressed with this product lately.

And finally, since November is my birthday month and I generally have a lot going on, I like to take a bit of time off to pamper myself, get my Christmas shopping sorted and generally sort my life out a bit, and since I've been having a couple more lazy morning than usual this month I've made a dent in my Sarah Chapman Skinesis Morning Facial. I think it's a bit heavy to wear under makeup but if you're having a day in the house or you're going to be doing your makeup later on in the day this is lovely. It smells great as you massage it into your skin and just gives a nice amount of hydration and glow to the skin. Facial oils are a winter skincare essential for me and this is a really nice one.

Treat Week - High End Skincare Favourites

Part 2 of the Treat Week will be focused on my favourite beauty category: skincare. For me, skincare is the area of beauty that really gets me going and I do think it's really worth investing in your skincare routine. That being said, if you're looking for products on a budget I do have a post with my top 15 low-cost skincare products as well (clicky link here).

So firstly, lets get this one out of the way because regular readers will have seen this one coming a mile off: the Oskia Renaissance Cleasning Gel. I've been testing out a lot of products lately and trying to use up other things so this hasn't had as much use lately, but it's still an amazing cleanser that I will rush out to repurchase once I finish it.

Another cleanser that get mentioned quite a bit on here is the Emma Hardie Amazing Face Moringa Cleansing Balm. I don't like this quite as much as the Oskia but it's still nice. It has a lovely fresh citrus-y scent to it and it's a tiny bit bitty on the skin compared to the Oskia, but it works well as a first, second or morning cleanse.

I love a good serum and one that I always come back to when my skin is going through a rough time is the Esteé Lauder Advanced Night Repair. It's a thin jelly-like texture that spreads well on the skin and it's basically good skin in a bottle. I like it for when I maybe have a few break-outs forming or some serious redness going on.

I think I'm getting myself a reputation as a collector of facial oils and I have 3 from the high end that I love and would repurchase until the cows came home. Firstly, my morning-in, pamper routine facial oil is the Sarah Chapman Morning Facial. This is a lovely citrus-y oil that's very nourishing on the skin and while it can be used under makeup, I prefer to use this on mornings where I won't be doing anything and apply quite a decent layer and let my skin absorb it slowly throughout the morning.

My second facial oil pick is also an AM oil: the Clarins Lotus Face Oil. As this oil is specifically formulated for oily skin this is the one I wear under makeup quite a lot of the time. It seems to have some oil-controlling properties to it and I do notice that my makeup doesn't break down as quickly when I use this as my morning hit of hydration.

And then the oil that regular readers might have known was coming: the MV Organics Rose Plus Booster. I'll prefix this mini-review with a quick disclaimer: this product is trés expensive, and if it's out of your budget, try one of the other 2 I've recommended (or actually, the Sarah Chapman Overnight Facial is a goodie too, this one just pipped it to the post in my opinion). It's a real treat and I use it sparingly because it's eye-wateringly expensive for such a tiny vial of product. That being said, it is actually twice the amount of product as you get in the Sarah Chapman range for less than double the price, so if you do some girly maths, it works out a good deal *scrambles to justify a repurchase*.

I wasn't really sure if Indeed Labs Hydralyron counted as a "high-end" product, after all it is something you can buy off the shelf in Boots, but it was outside my £15 budget for my high-street post and I wanted to make sure I hammered home my love for this product. I've already repurchased this once despite having other serums in my rotation to use up but it's just a good'en. Very hydrating, again a slightly jelly-ish texture. Much love, and much better than the Sarah Chapman Intense Hydrating Booster if you ask me.

A couple of mask picks now, for an overnight hit of hydration, the well known blogger hyped Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask is a good'en. It's essentially a really intensive PM moisturiser that smells delightful, (even the boyfriend likes the smell of this one). It's not one I reach for all the time at the moment but it's something I crack out a lot in the colder months.

My absolute favourite mask at the moment is the REN Flash Rinse 1 Minute Facial. It's just so quick. I put a light layer on in the evening, brush my teeth and then remove,it's such an easy one and it leaves the skin silky smooth and not stripped at all. A real hero product in my stash.

And hen finally, a surprise product that's relatively new to me: the Skyn Iceland Glacial Cleansing Wipes. Now don't get me wrong, I am definitely not saying that you could use these as your main source of cleansing for the rest of forever and you'd have amazing skin, and generally, I'm anti-face-wipe. But there's a time and a place. I take these with me when I'm camping or staying somewhere where hogging the bathroom for a double cleanse routine isn't an option and they're lovely. They're very saturated wipes and they're actually a little bit bubbly, I think these are the closest I've come to actually cleansing with a face wipe.

The Cheapest Way To Shop (Shopping My Stash)

Lately I've realised that starting this blog was possibly one of the most expensive things I've done in a while. Not that actually creating or updating the blog costs me anything at all (I want to make it clear that I don't pay anything for the actual blog itself, it's a free service), but since I've started blogging, I'd allowed my beauty buying habits to get a little bit out of control. Every purchase in Boots has become "Blog Material" and I've used needing product for posts as an excuse for many an impulse buy.

So in an attempt to rein it in (because I can't even look at my bank statement this month) I've decided to leave my purse alone for a month and try to use up things that I already own. And in doing so I've rediscovered some products that I forgot I even had.

A product that I got for christmas and pretty much forgot about instantly was Benefit Lollitint. I don't really go for liquid cheek products in the winter and I had more than enough new lip products to chose from and so this just got left behind. However now that it's summer and I'm wanting a light flush on the cheeks Im finding myself sort of discovering this for the first time. I dot it onto the cheeks and blend with fingers which makes it great for travel.

A product that I used on the daily back in my late teens that got pushed aside when some new purchases came into the picture is the Urban Decay Deluxe Palette. I recently found myself at a camping festival and this came in so useful. It's a little palette with 9 shades and a decent sized mirror and it's full of bright colours, but also has 3 neutrals and your basic black so it's everything you need for a festival palette. need to get more use out of this because it's great.

I've had a lazy moment for lip products and have just wanted pretty no fuss lip colours that are hydrating and I've been reaching for the Revlon Lip Butter in "Cotton Candy" a lot lately. It's a no-fuss light pink that not's too warm or too cool, a super easy option and my lips love it.

Something that I come back to every summer is MAC Paint Pot in "Rubinesque". It's a lovely peachy gold that's sheer and sheeny on the lids and that packs a punch for summer staying power. The dent in this product just shows how much I like it and while I like the Maybelline Colour Tattoos but they just don't compare to this on the shade front.

And finally, a skincare rediscovery: Sarah Chapman Intense Hydrating Booster. I shelved this pretty quickly when I bought it because for me, Hydraluron wins hands down for the hydrating serum of choice. That being said, the Sarah Chapman is still nice (and was far to pricey to waste) so I've brought it to the front of my skincare stash in a bid to get some use out of it.