Empties – July 2019

Jeez, what a month. Big changes in my personal life, and big moves in my, uh, beauty life? More on the personal side of things below, but for the meantime, check out this heaping pile of empties! (And yes, I’m still on a no-buy, this was all shamefully from my existing stash. Hence the need for a no-buy this year…)

Total number of products used up: 28

Estimated retail value of products used up: £203.44

Total value of products used up this year already: £1113.10

Jesus Christ, two milestones this month! First time we’ve gone over £200 of retail value, and total value of products used up has gone over £1000! This is what happens when you stress-use products, people… reviews below!

Body Products

(L-R: Millie Mackintosh Luxe Body Body Lotion, Korres Santorini Vine Body Milk)

Millie Mackintosh Luxe Body Body Lotion – 4/10 – Oh I wanted to like this because the smell was so good, but truth be told, the lotion was pretty shit. Super greasy, took ages to soak in, had a weird white aftereffect, and didn’t actually moisturise my skin that well, after all that. Still, it had a beautiful scent so it does gain some points there.

Korres Santorini Vine Body Milk – 9/10 – I was gifted this by my friend Caroline (Tron, what up?), and loved it. Smelled so good and was a very effective moisturiser, especially used in conjunction with the shower gel below (look at me using matching body lotion and shower gel, yeah I’m that bish). Would repurchase.

Bath/Shower Products

(L-R: Molton Brown Templetree Body Wash, Korres Santorini Vine Shower Gel, French Connection Bath Foam)

Molton Brown Templetree Body Wash – 8/10 – Another gift from Mr Roams’ lovely mum, this was such a gorgeous scent and foamed up really nicely. The only drawback is that I want a bigger bottle now and they’re super spends.

Korres Santorini Vine Shower Gel – 7/10 – I didn’t find this quite as foamy as the Molton Brown, but the scent and moisturising made up for it. Delightful. Cheers again Tronpud.

French Connection Bath Foam – 4/10 – I got really into baths this month as it was a particularly stressful one, and this bath foam was used up in about three days. Not because I had three baths, but because it barely foamed up. Come on French Connection, the clue’s in the name – it needs to foam up for it to be considered a bath foam. Smelled nice, but was not fit for purpose. Bad bath foam.

Face Products

(L-R: St Ives Gentle Smoothing Oatmeal Scrub, Nuxe Creme Fraiche de Beaute Light)

St Ives Gentle Smoothing Oatmeal Scrub – 5/10 – I’m a big scrub aficionado, as I’ve covered before on this ‘ere blog. Love a good exfoliation, the grittier the better. I’m sorry to say, that, despite the delightful oaty creamy scent, this really didn’t hit the spot for me. It was more like a cream than an exfoliator, and even though I appreciated the multi-tasking notion of it being a mask too, even that didn’t really do much for my skin. Soz St Ives. Love the Apricot one though.

Nuxe Creme Fraiche de Beaute Light – 6/10 – I used up the *proper* Nuxe Creme Fraiche de Beaute in May’s empties entry, and this was the light version. Now, I’ve gotta say, I’m not one for skin moisturisers…

as I have very oily skin and any moisture – especially in the morning – makes me look like I’ve dipped my face in a fryer. And unfortunately, this was no exception. Smelt nice and I felt all fancy and French when I was using it, but as for its skincare properties? Meh.

Perfumes

(L-R: Jennifer Aniston Perfume, Canmake Make Me Happy Body Spray)

Jennifer Aniston Perfume – 8/10 – OK, no shade here folks, but I really like this perfume. Yes, it’s a celebrity, and no, I don’t know how much Jennifer Aniston knows about perfume, but it smells almost identical to a discontinued Philosophy perfume I had ages ago, and for that I love it. It smells quite soapy and clean, with some floral notes underneath it. Really lovely and sophisticated IMO. Would repurchase.

Canmake Make Me Happy Body Spray – 7/10 – Oh this was cute. A purchase from my Japan trip, it’s actually a body spray aimed at teenage girls. Seeing as I’m officially double their target market’s age, I didn’t expect to enjoy it when I sampled it in the shop, but it was very fresh and so cute I couldn’t pass it up. It’s very sweet, don’t get me wrong, but come on, how could I not with that packaging?

Hair Products

(L-R: Pantene Pro-V Colour Protect Conditioner, Pantene Pro-V Colour Protect Shampoo, Pantene Pro-V Micellar Conditioner, Schwarzkopf Essence Ultime Crystal Shine Finishing Oil)

(Note: in the interest of my time and sanity, I’m going to review the Colour Protect products together)

Pantene Pro-V Colour Protect Products – 6/10 – OK, so here’s the thing. I don’t have colour treated hair no mo – I’ve given up the bottle and the hairdresser visits, and I’m embracing my natural colour, which happens to be dark brown with a few white hairs and light brown tones around my face. So in all honesty I wasn’t expecting much from the colour protection claims of this combination. However, I was surprised at how good my hair felt and looked after using it. Smelled excellent too. I gave it a six because in all honesty I don’t know how good it is at its main claim, but give it a go. Or not, whatever.

Pantene Pro-V Micellar Conditioner – 4/10 – Like above, this was a nice lightweight conditioner, but as regular readers will know, I’m a cynic when it comes to using micellar as a beauty buzzword, so it goes down to a 4. Sorry ’bout it?

Schwarzkopf Essence Ultime Crystal Shine Finishing Oil – 7/10 – I’m not kidding when I say this serum took me a year to finish up. I have incredibly long and thick hair, so tend to use a fair amount of serum to keep it under wraps, but I swear this bottle kept self-replenishing. It was nice enough, made my hair shiny which I’m eternally grateful for, but seriously, took a year to use. True bang for your beauty buck.

Makeup

(L-R: Fenty Beauty Foundation, Urban Decay Original Eyeshadow Primer, Essie Fiji Nail Varnish, Studio 10 Makeup Mist, Maybelline Matte Maker Powder, Rimmel Fix & Perfect Makeup Primer)

Fenty Beauty Foundation – 9/10 – Rihanna got it goin’ on on the makeup front! This foundation was absolutely fantastic. Hands down amazing. Nice, natural (yet buildable) coverage, a generous bottle that lasted forever, an excellent range of shades to fit a variety of skin tones (LONG overdue), and a pretty reasonable price. I’ve got another bottle of this in my stash, and will most certainly be repurchasing once they’re both used up.

Urban Decay Original Eyeshadow Primer – 3/10 – This feels almost sacrilegious to type, but… I didn’t like this. I know, I know. *The* cult Urban Decay eyeshadow primer. I just… didn’t rate it. It felt greasy, and creased my eyeshadow, doing the one thing it was meant not to do. It also had a really weird smell, although this might have been down to the fact it was a sample I got with an eyeshadow palette ages ago. In my opinion, you’re better off with the much cheaper Maybelline Color Tattoo (reviewed here!). Thank me later.

Essie Fiji Nail Varnish – 8/10 – Shocker, I used up a regular nail varnish this month! It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of gel polishes and mostly wear them out of laziness, but I do occasionally dabble in your bog-standard polishes, and this happens to be one of my favourites. Just the right shade of pink-tinged white, goes with any outfit or look, and makes a tan look unreal. Have already repurchased!

Studio 10 Makeup Mist – 1/10 – I got this in a rogue Glossybox last year… and hated it. It did nothing for me in terms of fixing makeup, but it did blotch my makeup and was more of an irritating mist than anything else. Don’t bother.

Maybelline Matte Maker Powder – 6/10 – I bought this on the way to Dubai back in May, and all was well… until the powder’s metal tin detached from the plastic case it was in, and caused a right mess. I used it all up still, but it was a pain in the ass. Have bought Rimmel’s powder instead as a replacement.

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Makeup Primer – 9/10 – Excellent. Have already repurchased. See you next month.

Miscellaneous

(L-R: Solait Wear Off Tan, Bath & Body Works Frosted Cranberry Hand Soap, Bath & Body Works Toasted Vanilla Chai Hand Soap, Betacap, Just Wax Vanilla Creme Wax, Soap & Glory Hand Food Hand Cream, Superdrug Women’s Health Vitamins, Soft & Gentle Roll-On Deodorant, Crest Toothpaste)

Solait Wear Off Tan – 7/10 – I bought a LOAD of these last year when they were on offer for 50p for some random reason. Nothing I love more than cheap fake tan, clearly – but turns out this is actually pretty good! Foams up nicely, applies easily, and looks pretty natural with minimal streaks. Knocked off a few points for biscuit scent, but to be honest if you want a good budget fake tan, you could do a lot worse than this.

Bath & Body Works Frosted Cranberry Hand Soap – 9/10 – Need I say how much I love these soaps? Foamy, moisturising, come in a load of different scents which last for ages on your skin. Love. This Frosted Cranberry scent was delightful – very fruity and wintery, which felt weird in the middle of summer but it *is* the UK – and overall really lovely to use. Ugh, can B&BW just open a branch here already?

Bath & Body Works Toasted Vanilla Chai Hand Soap – 9/10 – As above, but with a marshmallowy vanilla scent.

Betacap – 9/10 – Felt a bit weird adding this in to the month entry, but it’s a product I’ve used up that’s had a positive effect on me so I figured it deserves its place here. I get flare-ups of scalp psoriasis when I’m very stressed – it’s not painful but is a pain in the ass. I’m no medical professional but this really helped me out this month when I was under a lot of pressure – if you suffer from SP too, check it out.

Just Wax Vanilla Creme Wax – 9/10 – Ooh, this was a nice addition to my hair removal routine. Very vanilla-y, thick, smooth and applied nicely. My skin was super moisturised afterwards and also smelt of vanilla which was a nice little bonus. Would repurchase.

Soap & Glory Hand Food Hand Cream – 6/10 – Ehh, y’all know my feelings on S&G scent, and if it wasn’t for the scent I’d give this a lot more points. As it was, it was a very nice little hand cream which absorbed well, but did mean my hands stank of S&G. If you enjoy S&G, you’ll bloody love this.

Superdrug Women’s Health Vitamins – 2/10 – I might get some slack from the vitamin community for saying this (yes I know y’all exist), but I don’t really understand what vitamins are meant to do. It all seems a little snake-oil to me – I’ve never taken a vitamin and felt better after a certain amount of days. I’ve recently lost quite a lot of weight and bought these to try and supplement this – these looked nice on my dresser but that’s really all they’re good for in my opinion. Guess I’ll just continue being nutritionally deficient!

Soft & Gentle Roll-On Deodorant – 6/10 – I hate roll-ons, and this was left over from last year’s trip to Cuba. I know it’s bad for the environment to use aerosols, and I’m open to using other varieties of roll-on, but this didn’t work that well IMO. Used it up and will not be repurchasing.

Crest Toothpaste – 8/10 – With no added Shakira this time, this made my mouth clean. Good job, toothpaste.

******

So, I promised a ‘personal’ life update, and here it is – I’ve been offered another position within my company. Hooray! Because of this, my travel posts will continue to be slightly lessened as I get to grips with my new job. I’m off to Florida in September for training and to meet my new team, and will not be blogging this trip due to it being for work, but I intend to take a trip towards the end of the year, potentially to SE Asia, as well as a few weekend trips here and there. I’ll keep you updated but yeah, expect more empties posts rather than travel posts over the next few months!

R xx