Empties – August 2019

Alright lads? I’m currently writing this while flying over the Atlantic as you do – I’ve just been on a work trip to Florida and am just flying back, as pasty white as I was to begin with (as it’s a work trip, it won’t be documented here). But today we are not talking about my complexion – we are taking a closer look at what I used up last month. Bet you can’t wait, can you?

Total number of products used up: 26

Estimated retail value of products used up: £198.68

Total value of products used up this year already: £1311.78

OK, not as busy as some months, but still quite a lot of products used up. Here’s the ol’ roundup below…

Hair Products

(L-R: Pantene Colour Protect Shampoo & Conditioner, Pantene Volume & Body Conditioner, Umberto Giannini Extreme Hold Hairspray, L’Oreal Elnette Hairspray)

Pantene Colour Protect Shampoo & Conditioner – 6/10 – Meh – as previous posts will mention, I don’t have colour-treated hair so can’t attest to its colour treating properties, but I will say that it smells good and makes my hair feel shiny, so at least that’s something, right?

Pantene Volume & Body Conditioner – 6/10 – I am of a very diverse background, and as a result have very wavy, thick, voluminous hair. I’m not sure why I picked this up, as volume and body is the last thing my hair needs, but as it turns out it was shit at delivering both, so just acted as regular conditioner for me. Fair play, but probably not the one if you actually want thiccc locks.

Umberto Giannini Extreme Hold Hairspray – 2/10 – OK, so I’ve mentioned before on this ‘ere blog about how I use hairspray to set my makeup, right? Well, this was purchased on this basis, and unfortunately was absolutely horrible. Stank to high heavens of chemicals (seriously, don’t use this and stand near an open flame), was very gritty, and didn’t do a great makeup fixing job. I’m fully aware that it’s not its actual use, but seriously, it was awful. Do not purchase.

L’Oreal Elnette Hairspray – 7/10 – In stark contrast to the Umberto Gianno-no disaster above, this was very good (there’s a reason it’s been around for decades). A light mist, smelt good, and did a great job of fixing my makeup mask

Face Products

(L-R: Garnier Micellar Water x 2, Garnier PureActive Face Scrub, Soap & Glory Peaches & Clean Face Wash, Simple Face Scrub, L’Oreal Face Mask, Random Japanese Brand Sheet Masks)

Garnier Micellar Water x 2 – 9/10 – Ah man, do I love this stuff. I’ve waxed lyrical about it for months now – will keep repurchasing until they stop making it. Love love love. The only thing I’d change is a fragrance, but it’s not exactly an essential.

Garnier PureActive Face Scrub – 8/10 – I got a load of these little samples a few years ago (yes, years), and finally used them all up this month. I really enjoyed these – they were very versatile (you can use it as a scrub, face wash AND mask!), smelt good and made my skin tingly soft and clean. A good budget buy to look out for.

Soap & Glory Peaches & Clean Face Wash – 8/10 – Another Soap and Glory skincare product, this face wash (officially a ‘cleansing milk’) was really lovely to use. Delicious apricotty fragrance, really soft and gentle on the skin, plus the bottle was HUGE so good bang for your buck too.

Simple Face Scrub – 2/10 – Onto a not-so-good product now, this was guff. Not a scrub by any stretch of the imagination, more a moisturiser with a bit of walnut shell in it. Did absolutely nothing for my skin. Would not recommend.

L’Oreal Face Mask – 6/10 – I’m really into the L’Oreal face masks at the moment – the Purify one is fantastic – but this one was a bit of a letdown. Not half as good as the Purify one – it was a pretty purple colour and it smelt nice but that’s all really, it didn’t actually do much for my skin. Skip this one and try out the light green variety.

Random Japanese Brand Sheet Masks – 8/10 – OK, I need to do some explaining here. Back when I was in Tokyo in 2017, I picked up a bunch of weird and wonderful sheet mask packs. Skincare is a BIG thing there, and they often use ingredients which aren’t exactly Westerner-friendly… such as these sheet masks, which include ‘horse placenta’ among its ingredients. Yes, horse placenta. And you know what – terrifyingly, it actually worked a treat. I don’t know how these dermatologists or skincare professionals discovered that putting horse placenta on your face cleared it up, but sure enough it did, and I was actually quite sad when I ran out of masks this month. What have I become?

Makeup

(L-R: Essence Lash Princess, Estée Lauder Double Wear Foundation, Rimmel Exaggerate Eyeliner, MAC Powder Blush, Urban Decay Eden Eyeshadow Primer)

Essence Lash Princess – 10/10 – My HOLY GRAIL mascara. NOBODY can TOUCH this £2.99 mascara. Keep your Lancomes, your Benefits, even your Maybellines, because this mascara trumps ALL of them – giving you falsh lash realness without any clumps at a bargain price. Seriously, Google it and thank me later.

Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation – 8/10 – This foundation is a cult foundation among the bloggosphere for its longevity and excellent full coverage. Not to blow my own trumpet but I have pretty decent skin and probably don’t need to wear full coverage every day – but I do, and this foundation does an excellent job at evening skin tone and providing good coverage while not masking me up. Good job EL, although I still think there are more ‘realistic’ foundations out there.

Rimmel Exaggerate Eyeliner – 8/10 – Rimmel has been one of my budget favourite brands for decades – and for good reason! This liquid eyeliner lasts a LONG time, has excellent pigment, a nice brush for application and is maximum five pounds. Bargain. Will inevitably be a repurchase.

MAC Powder Blush in ‘Fleur Power’ – 7/10 – A blusher I bought during the 2011 MAC obsession heyday, I thought that it was high time I used this up. And I didn’t even manage it over eight months of daily use. Didn’t even touch the sides. It got to the stage where the blush was looking quite chunky because my brush just didn’t pick up an even amount around the pan. So off to the MAC graveyard it goes. I would recommend picking one up if only for its longevity (do I really need to tell you that it lasted eight years?!), but maybe have a strategy for how to get the last remaining dregs out of the compact.

Urban Decay Eden Eyeshadow Primer – 2/10 – Ugh. I’ve been spoilt after using up my beloved Maybelline Color Tattoo eyeshadow primer, because this really did not do it for me. Greasy, split often on my eyelids, and didn’t exactly keep my shadow crease-free. Don’t bother.

Body Products

(L-R: Soap & Glory Clean Girls Body Wash, Zoella Pretty Polished Sugar Scrub)

Soap & Glory Clean Girls Body Wash – 8/10 – Another S&G shower gel bites the dust – and good God did it take its sweet time about it. Definite value for money, this shower gel had a lovely fragrance and a slight iridescence that made me feel like a mermaid at 5am every morning before work. Would repurchase once I’ve made it through my stash.

Zoella Pretty Polished Sugar Scrub – 8/10 – Say what you want about Youtubers, but they know how to put their name on a product that an underpaid R&D team within another company creates. This scrub was really nice. A gorgeous fragrance, very scrubby, and yet moisturising at the same time. The only thing I don’t like is that it’s marketed to a demographic about 15 years younger than me.

Miscellaneous

(L-R: Bath & Body Works Blackberry & Basil Foaming Hand Soap, Lavender Violets Gel Polish, CND Shellac Top Coat, Zoella Snow’Ella Body Mist, Sure Deodorant, He-Shi Tanning Mousse, Salon Services Acetone)

Bath & Body Works Blackberry & Basil Foaming Hand Soap – 9/10 – Do I really need to talk about how wonderful these soaps are again? Gorgeously scented, moisturising, and makes washing your hands a joy. Ugh love. Will obviously repurchase any time I head over to the US.

Lavender Violets Gel Polish – 7/10 – I found this random brand on Amazon after searching for the perfect cranberry gel polish, and found it in the unassumingly-named Lavender Violets brand. It isn’t quite as good as my beloved CND, but it does the trick and lasts nicely (around 2 weeks on average without chipping). Have already repurchased.

CND Shellac Top Coat – 8/10 – The perfect gel polish top coat. Shiny, durable and lasts ages on the nail. I’m only knocking off a few points because it’s a) expensive and b) a tiny bottle, but who am I kidding, I’ll buy it again.

Zoella Snow’Ella Body Mist – 2/10 – Meh, I had high hopes for this body mist/perfume because I absolutely loved the other fragrances in the range, but this was overpowering and very wintery (piney), which didn’t really work in the middle of summer. Glad it’s gone. Bye Felicia.

Sure Deodorant – 8/10 – Does the job. Done.

He-Shi Tanning Mousse – 7/10 – Mildly problematic name aside, I really liked this tanning mousse. I’m very used to your Ronseal-esque fake tans, so it was nice to have a slightly more natural glow this time round, and this mousse worked well – even coverage and didn’t get patchy at any stage in the process. It’s quite expensive for what it is, but if you’re looking for a very natural tan, you could do a lot worse.

Salon Services Acetone – 9/10 – I use acetone for my gel polish removal, and this is your bog-standard acetone. Works a dream and is usually relatively inexpensive. I usually decant into a little pump bottle because I find it a lot easier than faffing around with bottles and cotton wool and the like – twop tip.

***

I’m heading off to Rome on Saturday evening for a long weekend, so the travel posts will be reinstated (on an ad-hoc basis, but still, they’re back!). Hooray! Until Rome post…

R xx