Empties 3

Today is another big empties post. I've really been working my way through my stash. Last week I posted about my make up empties which you can read here. My stash doesn't seem to be getting smaller product wise as my bathroom is still full!

I am trying to work my way through all my samples but it does seem to be taking forever. I really need to start using the things I buy more.

As you can see this is another big empties stash! I really need to do them more regularly as I love reading these posts as I think it's good to see what people have actually used up.

Hair Care

As you can see lots of hair things have been used up.

Superdrug Dry Shampoo - you can read my thoughts on this here, I'm not a fan and definitely won't be buying again.

Pure Argan Oil - I picked this up from ebay and it was only 3.99. I'll definitely be buying it again until I can treat myself to the macadamia oil which I think is the best one. Amazon is great for pure oils.

Boots baby shampoo - I use this for cleaning my make up brushes. It does the job and is cheaper than Johnsons. I do find it runs out quickly though so at the moment I'm using soap which seems to be doing the job just as well.

Soap and Glory Glad Hair Days - This is a soap and glory product I don't actually like. I really don't like this as a shampoo. i found it drying and it made my hair knotty. As I didn't want it to go to waste I've been using it as it shave gel. Shampoos you don't like make good shave gels as they lather well. Conditioner also works.

Tigi Bed Head Superstar - I absolutely loved this shampoo at first. I really felt like it made my hair look thicker but... and this is a big but after a few washes I noticed it was making my hair fall out. I don't know what it was about it but whenever I used it more hair came out and noticeable large amounts. Needless to say this then became a shave gel!

Trevor Sorbie Beautiful Blonde Shampoo and Conditioner - I picked these minis up to go on holiday with last year as you got more product in them than others. I love that these are purple tinted to help prevent brassy tones. Great product but loving other higher end brands like Label.m and Sebastian to repurchase these.

Hairspray - I currently visiting my parents so don't have my empties with me and for the life of me I can't remember the brand. It came in a set from boots at Christmas time. I didn't really like it as it really coated my hair and was a hairspray that showed if that makes sense!

Advance Techniques 360 Nourishment Moroccan Argan Oil Mask - This is a great little mask. Nourishing and left my hair feeling soft. Not as good as macadamia one but a brilliant for the price.

Skincare

Etat Pur Micellar Cleansing Water - This was the first micellar water I used and I really liked it. Not heavy fragranced, easily removed face make up (A little harder on the eyes) and great for lazy make up days.

Caudalie Moisturising Cream Mask - This was a sample and only enough for one mask so a little hard to judge. Nice enough but nothing game changing to make me want to rush out and buy it.

Bioderma Sebium - Now this is a game changer. I didn't want to like this. It has such a cult love I didn't think it could be that good but when I won a competition with Escentual.com I got sent a sample and I instantly loved it. I prefer this one to the original. It's better on my skin. It is as good as everyone says.

Origins Brighter by Nature - I wanted to love these. I love the idea of an enzyme peel. I think I even convinced myself they were great. But in all honesty I don't think now I'd buy them again.

Amie Skin Cooling Clay Mask - I love this. The scent is amazing lime and peppermint mmm! It's great for the weather we've been having as it cools and refreshes while it's on the skin. I think I prefer this to the Origins Charcoal mask.

Carmex lip balm and origins whip stick - both featured in my last empties so I won't go on about them. Like both of them (enough to have had half used doubles of each of them).

Boots Cleansing Wipes - I tend to use face wipes to clean my brushes and wipe make up mistakes away so I'm not really fussy. Any ones will do for me but I don't really like baby wipes as I find them too dry.

Lancome Eye Make up Remover - I love this. Almost as much as my No7 one. Not enough to pay the huge difference. If you can afford it though it's a great eye make up remover, it doesn't tug, melts away make up and is the least greasy whilst being most effective that I have tried. I'm hoping Lancome do a Christmas set with this and the Hypnose mascara.

No7 Eye Make Up Remover - Anyone who knows me knows I love this stuff. I go through bottles of it. I think it's really important to use proper eye make up remover most of the time. It's gentler on the eyes and less pulling hopefully means not causing extra wrinkles. This is a great price (when using a voucher) and really effective. I will be buying over and over again. I've even converted L.

Other

Planet Spa Hand Cream - This is my favourite hand cream and I've tried a fair few. I love the scent (shea butter) and the way it sinks in and moisturises. I always keep a stock of these.

Glotanz tan in a can - This is my favourite tan at the moment and I'm so glad we got to try it. It's easy to apply, pretty much scent free and gives me a perfect tan after one coat (most fake tans on me require at least two!). L has kindly donated me hers but I'll definitely be repurchasing.

Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb EDP - This is my most sad empty. If I had a fragrance this is it. It's beautiful and oriental and lasts on my skin. But at £60 a bottle it's a wait till Christmas. The Zara perfume in oriental is keeping me going for the time being. 

Givency Perfume Sample - ok perfume but would repuchase.

Celebre Body Spray - I'm not a body spray person but this was given to me so I have used it up. The scent is ok but not one I'd chose as I prefer something with a bit of a sweeter or oriental twist.

Marc Jacobs Daisy - L was kind enough to give me her bottle of this to try as I said I wanted it. I absolutely loved the scent and people commented on how it smelt very me. The bottle is beautiful and I'll be sad to see it go off my desk. The only downside is it didn't last long. My skin tends to need parfum versions.

Soap and Glory Hand Food - Raved about by both L and I and many others, great hand cream, amazing smell. But I do prefer the Avon Planet Spa one as it's a bit cheaper and sinks in better.

Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser - This will always win the hot cloth cleanser scent wars for me. I find it's thicker than most and one of the most gentle. Due to the price there is another I now prefer more. (read about that here) will still continue to repurchase as a treat buy.

So that's another long list of empties!! What have you been using up lately? Leave me links to your empties posts!

Love M

xxx

Skin Care Regime

I've seen a lot of posts recently about skin care and have invested in a lot of products recently, particularly from Origins and some French pharmacy brands.

I don't think I've ever done a post on my usual skin care so here's my general day to day products that I could not live without! 

(It's rather a long post so I'd grab a cup of tea and make yourself comfortable, there's lots of photos though!)

First up is the cleanser....the one and only Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser.

I'd obviously heard rave reviews from everyone but had never invested until it came free with Red magazine a fair few months ago.

Needless to say I fell in love completely, my skin looked and felt so much better and because I was previously only using face wipes the difference was amazing!

This has definitely become a must have product in my collection and I'll probably never be without it.

I still have some other cleansers that I'm using up, particularly one from Neutrogena.

This is the 3 in 1 Visibly Clear Blackhead Eliminating Cleanser Scrub and Mask in One.

I believe Hayden Panettiere is in the advert for it?

I bought this when my Liz Earle ran out and I was penniless, and the Visibly Clear range was on 2 for £5 offer, which is amazing considering their normal price is around the £4.80 mark.

This obviously wasn't the same as the Liz Earle, but my skin has been so bad recently that I needed something more directed towards my spots and I have to say I was quite impressed.

The cleanser did work really well and all of my little spots and blackheads cleared right up and my T-zone was looking pretty good!

I also like that you can leave it on for a while as a mask which really feels like a deep clean for your skin.

This was great for when my skin was breaking out all over and if it happens again I would happily repurchase.

I was also sent 2 Actives from Etat Pur to try, after my previous experience with one of their Actives.

I had used their Zinc Glycolate (A20 which helps to restrict sebum secretion and to eliminate spots) and hadn't had a great response from using it. Initially it worked great but after 4/5 weeks I broke out and nothing would make them go away!

Their PR department noticed my reaction via twitter and kindly sent me another of the A20* to be used in conjunction with the Salicylic Acid 300mg (A22*) which when combined enhance each others activity and help get faster results.

I've been using this for a couple of weeks now and I would definitely have to agree that combined they produce a much faster response in regards to oiliness and helping to clear skin of blackheads and little spots.

My skin is very clear thanks to the combination of the Liz Earle cleanser and using these two products.

Unfortunately for me, I keep breaking out in larger spots along my jawline which can't have anything to do with oiliness as my skin isn't oily in these areas, just normal which is a huge shame as everywhere else where I am used to having spots is so clear!

Just my luck really! If you have any product ideas that might get rid of these please let me know as I really can't think what else to do!

My normal moisturiser for daily use is Vichy's Normaderm.

I bought this on a whim a few months ago and absolutely love it, it's not too expensive and Vichy seem to have some great offers on.

Their Normaderm range is quite popular and I can definitely understand why.

My full review is here and I bought this product in April. Considering that I have been using it twice a day since then that's a massive bargain as I've had probably around 5 months usage out of that one bottle.

I have of course used others on random occasions but for the most part this has been my moisturiser of choice.

I have a new Origins one that I bought recently and am desperate to try out but I would definitely repurchase the Normaderm moisturiser for the effects and the value!

As for a mask I have a few newbies in my collection including the Origins 10 minutes Out of Trouble mask.

The mask is a gorgeous thick white cream that you apply to the face and then wash off after 10 minutes.

It is so thick it feels really luxurious but isn't too thick to spread, it stays exactly where you put it which is great.

It also tingles on the skin but only ever so slightly, and has a cooling effect which I love.

It makes my skin feel great afterwards and was worth every penny!

I have also been given a sample of the Origins Charcoal Mask which I'm really looking forward to trying.

Lastly two of my favourite products to use....my eye creams!

I never used to use an eye cream until around March, when I bought Origins Eye Doctor (review here) as my eyes have become really sensitive.

But this was a perfect buy along with the Origins No Puffery eye gel (here) and it has really helped my eyes become less sensitive though they still don't like my contact lenses!

Needless to say having not used an eye cream before the skin around my eyes has improved dramatically and the fine lines I had have miraculously disappeared which was a massive bonus! 

I also was given a sample of their famous GinZing eye cream which I went on to buy in the full size as I loved it so much. So I used GinZing in the mornings to hide any bags and Eye Doctor and No Puffery at night and this seems to be combating my eye worries for now.

So there you have it! A rather expensive skin care regime to keep up with particularly as I don't have a job....but I'm a firm believer that skin care is a priority as you only get one of them so you'd better look after it!

When I get the odd spot I also have been using Sudocrem

This is so cheap and an absolute must for anyone, it's great for spots, dry skin and irritation and it's been great for the odd one that has appeared on my T-zone.

The only things I can see missing from my regime really is an SPF and a serum. I will have to look out for an SPF that's easy to incorporate in the morning and a serum would be great for helping to keep wrinkles at bay.

What do you have in your regime? Do you have any suggestions for my spot worries?

L xxx

This was my recent Origins haul and I'm so excited to start using them but I'm determined I'm going to finish up the old products first! 

Beauty Rehab post coming up tomorrow to show you how much I've been using up :)

 

* = PR Samples

Review: Etat Pur Actives A20 and A01

A while ago I placed an order with Etat Pur and bought a few items including the micellar water which you can find here

I was super intrigued by the products on their website particularly the 'Actives' products and so I bought myself the A20 Zinc Gluconate which helps to restrict sebum secretion and to eliminate spots, and A01 Q10 which helps slow down appearance of first wrinkles.

First up is the A20, I was really excited to try this out as my skin is so oily and shiny that it needs to be kept at bay all day long which is seemingly impossible.

I was hoping this product would help me combat my shiny face syndrome and initially I think it did.

Firstly I LOVE the packaging and the dispenser design on this product, it is so easy to use and the bottles are really cute.

You can see in the photo below the tip of the bottle and underneath where the white plastic part of the bottle is there is a squishy area which you press to dispense a drop onto your hand.

This was genius and I love it.

You are told to dispense around 3-4 drops to cover your whole face which i would say is the correct amount for me.

At the beginning of using this product I do think it helped to combat my oiliness and I rarely had any spots.

I brought it with me to America to give it the full test and I'm afraid I thought it was absolutely awful.

As soon as I got here I broke out and no amount of this stuff would save me, as soon as I stopped using it my spots disappeared!

So I would have to say for me that I wouldn't buy it again as it doesn't seem to work for my skin which was disappointing, maybe another product will work better but I'm not willing to risk my skin breaking out as badly as it did. I haven't had that many spots since I was 15!

Next up was the A01 which is in the same design bottle with a different coloured label.

This product was different to the A20 which was clear and slightly green tinged, the A01 is a thicker yellowy cream that still dispenses easily out of the bottle but is noticeably thicker than the A20.

I was worried at first as I thought this wouldn't work with my skin due to its oiliness but actually the results were pretty good!

You can see the difference in colour and consistency from the A20 here.

The A01 however felt like a serum in the way that it easily absorbed into my skin without leaving it feeling greasy and I was able to apply my moisturiser almost straight away after application without any kind of peeling or greasiness.

As for the results I'm not sure that it has a quick effect on the wrinkles but it's designed to help fight first wrinkles so maybe that's why.

My skin does feel like it's smoother when I've used it and after longer term use I think it may have helped prevent any more wrinkle from appearing but this is always hard to tell.

Skin is so subjective that it's hard to review skincare products!

I think I would round up the review by saying that the A20 didn't work out for me and I have actually thrown it away as I kept thinking it would work and it broke me out again.

I'm sure this will work for some people but sadly not for my skin.

The A01 has had a positive effect in that I don't seem to have been given any more wrinkles by mother nature, but it will take a longer time to see how effective this is.

Again, I was surprised how well the A01 worked with my oily skin so I would definitely recommend that people with oily skin try this too!

With my order I also got these 2 freebie samples which are so cute!

I've brought them with me to America also so that I can use them on the plane, they're perfect size for that.

Have you ordered anything from Etat Pur? I love their website and how the products can be tailored to suit any skin problem, definitely easy to use too!

L xxx

Review: Etat Pur Micellar Water

A few weeks ago I fully caved in and bought a few goodies from Etat Pur as I was so fed up with my skin care routine.

I'd heard a lot about them and so was excited to browse their website, take their 1 minute application to see what they prescribed for my skin and finally place an order!

I ended up purchasing the much raved about Micellar water, and also 2 actives in the form of A20 (Zinc Gluconate) and A01 (Q10).

As well as the 3 products I purchased, when you place your first order you get free delivery and 3 free samples, 2 of which you get to choose yourself!

This intrigued me, and I'm always a sucker for freebies!

All of my goodies are shown below:

So starting with the Micellar solution...

I had previously tried a micellar water from Joliebox (The Taaj one) which was ok, smelt like flowers and took off quite a bit of make up even after cleansing with Liz Earle.

Whilst it wasn't a revolutionary product in terms of what it did (nor did I like the smell much!), it did make me realise that maybe I needed something like a micellar water as an extra step for make up removal, particularly mascara, though I personally wanted a brand that had a website I could read more about!

The Etat Pur Micellar water was infinitely better when compared to the Taaj micellar water.

My make up came off so easily, particularly my eye make up which is a big bonus as my eyes have been sensitive for MONTHS now, I'm really having trouble with them!

I'm hoping that with long term use it will improve my skin texture too, as cleaning it better can only improve it!

I was quite impressed with this product, and the smell wasn't too strong nor did it the break the bank at a measly £6.40, I have definitely been won over!

I'm still trialling the actives out at the moment, but at the first few uses I'm definitely impressed and my skin has definitely improved.

My mum is considering putting in an order...I'm hoping I can add a few more things and steal her samples...would that be mean?!

They're so cute and perfect for travelling with...hopefully I can bribe her ;)

I was a little disappointed that my order took so long, it was supposed to take 4 days to arrive, but mine took more like 10 days which was a considerably longer time.

It was worth the wait, but obviously it was very frustrating.

Have you bought anything from Etat Pur? Have you used a Micellar water before?

I think I'm going to look for something to help my dark shadows and pores next...hopefully I can find something for every bit of my face that needs a little helping hand ;)

Hope you enjoyed the post, I love writing about new products like this!

L xxx