March 2015 Empties

I've used up loads of products in the month of March guys, and i'm going to share them with you

This is the second bottle of the Neutrogena Visibly Clear 2 in 1 face wash and mask I've used up. It's a really nice cleanser that I used in the shower (or as a mask on individual spots when they randomly sprung up) and it's really gentle on the skin. It visibly tightens- but not uncomfortably- the skin, and it feels super soft after use.

The cleanser was Lancome Bi-Facil which was a gift, and I'd not spend this much money on it again because I find my Nivea Double Effects (see full blog post) is a similar idea with the blue oil and clear water, but much cheaper and I actually find works better.

The Garnier Pure Active Toner was really nice, I used it after cleanser to tighten my face and on spots as well as just to make my skin feel so much cleaner, in an almost chemical way, and the scent is very strongly chemical. I feel this improved the quality of my skin, and will repurchase.

Lastly here is the Sebium H20 by Bioderma; I usually get the more popular one that everyone has with pink accents (instead of the green), but I found them the same. No idea what the difference is meant to be. A nice, inoffensive (no scent) cleanser to remove makeup or clean the face in the morning.

I've said before that I use cotton pads to put my makeup remover on to remove makeup every day, and I literally don't care which ones I buy, just whatever's cheapest or what's in the house. These three   are Sainsburys, Waitrose and Simply Gentle.

Thee moisturisers, all amazing. The Soultions range (found on the Avon website) is crazily cheap and their moisturisers are amazing. I used up the complete balance night cream which is almost a gel, sinks in amazingly but still hydrates the skin, so is perfect for oily or combination skin. I also used up their ageless bloom eye cream which is super thick but does sink into the skin, and is nice hydration for the under eyes before concealer.

I also used up the Garnier Moisture Match for combination to oily skin, which is probably one of my favourite moisturisers of all time, if not the favourite. I recommend this so highly.

Makeup time- I've really been trying hard to use up makeup recently so bear with me.

The ELF lip liner in pink grapefruit is a crazy colour, but had a really nice texture, similar to that of the Rimmel exaggerate full colour lip liner in Eastend Snob, which I was really upset to finish seeing as  I used it on practically every night out seeing as it's a tiny bit darker than my natural lip colour, making it the perfect liner for me. The only negative to both these lip liners for me is that they both are retractable, and I usually find with retractable lip liners that you're paying around £6 in terms of the Rimmel one for a ridiculously small amount of product. I really didn't get much in it. So i'm on the hunt for an affordable 'your lips but better' pink, but in pencil form.

The tiny double-ended pencil up top was my holy grail eyebrow product for many months- the natural eyebrow duo effect pencil from Rituals. I can't remember the colour as it got sharpened away, but it was for blondes. It was a perfect ashy tone and had a light concealer pencil on the other end for going around the edges of the eyebrow.

Slightly below that is an equally pitiful-looking pencil- the NYX jumbo eye pencil in milk. This is the best eyeshadow base ever. It doesn't crease and because it's white it makes eyeshadow stand out and colours pop to their true potential. Plus, for me, a white eyeshadow base is the best option as even painterly is too dark for my skintone- I want something closer to my skin tone (sometimes I'd mix them to get my skin tone to completely cancel out the eyes). I've already repurchased it from the Makeupgeek website whilst buying eyeshadows from them (haul coming soon!). LOVE LOVE LOVE!

The tiny empty pot is a sample blush from Coastal Scents (in pigment form), it was a weird colour on my skin tone, a little too dark, but the feel was nice.

The Me Me Me dew pot I had was in Hollow Haze, a beautiful golden colour. I bought this after seeing Pixiwoo rave about them on youtube. Their consistency is moussy, whereas I prefer a stable base like the Mac paintpots or the Maybelline Colour Tattoos. They creased hugely in the contours of my eyelids. Use with caution- only put on a tiny amount.

I used up the ELF lip primer and plumper- not sure if i'd repurchase. The primer was basically just a concealer, and the plumper as with all lip plumping products is just a tingly gel that you're not sure if it actually has any effect at all.

Three lip stains I used up, two were Rimmel Lasting finish 1000 kisses ones (remember when these were the big hype?); in perpetual plum, and nothing but nude. They do stain the lips quite well, but anything with a felt tip applicator stops properly being effective after a few uses. The other was a Revlon just bitten stain in Frenzy, and it had the same problem. 

My first Revlon Lip Butter to use up was the one in Sugar Frosting, it's really pale but not too pigmented (the lighter ones really aren't) so I'd use it just as a subtle product. I wouldn't repurchase though- I really didn't like the texture of the lip butters, I found they looked really odd on the lips.

And finally I have the Maybelline one by one mascara. It was really nice, and I like the tapered applicator. I just have so many mascaras that I often feel overwhelmed.

In terms of haircare, I used up the Elvive Smooth and Polish detangling spray which is really nice to use before blowdrying/straightening as it also has thermal properties, and the Batiste dry shampoo in tropical scent which everyone seems to have. I'll probably repurchase both of these although my life doesn't depend on having them.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my empties that I've gathered up- let me know in the comments below what you've used up recently and if you plan on repurchasing!

Bioderma Crealine H20: Empty-Review

Empties: Mini Reviews

Today I finished this cleanser from Bioderma- I'm sure you've heard about this already as it's pretty much a beauty phenomonon here on the blogosphere.

I use a cleanser to remove makeup before bed, and freshen up my face in the morning before applying makeup.

I either buy mine from Amazon or Ebay, or preferably from a French chemist as it's so much cheaper.

This is so amazing because it's so gentle on the skin- it literally feels like water except for the fact that it removes makeup, even waterproof makeup. I like to use this mainly for the eyes or all over to remove any remnants of makeup after using a slightly more harsh makeup remover to get off the brunt of it- the one I use is the oil-based Nivea double effects. A full empty-review of that can be found here.

Will I repurchase this product? Oh I already have. In fact, this is about the 3rd or maybe even 4th one of these 500ml products I've used.

What makeup remover do you use? What's your favourite cleanser? Let me know in the comments below.

SO MANY EMPTIES!

About three months worth of empties have been piling up...

I'M GOING THROUGH that stage of trying desperately to use previous items of makeup and general care which have been lying about in my collection, hardly touched. It's that satisfying feeling of using a product up which I love, and also it allows you to skip the guilt next time you go shopping. PLUS, it's been eye-opening using these products and helped me realise which products I love and which aren't up to scratch; something which you can only really get from using one product singly for a long period of time.

First here's a general selection of body-care, I guess we could classify these three products as. On the left is the Superdrug own brand Mango and Papaya Body Butter which was absolutely amazing, and I would repurchase. I used it twice a day for about two or three weeks and it left my legs feeling smooth-non greasy- and smelling fruity but not too much. In the middle is the Burt's Bees Coconut Foot Cream which I got in a gift set a year ago and have been using recently. It's extremely thick but did the job and left my feet feeling good as new! The Sure Mineral Fresh Deodorant was okay, but not my favourite deodorant ever and I don't expect to repurchase.

In the last few months I have used up four sets of makeup wipes. The ones on the right are the Simple Kind to Skin Cleansing Facial Wipes. What I loved about these was how drenched they were in product. They don't get every bit of makeup off but are good to run across the face after the initial makeup removal is done. I always repurchase these. The others are the Freederm Deep Pore Cleansing Wipes which in terms of removing excess makeup and more importantly getting rid of spots- yes these really are a miracle product- they do a great job. I bought them initially on a recommendation from a friend and I will definitely repurchase. They got rid of my spots- simple as.

I also used up three sets of makeup removal pads, two Superdrug 100% Pure Cotton Wool and one Essential Waitrose Cosmetic Pads set. The Waitrose ones were smoother and more gentle on the skin, but the Superdrug ones were cheaper and not too much worse, definitely for me easier to buy, so I think those will be the ones I continue to use in the future.

 Next, what I use to actually remove my makeup. Clearly I've been trying out a few different products here, and one stands out. The Bioderma Crealine TS H2O is a people's favourite, but to me although it is good it doesn't live up to the hype. I have another 500ml bottle I'm using up but I found that it didn't remove all my waterproof makeup, and so in the future I won't go out of my way to buy it. Next is the Nivea Daily Essentials Extra Gentle Eye Makeup Remover which I've been using from the very beginning, and it is good and non-irritant, like the Bioderma. But my current favourite and complete makeup-removing MIRACLE product is the Nivea Daily Essentials Double Effect Eye Makeup Remover and I beg you all to try this because it's amazing. It effortlessly removes all my makeup, and a full rave review is coming soon. The little tub at the bottom is an Avon product, the Clearskin Professional Clarifying Toner Pads which I was using after cleansing and before bed just to tone my face. These smell amazing and had loads of product soaked into each of the pads. And they definitely helped whenever I had a few bad spots. Next time I do an order from Avon, these will be in my basket. Avon also is extremely cheap, and great quality- I recommend it to everyone.

Here are two products I used for spot removal. The first, the Dr Sebagh Breakout Spot-On which my mum bought for me ages ago and I only recently used up, was a disappointment, especially since I love their cleanser which worked miracles for me. It didn't work for me but that's not to say it won't work for you. The Neutrogena Visibly Clear Rapid Clear Treatment worked extremely well for me, however. It is very very strong though and does have a tendency to burn- this stuff is for real. It works though so I can't complain. I will be repurchasing this, it's really cheap from Superdrug.







Here is the makeup I used up. The orange ball is an EOS Lip Balm, you know those dome-shaped ones. I have about 5 of these and finally used one up! I love them they're great. The smell of the orange one reminds me vividly of a particular time so getting rid of it will be hard. The ELF Waterproof Eyeliner Pen is one of the worst products I have ever bought. It comes out not pigmented at all and has a tendency to drag across the eyelid so I hardly used it, but I'm throwing it away. The next two are Random Lipglosses I got a while ago and am throwing out now, one was from Primark and another from a magazine ages ago. They were good, nothing special. Primark surprisingly has some really good makeup and makeup brushes, I can do a specific post on this if people want. The mascara I used up is the Maybelline Waterproof Illegal Length Mascara which I got ages ago and wasn't particularly impressed with. It just didn't do too much for me but I'm tempted to try it again this summer as it had a really great brush and I need a reliable waterproof mascara for the hotter times (hopefully) approaching. Last here is the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder which here is in 002 Pink Blossom. I really liked this and purchased another one, this time in translucent. I much prefer the translucent one but anyone with a darker skin tone might want to find one closer to their skin colour to avoid any white caste. But for me it worked, great for the 'drugstore' price and availability.

PHEW! Onto the last empty product! And not a particularly interesting one either- sorry! Just some Superdrug own brand Acetone Free Nail Polish Remover. This was a bright light blue colour which was really nice, smelt the same as all other nail polish removers I've ever used, worked the same. I really seem to have no preference to nail polish removers- is it me or are they all the same? If anyone has any suggestions of good ones let me know.








Have you used any of these products above? What is your most repurchased beauty item? Let me know in the comments below.