March-July Empties
I've used up so many products recently that I thought best to combine it into one huge post instead of doing individual reviews every week like I normally do.
I'd really like to hear which layout you prefer as I don't know which one to keep up! Please leave me a comment below letting me know.
Nail polishes
I used up two nail polishes. And by 'used up', I mean more like they've dried up. Not even because I've had them for too long, but you know when there's hardly any of your nail polish left and it just dries and becomes really gloopy because of the amount left? Yeah well unfortunately that's happened to these two babies.
Both of these were well loved. The OPI 'Nail Envy', the sensitive and peeling version, really helped to strengthen my nails. It's a shiny nail hardener specifically for nails that peel, and I know mine definitely do this! I mentioned this product in my nailcare megapost.
As for the other one, it's China Glaze 'Stone Cold'. I am in love with this, I can't even describe. It was part of the hunger games collection a while back and I used it to death. It dries matte and slightly textured, meaning as the name suggests, it looks just like stone. Its beautiful.
I am considering repurchasing both of these products.
Skincare
Somehow the first batch is all from the brand Simple, I do love this brand loads.
I'll quickly talk about the kind to skin soothing anti-perspirant (a roll-on deodorant). It was good, but I prefer others over this honestly, I won't be repurchasing.
The moisturiser- I loved. It was perfect for nighttime or daytime use, you get a surprisingly large amount of product (this was one of my first moisturisers so trust me when I say this has lasted me an age, it sinks into the skin perfectly and doesn't leave your skin feeling oily at all, so it's perfect for oily skin like mine, yet it still soothes and hydrates the skin, and it feels natural and fresh. With the clean and clear dual action daily moisturiser, this is a favourite of mine from the drugstore. I will repurchase this soon.
Next is the kind to eyes revitalising eye roll on. This is one of those products that has a little metal roller ball on the end and oozes out a clear gel to use under the eyes in the morning to reduce the appearance of dark circles. This definitely soothed, moisturised and hydrated my under eyes and it's a great skincare step to add in before putting on concealer. Vanishing my dark circles? Obviously not, but because the ball was so cold it did slightly help to waken up the area around my eyes, I'll give it that. I do recommend this product and I have 2 other eye roll-ons at the moment, but this has been my favourite one and I will repurchase.
The second set of stuff is a mix-match.
The Witch naturally clear blemish stick is a strongly chemical spot treatment. This has worked for me. This was my second time purchasing it, despite it coming with loads I sometimes got a bit trigger-happy and just slapped loads on all over. I know we're meant to be patient with our spots but definitely for me with the panic of a new huge red spot approaching and setting up camp on my face, I'm prone to grabbing the most chemical thing I own and piling it on, to blitz it off the surface of my face. This, is very chemical smelling, and don't put it near your eyes because it stings! Witch obviously is a drugstore brand and they're like simple in the fact they're really natural and gentle, but their products all have witch hazel (a spot fighting component) in them. Their primer was amazing, I finished it and wrote an empty-review here earlier this year. I wanna try out more of their products! Right now, not 100% sure if I will repurchase as I have a Clearasil one I love right now.
The next product is the Nivea double effects 2 in 1 eye makeup remover. And basically I love this stuff. It's my favourite makeup remover, I use it all over my face but it removes even the heaviest eye makeup so is perfect after a night out. I did a full individual empty review here, so check that out for a bit more detail. The best thing is that this is so so cheap! It's the best makeup remover I have tried as of yet and I have another one, and will continue to repurchase this until pigs fly.
The Clean and Clear advantage clear and soothe foaming wash is basically a cleanser. I used it with my clarasonic every morning and night, and what I loved about this was how gentle it felt on the skin. It made my skin feel clean, but not stripped of all it's natural health or anything. It also doesn't smell chemical at all, but like a sweet aloe. I didn't notice it notably make my skin better, but it's really hard to tell. Really nice product, perhaps I will repurchase! I always pick out new foaming cleansers to try as it's something I use twice a day!
The little thing lurking in the background there is these cotton pads by 'simply gentle organic', not that I've ever heard of that brand. Basically I just asked my mum to order me some cotton pads for removing makeup (I use my cleanser on this to remove makeup). I don't have a 'go-to' cotton pad which I like to use or anything, I always just pick up the cheapest ones eg superdrug own brand work just fine.
Body care
Superdrug Cranberry and Pomegranate Body Butter: oh my god, this stuff smells divine. Give it a sniff at your local superdrug. To me, all bodybutters are pretty much the same so I can't say I prefer this over any others, but in comparison to the body shop ones it isn't quite as thick so feels less oily/sticky on the skin, which is good, has the same 'good enough to eat' amazing smell, and is probably a lot cheaper. Here I have empty-reviews of two Body Shop body butters as well as another one from superdrug in a papaya scent.
The Burt's Bees hand salve was really nice. It had a bees waxy smell, but with all of their products I find their scent is somewhat original and unique. This is a sort of hand and nail moisturiser which takes about 5-10 minutes to sink in properly, but when it does it doesn't leave the skin oily at all and fully sinks in. I don't think I'll repurchase.
Another great hand cream was the hemp hand protector from The Body Shop. It smells... like hemp! Non greasy/oily once again, pale green colour and smooth texture. I really trust The Body Shop skincare-wise.
And finally a body lotion from the brand W, which is a hotel brand. It was a lot thinner than the superdrug or body shop one, but equally as nice. Won't be repurchasing though.
Second lot of bodycare stuff!
I'll deal with them all together. All except for the coconut body wash, which I used in the shower, I used as either skin or foot moisturisers. They were all pleasant in different ways, especially the bliss one! The Burt's Bees ones tend to be a bit heavier and thicker in general, and although this does mean they are amazingly moisturising for the skin, it's still not for me.
They're not things I will individually repurchase.
Makeup
I've used up quite a lot of makeup recently! I'm proud of myself. Using up makeup is such a massive achievement for me and just means I can try out new things and find out which are my favourites. Having an overwhelming amount of makeup just means I find it hard to form an opinion on something as I rarely use products every day. But this has changed, and I have a full opinion on these products!
Firstly is the ELF eyelid primer. I liked this stuff. I feel like I didn't get that much use out of it- the packaging is a bit crappy, but it seems to me of a very similar standard to any other ones I've used. I would love to repurchase this to fully decide whether I love it, or if I'd just use it on a day time daily basis as I have been doing with it so far.
Next down, although you probably can't tell as the writing has rubbed off both the next products, they're both concealers, the first the Rimmel Wake me Up. I found a love for using this as an under-eye concealer, as unlike the next one down, the Collection Lasting Perfection concealer (they're both in the lightest shades by the way, that's just my default way of shopping; always pick the lightest shade), the Rimmel one is of a much lighter coverage and is therefore perfect to use under the eyes on an everyday basis as it blends away seamlessly. So the Collection one is a lot heavier. And obviously it's amazing, I find it hard to find a concealer that really does last me all day, but this does. It stays put and doesn't look too cakey. For spots this is amazing, or just using a few swipes all over your face where needed and blending out with a big brush or a damp Beauty Blender so it doesn't look too heavy- this is my go-to school look as I never feel up to wearing a foundation to school, or think it's necessary for me. I love them both, the Collection one much moreso than the Rimmel one, but as I've said I used them for different things! I may repurchase the Rimmel one when I use up a few more under-the-eye concealers, and I already have repurchased the Collection one (it's amazing digging into a new product isn't it??) and still use it every day (on the days I wear makeup).
I did a fuller review type thing of the Collection concealer in a post called my 'March Most Used: Makeup Edition', so do check that out.
The Barry M Wink Blakc Marker eyeliner is not something I got along with. For starters, it wasn't a very black black, and I hate when eyeliners that claim to be black actually are a patchy deep grey colour. Secondly I don't like the felt tip eyeliner thing, and if you do, you may love this, but I know I don't at all. I much prefer a brush applicator. Also it dried out and became patchy, honestly the final days of using it up became so annoying, I wore it every day to school for so so long. One positive is that it stayed quite nicely all day and did not smudge.
On the other hand, an eyeliner I loved was the Stila smudge stick in the shade Damsel. It came in my Stila 'In the Light' palette, and I began using it after initially dismissing it. I love a good brown eyeliner, and it took this product to make me realise it. When I used it to school as an upper lid liner, it stayed put all day and didn't transfer up the eyelid, which is something even the Urban Decay ones do! It really is smudge proof, and I wore this all day, and to the gym, and it stayed put. They don't have enough product in though! Especially as I assume since these are Stila the individual retail is probably quite a lot. If I was ever in need of a new eyeliner, I'd definitely check out this range because I know they're amazing.
Last batch of products- phew!
The Rimmel 1000 Kisses lip stain in Endless Blossom was quite nice. Do you guys remember when every brand did a version of these in the drugstore? They were like how the 'chubby stick' products are now- literally everywhere and you can't get away from them. I have some of the revlon version of this product, and I prefer the rimmel ones. The Shade was a deep pinky shade, perfect for everyday wear which is what I used it for, I used it every day to school, and of course this product consists of one end stain (applicator is a felt tip, meaning that when it began to dry out it became harder and harder to use, and patchy), and the other end is a definitely necessary stick balm. Without the balm, and even with after a few hours, this product did become drying. Have probably 3 more of these to use up, don't think I'll repurchase.
Next is the ELF wet gloss lash and brow clear mascara- what a mouthful!- and I'm sure you've heard about this. This is the second one I've used up, and I will definitely be buying a third. I love this and their eyebrow kit, and they're so so cheap you just can't complain. I wrote about it in my ELF loves and loathes, eyes edition post. I just used this for brow and rarely eyelashes, it's the same product on both ends. Yeah, it's really good. If you want your eyebrow hairs to be naturally and delicately fixed in place, this isn't for you. This fully glues them down, and it's probably also noticeably felt on your face. Definitely if you touch them, you can feel that there's something strong and stiff there. But it's nice to know your brow hairs are stray and aren't going anywhere! The MUA one I have is so so awful in comparison as it does nothing to keep the brow hairs stuck down unlike this ELF one. It all depends what you want I guess!
Lastly -we made it guys- is this fix gel from Stargazer. Perhaps not really classed as a makeup product? I used it for sticking glitter and gems to my face, even little stars. What I loved about this is you know whatever you stick down is safe- it fully attaches them to your skin-, but it doesn't feel heavy at all and the product comes off when you want it to. This is very different to my experience recently using eyelash glue to stick stars onto my neck and arms- that shit was hard to get off and stayed on my skin for days and days after application. I would definitely recommend this. The pot is so small, and that's a shame, but it's a really great product for sticking stars and gems to your face as you know it's not gonna rip your skin off with it when you go to remove it, but it keeps it there mostly all night long.
**
Wow so this post ended up being way longer than I thought it would be!
Want to congratulate me on my using up skills? Or just let me know what products you've been using up/loving recently? It would be amazing if you left me a comment down below.
