AD/Gifted (This post contains products which have been gifted to me for consideration on a gifting basis only, all thoughts are my own).
If I told you I had a basket full of empties would you believe me? It is true. I easily have enough to do four more empties posts, I just couldn’t bring myself to include more products in this post as it would have been long, very long. I even purchased a wicker basket from TKMaxx to store them in for the time being as I have used up so much stuff! So, in getting to this post, I picked out a handful that tickled my fancy, took the photos and settled down to type. It feels good to be finally sharing with you my overall thoughts on them before I can finally ship them off to the bin or to be recycled.
It is a bit of a mixed bag this time around, there is haircare, makeup and skincare. Normally these posts consist of primarily of skincare as I do get through that the quickest.
Starting off with skincare because it is my favourite, we have the La Roche Posay Makeup Remover Micellar Water Gel* which was sent to me ages ago. I made a conscious effort at the start of the year to finish off some things which I’d had for a while and this was one of them. I have had this longer than I care to admit, however it still seemed to work fine. I did enjoy this overall, although I found that I preferred to use this of a morning as an initial wake up cleanser. This is fine, but the product is a makeup remover technically and when I used it the most I wasn’t wearing makeup. That being said, it did a good job of removing an initial layer of makeup and I would consider buying it in the future as it was gentle. fuss-free and it did what it claimed to do without making my skin dry. To be honest, you really can’t go wrong with La Roche Posay, they’re one of my favourite brands.
Speaking of fuss-free, The Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter was a stand out product for me last year. This is such a nice cleansing balm and I would recommend it wholeheartedly. It is super smooth, hydrating, nourishing and it removes makeup with ease. Of course, it is also cruelty-free with it being The Body Shop. In fact, the whole camomile range is gorgeous, I have used it on and off for years and would go back to it if I had a store closer to hand; I feel an online order coming on.
From Mitchum, we have the Pure Fresh Cream Deodorant. This is my go-to and has been now for a few years now. At present I am using one from Dove which is a break from the mould as I always use this, however, I will go back to Mitchum and in particular this version. Nothing beats it!
Onto makeup, I finally finished the L’Oreal Infallible 24Hr Matte Foundation which seems to last me a really long time. The foundation to this day l still really like, this is my third or fourth tube now and I probably will repurchase at some point just so I have a back up in my draw as I know I can rely on it. It is medium coverage, good colour match on my skin tone with a good shade range available (for a high street brand) and it stands the test of time throughout the day. It is matte but it isn’t a flat matte if that makes sense. I like it and would recommend it to others. As for the Rimmel Lasting Finish 25hr Breathable Concealer, I liked it but I wouldn’t repurchase it and that is because of the packaging. It has a sponge applicator which you can’t detach and cannot properly wash, I really don’t like these and I do now avoid products as much as possible with this type of applicator. As for the actual product itself, it was nice and it did a good job at brightening up my eye area along with providing decent enough coverage, although I do think there are better concealers on the high street market.
The ARK Skincare Age Defend Replenishing Moisturiser* was a favourite of mine last year and I am sad to have reached the end of it. I loved the packaging and the lightweight texture of the moisturiser, it was a beautiful product and I would consider purchasing this in the future once my stash has somewhat depleted. I often used this both for daytime and evening use and found that my skin looked hydrated and rejuvenated having used it. I did a review last year on some of their products and I have to say that overall I really liked them, I was delighted to have had the chance to try out a few things from this lovely cruelty-free British brand.
The final skincare item is the L’Oreal Pure Clay Detox Wash which I liked but having now used it I wouldn’t repurchase. It did the job but I think I prefer other clay washes such as the Ren one, although granted, that is more expensive. The main reason for not repurchasing this is not down to this specific product, but one in a similar range which is the Fine Flowers version in the pink tube. I had the worst eye reaction to that product when some of it splashed into my eye. It literally burnt my eye and caused me huge irritation and a weird jelly look, it wasn’t good. I would be very reluctant to buy any of these faces washes now because of this one incident.
Moving onto haircare, I discovered, unexpectedly the most beautiful smelling shampoo and conditioner that I have ever come across, those being the Mark Hill Miracoilous Nourishing Shampoo and Conditioner which were in the Boots Advent Calendar, not last year but the year before. It is a really sweet scent and it is lush, I can’t for the life of me think what this reminds me of but if I do, I will update this post. Both the shampoo and conditioner were pleasant to use, my hair felt silky soft and it didn’t look or feel greasy the next day which is often something I battle with. I probably will purchase the full size of these products in the future and next time, if you get the chance in-store, have a quick sniff, they smell divine!
The Lee Stafford CoCo LoCo Coconut Spritz Leave-in Conditioner was something I picked up whilst browsing Boots on a whim. I always buy the same leave-in conditioner so I thought it would be nice to try something new. Again, like the above, this smells lovely, like coconuts as one would expect and it did the job really well. I recall this being on offer for around £3.50 when I purchased it so I would definitely pick this up again in the future.
The only body care product I picked out for this post is the Decleor 1000 Grain Body Exfoliator which I loved! This was a gorgeous body product and I rationed it as much as possible, it was only a 50ml size. It was fruity, smelling of grapefruit and it made me feel really fresh and invigorated after use. When the scrub mixes with water it turns into a milky consistency which means you’re not left with a residue on your skin after use. With this being Decleor, it isn’t budget-friendly so, for now, I won’t be repurchasing, however, I wouldn’t mind it one day in the future. Decleor is a brand I am looking to try more of in 2020 so fingers crossed I can pick up a few things in the coming months.
So there we have it, another huge empties and a very satisfying one at that. Did anybody else start off on a big ‘product use up’ mission in 2020? I’m on one and I think I’m doing quite well so far.
*This post contains PR samples, for more please read my disclaimer.
