AD/Gifted (This post contains products which have been gifted to me for consideration on a gifting basis only, all thoughts are my own).
In my most recent beauty empties post I alluded to the fact that I had a huge basket of empties just waiting to featured. I wasn’t joking. Here is the next batch and there’s more to come. This is this time all predominately skincare apart from two products, which, I will start off with first. I have to say, and I know I keep harping on about it, but using stuff up really is making me feel lots better as I have an abundance of products lying around which I am slowly but surely working my way through.
So, to kick things off, let’s start off with the Dr Botanicals Lemon Superfood All-in-one Rescue Butter*. This was such a lovely product which I used in mainly as a body moisturiser for dry areas, particularly focusing on my elbows, knees and legs. I really enjoyed this, not least because of the smell (if you love lemon scents you will love this), but also due to the fact that it was hydrating, soothing on the skin and again, the smell was so lovely, albeit quite strong; it lingered on my skin making me feel rather fresh. I think for the price of £14.90 for 50ml that it does seem a little pricey given that I can pick up a high street moisturiser which will give the same results. That being said, it is packed full of 96% natural ingredients and contains antioxidants and vitamins. Overall I probably would purchase this in the future as a little treat.
The second body product is the Korres Mango Shower Gel which had been lying around for ages. I had to make a point of opening it up and using it up as I was conscious of the age of it. That being said, it smelt so good and did the job of a shower gel well, which, let’s face it, there isn’t much that I want from it. I am very reluctant to spend much on shower gel as it all goes down the drain, that being said, I have noticed that with slightly more expensive products that the scents linger so much better, not only on you but also in the bathroom which I rather enjoy. Yes, I would buy these again, although I would recommend checking out TKMaxx for them as they’re always in there in my experience at a lower price.
From Erborian I finished up the Erborian Bamboo Glow Dewy Effect Cream* which I liked quite a bit. I do think that I used this product at the wrong time of year as it was light, cooling and gel-like in texture which is great, I love all of those things, however, I would tend to opt for a product like this during the spring/summer months whereas I was using it during autumn and winter. That’s not a criticism of the product though, that was just me being a bit daft. This was hydrating on my skin, cooling as already mentioned and it had a nice fresh scent to it. It is marketed at providing a glowing element as the name would suggest and to some extent, it does do that. Overall it was a nice product, I wouldn’t rush to purchase it myself but it was nice and if I was to come across it again in the future I would happily use it.
I have also finished up several products from Dermalogica. Those being the Dermalogica Skin Smoothing Cream*, Dermalogica Precleanse* and the Dermalogica Precleanse Balm*. I loved all three, I truly did and I would make future purchases of the Smoothing Cream and Precleanse in the future when the need arises. As some of you may know, Dermalogica does gift me products every now and then to road test, however, I’m under no obligation to share them or write about them. That being said, the brand was one of my favourite discoveries in 2019 and I am continuing to use their products in 2020; they really are fantastic! My favourite of all three would have to be the Skin Smoothing Cream, which after when this photograph was taken I took a pair of scissors to it in order to get out what was left. It is a glorious product which soothes my skin, hydrates and leaves it looking calm and fresh.
From Origins, the GinZing Energy-Boosting Moisturiser has also been used up, mostly by my boyfriend. I first tried this years ago and I still enjoy it to this day, although granted, I haven’t repurchased it for a while. I had this little sample knocking around out of a beauty box and thought it would be nice for my partner to try it as I knew he would enjoy the gel-like texture as it is so light on the skin; I was right. I first reviewed this back in 2014 so have taken the opportunity to share this review once more, please ignore the poor photograph.
Speaking of boyfriend, he used up the entire Kiehl’s Lip Balm #1! I am told that this was really nice, soothing on chapped lips and it also won the award of being his favourite one so far which I guess can only be a good thing! You had his seal of approval Kiehl’s. Speaking of Kiehl’s lip balms, I am really keen to give the Butterstick and Buttermask products a try, has anybody put them through their paces?
Back to Origins with the next one. This has been quite a love affair despite the small sample size. The Origins Original Skin Retexturizing Mask with Rose Clay has been my favourite mask of late. I actually managed to get quite a few uses out of this 15ml so don’t be fooled, these sample sizes are a great way to try out a product. I have oily/combination skin and this works a treat at soothing my skin but also cleansing it and seeking out those impurities all whilst hydrating my skin. I find many clay masks are great at what they do but they fall at the last hurdle by stripping your skin of moisture and making your skin feel tight. You don’t get that with this. It is a great product and I am really keen to pick up the full size along with trying a few other things from the range.
Finally, there is the L’Occitane Cleansing Water which came in a little gift with purchase during the Rifle Paper Co collaboration if I remember rightly. I can’t find this online on the L’Occitane website which makes me wonder if it has been discontinued. This was an OK product, it was a good travel size bottle and I liked that it had a little spray dispenser on it, although practically that wasn’t ideal as I just wanted to pour it onto a cotton pad rather than spray it several times. That being said, the product itself was good, it removed my make up well (I only use this type of products on my eye makeup) and it didn’t irritate my eyes either which is obviously key. I probably wouldn’t repurchase this, if it still exists, as the brand is more luxury based meaning that for me it wouldn’t be very affordable for what it is, given that the high street has amazing micellar water options.
So there we have it, another bunch of empties that I can now wave goodbye to. Have you spotted any of your favourites or products that you want to try out?
*This post contains PR samples, for more please read my disclaimer.
