AD/Gifted (This post contains products which have been gifted to me for consideration on a gifting basis only, all thoughts are my own).
It is another empties. What can I say? I am using some of my time in lockdown to catch up with my empties box and to finally, finally get rid of these things which have been lying around for longer than I care to admit. I say lying around, they are in a nice wicker basket I purchased from TKMaxx so they’re neatly stored, but that really is beside the point.
So, you all know the drill by now, Let’s get down to it.
I will kick things off with the Elemis Modern English Rose Bath and Shower Milk which I originally featured here. I have to say, I quite enjoyed this, although I went against my rule of not spending much on a bath/shower gel product. My only saving grace was that it was within a great kit deal I spotted on QVC which actually made it quite affordable. Would I buy it again? Yes, if it was in a similar deal. I found it to be a really nice bathing milk and of course it smelt lovely. It has a nice soft rose scent which isn’t overpowering, although I would say that it leans towards a more traditional rose scent which I know, not everybody likes. I also liked that it left the bathroom smelling delightful long after use which was an added perk.
Onto a product which I find hard to review because I had this (unopened I might add) longer than I should have done and when I used it, it stung my face. It is the Dr Organic Rose Otto Toner. Needless to say, after a couple of uses I decided that it must have gone off and I had to pour it away. Therefore, this paragraph is slightly redundant really but I thought I would include it, just in case you had not heard of it before. It is an alcohol-free toner which seems to have fairly positive reviews online, however, unfortunately, I can’t really comment as I am pretty certain that I left it too long, my skin isn’t majorly sensitive so I would be surprised if it was anything but the product having gone off. I am talking owning this for over six years so…lesson learnt Amy.
Moving onto one of my favourite skincare products in a long time, it is the Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Moisturiser SPF30* which was kindly gifted to me by World Duty-Free. I thought this was a great moisturiser which I used for a long time and my gosh, did it last a long time. The size I had was the 125ml and if I am honest, this goes a lot, lot further than any other moisturiser I have used to date. You don’t need much at all, a little goes a very long way. The texture is nice, it’s a bit like sunscreen but this sinks in well on my skin which is combination/dehydrated. What I would say, is that if you have very oily skin then this probably wouldn’t be for you, I don’t think you would like how it felt on the skin after application as I definitely knew it was there until it had absorbed. It leaves quite a shiny finish but it did keep my skin very hydrated. Looking back, I am surprised that my skin held up so well as I am prone to spouts of being oily, especially in the spring and summer but luckily I didn’t have any issues. This also has SPF30 which is great, but you do need to use a lot of it to get the full benefit of the SPF, which, given the consistency of this and how far just a little of the product spreads I don’t think that this would work out very well. I now use a separate SPF on top of a different moisturiser; this seems like a better way of doing things. I would probably pick this up again in the future (not for a very long time) but I would never buy this size, it just lasted too long. I would also probably pick up the oil-free version.
Onto haircare, I finally made my way through the Tropic Clarifying Hair Wash* and the Tropic Nourishing Hair Cleanser* with the rest of the people in my household. My review of these last year was 50/50, and I still stand by that. I quite liked the clarifying hair wash as it didn’t weigh my hair down, however, I was not keen on the cleanser which I found to be too thick for my hair which resulted in the feeling of needing to wash my hair again once I had used it. I wouldn’t purchase either of these in the future as I have found other products which work better for my hair.
Next, a product which both me and my boyfriend shared (he finished up) was the Sanctuary Spa 5 Minute Thermal Detox Mask. I picked this up a while ago based upon the recommendation of a friend and overall, I thought it was a nice little mask when requiring a bit of a pamper. It has been a long time since I used a thermal heat mask and this does warm up quite quickly. In fact, I cannot recall any other brands off the top of my head that have something similar. In terms of the heat, it lasts for around 15 seconds or so and then ebbs away. In regards to detoxifying the skin and removing impurities, this does work to an extent but I have personally used others which work better for my skin. This product creates a nice experience but I am not too sure if I would repurchase this. I know that I personally have tried alternative clay masks which have produced better results for me, for instance, the Origins Clear Improvement Mask. I would also say that these days I tend to lean towards more hydrating or exfoliating masks as opposed to detox ones. That being said, I am partial to the odd one or two and I know that my boyfriend really liked this one.
In terms of hand care, I used up a travel size of the Liz Earle Orange Flower Hand Wash. I am not sure how I came by this, it must have been in a gift with purchase as I used to buy quite a bit of Liz Earle back in the day. I have to say, I really liked the scent of this, it was refreshing but in a botanical way. Loved it. I would buy this I reckon in the future, despite it being a bit more expensive as I really liked the scent and it didn’t dry my hands out, despite the numerous hand washing throughout the day.
From OhK! (I hope that’s how you write it) I used up the Anti Jet Lag Sheet Mask which I picked up in the Birchbox Jet Set Beauty Edition last year. This contains hyaluronic acid, oats, aloe extract, green tea and all kinds of other ingredients which I would need a degree in (and then some) to understand fully. I must admit, I am on the fence with sheet masks and I am trying to use up the ones I have in order to slowly move away from them as I know they’re not great for the environment. I will not be buying them where I can and, if I have the option to not receive them via PR (some things can be sent without you knowing) then I will try and do that from now on. In terms of this sheet mask specifically, it was ok, it did a nice job of providing immediate hydration but there was nothing long term in respect of the effects of this so I wouldn’t repurchase. I know OhK do a lot of sheet masks but they do other products too which I might have a look at.
Onto Caudalie, the Vinosource Moisturizing Sorbet was quite a pleasant surprise. I must admit, I haven’t used that much from Caudalie in the past but I may look at the brand again after using this. I wanted something light for night time as I didn’t have to hand a designated night cream and this is what I reached for. It was light and fluffy (I am not sure if the texture should have been this way, but it worked for me) and it was cooling to apply. It locked everything in as the end product within my nighttime routine and I was overall very happy with it. There is fragrance in this and shea butter, although I had to say I don’t recall much fragrance when using it. These are however both factors to bear in mind if you have oily skin or sensitive skin.
Lastly, if you recall from a while ago, I picked up a set of the mini face masks from Peter Thomas Roth, they were originally shown in this post. It took me a while to get to them but I would say over the last six months I have been using the various masks to suit my skin needs at the time. By far my favourite has been the Pumpkin Enzyme Mask, in truth, whilst I have liked a couple of the others I could happily leave all of them, barring this one. This is a great mask if you’re looking for brighter, glowy skin, although I would advise that you can get quite the tingle with it so again, if you have sensitive skin please do be wary of this. The mask contains pumpkin, alpha hydroxy acids and aluminium crystals to help exfoliate, enhance radiance and refine skin texture. This mask does all three and it is quite the star of the show in comparison to the other make on offer. It is also strongly fragranced which I really like, it smells of cinnamon which I love the scent of (I just can’t stand the taste). My skin does go a little red after use but this goes down within less than a few minutes. I really liked this mask and I would consider purchasing the full size in the future, although I’ll be looking out for deals as it is quite expensive at £50 for 150ml.
As you can see, I am making my way through a lot lately and it feels so good to be reducing down my beauty stash.
*This post contains PR samples, for more please read my disclaimer.
