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 beauty empties so I will keep this brief. I know that there have been a number of these recently, however, I used lockdown to catch up on my empties box which was somewhat overflowing. I have also used up quite a few things during lockdown too, have you found that you have used up more during this period? I have made the point to use up body care and I made sure to finish up all of those half-used bottles that were still loitering around.
I did manage to get through a tiny bit of makeup recently, the first being the L’Oreal True Match Liquid Foundation which I had in my stash for ages! In truth this was a decent high street foundation which I had considered re-purchasing, however, after the last few days following on from the Black Lives Matter movement I feel as though I need to look into L’Oreal a little bit further. That being said, this was a nice foundation which has a large shade range for a high street product which is good to see. I also liked the packaging as I much prefer a pump applicator in comparison to just a tube like some of their other foundations. It provided light to medium coverage depending on how much you used and the finish I would say overall was matte without being too drying.
Sticking with makeup for a tiny bit longer, I also decided to say goodbye to the Rimmel Scandaleyes Wow Wings Mascara which I picked up on a bit of a whim. In truth I didn’t have high expectations for this mascara and whilst it isn’t as good as those say from Maybelline I did find that it worked well for me as it added nice volume and definition. At first, I found it a bit clumpy although I know some people do like that in a mascara, however, when you have naturally long lashes anyway this can make them look a bit spidery. As it dried out though it was pleasant to use, I would be happy to use it again.
One of my favourite shampoos for helping to brighten up blonde hair and remove brassy tones that I have tried to date has to be that by Bleach London. The Silver Shampoo works really well for me, I apply it to wet hair and leave it on for around five minutes or so. What I would say is that I personally don’t see any better results with this in comparison to the ProVoke Touch of Silver Brightening Shampoo which is the only criticism as it is a bit more expensive, that being said, I love the ProVoke one and I love this so I will happily go between the two depending on any offers at the time.
I have also tried a little duo from the Maui Moisture haircare range. I got this little Shea Butter set at Christmas which I think was a great way to try out the brand. I do find that for a shampoo and conditioner they can be pricey when not on offer. I rarely spend much on hair care products if I’m honest, although maybe I should start trying more expensive brands to see if they are any better and to of course experiment. Overall I liked this duo, although I preferred the shampoo more so than the conditioner as I felt that the conditioner didn’t add anything more than a cheaper brand. The shampoo, in comparison, was very nice. I found that I could use this on repeat and that my hair didn’t object to it, as more so often than not my hair gets used to products and then they just do not have the same effect after a while. That being said, I only had a 100ml which didn’t last that long, therefore I might buy the larger size just to see how I get on with it over a longer period of time. I am tempted to try some of the other variations, the Hibiscus Water version sounds up my street.
Moving onto foot care. I used up two foot masks from brands that I have had no experience with before. The first was the XBC Moisturising Charcoal Foot Pack and the second was the DermaV10 Exfoliating Foot Peel which my boyfriend purchased for me as a little pampering treat. I have always been intrigued by foot peels, lets call it a somewhat gross curiosity. So, during the lockdown, I decided to give one a go. I was worried my feet would be really sensitive after use so seeing as I was at home a lot more it was the perfect time to use one. The foot peel itself was quite a success, it did take around 10 days to start seeing any dead skin lifting away, however, I continued to see peeling (very lightly) for a good 6 weeks afterwards which was ok given the circumstances but it wouldn’t have been great if I had been out and about wearing sandals. That being said, it wasn’t anything that a moisturiser couldn’t sort out. Overall I liked it, the results were great and I would happily purchase this one again, although I do want to try some other brands. I also really liked the charcoal foot mask which I used around a month or so after the peel, this left my feet feeling really soft and hydrated. Overall, two very affordable foot masks with great results.
I held off trying the Soap and Glory Peaches and Clean Deep Cleansing Milk for such a long time and for what reason, I do not know. What I do know is that it is a fabulous cleanser, I truly loved it and it lasted for such a long time too. I think it is great value for money at £8 for 350ml; especially when it often goes on offer which seems to be quite frequent. I predominately used this as a second cleanse after I had removed the bulk of my makeup with a cleansing balm. I also reached for this regularly of a morning. If you don’t like fragrance then I would be wary of this, it is highly fragranced with the scent of peach as the name would suggest but I personally have no issues with this, nor does my skin, in fact, I love the scent and do quite miss it. I found it to be fairly hydrating, it for me was a good spring/summer cleanser as it was nice and light on the skin. The only thing I would say is that as I came towards the end the pump suddenly stopped picking up the product, I had to unscrew it and tap the product out which was irritating but not a deal-breaker. Overall I liked it a lot and I would happily use it again.
The La Roche Posay Effaclar Purifying Foaming Gel for Oily Sensitive Skin* is a product I have had for ages. It was out of date for sure but it seemed to still smell ok and I had no issues using it. Since I first received this the packaging has changed and I do now prefer the new version. As I have not used it for a while and I haven’t purchased the new version I can’t guarantee that the version I feature here today is the exact same as the new one online, I shall assume so as the name is the exact same. Ultimately I did find this to be a bit drying on my skin, it left my skin feeling tight. I think this would work better for those who suffer from much oiler skin than me as I have learnt that my skin isn’t as oily as I once thought.
The Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant is one of my favourite products that Dermalogica do. I wrote more in-depth about it here if you would like to know more. I love these little 13g pots as they carry quite a bit of product and are so useful for travelling. My boyfriend also really likes this product, it works so well for exfoliating the skin in a gentle manner and I would recommend it whole heartedly.
Onto eye creams, I finished up the Lumene Nordic Hydra Purity Dew Drops Hydrating Eye Gel, which is quite the mouthful wouldn’t you agree. I really like Lumene however this product didn’t really impress me that much, it did its job but I was left feeling underwhelmed. In the defence of the product, I was only using a sample size so I didn’t try it out for a long period as there just wasn’t enough in there to do so. That being said, whilst it was cooling and hydrating and also not super expensive, I just didn’t see any other benefits for me personally. It did work well under makeup, I didn’t experience any issues there and it didn’t irritate my eyes either so if you are looking for a gel eye cream then you may like this, I think I just generally prefer a cream as opposed to a gel when it comes down to eye creams.
The second eye cream I finished up was the Garnier UltraLife Eye Contour Care* which I received quite a bit ago but only opened this year. This has a nice light texture which I used to add extra hydration to my under eye area after applying my eye serum. This is fairly affordable at £9.99 and the brand often goes on offer making it more accessible to everyone, especially if you’re on a budget. In terms of providing hydration, it worked well but, I didn’t see any improvement in my dark circles nor did I notice any difference in any fine lines or the milia that I suffer with. I would probably buy this if I was looking for hydration alone but as my skincare concerns for the eye area re more than this, I will be looking for something else.
So there we have it, another round up, another empties done and dusted.
Have you spotted any of your favourites?
*This post contains PR samples, for more please read my disclaimer.
