Beauty Empties – Recently Recycled #33 – AD/PR Product (This post contains products that have been sent to me for consideration as a PR sample only, all thoughts are my own).
Well, somehow I dropped off the face of the universe. It has been over a month since I last posted, that must be some kind of record. Anyway, I’ve had these photographs taken for a number of weeks now for the next product in my beauty empties series. The products have been long since thrown in the recycling bin, so, I’ll briefly share with you my thoughts on them so I can finally move the images off my desktop. Work has been insane lately, stamp duty deadlines mean that the volume of work, and indeed demand has increased tenfold, I’m shattered, which is why I haven’t posted for a while. Today I managed to find a few hours for myself so here we are, a new empties post!
First up, the Soap and Glory Clean on Me Clarifying Shower Gel which I have used up was one of my favourite products for a long time when it came to the bath/shower. I love the original pink scent that comes with Soap and Glory and luckily for me, that’s the scent of Clean on Me. It’s a great shower gel that lasts for ages, my only issue with it is the pump dispenser. I really hope that this changes to the new packaging that some of their most recent shower gels are being presented in, it is so much better and more user friendly too. I would still repurchase this, I love it.
The Antipodes Juliet Skin-Brightening Gel Cleanser is a product which I had high hopes for, I wanted to try this for so long. Unfortunately, I didn’t realise that the shelf life of this product was quite short, that’s my fault. So, when I opened it, it was in fact just over its use-by date but I thought to myself, what the heck, I will use it anyway. Now, it didn’t smell off, nor did the texture feel funny however the colour of it put me off. Having said that, having looked at reviews online, the colour looked to be right, so it must be down to the natural ingredients somewhere down the line. As a cleanser, it worked well, although I can’t say that I noticed any brightening effects on my skin over time. This was predominately a second cleanse for me or the first cleanse of a morning. I am tempted to purchase this again to give it a fairer review because I feel that my first impressions of it have been compromised due to not using it within its shelf life. Have you used this? I would be interested to hear your thoughts if you have.
One of my favourite products that I discovered last year and finished this year was the Dermalogica Antioxidant Hydramist*. This is one of the most refreshing facial mists that I have tried so far, the mist action is light as can be and the scent is gorgeous. It hydrates the skin and adds a protective antioxidant shield to help protect the skin against free radical damage and to prevent the signs of ageing. Other than the hydrating properties, I haven’t noticed any particular difference in my skin but it is comforting to me to know that I have protection on my skin against free radicals, I guess only time will tell if that works. I will repurchase, although it is expensive for a mist so I’ll definitely be on the lookout for discount codes.
Sticking with Dermalogica, I also used up the Dermalogica Special Cleansing Gel* which was my go-to morning cleanser for a few months. I found this to be calming on the skin, it didn’t irritate my skin in the slightest, nor did it leave it feeling dry after use. It is a fairly joyless cleanser, I’ll be honest and if my memory serves me well it doesn’t smell of anything in particular, however, I found myself wanting to use it every morning. I do find that sometimes gel cleansers can be quite stripping whereas this couldn’t be further from that. It’s a great choice for the morning in particular, although again I would happily use this as a second cleanse after using a balm to remove my makeup. This is a great product and I would repurchase this myself in the future.
The last product from Dermalogica was the Dermalogica Invisible Physical Defence* which I loved, yes loved. This for me was a great SPF and I was quite sad to run out, despite having a few others on the go. This is quite a thick physical SPF in comparison to some others that I have tried, however, it blends well into the skin and causes no issues under makeup in my experience and with the formulas, I am using. I do wish that this was SPF50, a higher rating would be my preference but this is still far better than using nothing. Use your SPF folks and make sure that it is a dedicated one! Yes, I would repurchase, but only when on offer or I can find a good discount as it is expensive and there are now some really good high street SPF’s which are available and of course, they are a lot cheaper.
Next up, the Superdrug Simply Pure Hydrating Night Serum which is an absolute bargain and also not too shabby. It contains Hyaluronic Acid which I was surprised at given how affordable this is, however it is quite low in the ingredients list. That being said, it is a nice serum, it is also quite thick in comparison to many other serums I have tried but that isn’t a negative at all. I don’t find it sticky, it is hydrating and it is fragrance-free if that is a factor that you take into account. I never felt the need to use a moisturiser at night when using this and I would highly recommend it if you are looking for some budget-friendly skincare.
The Origins Hight Potency Night-a Mins needs no introductions over here, I have featured this several times over the years on the blog I’m sure and if I haven’t, I should have. I forgot how nice this was, I only had this little sample size this time around however I have purchased the full size in the past. This is an oil-free resurfacing cream with fruit AHA’s, meaning that whilst it is on your skin, it is gently exfoliating away dead skin cells. There is a version with oil for those with drier skin. I have enjoyed using this once more, my skin does look brighter in the morning after use and overall I just genuinely enjoy using it. It is a great product and one of the standout ones for me from Origins.
From No7 I used up the HydraLuminous Overnight Recovery Gel Cream and HydraLuminous Water Surge Gel which I had in a little mini gift set at Christmas. Both products were lovely, my boyfriend was quite partial to them too and I did but the full-size day cream for him as he liked it so much. Both products were light on the skin, hydrating and cooling. I think they would both be particularly good for during the warmer months as like I say, they are light on the skin but still provide that hydration burst the skin relies on. Both the night and day cream contain antioxidants to help protect the skin during the day and to support skin recovery overnight. I would be tempted to repurchase these for myself in the future.
One of my favourite discoveries recently is the Elemis Pro-Collagen Oxygenating Night Cream in which I have used up two of these 15ml sample sizes. I want to buy the full size but gosh, it isn’t cheap. I just can’t justify it. A lot of the reason why I love this is because of the scent, I don’t know what it smells of but it is just so inviting. I love it. As for the actual results of the product, it visibly leaves my skin looking brighter and hydrated in the morning. Over long term use, it is said to help target the signs of ageing leaving firmer and radiant-looking skin. Yes I would buy this if money was no object. I’ll definitely keep an eye on QVC deals as they do have some great ones on Elemis every few months or so.
The Weleda Sea Buckthorn Creamy Body Wash* was a surprise to me, I opened it to just use it up as part of tackling my beauty stash and I actually found myself really liking it. It was a zesty body wash which smelt great, if you are a long term reader you will know that these are some of my favourite scents so I was down for it. I would repurchase this again if I came across it, it’s a bit expensive for a body wash but it was very nice. This doesn’t lather, it’s more a body cream for the shower as opposed to a foaming wash but I loved it nevertheless. This was one of the choices I made for one of the Latest In Beauty boxes that I was gifted, Weleda did not send this to me.
Lastly, (this took longer than expected), I used up the Peter Thomas Roth Cucumber Gel Mask which I didn’t particularly rate. It wasn’t a bad product, I just didn’t really notice any difference in my skin at all. I also think that they are overpriced given my experience so far. In truth, I had a little set of these masks which I purchased to try a little while back and the only one which I saw results with and actually liked was the Pumpkin Enzyme Mask. I still have left to use the Blue Marine Algae Mask and the 24k Gold Mask, although I don’t have particularly high expectations; we shall see. Needless to say, I wouldn’t repurchase this mask but I would repurchase the pumpkin one.
So, if you made it to the end then thank you, I realise that this was quite a long post to get through!
Did you spot any products which took your fancy, have you tried any of these?
*This post contains PR samples, for more please read my disclaimer.
