July 2015 Empties | Shower, Skincare and More!

Empties posts are a bit of a weird one, it's essentially me routing through my rubbish and reviewing it. However, I find empties post really interesting as you basically get a full review on a product, whether its worth repurchasing and the bottom line of whether to try it or not. So yes, recently I have been hoarding my rubbish in order to share with you my thoughts.

Shower products seem to be the things that get used up the quickest as obviously I wash every day. 

First up I have samples of the Philip Kingsley Moisture Balancing Shampoo and Conditioner. I must admit, these were nothing to shout about, they felt a little rubbery when applying and didn't do anything spectacular to my hair- so these are not something i'd pick up again. 

Lush American Cream Conditioner

Lush is well-known for being cruelty-free, most products suitable for vegans and of course their amazing range of products. I hadn't tried a Lush conditioner before this one, I liked this but again it didn't do anything amazing to my hair. I mean it felt soft after washing once dry but I didn't see any dramatic changes. If I bought this again, it would be for the scent but there are lots of other conditioners I've heard that are great from Lush so this doesn't put me off.

Argan Oil Hydrating Hair Mask

I picked this up in a bargain shop, B&M or something but i'm almost sure they also do these in pound stores. I bought this when I felt my hair could do with treating, my hair was dry and probably quite damaged from not using heat protector(don't worry, I use it now). It is suggested you leave this on for 7-10 minutes but if i'm honest, I didn't. I used this once a week after shampooing instead of a conditioner and it definitely made my hair feel softer and look smooth. I probably would've got much better results if I left it on for the suggested amount of time, so i'd definitely give this a whirl again.

Soap and Glory Scrub of your Life and Clean on Me Shower Gel

Both of these are repurchases so need I say more? I believe I've spoken about both of these here on my blog and the scrub is my favourite, the shower gel lasted me a little over a year so you're definitely getting your moneys worth!

The Body Shop Pink Grapefruit Shower Gel

I didn't think i'd find a shower gel that I love equally as much as Clean on Me but I have. I hate the taste of grapefruit but I love the scent. This shower gel is perfect for morning showers as it smells so fresh and invigorating, it'll definitely wake you up!

It usually takes me a good while to use up skincare, most of it gets used twice a day but you don't need a lot.

Another one I've mentioned previously on my blog and was in my last empties, here. It's the Garnier Micellar Water, I've not tried that many micellar waters but this was the first I tried and loved so I've always gone back to it. It's so affordable and you get a lot in the bottle.

Vichy Purete Thermale 3 in 1 One Step Cleanser (1. Cleansing Milk 2. Toner 3. Eye Makeup Remover)

Here I've got another sample which lasted me about six months, not bad going huh? I didn't use this daily but I did use this when I couldn't be bothered to first use micellar cleansing water and then cleanse again. This is quite a liquid-y cream formula which can be applied all over the face to remove face and eye makeup and it did a good job! Though this is considered high-end, it isn't the most expensive therefore I would repurchase it as it'd be good for travelling rather than taking three separate products.

Aveeno Cream with Natural Colloidal Oatmeal

Towards the end of last year, I started to suffer with extremely dry, itchy and flaky skin around my eyes. Still to this day I have no idea how it came about but I was starting to feel so self-conscious about it, my eyes were always pinky/red and I could barely apply any concealer as it clung on to the dryness/flakes. Nice, not.

I decided to pop into Boots and ask at the pharmacy if they had any suggestions, I was convinced it was a form of eczema so she suggested this and gave me a free sample. If I could remember her name and what she looked like i'd go back and thank her because my eyes were back to normal within a few days. I'm scared to be without this now so I've repurchased the full-size. I'd recommend it to anyone that suffers with dry skin or eczema.

I Love...Coconut and Cream Body Butter

This came in a gift set I had for my birthday. I'd seen a lot of I Love... products but had never actually tried any myself so I was excited to give this again. It smelt amazing though I think it would be a little sickly for some people. I did manage to use all this up and I didn't love it nor hate it. I wouldn't rush back to repurchase this again but I definitely wouldn't write it off.

Lip balms

I don't think i've every fully used up a lip balm, I always used to loose them so to finish three in such a short space of time was weird. None of these have brands so I believe they may have again been from a bargain store, they were alright but nothing to shout about.

Other

Sanex Dermo Invisible Roll On and Sure Compressed Aloe Vera Deodorant

I've definitely gone through more deodorants but if I showed them all they'd probably make up half of the post themselves. I decided to opt for something more eco-friendly this time, both of them are actually. I've come to the conclusion that I much prefer roll-ons FYI.

And last but not least, Avon Anti-Rub Stick

This thing has saved my feet from the crippling blisters that come from wearing new shoes. I simply pop this on where I find shoes tend to rub, put my shoes on and most of the time i'm blister free. This helped me break in my Topshop Skater Shoes that killed my feet the first time wearing them. I recently ran out of this and I've already got my repurchase on the go.

That's it for my empties! To save or not to save my rubbish next time? Haha!

Have you got any product recommendations?

Let me know!

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Makeup, Skincare and Showers | Collective Beauty Haul

 Recently I've been trying to save *huge emphasis on trying* as somehow I've managed to accumulate some beauty bits that I thought I'd share with you today. Thankfully, these bits weren't overly expensive and were quite affordable at drugstore prices.



First up while shopping online at Superdrug for some Makeup Revolution products for my friends birthday, I decided that I'd try out a few more MUA pieces. I already had a few of their lipsticks and I do really like them for the small price of £1 so I decided to pick up another matte one in Fawn Fancy, a beautiful dark nudey pink. My only bugbear with MUA lipsticks is their staying power which I can't really complain about at only £1, so I decided to pick up a lip liner in a similar shade called 'Pink Me Up' to see if this would help them last longer and although not all day I find paired with this lip liner my lipstick tends to stay on a lot longer! 



Another item from MUA is this pressed powder in shade 4, you're probably thinking that can't be the right shade simply because I'm so pale but I've heard bloggers say this is a good contour shade for paler skin. I'm not the best at bronzing or contouring so in order to get some practice I decided to buy this- so far so good!



So my brows are certainly not 'on point' so in a bid to sort them out after months of just using Maybelline BrowDrama brow mascara, I decided to pick up the Soap and Glory Brow Archery. Now, apparently this is a dupe for the Anastasia Brow Wiz, though I opted for the one without the spoolie end and the almost felt tip end instead. I love this, although it's more aimed for brunettes it works perfect with my somewhat dark grey brows. This was £10.00 from Boots.



I love Real Techniques brushes so decided it was time I needed some more and I saw @perksofchlo(on instagram) selling the limited edition duo-fibre collection, brand new for a fraction of the price. For college I tend to wear 'the no makeup, makeup' and these are ideal for light application so I'm really chuffed with these!



Moving slightly away from the makeup side of things, I picked up this Aveeno moisturiser. You may have heard me complaining that I had constantly dry under eyes and dry lids so after months of trying to sort it naturally, I decided to pop to Boots and ask. This was recommended to me as it's super hydrating and gentle on sensitive skin and I can't thank the lady enough, this has helped and I'm no longer a dry under eyes suffer. Yay!



Now onto the shower. My hair was in awful condition before I had it cut so I'm desperately trying to keep it healthy this time so my friends picked up this American Cream conditioner from Lush as part of my birthday present and it smells amazing although I'm not sure if it's doing wonders for my hair yet, my hair does feel amazing once out the shower and dried. 

Another thing they picked up for me is this Grapefruit Shower Gel from The Body Shop and oh my gosh, it smells lovely, so refreshing!




And that's the lot of my recent beauty purchases, not a great deal but I have been trying to save! 




What have you been buying recently?

Comment below,



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