2016 Empties - Third Quarter

Slowly making my way through my beauty drawers and using things up properly before trying something new. This is the third instalment of my 2016 empties!

SHOWER

As always, we went through a few bottles of shower gel this quarter. I finally used up my Lancôme Tresor in Love travel size shower gel that I insanely hoarded (I admitted it in this post many years back, eek!) and I loved how the shower gel scented our whole bedroom when I used it. I also really enjoyed the affordable Nature's Organics Vanilla Berry shower gel that is exclusive to Woolworths, the smell was much nicer than the raspberry vanilla scent from Original Source.

HAIR

My scalp seemed to really like the Garnier Grow Strong Anti-Dandruff shampoo, but I made the mistake of buying the original Grow Strong one when this tube was empty and boy am I regretting that now - I'm going to have to pass it on to someone else, my scalp is far too sensitive for it. I also finally finished off my tub of the Kerastase Sensidote Dermo-Calm treatment* that soothed my sensitive scalp, I've loved every Kerastase product I've tried as they are such a high quality brand!

SKINCARE & SCENTS

Not a whole lot used up on the skincare and scent front, though I did get through a travel size Trilogy cleanser*, My Beauty Diary face masks and a Nivea cream cleanser* that I adored. It's always sad when I reach the end of my Guerlain Champs Elysees perfume, it's my all time favourite scent and one that I'll definitely be asking Santa for this year.

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As always, if you spotted anything interesting in this post fire away questions or comments down below! How are you all going with your current beauty stashes? Are they manageable, or still a wee bit crazy like mine is?

-Emma x

 

*Marked items provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

2016 Empties - Second Quarter

I finally feel like I'm making a dent in my backup stash of beauty and bath products, and with much more room for storage in the cupboards of my spare rooms I'm a lot more content with things in general. Let's have a look at what I've finished up so far this year!

SHOWER

The Dirty Works Life's A Beach Coconut Scrub* took me a while to finish as it just wasn't scrubby enough to make me want to reach for it, whereas the Cocoa Brown Tough Stuff Scrub* I eked out bit by bit to make it last longer. As an aside, you should all follow Marissa Carter on Snapchat (cartermarissa) as it led to me gaining a deep admiration for her as a person and her brand  - her product tips are pretty spot on too! Also used up were a variety of shower gels, most notably a hotel sample from our honeymoon in Hawaii which brought back beautiful memories and the new Cherry & Nettle Original Source which was just heavenly.
HAIR

Mister Bovary finished up his beloved Muk Hard Muk Styling Mud that was featured in his recent post here, while I finished off a pot of my favourite hair mask, Dove's Intensive Repair. I tried out some new anti-dandruff shampoos that were just okay, and emptied out a bottle of coconut and lime conditioner that was also hoarded from our honeymoon in 2014.
SKINCARE

I'm probably most proud of using up two cleansers, my unofficial goal for the year is to work through the cleansers in my stash and use them up entirely so I can justify trying newly released cleansers on the market. I finished the Paula's Choice Hydralight One Step Face Cleanser that I won from The Belle Lumiere and a tube of the Natio Facial Cleansing Balm which I'll have a full review of up soon (spoiler alert: it's great!) I also finished up some travel and sample sized products: Neutrogena Deep Clean Gentle Scrub (contains microbeads, not effective) Simple Kind to Eyes Eye Makeup Remover (not effective) Natralus Paw Paw 95% Pure Moisturiser (no petroleum, yahoo!) and Kate Somerville Exfolikate Cleanser (instant love)
MAKEUP & PERFUME

I'm still not using up as much makeup as I'd like but at least my samples are getting a workout, right? I used up the Rimmel Lasting Finish Powder Foundation* by using it as a pigmented setting powder, and a tube of my Face of Australia Face Base Primer which I recommend to everyone. Also gone are a sample vial of Chanel Coco Mademoiselle and sample sachets of Too Faced Shadow Insurance (great stuff!) and Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer (was glad to try because of the hype, would like to trial properly one day!)

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I look forward to the days of having a curated stash, but for now I'm content with delving through my old hoarding efforts and coming up with new products to try out and use up. I've curbed the habit of flip-flopping between skincare and body products leaving a tonne of half-empty bottles in my wake and that has to count for something, right?
-Emma x

*Marked products were provided for consideration. Honesty, always.

2016 Empties - First Quarter

Why did I leave the first instalment in this years empties so late? Purely because I am forgetful, but I want it up for my own personal record so this will be short and sweet with the next instalment up this Friday!
SHOWER

I'd purchase all of these shower products again - The Body Shop makes amazing shower gels, Original Source is my affordable go-to, Palmolive scents are divine and Lush is lush - need I say more?
PERFUME + HAIR

I was disappointed with my Hollister Silver Strand Beach Body Spray that I ended up using as a room spray - I adore the scent and ambience of their stores but think their true scents are the way to go as this smelt of alcohol to me. I'll miss the addition of a classy rose scent in my collection now that I've finished up Bvlgari Rose Essentielle, and it will be a while before I purchase the lovely smelling Schwarzkopf Ultimate Repair Anti-Damage Mask again as I'm trialling a stack of other hair products now.
SKINCARE

This is the section that makes me feel most accomplished. For the first quarter I used up Maybelline Make-Up Remover* (wasn't effective) My Beauty Diary Red Vine sheet mask (enjoyed this) Biore Deep Cleansing Pore Strips (automatic repurchase) and am tossing the Yes to Cucumber Wipes* as they dried up before I could finish them. I was sad to finish off my Dermalogica Precleanse as it's my favourite cleansing oil, and my love affair with La Roche-Posay Efflaclar Duo+* is well documented on this blog. I also used up an adorably teensy Bioderma Crealine H2O and Caudalie Cleansing Water, which was okay but I still prefer the classic Bioderma or Garnier cleansing waters.

 

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What products do you find most satisfying to use up? It's always frustrating if the product is limited edition or hard to get your hands on, but even finishing my favourite skincare can be annoying because it just means I have to fork out more cash to have it back in my routine!

-Emma x

 

 

*Marked products were provided for consideration.