empties (and fulls!)

Hey look I've used more things (and because variety is the spice of life, I thought I'd include some things which aren't technically empty, but that I'm not going to empty.)

 I've made it through a winter in England and Princeton, still wearing lipstick, without my lips cracking off! I entirely have the unglamorous Cymex lip protector to thank. It's cheap and because it's sheer/white it looks kind of milky pink on the lips, v cute. I also finished (!!!) a Peach Kiss version of the Maybelline Baby Lips. I think this might be my perfect nude lip product - both in terms of it imparting a sheer peachy nude colour, and that it feels like your lips are clothed only in a balm. I've already repurchased it.

 I finished the Aldi own brand hydrating serum, which I used as a serum+moisturiser because I'm only 21 and I am somewhat of a lazy bum. It's good because it hydrates without feeling heavy or greasy, it costs about £3, but I fear the frangrance in it has begun to irritate me. I don't think I'll buy it again, but I am curious about the other £3 Aldi serums. I used up a carmex and it was ok, but I'm pretty sure the ingredients are kind of dreadful - it had salicylic acid and menthol and things like that. I've moved back from carmex to cymex - a subtle but important difference. I also used up this whole Clarins exfoliating toner and I thought it was rubbish. It didn't do anything and I usually get on really well with liquid exfoliants. I think it was just way too mild for me.

 A whole picture gets dedicated to the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water because it is the bomb.com (and also, look, it snowed and my window view is v picturesque). It's so cheap and does exactly what Bioderma does (maybe - never tried it). I use this as my cleanser when I'm not in the shower. I think washing my face a lot less has really been helping out the situation. Anticipating this dark, GMCW-less time, I brought another with me from England and I'm pretty sure I'll buy this forever.

 Here are some guys I am breaking up with, product-wise. The Bobbi Brown Longwear Even Finish Foundation just isn't very good! It stinks like lavender, which I'm sure won't do skin any favours, and is way to dry even for my normal/oily skin. This would probably only work on people who are incredibly oily. I bought the Neutrogena Ulta Sheer Sunscreen from a pound shop, and then immediately realised it was almost certainly expired. There's no point wearing sunscreen which isn't screening the sun so I'm tossing it (I have been using the breakout-free version of this recently and I think it's so good!). The Seventeen BB Cream is ok, but this colour just isn't working for me. I got Medium because Light was a baby-pink colour, but it's too dark and muddy. I'm also throwing away the Tattoo-Me liner from Seventeen because it's too difficult to use - and when you make a mistake it's almost impossible to rub it out. Might work for extremely skilled liner-ers, but not for a clumsy oaf like me.

empties#4

Simple Soothing Eye Balm was a very standard eye cream. I'm sure for the price it's good, but I'm not convinced on the whole eye-cream thing. I'm sure if you're moisturising around your eyes, you don't need this.
Nature's Aid Triple Strength Rose Water is lovely. I like the fact it's a one ingredient, natural product, which is v soothing, moisturising etc. It's also nice to spray over makeup to give you a "glow" (shine).

Ren Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask is both good and overrated. It does do something, but I'm not sure it does enough to warrant how expensive it is.
Soap and Glory Hand Food is a very nice hand cream, as you can tell by the fact I cut the tube open to finish it.

Tesco Organic Coconut Oil is very much a coconut oil. I wouldn't buy this over any other, but nor would I choose a different one over this. It is much of a muchness to me.
Superdrug Volumising Dry Shampoo is SO GOOD. I don't really use this as a dry shampoo, more as a textursing spray. It adds so much grit and volume and is so cheap, I'm just going to buy this one forever now.

Toni and Guy Sea Salt Texturising Spray is a good salt spray, I really have no more to say.
Ren Micro Polish Cleanser is good, but I'm not convinced that scrubs do good things for skin. So I won't purchase the full size.

Just thought I would put on record than this Cuticura Hand Sanitizer is my favourite. It smells nice like cucumber.
This Aquaphor tube was the gift that would not stop giving. I inherited this when my housemate moved back to America and it was nearly empty then. This was great for healing up a skinned knee suffered from a bad fall during a high kick competition. 

Boring reviews, but I am finishing things! I don't know if this purging process is pro or anti consumerism. I am trying to lead a more simple and streamlined life, but I'm doing so by consuming a bunch of products. See, there is a more ideological question to this than initially meets the eye #thinkaboutit.

more rubbish (you're welcome)

Another episode of me trying to downsize my life before I move to America for a bit (nbd).

The Body Shop Camomile Cleansing Oil is very nice indeed. It smells good and removes makeup really fast and without having to do any scrubbing. I don't tend to wear enough makeup to warrant using this every day but when I do, it is very useful. I usually only wear a lot of makeup when I'm getting drunk, and when I'm drunk this is great and very quick.
Maybelline Brow Drama is ok. It is good to put on after you do your eyebrows to make them look a bit more "hairy" and less like flat drawn-on brows. However, I am so over spending time on my eyebrows, so I like to use some sort of brow mascara which fills them in as well. This Maybelline one isn't enough for me to use on its own and having to use multiple products in my eyebrows is effort I am not willing to undertake.

Neutrogena Rapid Clear Treatment Thingy didn't do anything for me.
Charles Worthington Volume & Bounce Texturising Spray is very good. I bought approximately a billion of these when there was a good deal on them and this marks the end of them. I'm sure I will buy this again but right now I'm using the superdrug dry shampoo with volume and that is very comparable and costs about one pound!

 Kiko City Filter Sunscreen I liked. You would be forgiven for not being able to tell what this is because for some reason the letters on the bottle moved around. It screened by skin from sun and didn't do much else, but I prefer the Bioderma one so I'm not buying it again.
Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover I found gimmicky and pointless. It's quick,  but also how long does removing nail polish actually take anyway?? Silly.

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer is the best concealer ever. I use Vanilla which is a bit pale but it's also fine. Covers up everything but doesn't look like a ton of makeup. Already repurchased - this one lasted a year of nearly-daily use. 
Boots Botanics Organic Rosewater Toning Spritz is really nice. I would spray this on my face all day long if I could. Works under makeup as a toner to soothe and hydrate or over makeup to add a glow (I like to look kinda sheeny). The bad points are that I went through this quite fast, and that is has alcohol in it. Instead of repurchasing I just got some 100% rosewater on Amazon and put it in this spray bottle.

Again, I feel the need to apologise for this weird and potentially boring sort of blog post. But I am enjoying seeing the surplus of my "beauty" things shrinking and this is a good way to record it I reckon. Ok, goodbye.

"empties" (rubbish) #2

Aloe Lip Care from The Body Shop. This lip balm is very very good and I have nothing bad to say about it. I think it is better than Nuxe Reve de Miel (audience gasps). The only reason I haven't immediately repurchased it is because I want to finish up a few more Body Shop things and then I can do a big order with some sort of online discount code.

On the subject of lip balm, can you tell that I have a dog? I bought this at poundland during a particularly broke time in my life and it was very good and fine. The reason I prefer the Aloe one if that this gives stingy lips, which can be distracting when you're trying to get to sleep, so it only works during the day.

Although this eye cream was a sample, I'm including it because it lasted for about nine months. I also finished the Superfacialist Neroli eye cream but I accidentally threw it in the bin because I forgot that I was taking photos of my rubbish nowadays (sorry). To be honest, every eye cream I've ever tried seems to be the same, that is to say alright. 

Finished the Dr. Jart Waterfuse BB Cream. My emotions about this went up and down, but overall I do think I liked it. The thing is, it claims to be really moisturising, but I found it looked really bad over dry bits. So it only works sometimes for me. At the moment I'm really over wearing anything on my skin except concealer where I need it. I like the look of a bare face as opposed to a "bare face". But if I ever want a light-base-with-spf product again, I probably would get this. If you do want to buy it, wait until Boots do the one-third-off premium skincare that they do a couple of times a year. Then it ends up costing £12 for 50ml, and "cheap" BB creams are usually around £8 for 30ml, so it works out and you'll get a much better product for your $$$. #tips

I'm throwing away this Seventeen On the Spot concealer because it's nearly done and I think it's gone wrong. This is a bit of a weird thing. I did find a way to use it that I like, which was applying it on bare skin with a fluffy brush and not wearing anything else over it. It doesn't have very much coverage and I think it only comes in the shade medium, which is a bit dark and a bit grey toned. Won't repurchase because it's not a necessary thing in my life.

This is a very gross Collection Lasting Perfection concealer, it isn't finished but it needs to go because it is old and possibly rancid. I'm not buying this again. It covers up all your problems, but it comes at a cost: the problem area is replaced by lifeless, matte, clay-like skin. It's a personal preference, but I'd prefer to accept the blemish and look like a human being. 

Finally, here are two mascaras, which in all honestly were almost exactly the same. All the L'oreal waterproof mascaras are very good if you like that sort of thing, but for right now I'm more into wearing a cheap (£1) brown mascara so it looks like I'm not wearing mascara but I'm just a pretty princess naturally. But if I do decided I want some serious spiky lashes in the future, I'd go for one of these (probs the False Lash Telescopic, bc the ad campaign for the Miss Manga really annoyed me for no reason).

I don't know if this is boring or good or what. I like doing them so I can talk about what I like and don't with a sense of purpose, also I enjoy documenting the finishing of things because it's important to celebrate every accomplishment in life. I guess if you think these are boring then don't read them? I don't really know who is reading this anyway apart from Lil (hi Lil), and myself, and I might as well do what I like right? BYE X

some product "empties"

Neutrogena Visibly Clear Spot Stress Control Daily Cleansing Lotion. This is quite good. I use this not as a cleanser (don't really see how that would work) but as an acid toner on clean skin, usually in the morning. For me, I prefer to use a salicylic or BHA toner in the morning and a glycolic or AHA toner at night. This is one of a few cheap salicylic lotions that are much of a muchness imo. The ingredients aren't the best as it is an alarming bright green colour and it is heavily fragranced (I had this is a spray bottle in Turkey bc of aeroplane liquid regulations and if I inhaled any of the spray it was a bad situation). But my skin stayed relatively clear while using it and I would buy it again, I just tend to buy whatever is the cheapest at the time.

 Origins Zero Oil Deep Pore Cleanser. This was also quite good. It smells really nice and minty and cleans your face thoroughly without drying anything out too much. However this is £18 for 150ml, and for me, that is too much for this particular product. I'm using the La Roche Posay Effaclar face wash now which is about £10 for 200ml, and I actually prefer it. So this is goodbye forever to this product.

Lacura Aqua Complete Multi Intensive Serum. I really do like this. It is from Aldi (#glam) and costs about £3 but it feels similar to much more expensive serums I've tried. I sort of used this as a serum and moisturiser two in one type deal and I used three (!!!) over the summer, because they were easy to pick up whilst I was moving around a lot. I haven't repurchased yet because I'm on a buying ban until I've used up all the other things I have, but this is well good! Will buy again for a light daytime moisturiser which is still really hydrating, non-comedogenic and cheap as balls.

 Ren Clearcalm 3 Clarifying Clay Cleanser. Very satisfying to say out loud. I got it and I liked it, then I hated it (felt like it was leaving a greasy film), then I decided to finish it off and by the end I liked it again. It seems really moisturising to me, but definitely good for mildly spotty skin. If you have more moderate to severe acne I think this probably would be a bit greasy, and there is probably a better cleanser out there for you. Although I do like clay-based cleansers, I wouldn't buy this again because I find for my skin the Neutrogena clay cleanser does a really similar job without the greasy feeling and is cheaper.