The Menu - May Empties

I have been saving all my empty skincare and beauty products for the past 6 weeks. The pile has gotten quite big now and my husband has threatened to chuck them all out. This is going to be a LONG post, and since I am new at this and learning, I am hoping you guys will allow me this one.

I have finished the both my Simple facial toner and the Simple cleansing fluid. I really like the Simple range and the philosophy behind their products. Of these two I enjoyed the toner more (it has witch hazel which helps with reducing blemishes), the cleansing fluid was OK, but I think there are other products that do a better job. Although, I bought both of these in the UK, the toner is available in the States and is $6.99 at Target for 125 ml. The cleansing fluid isn't available in the States, sorry.

I finally finished my CVS polish remover which was simply awful. I hate this product, it stripped my nails without taking the polish off!! How is that even possible?

The C.O. Bigelow Clementine Body Scrub costs $15, but I bought it in the Bath & Body works sale at half off. It's been named one of the top 20 scrubs out there, but I was quite underwhelmed by it. I love the Body Shop scrubs which are cheaper and you get more for your money and are better than this product. It smelled really orangy which I liked as the smell did not transfer onto the skin, but it just wasn't gritty enough for me. So I did enjoy it but not a repurchase at that price for me.

 

Mitchum deodorants are my go to deos, ever since I discovered them 5 years ago. None of the other stuff cuts it. This one was part of a 3 pack but I think they cost about $1.99 in the States before tax. I know these are also available in the UK but not yet in India. However, there are sellers on Ebay who sell this and will post to India.

I am done with the Clinique Super Balanced Foundation, I think my shade was Sand (I am NC42 in MAC in the winter and NC44 when I am tanned), but the bottom sticker has rubbed off and I can't remember. This is a good medium coverage foundation for combination skin. I found it to be quite heavy on my skin as I generally go for light coverage. These are $23 for 30 ml. Oh and I love the frosted bottle packing but wish it had a pump.

I have finished an entire nail polish, I think this might be a first for me. Usually, I lose them or they go off somehow. But this one is a GAP nail polish in a golden coppery colour and cost me £4.50 in the UK, but it came in a 15 ml bottle which is big. I loved this colour and the formulation. If I can finish off another nail polish, I might go and look at some of the GAP ones.

I got a REN Hydra calm global protection day cream (15 ml each) from Sephora for 100 points each. I like this face cream, it's a nice consistency, absorbs into the skin quickly and doesn't make me feel sticky or greasy. My only qualm with this is that being a protection day cream, I expected it to contain SPF, which it doesn't. But overall a nice cream for everyday use. It retails at $55 for 50 ml which is a little expensive in my books.

OK, I adore Elemis as a brand and love all of their products and the Pro-radiance cream cleanser was no exception. It is only $10 for 30 ml, there is also a $49 for 150 ml version which would last you all year, also, the Time to Spa website also does worldwide delivery if you cannot find this brand in your country. I definitely am going to buy it again once I finish a few other cleansers. It's amazing for use on dry skin or during the winter months and I recommend it to everyone. It does not leave my skin feeling tight, it removes all the dirt and make up without having to tug or scrub, it does not sting my eyes and does not have a heavy scent to it.

The Fiafini skincare range was new to me. I had never heard of the brand. I received a small (5 ml) sample of their Divine hydration moisturizer which contains desert botanicals and marula oil and is meant to be good for sensitive skin. It was nice, I managed to get 3 uses out of the small sample. The consistency is a little runny though but I thought it was nice.

There is a lot of hype around the Shu Uemura skin purifier which is basically a cleansing oil. I received a sample (20 ml) with my Shu Uemura eyelash curlers, which are amazing btw. But the oil is not. I don't know if I used it wrong or if my skin isn't suited to using oil as a cleanser. I applied the oil onto my face with my fingers and then used cotton wool to wipe it off and my face never felt clean. I felt like I still had to go ahead and cleanse it with a proper facial wash or a fluid cleanser and this meant that using this oil was just an additional step in my regimen that I did not have time for. But I know Temptalia loves it and so do many other people, so I would try it if you like cleansing oils. It retails for $31 for 150 ml which is not too expensive I suppose.

Now to the only product in my empties pile that I am chucking even though I only used it twice. That's right it's the Naked Skin beauty balm sample (3.7 ml) by Urban Decay. There I said it, I don't like this product, it broke me out in tiny little red pimples!! YUCK. But it might just be my skin though. I have normal to combination skin in the summer and dry combination in the winter (Chicago winters are strong enough to change my skin type!.. joy!). I used it in the winter and it broke me out. But that's not the only thing wrong with this product, it only comes in 1 colour and is meant to melt into your skin and suit all skin types. Not sure about that, as on my skin it looked quite light and fake. This was a disappointment as Urban Decay is such a reliable brand, I love their eye shadows and was keen to try this out. This retails at $34 for 35ml. Quite pricey.

I know lots of people hate receiving perfume samples in their beauty boxes but I love it. I am usually easy when it comes to perfume, I like most scents on me but I usually prefer floral and citrus scents. So I was not surprised when I fell in love with Idylle from Guerlain. It's a strong floral scent that is sweet but sassy and lingers on me all day. I might actually get this one or someone could get it for me ;)

I wasn't equally in love with the Taylor Swift's perfume called Wonderstruck. I knew it was going to be sweet, but on my, I wasn't quite prepared for how sweet. It's very girly and I think it would suit teenagers perfectly. I did like it and if someone bought me one of these, I would use it, but I wouldn't buy it for myself.

I also polished off both of my Clinique eye creams and look at the cute little containers. I might save those :) They are both called All about eyes but one is the rich version. They both retail for $50 for 30 ml, so I was really impressed with the sample sizes that I had which were 5 ml of the rich version and 7 ml of the original version. I used the rich one at night the original during the day. I loved these, and might purchase them after finishing off the one I am using. I think you can get Clinique stuff all over the world so that's a bonus.

Primers are new to me. I only started wearing one last year when I received a free sample of this exact same stuff. It's the Korres Quercetin and oak age-reversing primer. It's silicone free and light and amazing! I love it. I have it's younger brother which is their normal primer, which is also silicone free but not as amazing. The sample was 5 ml and I managed to get a good 10 uses out of it. It retails for $33 for 32 ml and should last you 6 months atleast.

I received a sample (2.5 ml) of the Goldfadden MD Wake up call Solution overnight regenerative facial treatment. I think it's a really fancy way of saying - serum. But it's a good serum. Is it my favourite? Well no, but its decent if you have dry skin. It retails for $80 for 50 ml.

It's the same kind of deal with the Cane + Austin Retexturing Treatment Pads which contain 10% glycolic acid. You are meant to use these every day as often as you want and follow with a moisturiser and it's meant to help with the fine lines, wrinkles and large pores. Didn't do much for me, but didn't break me out either. I only had 1 pad in the sample though, so not really enough to make a judgement call.

I also got me a wee little sample of the By Terry lip balm which has receive sooo much hype. It's horrendously expensive ($60!!) and I was prepared to scoff at it. But I loved it, I don't know how that happened. I was gutted as I wanted it after finishing the sample. I only used it at night just before nodding off and it stayed on my lips all night as opposed to sliding off as other balms do. I wasn't prepared to shell out that much money on a lip balm though, so imagine my thrill when I won it in a competition!! Yay. I have one now, and it's been well loved but I don't see myself finishing it any time soon, a little goes a long way.