First Empties of 2015!

This post is way overdue, especially due to the fact that my spare closet was starting too look like some hoarder's wet dream. A bunch of empties and no time to share my thoughts on them with you, my beauties. But this changes - right now!

Let's start with some haircare.

I used up the Schwarzkopf Gliss Hair Repair for dry and damaged hair - and for once, the shampoo and the conditioner both lasted the exact same amount of washes. I don't know why,  but usually I use up the conditioner way faster. Anyway, this came recommended by a friend and I loved the product. It really did make a difference in my hair, leaving it a bit shinier and I've also noticed less frizz and fewer flyaways. I also use the deep conditioning mask, but I've got a couple more uses in that one. 

As for this Essence Road Trip dry shampoo, I just don't know. It was a random purchase and I used it just as randomly. It didn't really convince me in making my hair any less greasy, so I mainly used it if my hair was clean but had a smell (e.g. if I was baking/cooking something with a heavy smell). So I wouldn't repurchase this. 

I have rambled about the Axe Anarchy deodorant so much in my empties, I'm not going to repeat myself. I was however slightly surprised by the Nivea Angel Star Invisible deodorant. I think they changed the formula on that one - when I used it in the past it really did the job, but for some reason this one just did not perform. It's not really empty, but I am throwing it away since it's useless. 

Alas, I also used up an entire bottle of Chloe by Chloe perfume in about 6 months. I purchased a double size of this a couple of months back so I hope it lasts me at least until 2016. I love this smell, but I would not recommend a certain perfume to anyone, since it's completely a personal preference. I will say, however, that it lasts beautifully on my skin - I get compliments on it even after 12 hours. 

For nails, I again used up an entire bottle of Afrodita Chamomile Sensitive polish remover - it's my go to remover whenever other products I'm trying out fail me. This Aveo (a Muller brand) was again just OK - it did the job on the nails, but I had to use up a lot if it every time around. I think the bottle lasted me only about 5-6 manicures. The Alessandro nail polish is not empty, but it dried up on me and it's impossible to use it anymore, so I'm throwing it away. 

For skincare, I did a bit of experimentation with the Yes To cleaning wipes, trying out the Blueberry (age refresh) and the Cucumber (soothing) ones for the first time. We all know I'm a fan of the Grapefruit (correct and repair) ones and I must say that both other versions were just as good. I will however stick to the Grapefruit ones because of the lovely refreshing smell. I would only recommend the Cucumber tissues if you don't mind a strong cucumber smell - it was a bit disturbing for me at times. I get these on Asos for about 5-6 €, they often have promotions where you can get them even cheaper. I'm thinking of investing in a cleansing gel from this same brand, since I'm obviously a fan.

I used up two cleansers in the past months. The Decleor Eye Make-up remover with essential oils is one of my absolute favorite products of all time. It can remove almost any mascara under the face of the planet and although it's quite expensive, I think it's worth the money. The other empty from this category is the Nivea Pure&Natural cleansing milk. It doesn't have quite the power of Decleor, but for the price, I still find it a good product. Plus, I'm a sucker for the classic Nivea smell in the face products - it just makes me feel clean, if you know what I mean. 

I also got the final spritz out of the Urban Decay De-slick setting spray. It is amazing, that's all I can say about it. I've talked about it quite a lot before and considering my most recent haul, you'll be seeing this baby in my favorites quite a lot, probably. 

Last up is a mini sample of Paula's choice. I don't know why I included it here, since I'm going to do a Sample Empties soon. So, you know, just ignore it. 

I've replaced my Real Techniques old nasty blending sponge with a brand new one (which i already mentioned in the most recent haul). I also went through another of the Maybelline Baby Skin Instant pore erasers which I've talked and talked about before. I just have one left and then I'm going to have to live without them until the next USA trip. 

In the foundations, I've gone through two of them. First one is the L'Oreal Mat' Magique which I'm so happy I've finally gotten rid of. It featured in my Worst products of 2015 and I never, ever want to see it again in my bathrom. Read about it here. 

On the other hand, I've used up two lovely products I will miss very much. First is the Rimmel Match Perfection (201 - Classic Beige) foundation which was my favorite foundation of the past year. I'm definitely going to repurchase this at the first opportunity (meaning, the first Rimmel sale on Look Fantastic or Feelunique). It's an absolutely gorgeous foundation with just the right amount of coverage which does cover enough but doesn't leave my face feeling heavy. I can give similar praise to the Essence Stay All Day 16h Concealer. I've used this underneath my eyes for my ever-dark dark circles. It covered up the darkness beautifully and what I really loved about it is that it sank into the skin and didn't just sit on top, creasing and looking out of place. Will repurchase if I can find it. 

Last up, my beloved mascaras. If I knew how wonderful each and every one of these three mascaras is, I would have never opened them at the same time. I've talked about them before here - I think it's a good post with a decent comparison. Anyway, it's in the trash with these three and on with the hunt with a mascara that comes even close to these three. 

Anyway, that's it for the first empties of this year. I hope you pick up some good tips and learn from my successes and mistakes alike. Until next time, stay beautiful, stay awesome!

Empties #2

I can't believe how time flies. It's less than 2 weeks until December and less than a week until my first ever Christmas giveaway :) Are you excited? I know I am. 

Anyhow, I've again gathered a whole bunch of empty products which I have more or less firm opinions on already. I think that these particular empties are much more random than the first ones, so I tried to put them into categories to make things easier on all of us. As usual, I will also answer the »would I repurchase« question with each of them, since it's what really counts in my opinion.  

First up, four random products that I really don't know where to put. First are the Dvorec Trebnik bath salt and Biodent mouthwash. 

I picked up this Dvorec Trebnik salt on a whim in Mercator one day. I don't really have the time to take long baths on a regular basis, but I must admit I've taken a lot more since I've bought this product. It gives the water a smell of a luxury spa. The granules are a bit slow to disintegrate so I usually put them in the bath before I start running the water. I've used up the bottle in about 2 months, but then again, I probably use way too much of the product, to be honest. I repurchased it in the Vanilla scent but I actually prefer the orange one. 

The Biodent mouthwash perhaps doesn't exactly fall in the beauty category, but I think that beauty is also hidden in a pretty smile. I think we have tried every mouthwash out there in our household and while I didn't mind most of them, my hubby hated all except for this Biodent brand (which, incidentally, is the cheapest one out there). So it's become a staple in our home and I will continue to repurchase it. 

Next up, we have my even favourite deodorant – Axe Anarchy for her. This is a budget alternative to buying a really luxury product that you match to your perfume – Axe Anarchy costs about 4 € (I've only seen in in Mercator and Müller). It's not an antiperspirant which is great and it really lasts for 12+ hours of furious pace, which is even better (or a must, to be honest). This was my fourth bottle and I will continue to purchase these in bulk because I'm scared they will stop producing it. It was already included in my first empties and I expect it to make another appearance soon :)

 

Nivea makes my all-time favourite cotton pads. I use these for a number of different things and it's the reason why I go through a pack every two weeks, if not more. They don't stick, they are reasonably thick, they soak up whichever product so that it's not running around on my fingers and the floor and – perhaps most important – they don't tear. I hate it when a piece of a cotton pad gets stuck on the lashes or on the fingernail. I think these are about the most expensive cotton pads out there, though, so if anyone knows a good alternative, let me know in the comments below. I do repurchase these all the time.

I've gone through another nail polish remover – the Uma cosmetics Acetone Free remover with the coconut smell. I wasn't too impressed with how it got rid of glitter, but then again, I am yet to find a polish remover that could really tackle that issue well. For the normal nail polishes, it was OK. I also quite liked the smell of it, to be honest. I will probably repurchase this eventually but there are many more out there I want to try before. 

Regarding the nail care, I am all done with the Artdeco intensive nail care stick, which dried up on me. It's good, but the Essence nail sticks are a complete dupe and much less expensive, so I would not repurchase this. I have however already repurchased the Essence nail polish corrector stick which was also included in my October favourites. 

In the hair department, we have a regular size product and two samples. I bought the Cristalli di Argan in DM for about 5 € with the 50% off coupon. I would expect a LOT from a 10 € bottle of shampoo, but, alas, this shampoo was nothing special. I especially did not like that it produced very little foam which meant that I used up even more than I would of the regular drugstore shampoos. I would not repurchase this, or anything else from this particular line. 

The Philip Kingsley products I already talked about in my September favourites and now I've finally gone through the deluxe samples – I had about 4 uses from each of them, which means that a little goes a long way. I will not repeat myself on how much I love this product – I will purchase the full size as a Christmas gift for myself.

Last but not least, there are the face products. I have raved back and forth about the Yes to (grapefruit) facial wipes in my review. I am using the blueberry ones at the moment and they are great as well, but I really think I will repurchase these grapefruit wipes again since I found them more refreshing. 

The Catrice All matt powder (sorry, the packaging is so busted on the top that you cannot see anything at all – I had to read a sticker in the back) was a great product for about 6 months and then it dried up completely. It is really inexpensive so I would probably buy this again for travel and not have to worry if something unpleasant happens to it or I lose it. But I have tried other pressed powders in the last few months and although they are more expensive, the price: quality ratio was in my opinion better as well. 

Last, we have a mini sample of Paula's choice Skin Balancing Invisible Finish Moisture Gel – a big name for a small product. I can hardly believe that this small sample was enough for 4 days – you really only need a tiny amount of product for the entire face. I am really excited to get this daily moisturizer since I have a feeling that we will be good friends. 

Is there an empty in this post that you have other opinion on? I would love to hear from you – comment below!

Until next time, stay beautiful, stay awesome!

My first ever empties

I will not make any excuses about the lack of posts. Life happens, and sometimes it can also be nice.

But without any further rambling on this subject, here are my first empties. They are in no particular order, but they are all completely and utterly just bits and pieces of my trash I’d like to share with you. 

First up, we have the L’Occitane hydrating body gel. This stuff was a present from a friend two years ago. Yes, two years ago. And with my current philosophy of using up products I actually went for it and tried to use it up. Needless to say, products have expiration dates for a reason. Although the scent and the softness of the product was still there, it was flaking off my skin like you’ve never seen before. So in the trash it goes (and I get to open another one, yay).  Will I repurchase? Probably not, it wasn’t that good compared to some other L’Occitane products I’ve used before, especially all with the almond milk, which I adore. 

Next up, we have 3 packages of make-up tissues – one by Essence, one by Müller’s own CV brand and one by Garnier. I will not go into these too much since I have another post planned about them.

We also have two nail polish removers – I tend to go through these like crazy in the summer months when I’m out and about and my nail polish is chipping like crazy. In the last desperate attempt to be the “low-maintenance beauty” I bought the Aveo remover (again, the Müller brand) in berry scent.  I was not crazy about it, I think my all-time-favorite, Afrodita chamomile (which is another empty) does a much better job.  Will I repurchase? Afrodita yes, Aveo probably not. 

We also have two oldies-goldies – the Avon Daily Shine leave in conditioner, which I already talked about in my Avon haul. This stuff is magic and I will continue to use it until the day they stop producing it. But it’s obviously one of Avon’s staple products since it’s been on the market for years – the packaging has changed some, but the product hasn’t.  The other favorite that I keep and keep repurchasing and always have some in stock just in case is the Axe Anarchy for her. I had quite a hard time finding a deodorant that can keep up with my pace and at the same time doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. 

Last up, I got through my first tube of Maybelline Baby skin instant pore eraser. As some of you may remember, I did not buy one, not two, not three but four of these babies on my USA trip. I will however not be starting a new tube right away since I have two other primers that I want to try first. But that’s a case for another post. 

Have you used any of these products? What are your opinions on them?

Until next time, stay beautiful, stay awesome!