October Empties

Another month has flown by and once again I’ve amazed myself with how many products I’ve managed to finish!

Shu Uemura Classic High Performance Balancing Cleansing Oil: I got this little bottle in my Selfridges Advent Calendar last year but only just got round to using it. I know lots of people are like “this stuff is amazing” and yes I agree it does a good job at getting every last scrap of make-up off BUT take look at the ingredients. Paraffinum liquidum. Mineral oil. For what you pay for a bottle of this cleansing oil they can afford to use decent stuff in it, not a petrol by-product.

Clarins Tonic Body Treatment Oil: I started using this when I got to seven months pregnant, prior to that I was using Nivea Q10 Plus Firming Oil and Derma Mum. I almost ended up using Bio Oil until Caroline pointed out that Bio Oil is mineral oil and recommended the Clarins instead. It’s not cheap, Feel Unique sell it for £33.30 for 100ml, but the bottle only ran out two weeks ago and I’ve got to term with not one single stretch mark. I would wholeheartedly recommend this to any pregnant women or anyone wanting to prevent stretch marks.

Lush Vanilla Dee-Lite: I LOVE this stuff. I’ve written about it here, it was also in my August Empties, I was even featured in Prima Baby magazine raving about it. It is just the most perfect body lotion for me, not too heavy, absorbs well, sorts my poorly skin out and smells yummy. I can’t see myself ever falling out of love with it!

Philip Kingsley Elasticizer: This product does wonders for my hair. It’s a pre-shampoo treatment, you leave it on your barnet for 20 minutes and then just shampoo and condition as normal. My hair always feels amazing after I’ve used it. It’s quite an expensive product so I don’t buy it often, but whenever I do I always end up wishing I was just a little bit richer so I could afford to buy it more often.

STEAMCREAM: I posted about this the other day, you can read more here. I love this moisturiser and will be buying a full-size tin once I finish getting through the rest of my moisturiser stash!

The Body Shop Carrot Moisture Cream: This was a nice enough moisturiser, but I didn’t feel like it did anything special for my skin so won’t be buying it.

The Body Shop Shea Body Butter: I’ve had this in my cupboard since Christmas but only just got round to using it. It’s a super rich body butter, it leaves your skin feeling super soft and moisturised but it’s just so heavy! It takes an age to absorb so don’t put this on if you are in a rush to go out. Especially if you plan to wear skinny jeans. You won’t be able to pull them up!

Palmers Cocoa Butter Massage Lotion for Stretch Marks: This was a sample I got through the post, you get all sorts when you’re pregnant! This felt quite nice and absorbed well but obviously being such a small sample I’d have no idea how good it would be against stretch marks.

Palmers Cocoa Butter Tummy Butter for Stretch Marks: Another pregnancy sample received in the post! I quite liked the way this felt on my skin and it smelt so good, not the traditional cocoa butter smell but a little more floral. Again I’m not sure how effective it would be against stretch marks as it was only a tiny sample.

Imperial Leather Skinkind Hydrate Shower Gel: I’ve trying to use up all my sample sachets and came across these three sachets of shower gel. They smelt quite lovely and were gentle on my skin so I’d probably buy a full-size bottle.

Yardley Peony Luxury Body Wash: I got this in the March beauty box from Joliebox. It’s a lovely smelling body wash – it smells of peonies funnily enough! – but it’s quite a big bottle and to be honest I was glad when it ran out as the fragrance started to become too much for me.

Vinies Luminous Skin Mask: I think this came in a Boudoir Prive box so that shows how I long I’ve had it! It’s an all-natural face mask which exfoliates and brightens your skin. Whilst I love the results, I don’t like the smell which seems to linger on your skin for a few days after. Shame.

Superdrug Dry Shampoo: I don’t really see the point of all this different fragrances in dry shampoos as ultimately they all have that same dusty smell! I don’t get through as much dry shampoo since I’ve been on maternity leave as I have more time in the mornings now, but I still do have the odd lazy day! I really rate Superdrug dry shampoos, they work really well and sometimes they are on that crazy “buy 1, get 2 free” offer so worth looking out for.

bareMinerals Purifying Facial Cleanser and bareMinerals Purely Nourishing Moisturiser: I got these sachets a few months ago and typically of me it got lost with all my other sachets. I wasn’t really impressed with the cleanser to be honest as I didn’t feel like my skin was left thoroughly clean. The moisturiser wasn’t hydrating enough for my skin, I ended up having to apply a second layer. This is the good thing about samples; you can find out what works and what doesn’t without potentially wasting money on full-size products.

Let me know if you’ve used any of the products here or if you’ve got an Empties post for me to read!