It is that time of the month, when my empties bag got full. There are quite many products but some of them I had for quite some time and had also help using up with others, so… let’s get down to it.
Skincare
The Body Shop Nutriganics Smoothing Serum reminded me of thistle milk that came out when you break a plant (I lived in the country for 25 years) – white, milky, herby scent, I smelled thyme the most, but some people might not like it. It spreads nicely, so unlike serums with moisturiser consistency that last me around a month with twice a daily use, this one lasted me almost 2. As for smoothing action, I would say it work keeping my skin the way I got it with my previous skincare, so job well done, but nothing dramatic or better than previous. I would say, if I didn’t have lot of other stuff and it was on sale, I would buy again.
Melvita Damask Rose Floral Water has a bit of cult status with some beauty bloggers but unfortunately, I didn’t notice anything special what other cheaper waters wouldn’t do for me, plus it smelled like when you leave rose petals in water for a few days, so a bit off.
Burt’s Bees Night Cream With Clary Sage seemed a bit thick, but light enough for me as a winter night moisturiser. I had to keep a light hand though, so 4.2g lasted me 4 days. Not bad and I might get tempted to buy a full size one day.
Merumaya Overnight Recharge Night Cream was really lovely and quite light cream and the 15 ml in this sample lasted me almost a month. The only thing is that Merumaya has a higher price point than my budget but I might buy when I have more money and it is on sale.
Elemis Pro-Collagen Neck and Decollette Balm is an anti-aging, anti-wrinkle neck balm. What I liked the most about this balm was its clean, delicate scent. It was good as anti-aging cream but still felt a bit heavy for my skin as I got a few tiny breakouts just above my bosom when using it, plus I usually use serum and my normal moisturisers for my neck area and decollette, so even if it was interesting to sample a product dedicated to the area, I don’t see myself to spend a big buck for dedicated product for it, especially as most anti-aging products cause me breakouts same as on face.
Garnier Fresh Eye Make-Up Remover is a brother/sister of my favourite Garnier 2in1 Eye Make-Up Remover but unlike that one, this one is not two phase, just watery stuff. It is enriched with apple extract and it does smell like apple juice. It doesn’t sting eyes and feels nice but I don’t find it as effective as the two phase one.
Caudalie Anti-Wrinkle Eye&Lip Cream was something I really loved using on my eyes in the evening (but could also do in the morning), moisturising and still light enough. I also tried it on my lips and you have to use just a tiny blob otherwise it really feel strange to have a moisturiser on the lips but as I licked my lips once while having it on, it did taste kind of grapes, so true to its grape extract claim. Definitely something I will buy again.
Avon Planet Spa Luxuriously Refining Overnight Facial Treatment with black caviar extract. I am not sure whether this pearly gel did something for my skin but it didn’t make it worse. Still not sure, I would buy again, though.
Avon Planet Spa Thai Lotus Flower Deep Pore Cleansing Face Mask is a light clay mask smelling of mixture of lotus flower and coconut milk with lilac colour that quickly changes to white as it dries. I really like it but I think other than oily skin type might find it a bit drying.
Avon Planet Spa Amazonian Treasures Hydrating Face Mask with Brazilian Acai and berries is a purple gel that smells amazing, unfortunately I think the purple also soaks into skin my skin so for that reason I am binning it without fully finishing.
Garnier SkinActive Moisture Bomb Tissue Mask is really the BOMB for me. Wet and watery consistency, full of hyaluronic acid. As with most sheet masks, I didn’t leave it on only for 15 minutes they recommend but for almost an hour and what I loved is that my face was plump but the serum was not so heavy that I would have to wait another hour to fully soak in but normally continue with my skin routine without waiting. Two days later, my face still feels light and smooth. Might have been a little tight around my eyes but otherwise good fit and I could walk around and do other stuff around the house with it on my face. For me best sheet mask I have ever tried to date and it will definitely find a way into my shopping basket again.
Body care
Avon Naturals Comforting Fig Body Lotion is your standard body lotion with amazing but not very long lasting fig scent which is a reason I bought it in the first place (that and the £1 price tag). As I don’t have any particular problem on my body area like dry skin etc., I don’t think I need to spend a fortune on body lotion, but since my teens when I found stretchmarks on my hips after a growth spurt, I made it a habit that I always put on body lotion/butter/moisturiser after a shower/bath.
Avon Solutions Body Sculpting Treatment with Super Sculpt Complex was bought by me as I like firming body lotion as my weight kind of fluctuates all my life. This one was not bad, but not the best either, quite average and I don’t think I will miss it enough to buy again.
Nip + Fab Upper Arm Fix. I am still not sure why I bought this as upper arm is not a part of my body I pay a particular interest to, but I know that I bought it last year in January, so I think I had one of those get in shape New Year’s resolutions and then forgot about it. I didn’t expect much when I started using it but when I checked my arms in the mirror just before it finished to see whether it was worth it, I did notice that skin on my upper arm seems a bit firmer, not just ‘hanging around’so I decided to buy another but from a different brand. However, I wouldn’t buy for full price, only when it’s on offer because I don’t consider it a body care essential.
Roger et Gallet Invigorating Body Lotion with Orange Extract and Aloe Vera is a 50ml sample I received in a beauty box. It smells more of aloe vera and orange tree or flower than the fruit but my husband liked it because he asked me what I used after the first time I applied, so he ‘helped’me to use it just in 3 days.
The Body Shop Glazed Apple Hand Cream. As usual, limited Christmas edition and not that nourishing, if you suffer with dry hands, but lovely for the smell.
The Body Shop Absinthe Purifying Hand Cream I really love because the scent it has remind mi of Dolce e Gabbana Light Blue which MY perfume in my twenties and one of the few that I repurchased more than a few times.
Yves Rocher Organic Vanilla Exfoliating Shower Gel is one of the lovely vanilla smells, the apricot kernels are not very rough, so it is more for your senses than exfoliation. Anyway, I liked it and I found out that my 8-year old liked it, too, as it got empty suspiciously quickly.
7th Heaven Soften Glove Masques is a pair of nylon gloves with tissue lining soaked with serum containing shea butter, roses and soyabeans and you can definitely smell the roses. As per usual, I left it on for longer than 15-20 minutes. I wanted to put it on as an overnight treatment, but because of plastic gloves, I started feeling like I have sweaty hands after an hour and removed it. I used it last night and I can still feel my hands softer in the afternoon.
7th Heaven Soften Sock Masques is a foot counterpart of the hand product but instead of roses it contains pressed peppermint and almond oil on top of shea butter. I used it same time I used the glove masques, so I also removed the masques after an hour and again, my feet are softer but still don’t feel like a miracle cure for dry heels.
Fragrance
Yves Rocher Organic Vanilla Eau de Toilette. I had a smaller bottle in my empties not so long ago, so just quickly, this is a nice natural smelling vanilla, not a synthetic suffocating one. Same as with the shower gel, my daughter like it a lot and basically used it every time she pleased.
Avon Far Away Exotic combines mango, spiced chai and mandarin that you can smell immediately and other more spicy and woody notes in the heart of the fragranced. I am probably easy to please, but I really liked it.
Hair care
Head & Shoulders 2in1 Citrus Fresh promises up to 100% flake free head but I found it at most average and I don’t think I will be tempted to buy it any time soon.
Ojon Damage Reverse – Thickening Conditioner with Ojon and Tamanu oils, Kukui oil and wheat and corn proteins was light enough for fine hair but I didn’t see any dramatic improvement in my hair only with this alone.
Garnier Ultimate Blends Conditioner with coconut oil and cocoa butter for dry and frizzy hair felt much richer than the previous one and did help the curls be a bit less frizzy, but I always used leave-in conditioner or treatment to help it.
Philip Kingsley Elasticizer is one of my favourite in beauty boxes but I would hardly buy a full size product as I consider it overprized, so will be living only on these sample size tubes. It is not first time in my empties and it is a pre-shampoo balm that helps to keep my hair softer.
Garnier Nutrisse Crème Nourishing Conditioner is in my empties also second time. It is rich, nourishing, smells amazing, hate the packaging as it makes getting the product out difficult.
Avon Advanced Techniques 360 Nourishment Moroccan Argan Oil Leave-in Treatment. I use a few pumps of this for the ends of my hair and it helps to keep them soft and less frizzy.
Lee Stafford Hair Growth Leave-in Treatment. I am not sure whether it really helps grow hair but I use it as a detangler in the morning and what I noticed is my hair get greasy more quickly. I bought quite a few bottles on promotion as we use a lot of detanglers in our household but I don’t think I will repurchase after I finish those.
Make Up
Avon Ideal Flawless Colour Corrector Cream SPF20. When I got it at the end of the summer I was disappointed how fair it was with almost no coverage but now it was quite ok for my winter skin (and adding a blob of darker foundation) as well as providing some SPF for winter.
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