Beauty Empties: July 2013

Sally  Hansen Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips in Violet Night - I bought a couple of these nail polish strips from Fragrance Direct for about £1.50 each. I tried a green gingham set and they just did not work and I even put it towards my disappointing products blog post I'm currently writing. One night though, while still sorting my room out, I decided to dig another pack out and try again. This time they actually worked so I think the other may have been a dud. Although a bit boring, Violet Night is a simple bright pink with a hint of purple. I was really impressed with how easy they were to apply, finding near perfect matches for my nails, and how they lasted. They were also pretty easy to remove using normal remover. I have a couple more with different patterns to try but I'll definitely be buying some more especially at that cheap price.

Taaj Micellar Water - Ever since I started this giant bottle of micellar water, I have been counting down the days till I finished it and can now start using Bioderma again. Don't get me wrong, this is a good micellar water and it removed my eye make-up very well but it always left my eyes looking a little bit red which Bioderma doesn't do. I wont be buying another bottle of Taaj.

Etat Pur B09 Express Purifying Mask - Technically I haven't finished this product but I broke the lid so have depotted the mask into a jar which has a sealed lid. Instead of keeping the tube for months as that's how long it'll take me to finish it I thought I'd just put it into this months empties. I like this mask and it's a very good price, only £7.50, but it hasn't impressed me like other clay makes have. I'll happily finish it but I wouldn't buy it again.

Indeed Labs Hydraluron - A little bit of this serum goes a long way so it's actually lasted a surprising amount of time. It makes my skin feel incredibly soft and has really helped with dry patches. I have a couple of other serums I want to finish first but I will buy another tube at some point in the not too distant future. Probably next time there's a Boots 3 for 2 offer.

NSPA Grapefruit Shower & Bath Gel - This must be the second bottle of this shower gel I've been through and I'm sure I'll be buying another bottle soon. It's cheap and works well but the main thing about this is the scent, it smells amazing. It reminds me of The Body Shop shower gels but for a fraction of a price. They're normally on offer for 2 for £4.

Caudalie Grape Water Spray - Like I wrote about in my last months empties, I've been using these water sprays as part of my cleansing routine. Depending on which cleanser I use, I'll spray my face then apply my cleanser. Once it's washed off and my face has been patted dry I'll spray some more to sort of finish my cleanse. I have a couple of other water sprays to finish before I have to think about which one I'll repurchase but I liked this one so it could be on the cards.

Topshop Watermelon Lip Balm - I only bought this because of the scent, it smells amazing. It's a good enough lip balm but I wouldn't buy it again. In fact I don't even think it's available anymore as it's not on the Topshop website.

Lancome Hypnose Perfume - Although technically not an empty product, it is one I'm about to throw out. After a good clear out and sort of my bedroom, including all my empty perfume bottles, I found this one from Lancome. It's my second bottle and I loved it in my teens but since I've had this one for years I think it's gone bad. The perfume itself used to be purple but is now a murky grey colour and the scent has changed as well. I don't hate the scent but it's just not be anymore so I wont be buying another bottle.  I'm kicking myself for not finishing it up before it went bad as you can see I've hardly used any and probably spent around £50 on it. This has definitely made me more careful with my perfumes and I'm trying to use them all before buying any new ones.

Fig + Yarrow Pink Love Salts - Although it's not as good value buying the smaller size of these bath salts, I wanted to make sure I liked them before spending £25 on the full size. The scent is a mix of patchouli, ylang ylang, bergamot, orange, geranium and black pepper. These are very similar to the Therapie Himalayan Bath Salts which I already have the full size of so wont be needing to buy the full size just yet.

The Bluebeards Revenge Shaving Cream - This is my favourite shaving cream I've come across so far. I have very sensitive skin and can get a razor rash very easily especially when I use a shaving gel that isn't very good. I haven't had a single rash when I've used this cream and it creates the perfect lather and actually stays while I shave both legs. The little tub has lasted me a long time although over the past month or so I have noticed it thicken up slightly so probably best that I've finished it. Because of this I wont be buying another one until I've finished the L'Occitane Almond Shower Oil which is what I'm using to shave with at the moment.

Davines Nounou Nourishing Repairing Mask* - This hair mask has lasted such a long time and is definitely well worth the price. It's aimed at dry and brittle hair which is exactly what mine is and it's helped a lot. I wouldn't say it's repaired my hair, I don't think anything can, but it's definitely made it feel softer and look more healthy. Once I've used all the other conditioners I have I'll probably buy another tub of this.

Dainty Doll Concealer Pen - I wasn't impressed with this concealer. It took forever to get it working in the first place and I just wasn't a fan of the formula and feel of it. It was a nice colour but that's really the only positive. It's a shame as I've liked all the other products from Dainty Doll I've tried. I won't be repurchasing this again.

No 7 Shimmering Lip & Eye Screen - You're only meant to use SPF for a year and I assume the same applies for lip SPF so it's about time to throw this years old lip balm in the bin. It's a bit of an odd colour with too much shimmer but was bought with a no7 voucher so didn't cost anything. I haven't even tried to apply this to my eyes, I just can't see it working. I wouldn't buy this again and will be sticking to other lip balms that I have which contain SPF.

If you've gotten to the bottom of this post them I applaud you as it was a lot of products to read about. I thought I'd put in a little disclaimer as I always get comments about how many products I use in a month. Compared to others who write empties posts, I always seem to finish a lot more products but it's not deliberate. 

There's going to be products that always feature in my empties posts: for me this is water sprays, conditioners and shower gels as these are what I go through the quickest and use on an almost every day basis. You'll hardly ever see make-up here as it takes so long to finish. You'll see a lot of skin care but it'll always be different types of skin care. For example I've finished a bottle of micellar water but it'll probably be a few months until I finish the next one. Same with a serum, I've finished one this month but it'll take me a while to go through another. I also have a lot of products that are half empty that I'm trying to use up so obviously I'll finish these quicker than if they were new. 

Follow me on Twitter // Tumblr // Pinterest // Hello Cotton // Bloglovin'