Empties Day – Skincare

If you saw my post at the weekend you will have seen that this is my last ‘big empties’ post. I’ve found over the past year I have less and less time to do them, and rarely on time for the start of the next month which means they end up rolling over and over – until they become such a big job to do it can literally take me a day to photograph, edit and write the posts up for a 3 month period say. From now on I will do an empties post for every ten full size items I use up and they’re likely to be posted on a weekend as a bonus post. with how often I get through stuff it’s likely I’ll probably average 2-3 every six weeks, and will be named Ten Empties #1, Ten Empties #2 and so forth.

Today I wanted to essentially get all my empties out of the way from October-December and I didn’t want to drag it out over loads of days but also didn’t want to do a super-long post. So there will be not one, not two, not three but four posts going live today – you can pick the topics that interest you the most. Here’s the skincare edition…

Micellar Waters

Botanics All Bright Micellar Cleansing Solution (review)
I was surprised just how much I liked this Micellar Water. One thing it doesn’t tell you (unless you read the ingredients) is that the ‘All Bright’ effect is thanks to a low dose of Glycolic acid – this really agreed with my skin, but you have to be very careful around your eyes with this one.
Repurchase? If I see it on offer again yes.

Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water
At this point I really have no idea how many of these I’ve been through, I’d guess 15? Plus travel sized bottles. This is the Micellar Water all others have to live up to for me. It doesn’t irritate my skin or eyes at all and removes makeup very effectively.
Repurchase? Already have

Bioderma Sensibo H20 Micellar Water (review)
I got a travel size of this recently and happily revisited it as it used to be my favourite before there were budget options available. Whilst I didn’t hate it, I did have slight eye irritation from it in the form of mild stinging, and overall – it’s just not worth the extra cash for me.
Repurchase? No

Mario Badescu Seaweed Cleansing Soap (review)
This is my third bottle of this stuff. It works so incredibly well for my skin, I use this every time I shower and my skin is so incredibly thankful for it. It keeps breakouts away and whenever I run out if I’ve not got a new bottle waiting I really start noticing a huge difference in my skin near on immediately.
Repurchase? Already have.

Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cleanser (review)
This is my second tube of this stuff – this isn’t the full, full size but it’s the decent sized travel size that is perfect for carry ons as it’s under 100ml. This is a really good cleanser for if I want to pack light as it removes makeup really well.
Repurchase? Maybe, but for now I have enough cleansers.

Burt’s Bees Soap Bark and Chamomile Cleansing Cream (review)
This was a recent trial for me and my first non lip balm experience with Burt’s Bees. Sadly it didn’t leave me wanting more. It had a really interesting sensation on the skin, but it didn’t do anything well for me – it didn’t leave my skin soft for a cream cleanser, and nor did it remove makeup for me.
Repurchase? No

Botanics All Bright Face Scrub (review)

Repurchase? Maybe, I’m trialling moving away from manual exfoliators to exclusively chemical ones this year.

Moisturisers

Qlabo Collagenerous Moisturiser (review)
This was in my last products I was trying to use up, I did really like this it had a gel cream formula that really sunk into my skin well. When I was sent this to review they sent 2 of each of their moisturisers and it made a huge difference to my Mum’s skin as she was more target range. I’m currently working on using up the other moisturiser they sent to me and that is more for slightly younger skin and I feel like it targets my problems better.
Repurchase? Unlikely

Clinique Pep Start Hydroblur Moisturiser (review)
This had such an interesting texture, it was like a silicone feeling gel cream that made the skin look gorgeous, almost that flawless primeresque finish. But as a moisturiser it didn’t deliver (nor as a primer for the record). It was great for no makeup days for mattifying base that evened out pores, but not as anything else.
Repurchase? No, if it was cheaper I’d consider it, but I wouldn’t get enough use out of it for the price.

Cotton Pads & Wipes

Sainsbury’s Boutique Cotton Pads (review)
I’ve mentioned these a lot in my blog as they were my favourite pads. The’ve recently changed the shape from a  square to an oval and now instead of being able to use 1 pad to remove all of my makeup with Micellar water I find I’m needing 2. At £2.50 a pack for 50 it means it’s quite expensive for cotton wool so I’ve started trialling another square replacement. They’re the same quality, it’s just the difference of shape that’s making the change.
Repurchase? Maybe we’ll see.

The Co-Op Cotton Wool Rounds
I picked these up out of desperation as we have a co-op a couple of minutes away from home as I’d ran out. These were bloody awful, thin tiny rounds that shed and disintegrated.
Repurchase? Not unless urgent.

Boots Essentials Refreshing Cucumber Cleansing Wipes
I tend to keep this handy for when I’m taking lots of blog photos to wipe down products, and especially when I’m switching stuff. I try to avoid using them on my face  as they tend to make my skin quite red. I like these though because they’re cheap for what I need them for.
Repurchase? Already have.

Exfoliating Tools

Afterspa Cleansing Puffs & Facial Micro Scrubber (review)
Not technically an empty, but I felt like this had been in my shower as long as could be considered hygenic. Particularly on the Facial Micro Scrubber side it was no longer washing out any makeup residue easily. I liked these and think they’re a great option if you don’t want to splash the cash on a similar electrical, but as I have a Magnitone that can do the job that these do it’s unlikely I’d repurchase.
Repurchase? Unlikely

Face Masks

Soap and Glory Face Masks (review)
I won’t talk too much about these as there was a whole in-depth blog post dedicated to these. These were three very different masks from Soap and Glory and definitely felt like they were tackling different problems.
Repurchase? Unlikely, as I always try new masks, but out of the tree the Fab Pore was the one that left me most impressed.

I’ll speed round up these…

Ooharr Dead Sea Cooler Mask (review)
Really good budget friendly mask, would consider rebut not super easy to access here as online order only.

Beautaniq Beauty Radiant Glow (review)
Cute fun packaging. Acquired through a beauty box but not that easy to access to order from. Made my skin really tight feeling and uncomfortable.

Origins Flower Fusion Raspberry (review)
Really good place to start if you want to try origins products as they’re well priced for origins. This particular one was okay, but not amazing. I’d consider buying some of the different ones in future.

Metholatum Beauty Mask (review)
Weird facial proportions, uncomfortable to wear an no positive lasting effects. It’s a nope from me.

7th Heaven Charcoal Pore Strips
Have a whole pack of these from an event, but on first try it did nothing for me.

The Body Shop Blue Corn Mask (review)
This was my 15th Face Mask Friday and it’s been a favourite since. I recently put it in a  products I’m trying to use up post as I knew it was getting old and I should consider purchasing a new one. Sadly I’ve discovered it’s been discontinued, much to my dismay, and to my many friends who I’ve forced into buying it who are all equally as gutted. This was a fantastic mask for clearing the skin, detoxifying, mattifying and exfoliating. There appears to be nothing consistency wise that appears in their new line and I’m devastated it’s been discontinued, it’s my favourite ever mask!
Repurchase? Waaaaaaaaaah (that’s a crying noise)

7th Heaven Charcoal Peel Off Mask
I have multiple of these from an event and I haven’t got around to reviewing it yet. Honestly? Can’t remember what the hell I thought of it, so you’ll have to wait for a future Face Mask Friday.
Repurchase? No need!

Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Sachet
I have the full size of this and I took this on a night away to save taking the whole pot. I like this stuff (that’s why I have a full size!). Really easy and not too heavy but still hydrating.

Urban Veda Sachets
I got these at an event in September and overall I didn’t really have enough of any of the products to make any proper judgement. I know the Facial Wash reminded me of the Kiehl’s Ultra Facial but not as good as clearing makeup. The Facial Polish, I can’t remember and the day cream felt very heavy. I think I have an Urban Veda product from my advent calendar so I may have more from them to try in future.


Let me know if you’ve tried any of these and what you thought in the comments if so.
Check out my three other empties going up today…

Makeup Haircare Fragrance & Body

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17 Comments

  1. January 10, 2018 / 6:34 am

    Three fantastic posts, all power too you, thank you

  2. January 10, 2018 / 9:37 am

    Great post! Empties are by far my favourite kind of post

  3. Jen xo
    January 10, 2018 / 8:05 pm

    Great read, loving these empties posts! I’m hoping to gather up enough empties to start doing them myself as I enjoy reading them 😊 I definitely want to try that seaweed soap! I have never seen that before but sounds perfect for my constant breakouts. The body shop mask sounds really good too, shame it’s discontinued, that always seems to happen when you find something you really love doesn’t it?! x

    • Jen xo
      January 10, 2018 / 8:11 pm

      Sorry don’t mean to spam you but I just looked for the seaweed cleansing soap and found that the body shop do one, have your tried it? If so which would you recommend? Thanks x

      • January 10, 2018 / 8:26 pm

        No I haven’t I tried the seaweed mask and didn’t really get on with that – and never ventured further than the range. There’s a link to buy the cleanser through the review, available on beauty bay! X

        • Jen xo
          January 10, 2018 / 8:37 pm

          Ok thanks I just compared the prices and the body shop one is slightly more expensive per ml anyway, I will have a look on Beauty bay thanks x

  4. January 10, 2018 / 11:27 pm

    Wait they discontinued the Body Shop blue corn mask?!?! NOOO. My heart just shattered into a hundred tiny pieces. I love that stuff.

  5. January 10, 2018 / 11:41 pm

    I do wonder if Bioderma’s market share has declined now that every other brand has copied it? I wonder if they would have to drop their price in order to compete?

    You know, that brand Qlabo contacted me to review their products but I had to decline. I just couldn’t commit to trying new skincare at the time. Glad you were able to discover a couple of good products.

    WHAT? TBS finally went ahead and discontinued that Blue Corn Mask? That’s a classic! What were they thinking?!

    Onto the last post… 😉

    • January 10, 2018 / 11:50 pm

      I was searching online to replace the blue corn mask after my local store didn’t have it (but as it’s an outlet their stock changes and isn’t reliable so thought nothing of it). When I couldn’t find it on the website I tweeted them and they confirmed it’s gone 💔
      I resulted into looking on eBay and decided that 37 quid a pot was too much to pay 😂

      Yeah I turn down a lot of skincare to review, it’s too hard to have new stuff to switch out all the time and also test it for long enough. I only say yes to a select few that I find interesting!

      Bioderma’s share must have decreased! It’s gone down from about 20 a bottle when it first launched to about 13.

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