Okay, after my minor breakdown about what to do with my empties, most people were in agreement that my idea to do these every ten was a good idea and something they would like to read. It really didn’t take me long to get to ten empties this month, I had so many products that almost made it into my last big empties in December and by day four of January I already had 8 products sitting in my empties box. I want to continue decluttering this year for the big move.First off, I don’t know what the heck happened to the featured image, all the options I took came out all grainy, these are now all well on their way to the recycling tip, so there’s no retaking – I tried to style it out, but I’m not sure it worked.
What I’ve decided to do is keep a track of all my empties on a spreadsheet and I’ll only give a detailed paragraph review of them once during the year, some things I’ll use up several times in a year such as Garner Micellar water so to save being repetitive I’ll simply link back to past empties my roundup – unless my opinion changes for any reason. These empties will feature 10 full/decent deluxe size products where I feel like I’ve garnered a proper idea of the product, and any deluxe/sample sizes where I don’t really know will just be featured as mentions at the end. This first empties has a good mix from a range of categories…
Makeup & Nails
Urban Decay Primer Potion
I featured this in my end of year favourites as I really fell back in love with this last year as I concentrated on getting this used up. This is my favourite eye primer, I don’t even want to try another one as they last so long if I regret it it’ll take ages to use up and get this one back in my collection. I have another one I’m trying to use up, but I’ll be back for this shortly – my other one is running through much quicker.
Repurchase? Yes
Fenty Pro Filtr Foundation (review)
As you know this foundation broke me out big time when I used it solidly for the first three weeks, when I stopped using it daily and used it no more than 2-3 times a week it was perfect for my skin and didn’t break me out. I had so many compliments about my skin on instagram/in person when ever I was wearing this foundation, great coverage and pigmentation and worked really well for my oil prone skin.
Repurchase? Maybe, but not immediately I have a lot of foundations to get through
Essie Gel Couture Topcoat (review)
I went to use this recently and found that it had completely dried up. I know I’ve used this a lot since these launched, but I didn’t feel like I’d used it that much that it should have dried up as of yet. I really liked this topcoat, it was fast drying, gave a real glossy look to the nails and generally helps polish wear a bit longer. This is designed to give wear for 2 weeks with the accompanying polishes in the range, and it does help extend the wear of normal polishes better than other topcoats, but not up to 2 weeks.
Repurchase? Yes, but I have plenty of topcoats at the moment
Skincare
Boots Essentials Cucumber Cleansing Wipes
These are ones I keep by for cleaning my arms when I do swatches, they do a really pick up eyeshadow particularly well and are cheap so do the job for what I need them for. On my face though they make me really red so they’re reserved for swatch & products clean up only. Which is great because it means I don’t become lazy and reach for them.
Repurchase? Yes
The Ordinary Alpha Arbutin 2% + HA
I bought this as I’d read it was the best for trying to clear up scarring – the perfect time to use this was post Fenty Foundation breakout. Sadly I didn’t feel like this helped at all clear anything up any faster or aid in fading. I also found if I used it more than 2/3 times a week it started causing bombs around my eye area.
Repurchase? No
Fragrance
Impulse Purple Petals & Smoky Sky Body Mist
I saw this when this line first launched and was intrigued by the weird scents in the line (vanilla float & microchip anyone), this was the one that spoke to me the most and I used it a lot. It only took a few months for me to go through this whole bottle. For longevity this was decent for a body mist. Totally recommend giving this line a whiff in Superdrug.
Repurchase? I would recommend, but I have many a body mist to get through for now!
General Consumables
Tiger Hand Saebe Cherry Blossom
I bought this as I thought the packaging was kind of cute, it looked a bit, like a scandi version of muji. Sadly this didn’t have much of a scent and I wouldn’t rebuy, whilst the soap was a nice size as it wasn’t too huge I didn’t find myself enjoying using it (and life is so much more pleasant if you enjoy a hand soap haha).
Repurchase? No
Colgate Max White Luminous Toothpaste
Haircare
Tresemme Keratin Smooth Shampoo
This is just about the hardest shampoo I’ve ever had to use up! I really didn’t get any enjoyment out of this at all and tried to limit it to just a few uses a week, I found too frequently and it dried my hair out. But huzzah it’s finally gone
Repurchase? No
Lee Stafford Coco Loco Light Serum Spray
I’m a huge fan of the Coco Loco lotion it’s a hair miracle worker, I’ve slowly been trying out everything else from the range and sadly this was one that didn’t work for me. If I treated this as a hair perfume, absolutely fantastic, it smells lovely and strong. But I don’t think that this does anything for the hair.
Repurchase? No
You can peek at my 2018 empties spreadsheet at any time by clicking here – these will likely be updated as the empties post goes up.
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Email: helplesswhilstdrying@gmail.com
Great empties post! So happy that you were able to make the Fenty foundation work. I haven’t tried it, as I’ve heard it might not be the best for dry skin, but I am tempted to try it.
I’m starting to have trouble with dry hair too and I only use tresemme (and have got a long long time) maybe that’s the problem!
I don’t find tresseme very good overall,
Some of the conditioners are okay but they’re not the salon quality they pretend to be
Hmmm you may have a valid point
Great post! I’ve been dying to try the Fenty foundation, but unfortunately, it’s not available here in India and it’s too expensive for me to guess my shade online and risk getting the wrong shade. 🙁
I’d love it if you’d check out my new post at https://khanakm.com/2018/01/21/best-of-beauty-2017/
Khanak x
Love love love the Urban Decay eyeshadow Primer potion <3
http://www.iamserenel.com
I think it’s so satisfying when a product is finally used up! I love the Urban Decay eye primer too. I’ve just started using a sample and remembered how awesome it is!
You’re so right life really is more enjoyable if you enjoy your soap! I like the idea of doing empties every 10 xxx
To be honest, I really like your featured image! I can understand why you don’t like it but I think with the contrasting colours/font, it really works.
I’m not a big fan of Tresemme shampoo either. I haven’t tried that particular version – just the ordinary ones in the matte black bottles but my gosh! They are so drying! My whole family doesn’t like it either so that’s kinda saying something. I still have like half a bottle in my shower that am sure is just left untouched so I might just bin it soon. For a brand that markets itself the way it does, it really misses the mark.
I find the Alpha Arbutin best used with the Retinol, together I think they’re great. On its own, it’s a bit weak – no particular changes to sing about so I understand your dislike.
I was surprised by the Essie Gel Couture Topcoat too – it’s rather fast drying but it’s not marketed as such.
Hmm I’m remembering the scent of that Lee Stafford Coco Loco Genius Lotion!
Good tracker! <3
Love your ten empties post. I have a heap of stuff to put in empties and I’m dreading the photos/writeup! My mum swears by Tresemme but it just makes my hair oily so I hate it! I like tge Essie top coat. I’ve just started using it, but combined with their gel nail polishes it lasts great. Nail polishes chip on me in a day but it’s lasting close to a week now😊 x
I didn’t know Impulse did body mists. I’ve used that Keratin range from TREsemme before and I didn’t like it either 😛 I’ve never tried an eyeshadow primer, are there any you really like as well as the UD? x
They’re a newish launch – I think I spotted it in September. No one seems to like the Keratin range it’s so drying!
I really like the MUA Luxe one (https://helplesswhilstdrying.com/2017/03/09/the-budget-shadow-primer-that-rivals-urban-decay/) as a budget option, but since I wrote this I do think the Urban Decay one does a better job of sticking to pigment. I haven’t tried that many others, they take so long to go through and use up (I had that UD one for atleast 3 years…) that I never want to purchase anything else and feel like I’m stuck with something that will take forever to use up!
Three years for an eye primer is value for money. A little obviously goes a long way!
I love that you have an empties spreadsheet – how very organised!! xx
Rhi | http://www.rinkydinkyrhi.com
Trying to get myself organised this year, and interested to see what that final use up £ number is!
I must admit, I quite like a good empties post!
Me too!