February 2022 Empties

A good month of empties for me this month, although looking into my basket at the end of the month I did expect to see more in there! I went on holiday to Rome at the end of February and purposefully packed minis I knew would be able to be finished whilst away so I could save on space on returning back home in my case if needed – so some of my February 2022 Empties were abandoned in the hotel bin and wasn’t here to photograph!

Best Empties of The Month

Augustinus Bader The Rich Cream
[Disclosure – I work at Augustinus Bader] I suspected this bottle was getting close to it’s end for a few weeks and just as I was “calling time” on empties for the month, my last few pumps finished up. A nourishing formula, that I love for evening and no makeup days at home to give my skin a lovely glow.
Repurchase? Yes, although I have a shelf full of back ups ready to go, I’m going to try and finish a few other things up before I delve into another bottle.

Augustinus Bader The Face Oil 10ml
Genuinely the only face oil I’ve ever liked and my skin just loves it, I add a few drops of this in in addition to my dose of The Rich Cream almost every time I apply it and it just gives an additional hydrating boost. The addition to this into my routine has really improved my skins texture.
Repurchase? Yes – already have another bottle open! 

Byredo Slow Dance Hand Cream 30ml
This was an absolutely beautiful scent, it was warm and calming with a heavy vanilla hue. I loved putting this on at all times of the day and was almost a perfume in it’s own right it lingered so long on the skin and was a lovely fragrance that was completely up my street. My partner even commented on how lovely this smelt too.
Repurchase? Likely not the hand-cream, although it’s a nice formula – but the perfume is on my wish list. It’s pricey but one I think I would love! 

Fenty Beauty Cake Shake 5.5ml
This was an exclusive shade to the Holiday 2020 set from Fenty in one of the deluxe mini sizes, this was my favourite from the set with a transparent neutral hue and just the perfect hint of sparkle. It’s very reminiscent of the Fenty glow shade that is permanent which I plan to repurchase. There was a little left in this but the cap was causing me to get silver shards all over myself so I decided to call it a day as scraping the barrel was causing a mess; often transferring to my face!
Repurchase? Can’t purchase this exact shade but will purchase the similar one soon. 

Schwarzkopf Happy Hour Hairspray
I don’t have a picture of this one as I finished this off whilst away, I really like these Schwarzkopf hairsprays and they are really affordable. This particular one is great for hold without being crispy to brush out nicely, this one also adds a lovely shine to the hair too.
Repurchase? Yes, I need to get myself down to Boots as I have no hairspray left!

DHC Silky Cotton
I tried to move towards reusable cotton pads a few years ago but found after a few washes they became uncomfortable to use as they “hardened” on most brands that I tried and particularly when using around the eye area, I found them very uncomfortable. I use cotton wool far more infrequently now – I don’t do my own nails and get them done professionally, and I basically just use them for toners so I decided to go back to a non-reusable option as my consumption of cotton wool has far depleted and I’m not running through packets on a fortnightly basis. These are worth the extra pennies and are really sturdy whilst still being soft and I find I can usually just use one at a time.
Repurchase? Yes, I have this as a repeat item on Amazon, so I’m already on my fresh box!

Worst Empties of The Month

Living Proof No Frizz Shampoo
I took this on holiday with me (one of the ones finished and binned while away) – and this completely stripped my hair of colour over the course of a few washes. If anything my hair was more frizzy than usual after using this and my hair looked wild and undone – I felt deep relief when I got back home to my aussie miracle moist shampoo!
Repurchase? Absolutely not, I’d be tempted to bin it if I got it as a sample again! 

Paco Rabanne Calandre
This was a sample from when I used to work with Secret Scent Box, didn’t love this one at all, a very fresh fragrance – but the way it settled on my skin smelt worse through the day and had an almost staleness to it. Love other Paco Rabanne fragrances, but this one was not for me!

Grown Alchemist Hydra Restore Cream Cleanser
I picked this up in TK Maxx last year for a fraction of its full price – but, if I judge this at it’s full price of £31 – it just wasn’t great. I normally find cream cleansers do a decent job of melting down makeup and tend to like them in the shower where a balm cleanser is a bit less practical, even with just a bit of light bit of mascara this struggled to budge it off my skin and I’d leave the shower looking like a panda, and feeling like it didn’t do a fantastic job of breaking down base makeup either.
Repurchase? No, glad to have tried more from Grown Alchemist, but this product wasn’t for me! 

The Rest

Oskia Isotonic Hydra Serum
A single use serum sachet, so wasn’t reallt able to pass full judgement. Seemed a nice enough formula but unconvinced it’s something I would need!

Elemis Pro Collagen Marine Cream
A classic and much loved moisturiser, this was okay – but if I compare this to the Rich Cream I found the less nourishing and my skin feels less moisturised after use. Not terrible at all, but not my favourite.

The Body Shop Fresh Raspberry Body Scrub
I really liked the early harvest raspberry scrub from TBS, which was discontinued a few years ago – so was pleased to see a new version. This was a lot more watery formula than I liked and wasn’t a particularly shower friendly formula.

Sanctuary Spa Ultra Rich Wet Skin Miracle
This was like a body moisturiser for wet skin, and reminds me of a Nivea product I used to like years ago. I took this on holiday and really enjoyed it, I found it very… lazy girl friendly!

Sanctuary Spa Body Wash
Another holiday pack for me – this was just a good travel sized product perfect for 5 days away instaed of taking a big old bottle. A nice scent, would possibly repurchase again!

Garnier Hair Food Watermelon and Pomegranate Mask
I was so glad when Garnier became cruelty free as it meant I could go back to these masks. I love this whole range, but the scent of this one is my favourite so tend to gravitate towards it.

Briogeo Be Gentle Be Kind Mask
I had this in my worst category last month and had a second one I took away for my conditioner too – paired with the living proof, it really proved that expensive haircare isn’t always good. Really not worth the price tag IMHO.

Head and Shoulders Apple Fresh
Head and Shoulders is known for being terrible for colour care and I keep a little bottle to give my hair a boost of fading when I want to switch colours.

CoLab Tropical Dry Shampoo
I finished this one whilst away, a good and affordable dry shampoo, not my absolute favourite but one which is a fraction of the cost of the IGK one!

Hugo Boss The Scent Perfume
I got a free sample of this from somewhere and LOVED this fragrance, I remember the first use of this had me going “oooh” and really enjoyed every use of it. One for the list in future.

Marvis Whitenining Mint Toothpaste
Highly recommend Marvis for those looking for CF toothpaste options. This is a whitening one that had a nice fresh flavour. Look out for it in TK maxx to catch Marvis for a better price!

Essence Cover Stick
An item from my Project Pan – turned out to be an easy one to finish up and finished it right near the start of the month. Glad to see it gone, the formula was still fine but it was very old.

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I’m impressed with my progress so far this year already – I’ve finished 44 items by the end of month two, and already hit close to £600 of finished up products. I’m hoping my progress through the year continues as I’m really loving my journey to being as clutter free as possible and making sure I don’t waste products as I go. What were your February 2022 Empties?

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