This Empties post comes just a few days after the last, I’ve had a major use up session on the past month or so which saw my box creep close to full. After what has felt like slow progress I’ve been raiding the back of my cupboards for part used things taht had been pushed to the back. I feel like I’m not going to make as quick progress now as what I had been doing, as I’m starting fresh. This one is mainly skincare and haircare focussed, and a rare sight now – a nail product too!
Nails
Essie Beyond Cosy | Review
I pulled this out recently to use and was sad to see that it had turned to sticky sludge that was beyond recoverable. This was such a nice sparkly champagne shade – not silver or gold and looked really pretty on the nails. It was from a limited edition collection but is still easily found online and I was half tempted to order myself another bottle as I don’t have anything truly similar in tone, but I have so many polishes, I think I’ve talked myself out of it!
Repurchase? No, Maybe…. no I shouldn’t. But just maybe…
Haircare
Hempz Original Shampoo | Gifted | Review
Reviewed recently, I enjoyed this it had a strange banana scent which I strangely didn’t hate (I normally despise banana hated things), but this was okay with a subtle sweetness. I got a lot of use out of this bottle which meant that considering it was a bit more expensive than I’d prefer, I did get more out of it. Ultimately though whilst I liked it I didn’t think it was worth it for me.
Repurchase? Not fo me but if you’re looking for a very free from formula this ticks loads of boxes.
Aussie Mega Shampoo
Never send a man to do a woman’s job. I asked Ben to pick me up some shampoo (after I ran out of the Tigi one before I’d gone to B&M to restock!) and I asked him to pick me up Miracle Moist from Aussie (my all time favourite!) and despite me telling him to read the bottles as they all look similar he still managed to pick up the wrong one! This one is okay – but no where near as nice as the Miracle Moist version, I find at points it can make my hair feel a bit dry.
Repurchase? Probably unintentionally at some point…
Pantene Repair and Protect Conditioner
Again another tie me over until I got my Tigi haircare back purchase, this was a nice conditioner and has a very clean but neutral scent. Not the most moisturising and the formula is quite thin so I found that I needed a fair bit of it.
Repurchase? If it was on offer and I really needed it, yes.
Swell Ultimate Protect & Renew Serum
This is so well reviewed online I’m surprised that I didn’t have a better experience with it. I just found it made my hair really difficult to manage after using – e.g used on wet hair it made it really difficult to brush through after. It seemed to make my hair have that dry fuzziness to it. Got in a beauty box a couple of years ago and glad to see it out my drawer
Repurchase? No
La Riche Directions (Rose Red? Maybe!)
90% sure this was the pink hair dye Rose Red, used recently to give me a bright touch of colour on a whim after I’d driven home one day and needed to make myself feel a bit cheerier, returning to the office the next day with pink locks. It’s lost it’s label but I’m 90% sure it was a half used pot of Rose Red which was the pink shade I was using last summer.
Repurchase? Already have many in my cupboard, ready for on a whim dyes.
Ouai Rose Hair and Body Oil
I got this in a beauty box last summer and this was a really, really hard one to finish off. It has a light rosey scent but it made my hair feel incredibly strange when wet – almost dry before I’d started, and when it was dry it usually looked greasy and not clean.
Repurchase? Absolutely not and it’s put me off trialling
Skincare
Dr Jart+ Neck and Chin Lift
I picked these up in TK Maxx – I’ve used ones like this in the past with excellent success at finding them tigtening and I used one the night before my sisters wedding. The first thing I didn’t realise that it was a bring your own toner game where you soak your mask with moisture of products on your face, so the first time I used it, it was utterly useless as I was kind of unprepared product wise whilst at the hotel. When I used it at home, I thought about tightening products in my collection and paired it with those, and it was absolutely useless, made no difference and the shape of these were particularly awkward.
Repurchase? No, couldn’t pay me to waste my time with these again.
Pixi Glow Tonic Glycolic Sheet Mask | Gifted
I’m just going to admit, this has been in my basket since before my sisters wedding which was at the beginning of May, I can’t remember what I thought of this to tell you anything about it. It’s here because it should be. Luckily I was sent 3 to trial and I’ll have a full run down in a Glow Tonic collection review upcoming soon.
Repurchase? Maybe… next time I’ll pay attention
When Snow Magic Sheet Mask | Gifted
I’ve had an up and down experience with When Masks, their Glamour Base was absolutely incredible, but Snow Magic was unfortunately not a good one. It’s meant to be a brightening mask (it does sound like it’s going to be lightening, but it’s just brightening). I didn’t find that it made any difference, visually or to the touch. – my skin wasn’t softer or brighter.
Repurchase? Nope
Extras
The Wet Brush
This is one of the Original ones I ever purchased which was from when I worked in TV shopping 4 years ago when TWB first came to the UK and it was only available on our channel. This one had a patch of bristles missing, and the bristles were getting ver slanted and it wasn’t making an easy job of brushing my hair like I was used to. i purchased three new ones in one day from TK Maxx, so it was time to see this one out the door.
The Wet Brush Styling Grips
Used for straightening and sectioning my hair when styling, the bottom part snapped off, this was my last one of these from the pack I bought at the same time as the brush above. They don’t seem to make these any more, but you can find these flexible grips online quite easily – I prefer these to ones which don’t have any flex, as they don’t tend to leave a mark and can accommodate more hair.
Colgate Deep Clean Whitening
Liked this nice and fresh gel texture
Colgate Max White Expert White
Like this one, but I prefer the next one
Colgate Max White One
Find this one the most effective whitening toothpaste on the high street
Colgate Cavity Protection
Rubbish compared to the others, cheaper and it shows!
Okay, so I mentioned in my last Empties I’d hit a milestone and I’ve now finished up over £1000 products this year! I haven’t done any stats at all yet other than look at the totals, but I’m looking forward to doing some analysis at the end of the year. I think value wise I might be somewhere between £1500 and £2000 by the end of the year, but I don’t anticipate finishing any where near the amount of items I did last year. I have far less extras than I did last year as I don’t have masses of samples clogging up my cupboards.
My empties spreadsheet can be found here if you’d like to take a look and I’ve created a template as a tab if you’d like to refer to it.
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Email: helplesswhilstdrying@gmail.com
The wet brush is so good isn’t it! The tangle teezer isn’t a patch on TWB in my opinion! I bloody love them xx
Author
Completely agree the bristles on TT are not long enough for my hair, they get stuck and make the knots clump together underneath!
Normally I’m not a fan of brushes that have padded bristles like the Wet Brush but I have heard plenty of good things about the Wet Brush products, maybe I need to invest in one when I next need a hair brush. Beyond Cosy by Essie looks absolutely stunning, what was it like to remove with the glitter texture?
Author
It’s a really smooth glitter so it comes off pretty easily, I found if I left a soaked cotton pad on for a few seconds it just swiped off easily.
I can’t explain how much the wet brush is to different brushes, they can look identical but they perform entirely differently. I found two other hairbrushes at the bottom of my hair tools basket and one looked almost identical but it felt like it was ripping my hair out in comparison. They’re the only brushes that cope with my very knotty hair!
Sounds like a nicely formulated glitter polish 🙂 I don’t have problems with knotty hair I think because mine is so thick!
Author
Mine isnt quite as thick as yours but I have to have mine thinned out otherwise it’s unmanageable – I brushed my hair two hours ago, put it up in a hair bobble and have been at my laptop since and it’s already knotty!
I get mind thinned out when I go for a haircut too but I don’t get my hair cut very often which is probably a bit naughty 😂 aww, poor thing!
I am such a fan of Essie nail polish
Candice x
I’ll have to give miracle moist by Aussie a go, I was always worried it would make me greasy! It’s typical that he picked up the wrong one lol! I have been using the Volume range by Aussie xxx
What didn’t you like about the hemp shampoo??
Author
I have dry ends but greasy roots and have found other shampoos more successful at keeping my hair clean for longer whilst being more moisturising in the ends.
Okay good to know. I’ve developed an interest in hemp skincare for no reason at all lol