I hope you’re comfortable, because this is going to be a long one! It’s taken me a while to finally get to my empties post, but before my bag of products starts overflowing, I thought I would bite the bullet and bust out a long post. From now on, I’ll do these every month or every two months instead of five months worth of stuff. Let’s get to it, shall we?
Body Butters & Lotions
I know. That’s a lot of body butters. But this girl has dry skin, and this is the only thing that helps. I’ve already talked about The Body Shop Coconut Body Butter and Satsuma Body Butter (here).
The Body Shop Strawberry Body Butter. To me, this is the smell of summer. I first used this when I was 18, during one of the best summers and it will always remind me of that. It’s a fresh smell without being too strong, and it is of course very moisturizing, perfect for my dry winter skin.
The Body Shop Glazed Apple Body Butter. This was a limited edition scent for the holidays. I’m so glad I decided to try it out, because it is seriously delightful. It felt really light, and was light in its scent too. Whenever I wore this to work, a few of the girls I worked with said I smelled like Jolly Ranchers, so that’s a plus. I really hope they bring it back this Christmas! I miss the smell already.
The Body Shop Coconut Hand Cream. I have a least one of these in each of my purses. It’s probably the only scented hand cream I can use, so I take advantage of that. It makes my hands super soft and the scent doesn’t interfere with whatever lotion or perfume I’m wearing that day.
Bath & Body Works Triple Moisture Body Cream in Twisted Peppermint. Every November or December, when I want to get into the Christmas spirit, I bring out my favourite peppermint lotion. I’m pretty sure I’ve been using this for at least five years, maybe more? I love the smell and the tingle I get when I wear this. Christmas just isn’t the same without peppermint!
Body Wash & Scrubs
Like lotion, I go through many body washes and scrubs too. I’ve already talked about the Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Wash (here) and The Body Shop Coconut Cream Scrub (here).
Philosophy Shampoo, Shower Gel & Bubble Bath in Peppermint Stick. Usually I would use Twisted Peppermint from Bath & Body Works, but I decided to switch it up this past Christmas. I really like Philosophy products, so I thought I would try this out, because it smells a lot like Twisted Peppermint. It’s a little bit stronger when you actually use it, but the scent doesn’t really linger, which I was a bit bummed about. Overall, I really like it, and I already have a spare ready for Christmas this year.
The Body Shop Glazed Apple Shower Gel. This smells the same as the body butter (simply delightful), but as far as shower gels go, this one was nothing to write home about. I don’t think I would buy this again, even if they brought it out again this year.
The Body Shop Strawberry Shower Gel. I actually don’t like the smell of this one as much as I like the lotion. I’m not sure what the difference is, but to me they don’t smell the same. It does it’s job, but I wouldn’t buy this one again either. As far as I’m concerned, the only shower gel I like from The Body Shop is the Satsuma one. That one is amazing.
Soap & Glory Pulp Friction Body Scrub. Not only is Soap & Glory great with the puns, but they also know how to make a body scrub. This one is great. It’s a little thicker than ones I usually use, but I like that because I felt it made it grittier. Even though it was gritty, I didn’t feel like it was too rough on my skin. I haven’t repurchased yet though, because I want to try some different scrubs first.
Skin Care & Makeup.
I’ve used up a lot of skin care bits lately. A lot of them were deluxe samples, but I was able to use them for quite a while, so I feel like I was able to really test them and see if I liked them or not. I’ve already talked about Boscia’s MakeUp-BreakUp Cool Cleansing Oil (I’m so sad this one is used up!), First Aid Beauty Cleanser, and Laura Mercier Oil Free Foundation Primer (here, here and here).
Philosophy Time in a Bottle for Eyes. I’ve been trying out a lot of eye creams lately, so I was excited to use some of my Sephora points a while back to try this one out. I was really disappointed. It came in a bottle with a pump, which I liked, but the product would always squirt out and I would end up using more than I really needed. It was also really runny, which isn’t my favourite when it comes to eye creams. Even though I did use this for at least four weeks (once a day), I didn’t notice any difference with my fine lines around my eyes (yes, at 25 I do have them. I’m not making it up).
Origins Modern Friction. This is an exfoliator, or as the tube says, “nature’s gentle dermabrasion”. I was excited to try it, because it’s supposed to be good for sensitive skin. It was gentle, but I hated the smell so much. I hated using it, but I wanted to use it up because it did make my skin feel nice. Definitely will not be buying the full size.
Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask. I really like this one. It didn’t irritate my skin, and it washed off really nicely, which I liked. I find that some clarifying masks dry too hard and it’s difficult to get them off with out scrubbing your face right off. I’m using up some of my other masks right now, but I would definitely purchase the full size in the future.
The Body Shop Aloe Gentle Exfoliator. This is part of the Aloe line of The Body Shop’s skin care, which is geared specifically towards sensitive skin. I like this because I could use it more than once a week (I used it three times a week) without it being too harsh on my skin. It didn’t have very thick granules in it, so I didn’t feel like I was scraping my skin. Overall it was pretty good, but not the best I’ve used.
Boscia Luminizing Black Mask. This is one of those fun peel off masks, which means it’s a lot easier when it comes to take it off. I loved how my skin felt after I used it! So fresh and clean, and like there was nothing bad left clogging my pores. The only downside was that it made my eyes water, even when I was so careful to keep it far away from my eye area. I will try and find another peel off mask that won’t leave me with my eyes glued shut so they don’t tear up before I buy this one again. But, I really did love it. I don’t know why, but it’s something satisfying about peeling off these masks.
Boots No7 Beautiful Skin Facial Wipes. After trying these once on my face, I learned that I am not a wipes girl. It didn’t take off my eye makeup at all, which is the only reason I bought it. I did however start using them for taking makeup off my hands when I was swatching lipsticks and glosses, so that was helpful.
Hair
I’ve already talked about the Bumble and Bumble Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil Heat/UV Protective Primer and the Drybar Detox Shampoo here.
Bumble and Bumble Surf Foam Wash Shampoo. I love the smell of this one, but wasn’t the biggest fan of the rest of it. It lathered really well, and felt nice, but I didn’t feel like it nourished my hair at all. I would probably like this more if my hair was straight and wavy/curly.
Bumble and Bumble Surf Creme Rinse Shampoo. Again, like the shampoo, I really think I would like this more if my hair was straight. It just did not get along with my hair. The thing I disliked the most is I found it wasn’t rich enough, which is so weird for me to say about a Bb conditioner, because the ones I have tried have always been the richest, thickest conditioners I’d ever used.
And there you have it… 1400 words later. If only I could write papers about beauty products, I wouldn’t have issues with word count! Let me know if you’d to see more of these posts in the future!
