December Empties / Products I've Used Up

Happy New Year! I'm having a major clear out / declutter this week, so it's time that I posted my December Empties don't you think? I'm very pleased with what I managed to use up last month, but I'm still sad to see a few of these go!

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Beauty Box: You Beauty Box - January 2016 review

My first beauty box of the year has arrived and it sees You Beauty Discovery begin their re-branding by becoming simply 'You Beauty' instead. So let's have a look at this month's box.

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5 Mini Reviews: Ogario, Bamford, Dr. Nick Lowe & balance Me

Time for another round of the 5 Mini Reviews series.  Basically for this post, I pick 5 samples to try out, use them up and then share my thoughts on them.  Simples!

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April Empties

It's Empties time!  You may recognise quite a lot of these from what I took with me to Japan.  Here are my thoughts and whether I would choose to repurchase them or not:-

Neom Organic Body Lotion in Real Luxury - One of my favourite body lotions, smells incredible and soaks into the skin straight away.  Repurchase? Yes! Already on my wishlist.  Balance Me Super Moisturising Hand Cream - 'Super moisturising' really doesn't explain this product very well.  Although it's won awards, I didn't like it much personally, and found that I needed to reapply it a lot more frequently than other hand creams.  Repurchase? No.  Burts Bees Coconut Foot Creme - Another misleading product IMO.  Instead of being a typical cream, it's actually like a thick gel which is weird!  Doesn't soak into feet and leaves a greasy, slightly sticky residue instead.  Repurchase? No.  Eucerin Dry Skin Shampoo - Great shampoo for sensitive scalps, reviewed here.  Repurchase? Yes at some point, but I'm trying something else at the moment.  Boots Botanics Purifying Face Scrub for Normal/Oily Skin - This was OK, but left my skin feeling a little stripped if I used it too often.  Repurchase? No.  The Body Shop Moisture Foundation SPF 15 in 04 - Another OK product, does the job but there other foundations that I prefer over this.  Repurchase? No.  Bodhi Mint Thé Refreshing Bath & Shower Therapy* - I absolutely love this, so revitalising and just lovely to use.  Repurchase? Maybe, I don't really use mint scented shower products that much, so I'm not sure if I'd be able to get through a full size before it expired.

Elf Conditioning Lip Balm SPF 15 in Nice and Natural - It has been taken me AGES to get through this and although I like the sheer nude colour a lot, I wasn't that taken with the overly vanilla scent.  Repurchase?  Probably not.  Bamford Botanical Bath Oil in Geranium - Love this, so relaxing and luxurious to use.  Got about 5 or 6 uses out of this 30ml sample.  Repurchase?  Yes, but it's on my birthday wishlist because the full size is very expensive, eeek!  Bodhi Jasmine Falls Relaxing Body Moisturiser - I adore this scent so much, but prefer the formula of other body lotions more.  That said, I would perhaps buy another travel size of this.  Repurchase? Maybe.  Morroccan Oil - Had this sample bottle in my travel bag for ages.  Do still like this, but if I use it too often it makes my hair feel like there's a lot of product build up on it and I have to use a clarifying shampoo to get it back to normal again.  Repurchase?  Already have another sample size bottle in my stash from xmas.  Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse Multi-Purpose Dry Oil - One of my holy grail items, smells so good and works so well on face, body and hair, as well as in the bath.  Sadly this is the last of the sample bottles I've managed to acquire so I need to buy a full size ASAP!  Repurchase? Yes!  The Body Shop Super Volume Mascara - I like this for everyday looks, but it's certainly not as volumising as other mascaras I have tried.  Repurchase?  Maybe if I saw it on offer, but wouldn't pay full price.  Macadamia Deep Repair Mask - Loved this sample and managed to get about 4 uses out of this sachet.  It's lovely and thick, and makes my hair soft and manageable afterwards.  Repurchase? Definitely.

What beauty products have you used this month?  Leave your links below if you've also done an empties post.

*PR sample

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What's in my toiletries travel bag?

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen me mention that I'm heading to Tokyo on Sunday. It's a place that I've always wanted to visit and I'm so excited to finally be able to go! I've had a few requests to do a 'what's in my travel bag?' type of post detailing what beauty products I'll be taking with me, so here's my toiletries one to start things off.

[Haircare]: Macadamia Deep Repair Masque - When I saw this in last month's Joliebox, I knew that I'd have to refrain from trying it out straight away, and popped into my travel bag instead. Can't wait to use this. KMS California Free Shape Quick Blow Dry Spray does what it says on the bottle and will be perfect for using in the mornings, along with John Frieda Frizz Ease 3 Day Straight for quick and easy sleek hair. I'm also taking this trusty little bottle of Morrocan Oil for last minute touch ups. I'll be decanting a little of my usual Eucerin shampoo to keep my scalp happy and will be pairing that with The Body Shop Nettle Oil Balance Conditioner, which I believe is now discontinued but was from a gift set I received at xmas.





[Bodycare]: I have so many body lotion travel sizes from various beauty boxes that it was difficult to just pick one, but eventually I decided to take Neom Organic Real Luxury Body Lotion because it just smells incredible. Hands and feet will by taken care of with Balance Me Super Moisturising Hand Cream and Burts Bees Coconut Foot Creme, with a mini tin of Lush Lemony Flutter to rub into cuticles before bed and for any extra dry areas that need it. My new favourite Dr Organic Pomegranate Deodorant will also accompany my travels and keep me smelling fresh throughout the busy days of sightseeing. As I'm likely to be completely jetlagged when I arrive, I thought that the Bodhi Mint The Shower Therapy* would be absolutely perfect for waking me up with its potent mint scent, and I'm going to decant a bit of Bamford Geranium Botanic Bath Oil to take with me for a soothing bath. Just in case I have any problems sleeping, I always carry a small bottle of Lavender Oil to help me relax and send me off to the land of nod.





[Skincare]: The only cleanser I am using at the moment is Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish which gives a lovely deep clean and doubles up as an amazing make-up remover too. After this, I'll use my old faithful Lush Tea Tree Water to tone with, and apply a little of Clinique All About Eyes to my undereye dark circles which helps to de-puff them, as well as hydrating the eye area. For mornings, I'll follow with Korres Wild Rose 24 Hour Moisturiser which has SPF 6, and before bed, I'll use Institut Esthederm Time Technology Cream. Twice a week I'll use Clinique 7 Day Scrub Cream to get rid of any dull dead skin cells, and I have a mini bottle of Tea Tree Oil just in case any blemishes decide to show up. For lips, I'll be taking my Lush Honey Trap Lip Balm.

So that's everything. I am one of those people who usually leaves everything to the last minute, but doing this blogpost has helped me strike at least one thing off my enormous to-do list, hooray! I will post a make-up one at some point this evening too.

*PR Sample

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Latest In Beauty: 20 Years of Beauty Greats Discovery Box

Latest In Beauty, the same company where I purchased this box from, recently ran a promotion with YOU magazine (the supplement that comes with The Mail On Sunday) for a limited edition beauty box. The demand for the box, which was limited to 2000 only, caused LIB's website to crash for nearly an entire day, as they struggled to cope with the sheer demand of frenzied consumers. Disgruntled customers quickly took to posting their frustration on the brand's Facebook page and LIB responded with giving those who couldn't purchase the box through their website, the option of emailing instead to be put on a reservation list. So what the hell was all this fuss about?! The box was themed as a '20 Years of Beauty Greats', featuring a host of much loved beauty classics. As it was a special promotion the price was £5.95 plus postage (which I think was about £3), with the contents of the box being worth a staggering £55 (which may explain the insanity surrounding it). Let's have a look at the contents:-



Although it was themed as a 'classics' kind of box, they included a wonderful bonus in the shape of these goodies from Bamford, a new English luxury natural/organic brand. The travel friendly trio comprised of a Body Lotion, Body Wash and Botanical Bath Oil from their bestselling Geranium blended range, which smells gorgeous. The Geranium is blended with Peppermint and Lavender so these will be perfect to use before going to bed.




The only make-up included was a sample of bareMinerals Original SPF 15 Foundation. I picked Medium Beige which looks like a good match for my skintone. The sample is tiny so I think it'll only do for one use, but I've been wanting to try out these foundations for a while so I'm happy with it. It came with the cutest mini kabuki brush ever too! (see my Twitpic for a size comparison, it's so teeny!).



The skincare samples were:- a 20ml tube of Dr Nick Lowe Oil Control Day Cream, which is ideal for my oily/combo skin. A 1g sachet of Lanolips 101 Ointment, I've used this before and loved it. I currently use the Lemonaid Lip Aid that they do and it makes my lips lovely and soft. With this sachet, I'm going to squeeze it into a little pot to get the most out of it. I also received a 5ml pot of Sisley Sisleya Global Anti-Age Cream which I wasn't that fussed about until I read some reviews saying how good it is on all ages as a night cream so I'll give that a go.



Lastly, packaged in its own envelope, was a 30ml Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish with a muslin cloth. I am so excited to try this out and will post a proper review on it when my current Purity cleanser has run out.

Summary: A fantastic box at an amazing price, no wonder their site crashed! Kudos also to LIB for keeping calm and appeasing the hoards of crazy demands by creating the reservation list. That's what I call GOOD customer service :)

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