December Empties

The final empties post of 2013 is upon us and I’ve never had so many products used up before as I have done during December! I forgot I’d even used certain things up when I was looking through the bag to take pictures! I’m glad I’ve used quite a bit up, as it’s meant more room for new things that I received over Christmas.

So without further ado, let’s get on with this post!

• Head & Shoulders Anti-Dandruff Shampoo in Citrus Fresh.

For 2014 I have decided to stop using Head & Shoulders and since I stopped using it during December, my hair has improved dramatically and I’m not wasting nearly £5 every two to three months buying the shampoo. My Dad and boyfriend still use it mind, so that’s fine with me. Even though I usually used the Sensitive one, I picked up the Citrus Fresh months ago to try out and it was really nice! It left my hair smelling fresh and like lemons and it obviously did a good job of cleaning my hair too. I don’t really miss using Head & Shoulders and I don’t think I’ll ever buy it again, as in reality this stuff is probably one of the worst things you could buy and use on your hair so for 2014 I’m steering clear of this!

• Possibility Ultra Rich Shower Gel, Shampoo & Bubble Bath in Peppermint Ice Cream.

I rather like the Possibility shower gels, they remind me of a cheaper version of Philosophy and with all the talk going around blogs about Philosophy, Possibility is probably better for your skin too. This shower gel smelt just like mint ice cream, which I love! This is a multipurpose shower gel as you can use it on your hair and in the bath too! I often used this in the bath alongside a Lush bath bomb, I never used it on my hair as I didn’t feel the need to. As much as I loved this shower gel, I am glad to see it finished and in the bin as I just wasn’t enjoying using it as much as I had when I first bought it and to use it seemed more of a chore than a pleasure. I eventually used it up in the bath and that was that. This does leave your skin feeling soft and smelling sweet, but you would of course need to use a moisturiser alongside it. I would buy this again, but when that will be, I don’t know.

• Sainsbury’s Extra Care Alcohol Free Mouthwash in Sensitive.

I love my mouthwash and I keep trying different ones to try and find a favourite, but as of yet I haven’t seemed to find it, although this mouthwash was really nice for the money! Please excuse the mold at the bottom of the bottom! It’s gross I know. >.< Anyhoo! This mouthwash was lovely because it didn’t feel like it was burning the inside of my mouth when I used it, which is always a bonus for me! My mouth felt squeaky clean whenever I used it and when I popped into Sainsbury’s to pick up another bottle, I was saddened to see that the shelf these were kept on was empty and I was forced to try another one, which wasn’t such a bad thing. I would buy this again, but I need to find it first! 😛

• Dettol Honey Nourishing Hand Wash with E45.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this hand wash and everything about it! I wrote quite a lot about it in my top 10 favourites from 2013 post yesterday, which you can check out here if you’re interested. I’m already low on  my second bottle of this and have bought a new one, ready for when the current one runs low! I’m so glad that Dettol and E45 teamed up to make this hand wash, it really has been something sent from heaven for my hands.

• Royal Jelly Foam Bath.

I’m pretty sure this is from a gift set and I’m also pretty sure it was from Boots. One afternoon this suddenly turned up in my bathroom and I can only imagine my Mom put it in there for me to use. It smells really nice and reminds me of the Royal Jelly sets I used to buy my Mom as a child every Christmas, birthday and Mother’s Day. It’s not really something I would buy myself and people would know better than to gift this to me as I’m not the biggest fan of Royal Jelly, but this was really quite nice to use in the bath if I just wanted a quick soak. It left my skin feeling lovely and soft as well as leaving me smelling gorgeous too! I wouldn’t purchase this myself mind, it was a nice treat and that’s all it’ll ever be I think.

• Palmolive Nourishing Delight with Honey & Moisturising Milk Shower Milk.

I cannot tell you how much I love this shower milk and how many years I have been using it on and off for! I first discovered this shower milk in 2004 when my family and I went on holiday. We took a huge bottle of this stuff with us to use and I fell in love with it! I remember running myself a bath and putting loads in, only to discover it was creating so many bubbles that there were more of those than of water! Since then I’ve purchased a couple of bottles but only during the summer did I pick up this little travel size. I bought loads of them to take with me to my boyfriends for whenever I stayed over, to save using his shower gel. But eventually I just started doing that and this got put in the back of my cupboard, which I delightfully discovered towards the end of December. This shower milk smells just like honey and cream, which is something I love the smell of, it’s also a very thick shower cream and a little really does go a long way! It leaves my skin feeling as soft as a babies bum and smells just as delicious on the skin as it does in the bottle. I was rather delighted to see that the morning I finished this sample tube off, was also the day my Mom bought a huge 750ml version of this and popped it on the bath for me! I haven’t been able to stop using it and it’ll probably end up on my January favourites list at this rate! I recommend everyone to try this, it’s a must have, especially for winter.

• Sure Maximum Protection Anti-Perspirant in Sensitive.

I love this deodorant and it’s another favourite that found its way onto my top 10 favourites list for 2013! You can read more about it on this post here but I shall talk a little about it here too. This lasted me quite a long time, probably 6 months or more as you only need a little bit and it goes a long way. Since using this deodorant I don’t have to worry about sweating so much so that means no worrying about sweat patches or about horrible B.O.! This isn’t cheap at over £5.00 but for how long it lasts, it’s well worth the money!

• Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Gel.

I love this moisturising gel but sadly it finally came to the end of the tube and I was forced to throw it away, sad times, very sad times! For about two or three years all I used was Clinique but due to lack of funds right now, I can’t afford it and I’ve had to change down to somewhat cheaper brands, which appear to be working well for my skin! I loved this gel because it stopped my skin from feeling dry and not oily at the same time, which was lovely! Sadly this isn’t the cheapest moisturiser in the world and until I have a spare near £30 I won’t be able to buy a replacement tube. I recommend the gel to anyone who suffers from terribly dry skin but also suffers with oily skin too, so a definite must for people with combination skin.

• Decleor Hydra Floral Light Cream.

At first I loved this moisturiser, but now I actually quite hate it and I’m glad to see it in the bin! My Mom gave this to me after I’d run out of moisturiser and was in desperate need of some more so she suggested I try this one. At first I loved it and it made my skin feel lovely and soft but after a while I grew to dislike using it, mostly for the strange consistency of the cream, which to me doesn’t feel light at all, plus I don’t like the smell of this all that much. Actually I wouldn’t say I hated this, as it did a good job as a moisturiser whilst I was at my boyfriends, but I am rather glad to see this in the bin. It isn’t a bad product, just not one for me!

• Lush FUN in Pink.

I LOVE Lush’s FUN products and by the end of this year I want to have tried them all! I currently have a brand new bar of FUN Gold in my Lush box (yes, I have a box full of Lush products) that I dare not use incase I love it so much that by the time it’s finished I’ll need to cry due to wanting more. Okay, that was dramatic but I do love their FUN products because, they’re fun! They’re a multipurpose product which you can use as a shampoo, bubble bar, body wash and as it’s like Play-Doh, you can play with it in the bath, which makes this a great product for kids! Pink FUN smells has the exact same scent as Creamy Candy Bubble Bar and Rock Star Soap, which in turn are two of my favourite products from Lush! It smells like creamy vanilla with sweets and maybe some fruit in there too. It’s just so amazing to smell, it’s made my purple Liberty London bag smell amazing! I’ll be picking this up again from Lush, I’d be stupid not to.

• Montagne Jeunesse Face Masks in Deep Sea Mud Pac and Chocolate Mud Pie.

I thought I would include these two together on the same point, seeing as they’re both by the same brand, but they both do different things to the skin, etc. The first one I will be talking about is the Deep Sea mask, which I tried for the first time with this sachet. I had always liked the look of it, shamefully due to the fact it was a blue mask, come on, who else isn’t drawn to blue things, huh?! So anyway I thought for 99p I would pick it up to try and I’m really glad I did as this mask was amazing! It smells just like a aftershave and contains seaweed and kelp to leave your skin feeling clean and free from stress. The dead sea minerals in the mask work deep into the pores to penetrate and draw any impurities out of the skin and since using this mask I have noticed the blackheads on my nose look smaller, which is great! I’ll definitely buy this mask again as it really did feel nice to use whilst I was in the bath. Finally we have Chocolate Mud Pie, which is an amazing chocolate face mask! As I mentioned in my top 10 favourites from 2013 (which you can read here) this was one of my favourite products from the year and here I shall explain why! This mask smells just like chocolate and is a very thick mask, which was a nice change. It contains cocoa and shea butter which are great for softening the skin. This left my skin feeling soft and smooth and my pores looked a little smaller too, which was great! For 90p this mask was well worth the money and since buying this one to try I’ve already bought another two, one which I will be using the night before my birthday to ensure my skin looks awesome for when my boyfriend and I go out to celebrate it. I’ve tried the Cupcake Face Mask by Lush and I really don’t rate it. My skin broke out after using it and I was tempted to put in a complaint, but alas I left it and dealt with it. If you have the same issues with Cupcake as I do, then try Montagne Jeunesse’s chocolate face mask, it’s amazing and will leave you face soft and smooth with zero break outs!

So those were my empties from December! There was a lot huh? It’s taken me two hours just to get this post written, but I was getting distracted whilst writing it up! Either way I’m glad I was able to use up so many products during December as it means I have room for all the new ones I received over Christmas.

What products did you use up over December? Let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time, take care all!

 

8 Most Worn Things Tag

Happy Bank Holiday everyone! I hope everyone’s day is going well so far! I’ll be at work when this post is made live on my blog, but by the time I get home I’ll have met my boyfriend at work and be cooking us dinner and having some much-needed cuddle time after not seeing each other for over a week. Which believe you and me, has sucked!

But anyway, another week, another tag!

I really enjoy doing tags, they’re so enjoyable to read so even more enjoyable to join in on too.

After reading Maliberry’s 8 Most Worn Things on Friday I decided I would give it a go myself after she tagged anyone who read her post. Go and check out Mali’s blog, she’s a wonderful person and an amazing beauty blogger.

It was really hard to try and answer some of these tags as I couldn’t pick one item for the majority, but the more the merrier eh?

1. Most worn lipstick/gloss?

Left: MAC Rebel.
Right: MAC Lickable.

I couldn’t pick one lipstick, no matter how hard I tried to pick between these two I just couldn’t decide. When it comes to autumn and winter I just use both on and off over the course of each week. These are my two favourite lipsticks and depending on what I’m wearing, where I’m going etc will depend with one I reach for to wear, whether it be day or night. FYI reviews for both of these are scheduled for this Thursday and next.

2. Most worn fragrance?

Left: Freak by Illamasqua.
Right: Loverdose by Diesel.

Once again, I couldn’t pick one and I ended up having two choices for this question. These are both 30ml bottles so I usually throw these into my handbag whenever I’m going to work, a night out or over to my boyfriends for the weekend. The less I have to carry in my weekend bag when I stay over, the better! I love Freak, it smells like nothing I have ever smelt before and as soon as this bottle runs out I’ll be buying another one.

My Mom bought me Loverdose as a Christmas present years ago and I’m only coming towards the end of it now. I nearly bought a 50ml bottle when it was on offer in Boots, but I didn’t have enough money and had to leave it. As soon as I have spare cash I’ll be repurchasing it. It smells really unique too. Both these perfumes are great to use throughout the entire year whether it be day or night.

3. Most worn nail polish?

Frilly Knickers by Butter London.

This is by far my favourite and most used since my Mom bought it me in May. It looks lovely on its own as well as applied over darker colours. It dries matte so I often use this over nail print designs so that they dry quickly and look nice at the same time. I love this polish so much, I’m going to paint my nails with it later today me thinks.

4. Most worn hair product?

Left: Head & Shoulders Citrus Fresh.
Middle: Philosophy Summer Grace Shampoo, Bath & Shower Gel.
Right: Liz Earle Botanical Shine Conditioner.

I don’t really use products on my hair and whenever I have I’ve fast regretted it. I don’t use dry shampoo as it annoys me how it is pretty much talcum powder and gets everywhere! Plus I don’t really straighten my hair or design it in any way so I don’t really use gel or hair spray. I just wash my hair with Head & Shoulders to get any dirt and dandruff out, then wash with a nice shampoo, which is currently Summer Grace until I have money to buy some nice shampoo and finally my Liz Earle conditioner, which I love! It makes my hair so lovely and soft.

5. Most worn handbag?

Front of tartan backpack from New Look.

Back of tartan backpack from New Look.

I love this bag so much. It suites everything I wear and it’s such a huge bag that you can throw everything in it and still have room for more things. I remember buying it after a crap first day at my work experience at a well-known newspaper (which shall not be named…) and I wanted some retail therapy. This bag isn’t available anymore and at the time I had wanted this bag for months so I was glad to finally have it. I have thought about adding some studs onto the pockets on the front and along the straps too, but whether I do this or not, I’m unsure, we shall see. I definitely want to stick some badges on it… Think I’ll do that after I finish this post…

6. Most worn earrings?

… Okay I don’t have my ears pierced so I’m having to change this to:

6. Most worn jewellery?

Closed red heart locket necklace.

Open red heart locket necklace.

My Mom bought me this locket back in 2009/2010 and it’s one of the nicest things she could have bought me. It didn’t cost a lot but it’s the thought that counted. We were in Argos when she was buying herself something, she could see I was looking at the necklaces and said, “Nat you don’t have any proper jewellery do you?” to which I shook my head and she asked which necklace I would like, to which she bought me this locket. Still to this day I haven’t put any pictures inside of it and I don’t really have a reason why. Whenever I wear this I get such lovely compliments and it always makes me think of my Mom.

7. Most worn shoes?

Studded flat shoes from Topshop

Yellow, red and black skate shoes by Vans.
Checkered black & white laces by Vans.

Brothel creepers from Shoe Zone.

Triumph 12 Eyelet Leather Boots by Dr Martens.
Post about them here.

I’m sorry but I just couldn’t wear one pair of shoes, I just couldn’t! I wear a different pair all the time. I bought my Topshop flats at the start of 2012 but never started to wear them until spring this year. They’re the most wonderful shoes and I doubt I’ll wear them as much in the autumn and winter time.

My Vans skate shoes are the oldest shoes I own and I bought them when I was 16 years old, so they’re seven years old and still to this day they’re pretty much my favourite shoes. If I could wear them for work, my life would be complete! They’re just so damn comfortable and have never let me down during the winter time when it’s icy.

My creepers are great and out of all the pairs here were the cheapest. I don’t wear these as much as I used to but I know as autumn and winter comes along these will replace my flats. This my second pair of creepers as my first pair got massive holes in the bottoms.

Finally my Dr Martens. I’ve owned these over a year now and they’re also my favourite shoes. If you check out how they used to look when I first bought them, you’ll see how well-worn they’ve grown over the year. I’ve worn these in spring, summer, autumn, winter, to Stratford Upon Avon, to Coventry, to Wolverhampton, to Cheltenham and in pretty much every club in Birmingham. I love these boots so much and will wear them lots throughout autumn and winter.

8. Most worn shirt?

Black poodle t-shirt by Altru.

The Amazing Spider-Man sweatshirts both from Forever 21.

I actually have five shirts altogether but I cut out two from being in this post due to realising I don’t wear them all as much as I do with these three. I bought my poodle t-shirt back in 2009/2010 from Urban Outfitters during one of their sales. I wore it to university all the time and also on nights out. One afternoon it wasn’t traceable anywhere in the house and it upset me that I could have lost one of my favourite t-shirts. Two days later still with no luck of finding it I purchased another, only to arrive at home to my Mom saying, “Nat I found that t-shirt, it was inside a pillowcase!” but I never returned the second t-shirt so now I have two of them. That t-shirt is also slightly famous, it features on an advert that I’m in for the university that I attended, which is pretty cool.

I love Spider-Man and I have done from a young age and when I saw these in Forever 21 (on different occasions/years) I just had to try them on and buy them. The red one was the first I bought in 2012 and it was something I wore quite a lot throughout the winter months with a pair of baggy jeans during the day and shorts for nights out. I’ve worn it for bed before now too just because it’s so damn comfortable, as well as looks really nice with your hair down and some bed shorts. The grey one I bought a couple of months ago and while it was a silly thing to buy at the time due to the warm weather, I knew if I didn’t I would never see it again and I haven’t since, so it was a good idea to buy it. I wore it for the first time the weekend before last and it was so comfortable to wear with skinny jeans. I’m planning on wearing either one of these at work tomorrow, not sure which one…

So we have come to the end of my 8 most work things and thus the end of this tag.

I really enjoyed doing it and I tag ALL OF YOU to do it too!

Please link your blog down below if you do it, I’d love to see your answers to the questions.

Hope you enjoyed this post and I also hope your bank holiday is going well.

Until next time, take care all and have a great day!

July empties

Are we really into August already? Last week it felt like my 23rd birthday, me sitting at home being miserable and contemplating what I was going to be doing with my life this year.

I’ve used quite a lot of products up this  month, which is good as I want out with the old so that I can buy some lovely new things when I can afford them and such. There’s some usual bits on here that I’ve used up, some that I have come to love and will purchase again and one item that I hated and will never look at in store again, let alone buy!

Apologies that this picture is blurry, it came out clear on my camera itself… :S

• Montagne Jeunesse Dead Sea Face Spa.

This face mask isn’t like your normal masks, it’s a fabric facial sheet, which you gently place onto your skin and leave to do all the work. It creates less mess than a normal clay or peel off face mask and feels absolutely amazing! This one is said to help calm and cleanse your skin, and it really does. It contains dead sea sat and seaweed, which helps to smooth and re-hydrate your skin. I popped this onto my face and it felt so cool and relaxing, perfect for a hot summer day! I left this on for 15-20 minutes and before rinsing off massaged my skin with the excess of the face mask, as well as what was left on the outside of the mask itself. Then I splashed my face with some cold water and patted dry with a towel. I’ll definitely be purchasing this again, it’s amazing and for once a mask that didn’t irritate my skin in the slightest. Also this mask smells refreshing and amazing, definitely one to pack with you for a holiday that involves plenty of hot days.

• Montagne Jeunesse Very Berry Face Mask.

Another wonderful face mask by Montagne Jeunesse, which I can safely say I will be re-purchasing in the future. This one (as you can tell from its name) contains blueberries and cranberries, which both moisturise and cleanse the skin. This mask was really thick and a gorgeous purple colour which was easy to apply to the skin. As well as that it smelt gorgeous and had shimmer running throughout, which I thought was a really nice touch. It came off easily with warm water (as I was sat in the bath) and after patting my face dry with a towel, my skin felt soft and looked radiant! This is the type of face mask that is necessary in the cold months and before nights out. I loved this mask so much!

• Neal & Wolf Ritual Daily Cleansing Shampoo and Daily Conditioner For All Hair Types.

I received these samples at VintSetFest last week and I can safely say that they are amazing and I’m hooked! The smell of both the shampoo and conditioner is divine and I really can’t put my finger on what they smell like but it’s just amazing and right up my street when it comes to hair care products. The shampoo foams up wonderfully and you don’t need much product to do this either. The conditioner is exactly the same and has left my hair really soft and smooth. I’ll be buying the full size versions of these, especially as I have 15% off of my first order.

• Dove Supreme Fine Silk Beauty Cream Hand Wash.

I bought this wash after one of the staff in Superdrug saying it helped minimize her dry hand problems. It worked a little bit for me, but not as much as I’d hoped. This was a lovely hand wash though and smelt really grown up and expensive, even though it was only 99p! This hand wash was really creamy and soothing on my skin after a long day of shopping or traveling back from where my boyfriend lives. My only issue with this hand wash is that it doesn’t contain anything that kills bacteria like my usual Carex hand wash does, so I was constantly paranoid my hands weren’t clean, so I was using hand sanitizer afterwards. That’s just me being a germ freak though.

• Carex Cola Bottles Hand Wash.

I’ve never loved a brand so much this year as I have with Carex. I know the scented flavours have been made to attract children and youngsters to wash their hands but I just can’t help but be attracted to them too! The smells so far have been amazing and as if they couldn’t get any better. Carex brought out a Cola Bottles flavour, which I loved so much. I can’t decide whether I like this or Strawberry Laces more… It smells just like the cola bottle sweets you get inside bags of Haribo and from your local corner shops, which is just heaven to myself. My boyfriend when he first started to come to my house commented many times how good this stuff smells. Since buying this I haven’t been able to find another bottle, but I’ll keep searching for it as I really want another bottle. As good as it smells, it also leaves my hands feeling soft and germ free, so overall this is a great thing to keep by your bathroom or kitchen sink, especially if you have children.

• Head & Shoulders 2 in 1 Shampoo in Sensitive Scalp Care.

Time and time again I’ve mentioned Head& Shoulders, if you want to read about it, please check out this and this post.

• Possibility Orange Cupcake shower gel, shampoo & bubble bath.

I’ve had this since April and I can say I’m rather sad that it’s gone and the sooner I  pick up another bottle, the better! This stuff was amazing and even featured on a monthly favourites back in April. It smelt just like oranges and lemons, foamed up really well and made my skin feel clean and soft after use. After a while I started to use it for shaving, as it was really sensitive on my skin and helped my razor glide along easily, better than shave foam to be honest with you. I love Possibility’s products and I want to try more of their scented shower gels! I’m going to be keeping my eyes peeled for new ones to try.

• Tango invigorating shower gel in Lemon.

This is by far the most disgusting shower gel I have EVER used and I couldn’t wait to see it in my bin at the end of July! I bought this thinking it would smell amazing, like lemon curd or at least like lemon Smirnoff Ice but it smells more like a lemon scented cleaning product and it’s a real shame. The apple flavour Tango is amazing, so I’m confused as to why this one couldn’t be the same. I’m going to try out the cherry and orange Tango ones and hope that I’m not disappointed by those too. Urgh so glad to see it in my bin, it’s disgusting, I don’t know why I didn’t smell this before purchasing it, but I’m never making that mistake again, lesson learnt!

• Liz Earle Orange Flower Botanical Body Wash.

I’m really sad to see this finished as I loved how amazing this body wash was. Not only did it smell like orange blossom but it also left my skin so soft I wouldn’t need to worry about putting any moisturiser on my skin after showering. I wrote more about this product last month in my June favourites, so if you wish to know a bit more about it, please go and check that post. I can see me buying this again in future, but right now I’m in no hurry to re-purchase.

So that was my empties for July! I used up quite a lot this month, which I’m glad about as I want to try and use up as many products as possible to try and start afresh to buy and try some new products.

What did you use up this month? Let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time, take care and see you soon.