November Empties

Happy December, everyone! I know it's clichéd to say this, but how fast is this year going?! Christmas is looming and I'm trying to get through as many products as I can to make room for new things this month. I'm really rubbish at finishing products, I've lost count of the amount of half-used products lying around my flat. I think I get bored too easily and always want to try something new, unless I really really love something!

This month, I've gotten through 7 products which is really good for me! First up is a sample of LUSH Ro's Argan Body Conditioner*. It has the same concept of hair conditioner, you apply it to clean, wet skin and then rinse off. I've never come across a product like this before, but I have to say I am in love. This has the most divine scent, and that's coming from the girl who hates rose-scented things! It's a gorgeous sweet, rose scent and most importantly, it does its job and it does its job damn well. I got 2 uses out of my sample, and I am definitely buying the full-size tub ASAP.

Next is LUSH American Cream Conditioner. I won this back in September at a LUSH event, and it took me ages to use it up. It's marketed as a double strength conditioner, but I still felt like my ends needed that little bit extra moisture. It smells bloody gorgeous, but I don't think I'll repurchase because it just didn't have that 'wow' factor for me.

To round off my LUSH empties, I also managed to use up a fresh face mask this month called Cosmetic Warrior. This is packed full of fresh garlic and antiseptic tea tree oil, and is a more potent version of the popular Cupcake. It's basically Cupcake's big sister, perfect for battling breakouts and troublesome skin. I'm on the fence with this one, the smell was a massive turn-off for me and I don't feel like it did great things to my skin. It felt a little drying, but my normally oily skin has been a bit weird with the weather recently so that might not be the face mask's fault! I won't repurchase it any time soon because there are lots of other face masks I want to try, but I may well try it again in the future.

Much to my disappointment, my lovely wee bottle of The Body Shop Vanilla EDT ran out this month. I bloody love this scent, it's the perfect pure vanilla fragrance that lingers all day. And it's been discontinued. So I'm not a happy bunny, but luckily I do have a back-up bottle that I'll be using very sparingly now! If anyone has any suggestions for something which is similar to this, please let me know!

I finally finished up my État Pur Micellar Water which I received months ago in a Latest in Beauty box. I liked this when I was going through a cleansing water phase, but I now use an oil-based balm cleanser which I much prefer in the colder months. I probably would repurchase this because it really does its job, but I prefer it more in the warmer seasons.

Finally, a couple of make-up items! I finished up the much raved about Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer, and I have already bought a back-up to replace it because it is probably the best concealer I have tried and for its £4-something price tag, well, it'd be rude not to. I also used up my MAC Eye Brows in Lingering which was a good eyebrow pencil, but I have been using a cheaper alternative which I'm getting along fine with, so I don't think I'll repurchase.

So, those are my November empties! I'm now on a mission to use up more products before I buy new ones, but we'll see how long that lasts...

xoxo

Latest in Beauty box June 2012 - Skincare Stars

I ordered my first Latest in Beauty box last week, which was the June 2012 Skincare Stars box. I'm bloody obsessed with skincare products and I'm always adding new products to my already vast collection, so safe to say I was extremely excited about this box!

The box costs £8.95 + £2.95 shipping, so in total it was £11.90. The LIB themed boxes are released every other month, and they usually sell out quickly so if you want to get your hands on one, you have to be quick!

The huge pro of this beauty box is that you can see the contents before you buy, which I think is really handy, even if it does completely eliminate the element of surprise. 

I would have taken more photos of the packaging and products, but I received this box yesterday and I was too excited to take pictures, I ended up ripping everything open and quickly discarding the packaging!

Without further ado, here are the contents:

1. Etat Pur Micellar Cleansing Water - this is a full-size product of 190ml which retails at £6.40. I first heard about micellar cleansing water through the heavily blogged about Bioderma Crealine solution, and I've been dying to try it ever since! I'm a lazy girl when it comes to removing make-up, so this product is perfect for me. You just squirt some of the solution onto a cotton pad, wipe your face and eyes, and ta-da! Make-up is gone! No need for rinsing, which I think is fab. It really just feels like you're wiping your face with water, it's very gentle and so lovely.

2. Balance Me Moisture Rich Face Cream - I don't have much to say on this as it states that it is for dry/sensitive skin, and I have very un-sensitive, very oily skin! So I passed this sample along to my mum. I have heard great things about the Balance Me range, though, so it's nice to see this included in the box. The full size product retails at £24 for 50ml, and this sample was 10ml.

3. Murad AHA/BHA Exfoliating Cleanser - this is a 30ml sample, and the full size retails at £34 for 200ml. It claims to "smooth texture while cleansing away dullness and impurities". I've only used this once so far, but it made my skin squeaky clean (which I love) and I'm looking forward to using it more. Murad is another of those brands which I've heard a lot about, but never had the chance to try, so this was a great sample for me.

4. Kiehls Midnight Recovery Concentrate - this is a 4ml sample which comes in a really cute bottle and has a pipette type dispenser, which I think is great for this kind of product. The full size product is 30ml and retails at £36. I'm really loving facial oils at the moment, so I'm looking forward to trying this out. It claims to reveal younger looking skin, which isn't a priority for me considering I'm only 20, but the other benefits do appeal to me - moisture replenishment and revealing radiance. I think I'll get a good few uses out of this!

5. L'Occitane Angelica Hydration Cream - this is a 15ml sample which comes in a gorgeously packaged little pot, and I just love it! The full size retails at £29 for 50ml of product. L'Occitane is another brand that I've wanted to try for a long time, but I just haven't gotten round to it! I've only used this cream a handful of times, but I do like it and I'm hoping it will spark a deeper delve into L'Occitane products. It's a nice silky consistency and isn't too heavy, which is great for my normal/oily skin as I really hate heavy feeling moisturisers.

6. Melvita Naturalift Youthful Skin Cream - again, I did pass this over to my mum as I don't feel like I need to start using anti-aging products just yet! This was another generous 15ml sample, the full size is 50ml and retails at £32. Melvita is the baby sister brand of L'Occitane, so I'm expecting to hear some good feedback from my mum on it! This cream is organic, and 99.31% of the ingredients are from a natural source, which I think is really great.

Overall, I loved this box. I love being able to try samples of products like these because frankly, they're just too expensive to buy them and end up not liking them! I find that sample sizes look much prettier in my storage boxes, too. I think my favourite product from this box is the Murad cleanser, but I do love the L'Occitane cream too. I'm looking forward to the next box already!

Did you manage to get your hands on the Skincare Stars box? What was your favourite product?