Empties #20

Another Empties? I'm sure you all know the deal by now - a run-down of all of my recent empty, fully-finished products that have made their way to my rubbish bin. A little show-and-tell with a nice summary of what I thought of each item as we go. Let's get started...

BOURJOIS HEALTHY MIX FOUNDATION IN '51' - Makeup-wise, I've recently gotten my way through another bottle of my beloved Healthy Mix Foundation. I'm including this again as it is actually one of the 'new' bottles with the new and improved formula, though I can;t actually find much difference if I'm honest. I loved the old formula and I love this one just as much - to me they are practically identical. Whatever way, this is still an awesome, glowy (but not too glowy) foundation with a lovely, medium buildable coverage and brilliant lasting power and it remains my go-to foundation.

REAL TECHNIQUES DELUXE CREASE BRUSH - A perhaps strange one to include in a post like this but hey, I'm throwing it away so why not? I've had this brush for yonks now (I bought it as part of their Starter Set way back when I first got properly into makeup four-ish years ago) and while it's had a good run, recently I'd noticed the bristles had started to become detached and the whole thing was sinking into the barrel so I promptly picked up another set with the same brush in to replace it with. Real Techniques brushes are so, so awesome and so affordable too so I guess it's no shock that after such a long time (and so much continued use) this has happened but as I said, it's got a lot of love over the years so I'm very happy to have a fresh one in my brush pot to take over from where this one left off. A great, multi-purpose brush that's great for everything from concealer to cream eyeshadow.

SIMPLE AGE RESISTING DAY CREAM SPF15 - As for Skincare, I bought this one to try out a few months ago and loved it. I've tried Simple products before and really enjoyed them so was hoping this would be no exception and thankfully, I was right. This makes for a great day cream both used alone or underneath makeup (the way I usually tend to use it). It's super-hydrating on the skin, yet isn't extremely thick or heavy and also - bonus point - it doesn't smell too darn bad either.

ZOELLA BEAUTY SUGAR DIP SCENTED BATH SALT GRANULES - The first of two Zoella Beauty mentions here, I've finally gotten to the end of these this past month. I picked them up as part of my review of the 'Sweet Inspirations' Range last Summer and it's only now that I've used them up to the very last drop. Bath salts with a lovely sweet (but not sickly), creamy scent - simply drizzle them in the running bath water and leave them to melt away and you're left with a luxuriously-fragrance bath. They don't make any fun bath-time fireworks as the likes of a bath bomb or bubble bar would - but they do make things super-relaxing and calming and that's all you can really ask for...

ZOELLA BEAUTY PRETTY POLISHED SUGAR SCRUB - I love a good body scrub to get rid of all those dead skin cells (yum), any leftover fake tan and just general grimy-ness and this one - again, from Zoella Beauty - is ideal for just that. It's scrubby, but too scrubby in that it's harsh on the skin and the lovely, kinda-creamy consistency feels almost moisturising to use. It gets the job done, but doesn't sacrifice your skin in the process and that gets the big thumbs up from me.

SOAP AND GLORY WHIPPED CLEAN SHOWER BUTTER - A new concept to me recently has been a shower butter. A shower gel that's creamy in texture and not only cleanses, but also moisturises at the same time? Winner. This one from Soap and Glory does exactly that - it cleans, yet cares - and leaves your limbs smelling super-lovely too. This stuff follows in the same 'The Breakfast Scrub'-type scent family, with that familiar vanilla-ry, almond-y-type scent that's almost good enough to eat and I've loved it so much, especially over these past Summer months, that I've used it to the very last drop. Highly recommend this stuff.

PALMERS COCOA BUTTER FORMULA FRAGRANCE FREE BODY LOTION - And last, but certainly not least - another moisturiser-type product - yet this time, for after your bath or shower. Palmers Cocoa Butter is a complete classic, fail-safe product that everyone knows and most likely loves - myself included. I've used the stuff for years and when I got my first tattoo last year (which I've recently had updated and added on to - see this post here for the full deets) was recommended to use the fragrance-free version to help moisturise and heal it up nicely and you know what? It did an awesome job of it. It's basically the exact same formula and consistency - yet with no scent. I personally love the normal fragrance of cocoa butter, but for something like a tattoo, it's essential that there are no fragrances involved and so this works a treat. Again, highly suggest giving this a go if you haven't already...