December Empties

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Use of the affiliate links is hugely appreciated and is a great way to support my blog. I love knowing my review's are being put to good use!*

It's time for the final empties post of 2018! How quickly has this year gone!

Sunday Riley Luna - this wasn't technically an empty as I sold it. It was a nice product but I prefer a stronger Retinol. So it was better off going to someone who will love it more!

Aveda Damage Repair Daily Hair Repair - I absolutely loved this leave in conditioner! I got it as part of a beauty box which was great as I probably wouldn't have bought it otherwise as I'd had bad experiences with leave in conditioners in the past. This changed my opinion completely. It's light, hydrating and doesn't weigh hair down. Smells lovely too! I'll definitely buy it again in the future.

A.Florence Balm to Milk Cleanser* - you all know how much I love this cleanser! It's my holy grail, ride or die, it's heaven in a pot - you get the picture. If you've not tried it yet, you're seriously missing out! I've obviously already got a new pot.

Avarelle Herbal Infusion Rosehip Seed Extract Sheet Mask* - This mask was nice enough. I'm not usually that fussed with sheet masks. It was nice and hydrating. Wouldn't buy just because I prefer non sheet masks.

A.Florence Hydration Booster* - another amazing product from A.Florence and another that I've already bought a replacement. This serum does exactly as promised - it hydrates skin perfectly. It's non-sticky and absorbs like a dream.

Charles Worthington Moisture Seal Leave In Conditioner* - I chose this as part of a Latest In Beauty box. It was nice enough but I wouldn't repurchase.

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Intensive Moisturising Hand Treatment* - I got this last Christmas as part of a set. It's a brilliant hand cream - super rich and long lasting. It was the only thing that kept my knuckles from cracking over winter. Would definitely buy again.

Herbivore Lapis Oil - Such a fabulous oil. It's rich and hydrating, it soothes and calms skin. It's the best for acne prone skin like mine. I've bought a large bottle already.

Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine Cream* - Another favourite of mine, although I do prefer the Ultra Rich version more. This version is great for summer as it's light and incredibly hydrating. It smells amazing. I've got a pot of the Ultra Rich version ready to open.

The Body Shop Coconut Body Scrub - This was part of a set from last Christmas. I love anything coconut scented. It wasn't scrubby enough for me though. Wouldn't buy.

REN Evercalm Gentle Cleansing Gel* - The Evercalm range has been my one of my best finds of the year. This cleanser is brilliant. It's quite a runny gel, it has a soft, fresh scent and it's super gentle on your skin. Have re-purchased full sized.

REN Evercalm Ultra Comforting Rescue Mask* - Another winner from the Evercalm range. This mask is like a hug for your face! It's a thick, rich cream that you could sit all evening with it on if you wanted. It hydrates and calms skin brilliantly. Again, I've purchased full size.

Hourglass Caution Extreme Lash Mascara - I really liked this mascara. It lengthened, gave volume and curled my lashes.  I did have smudging issues though but I seem to have this with most mascaras now! As this was a mini, the wand was really short and that made it a bit awkward to apply. Obviously wouldn't be an issue with the full sized! Would buy again. 

Clarins Exfoliating Body Scrub - This was a free sample with an order. Nice enough, left my skin soft but was nothing special. Wouldn't buy.

Ven Effect Micro-Exfoliant - It's funny as I've got through a few of these and have previously raved about this cleanser but I've gone off it! I've been favouring gentle cleansers rather than scrubby ones. It's still a nice cleanser though.

Skinceuticals Ultra Facial Defence SPF 50+* - This is a great SPF. It's light, hydrating, non-greasy and doesn't leave a white cast. I would purchase it in the future.

Along Came Betty Clean Around The Clock Creamy Shower Wash - This was part of a set from last Christmas. Has a lovely peach scent. Nothing of note other than that! Wouldn't buy again.

Drunk Elephant C-Tango Multivitamin Eye Cream - Holy grail AM eye cream! Already bought full sized as you can see. This cream is so smoothing to the under eye area, there's nothing like it. I love it and will never be without it!

Sol De Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum Cream - I've already bought a large version of this gorgeous cream. It smells amazing, it's so rich and creamy without being greasy. Love it.

Dr Teal's Pure Epsom Salt Soaking Solution Sooth & Sleep with Lavender* - I got this from Boots Review Panel. Wasn't impressed at all! They smelt gorgeous when first added to the bath then the scent completely goes. Didn't soften skin at all. Wouldn't buy.

Drunk Elephant Beste No.9 Jelly Cleanser - This was a funny one. The first few uses I wasn't impressed but then I found myself reaching for it more and more! Now I like it! It's a lovely textured cleanser, very gentle and leaves skin feeling great. I've got another small bottle that was part of a set. Don't think I love it enough to buy on it's own though.

Verso Deep Hydration Mask* - I got this free with a purchase. Hands down the best sheet mask I've ever used! It's a gorgeous gel rather than paper and it's in two parts. It hugs your face and fits well. My skin was so plumped and hydrated looking after use. The downside - the price. They're expensive at £70 for 4! I might treat myself if they're ever on offer.

Verso Super Facial Serum - sample. I love the night cream and eye serum from this range so had high hopes for the serum! I wasn't disappointed. The entire range packs a punch - you can tell the Retinol is strong and effective. Again, it's expensive but I'd definitely consider buying it in the future.

And that's it for 2018! Have a happy new year guys!

*PR / gifted.

 

Trinny London Makeup Review

 

*This post contains affiliate links. 

Use of the affiliate links is hugely appreciated and is a great way to support my blog. I love knowing my review's are being put to good use!*

I'm probably showing my age when I say I used to love watching "What Not To Wear" on TV as a teenager. Trinny Woodhall and Susannah Constantine were a force to be reckoned with, sorting out people's dreary wardrobes and fashion faux pars, giving them all the tips and tricks on how to dress for their shape and what colours would suit them. Each show would be a whirlwind of activity with the two fashion gurus giving a lucky lady a makeover of a lifetime by shoehorning her into some shapewear underwear, getting her a bra that fit correctly and putting together a capsule collection of clothing. Trinny especially seemed to master the art of plucking seeming random items of clothing that you would have thought never went together in a million years, putting them on someone, to have them looking incredible every time. Honestly it was TV gold.

So fast forward more years than I like to admit and I see that Trinny has brought out a makeup line, called Trinny London. Obviously I had to have a look! Trinny London makeup is all based on the concept of being travel friendly. The story goes that Trinny was fed up of carting round loads of makeup when travelling and thought that there had to be a better way. So the idea is that the makeup comes in round pots that stack together. It's all cream texture. Some of the makeup is multi use too. It's all very "less is more". It was that, that initially put me off. That and the price, it's not the cheapest! Now at the time of me first coming across Trinny Makeup, I was in to makeup in a big way. Obsessed. Think how I am with skincare but with makeup instead. So the "simple 5 minute face" approach wasn't for me. I was going more for full glam every day. Which was great, at the time. 

Fast forward a few months and my Endometriosis symptoms had gotten a lot worse, meaning I'm in more pain and as a consequence of this, my fatigue is much worse too. So my daily full glam falls by the way side. I'd been seeing Trinny London makeup more and more on Instagram and the more I saw, the more it looked exactly what I needed! So I decided to take the plunge and order something.

Another part of the Trinny London concept is Match2me - this is a short online quiz to determine what shades of makeup will suit your colouring the best. I had come out as the lightest shades for both the BFF Cream (more on that later) and the foundation / concealer - no surprise there as I'm super pale. I was worried that they weren't going to be pale enough as is often the case for me. Now I was pretty sceptical of match results as some shades that I would normally wear were excluded from my matches but I decided to trust the process. I'm glad I did! It's helped me discover shades I wouldn't normally have picked, that have now become firm favourites!

For my first order I went with the "5 min makeover" stack. All the pots click together to form a stack, hence the name. The stack I chose basically gives you everything you need for a full face of makeup. This stack costs £170. OK, now I know it's a lot of money but when you break down what you actually get, it's an average price for high end makeup. You do save a bit of money buying the pre-made stack rather than buying them separately. So what do you get?

• BFF Skin Perfector cream SPF 30 (£35) - this is Trinny's version of a BB / CC cream. It comes in 5 shades but don't panic as it's that clever adapting skin-tone matching stuff so there should be a cream to suit all skin tones. I'm shade lightest and this matches me perfectly. I would say it would match those paler than me too! It's very similar to Charlotte Tilbury's Healthy Glow or Erborian's CC cream. It's s funny grey / white colour when it comes out of the tube (which is an air tight pump by the way) that blends into your skin like magic. It's the lightest feeling product I've tried - it's wonderful! It gives skin a natural finish, it blurs out imperfections and just makes your skin look better. It doesn't cover all flaws though, that's where Just a Touch comes in...
• Just A Touch Foundation / Concealer (£28) - now this is designed to be worn only on areas that need covering up, not all over your face. It's to cover imperfections, not all your skin. This comes in 14 shades and again I've got the lightest one called Bambi. This matches fairly well, it's a tiny bit too dark for me but not enough for it to be unusable. It's perfect for concealing my dark circles under my eyes, I just have to be a bit careful to check that it's fully blended when covering my acne as it's on my jawline. The product itself is brilliant, its very pigmented and thick so it really covers well. As someone that usually goes for full coverage foundation, I've surprised myself by feeling confident enough to use the BBF cream and this together. 
• Cheekbones Contour (£25) - this comes in two shades, mine being the lighter one called Kate. Out of the stack, this was the product I was least bothered about. I've never been hugely into contouring, mainly because I struggle to get a shade pale enough. But when it arrived, I knew I was onto a winner. Why? Because it's GREY!! Yep you read that correctly. Why is grey contour such a good thing? Because contour is meant to be a shadow, which is grey. This is why some people's contouring looks so odd, they've used a brown shade and it's just too warm. Now it took me some practise with where to apply this, I kept putting it too far down but luckily Trinny does a great how to video on the website. Now I'm contouring like a Pro!
• The Right Light Highlighter (£25) at the time of me buying this, there was only one highlighter to choose from which is called Starlight. There's since been another one brought out. This is a gorgeous, creamy highlight that gives the most stunning lit from within glow. It's a very universal shade, not too light, not too gold and not glittery at all. I love it!
• Lip2Cheek dual purpose lipstick and blusher (£25) - this comes in a number of shades, I went with Pia which is quite a bright coral pink. As it's for both lips and cheek it's quite a dry thick consistency, giving a matte finish. It's very easy to apply on the cheeks and you only need a very small amount. It's a perfect blush shade for me and is one I would usually wear. I've found I prefer using a lip brush to apply this as lipstick just because I like my application to be precise. I've found this to be long wearing, which for me is a must! As it's a bright shade, I've found it can highlight any dry skin on my lips so I always use a lip scrub and balm before application. 
• Lip Glow Lip Gloss (£16) - again this comes in a variety of shades. I picked Thea which is a neutral brown. I wasn't too fussed about this when I first ordered as I'm not a gloss girl at all. Matte all the way! Well that all changed when this beauty arrived! Lip Glow is unlike any other gloss I've tried. I think because it's in a pot, it's that bit thicker so it's not gloopy. It's smooth, non sticky and actually moisturising. This shade is definitely a "my lips but better" colour.
• Eye2Eye Eyeshadow (£18) - there's a great selection of shades for the eyeshadows. I went with shade Justice, which is a pale pink, designed to brighten the eye area. It turns out that is nearly the same colour as my skin, so it's not particularly visible on me, which is a shame! It does however even out and brighten my eye area so it's perfect for a no makeup, makeup look or as a base, used with another eyeshadow. 

Swatches top to bottom - BFF cream, Justice, Pia, Bambi, Thea, Kate, Starlight.

After using this set for a few weeks, I was a convert! I love the quick and easy application and the naturalness of it all. It's all about enhancing your features. So it wasn't long until I placed another order, this time I went for the Fresh Faced stack which costs £55 and includes:

• Eye2Eye eyeshadow (£18) - I chose Magician, a shimmery grey / bronze shade.
• Lip2Cheek (£25)- I picked shade Freddie, which is a deep terracotta red. All the shades I picked were those suggested to suit me from the Match2Me quiz. Freddie was a colour that I knew would look amazing as a lipstick but I had doubts about how it would look as a blusher. I needn't have worried as it looks amazing! Another reason to trust the process as I would never have bought this as a blush on its own.
• Lip Glow (£16) - this time in shade Tallis which is a lovely bright red. It gives lips a perfect wash of colour.

Swatches top to bottom - Magician, Tallis and Freddie.

I then placed a third order on Black Friday whilst there was 10% off. This time I went with single choices.

• Eye2Eye eyeshadows (£18) in shades Lovers which is a shimmery deep purple / brown, Chariot which is a shimmery khaki / gold and Universe which is black with silver shimmers, perfect for a smoky eye and can be used as eyeliner too.
• Lip Luxe (£22) - This is a lipstick in a pinky / nude / brown. It's the shade of lipstick that I always gravitate to! Very flattering and has a nice satin finish. It's long lasting and comfortable to wear.
• Flush Blush blusher (£20) - in shade Electra which is a dusky rose pink. This has a gorgeous finish to it, it reminds me of Glossier Cloud Paints even though it's a completely different texture. 
• Face Finish Mattifying Balm (£25) - this was a must have product for me as I have super oily skin. It's a smooth balm, pale pink in the pot but clear when applied. It gives skin a natural matte finish and smooths out pores and imperfections. Brilliant stuff.

Swatches top to bottom - Electra, Chariot, Lovers, Sooze and Universe. 

So that's my Trinny London collection so far. As you can tell I've fallen hard and fast for this amazing brand. It might not be the cheapest but the quality is amazing.. It's made my life much easier, especially on days where I'm struggling with me health, so for me it's worth every penny! It's the perfect makeup to keep me from looking like crap! It's great if you're travelling too, makes packing a doddle! Have you tried Trinny London makeup yet?

November Empties

*This post contains affiliate links. 

Use of the affiliate links is hugely appreciated and is a great way to support my blog. I love knowing my review's are being put to good use!*

So November is over already! We're hurtling towards Christmas! Here's my November empties.

Omorovicza Ultramoor Mud Mask* - mini pot. I was so disappointed with this mask! It has been on my wish list forever so I was dead chuffed to get it in my last Look Fantastic beauty box. I usually love a mud mask but this was so strongly scented and felt really harsh. It was also shimmery which I think will be the mica in it, which doesn't really have a purpose for your skin. Definitely won't be buying this again.

Olaplex Hair Perfector No3 - The hype is real with this one! It really does leave hair stronger and in much better condition. Definitely will repurchase this. My only small gripe is that it has to be applied onto wet hair. I know it's not a bit deal but it takes ages to dampen my hair as it's very thick.

Elemis Peptide4 Night Recovery Cream Oil* - I absolutely adore this night cream! It's a lovely rich cream without being heavy. It really nourishes skin and you wake up the next day looking refreshed. It smells gorgeous too - like lavender, which is great to help you relax before bed. I'll definitely re-purchase this at some point.

Sarah Chapman Skinesis Eye Recovery cream* - I've loved this eye cream. I used it as a PM cream as it contains retinol. It really helps smooth out my under eye area and keep those wrinkles at bay! I'd buy this full sized. 

The Body Shop Coconut Shower Cream - I received this as a present last Christmas. It was part of a set. I adore anything coconut and this was nice and creamy and lathered up well. It left my skin feeling pretty soft after too. 

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye* - I got this mini pot as part of a GWP. It's lasted ages! It's a gel consistency, very smoothing. You can really feel the silicone in it. I didn't see any particular results from this so wouldn't buy full sized. It has been reformulated since though so maybe the new version would be better.

NIOD Fractionated Eye Contour Concentrate - This isn't an empty but it's passed it's 6 month expiry period. I had good results with this, it hydrated my under eye are well and did improve my dark circles a bit. I won't repurchase though as I wasn't particularly keen on the thin, watery consistency of it. 

NIOD Survival 30 - again not empty but passed it's 6 month expiry. I have mixed feelings about this SPF. It gives great protection but I just didn't love it. The consistency is silky and leaves a nice finish. It's not heavy at all. I hated the dropper bottle applicator - it was so messy as the product starts to dry and thicken around the opening. They have changed this since to a pump. I'll not repurchase. 

Bluesky Soak Off Gel Top Coat - I do my own UV gel nail polish at home, having bought a kit a couple of years ago. I've tried loads of different brands and the one I always go back to is Bluesky. They're cheap, readily available and are great quality. This is the final step top coat so I go through these fairly quickly, especially as my Mum and Gran are using my kit too! Luckily these cost £6.50 each and can usually be found on a 3 for 2 offer on eBay.

A.Florence Skincare Super Serum - I love this serum, it's an amazing emulsion texture so it's really hydrating. It's packed with loads of amazing ingredients like Vitamin C 10% and CoQ10+. It's packed full of antioxidants too. This was the original formula, it's actually been improved since! I've got a bottle of the new version to try!

A.Florence Intense Night Repair Serum - Again this was the old version of this serum, A.Florence are always striving to improve their formula's, which I love! This gorgeous oil serum contains encapsulated retinol (so it stays potent for longer) and loads of other amazing anti-aging and nourishing ingredients. This version had 0.2% Retinol, the updated version has 0.3. This masks it a perfect starter retinol or one that is comfortably usable every day. I've just bought a new full sized bottle of this in the Black Friday sale (this is the travel sized).

And that's this months empties! Thanks for reading.

*This post contains affiliate links. This does not effect my opinion in any way.