Empties | November 2015.

Time for another empties post! I've had a lot of these empty for quite a while but only got around to photographing them whilst I was home 2 weeks ago for midterm. Since being in France I've used up a couple of other bits that will warrant another empties post soon - my bedroom is currently a shrine to empty packages. Sigh. 

First up is shower stuff - probably super boring to everyone else but I do love me a good shower gel. How sad is that? Moving on... Happy Hippy is a firm summer favourite of mine and I finished this up around August. I generally don't buy it in wintertime but I do love the Lush shower gels in general. Hence why I've finished up my millionth bottle of Snow Fairy. This big one was from last year and I already have 2 big ones waiting for me when I get home for Christmas in December. Most people know Snow Fairy but if you don't and have a lovin' for very sweet sugary scents, she is ya homegurl.

I used up a little mini Clean On Me by Soap and Glory when I was in Barcelona and just kept it in my empties bucket over the summer. It has a slightly sweet but mostly just "girly" scent that is classic Soap and Glory. I've owned the massive sizes of these plenty of times before and it's one I always repurchase at some stage. The scent is nice, nothing too offensive, it lathers up really well and is quite thick and luxurious feeling on the skin.
Lastly is the Yves Rocher Peach Shower Gel/Scrub. I used up the raspberry one of these ages ago and really liked the scent but would never rely on it for an actual decent exfolation. It works nicely as a shower gel I just wasn't too mad on the scent of the peach one so that's a no from me.

I honestly thought I'd have more hair stuff to show you but oh well. I had heard SO much about the Pureology range from American youtubers for years and finally got to try it sometime last year. I used their keratin based shampoo and conditioner (the shampoo was actually meant to make it into an empties post months ago but I lost the photos of them and had obviously thrown them away by the time I realised... boo-urns!) but I will give you a quick review of both products since I did finish them. In short; they're both shite. They're sold here in salons and aren't the cheapest in the world so I was really expecting something amazing. If you were going to spend your money on a pricier keratin based shampoo I would recommend the Bonacure Fibre Force one by Schwarzkopf, I actually think it might be cheaper than the Pureology one anyway. The Pureology offering left my hair feeling SO weighed down and greasy I'd find myself needing to wash my hair the next day, or never really liked how it sat even after my usual post shower/hair styling routine.

On a happier note, I finished what is probably my 4th bottle of the Trèsemmé Keratin Smooth Heat Protectant. I love this stuff - it's really affordable/found in Boots and can be used on dry hair before straightening/curling but doesn't leave my hair feeling crunchy or greasy. I'm an advocate of keratin based hair products in general (unless they're from Pureology...) and I always loved the way this made my hair feel. I haven't been able to find this product in France and am currently rotating between 3 heat protectants (unnecessary) but I will definitely repurchase this when I'm back home!

Another brand I had heard a lot about from American youtubers, but thankfully found a lot more success with, was Bioré. This was about €7 from Boots and I think it's a fab little cleanser for oily or blemish prone skin. It's charcoal based which works really well for excess sebum. It's a gel cleanser that foams up slightly but doesn't leave my skin feeling particularly tight afterwards, but do keep in mind this is best suited for an oily skin. I love using this with my Clarisonic in the evenings and I have since repurchased several bottles!

It's rare that I finish a perfume and to be honest, I don't know why I'm including it in this post because I'm absolutely shocking at describing perfumes and since they're so subjective it's probably a bit redundant to review it... but sure aren't I going to try anyway? Daisy Eau So Fresh is by far my favourite Marc Jacobs scent in his range because it's obviously floral but there is definitely a sweet and fruity vibe to it which I like. I 100% just Googled that there are notes of grapefruit, raspberry, pear and rose among a load of other things. IT'S JUST NICE AND I FINISHED IT OKAY GO SMELL IHHHH.

I don't know if I've ever featured one of these in an empties post but I've actually used up quite a few of the Penneys/Primark own brand Ps Love This Brush Cleanser. It cost €2.50 and I've found myself using this for spot cleaning eye brushes all the time. I hear so many people complaining about this but I think it's being used in the wrong way. To be clear, I would never use this to deep clean any of my brushes, and I would never use it to try and clean any face brush of any sort because it just isn't strong enough. However, this works perfectly on a paper towel for getting colour out of my eyeshadow brushes and I find that I use less of the MAC cleanser by keeping that for spot cleaning my face brushes and then using the €2.50 option on eye brushes. YAAAAAS. I haven't been able to get Primark in Strasbourg so I'm currently using a H&M Beauty Collection brush cleaner to clean my brushes. It was only €7 but I actually prefer the Penneys one! I'll definitely be bringing a couple of bottles back with me when I go home for Christmas. 

Those are most of the products I've used up over the last few months. Most are future repurchases, some are immediate repurchases and I would stay clear away from the Pureology stuff. Let me know what you're recently finished and if you'd repurchase it! :)