June Empties: Re-Try or Bye-Bye?

 

Hello lovely ladies.

Another month, another pile of empties! When I did my first one of these posts back in April, I thought at the time they'd be very rare, but here we are only a couple of months later, and I'm on to another one - so I must use far more products up than I thought!

So, what were they and most importantly, is it re-try or bye-bye? 

 

Vichy Idealia Life Serum

This was a special product because its actually the first (and only) free sample I've ever been posted by a PR team to review. I wasn't expecting to receive it and I was surprised how generous they were in sending it so I was sad to see it go.

A serum is an indispensible part of my skincare regime. Lately I've started to ramp up the anti-ageing element, but I hadn't tried anything from Vichy before, although of course I'd heard good things.

Re-Try or Bye-Bye?

More of an adieu on this one. I was really pleased with the short term benefits this serum gave me -  it's a lovely light and fresh formula, it smells like raspberries and is a dream to apply. It goes on very smoothly and is an ideal base for make-up. I also felt that it left my skin very hydrated and illuminated.

Where it fell down slightly for me was on the longer-term impact. I didn't feel that it make a noticeable difference to my expression lines and patches of uneven pigmentation. At the end of one bottle, if its really going to work on those things, I would expect to start seeing results, and I didn't feel I got that.

I would repurchase this in the future, and at £35 its very reasonably priced for a serum from a quality brand, but I wanted more of an impact so I've been tempted to stray and try something else for now. 

 

 

Cocoa Skin Therapy Oil

Using oils on my skin is something I'm a massive fan off. I actively look forward to applying them at night before bed -  it really helps me to unwind and seems to signal to my frazzled brain that the day is at an end.

I've also been adding a drop to my day cream during the winter months just to provide an extra hit of hydration.

I keep a some by the bed so I can pop onto my face, the dry ends of my hair and my feet before sleeping (I run a lot so my feet are always very dry and sore).

 

Re-Try or Bye-Bye?

This stuff is lovely. Its light and non-greasy and it smells like chocolate, so who wouldn't like it. Best of all? This stuff comes from the Poundshop so its cheap as chips as well!

It promises to tackle dull, dry skin, stretch marks and rough patches and it works really well to deliver hydrated, glowing skin. I would definitely buy this again, and I have a couple of bottles of it in the cupboard.

For the moment, I've moved on to The Body Shop Beautifying Moringa Oil for my nightly treat, but Cocoa Therapy is a brilliant budget option and the small bottle makes it ideal for travel as well, so I will still have it around.

 

Tresemme Instant Refresh Dry Shampoo

As I've said before, I try to only wash my hair twice a week so as not to strip out too many of the natural oils, so I rely on dry shampoo on the other days to keep my hair volumised and smelling fresh. So dry shampoo is something I always have in my cupboard.

My default buy is Batiste, and I hadn't thought to change that until this little guy arrived in my Glossybox.

I had quite a negative opinion of Tresemme as a brand, I'd never bought anything from them as my hairdresser said that the brand got kicked out of salons for being rubbish -  so would this change my mind?

Re-Try or Bye-Bye?

After trying this, I have seriously re-thought my opinion of Tresemme products, because this was pretty good -  I certainly got through it all quite quickly! Its a very light product that smells great - fresh and lemongrass-like, and it really left me with that clean feeling, which other dry shampoos don't always do. I also liked the fact it left less white residue than my usual brand.

The only thing I felt it lacked was making me hair more volumised. Although the roots felt fresher, there wasn't as much lift as I'm used to getting. That wouldn't neccessarily put me off though, and I would re-try this. If you haven't given it a go, I would recommend it if you're looking for something that leaves that fresh, cleansed feeling.

 

Nivea Cashmere Moments Cream Shower Oil

Shower gel just seems to disappear very quickly in my household, its like the shower gel fairy comes along and uses it all up (or should I be paying more attention to what Seb smells like post-wash?). So I find myself re-stocking fairly often, and Nivea is my default choice.

It's kind to my skin, and I guess I'd say it's a brand that I implicity trust. This stuff is pretty much always on offer as well, so it becomes easy to pick it up again and again.

Re-Try or Bye-Bye?

Definite re-try! This stuff is a solid performer. It smells really nice and its  moisturising to the skin, and foams up really well. There's nothing bad to say about this but equally, I feel like there could be something out there that's more amazing.

I've recently discovered the brand Rituals and am really enjoying their body scrub, so I'm curious about their shower stuff -  plus the brand Kings and Queens has recently come on my radar and I'm liking their stuff a lot too -  so I could see myself investigating. But Nivea will always be my default option.

 

L'Oreal Skin Perfection Micellar Water

Since micellar water went from a French pharmacy product to a global beauty phenomenon, I have entirely abandoned the make-up remover wipes I used to use and now I'm never without this. The

Skin Perfection was the first micellar water I used, and I fell in love with what a good job it did. Since then, I've tried the face wash and the serum from this range as well. Then, when I couldn't find the L'Oreal stuff one time when I was out, I went for the Garnier one instead. It did just as good a job, but you got  a much larger amount for a similar price.

Since then, I've been using Garnier, but again when I couldn't find that last time, I picked up the L'Oreal one again.

Re-Try or Bye-Bye?

I'll put this as a re-try. It's a great product and it performs faultlessly. I love how clean it makes my skin feel and how soft. It should be priced around the £6.00 mark but it always seems to be on offer for closer to £3.00.

My default choice has switched to the Garnier one, just because you get more for your money. I haven't liked the other products I've tried in the line very much, but this cleanser still continues to be a favourite and I'm sure we'll cross paths again soon!

 

Shwarzkopf Essence Ultime Biotin+ Volume Shampoo and Conditioner

When this launched, I was really excited to try it. The whole range looked really good and I was an instant fan of the sleek white packaging. I liked the fact the line contained keratin and repairing proteins, because my hair is fairly damaged from years of colouring it.

When I saw this on offer in Sainsbury's I pounced. This variant promised to add lots of volume and root-lift in addition to its repairing properties.

Re-Try or Bye-Bye?

Big fat bye bye! I didn't rate these at all and when I finished the bottles I couldn't wait to get back to my usual choices. This didn't make my hair feel especially shiny or especially volumised -  I was quite disappointed with that. I also didn't notice much of a repairing effect,and all in all I felt that this didn't live up to the hype.

Shampoo is always different on different people, and its a very personal product, so this may work for some people, but its certainly not for me! I've gone back to my usual choices of Tigi and Herbal Essences - both of which give me far better results.

I do switch shampoos each time I get a new bottle (your hair gets used to active ingredients over time and they stop being as effective, so switching is good). But this won't be joining my roster of usual favourites.

 

L'Oreal Skin Perfection Soothing Gel Cream Wash

Usually, I have two face washes on the go -  a simple one for mornings to grab in the shower, and a deeper cleansing one that I use after taking my make-up off at night, so this was my 'morning' choice for a while. 

Since getting the micellar water from this line, I've tried a few of the products from the Skin Perfection line. I wasn't impressed with the serum and didn't repurchase it -  would the face wash perform any better?

Re-Try or Bye-Bye?

Bye Bye! I didn't dislike this product, but I've since found something that I much prefer, so although its a 'never say never' and I would pick this up if my favourite option wasn't available, for now it's leaving my bathroom shelf. 

The texture of this is nice -  a tiny amount foams up well. Its also very kind and non-irritating to your face and doesn't leave the skin with that harsh, stripped feeling. Packaging wise, its quite nice as well and the price is good -  but I've moved on to Soap and Glory's Peaches and Clean and in fact, I've started using more and more of their facial products, so for the moment that's my pick. 

I think it performs and smells slightly better and I also like the pump bottle more than L'Oreal's squeezy tube, so that gives it the edge. But this is a decent all rounder and you could do worse- it just doesn't have that wow edge to keep me coming back.

And that's it for another few months on the empties front. What have you used up and rated or slated recently?