empties #4

Another month, another empties post. When I started this series I thought that I'd only manage to do a post once every three or four months, but I've really been motivated to use up all the half-finished products in my stash. It's so nice to see the amount of stuff in my beauty drawers decreasing and the amount of space for lovely shiny new things getting larger!

Maybelline Pure Mineral Foundation - I've been using this every day for over a year now, and I honestly started to think that this pot is neverending. So erm.. luckily that theory was proven wrong, as I'm glad to see the back of this pot. Don't get me wrong, it's a great powder that gives a lovely natural finish but I got bored of it and I need to try something new.

Repurchase? Nope.

Weleda Iris Hydrating Night Cream - This got used up really quickly! It is a good night cream, but I don't think it was quite right for my skin type and I'd be better suited to one that wasn't quite so rich. I mentioned in a post that I prefer the Weleda Wild Rose Smoothing Night Cream, and I stand by that so when next winter rolls around and I'm in need of a night cream, the Wild Rose version probably is the one I'll go for.

Repurchase? No.

Bepanthen Ointment - THIS IS HEAVEN IN A TUBE OHMYGAWD.

When I first laid my hands on this sample tube (I use the ointment as a lip balm FYI) about five months ago, I used it, loved it, and then promptly forgot about it. Fast forward a few months and my lips are in an awful state with Carmex doing nothing to fix them, so I turned to this tiny little tube for help and oh boy did it do the trick. Bepanthen seems to be the only lip treatment that, when it wears off, my lips actually feel hydrated and I don't have to constantly reapply lip balm; which in itself is a miracle.

Repurchase? Yesyesyesyesyesyesyes. Am I gushing? I think I'm gushing.

Orhis Nourishing Face Cream - This is a pretty average moisturiser, but there are three big negatives that put me off it. First off, it's hard to get hold of in the UK. Orhis is a French brand, and the only website I can find that sells it is the Betrousse website that offers a kit with the cream as one of the products.

Also, the moisturiser takes a while to sink in and I'd have to apply it, wait half a minute and then rub it in to get my skin to absorb it, and it'll have only properly sunk in after about three minutes. So not the best if you're in a hurry.

My last point is that the packaging is really bad. After I'd used up about a third of the product the squeezy tube became very difficult to get anything out of as the plastic was so thick, and after a while no product at all was coming out. I thought I'd finished it and was about to throw it out, but when I cut the tube open so if there was anything left there was an awful lot of the face cream still inside, I'd say about half the tube was still in there - very deceiving.

Repurchase? No.

DHC Deep Cleansing Oil - There's no denying it, this gets off makeup very well. Even waterproof mascara wasn't difficult to remove but as silly as it sounds, I can't get over the feel of an oil cleanser on my skin. I ended up using it as a makeup remover and applying a cream cleanser afterwards just to make my skin feel clean.

Repurchase? No.

Elemis FreshSkin Make-Up Away Face Cleansing Wipes - Makeup removing wipes only serve one purpose to me, and that's to get rid of excess foundation and eyeshadow when I'm wearing heavy makeup, before going in with a cream cleanser and micellar water to remove all the stubborn mascara and whatnot. I'll be blunt, I didn't like these wipes. They didn't perform nearly as well as the Simple Kind To Skin Cleansing Facial Wipes, which are the best I've tried.

Any attempt at removing eye makeup with the Elemis wipes would result in my eye getting irritated as the wipes are so harsh, combined with me having to scrub hard as they can't even take off my liquid eyeliner. And they're overpriced.

Repurchase? Nope.

Biore Ultra Deep Cleansing Pore Strips - Jeez these are far too expensive for what they are. For £8 there's only six strips are in a box and they didn't even work for me at all. I do have blackheads on my nose that aren't prominent enough to be noticeable, but are still prominent enough for me to care about them so these strips are most likely supposed to cater to more severe blackheads. I've heard that the Biore Pore Strips work great for other people, so I guess it's the kind of thing you need to try out for yourself, but personally I feel like I've been ripped off.

Repurchase? No.