Empties 2015 #2

I seem to be using up more and more products these days which is great because not only does it mean that the amount of products that I am having to store goes down it also means that I can finally get round to doing Empties posts.

So as you can see from photo above I have a lovely basket of empties which has a range of different products all used up! I will give a brief overview as well as the links to the products but I will try and not ramble and bore you all as there are quite a few for me to get through.

The first empties I have is Hair Products which is unusual for me to have so many as I normally get half way through a hair product, get bored and buy something new but lately I've been sticking it out and trying the product till the end to make sure I test it out properly and to stop wasting product.

So from the picture above the following empties are from left to right -

Urban Fudge De Gunk Deep Clean Shampoo (no link online) - This shampoo was absolutely amazing and did really deeply clean my hair and I also rarely used conditioner alongside this product as I felt my hair was better with just the use of the shampoo and it also has the most amazing citrus/mint smell! This is not online but is available in Superdrug.

Garnier Ultimate Blends The Sleek Restorer Shampoo £3.89 - This shampoo was for me personally a letdown, it just did nothing for my hair and because it was such a large bottle felt like it lasted forever which is good if you like a shampoo but when it doesn't make too much of a difference is a bit annoying. The only thing I felt this shampoo has going for it is that it smells like coconut which I found absolutely divine!

Dove 2 in 1 Nutritive Solutions Daily Care Shampoo and Conditioner £3.99 currently £1.97 for 400ml - Not too much I can say about this apart from another great hair care product from Dove and this is perfect for my lazy days when I can't be bothered to shampoo and condition my hair separately.

Ultime Essence Omega Repair Mask £5.99 currently £1.99 - At first I hated this hair mask, I felt as though my hair was horribly greasy and just felt unclean once styled but the more I used this mask the better it got and actually made my hair incredibly soft. However my favourite hair mask that I repeatedly buy is Dove Hair Nourishing Oil Care Repair Mask £4.59. You can leave this mask on for 2 minutes or 10 minutes, depending how much repair you want to give your hair and afterwards my hair just feels so weightless, soft and refreshed which is everything I want my hair to be.

Boots Skin Clear Deep Cleansing Lotion which I've mentioned time and time before, it's one of my trusty holy grail products that I always have a spare or 2 in the cupboard waiting and then a new face product - Nivea Pure and Natural Cleansing Toner £3.49.

Now Nivea is for skin care like Dove is to me for hair care but I was so unimpressed with this product and I don't really know why if I'm being honest. It wasn't a truly terrible toner or anything but I just feel as someone who really loves Nivea products that this was just not good enough for the money so won't be repurchasing this in the future.

So my 2 final empties are Primers and the first one is Nivea Daily Essentials Express Hydration Primer for Sensitive Skin £4.99 which is a primer I've been using for years. I just love the hydrating factor of it and in the mornings when sometimes I wake up and don't moisturise I find that if I use this it acts unofficially as a 2 in 1 primer/moisturiser.

My final empty is Witch Anti-Blemish Skin Clearing Primer which I find just amazing BUT suddenly it's DISAPPEARED from the shelves of Superdrug, Boots, Savers etc etc plus it's no longer on their websites. I am assuming this has meant that it's been discontinued which makes me sad face because I love this product. Much like the Nivea primer this also moisturises although this isn't as heavy which always made me reach for this when I was in a rush and needed to apply my make up straight on top instead of waiting for it to sink in. 

It was also great when my skin wasn't being particularly co-operative and so could therefore apply as I knew the primer would act as a barrier to the make up and clear my skin. Unfortunately I won't be using this again as this was my last bottle but never mind I'll have to find something just as good to replace it!

So that is my empties for now, as it's taken me so long to write this up I have managed to accumulate for empties for another post very soon! But let me know if you've tried any of the products I've mentioned and your thoughts on them!

Thanks for reading!

Clo

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Tresemme Bargains

Since starting my new job has meant that I am now right again back in the middle of town and surrounded by shops on a daily basis which has made it very difficult for me to restrain myself from spending. However this week I managed to buy all these Tresemme products for the grand total of £1.25! 

£1.25 - I kid you not!

They are all from Superdrug and I needed to let you know in case there are any in your local stores - GO GET THEM!

The three products I got were the following -

Tresemme Pro Shine Last Hold Fixing Spray - 25p (not online)
Tresemme Pro Shine Ultimate Hold Volume Mousse - 10p (1.50 online)
Tresemme Pro Shine Heat Style Primer - 10p (£1.50 online)

These products were all from the X Factor Limited Edition range hence why I think they were reduced but I'm more than happy with my purchases

So if you are near a Superdrug then you might want to pop in and see if there's any left!

Clo
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L'Oreal Studio Line Hot & Go Fast Blow-Dry

Another new product that I have been trying/using and absolutely loving is the L'Oreal Studio Line Hot & Go Fast Blow-Dry which is formulated to give heat protection but to also speed up the process of blow drying your hair i.e to give as they say a 'Fast Blow-Dry'. Now when they say fast it's not a case of spraying this on and your hair will be dried within a minute but I do feel the blow drying of my hair is certainly faster when I've used this product than when I haven't.

It's stated that it's 'a primer spray', now personally I still feel that I need to use another product with this in order to make sure that my hair styles the way I want it to. The product certainly does have heat protection qualities however and because of the time that this has reduced the blow drying of my hair it also has meant that my hair isn't experiencing as much heat damage as it previously was. I blow dry, straighten and curl my hair and not necessarily all three on the same day but I am using heat on my hair every single day, so anything that limits damage or the amount of time heat is being blasted on my hair is going to be a winner for me. 

The spray itself is just like any other heat protecting spray - it doesn't leave your hair feeling scrunchy or heavy or like you have loads of product in it at all, you simply spray and then blow dry. Now I've tried out a few other products that claim to cut blow drying time which I am planning to write about in the future but I feel as though out of the ones I've tried this is so far the best one for me. It might not be for everyone as after all we all have different hair types but I definitely feel the blow drying of my hair has been reduced by the use of this so I would definitely recommend it to anyone to give it a try!

It's available from Superdrug currently priced at £3.79.

Clo 
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My New Dry Shampoo Favourites

So wow we're in November already and I have to honestly say I have absolutely no idea where on earth the last month has gone - is it me or is this year just going super super quick? I mean we're on the countdown to Christmas already - well I should say I am anyway. The John Lewis advert certainly got me in the mood & I'm actually excited to see the Coca Cola advert - that's when I know Christmas is officially on it's way for me. 

But enough of all that I've recently been getting quite lazy with my hair and trying to prolong my washes as I feel after 2 days my hair doesn't really need a wash but then bang in the morning it looks so limp and in need of a wash just when I have no time. My saving grace has been dry shampoos of which I've discovered a new found love for not something that I thought I really would if I'm totally honest.

When Batiste first came on the market I was all over it just because it was the new 'it' product but I never really fell in love with it as for some reason it never really had the desired effect on my hair and that's from trying out various versions. However recently I've been discovering some great dry shampoos and there are 3 in particular that I have been loving and hence reaching for on a daily basis. I've also found that these dry shampoos also give my hair a good amount of volume when used. 

Left To Right: Colab Paris. Garnier Ultimate Blends. Urban Fudge Crisp Pear & Sweet Vanilla.

1- Colab Dry Shampoo Paris - So the latest Youtuber collaboration and this time with Ruth Crilly from A Model Recommends and I have to say by far in my opinion best collaboration/range yet! I love this dry shampoo so much to the point that it is the best dry shampoo that I have used & allows my hair to actually go that extra day without the wash. 

It also revitalises my hair after it's been washed - I hate that just washed feeling and I usually spray a bit of this in it just to get rid of the un-flat/too clean feeling I feel. Plus the smell is amazing and I've yet to actually witness any residue left over which is another bonus!

There are 5 in the range (Paris, London, New York, Tokyo & Rio) all available from Superdrug in both 200ml (£2.99) and in the smaller travel sized 50ml (£1.99) version.

Also available from www.feelunique.com.

2- Garnier Ultimate Blends - This is 'The Silky 7-in1 dry shampoo'. Garnier has big claims for this product with it claiming to do the following 7 things -

- Instantly cleanses 
- Absorbs grease at the roots
- Lightweight feel
- Hair feels supple to the touch
- Hair easy to detangle
- Blissful fragrance
- Leaves no visible residue.

Now it's big claims but I believe from my use of this product that it does exactly all of this. The smell is the one of the most refreshing smells of a dry shampoo I've come across and I have definitely never had any visible residue. 

This is slightly more expensive at £3.99 but for the smell alone it's certainly worth it in my opinion. Available from Superdrug and Boots with Boots also stocking the Garnier Ultimate Blends Revitalising Dry Shampoo which I haven't yet tried but if you have then let me know!

3- Urban Fudge Crisp Pear & Sweet Vanilla Dry Shampoo. So at £5.99 this one is the most expensive of the 3 but you are always able to get this on offer as currently it's £2.98 in Superdrug and £3.99 in Boots so if you can get it on offer it's a bit of a bargain. 

Although it's not my favourite out of the 3 it's still in my opinion a great dry shampoo that really does get rid of grease however for me the only problem with it is that it tends to leave my hair a bit fluffy which I know sounds very strange but that's honestly my only issue. Apart from that it has a fab scent and it has only ever left the tiniest bit of residue!

All three of these are really great dry shampoos and great alternatives to the classic Batiste if like me you've never felt the love, never got on with it or simply just looking for some other dry shampoos. There are some great ones on the market at the moment that are definitely worth a try!

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August Favourites

So monthly favourites time and well yeah here are my favourite products of August!

Hair

So my first for hair is Urban Fudge De-Gunk Deep Clean Shampoo which has become by go to shampoo for the last month. I am quite fussy with shampoos and get really impatient if I don't feel they are making a difference to my hair within the first couple of days but with this shampoo I've just stuck to using it because of how nice my hair feels after using it. 

The shampoo aims to get rid of the excess product in your hair that you get if like me you are a product junkie. We don't always realise how the build up of excess product weighs our hair down but this gets rid of that plus the citrus mint fragrance of this product makes your hair smell amazing.

Next up is the new Herbal Essences Clearly Naked Dry Shampoo which has taken over all the other dry shampoos in the race to be the best for me! Everything about this product is brilliant - amazing smell, no white residue on the hair, value for money - literally cannot rave about this enough! This for me is the one to beat in terms of dry shampoo. And the final hair product is OGX Nourishing Coconut Weightless Hydrating Oil Mist which I love to use on my hair after using heat just to re-hydrate my hair and as someone who loves the smell of coconut it just makes my hair smell amazing and always makes me feel like I'm on holiday!

Face

So for the face I've been loving the Bourjois Happy Light Matte Serum Primer so so much that I actually now need to repurchase a new one as there's so little left I now have to scrape it out! For me this primer just makes my skin feel so soft and keeps my make up in place all day as well as that just wearing this alone on good skin days is enough for me! The other face product is the Nivea Sensitive 3 in 1 Micellar Cleansing Water. Now everyone is doing micellar waters these days - they are literally eveywhere and new ones pop up on a weekly basis but right now I'm loving this one. This is great if you have sensitive skin as not only is if formulated for it but it is actually gentle with no overpowering fragrance. I'm pretty biased as I love everything Nivea but this is a winner for me. 

Body  

Recently the Nspa range from Asda underwent a makeover so when I find the Nspa Patchouli and Ylang Ylang Softening Sugar Scrub in the old packaging in the reduced section for a whole 62p I literally snapped it up and how glad I did! This body scrub has kickstarted a whole new love for body scrubs. And finally a favourites wouldn't be complete without my favourite perfume and for August that was the amazing See By Chloe. 

Me and my mum got the gift set of this in the Boots half price sale after Christmas and I haven't really used it that much but the last couple of weeks I've been using it everyday. It's a very floral scent with the notes of sandalwood and vanilla but not a sickly sweet floral scent just a nice, grown up everyday perfume that's not too overpowering. This is one of my top 5 perfumes and one that I will definitely repurchase again once I use it up!

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Mini TK Maxx Haul

I am the biggest fan of  bargains and I think that is probably why I love going to TK Maxx because with every product in there you are feeling that you are getting a good deal! I went in there a few weeks ago and just picked up a few random bits so I thought I'd do a post on my Mini TK Maxx Haul.

Here goes!

So the first stop for me in TK Maxx was upstairs in the kitchen/storage container compartments and I really could have bought about 10 different tins and boxes until I told myself that I have absolutely no room for these items and just stopped at the two.

Purple Floral Tin: £2.99 & Green Floral Round Tin: £2.49

Now I settle on these two because I loved the colours and the price it has to be said. I'm ashamed to say they are still in the bag as I haven't quite worked out what I'm going to put in them but it will probably be some form of storage as I am always needing tins and boxes for my vast amounts of rubbish.

The second stop I made was into the books and paper section but I wasn't very impressed with what they had on offer which was a surprise cause normally I always end up picking something up in this section. Undeterred however I then made my way down to the hair/skin care section and picked up two absolutely bargains!

Both £4.99

I managed to pick up two products from the Percy & Reed Range for a cool £4.99 each which for these products was like a miracle price. I did debate if I needed both but then caved and thought for the price it wouldn't hurt to try them out. 

The first Percy & Reed product I picked up was the 'It's So Cool Heat Protect Styling Mist' which retails for £18.00 normally.This is basically a heat protector spray but unlike a lot of heat protectors this can be used on both wet and dry hair - depending on how you need to use it. Since getting this product it has been my go to heat protector because I can use it on wet or dry hair and I have noticed that my hair has never felt so soft after styling since using this. 

The second product I picked up from the range was the 'Brilliantly Beautiful Superglossing Mask' which normally retails at £18.00 also. Unlike the styling mist that I've been using on a regular basis I have only used this once so far so I haven't really got an opinion on if I like it or loathe it. The only thing I will say about both products is that I'm not a massive fan of the smell which kind of puts me off using the mask again as I don't like the lingering smell on my hair after using it. 

Now my final stop was of course to the make up section which has lately seen me go into TK Maxx just for the sole purpose of a stop to the make up section! I would say it has been become slightly addictive and quite expensive in the process. However I only picked up one make up product which was the COLOREVOLUTION 3pc Starter Kit in the shade fair to light.

£7.99

The set contains 3 100% Pure Mineral Powders with a foundation, blush and shimmer as can be seen in the picture below.

Left to Right: Foundation, Blush, Shimmer

I actually haven't tried any of these yet and it's actually all still sitting in the box but I will do a full review on all all three of these to let you know how they are as products!

So there's my mini TK Maxx Haul! Although since I have been in there again so I will be posting another haul from there very soon! 

Thanks for reading.

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