I have a really bad habit of opening products and using a bit of them before abandoning them to try the next, latest, fad in the beauty products aisles. This has meant that I have accumulated a whole host of half used bottles, tubs, jars and containers which are starting to take over storage space in my room. I decided that I would place myself on a beauty product buying ban and in the last few months, I have been making a concerted effort to use up any products I have laying around open before I purchase any more. I thought that I would share the product empties with you today, give a brief review and share whether I would purchase these products again.
Just a *little* disclaimer…all products were purchased by myself or given to me as gifts by friends and family. All opinions are my own and I am not receiving any money from this post in affiliate links or as any form of advertising.
First up is my bath and shower empties…
Radox Feel Lively 12 Hour Scent with Wild Peony and Lychee.
The packaging of this shower gel is nice, the tube meant that the product was always able to be dispensed easily through the snap shut cap. I really liked the scent of this product but found it a little on the thick side to distribute very well, that said, when using a shower puff or scrub mitts I had no issues. I liked the smell of the product but didn’t think that the scent lasted as long as it states on the tube.
While I liked the scent of the product I felt that I needed to use quite a bit of it in order to wash my whole self due to product consistency. I probably would not purchase this again unless it was to take on holiday as I think the packaging would make this product easy to transport.
NSpa Cherry Shower and Bath Gel.
This product is packed in an eye-catching clear bottle and I really like that the cap colour matches the colour of the product inside. For the price, you get a lot of product which makes this really good value for money. The product can be used as a shower gel or bath gel. In the shower, this gel lathers up really nicely with lots of lovely suds and when used in the bath you get a lot of bubbles. I liked the scent of this, the cherry scent lingered in the bathroom and on my skin for quite a while afterwards.
This is quite a big bottle so it would be ideal to decant if you were going away and there are lots of other scents in the range. I am a huge fan of multi-purpose products and this one gets brownie points for being a shower gel and bath gel. I have bought this product several times in the past, in several different scents, I will definitely be buying this again!
Original Source Mango Shower Gel.
The packaging for this gel is really nice. I have noticed with some shower gel packaging that the bottle can be a bit hard to squeeze, become slippery in the shower and hard to keep hold of. The bottle of this shower gel is slightly textured so it is easier to hold on to, and the plastic seems to be a bit softer than other bottles which make dispensing the product really effective.
The product is a good consistency and lathers up really well. I found that the scent was really fruity and natural but not overpowering. I also found that the product left my skin feeling cared for and didn’t seem to dry my skin out like other shower products can.
As you can see from the picture, I used another of the Original Source Shower Gels and will definitely be buying their products again!
Calcot Manor The Lazy Evening Sweet Fig and Chamomile Luxury Bath Essence.
I love to relax with a good book in a hot bath that is full of bubbles at the end of a hard week and this bath essence lived up to my expectations! The scent was lovely and calming, not overly strong but the scent did linger in the bathroom for a day or so and I noticed that I could smell it on my skin the following morning.
The bottle that I used was from a gift set that I received at Christmas and it lasted for a fair few baths, a little bit produced a large number of bubbles so I can see the larger bottle that is available to buy being really good value for money. This is another yes from me and I will be adding this to my basket when I need bath essence in the future.
Original Source Rhubarb and Raspberry Shower Gel.
I really liked the Mango shower gel from Original Source and was pretty impressed with this version too. This one smelled exactly like rhubarb with a touch of raspberry scent in the background. In terms of the actual gel, it was the same consistency as the Mango, lathers well and didn’t dry my skin out. I would definitely buy this again!
Sure Shower Fresh 48 hr Anti-Perspirant.
This antiperspirant was pretty effective though I really am dubious about the 48hr freshness claim from any product like this as after around 12hrs I did feel that I needed to re-apply. I wasn’t overly keen on the fragrance, while it smelled fresh and lasted for quite a long time, for me it was a bit powdery smelling which I didn’t really like. I have used other scents from Sure in the past and have liked them more.
I would buy this product again if other scents were unavailable.
Next up is the hair care products…
Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Colour Mate.
I bought this product when it was on a 3 for £10 offer in my local supermarket along with the Aussie Colour Mate Shampoo and Conditioner. I really liked the packaging of this though, without reading the back it took a while to figure that all you needed to do to get to the product was to squeeze. The base is where the product is dispensed from and all that is needed is to hold the bottle over your hand and gently squeeze away!
The product is creamy in consistency and is neither too thick or thin. It applied easily to my hair and smelled a bit like peaches. I do have overly processed hair (I love to change the colour of it on a regular basis and use bleach once every 8 weeks or so) which can be fairly dry and brittle but this product really stood up to its name, it worked a miracle on my hair and left it feeling soft and manageable without fading my hair colour.
I was pretty impressed with this product overall so it will be something that I would buy again.
Jerome Russel Bblonde Cream Peroxide and High Lift Powder Bleach.
I’ve been bleaching my hair for as long as I can remember and this is the only peroxide and powder bleach that I trust after trying a few different hair lightening products in the past I have found that Jerome Russell bleach works the best for my hair type and provides me with the best base colour for me to work with. I think, that for as long as I continue to bleach and dye my hair, I will always choose Jerome Russell bleach products.
Bleach London Reincarnation Mask.
This product comes in a metal tube. To get at the product you need to unscrew the cap and then push the end of the cap into the tube to break the seal before you can dispense the mask. I find that it is easier to break the seal before washing my hair as trying to do so with soapy hands can be a bit difficult.
The mask is really rich and thick though a little goes a long way and it is really easy to distribute evenly through the hair. It has a pleasant smell which is reminiscent of lavender which I really like. The product works really well, is easy to rinse out and leaves my hair feeling soft, easy to brush and is probably the only product that manages to make my hair shine! I don’t think I would swap this for any other product so is on the list to replace already!
I don’t tend to use toners on my hair that often unless I have bleached my hair and want to colour my hair a pale pastel shade. Using a toner can remove the brassy, yellow tones (you know the one, it always reminds me of fluffy little ducklings…) that bleaching just doesn’t remove. I used this toner with trepidation, other toners I have used have smelled a bit like a damp dog or some sort of weird chemical but I was pleased with this as I didn’t really find it had much of a smell at all. The toner also lived up to its name and left my hair super bright and almost white which was the perfect base for the lavender colour I wanted to put on my hair. I think in the future when I want to dye my hair a pastel shade I will be using this again.
Schwarzkopf Live Ultra Brights in Sea Mermaid.
Hmmm…I am a bit 50/50 with this hair dye, while the product worked in the same way as most other semi-permanent dyes, covered well and, initially, left me with a lovely colour on my hair I was a bit disappointed to wash my hair the first time after dying it to find that most of the colour washed out and left me with a strange, patchy green and yellow toned hair. I have never experienced a hair colour wash out in such a way, most dyes that I use have faded down really nicely over a period of weeks but this left my roots yellow, my mid-lengths a weird green and the tips of my hair a blue/green shade. Because of this, I would not use this colour again though I would be interested to try other colours in the range to see how they fade down.
I’ve used Tresemme products for years but never used a hairspray of theirs before, and in all honesty, I don’t use hairspray a lot unless my hair has been tonged. This spray was pretty inexpensive and didn’t seem to have that really strong “hairspray” smell to it, instead, it smelled much like most Tresemme products. That is where my liking of this product ends, unfortunately. For a firm hold hairspray, I was expecting for it to keep my hair in curls much of the day but by mid-morning, my hair was starting to drop and by the end of the day my style had pretty much gone which was disappointing. There was one positive for this product, it did make my hair feel thicker which made it the perfect texture for styling the day after it had been washed.
I doubt I will be buying this again and am searching for a better hairspray.
And finally, the miscellaneous items (the ones I didn’t have enough of to make into their own categories!)
Garnier Pure Active 3 in 1 Clay Wash, Scrub, Mask.
I’ve written about this product in two of my previous posts (here and here). This wash, scrub, mask is one of my favourite face cleaning products. As I said before, I really like multi-purpose products and this is no exception. I have the most ridiculous facial skin, parts of it are oily, other parts are drier than the desert, I have eczema, have breakouts, blackheads and my skin likes to change depending on the weather, its sensitive to say the least. This product, whichever way I use it always leaves my skin looking clear, feeling soft and calms it down. I have used so many tubes of this now and it is a regular feature in my beauty routine.
Handwash seems like one of those essential items that you need to have near every sink in your home but I have used so many different hand washes, ones that smell weird, take forever to rinse off or leave your hands feeling dry. I like the Carex range as the scents are good and linger, the wash leaves your hands soft and clean and feeling moisturised, and what better than having a fun scent? This product gets a thumbs up from me!
Collection Extreme Coloured Lengthening Mascara.
Ahhh, mascara, that one make-up product that makes you feel a bit more dressed up and ready to face the world even when you have no time to apply anything else to your face. I love the Collection range, it is purse-friendly and does the job. I fell in love with this mascara, the wand was the right length, the bristles dense and the mascara did exactly what it says. It is a deep black, lengthened my lashes, didn’t clump or flake and was generally a fab product. I was unable to find another one in the stores by me so I have bought another from their range which works just as well but when I do find this again I will be sure to buy it!
Barry M Flawless Original Primer.
Since using up this primer I have actually gone out and purchased another one, it was that good! I have used this primer alone and under make-up, alone it just makes my skin look and feel better, and using as a primer under my make-up has kept it in place all day. As I said above, my skin is not the best, it’s dry in places and oily in others which can be troublesome for foundation application but this made my skin even all over. I can’t imagine my make-up kit being devoid of this product.
Ecodenta Whitening Black Charcoal Toothpaste.
I have issues with a lot of toothpaste, they either foam too much or the taste is too strong but this toothpaste is perfect, the foam isn’t too much and it’s minty without feeling like it is burning my mouth. It contains charcoal which whitens my teeth and leaves my mouth (and teeth) feeling clean all day.
My Colourful Life 