November Empties and Chuckers

Le Empties

Aveda Invati Exfoliating Shampoo, Thickening Conditioner, and Scalp Revitalizer
I'm in the middle of trialling these at the moment (I have a second lot I'm working through) so I won't say anything about them as yet.

Puretopia Whisk Away Creamy Face Cleanser
This was one of the products I picked up for gratis in Beauty Heaven's first Beautorium, and I really like it. I have already blagged another one that Jacquie gave me from one of her blogging get-together freebie scores. I don't even know how much it is, but I would repurchase it for sure - I loves me some cream cleanser. I use it after removing make up at night, and I like that it doesn't leave my face feeling tight.

Burt's Bees Facial Cleansing Towelettes with White Tea Extract
Sabine from Echolife sent me these a while ago, and I do like them quite a lot, although it says on the packet 'removes dirt, oil and make-up without rinsing'. Dirt and oil, sure, but makeup... noooo. It didn't do much to remove any of my makeup at all. That's not really a deal breaker for me since I rarely use face wipes to clean makeup off anyway (that's naughty!) - I usually use them at night when I've had a makeup free day and can't be bothered going through a full cleansing routine, which is at least a few days a week in the hotter weather. For that purpose, they're great, and I would repurchase them. I liked them a lot better than the Wot Not ones I got a while ago from the Beautorium - those leave a weird film that I hated.

Palmolive Naturals Ultra Moisture Milk & Shea Butter Shower Milk
I think this turns up in about every second empties. It's cheap, I like the smell, and it feels nice. I will continue to buy it.

Garnier Ultra Lift SPF15 something or other
It doesn't say what it is on the jar. Some kind of moisturiser. I picked it up at the supermarket when I needed a moisturiser with SPF in a hurry, and I actually really liked it. It doesn't do anything fancy, but it's nice under makeup, and it was pretty cheap from memory. I would buy it again. It does have a weird smell though - bordering on citronella.

Olay Total Effects Anti-Ageing 7 in 1 Eye Cream
I bought this because I was totally out of eye cream and just needed something in a hurry (I have gone from having way too many different products to forgetting to replace or stock up until I'm down to the last drop of things - ugh, must meet somewhere in the middle). How can an eye cream fight 'the seven signs of ageing' when it doesn't even have  a sunscreen in it? The cream itself felt nice - it reminded me of Clinique All About Eyes - but it really didn't do anything much, and it's not worth the $35 or whatever it was that it cost. I wouldn't repurchase it.

Luxe Organics samples: AHA Cream Exfoliant, AHA Toner, AHA Cream Cleanser, Antioxidant Toner
I really loved these products, and I would have bought full sizes of at least some of them, except that somewhere between the time I first bought the samples and the time I decided to get more, they stopped shipping overseas. I sent an enquiry about it, they didn't respond. I sent another enquiry four days later and they did respond to that one, with an apology for not replying the first time (and there was me ready to give the benefit of the doubt and assume they didn't get it), but not exactly falling all over themselves to sell me anything. Yes, they would ship to me if I spent at least $35 (not a problem - what I wanted would have been over that amount) and shipping would be $30 (for stuff weighing less than a kilo, that's a problem). From memory it was a few weeks from my order before they shipped it too, so given that their customer service just came across as... well, less than stellar, I decided to give it a miss. Shame, because some of their stuff is REALLY good. Noodles had a little trial pack of stuff suited for her skin too, and she also really liked it. Oh well. Onward and upward!

Pure Luxe Cleansing Oil
I bought this a while back with some eyeshadow samples, and I really like it. It doesn't have mineral oil in it, as most of the commercial cleansing oils do. I'd probably consider getting a full bottle when I'm closer to using up a bunch of other makeup removers I have around the place.

Le Chuckers

Bio Sculpture Gel Cuticle Conditioner
Another Beautorium freebie. I have very dry cuticles and this just did nothing at all for them. I used it most nights, just because it was there, until it got down to where it was hard to get anymore on the brush, so it's going in the bin. Needless to say, I would not repurchase.

Silk Naturals Organic Lipstick in Fashionista
This was more brown than I had expected, and therefore I never wore it. It also had a soft, slightly greasy texture that I didn't love. I wouldn't repurchase it.

Silk Naturals Lip Stains in Vamp and Doll
Now these I did like, but I kept forgetting about them because they are so small and they got lost in among a box full of other lip products. They are super stainy and last for ages, and the formula is similar to the BeneTint one. They are a little bit drying on the lips though. I'm throwing them out because one of them smells a bit weird now, and since I bought them both at the same time, I figure the other one is probably not far behind. I doubt I'd repurchase, not because I don't like them, but just because I already have eleventy million lip products I don't use.

February Empties

Al'chemy Conditioners Macadamia and Wheat and Unscented Wheat Free: I hate that I always run out of conditioner before I run out of shampoo - it ruins my love of symmetry! I really like these conditioners - I've already bought another bottle of the unscented one.

Palmolive Naturals Shower Milk Milk & Olive: An old staple, though I usually get the one with the brown lid. I'm trying to go more natural with this sort of thing, so not sure if I'll buy it again.

Silk Naturals Intensive Moisturiser: I was a bit iffy about this at first - it didn't seem overly moisturising - but once I got used to it not having all the silicones and slippy fillers that come in commercial moisturisers I liked it quite a bit. I would repurchase this, but not until I've used up other things I have. Trying not to be wasteful!

Balmain Ambre Gris EDP 5ml decant: Love this, even though it's a cheesy old lady fragrance. What am I saying, I adore cheesy old lady fragrances. I would definitely buy a full bottle - in fact it's on my FB list - but I'm on a total perfume ban for the forseeable future, so not sure when that will happen.

Silk Naturals Coconut Argan Cleansing Conditioner: Noodles used this and really liked it, so I'll probably get her a full size next time I do a Silk Naturals order.

Silk Naturals Vitamin C Peptide Serum: Really liked this and will definitely buy it again, but as above with the moisturiser, I'm using up other things first.

Clinique Turnaround Concentrate Visible Skin Renewer: This came in a GWP a couple of years ago and I never used it. It's been knocking around for a really long time now, so I'm chucking it.

Mid-January Empties and Chuckers

I'm doing a mid-month empties post as I've done a bit of cleaning out recently and things are starting to pile up.

EMPTIES

Gaia Geranium and Palmarosa Creamy Cleanser
The smell of this is quite strong but that doesn't really bother me. I double cleanse with an oil cleanser first and follow with a cream cleanser. I usually use Clarins Cleansing Milk but this one's cheaper and I like it quite a lot, so I will be repurchasing this as soon as I have a chance to get to Priceline.

Bobbi Brown Cleansing Oil
One of those trials that comes in a monthly box. Meh. It's not bad but there are plenty of other cleansing oils out there that do the same thing for less money. I wouldn't repurchase this.

Silk Naturals Green Tea and Aloe Serum 5ml
I talked about this in my last empties post, when I used another one I had. Wouldn't repurchase for now as I have my beloved Oatmeal serum, though this is nice.

Kerastase Elixir Ultime
Another one from a monthly box. This is a hair oil that Noodle Arms used and LOVED. She wants me to buy a full bottle, but she already has a Macadamia one, a Silk Naturals one, and the Moroccan Oil that is technically mine but I never use, so I told her she can use all those first and then we'll talk.

NP Set Lash and Dash Mascara
One of Noodles' contributions, this came free with a Dolly or Girlfriend mag. She said it was crap.

CHUCKERS

Pantene Aqua Light Shampoo and Conditioner
At first I didn't mind the shampoo but I always hated the conditioner. And now I hate the shampoo too - it doesn't rinse out properly! No matter how much I rinsed, when I put the conditioner in it would get all frothy again. I'm not a Pantene fan, and I don't buy into their bullshit "myths about Pantene" campaign. Those "myths" are true, though to be fair, they're not the only shampoo and conditioner guilty of loading up with silicones. I didn't pay for these, and I certainly wouldn't buy them. I've been using them for a while now to try to get rid of them without being wasteful but I just can't stand them anymore.

Philosophy Purity Made Simple One-Step Facial Cleanser
I can't stand companies that pretend to have a philosophy (see what I did there?), which is why I generally avoid The Body Shop and Dove. This cleanser is the same garbage you'd buy in any supermarket brand but it's marketed as something 'pure'. It even has COLOURING in it. I've had this in my shower for months as I like to have a quick face wash in the mornings with a foaming cleanser, but I can't seem to get through it. There's not much left but I just can't bear looking at it in the mornings anymore. It pisses me off too much.

Perfumatory Night Shift Body Cream in Death By Vanilla
The quality of the product itself is quite good, but it smells like a kid ate a bag of caramel lollies and then threw them back up. I would not repurchase.

Revlon ColorStay Foundation in Sand Beige
There's only a smidge of this left but again it seems to just keep going forever. I've had this for a couple of years and I've noticed it starting to oxidise fairly rapidly lately so it's time to go. I would repurchase, though not at the prices we pay here.

Naked Tan Goddess Bronze Self-Tanner
I'm starting to believe the monthly boxes are largely a glorified throwout table (particularly after reading Stacey's latest box post). This came in the first Lust Have It box in August and the use by date was December. Noodles was using it and she liked it, so she'd probably repurchase it.

Dermalogica Multivitamin Power Firm and Total Eye Care SPF15
Both almost full, both expired - wasteful of me. I didn't like either of them (hence sitting around being wasted) and I wouldn't repurchase.

NYX As If Stick Concealer in Green
I haven't tried the NYX concealer in the pot, but the stick and the liquid ones are craptacular. This is cheap, nasty, waxy, just bleh. And it doesn't work. Definitely would not repurchase.

L'Oreal Panoramic Curl Mascara
I'm pretty sure this was discontinued ages ago - I picked it up for $5 in a clearance bin at Chemist Warehouse. It was snatched up by Noodles, who used it for a couple of weeks and then announced that she hated it. When you take the brush out it has huge globs of formula on it. Ugh.

Bourjois Liner Feutre Felt Tip Liner in Black
Another one that Noodles took and the goober played with it a few times and then announced she didn't like it. She's been hoarding it for months so it's dried out and useless now. Grr! I quite like these so in theory I would repurchase it, though in reality I already have a ton of pencil eyeliners and I don't really use them that often anyway.

Goal #3 Get Good Hair

Have you ever noticed that when women hit a certain age they start getting a bit zany with their hair? Look around at all the middle-aged women with asymmetrical crops, stripey chunks of various reds and blondes, or a purple over-dye - often a combination of all three. And then they go and top it all off with a pair of 'statement' glasses in a bright colour like green or red. Their uniform is 3/4 crop loose pants (who talked about that once on Twitter? Dempeaux?), linen overshirts and chunky Pat Butcher-style costume jewellery.

I dread the day that I become one of those women, as I'm closing in on that age group. Last night I was watching the Eastenders omnibus (hence the Pat Butcher reference - she's probably what made me think about it) and pondering my ever-growing list of 2012 YOTA goals, and it occurred to me that I would really like to find a good hairdresser next year. I had one when I lived in Melbourne, and I had one when I lived in Geelong, but I've been here in Adelaide for nearly 8 years now and I've never managed to settle on anyone. As a consequence, my hair is looking a bit... less than stellar. It didn't help that half of it fell out a couple of years after moving here, which made me too scared to really do anything with it for a really long time. In my mid-late 20s a friend used to refer to me as "The Girl With The Perfect Hair" (stolen from a Things of Stone and Wood album title), because my hair was straight and shiny and I never needed to blow dry or mess about with it to get it to sit just the way I wanted it (double cowlick notwithstanding). It always looked nice and I was very vain about it. Since losing so much of it, it's still straight but no longer shiny, and it just sits lank and forlorn and won't hold a style no matter what kind of product I put in it or what fancy tool I use. Usually, I just put it up away from my face and get on with it.

I haven't had a hair cut since July last year. INORITE! I was going to Liquid Hair for a while, but the hairdresser I liked went on maternity leave, and even though their customer service is exceptional, the way they push products on you all the time really got on my nerves after a while and I just stopped going. 

I spent a few years in the late 90s with a chin length bob that I really liked, and I've noticed they've been making a reappearance lately, so I was half-considering going for the chop again. But without the same amount of hair I had before, I worry that it might just look like someone put a bowl on my head and cut around it. And my face is rounder than it was back then, so I run the risk of looking like Bert Newton in a Louise Brooks wig. I don't know... it's all so HARD.

So the goal is: find a hairdresser, get a really good cut, and decide on a colour. ONE COLOUR. No stripey chunks or single 'quirky' burgundy streak. I'm leaning towards light blonde. So expensive and so much upkeep, but I really like being blonde, and it suits me. Or maybe red. That makes my eyes look super green. Although, so does cherry black. Decisions...