Empties #3

Theme of the month is blue....and Nivea. Haha. Not sponsored by them, but they have a lot of nice products, they are very affordable and they are easy to find. 

 

As usual, bath salts. Still like the Westlab ones. I use any of them, Dead Sea Salt, Epsom salt, Himalayan salt. I like them all.
The Noix the Coco perfume from The Body Shop was a gift from the boyfriend; he loves coconut. Not my favorite and doesn't have lasting power but it's nice to spritz a little when I am around him. 
From Yves Rocher, Riche Creme Day cream. As the name suggests this is a very emollient cream for those who have dry skin. Combination or oily skin should not even consider it. It is marketed towards more mature skin but I used it and loved it. For when I have redness or some irritation (I sometimes get too excited exfoliating) this is sooooo comforting. Another one my mom used and I stole from her. :D  I might buy it again, but the Avon Ultimate is easier to get for me. Worth considering it if you have dry skin.
Tea tree oil from Poundland. Used after waxing sensitive areas. Girls know what I mean. I didn't feel it did anything; didn't help with any bumps. I much prefer aloe vera. The Nair waxing strips from Poundland: self explanatory, my legs are smooth. Enough said. 
As deodorant, still L'Oreal for me. It works. It's cheap. Repurchase? Yup.

For shampoo, Pantene Repair and protect light. It did the job, didn't wow me. Bought it from Asda on sale for £1. Conditioner from VO5. They changed the packaging now. I really like the VO5 range and I will continue to repurchase. 
From Poundland Elegant Touch nail polish remover with no acetone. NO. Don't waste your money. Did nothing. Removed nothing. Heck no. :))
This is a good one. Nivea Gentle Exfoliating scrub. Used it daily. It wasn't too gritty, didn't strip my skin. Repurchase? Yes. And speaking of Nivea.....

Body lotions. Lots. One is the new packaging, one in the old. Used them happily. Moisturised my body, but don't expect firming just from mineral oil and some glycerin. And since it was sunny for some time I took advantage and got some rays. After sun lotion was ok; any brand would be good for this. The spray was chosen for the convenience of it, because I could do my back alone. Repurchase? Not right now, when there is a sale probably. Nivea is a brand I buy time and time again. 

Sticking with the theme: 2 lip balms of my all time favorite: Hydro care. Another product I always have is Revlon Colorstay foundation. One more I repurchased is Avon Foot Works Heel Softening Cream. I won't repurchase it, just because I want to try something new. 
Something I am throwing out is Color Trend concealer. It is very old and expired. I would not recommend it. Something else from Avon is the Luminosity serum, now discontinued. It was a silicone based AHA exfoliating serum. Since they decided not to sell it anymore I replaced it with Clearskin Blemish Mark Treatment. This is a BHA product, I chose it because it got good ratings on Beautypedia. Only thing I am not a fan of is the roll-on dispenser that sometimes gets stuck. 
Last but not least is a primer. I really like Rimmel Fix and Protect 002 because even though it is silicone based it is not as heavy duty as the Porefessional from Benefit, which makes it good for combination or even drier skin. An added bonus: it doesn't accentuate flaky skin. I will buy it again at one point. Right now I have too many of them. 

This is it for this month. Have you tried any of the products mentioned here? Did you like them? Please let me know. Have a nice day, lovelies. 

Global Beauty Care Pro Retinol Cream

This is what I currently use for most of the days...more nights actually. It is a thick formula, but on days when my skin is extra dry I put it under the Revlon Colorstay foundation, which is rather drying. I really enjoy putting under it something emollient, I feel like my skin looks more dewy and natural.

Back to the cream. I found it at TK Maxx for £5 and if I see it again I will pick it up. It's cheap and lasts a long time. Because it is thicker, a pea size scoop will cover the entire face. Now it says it has retinol, but because it's in a jar it probably won't last. If you are looking for a retinol product, go with a prescription one that really penetrates the skin. It has a lot of moisturising ingredients in it: plant oils and squalane and Hyaluronic acid.

For the ingredients in it, the price is really good. Doesn't have anything irritating in it, nor alcohol. Really impressed. For dry skin, really good, but I would not suggest this to anyone who is oily or combination. This will be too much. If I use it on oily days, it does break me out, because of the oils in it. It's just too much for my skin to absorb.
I will list the ingredients here because I can't find them on the internet:
Aqua, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Squalane, Triticum Vulgare (Wheat) Germ Oil, Ceramide 1, Retinol, Rosin Oil, Ceteareth-6, Cetearyl Alcohol, Algae Extract, Sodium Hyaluronate, Phenoxyethanol, Methylisothiazolinone

Rating:

4 out of 5

Effaclar Duo

Does it work? For me, Yes! Let's take the claims one by one.

1. " It reduces the appearance of blemishes". Well it does take down the redness in my skin, so we can check that. 
2. "Unclogs pores" I exfoliate almost daily, and extract my blackheads every week so I can't give a verdict on that.
3. " Helps to refine skin texture" A lot of people on the internet said they don't like the texture of the product and that it gets grainy on their skin. That never happened to me. In my opinion, it feels like a very light-weight cream that sinks in the skin immediately. And I use it as a serum, putting moisturiser on top. It doesn't feel dry at all, but don't rely on it as a moisturiser unless you are very oily. It has glycerin in it and some silicone so it can leave your skin smooth after use, but the grainy feel that others have experienced might be that their skin is dry or dehydrated when they put it on. If that happens, I would suggest to go in with a moisturising toner or face spray before applying Effaclar. 
4. "Controls the appearance of shine". It has some silicones in it, so it will do that to a certain extent, but not like a primer would. Also, being so light-weight it will not add to the "grease effect".
5. "Fights against marks". It has niacinamide, which is most likely the ingredient in it that takes down the redness. Also, niacinamide is used a lot in cosmetics because it helps with pigmentation issues. So we can agree with this claim.

This is my 5th bottle (had the old version too and liked it). I try new products but I repurchase it a lot because it helps my skin during it's tumultuous phases when my hormonal acne pops out to say "Hi!". I don't use it every day, just when I need it, and only at night. The main thing I like about it is how is calms down my face, takes down my redness and irritation feel. You know when you feel like there is something alive under your skin that is crawling out? Well this kicks it back down and tells it to shut it. It would be really good for oily skin, but I have dehydrated skin and often get very dry patches and I can still use it if I moisturise properly. Pretty good product. Always in my stash, ready to get out when I need it. 

Joico K-PAK Color therapy shampoo and conditioner

I always remember struggling with my hair. I have a lot of it, and it's course and for some reason damaged. Well maybe because I die my hair black every 3 months. Still, I am constantly battling frizziness and dryness, even though I stay away from the blow drier and straighteners most of the time. I just can't get it to be soft and luscious.
So after intensive research, I decided keratin is the way to go. But a keratin treatment is so bloody expensive. Ain't nobody got money for that! :) 
Here comes the next best thing. Keratin packed haircare. Joico always got good review on the internet so I decided to give it a go. The K-PAK line has a few variations, but I chose the one for colored hair. I have to say..I like it. Not love it.
Why like it? It cleans my hair without stripping it and when I use this set I tend to blowdry my hair because the heat sort of activates it and my hair gets softer and less unruly.
Why not love it? I still get frizz. If I'm being realistic it will take more then one bottle of something with keratin in it to get my hair to that stage. And I have to use heat in my hair to see the results. That I do not like, since heat it what causes the damage in the first place. If I let my hair to air dry, I just don't see any difference compared to drugstore shampoos. 

Rating:

3 out of 5