Empties of the Month - April

I genuinely can't believe that April is already over, it absolutely sped by! I still managed to gather together a few empties this month for this post though. Before I go any further, I just want to say that I disappeared for a few days as my friend from when I lived in Lanzarote was visiting the UK so I wanted to spend some time with her whilst she was here. But she's headed off to Disney World in Florida now (great for her, sad for me :( haha!) so I'm back to blogging again!

So first up on my empties list - Germaine de Capuccini Excel Therapy O2 Continuous Defense.

You can see just how long-lasting this product was by the fact that all the writing has been worn off! This was actually a small bottle of this face cream from the Excel Therapy Travel Set but it was gorgeous on your skin. The scent of it was lush but didn't sit on your skin all day, which to me is a good thing. The cream had a lovely consistency and absorbed into the skin really easily and left your face feeling hydrated and cared for. Despite loving this product though, I don't think I will be buying it again in a hurry. Not that there is anything wrong with the product itself, it's price tag is just slightly out of my range...

I have mentioned my love for Batiste Dry Shampoo in the past, I just get through these so quickly! Where I had longer hair I would only wash my hair twice a week so this was an absolute godsend for keeping my hair looking fresh between washes. Now that I have had my hair cut back to short (thank god, I really don't suit long hair!) I have to wash it more often so I use dry shampoo mainly for styling rather than keeping greasy hair at bay. This dry shampoo isn't exactly the best at achieving this but it's not bad either. Will more than likely be repurchasing this as it isn't very expensive.

I received this through one of my monthly subscription boxes and it very quickly became another favourite. The sweet rhubarb scent of this was really strong, but in a really good way. It left my hands smelling good enough to eat! I tried to use it sparingly as it was such a small tube but I think I ended up using it all up within about 2 weeks. It did leave my hands beautifully soft and hydrated though, which is a lot for me as I suffer from eczema on my hands (which it did not irritate in any way). Will definitely be buying myself some more in the very near future.

Now this product really has lasted me AGES! I bought this when I lived in Spain (hence it being in Spanish!) and I moved back to the UK a year ago now, so I've had it at least a year using it every day, and it has only just run out. I apologise for the state of the bottle but I genuinely take this with me wherever I go so it's got a bit dirty on it's travels. I use this product to remove my eye make-up every night as it is so gentle on my eye area and causes no irritation nor leaves any residue. It seems a lot like Micellar water in the way it feels and cleans, it is quite hydrating. I highly recommend this product and have already bought some more, I just can't be without it!

I received this hair oil through one of my monthly subscription boxes but before getting it I had never bothered buying a hair oil as my hair is so fine I really thought it would make it look horrible. How wrong I was! This left my hair feeling lovely and soft and look so glossy that I used this at least once a week to improve the quality of my hair. I desperately tried to purchase a full sized bottle but it always said sold out on the website :( so instead I bought a new hair oil that seems to be having the same effect. For any one that has fine hair, do not be afraid to use hair oil, it's great at rehydrating your hair when it becomes a bit dry through heat styling!

These Korres Citrus Little Body Milk's were sooo good I got through 2 bottles! These were (again!) another product from one of my beauty boxes, and when I told my friend who also subscribes how much I loved it she gave me hers also as she doesn't tend to use body milks. I actually poured the 2 of these in to a pump bottle I had from an old body milk as I prefer that method of application. It was quite a bit thicker than most body milks I have been used to but still managed to be used in the pump bottle ok. It absorbed in to the skin beautifully and left it really soft. The only thing I wasn't 100% keen on was the smell, for some reason it smelt a bit masculine to me, not an incredibly feminine scent, but maybe that's just me. It did not put me off using it at all though so it wasn't that bad. I would happily invest in some more.

So there you have it, my Empties of the Month for the month that absolutely flew by! Hopefully it continues like this until the summer comes round so that I can enjoy the sunshine really soon!!

Do you use any of these products, are some maybe your favourites even? All comments are very much welcome.

Skincare - My current top 3

So writing up my blog post last night about my favourite lips at the moment - read here - got me really thinking about what my favourite products were. It seems I'm in love with so many right now as it was really hard to bring the list down! And that's why I have decided to split them down in to manageable pieces, so that I can give better reviews about my favourite things rather than write a list the length of my arm! So here they are, the items that made it in to my Top 3 for Skincare!

Urban Veda Radiance Exfoliating Facial Polish - This is a sample that I got in one of my monthly subscription boxes and instantly fell in love with it. From the lovely design of the packaging, to its delicious scent, it's lush! The trouble I have with a lot of facial exfoliators is that the exfoliant beads are either so big and scratchy that they're verging on painful or so fine that you can't feel them working at all, and I just like to be able to feel something working. No such trouble's with this, the beads are the perfect size to both buff my skin effectively AND not leave me feeling slightly tortured in the process. And Urban Veda is a company that works with natural skincare, so you know that there are no harsh artificial chemicals in there.

T-Zone Clear Out Nose Pore Strips - I don't actually know of many people using pore strips. I know none of my friends do and I'm yet to come across a blog where they are spoken about. Maybe I'm just the only person that thinks these are magical! At first I found them a mixture of slightly intriguing and slightly horrifying (seeing those pore strips after they have been used can be a bit of a shock) but now I've grown really fond of them. No matter how good your skin is, these pore strips will pick up the slightest trace of a blackhead. But that's what I like, they make your skin feel intensely clean, whilst the after effects of the tea-tree oil leave your skin feeling cool and tingly. I usually use these after cleansing in the evening and then moisturise and my pores always look much more refined the next day.

The Body Shop Almond Hand and Nail Cream - Suffering from eczema on my hands and forearms, they have a tendency to get really dry and senstitive from time-to-time. This then comes as an absolute godsend to my hands as it deeply nourishes and treats my dry, cracked skin but doesn't irritate my skin further like I find a lot of other hand creams tend to. I try not to let my hands get to the point of being bad but I always know I can rely on this to make them lovely and soft again. And, like all The Body Shop's products, it smells really good and not at all artificial.

So there you go, they are my top 3 skincare products. I could have chosen a lot more, like Benefit It's Potent Eye Cream which you can just feel working, or nSpa Revitalising Toning Mist which is sooo refreshing, but I managed to whittle it down to those three heavyweights!!

What products do you have in your top 3, any of mine?


Urban Veda Radiance Exfoliating Facial Polish can be found on Urban Veda for £8.99 for 125ml
T-Zone Pore Strips can be found on Fragrance Direct for £2.50 for 6 strips
The Body Shop Almond Hand Cream can be found on The Body Shop for £5 for 30ml