Empties and Misses - 2016 Part 1

Hello!

So today I'm taking you through a few bits I've used up and some that I haven't for various reasons....

• bareMinerals Combination Skin Moisturiser - Love this moisturiser but it's been discontinued and replaced with their AMAZING new skincare range instead. I'm currently using their oil free moisturiser called True Oasis instead and I'm in love. Would I repurchase? Well....no....because I can't and there is something better by bareMinerals now instead!
• B. Makeup Brush Cleanser - Man, I've used a lot of brush cleaners in my time. I have this habit of just weirdly wanting to try them all apparently! This is hands down my favourite that I've used so far. Cleans my brushes quickly, is anti-bacterial and doesn't smell like it'll be killing my lungs when I breathe it in...win, win, win! Would I repurchase? Yes and I already have! Plus Superdrug had it on offer so that was handy!
• bareMinerals Multi-Wrinkle Repair Serum - Love this serum....but see above with the moisturiser. Currently discontinued but I've switched to SkinLongevity, which is the new serum by bareMinerals so it's all good. Would I repurchase? No because I can't.
• bareMinerals Blemish Remedy Foundation in 01 Porcelain - This is my absolute favourite bareMinerals foundation EVER. I genuinely didn't think I'd actually use this as I don't have blemish prone skin but I tried it as I think it's important to know what each foundation looks and feels like when serving customers....and you know what? I bloody loved it!! I have super combination skin and it kept my oily oily forehead shine free and my dry skin didn't look dry at all during the day! Love, love, LOVE! Would I repurchase? YES! I actually ran out of this one before my new one arrived and I was distraught!! I have my new one now and I'm seriously considering buying a back up so I never run out again....
• bareMinerals Original Foundation in Fairly Light - This was my go to foundation before using Blemish Remedy and I loved it.....not so much now. I just feel shiny with it on now and in order to get the same effect that the Blemish Remedy one gives me I have to top up my translucent powder half way through the day. Basically, I'm really lazy so way do two things when I can do one and get the same result? Would I repurchase? Probably not. Unless my skin suddenly changes and Blemish Remedy isn't right for me. That being said, I have a full pot after getting a back up before trying the Blemish Remedy one....

• bareMinerals Universal Dark Eyebrow Pencil - It feels like I've had this pencil for years....and it turns out I have! Because it's so pigmented it's taken ages to use up! Also I do tend to use powder by itself some days, which means this pencil lasted even longer. I like how thin the nib is so it's really easy to have a very delicate brow or I can build it up too if I want. Would I repurchase? Yep....and you guessed it, I already have!
• bareMinerals Thrilled Lipliner - This is by far my favourite lipliner colour for me. It's like a "my lips but better" shade which means I can actually just use it alone to define my lips if I want. I have quite a thing for lipliners at the moment but this is the only one I've ever managed to use up (it's a twist up one too, which makes me happy!) Would I repurchase? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you can probably guess my answer to this one....(Yes....and i already have....!)

And now the misses...

• Boots Botanics Cleansing Toner - I got this in the hopes that it would be similar to the Pixi Glow Tonic...and it just isn't really. I think if you were on a really tight budget then this isn't bad and is brightening to some extent but for me personally, I just ended up going and buying the Pixi Glow Tonic anyway. 
• Garnier Micellar Oil-infused Cleansing Water - This wasn't a bad cleanser and I got it to try it as my "quick cleanser" for lazy days as I hoped it might be a bit better than the standard micellar waters that I've tried but a) the smell of this makes me want to heave and it lingers on my skin for too long so I want to wash my face anyway and b) nothing seems to beat my Bioderma for a quick lazy day cleanser (or pre-cleanser if I'm feeling fancy or had really heavy makeup on). Bioderma just seems to get more off and leave my face feeling cleaner. Plus the smell.....just no.
• Clarins One-Step Cleanser - I've used this before and didn't mind it (it smells a bit weird but it doesn't linger) but it just didn't agree with my skin this time. Again, I felt my Bioderma is better. luckily this was a deluxe sample so I didn't waste any money on it!
• Clarins Instant Eye Make-up Remover - What is it with Clarins and the smell of their products?! There's bloody Lily in everything apparently. I'd heard really good things about this eye makeup remover and my L'Oreal one is running out so I wanted to try a new one and thought this would be a good idea. Again, luckily it was a deluxe sample and I'm so so glad I didn't just get the full size one on a whim as the smell makes me feel physically sick and although it doesn't linger for ages afterwards as I sweep over my eyes with my other cleanser afterwards, just opening the bottle makes me feel pretty sick. I tried the Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover in a tiny sample too as the one on counter didn't smell too bad but when I tried it at home it was a real NOPE moment for me. I HATE the smell of lilies anyway (plus the are poisonous to cats (of which I have 3) so I dislike them for this reason too....) so to have it in a skincare product just bothers me a lot apparently!

• Nip+Fab Viper Venom Eye Roll On (no idea what it's actually called as the writing has rubbed off and I'm too lazy to Google it....) and Viper Venom Wrinkle Fix - Both of these products kind of smell like Sudocrem, which I don't actually mind, but I'm pretty sure these both actually caused an allergic reaction so they have been taken out of my routine as I used to have pretty bad skin and never like to risk it if I think a reaction is happening. It's not worth messing my skin up again because I feel I should use a product up so it's not a waste of money!
• Lancome Energie De Vie Smoothing and Glow Boosting Liquid Care and Sleeping Mask samples - These are currently available at most Lancome counters as free samples when you ask and is their new skincare range. Now then, this is really my own fault because I had a really bad reaction to the HydraZen samples I had a while back but I decide to try these and see what they were like. Guess what happened? Yeah that's right...I had a god damn allergic reaction to it. How annoying!! I really like the idea of this range but my skin really really does not. I basically smothered my skin in Sudocrem the night after my reaction, which really helped my skin. Guess I'll be sticking to my bareMinerals skincare then!

So there are my hits and misses for 2016 so far! I don't seem to go through a lot of stuff like other people do (or it's just the same stuff every time....(hello Lee Stafford Bleach Blondes Shampoo and Conditioner!) which would probably get very boring very quickly....) but when I do I'll share it with you guys as I really enjoying reading these kinds of posts! Let me know if you have any hits or misses so far this year, or if any of my hits are your misses or my misses are your hits! As always, just because they are misses for me, doesn't mean they won't suit some of you guys! (also you may love the smell of lilies!!haha!)

Until next time,
xoxo