Empty Product Reviews: Part 2 – Skin, Body, and Hair Care

Welcome to part 2 of my giant empties clean-out! During my 2-month hiatus I continued collecting all of my product empties, and now I’m sorting through them so I can talk about the good, the bad, and the sticky. Keep reading for reviews on an assortment of skin, body, and hair products that I’ve used up!

Up first is a deluxe sample of the Fresh Rose Hydrating Gel Cream. I spent 100 of my Sephora points on this sample, and I regret each and every last one of them. I only ever used this once but absolutely hated it. This day moisturizer was so sticky that I had to wash my hands after applying it to my face. I went ahead an applied my makeup over the top of it, and within hours I was a slimy greaseball, even though I used my L’Oreal Pro Matte foundation. To say this stuff is awful would be an understatement. Do not recommend.

Oh, how I wish I had a million dollars. If I did, I would buy the Clarins Multi-Active Day cream as well as every other product in the Clarins brand! While I only got 2 uses out of this sample size, I fell in love with it. This cream felt smooth and hydrating, and it smelled like a classy lady. I, too, wish I were a classy lady, and if I had all the money in the world I would buy the full size. But at $59 a pop it’s just too steep for me.

I got this Jersey Shore Sun Mongongo lip balm in an Ipsy bag, and I loved it. This immediately became my day and night lip balm with top drawer status. The only reason I didn’t repurchase is because it’s not a brand I can find locally, and it wasn’t amazing enough to go out of the way for. So I’ve moved on to a Nivea balm instead.

Here’s another skin care product that I enjoyed, but don’t want to shell out for. This is the Origins GinZing Refreshing Eye Cream. I felt like this product did a good job of hydrating my eye area, and with the light peachy color and tiny reflective particles it added a little extra something to my eyes. But I couldn’t face the $30 price tag when it came time to buy a new one, so I moved back into drug store land. That said, many drug store eye creams are in the $20-25 range, which is only a bit less. So maybe next time I’ll put out the extra $5-10 for this product, because it is a bit special.

This Pink Grapefruit Shower Gel from The Body Shop is wonderful! It’s soap free but lathers up nicely, and the smell is just perfect for waking you up in the morning. I was sad when this ran out, and I’m sure I’ll purchase more when I’m through with my current backlog of soaps. I’m currently using the Moringa version.

The Simple Replenishing Rich Moisturizer is my Holy Grail daily moisturizer. I use this lotion every single day, and I have found nothing better for my combination skin. I have dual issues with my skin: it dries out rapidly after being washed, so it needs intensive moisture, but it also can get oily throughout the day, so it can’t have anything too heavy. This Simple product is the perfect medium; it’s a lightweight moisturizer that provides a ton of hydration. My skin loves it, and since it has minimal additives (hence, “Simple”), I’ve never had any irritation or breakouts from it. HIGHLY recommend!

I finally finished a product from my summer 2014 Allure Beauty Box! Hooray! It took me about 6 months to go through this John Frieda Brilliant Brunette Colour Protecting Moisturising Shampoo, and only once I switched back to Suave did I realize how good it was. This shampoo did, in fact, help my color stay longer, and I also found that it was rather moisturizing for my damaged hair. Because I have short hair I was able to only use a little everyday, hence the long lasting time, and I think I may go back to this once my ridiculously large bottle of Suave runs out.

Last, but certainly not least, is my one underarm product: Ban Invisible Solid Antiperspirant/Deodorant. I’ve been using this product for years, and I find that it’s the best antiperspirant for my needs. None of the other brands I’ve tried (Secret, Dove, etc.) have the strength of Ban without moving into the Clinical Strength lines. The bonus with Ban is that they have an unscented version! I don’t know about you, but I hate fruity or flowery armpits. It’s just weird. I also don’t need any other scents competing with my perfume.

That’s it! Now I can actually toss out this trash. I hope my reviews were helpful, and I’d love to hear your experiences with any of these products in the comments. Did any work better or worse for you? Let me know!

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