Hi beauties, it’s hard to believe that we’re only two months away from Christmas, where has the year gone?
I’m not sure about you, but with the increased cost of living these days, I’ve definitely felt like I’m shopping my stash a lot more as opposed to going out and buying everything new to try and then stockpiling more items in my bathroom to use up. As we approach the end of the year, I’m definitely making it my mission to try to get through as many products as I can and restricting myself from buying anything until those products are used up. It’s going to take me a while and I’m hoping you’ll stick with me through this journey, but I’m determined!
Enough blabbing, on to this months’ empties! As always where possible, links to products can be found by clicking on the product title.
Naturie Hatomugi skin conditioning gel
I picked this up in Japan not knowing anything about the product or brand. I knew Japanese skincare products are great and saw signs that this product is quite popular so I picked it up and gave it a go.
Straight up, the texture and feel of this gel is very smooth, light and cooling. Since it is quite thin but not runny like that of say water consistency, it absorbs quite fast into the skin. It does have a cooling effect as I tried to apply this during winter and I felt cold compared to applying it on a warmer day where it just felt a lot more cooling and refreshing.
It does leave your skin feeling quite smooth and I would recommend to use this in the more summer to warm days, but when it’s cold and wintery, you may want something a little more thick, nourishing and moisturing.
Eleven Australia deep clean clarifying shampoo
I stumbled on this product after seeing a makeup artist use this on one of the royal members and thought hey, if it’s good enough for the royals, it’s good enough for me. It was also quite affordable compared to some other salon quality brands which I like that also motivated me to give this a go. I must say, I was quite impressed with how clean this made my hair feel.
For reference, I have very thick dark brown / black hair and with any regular shampoo, I need to be washing my hair by day three max. Anything beyond that and my hair would just feel super oily ,dirty and in desperate need of a wash. With this shampoo, I got to day four and felt like I could get away with not washing my hair for another day which was amazing! Provided that I didn’t touch my hair or play with the roots, my hair wasn’t terribly oily at all, which is incredibly rare for any shampoo that I’ve used thus far.
I’ve also been getting into double cleansing my hair lately so I paired this on some days with the L’occitane shampoo and my hair stayed clean for days! This product wasn’t heavy at all so it didn’t weigh down my hair or anything. I would highly recommend you give this a go too. I didn’t actually think I could find ‘the one’ when it came to the right shampoo for my hair but this might actually be it. I know, it’s a big call. I’ll still continue looking though because that’s what I like to do, but I would definitely come back to this that’s for sure.
L’occitane Almond Conditioner
I’ve always loved L’occitane skincare products but never tried anything from their haircare range. I picked this up and like all of their products, this smells absolutely amazing. Almond oil I think has got to be one of my favourite scents that they make.
As for the conditioner performance itself, I thought it did ok. It did make my hair feel smooth and lightweight but it wasn’t anything that made me go wowwww. When applying this, I felt it absorbed into my hair quite fast so it gave me the urge to keep adding products to my hair. Overall the smell is what won me over but I wouldn’t be rushing back to repurchase this just yet.
L’occitane Extra Gentle Hand & Body Lotion
Speaking of L’occitane skincare, I definitely feel much more at home with this one. Do you ever get that feeling where you’ve found something that just makes you feel or think ‘ahhhh yep, this is the one’, almost a nostalgic feeling? Well this was it for me with L’occitane skincare. The good old original Shea hand and body lotion.
The texture is not too thick and not too light, it’s not heavy on the skin either and the smell is just divine! This is a great all rounder moisturiser that would be perfect to pop in the bathroom for everyone to enjoy.
One small comment I will make though is that the bottle it currently comes in does make it tricky to pump and dispense all the product out to the very last drop. I got to about three quarters of the way through and the product just wouldn’t pump out anymore so I had to try and remove the pump and shake the product out every time I wanted to use this. In hindsight of this, I would still go back and repurchase this product.
Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Body Buttercream
If you saw my August empties, you would’ve seen that I tried and raved about Soap & Glory body butters that I received as a gift. In that gift pack were three different scents and this is the last scent of the pack I had left to try. Let me tell you both the smell of this and the product itself did not disappoint. As the name implies, this is scented ‘sugar crush’ which you can tell is a very sweet, sugary candy smell with a hint of citrus throughout. If strong, sweet scents is not your vibe, then this might not be for you.
It’s key ingredients are shea, cocoa butter, almond and coconut oil meaning it leaves your skin feeling hydrated, smooth and luxurious.
I’ve enjoyed using all three body butters in the pack now and would definitely be recommending this to family and friends. Next time you’re at Mecca, pick up this or any of their other scents in their range, I promise you’ll fall in love with it like I did.
That’s a wrap for this month. Have you tried any of these? I’d love to hear it.
Until next time! xo
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