Beauty Hoarders Anonymous: you have got to be in it to win it!!!

[Experiment627]

Carrying on the great tradition of this thread - where those that are addicted to beauty products come together and support one another!

2 empties for me from last week.
REN active 7 eye gel - a good product, I prefer creams to a gel for my eye, but this was nice.
Herbal Essences Hydrate Concentrate - I got this free to review. I used it once a week on the ends of my hair, and it was a good conditioning treatment. It's quite small so doesn't last long. I wouldn't re-purchase, but pleasant enough to use.

Finished a small size Ren Ready Steady Glow toner, don't particularly like it but it keeps turning up in beauty boxes / GWP. Seeing it in a GWP now puts me off buying.

Also liked the Lumene AC @clary , my favourites were the mascara, felt tip eyeliner, I'm currently enjoying the light foundation pot and eye cream, and really liked the Ageless serum and moisturiser. So a pretty good hit rate. But think will try a multi brand AC next year.

Last empties for June. How time is flying!! Stats for this month are 20 out, 9 in. Spent just under £80 this month. Trying a low/ no buy in July.

Decluttering Revlon Matte foundation. Realised this flares my eczema up and makes me itch my face all day long. So getting rid. Also, Kevyn Aucoin contour duo. Used all the high lighter and a bit of the bronzer, but its abit old now so time for the bin!

Empties.

• Cowshed blissful shower gel mini. Smells better in the pot, but when using it theres a strong herbal smell that i just dont like. If i wanted a nice shower product, i wouldnt go for Cowshed.

Palmers body scrub. Been a HG of mine for years. But, purely for scent and how soft my skin is after. Its not the gritty, rough scrub i like. It is very gentle. Ill RP at some point, but i have lots to get through!

Mouthwash finished and also the other Elemis collagen marine cream.

I've finished a Pure day cream, I really love this and am opening another tomorrow.

Thinking about decluttering my eye creams, I just don't think they do anything and I always forget to do this step of my routine. Maybe its because I'm constantly tired so nothing can help these bags but meh.

I finally have 2 empties!

Clarins water comfort one step cleanser - this used to be HG for me because for a long time it was the only ‘watery’ cleanser on the go. But now Micellar water does a better job at a much cheaper price. I’ll use up my stash of it but won’t RP.

Ren Rosa centifolia cleansing gel - was grand but nowt fancy. Won’t RP anytime soon as have others to use up.

Three empties to report! One is the usual Daiso puff & sponge cleaner. Will buy on repeat as long as I have access to Daiso. No 2 is Cerave hydrating foaming face wash. I double-cleanse and use an oil-based cleanser first: this one is…. fine. I prefer their salicylic acid one, or the Curel foaming one (ceramides) but it was okay. I have another one nearly done in the shower, but I will try and get the salicylic one next time. No. 3 is a goodie… I finished a whole pot of Revlon Colourstay Crème eyeshadow in Chocolate. It’s a pretty good dupe for Mac Groundcover. Works well as a one and done wash of colour. Lovely, cool-toned shade of medium brown that is perfect for work. Holds for the day. Great as a primer, too. MUCH nicer than the Maybelline equivalent. I have a couple of different colours in this range and the texture varies greatly. (The dark ones are terrible!)

I forgot a 4th one… Max Factor blue lash primer. Bloody brilliant. Will grab another when on sale.

Just a few empties to report:

• Tesco conditioning hand and nail cream: thanks to the person on here who recommended (sorry cannot remember who!) - really liked this, sank in fast, cheap as chips, did the job
• Childs Farm baby wash (the one with the duck on the front): bought this hoping it would smell like the body lotion which I adore - no such luck (should have known that "unfragranced" on the bottle would mean it was.. well... unfragranced!!! LOL)
• Revolution CBD Super Serum: really liked this - lightweight yet hydrating, no strong CBD smell, inexpensive]
• Boots Cracked Heel balm: EPIC FAIL - really thick consistency which is a nightmare to get off hands, no miracle results

Three empties to report.

• La Roche Posay Hyalu B5 Hyaluronic Acid Serum. Repurchased when running low as it leaves my skin super smooth and pores clear, I use as a night treatment a few times a week.

• Olaplex No 7 bonding oil. I feel it hasn't lasted as long as I thought it might, though I do use it daily and it's only 30ml. I haven't found a better hair oil, and it doesn't leave the hair greasy at all and isn't 'heavy' as I've, personally, found with some others.

• Bioderma Sensibio micellar water. This was a Katie Jane Hughes (if I've remembered correctly) recommendation. I think it's just fine but very little difference to other micellars I've used.

Aveda damage remedy shampoo - 2nd time tried this, it does not sure my hair, makes it too soft and floppy ! Bottle lasted quite some time which was annoying as I wasn't keen.

Bumble and Bumble bone building repair treatment, was a small bottle in a GWP so only enough for 3 uses, I liked it, would buy.

Kiehls ultra facial cleanser. Liked a lot, might eb slightly drying but removed every scrap of make up.

Clarins gentle exfoliating cleanser, was fine, nothing special.

Interested in the Hyalu @ArabeI

Can you use Olplex on any colour hair or is it mainly for dyed hair?

I use the Hyalu too and really like it.

I have been using Olaplex3 on my hair. I’m half way through the bottle and have not noticed any difference to my frizzy hair. Am I doing something wrong as everyone raves about it?

Thanks all for the congratulations

Empty:
La Roche Posay Hydraphase moisturiser. It did the job but no better than basic moisturisers from The Ordinary, Superdrug etc.

Declutter:
Clinique chubby stick blush. I really like this when I first put it on but it wears off so quickly it's pointless.

Laura Mercier mini caviar stick. The formula is nice but the colour wasn't something I wanted to keep using.

Essie Ballet slippers. It chips within a day and I rarely paint my nails.

@justilou1 interesting that Revlon was better for you than the Maybelline cream eyeshadow. I haven't tried the Revlon ones so might try one in place of the Laura Mercier.

@Fispi - You inspired me to clean out my makeup drawers and give you a little rundown on the Revlon Colorstay Crème Eyeshadows. As I said before, some are great and some are meh… Some are dreadful. My two favourites are 720 - Chocolate, which is a matte, cool-toned mid-brown, and 715 - Espresso, a Satin version in a lighter, but similar hue. If you prefer warmer browns, Caramel (710), Praline (730) and Honey (725) are lovely, warm, gold to bronze shades. There is a shade called Cognac (810) that I do not recommend as it goes muddy on the eyes. The pigments seem to separate somehow. Stardust (805) is a stunning, silvery lavender shade that makes a great base for glitters or foils and is gorgeous on most skin tones. Can be worn sheered out alone or built up for a very glam look. Crème Brûlée (705) is a cream/champagne version of the same thing. I have Merlot (825) which I use exclusively under the Hourglass glitters for extra oomph. I don’t think it’s great alone. Very patchy and hard to work with. The black one is the same. They have a dinky little brush in the lid. Useless. I prefer a rounder, denser brush to apply it with, or even my finger, and then blend the edges with a softer brush. Always one eye at a time and working fast as it sets pretty quickly. I find this is the perfect one and done eyeshadow. I use this for work or if I’m going away for the weekend. As I said, you can easily pat some glitter or eyeshadow over the top to take day to night as well. (If you have a life… I don’t!) I’m going to buy myself another Chocolate one as they’re half price at the chemist near my place.

Empties:

Kerastase Ciment Thermique, resurfacing strengthening milk - i could make out absolutely no difference when I used this and when I did not. I wouldn’t purchase again.

Medik8, lipid vitamin c radiance serum - my first proper vit c product. I have no idea if it made any difference or not, but it was very easy to use. I will try some other vit c products before considering a repurchase.

One empty - the same Medik8 vit c serum that everyone else got as a GWP, thought it was nice.

I need a new serum now tho, anyone got a tip top recommendation? Liking the sound of the roche posay

@clary - I didn’t get on with the LRP Vitamin C. I found it to be very unstable. It oxidized on the face and made me very Donald Trump, and the bottle went brown within two weeks. I consider it the worst Vitamin C product I have ever used. I complained to the store about this one. (It’s expensive in Australia.)

Reporting three empties. Also, failed a no buy and we are 6 days into July. Three perfumes and DDG peel pads have made there way into my stash. DDG are a RP though. HG for me!

• Simple Sheet mask. Just a bog standard sheet mask. Wasnt blown away with it.

• Tan luxe Super Glow Face. Along with the body one, this is also a HG for me. Doesnt make you look OTT tango faced. Just a slight glow and tint to your complexion. I use day and night and never had a problem. Also hydrating, doesnt smell and not sticky! A game changer for me, i dont look deadly pale anymore! Woo.

• DE bamboo booster. Came with the balm. I used them alone. Remind me of Dermalogica microfoliant. Its okay. I just used up to get rid.

@Justilou1 just reading your post made me want to try the Revlon cream eyeshadows.. will have a look next time I'm in Boots although of course I have no need of more eyeshadows!

@clary if you are after a vitamin c serum I like the Revolution serums which are very reasonable, I'm currently using their 20% serum and it feels nice to use. I may be imagining it but after a few days my skin felt smoother.
Or if you want to try the skinceuticals version, FeelUnique have it included in their Beauty Kit offer, where you pay about £14 for 5 samples. There are a couple of different skinceuticals serums in the offer, 4ml bottles, which is pretty good when a full 30ml size is over £120.

Anyway, empties:

• Dr Organic Rose Otto body wash, loved this at one point so bought a stock of their Rose range, unfortunately I've gone right off the smell so this is no longer on the RP list, especially as it's a bit watery.

• Kate Somerville Total Repair moisturiser travel pot, tried this after being influenced by @Experiment627 , it's nice but I kept comparing it with No7 Protect and Perfect, and honestly didn't see much difference. Maybe the magic happens after continued use rather than a couple of weeks.

I've been acquiring more than finishing lately.. I must sit down and total how many moisturisers and eye creams I have , as I probably have enough for the rest of the year.

@Ponks - just wait until they’re on sale!!!

@Ponks I have steered away from Protect & Perfect all these years as I noticed some of the range contained cyclopentasiloxane- which can cause infertility and liver damage. This ingredient is now banned in the UK - but unfortunately instead of obliging manufacturers to remove existing stick they have been allowed to "wind down" so items with this in are still on our shelves.
Anyhoo I will keep my eye on P&P and try sometime in the future.

I must say that I have lately been getting the urge to splurge! I mainly stick to budget ranges but I caught sight of the Love Island villa and they appear to have upped their game from make-up wipes and I thought how nice it would be to have everything from the same range - rather than mixing and matching... my skin feels so shit at the mo - a combo of a desperate need for a professional deep cleansing facial, being peri-menopausal (am starting HRT in 10 days!) and probably some of my skincare not cutting the grade. I have a facial booked as a birthday treat in a few weeks and I think Space NK is going get some of my hard earned coin....

@justilou1 thank you for the Revlon review, I’m keen to try.

Hope the HRT goes well @Experiment627

I think I’m peri too, spoke to gp last year as feel I’m more anxious, she was really uninterested- suggested I try counselling !

@Experiment627 - good luck with the HRT. Can honestly say it saved my life (and many, many others!)

@Experiment627 nah mixing and matching all the way!

@PomRuns That is not good. If I were you I would reapproach your GP (are you able to get an appt with a different one?). The lack of basic understanding about the menopause in the UK is shocking. The way I approached my GP appt was:

• I tracked a whole range of symptoms for a couple of months in the Balance app (the free one, that the Menopause Dr has launched)
• I got a bit au fait about what I thought I wanted (ie both Estrogen and Progesterone)
• I prepped the shot out of the appt - I was ready with a list, I dropped in the term "Greene Climateric Scale" and I was ready to counter the arguments about potential side effects

Now I have the meds in my hands - I realise I probably should have been on it for yonks - I had an ovary removed at 19 - this was probably a mahoosive contributing factor to my fertility issues (in the end I did donor egg), and certainly after Kwicklet was born I should have been assessed... but that is not the way of things here in the UK and I am just thankful I made myself be heard now.

Wishing you all the best with your battle.

Ladies - thanks for the love and understanding - am feeling all warm and fuzzy... am looking at you @justilou1

@FreshFaceTime but maybe would be nice to mix & match Tata Harper and Fresh, rather than Superdrug Me+ and Cerave for a change?