Beauty addicts anonymous! A wonderful community of hoarders!

[Experiment627]

New thread!!!!

Sorry I did not see the other thread getting full!!! Really hope you guys will find this new thread!!!

Couple of empties

L'Occitaine moisturiser from M&S calendar- really like the fragrance, but cannot RP as have ahem, quite a few others...

Elizabeth Arden hyaluronic acid ampoules - wow I love these so much, make my skin feel amazing. Anyone else tried these? Cannot RP just now tho bc see above

I am really enjoying the H&B advent particularly as my little boy likes to open with me and keeps telling me he bought the items for me 🥰 I see a new tradition evolving where he gets me at least one advent each year.

Has anyone tried black tea to disguise their greys? 🧐

Aveda hair repair - staple for me.

Molton Brown Geranium shower gel - love the fragrance. Think they are good quality and worth the money.

Cetaphil night cream - I liked it but it’s very rich.

Also finished an Aveda hand cream at work. Was very moisturising.

Two more empties:

Ecooking overnight foot cream - liked this, it has a really nice consistency and leaves feet soft. It's not as good as my HG body shop hemp foot cream (and it's more than double the price!), but it smells better, and is nice for a change. All the ecooking products that I've tried have been good. Would like to try their face creams once I've whittled down the stash!

Mural AHA/BHA exfoliating cleanser - this has been hanging around in my travel bag for ages so I decided to use it up. It's a good exfoliater and gentle on skin.

I've also just finished a tropical Radox shower Gel, didn't realise that was the scent and I couldn't tell you what it smells like!

I've a few smaller shower gels to use up next as I'm probably not going anywhere soon!

Another empty from me.

Decree Light Cleanse - this was from last years Liberty calendar. It was ok, but considering that it's normally £44 for 100ml, it's nothing special. It's a morning cleanser, so doesn't even remove makeup. Price point is completely unjustified IMO.

I am currently traveling. I thought I would take the opportunity to use up my bajillion samples that are cluttering up my life. Have come to the conclusion that the size of the sample packaging means sweet FA when it comes to product samples.
Most of them are utterly inadequately sized for you to form an opinion - unless it stings or causes an immediately negative reaction like melting your face or scalp off. (Kerastase… might be looking sideways at you right now, you expensive, overly-fragranced napalm, you….) A “sachet” regardless of size generally contains the same amount of product. Can’t believe I’d been hoarding mine for so long. Have used the Kerastase shampoo and masque. (Don’t think I need to elaborate.) Some Creme de La Mer cream, lotion, essence and foundation. Loved the foundation. Everything else was… generic. Smelled lovely though. Some Dr G Green Mild Up Sunscreen 50++++ sunscreen. Excelllent. Would buy this one probably if the price was right. Have kept a few of these samples in the centre console of my car for “just in case” moments. I have been playing with a very old Nars Natural Radiant Longwear Foundation samples. (The little bubbles with different shades under a metallic film like a pill packet.) I hated this originally, but quite like it now. Perhaps it’s because I live in a different climate or because my skin is a lot older. It’s a very natural look and not at all clingy or makeuppy. It rubs off on everything though. Not sure I am buying the long wear claim. I have finally finished my mini Nars Afterglow Lipbalm in Torrid. I really love these, but would never pay full price for them. They’re gorgeous and the packaging is fab, but they’re really a luxe lip balm. I have a full-size one in Laguna to go. It’s my fave.

Completely agree re sample sizes @Justilou1

I've decided that anything less than 15ml isn't worth the time or space. This rules out a lot of gwps (particularly the latest offering from space nk where most items are 4 or 5ml!). Ridiculous waste of packaging. I'd rather that they just sent one or two full size items.

As you say, in most cases it isn't enough to even decide whether or not the product is suitable for you.

Safe travels @Justilou1

Thanks everyone! I’m here now. Trip (which included side detour was 1720km or 1068 miles over three days. Am exhausted but happy. Will donate the bloody samples to my cousin for him to use at his place here when he rents it as an Air BnB.

That is a fab idea @Justilou1!!!

Have a great trip!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!!!

I love this community- it brings me much JOY!

Merry Christmas everyone! 🎄🎅

Anyone setting an empties target for 2022? I have no idea how many products I use in a year, but I'm curious to find out. Think I might set myself a target of finishing at least 125 products in 2022 and see how I do.

Merry Christmas 🎄

That’s a great idea @MidnightMeltdown
I think my target is to get through all my minis plus recycle/discard anything over 3 years old.

Merry Christmas again!

I think my goal will be to use up anything that is more than 5 years old 😳

Merry Christmas all Ive not checked in for what feels like months. I was told i have severe eczema and it had been infected for about 6 months and now under a specialist and taking medication. Im slowly getting back into products, and want to get through my stash, i miss the routine so much. So just checking in, hope to have some bits at the end of the week

So glad you finally have a diagnosis @Caggie09! Hopefully the right treatment will clear it up real quick 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

Merry Christmas, everyone! 🎄🎅🎁

This month I’ve finished seven samples:

☑️ Three 5-ml samples of the Elemis Skin Nourishing Hand and Body Lotion which expired in March 2015. The lotion’s texture was nice, it absorbed quickly, and nourished my hands well. Unfortunately, due to it being so old it smelled off 🤢

☑️ Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin Trio sachets (Liquid, Serum and Cream) which I received as part of the Space NK’s GWP a month ago. All three products had a thick texture, and gave a good moisture boost to my dry winter skin.

☑️ Skin Inc Pure Revival Peel (1 ml; GWP) – I got two applications out of it. A very gentle but effective peel, no fragrance and no beads/grains. If I don’t discover a better acid peel in the remainder of my stash, I’d consider purchasing the full size of this product.

My year-end results are extremely modest:

I’ve finished 23 full-size products, 10 deluxe samples and 10 foil sachets. 41% of them expired before I used them up, 69% contained potentially harmful chemicals, and 56% were cruelty-free. The total cost of these 43 products was £123.46. I’ve also used up 3 perfume samples and 4 beauty tools/accessories with the total cost of £3.54.

Even though this year I’ve struggled to adhere to my skincare routine, and have almost completely stopped wearing makeup, my main achievement was that in 2021 I acquired the lowest number of skincare and beauty products since 2017 (the year when I started to track my purchases).

Well done @CherryMargo!!! Amazing tracking and amazing reduction 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

Happy Christmas everyone!

I kept a list of everything that I've used up in 2021 - 53 products so far. It doesn't sound like a lot but most of them were full size products. I do like the M&S advent calendar and beauty boxes though so there were some smaller sizes too. This week I have finished an advent calendar size Prai neck cream and L'Occitane body lotion. Working from home means I've not used up much make up since March 2020 but I have been finishing body lotion, hand cream and moisturisers.

I think my aim is to use up a product a week on average. I think this would mean that I would slowly reduce the stash as I've not been buying much in recent years.

This is making me wonder whether my 125 product target is too ambitious!

I've used 37 products between September and now, so I think that it might be possible, especially as I have quite a lot of smallish items from beauty boxes and calendars that I need to get through.

I really need to make more effort to do a face mask a couple of times a week as I have loads of these from calendars etc that I never remember to use.

Love the way that people have kept a detailed log of what they've used. I will try to keep better track next year. I think it will make me more mindful about my spending, as I clearly don't need as many products as I think I do - the stash is overflowing!

In anticipation of Christmas I have been really trying to use stuff up to create some space. I finally have some empties.

Caudalie Radiance serum complexion correcting - no idea what it did but I loved it. Smelt lovely. Felt good. Will RP at some point.

Estée Lauder advanced night repair - I believe this is very popular, but I wasn’t wowed by it at all. No RP by me but wouldn’t mind if I was gifted it.

Estée Lauder double wear foundation - HG for me. The only foundation that stays on a full working day. I don’t tend to use it on non working days to give my skin a chance to breath.

@MidnightMeltdown I tracked properly a few years ago and I used 110 or so products. Some were single use (eg sheet masks, but not many at all), some were trial size bits and some were full size.

I haven’t been so rigorous since though!

I am going to do my monthly target lists from January to keep myself more accountable.

I’ve used two Occitane almond shower oil samples and three occitane almond body cream samples over the holidays - all freebies when DH and ds1 bought occitane gifts for Christmas.

Lots more in than out, obviously! I have a lovely occitane neroli and orchid perfume, shower gel and hand cream, occitane almond bits, occitane Shea hand cream and two large champneys bubble bath.