Beauty addicts anonymous - come join us if you are a beauty product lover and hoarder!!!

[Experiment627]

Not sure what thread number we are up to here but ALL ABOARD if you get JOY from buying and trying beauty products!!!

We sometimes enable but we also share out thoughts, support one another and generally share our love of beauty consumerism!

I picked up the M&S Mothers Day beauty box this morning - actually think it is quite good value. But now I want to look at the Next ones... RESIST!!!!

I have an empty:

• The Body Shop spiced orange 96 nourishing moisture hand balm: ok no way does this last 96 hours! How can any hand cream if you are washing your hands???? A friend have this 30ml tube as she does not use hand cream - it was ok but I am not a fan of the smell.

So a week into daily use and I can report that my neck’n’dec can handle retinol eye cream but not face cream. Hmmmmmm….. Eeeeeenteresting!!!! I shall continue to slap it on and see if I resemble a toddler by the weekend.

I am here trying to resist the urge to go a buy these beauty boxes. The sound really good but I am trying to be mindful of the amount of things that I need to use up first. Honestly I should have 10 faces to speed things up 🥲.
On the other hand I went to Boots and I sinned 🤣 I purchased a couple of biphasic micellar waters on offer.

Goodness gracious. Corrections:
To go AND buy
They sound really good

honestly I don’t know how I make so many mistakes typing…

4 more empties from last week

Laneige Hyaluronic Cream Moisturiser- my skin liked this, left it feeling plump.
Sisley Restructuring Nourishing Balm - used this once a week on my hair, left it nice and soft.
Bobbi Brown Bond Eye Shadow - a HG for me, great base colour.
Eyeko Black Magic mascara- wasn't expecting much from this, but was pleasantly surprised. I don't like my mascara too thick, and this gave a nice emphasis to my lashes. Already using another one.

I had a very busy month and unfortunately had no chance to keep up with everyone’s updates. I hope everyone is safe and is looking forward to a change of seasons!

My February empties were:

Holika Holika Aloe 92% Shower Gel (250 ml; £7.15) – it expired in August 2020. It was a transparent gel with a subtle aloe scent. It was very delicate and my skin loved it, however, it was not strong enough to wash off my Meow Meow Tweet deodorant cream so I had to use a foamy shower gel for the underarm area. I would happily re-purchase though, once I am through the rest of my shower gel stash.

Intelligent Nutrients Detoxifying Glycolic Gel (100 ml; £36) – it expired in January 2019. It smelled like and had a texture of REN Clean Skincare Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask. My skin was incredibly sensitive to it, so after several painful attempts I re-purposed it and started to apply it on the parts of my body where I had keratosis pilaris. It made the areas look sigificantly better and there was no irritation.

Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder (29 g; £25) – it expired in May 2019. I know it’s HG for many but I didn’t enjoy it that much. I didn’t like its scent, and I didn’t like how dry it made my undereye area look and feel. I tried to use it as a finishing powder, but it was not that great at blurring out my pores either. All in all, it wasn’t much use for me, hence why it took me almost seven years to use it up 🙈

I had a trawl through my stockpile o’ skincare, etc, and realised with horror that I was almost out of sunscreen! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN??? Did I order 476 billion like I would have in the past? No. I ordered exactly - One. *Bows to ecstatic roaring crowds and catches falling roses from the balconies. Then wakes up.
Miiiiight have ordered a truckload of skincare in anticipation of Winter and teenagers discovering mum stockpile. (Even the boyo now.).
Instead of going batshit crazy and ordering whatever looked exciting, I actually based my purchases on A)What I’m nearly out of, and B) Holes in my routine (ie. Oils for supplemental nutrition/eye gels for depuffing. I won’t use them all the time, but I have been thinking of getting them for a while.)
I ordered the Heimish Marine Care Deep Moisture Melting Cream I mentioned the other day. (Lush… Very, very lush and super-effective. Will last me through the winter months and soothe tretinoin sensitized skin.) Also the Marine Care Face Oil. I have decided to try the Rovectin Skin Essentials Barrier Repair Face Oil as well. (Another brand I have come to love.) Also the Heimish Watermelon Soothing Gel Creme for now. It’s supposedly scent-free (I don’t enjoy sugary scents on my face 🤢) and very hydrating and cooling. Sounds like Heaven right now. A couple of different hydrogel eye patches. (They’re all pretty much the same, aren’t they? Just different colours of goop. These were on special. I have black sparkly ones and blue transparent ones. They’re for de-puffing my eyeballs.) Might try one in a minute. Am wearing a black band tee shirt, so will accessorise.
I am due a shipment of many different lip oils, balms and masks to experiment with. The Ferrets will take what I don’t want and probably lose them/leave them in pockets to be found clattering around in the washing machine on a spin cycle.
BTW, I had a few discount/loyalty (ironic really) vouchers from bloody Stylevana saved up, so I did this in a couple of orders so I managed to get a few products for free. I won’t be buying from them again if I can at all avoid it. One of my orders is still listed as being in the “packaging” stage and I put the order in on the 2nd of Feb.

Oooh…I forgot. I purchased a hair treatment mask too. (Being transparent.) I kind of bleached the bejeezus out of my hair at NY so I need to be nice to it.

Up to 8 empties this year :

7: Original source water infusions shower gel raspberry and rose - came from a Birchbox and I couldn’t smell the rose it was fine but very watery so it was really difficult not to use too much.

8: Eyko black magic coco edit, I actually really liked this came from an M&S advent and I usually use black (I have very dark hair) but I may be converted to brown once I have used my stash.

@loz12345 - I'm currently using the eeyko brown mascara too and am, to my amazement, loving it. I too could be converted to brown. It will probably be a few years though as I have at least one or two mascaras in my stash.

I wish we got more brown mascaras (and eyeliners) in beauty boxes, they’re always black, and I find brown more natural, less obvious. I had a brown Rollerlash mascara, and obeying the 3-month rule I threw it away when I should have kept it and let run it dry.

@MavisMcMinty I never dump until they turn dry. I reckon the 3 month thing is a marketing ploy.

Oh I’m the same now, mainly because I might only use mascara once a month, and there’s no way a thrice-used mascara needs chucking out. Back then my ex-practice nurse colleague was full of terrible stories about eye infections from mascaras.

I used a TikTok filter today and WOW who needs skincare when you can do that with a phone!!!!

I have two empties to report:

• M&S Formula Cleanse hot cloth cleanser: LOVED this! Smells gorgeous (like baby powder sort of), feels fab on and removes make-up well - except cheapo mascara from Aldi or Collection!
• Speaking of which: Aldi Lacura BB cream shade 2 with a touch of foundation - this was not great. I actually bought two shades but have given the unopened lighter shade away. Was eager for this to finish - so little coverage, even for a BB cream.

3 empties today. Not raining it’s pouring atm.

TonyMoly Wonder Oil Cleanser - Delicious apricot-scented cleansing oil. Nice light texture. Does the job. Best not used in shower unless you like ice skating, but that applies to all oil cleansers. Would repurchase, but don’t need atm.
KeraColor Silver Clenditioner. Awesome product. Am a bit worried about how this colour is going to grow out, because my natural colour is more of a light, honey blonde. Warm edge and cold edge will look weird. Might find another colour. (But I really like the silver).
Body Resort - Lemon & Mint Moisturisinf Body Gel. Really hydrating formula. Mojito, anyone? Might try another “flavour” of the same formula or one of their lotions. It’s inexpensive and they have an orange and muguet (Lily of the Valley) that I am considering.

Two empties -

The Body Shop British Rose shower gel - Another from the advent calendar. I actually loved this (smelled like Turkish delight) but certainly wouldn't pay £7 for it. Would repurchase as part of a set though.

Palmers Cocoa Butter Hand, Knee & Elbow - I regularly use this on my feet. Thick formula and smells gorgeous. I always cut open the tube to get out the last of it (usually quite a lot).

Two empties for me:

Soap and glory smoothie star full size body lotion, love this but sooooo many other lotions to use before any repurchase.

Soap and Glory Heel Genious travel size. Love this stuff but going to try body butter on my feet as an alternative to use up the stash.

Two empties for me, both from Paula’s Choice:

• 10% azaleic acid booster - really like this formulation but not sure if results are better than the more affordable version by the ordinary - I have a couple of tubes of both in my stash so will continue to compare
• C15 super booster - my go to vit c. love this product

Two more empties (sort of…) Two sachets of a hair product that is supposed to do at least two or three treatments per sachet. It is a hair oil that supposedly promotes growth and as I am not blessed with vast quantities of hair, nor is it very long, I don’t vouch for it’s success as a “growth-promoting oil.” It was also full of yellow mica and looked rather too much like the contents of a specimen jar being checked for a UTI for my liking. 🤢 Then there was the scent… 🤮🤮🤮. If I can’t massage the amount that is supposed to do 4-6 heads from root to tip, what are the chances somebody with half decent locks would enjoy this? The ingredients list doesn’t scream miracles either:- This is Pump Hair Care (Unimaginatively Named) Liquid Gold Hair Growth Treatment Oil: Olive Oil, Jamaican Black Castor Oil, Brazilian Nut with Coffee Oil, Peppermint Oil, Lavender Oil, Cedar Wood Oil, Rosemary Oil, Argan Oil, Coconut Oil, Chia Oil, Hydrolised Jojoba Protein, Mica Gold. *Certified Organic
1/10. Do not recommend. Will see if it washes out after I make dinner.
The next empty is one of those continuous spray bottles of a rather abrasive variety of Febreeze. Not exciting, but it does mean that I can refill it with my lovely Alien-scented Zoflora and de-doggify my home with less chance of RSI.
As an aside, DH came home and said, “Oh, I’ve always loved that perfume on you…” I had splashed the Lemon Zinger one on my leg when mopping the kitchen floor. Idiot. I suppose that makes up for telling me I smelled like marmelade when I wore Trussardi Donna and then trying to save himself by saying “Sexy Marmelade!!!” . He is normally a lot more erudite, I promise.

3 empties

My regular hyaluronic acid. I have a couple of different ones from calendars/boxes but will probably come back to this one afterwards. Although I do plan on trying the revolution one recommended up thread.

No 7 eye cream. I'm not convinced eye cream does anything.

Hawthorn Face Balm. Absolutely brilliant winter night cream. Really nourishing and you only need a tiny bit. It possibly wouldn't suit someone with oily skin as it has shea butter in it.

@Fraaahnces LOL cannot believe he thought it was perfume!

Am running low on body lotion - any recommendations?

Hi!
@Experiment627 At the moment I am using Champneys body butter in Calm and I am loving it. It is like a creamy soufflé. Very easy to apply and absorbs quickly. It is thicker than a lotion though but I am enjoying it. Feels super indulgent and luxurious to me at least. Smell it first in case you don’t like it. My DD detests it.

Another one without filter 😅😂

@Experiment627 - I’m currently out of body lotion. Used up my mojito-scented stuff the other day. I might have to resort to a layer of Hada Labo and whatever’s cheapest as I have been scrubbing bathrooms. I popped out to the kitchen to have a nice cup of tea to discover that the Ferrets hadn’t rinsed their plates, and because the little monsters had eaten fried rice with corn, peas and other micro-aggressors, there was water all over my lovely, clean (Lemon Zinger-scented) kitchen floor. I have spent several hours resuscitating the bloody bastardy dishwasher - including picking bits of corn from the spinners with needle-nosed tweezers like a surgeon, scrubbing the decomposition from the filter (yet again) and of course, the seals. Oh, and now my floors are clean again. Why am I telling you about my exciting, glamorous life? Because after all this Zoflora, bleach, glass cleaner, etc… I could do with some bloody body lotion right about now too!😫😫😫
As for DH, the Zoflora on my leg must have been quite strong for him to notice. He’s a bit Captain Oblivious. I’m getting this put on a T-shirt for him.

Thanks @Fraaahnces and @Thereislightattheendofthetunnel 🤣🤣🤣

I did try and puck something cheap up at Aldi earlier but they only had hand cream.

@Experiment627 Garnier in the green bottle. Its about £3 in supergroup at the mo.