Beauty addicts thread: share empties, chucks and mindful buying tips

[Experiment627]

Welcome back (or welcome in!) to our little corner of beauty bliss, where shelves are full, wish lists are longer than ever, and there’s always something new to try.
This thread has been around for ages (since at least 2015), and many of us have even tamed our beauty-buying habits thanks to the wisdom and support shared here. We post our empties and chucks, helping each other make smarter, more satisfying choices next time we shop.
All beauty product addicts welcome!

Empties!

Kiko caffeine eye patches - dark circles more than puffiness are my issue, but these did make the skin look tighter

M&S Fragrance Society hand cream - hibiscus, lychee and sandalwood. Liked the smell, will probably buy the shower gel or body lotion if I ever run out of stashes of either.

Dr Organic leg vein cream - this has been hanging around for ages, it has a strong smell and doesn’t do much. Should have binned it, really, but at least it’s gone now!

Cowshed - buckthorn stretch mark oil. I just used this as a body oil, smell ok but I prefer oils like Nuxe so not a RP.

@DidILeaveTheGasOn short link failed…saw this and thought of you
https://home.bargains/product/376ded47-99f0-49a5-8ccd-fe81b4dbcd8e/ren-summer-limited-edition-daily-aha-tonic-250ml?sc=432

Byoma moisturizer - really good! I didn’t expect to like it, but I did. Very light and pleasant.

Byoma eye cream - nope. Felt chalky and sticky. It was downgraded to a back/shoulder cream.

Ultra Violette spf - full of glitter, so it has to go.

Kiehls spf - ok.

Morphe lip gloss - I like the sparkling bits but not the colour.

Shay and Blue lilacs&goosberries - nice but not wow.

Kerastase nutritive leave in - didn’t like it at all. Made my hair stiff and not very nice to touch.

this works perfume mini- more like a room spray.

Davines oil - used it as a pre shower treatment. It’s not a bad product but there are so many nicer oils out there.

Benefit pore professional mask - very stinky.Didn’t seem to do much either.

Prai neck cream - completely unnecessary.

Sunday Riley afterglow - had about 4 of these. Not my thing. Felt like it left my skin a bit yellow.

Various samples and Centella face mask - if you know, you know 🫣

Since I counted my cosmetics, skincare, haircare and bath/body products on NYE and monitored my buying habits since, I've realised I'm way more of a magpie when it comes to cosmetics than anything else.
This week I decided to divide my collection of cosmetics up to see how many full kits I could make, on the premise that each kit should consist of:

Primer
Skin tint or foundation
Concealer (if I've got enough for each kit)
Blush
Bronzer
Setting powder/highlighter
Eye pencil
Eyeshadow palette or cream stick
Mascara
Brow product
Lip gloss or lipstick, or both
Setting spray

I put together 5 kits based on the above, but most of them are missing concealer and Setting powder, and I only have one brow product so that has to sit on my desk and cover all.

This week I've tried some products I've had for ages and never tried properly. I am really impressed by cream blusher, having purchased it but never tried it (Westmam Atelier) and need to go down this rabbit hole I think. Really quite flattering.

I still really like the matte, thick layers of the 2016 make up look but I'm 41 and I need to let it go.

Sorry that this is not an empties post but more of a, how can I divide the mountain into something I can see and really benefit from. Having a different makeup kit for every work day has been a treat and pretty entertaining this week! Definitely recommend.

@DidILeaveTheGasOn I've started doing something similar with make up. I have one main bag and every week/couple of weeks I rotate things in and out. I've accepted I don't have a hope of panning everything I have but my aim is to use as much of it as possible.

30/100

laneige lip sleeping mask - not convinced it does anything that the blue Nivea stick doesn’t. I’ve got the purple one in the stash to
ude next.

Body Shop coconut handcream - lovely! This was a real surprise success. I’ve got loads of handcreams to go through otherwise I’d happily buy.

Root + Fruit control switch serum - I’m not entirely sure it actually did anything.

My first “proper” empties post!

1. La Roche Posay spf50 gel crème oil control: fantastic stuff. Have already rp
2. RP spf50 fluid. Way too runny - I found it really hard to apply. And weird smell. And it pilled. Definitely not doing this one again.
3. Rituals Happiness foaming shower gel. Adore the scent so much I tried to make it last by not using it too often. Around the 6 month mark the gel stopped squirting out as foam, but it didn’t make much difference as it still lathered up nicely. Would consider rp for a good GWP, but not at the moment because I have a massive backlog of fancy shower stuff to use up.
4. Maybelline Sensational Lashes, black waterproof. I think this is my 6th or 7th. It’s great. Not going to rp as I’ve moved on (for now)
5. Nyx Epic Black Ink Liner. Been buying on repeat since I found it after trying soooo many. Perfect for a controlled ink line / cats eye and doesn’t budge no matter what. Have already rp.
6. Urban Decay eyeshadow primer. Do you really need a different primer for eyes? I don’t know. But it works brilliantly and lasts for ages. Have rp’d again.
7. Plenaire Skin Frosting Deeply Hydrating Mask. Yuck! Weird lumpy clay-ish texture (not what you’d expect for a hydrating mask) and odd smell. Delighted to see the back of this one.
8. Me + Salicylic Sheet Mask. Mostly harmless, I guess. Don’t think it did anything at all.
9. Elemis Pro Collagen Marine eye cream. Got this in the JL cracker. Absolutely loved it. Didn’t realise how much cream gets left inside until I cut the tube open - gosh!! Have rp-d
10. Medik8 Crystal Retinal 6. Another “win” (although not for my wallet!) from the JL cracker. In fact I stocked up on discounter crackers, because I could get the equivalent of nearly a full size of both products for less than the cost of either. Not great for the environment though.
11. Clarins multi intensive super restorative lotion. I normally love Clarins but I found this a bit sticky. Will not rp.
12. Clarins extra firming eye (sample). Nice enough. Might rp if there’s a good GWP.
13. Clarins extra firming day cream (sample). Been using this full size for years. Recently moved onto other brands but still love it. Will rp at some point for sure.
14. Caudalie Premier Cru “The Cream”. Too thick and heavy.
15. Guerlain face treatment oil, sample. Bit too slimy - didn’t like it much.

@Fillybuster The Elemis eye cream was in my last empties post. I also really like it.

You probably know this but the JL Radiance Box has 30ml of the Clarins Day Cream in it.

Couple more empties..,
Large tub of Clean it Zero cleansing balm in Açaí flavour. Barely discernible scent. It works well, but I much prefer the Vitamin C one.
Naturium Glycolic Body Wash mini. Really like this one. Pity Susan Yara is so dodgy. The whole Naturium thing was bad and now she’s claiming to be the founder of a hair care called Playa. This brand was founded by a woman who later sold it to Forma Brands, who were previously known as Morphe. How does SY think we will never know?
Two Romand Glasting Lip Balms in Nu Beige (love this more than anything) and Peonies. That was supposed to be a light, milky pink. Try neon.

Oh no @Francestein I really like naturium. Blast.

One empty for me and having been waiting ages for it to be empty.
Bondi Sands SPF 50+ fragrance free water resitant lotion.
After discovering I had 3 open body SPFs sitting in a cupboard, decided to start using them up as face SPF over the winter. Have only got through this one as it lasted forever.

I actually really liked it - no white cast, didn't hurt my eyes like some actual face products have done, doesn't pill, no fragrance. On the other hand it tastes disgusting if you get it on your lips and it does look greasy dewy.

Have 2 more to get through but this was a winner.

I’m coming to the end of a number of tubes and bottles so I’m hoping to add to my finished list in the next few days!

But I’m away for 3 days so now my quandary is whether I carry them home to recycle at SNK or just bin them where we are.

That's what they want you to think. Whenever I have something that looks like it has a couple of days left it seems to stretch to at least a week! 😂

Does anyone here have any experience with Merit makeup? I’m eyeing some things off

Oh god, you’re so right!!

I suppose they’re light, at least…

I've been at the end of a Clarins cleanser for months. That last bit of a product is like 1 minute remaining on a washing machine cycle.

Quite enjoying my different makeup kits this week. Discovered that mascara does not last forever, even if it was opened and forgotten about a year ago. I might hit my pan goal for the year this week!

Also discovered that one cannot have one brow product and several make up bags on the go. The eyebrow product inevitably got chucked into one of five bags and resulted in me rushing around fully made up, sans brows, muttering, 'I can't find my eyebrows!' like someone on the verge of an episode.

Considering creating a leader board of products in Excel and getting excited about the prospect. What has happened to me.

@DidILeaveTheGasOn agree on the eyebrow pencils. I have three - one upstairs, one downstairs and a spare. So I can usually put hands quickly on one of them. They're really easy to misplace if you just have the one and don't always put make up on in the same part of the house.

Hit and miss for me. I like the mascara, lip gloss, and lipsticks - matte (now discontinued) and satin.

Not keen on the skin tint stick, blush and the new lip blush formula (that replaced the signature matte).

I quite like the lip pencils but they don't have staying power. I have a couple of the eyeshadow pots which I like but feel like they are drying out too quickly compared to others. I've had them less than 6 months and already feel like they don't perform great.

Overall their standouts for me were the old signature matte lipstick formula and the glosses.

Not tried their skincare products.

Panning makeup in an ambition! I had 2 samples of a Trinny eyeshadow, decanted to an empty pot, it takes up maybe a tenth of the space. It’s one of my regular colours and isn’t going down. A full pot is going to last me the rest of my life!!

Bit late but here are March's empties 🙈

Sanctuary body wash- love Sanctuary stuff, no need to rp though.
Beauty pro brightening collagen mask with vitamin c- this was ok, not sure if sheet masks do anything though.
Batiste sensitive scalp dry shampoo- hg product for me
Dr Eve Ryouth vitamin c and hyaluronic acid night moisturiser- didn't like this, unfortunately I think I have another one in my stash.
Ren gentle cleansing milk- didn't think this cleaned my skin very well, wouldn't rp if I could.

27/100

My skincare panning is going so well that I feel ok about asking for a couple of recommendations:

1. is there something folks would recommend for breakouts on my jawline? My routine has improved immensely with trying to get the stash down and overall my skin is much better, but my jawline is a bit tricky.

2. any recs for under eye cream? I was using Ren and then Emma Hardie midas touch and they were both good, but my under eye area seems really thirsty at the moment. Could be the improved routine that suits the rest of my face is drying that area out, not sure. Any ideas for an under eye drink?

@DidILeaveTheGasOn Ren brightening eye is £12 on HomeBargains currently home.bargains/product/7ee5b2ad-bab9-4b4a-aae6-2aaa67e140e6/ren-clean-skincare-face-brightening-dark-circle-eye-cream-15ml

Oh my goodness you beaut! Thank you!

@OvaHere I was eyeing the blush and lip pencils so thank you very much for your review. Way too expensive to take the risk. I’ll hit YESSTYLE up instead.

Empties:

Mixsoon heartleaf toner - 150ml. Quite watery and not sure it did anything much. Prefer the Anua heartleaf toner.

Mixsoon bean essence - 50ml. Supposedly a vegan dupe for snail mucin (it is stringy in texture). It was ok, but I think the Cosrx snail essence is more hydrating.

Nacific Fresh Herb Origin cream - 50ml. Liked this. Nice texture, moisturising but not too heavy, and smelled lovely.

Curel Intensive Moisture cream - 10g. Pretty sure this broke me out.

Beauty of Joseon Revive Eye Serum - 10ml. Really liked this. Lightweight but still hydrating and the retinal seemed gentle and didn’t cause any irritation. This little sample lasted me for months so the full size would go on forever!

Perfume samples - YSL Libre Flowers & Flames, Jo Malone English Pear & Freesia and Nest Crème de Clementine. Would probably go for a full size of the YSL if I saw it on a good offer.

Garnier Rice Water Infusion shampoo - 300ml. Not enough for my oily roots.

Soap & Glory Cherry Wild body scrub - 200ml. Not keen, the scrubby bits were too sharp and scratchy.

Future Primitive Dusty Dogwood body cream - 50g. Used as hand cream. LOVED the scent of this. Smells of gooseberries, which is a really nostalgic scent for me. Have bought a full size. Future Primitive does the best scents.

Bath & Body Works Inner Angel body cream - 226g. Their dupe of Killian Angels’ Share. Lovely scent, but I prefer the B&BW lotions to the body creams.