Firstly, a HUGE thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway. And a massive apology from me for not announcing the winner yet. Don't worry, nothing's gone wrong, I still have a mystery beauty box which is so full of things I had to move it from an old Boudoir Prive box to an empty Lux box in order to fit it all in. I've been absurdly busy now I am back at work and I'm still in that crazy adjusting to my new routine mode. And now I am busy tapping away at my laptop whilst on a train to Scotland to spend time with my Mum who has a special birthday on the horizon, and I didn't want to draw the winner until I was in a position to actually send the box! So, if you could hold out a teeny bit longer I'd appreciate it a lot :) Im only 5 followers away from 50, which will surely mean another giveaway on the horizon as well!

Anyhoo, I have today for you a really old collection of empties. Doing it monthly wasn't working for me. Some months I get overexcited and open so many different beauty products that I don't finish anything at all. So now I'll just collect empties until I have a decent enough stash to write about them, then I'll put up a post. Sounds good, no?



Not a huge amount for this post, but I get the feeling I have other empties photos lurking around so I'm sure another post will be along soon.

• The Sanctuary Luxury Bath Foam - this was part of a gift set. nice and bubbly, with a slightly different scent to what I would choose myself.  I probably wouldn't buy it again but at the same time, if I am given any as a gift I will be more than happy.
• Balance Me Super Moisturising Body Wash - I went off Balance Me for a bit after the beauty box market became a bit saturated with the products but in all honesty, that's very unfair on the brand. I enjoyed using this shower gel a lot, it was nice and moisturing and I felt lovely and clean after using it. I would buy this again in the future (this one came in a beauty box).
• Dead Sea Magik moisturiser - I got this in an early beauty box, used it all up and then popped the empty into a drawer in my bedside table. Classic hoarder behaviour. This was a nice sample and it was moisturising but didn't especially wow me. I probably wouldn't buy it again but I'd be interested in trying more products in the range to see what they're like.
• Korres rose SPF6 moisturiser - I've had a couple of samples of this through beauty boxes. Its no good for me as a day cream, but not bad as a night cream/intensive moisturiser/makeshift hand cream. Im not a huge fan of rose-scented things so all in all, this wasn't really for me. I wouldn't buy this in the future.
• Batiste Dry Shampoo - love these mini cans, so useful for travelling. Dry shampoo is the best at taming my fringe if I was to spruce up my slightly wild hair during the day (my hairline etc is not really formed in a fringe friendly way, I have a bit of a widow's peak and a whopping great cows lick, but a fringe is cheaper than botox for the lines on my forehead, so I find a way, oh yes). I buy the ginormous dry shampoo cans for home and the minis for travel and handbag (and I've had plenty of minis in beauty boxes, which is fine by me). Batiste probably isn't my most favourite dry shampoo but it does a fine job at a good price. I'll be buying again (and have probably half a dozen times over since taking this photo!)
• Balance Me face moisturiser - its been a while since I took this photo and I wont like, I don't remember anything remarkable one way or another about this moisturiser. My skin is very picky, so it was unlikely to be a resounding success. Most of these types of products work best for me at night, as my skin tends to get greasy otherwise. Wouldn't purchase again.
• Body Shop Passion Fruit body butter - passion fruit things are my absolute favourite. But not all body butters were created equally and I find this body butter leaves a bit of a greasy residue on my skin that others have not. Still, if you buy when there's an offer on you cant go wrong with slathering a load on after a bath or a shower to help your skin feel soft and smooth. I'll buy body butters again but not the passion fruit one. Woe.
• Witch skin clearing primer - helps prevent breakouts and primes your skin for foundation? Brill. This primer worked reasonably well on my skin, I didn't see any extra breakouts when I used this. I haven't purchased it again since as I've been trying out different products, but I would give this one another whirl for sure.
• TIGI Rockalot dirty secret dry shampoo - you might be able to see from the price sticker on this that I picked this up in the clearance at TK Maxx, along with the dry conditioner. Its not a bad dry shampoo, leaves your hair looking slightly less powdery than bastiste will. I'd buy it again if there was an offer on.
• Korres Mint Tea Body Milk - picked this up from TK Maxx as well (I love going there to look at beauty products. Sometimes you can find some amazing things!) and I really liked it. The mint made it slightly cooling on the skin which was great in the heat (I did say these empties were old!) as I'm prone to heat rashes etc (delightful, eh?). Would definitely buy this again. 
• Boots Botanics 3 minute deep conditioning hair mask - I've been using this for years and it doesn't disappoint. About a fiver for this big tub, no matter how overly generous you are in scooping some out it lasts for ages and I love the scent and the effects on my hair. Would definitely buy again.

And that, my dears, is another one of my empties posts. Not a bad mix of things I liked and things I didn't. I didn't actively hate any product, but some weren't best suited to me.

What products have you been using up lately?

A whole month has gone by! I can't quite believe it. Its been a little cold the last couple of days which says to me that autumn is coming. I do love autumn (if we could just have one with very little rain, I'd be extremely happy!).

I've been trying to zip through all my half-used beauty products still and I think I'm making reasonable progress. My progress would be a lot better if I stopped buying more things, of course, but we won't worry ourselves about that.



Here's my empties this month. I still think I Must Try Harder.

I love reading empties posts on other blogs so I've decided to do one here. An empties post, incase you've never come across one before, is where you photograph all your used up toiletries and do a little review on how you found them and if you'd use them again.

I must warn you, this was an exceptionally boring month for me. I'm on a bit of a buying freeze while I use everything up. And there's a lot to use up!








Garnier Intensive 7 Day Moisturiser This was a 7 day trial, which I used on my legs. I already noticed that, when using the Garnier Gradual Tanner, that my legs were very soft feeling, so I was excited to try this now I'm on a tanning hiatus. This is a milky gel-like consistency with a fresh smell and it did help my legs feel smooth. It soaked in quickly, better that body butters etc that I've tried. Purchase again? Yes, I think I will!

John Freida Brilliant Brunette Liquid Shine and Enhancing Shampoos I had about three John Freida shampoo and conditioner sets on the go at once and this was the last of it used up this month (am I the only person who uses up the conditioner much quicker than the shampoo?). These shampoos are often on offer at Boots and Superdrug. The enhancing shampoo muddied up some highlights that I had last year, and to be honest it was better to use the enhancing shampoo when I was a red head as that faded so quickly! The Liquid Shine range was good though and there is also a Liquid Shine serum with glitter particles in it that is really nice for styling. Purchase again? The enhancing shampoo, no, the liquid shine, yes.

Regis Design Line Get It Pumped Shampoo I was persuaded to buy this by a hairdresser, who insisted on giving me a bouncy hair blowdry once (it was SO bouncy. Hah!). I don't tend to go for a lot of volume in my hair and to be honest, this did previous little for me. Not a bad shampoo, but not worth the price tag on my hair. Purchase again? No.

L'oreal Ever Pure Shampoo and Conditioner Sample This is a sulphate free shampoo and conditioner for coloured hair. I was so impressed with it when I washed and conditioned my hair, but the very next morning (I wash my hair at night normally), my roots were greasy looking, and I had to use dry shampoo on them. Thats supremely not good. I do have another set of samples so I will give it another try, and hope it's better the second time around. Purchase again? Not unless the second sample works miracles.

Imperial Leather Japanese Spa Shower Gel I've had this a while but only just started using it. I use the hand soap version of this sometimes and I like the smell. This is creamy and produces a lot of lather. The smell isn't especially lingering on the skin but its a budget shower gel so I don't mind. I've been showering extremely frequently in that short lived heatwave we had and using lots and lots of shower gel so this got used up in about a week! Purchase again? Not for a while as I have zillions to get through, but yes I would buy this again.

Mitchum Advanced Control 24 Hour Deodorant I started using this when I worked in a job where I was running around all day (even in a 30 degree heatwave, where I found myself on a farm!) and I swear by it. Its really good at keeping me fresh. I don't have such a physically demanding job any more but I carry on using it regardless. This was the unperfumed one so it doesn't interfere with perfume. etc. Purchase again? Yep, I already have!

Caudalie Vinosource Serum S.O.S I got this in a Glossy Box and I assumed I would only use it in emergencies as my face is combination leaning more towards oily. But its totally unlike any other moisturising product I've ever used. Its not remotely greasy and sinks in immediately. Its become a real cult product for me. Purchase again? I already have, but I cheated and bought up all the other 10ml samples on Ebay because that was cheaper than spending £29 on the 30ml bottle.

Not a very inspiring post and I'm really suprised I didn't use up anything else! I'll have to make a more concerted effort next month to use up more interesting products I suppose.

What products did you use up in July?