Ladies, brace yourself for this post, because I'm excited to announce that I have
tons of empties to show you! I'm so proud of myself!
I bought
Avon Basics Care Deeply Body Lotion with cocoa butter*
on a whim when I was an Avon rep because it was on sale also because it contained cocoa butter, however, I should have known better! I ended up using this lotion on my feet instead of simply throwing it away because it certainly does not provide24-hour moisturization, but it did work surprisingly well on my feet, leaving them incredibly soft and smooth after only a few uses! Who would have known?
The Body Shop Shea Body Butter is my first ever The Body Shop purchase and I'm soooo in love with it! It is my absolute HG body moisturizer as it works wonders on my eczema, and I'm so glad I finally gave in and tried one of those famous body butters. The consistency is dreamy - rich, creamy and perfectly thick - exactly what I'm expecting in a body butter! Sure, my skin still ocasionally itches and sometimes I have to apply moisturizer in the morning to get me through the day, but I haven't feel the need to reach for my steroid cream in a long time and this is a big step forward in my book. This is the jumbo size (400ml) and let me confirm that it really is jumbo! I have been using this butter since the beginning of December and I have only very recently used it up so it was definitely a great deal (it cost me $10 instead of $25).
It is extremely rare that I truly love a body lotion (I tend to favour body butters because of my dry skin and eczema) but it happened with
George's Light Special Moisturizing Lotion. It has a light texture but it never fails to relieve dryness and itchiness, meaning significantly less eczema flare-ups. Also, I could feel my skin being moisturized all day, which I don't think I have experienced with a lotion before!
As much as I absolutely loved the deliciously sweet and fruity smell of
CALGON Take me away! Brazilian Beauty Passion Fruit & Brazil Nut Body Mist*, I won't repurchase it because body mists never last more than 30 seconds on me.
Skin RX Medi Peel Hyaluronic Moisturizer did not get rid of the stubborn dry patches on my forehead on its own, but it left my skin super soft. It's also recommended to apply a cream to seal in the moisture if you have dry skin, which I did, because once the hyaluronic moisturizer was absorbed in my skin, it left it feeling super tight and uncomfortale, which I though was strange for something that is claimed to moisturize.
At $58, it's nothing miraculous.
I usually try to stay away from clay masks because most of them tend to leave my skin even more dry than before, but I did not have this problem with
Elemis FreshSkin Deep Clean Purifying Face Mask. Still, I won't repurchasing it because I don't feel it really did something for my skin.
My first experience with a scrub that you have to let sit on your face like a mask was with
Montagne Jeunesse Apricot Face Scrub and I loved it! The texture is great - very thick and the exfoliating beads (which are really apricot kernels) are a good size and there are a lot of them, unlike some other cheap foaming scrubs. This Montagne Jeunesse face scrub left my dry skin feeling super tight and uncomfortable when I washed it off - like most clay masks I previously used - but it was OK when I applied my moisturizer. The day after, I noticed that my skin was not drier because of the scrub, but also that it was more glowy - what a nice surprise! The only negative things about Montagne Jeunesse packaging is that it's messy and not resealable, so I like to pour the leftover product in a little pot so it doesn't dry up and it's easier to scoop with your fingers.
I have been very kindly sent
Pai Rosehip & BioRegenerate fruit & seed oil blend along with the Pai Comfrey & Calendula Calming Body Cream and as I'm suffering from eczema, Nicola from Pai Skincare recommended applying them both at the same time, so adding a couple of drops of Rosehip oil into a pump of cream for an extra regenerative boost, which I did until I used up the seed oil blend. I have been using these two products twice a day every day since I received them always on the same area of my body - on my right hand, I developed a stubborn patch of eczema on my knuckles and even though my eczema on my fingers seems to have gotten better, I still get flare-ups sometimes so I also used these products on my fingers. I didn't notice improvements until the second week of use and OMG, I must say this stuff is seriously awesome! I didn't get flare-ups in those two weeks and that does say a lot! My right hand is almost back to normal although my knuckles are still a little dry but they are less red and irritated and they don't itch anymore - same with my fingers! Honestly, I can't believe it. This is the first time some products work really well on my eczema! Sadly, e
ven though it works well, I simply can't afford it at $35.
Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Creme seems to be a staple among a lot of beauty bloggers and as much as I love everything about it - its delicious smell, its thick and creamy texture, how well it moisturizes my parched cuticles, its super cute tin - I'm just too lazy to remember to apply it on my cuticles and nails every night so most of the time, I simply use it as a hand cream before bed because it tends to get a bit greasy.
mèreadesso Beautiful Body Balm is the first product of this brand that I tried and honestly, it does not make me want to try some more. I'm not even sure why it's called a "balm" when it's more like a simple lotion that did not even properly moisturizemy dry skin. It did smell lovely though, a bit sweet!
Another disappointement from LUSH,
Space Girl Bath Bomb. This did not smell anything in the bath and while I appreciated that it fizzed slowly while turning and swishing around in the bath, which is always entertaining, despite being infused with grapefruit oil, Space Girl did not left my skin moisturized or toned.
On the other hand, I had a pleasant bath with
LUSH Bearded Lady Bubble Bar, which I got as a Christmas present maybe two years ago but LUSH did not bring it back last Christmas so I'm afraid it has been discontinued, hend why I won't be posting a complete review about it.
I can't really explain the scent as to me, it didn't really smell anything, but it was pleasent and relaxing, but sadly, the scent didn't really intensified in the bath. I got a considerable amount of bubbles for the tiny piece I used, but they didn't last long - maybe 10 minutes. I could feel my skin being softer and moisturized while I was in the bath and after, which is always appreciated when you have dry skin like me.
Because I have so many shower gels, body wash, soaps, etc. laying around, I cheated with
Simply Basics Cocoa Butter Body Wash and I actually used it as a bubble bath, and I must say it did not work really well. Yes, it did create some pretty amazing bubbles at first, but they quickly vanished. Oh well, this was a bit of a cheap product anyway.
On my neverending quest to find the perfect teeth whitening product, I bought
Scope White Mouthwash on a whim when I saw it on sale for around $5 at the drugstore
about one year ago and even though I said that I would update you with my progress, well I'm sad to have to report that two bottles of this stuff later, my teeth are still somewhat yellow. Thank you Scope.
I love how
Lara Beauty Conditioning Cleanser for Sensitive Skin (not pictured, I forgot to keep it and threw it away) is really gentle on my dry skin and does not leave it with that squeaky clean feeling. It also does not really foam, making it less irritant.
*This product is NOT cruelty-free
