Project Empties #23

My empties for this month seem to be mainly skincare and haircare products. I always find that I finish way more skincare and haircare products than makeup - Probably because I'm fickle with my makeup and change it up fairly often, whereas I generally stick to the same products for my skin and hair. Does anyone have any tips on how to use up makeup items quicker? As I feel my collection will never decrease in size and the products seem to last forever!

Skincare Empties:
I got this mini sample of Bioderma Matriciane Rides when I bought my new bottle of Bioderma Crealine Micellar Solution. I really enjoyed using this moisturiser, as it was quite thick and left my skin feeling really soft. This is definitely a contender for when I have to buy a new moisturiser. I also finished another tube of my beloved La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo. I'm not crying too much about finishing this tube, as I already had a back up tube in the wings and I have started using it already.

Haircare Empties:
This bottle of John Frieda 3 Day Straight is my best friend when I heat style my hair. It really helps to keep my straightened style in place until my next wash and my hair feels sleek and soft. I have repurchased this already and will definitely continue to do so. Batiste is my favourite dry shampoo, however I don't think I will repurchase Batiste Boho again. The scent was a little questionable. I can't quite pinpoint what it smelt of, but it definitely wasn't fruity or sweet (even though it claims to have a 'heavenly sweet fragrance'). I personally still prefer the Tropical version, which smells like coconuts. I have had this Tara Smith Feed The Root Conditioner for ages. In fact, the packaging of this has changed and they have now started stocking it in Marks and Spencer. The scent reminds me of minty chewing gum and unfortunately, as I didn't really like the scent, lingers in the hair. I really like how this product has no nasty ingredients (e.g. SLS, parabens, etc) and that it isn't tested on animals. It doesn't have much slip when applying to wet hair, but it does leave the hair feeling super soft and not weighed down.

What did you finish last month?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

P.S. As a quick side note, I thought I'd let you know of the free mini Benefit 'They're Real' Mascara with the June issue of ELLE (the one with Miley Cyrus on the cover). The magazine costs £4 and you get a generous 4g sample worth £9.50. A full sized tube of 'They're Real' is £19.50 for 8.5g - You do the math.

Free Liz Earle

Just a quick heads up everyone in the UK! 'Red' Magazine is giving away a free 30ml Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish and muslin cloth with the May issue! The magazine costs £3.90, which I think is pretty dear for a magazine, but the 30ml tube usually costs £5.50 so you're saving £1.60 :)

The little 30ml tube is great if you need to restock up on your favourite cleanser, great for travel and/or is great if you're interested in trying it but don't want to commit to a larger size! I personally love this cleanser and this magazine freebie has come at a perfect time as my current tube is on its way out! Check out my Cleanse and Polish review here!

Has anyone else picked up a copy? I've bought two!

xoxo, Joy

Collective Haul

I'm sorry I haven't been blogging very regularly lately. I have had writer's block for a while now, which ultimately made me post less as I didn't know what to blog about. I have also been super busy with uni, as I am in my final year (eek!). Hopefully posts will become regular again soon - Probably around March time :)

Today I have a collective haul from the past few weeks to share with you. I say it in the video, but sorry that some of the stuff has been worn! I think it's nice to keep the labels on for hauls, but I can never wait to wear new clothes! Is anyone else like that? Hope you enjoy :)


Thank you for watching. xoxo, Joy

Recently

Over the beginning of the week, I became a little obsessed with the London riots, poring over the news and Twitter, worrying that the riots would spread to my town. There were riots in surrounding towns, but my town was missed - probably because there's nothing to loot, apart from some charity shops, the 99p store and Morrissons. But I felt such despair over the towns, businesses and homes that were ruined due to the events over the past few days. However seeing the photos of the riot clean ups, the Sikhs protecting Southall and the post-it notes stuck on the shop front of Poundland in Peckham helped to restore my faith in humanity and it shows true community spirit. I hope nothing too major happened where you live and that you're all safe.

Despite these riots, I still found time to do a little shopping. I didn't pick up much and I'm sorry if this post drags on! I could ramble for England.

I picked up the September issue of Marie Claire magazine (£3.60), because of the free Ciaté nail polish. There was also a sample of a Dove Intensive conditioner. I've tried two Ciaté nail polishes before (Swatches here and here) and was highly impressed. There was a choice between a dark purple and this nude colour, but I settled on the nude because I'm still going through a nude nail phase. 'My Fair Lady' is a lovely pinky-caramel nude (Can you tell that I suck at describing colours?) and the NOTD above shows 3 coats. I feel that it could have done with another coat, but I couldn't be bothered. There was a discount code on the back of the box, so I thought I'd pop it into the picture in case anyone wants to use it.

I went to Boots in search of the Nivea Anti-Cellulite Gel-Cream, because it was half price (£5.50 down from £11). While I was there I spotted this Vichy Dermablend on No15 (Opal) in the clearance section for only £7.75 (RRP £15.50), since the box was super battered but the product hadn't been opened, so I snapped it up right away. I've heard rave reviews about both of these products, so I'm excited to try them.

I spotted this ring in the sale jewellery section of Miss Selfridge for £4.25. I've wanted a ring like this for a while and love it! It reminded me of and Alexander McQueen ring and I love the little pop of turquoise in the eyes.

I've watched a few Primark hauls recently and everyone else seems to be picking up some great buys, but I didn't really see much that took my fancy on my latest trip. Maybe I need to go to a bigger one... I spotted this scarf in Primark for £4. It says it's oversized and oversized it is! I'd says it's about 1m wide and about 2m long, which I think it perfect for the transition from Summer to Autumn and would probably work well into Winter.

If you saw my wishlist post, you would have seen that I wanted a trench from Warehouse and a black dress from H&M. I tried the trench on and I was disappointed as it really didn't suit me :( However I did pick up this pretty coral skirt in Warehouse for £25. I was lucky to get the H&M dress as this was the last one in my size. I guess it makes sense as the dress is a complete bargain at only £14.99! Other stores seem to be following Zara's lead (Re: Frankie Sandford's infamous red dress) and have started making dresses in this shape, but this is the cheapest I've seen.

What have you been buying recently?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

NOTD: Jermyn Street

2 coats of Nails Inc. Nail Polish in 'Jermyn Street'

I got this free with the December issue of Glamour. They're not selling that issue anymore, but I'm pretty sure you can still buy the nail polish online and/or in stores.

The colour is a lovely mushroom colour. I would say that this colour is ideal for the workplace. When I first saw the bottle, I thought it was very similar to Nails Inc 'London', which was free with the Diet Coke promotion earlier this year. They look almost identical in the bottle, but 'Jermyn Street' is darker when applied onto the nails. If you mix 'Jermyn Street' with a little bit of white nail polish, I imagine that you could get something along the lines of 'London'... I might have to give that a try one day. (See my 'London' NOTD here). The formula was generally pretty easy to work with. If you're not careful, it can be a little thick, but it's still easy to work with. With two coats, you get a gorgeous opaque colour with a nice shiny finish.

xoxo, Joy

Marie Claire Magazine (+NOTD)

In the November issue of Marie Claire Magazine, there is a free Ciaté nail polish, which usually costs £9. There is a choice of 2 colours - A bright red named "Mistress" and a dark red named "Dangerous Affair". I chose "Mistress", because I am yet to find the perfect bright red colour.

1 coat of Ciaté Paint Pot in 'Mistress'
Wow, messy paint job! This photo was pre-cleanup.

The colour is a gorgeous bright, postbox red. It applied like a dream. The formula is so easy to work with and I found that I really like using the long handled brush, since Ciaté handles are longer than most other nail polishes. It dried extremely quickly and only needed one coat to get the opaque red colour, that you can see above. I only applied it last night, so I can't comment on how quickly this nail polish chips, however I didn't apply topcoat, so I can imagine that it will chip quicker than usual.

ETA: My nails have severely chipped over the weekend. I think that the longevity of the nail polish would probably have been better if I had applied more coats and/or if I had put a topcoat on.

xoxo, Joy

In Style Magazine

I popped into the local Co-op today to buy some bread (My life is so glamourous!) and as I was perusing the aisles, I spied that there was a free Body Shop Lip and Cheek stain, worth £9.50, with the September issue of In Style magazine. There are two colours to select from: Bronze Glimmer and Rose Pink - I chose the latter, because I thought that this colour would be more versatile and it kind of reminded me of the colour of Benefit's Benetint.

In Style Magazine: September

Doe foot applicator

Swatch:

With flash - Left: Slightly blended, Right: Unblended

Have any of you picked up a copy of this month's In Style magazine? Or have any of you ever tried the Body Shop's Lip and Cheek stain before?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

Glamour Magazine and Rimmel

I was so excited after reading this post at Make-up Savvy and found out that the July issue of Glamour magazine had Benefit freebies with it. It came out today, so I quickly popped into town after uni and bought up 3 copies of Glamour. I was lucky that there were quite a lot in the WHSmith I went to.

At £2 per magazine, £6 for 3 full size products is ridiculouly cheap in comparison to buying Benefit in a drugstore (The RRP of Eye Bright and Bad Gal are £14 and the RRP of It Stick is £17). I'm even considering stocking up and buying more if I like the products once I start using them.

When I was buying my magazines, I had a little chuckle to myself, since the two women in front of me were also buying mutiple issues of Glamour! It looked like we were panic buying!



Did any of you pick up any copies of Glamour today? Which freebie(s) did you pick?

I also popped into Superdrug to buy some Lemsip, since I have an awful cold at the moment. :( While I was there I picked up a Rimmel 60 Second Nail Varnish in 'Rose Libertine' for £2.49 (£1 off its RRP). The colour is a really pretty pinky coral, and I'm really excited to try it.

(It's a little darker in real life than in the photo.)

Thanks for reading. xoxo, Joy