Skincare empties (with bits of makeup) and repurchases April 2021

Skincare empties posts are one of my favourite reads: it’s always interesting to know what products people use up. When it comes to skincare I prefer the “one out, one in approach”. It’s useful to see whether something is a continuous repurchase and personally helps me control the number of products I use and test them properly. April turned out to be a generous month for skincare empties. Here is what I’ve used up recently photographed next to what I’m replacing it with. 

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Skincare empties

• I’ve recently finished the first jar of Kate Somerville Peptide K8 cream (AF) (check out my full review here). It is simply amazing and now is my favourite day cream. Why I love it? Light texture that sinks in quickly and no matter what sunscreen and makeup I put on after, it glides on perfectly. I’ve also noticed that my skin doesn’t feel as oily in the evening, but still is hydrated. All in all, it’s a no-brainer repurchase for me. 
• Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine Cream (AF) is marketed as a day cream although I don’t understand why specifically: it doesn’t have SPF. I’ve tried to use it in the morning before I’ve discovered Kate Sommerville cream, but I didn’t like it as a day cream at all. It took a really long time to sink in and then the sunscreen that I’ve used afterwards pilled on top of it no matter how much time I’ve waited before applying the sunscreen. And I’ve used Ultrasun SPF 50 sunscreen (AF) for a long time and tried it with other face creams and it’s the first time it happened. Elemis cream has a beautiful white flower scent, however, it is strong, so I recommend trying it before committing to a full size. After trying to make it work as a day cream for a couple of weeks, I gave up and used it up as an evening cream. This time I loved it and might repurchase it later to use in the evenings. For now, I’ve started using the new Kate Somerville Total Repair cream (AF). I’ve purchased a small sized-jar to test out if it can be a replacement for the Peptide cream: the description is similar, however, it costs less. I did like it, although Peptide cream works better for me as a daytime cream due to the lighter texture. Repair cream is slightly richer, so might work as an evening cream or maybe in winter. 
• Dior Hydra Life Make-up Remover (AF) is a long-standing favourite of mine: I don’t know how many of these I have been through the years. Every once in a while I try to use micellar water (AF) on my eyes, however, I find that I tend to rub my eyes more which doesn’t help wrinkles and my lashes fall out more. So I always come back to Dior. I’ve also tried lots of other dual-phase removers, from drugstore to luxury, but Dior performs the best of all, especially with waterproof make-up (for example, it was better at removing Lancome smudge-proof mascara than Lancome Bi-Facil). You really just need one swipe to see all of your eye make-up gone. If you can, try using it with Asian brands cotton pads (AF), the ones that don’t absorb as much product, it would make it last longer. 
• Finishing face skincare empties with Deviant Skincare Enzymatic Cleansing Oil, another favourite of mine (read the full brand review here). This type of cleanser is fantastic for when I’m really tired and I just need something quick: a pump is the fastest way to dispense a cleanser. I use it for my second cleanse: massage the face and then rinsing it off with a face cloth. I will repurchase it in the future. At the same time, I prefer to rotate my cleansers so when this one was finished I’ve purchased Lovinah Dragon’s Blood BHA Cleansing Oil (AF). First impressions are good. It does have a strong smell of some berries (something like barberry candies that we had in Russia) so bear it in mind if you don’t like strong scents in your skincare.

Bodycare and haircare empties

• The first product here is L’Oreal 8 Seconds Wonder Water (AF) and that is my second bottle of it. Now I can’t live without this product: it cuts the time spent on washing the hair when using it instead of conditioner. You just put it on after shampooing on wet hair, wait eight seconds and then wash off. It helps with keeping my hair frizz-free. Since I’ve discovered this treatment I rarely use a regular conditioner. I try to get it on offer (and as with many drugstore products it happens quite often) and stock up.
• Signature Conditioner by Kristine Ess (AF) – picked it up to try out the brand and ended up liking it a lot. It does a great job for a conditioner (and especially taking into account the price). I’ve repurchased it and also picked up a shampoo from the same line (AF) to try – it is sulphate free. My scalp is quite sensitive and through trial and error, I’ve found that SLS-free shampoos work the best for me. The scent is very nice and the packaging not just looks great, but also easy to squish.
• Elemis Modern Rose body cream (AF) is a light body moisturiser with a rose scent (my favourite one). It is mildly hydrating, so it works best for spring and summer. I might repurchase it in the future, but for now, picked up Fresh Hesperides Grapefruit Body Lotion (AF) – the texture is also nice and light, but I think it’s a bit more hydrating. The scent is fantastic if you like citrus fragrances. I only wish this type of lotions came in pump packaging with refills as it is much easier to use. 
• The last product in this category is a hand cream and I had high hopes for this Lano Rose Hand Cream Intense (AF), cause I’ve seen some good reviews. Unfortunately, it did nothing for my dry hands. On the positive side, it sinks in fast, well under a minute, and has a lovely rose scent. I’ve started Elemis Modern Rose hand cream. It performs much better: hands feel less dry, yet it sinks in quite fast and also have a lovely rose scent. However, if your hands are very dry it won’t help. My all-time favourites are the hand creams from Crabtree and Evelyn: hands were never dry when using them and they have a great range of interesting scents. I haven’t tried their products since the rebranding, but certainly will after I finish the Elemis one.

Makeup empties

I usually have more skincare empties than makeup: it’s so hard to finish unless that’s something I use daily, like a foundation, mascara and occasionally, a lip product.

• L’oréal Lash Paradise mascara (AF) – I’m always on the fence about it. When it comes to the effect it gives my lashes it’s my favourite drugstore mascara: it gives volume and separation, much like my all-time favourite Armani Eyes to Kill Classico (AF). However, the downside is that it dries out in a month or two. And here lies my dilemma to repurchase it. Cause Armani mascara lasts about 6 months and when you take it into account there is no price difference (actually Armani might be even cheaper) and also there’s a sustainability aspect to purchasing 4 tubes instead of one. I’m also trying a new Air Volume mascara from Loréal (AF). It doesn’t dry out as fast, but it also clumps my eyelashes more, so won’t repurchase it.
• Dior DreamSkin Cushion (AF) is another long-time favourite from Dior. It’s perfect for summertime: gives light coverage with a glowy natural finish and SPF50 is an additional bonus (I wouldn’t rely on it for it as a main sunscreen or touch-up though, cause the amount of the foundation you would normally apply would not be enough to provide full protection). It also is very handy for travelling (one day, hopefully) and after using many refills the compact still looks good notwithstanding tossing it around handbags. So it’s a constant repurchase for me every summer. I’m shade 020 in summer (010 in winter), however, Dior might do better with shade range – the darkest one is 040 and I’m not sure it’s dark enough to match all skin tones, even with lighter coverage. It seems to be a problem for a lot of cushion foundations though. 

This is it for skincare empties from April! I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and let me know if you have any questions. 

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