Empties November 2010

Totally unimaginitive title, it's been one of those kind of days! So I know this is late but better late than never....it doesn't even feel like December has started, I STILL don't have an advent calender (sad face) and I'm ignoring the lack of money/impending presents exchange for as long as possible!
So my trying-to-use-up-as-much-as-I-can-before-I-get-given-a-shedload-of-stuff-for-Christmas plan is going pretty well...

Cath Kidston Hand Cream in Bluebell
I got this in a set along with a Wild Rose (that I have also finished this month but forgot to photograph) and Honeysuckle scented version last Christmas. While I am on placement I get through a LOT of hand cream as I have to wash my hands or use alcohol gel between each patient, meaning my hands take a beating every day. I need something heavy duty to remedy this and this hand cream did not cut it. It didn't last very long on my hands and didn't feel that moisturising even while I was applying it. Another thing to note is the scent - all three of these hand creams are strong scented. Scents have to be really strong to offend me and this was close, and more than a few people commented that the smell reminded them of old ladies. I doesn't think I'll be repurchasing these. They were a gift so I am unaware of the price but I have seen the set and individual hand creams sold in Cath Kidston stores.
Soap & Glory Butter Up
This body butter was in the Soap & Glory hat box I received for Christmas last year. It contains both cocoa and shea butter, '5 fruit skin smoothers' and grapeseed oil, among other ingedients, and it does have a fruity citrusy scent that I love, it smells very fresh. It does say that it is a skin smoothing formula - something that I did not particularly notice but then my skin feels smoother whenever I moisturise normally. I was concerned that as it is a butter it could take a while to sink into my skin and as I love sleep I am generally rushing to get ready and barely have time to moisturise as it is. This surprised me as it sank in quickly and didn't feel tacky and damp under my trousers and my dry legs felt moisturised until my next shower. My only concern is that I did seem to get through this quite quickly and at £7.50 for 200ml it isn't the cheapest moisturiser out there. When I get a proper job and don't have to use bargain basement products I will definately repurchase this. Available from Boots and Harvey Nichols.
Soap & Glory The Daily Smooth
This is another moisturiser that was in the hatbox, and aside from the scent (similar to one of my favourite perfumes, Miss Dior Cherie) I find this to be almost the same texture and moisturisation levels as the Butter Up. Again, I would repurchase this and would layer it with my Miss Dior Cherie to make the beautiful smell last longer. This one is showing as £8 for 250ml on the Soap & Glory website.





TIGI Bedhead Root Boost
I have an entire drawerful of volumising and thickening products and more often than not fall out of love with one and buy another six to replace it. This one has had a fair amount of love over the last year or so, it doesn't take more than a few sprays into roots all over and a quick blow dry to create big hair. I do have a few Bedhead products and generally like them, this was good but I am sure there are better products out there. When applying I really had to err on the side of caution as even a little too much felt really crispy and stiff in my hair which I hate! I got this from TJ Hughes I think so I didn't pay the full retail price, around £8 I think. As far as volumisers go it is worth a try but if you also hate the crispiness products can sometimes bring I'd give it a miss. Probably not worth a repurchase.
Tara Smith Base Coat Serum
(Image from Google)
I forgot to take a photo of this before I chucked it :( I love this product. I started to use serum on damp hair after washing after getting my hair highlighted making it drier. I wanted to protect the ends of my hair as although I rarely straighten it these days I am wary of the damage colourants can cause and the havoc they wreck on my hair in particular. A nice pumpful of this on the ends of my hair made it soft and silky and tamed any little frizzy bits I have lurking (and there are lots!) This is free of nasties and not tested on animals which I like. My only bugbear is that this is no longer stocked in Tesco, where I bought this, and Asda where I have also seen it in the past. I guess it must be available online somewhere but I now have two other serums I am using at the moment. If I don't get on with these I would consider a repurchase but that is dependent on shipping costs etc.

So that is the majority of the products I used up in October, I've hit pan on a few cosmetics in the last few weeks so they should be Empties soon!

Have you used any of these products? What did you think?