I feel like this is a year to use stuff up and buy less, not more. Cherish what you have and enjoy it. Don’t save anything for best because the time to be kind to yourself is right now.
I’ve started gathering up my empty beauty products in a washbag as I finish them. I’ll do a monthly list of empties as we go throughout the year. I’m also going to crown a Product of the Month for whichever was my favourite.
So these are my empties for January 2021. Quite a lot, as it turns out! Nearly couldn’t fit it all in the bag.
In the list below, anything marked with a * is a press sample sent to me for review, and if there’s a longer review available then I’ll link to it. Anything else was bought by me. Links to products may be affiliate, but this post is not affiliate-driven.
My empties for January 2021
- Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Replenishing Cleansing Oil – Such lovely stuff, a really nourishing cleanser. Removes eye make up as well as face, lasted me about 8 months. Find it here.
- Nivea Double Effect Eye Make-Up remover – brilliant eye make up remover and cheap as chips, or at least as cheap as chips used to be before Brexit.
- Nail Polish remover by Sainsbury’s – I’m sure I didn’t use this all up, but there it was, all empty in the bathroom. Student daughter, j’accuse.
- Utama Spice Lemongrass Liquid Soap* – One of the lovely products I reviewed from this Bali aromatherapy brand. Beautifully soft on the hands.
- Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cleanser – A classic: effective & gentle on the skin
- L’AVES Extreme Performance Facial Elixir*
- L’AVES Extreme Performance Eye Serum* – I carried on using this great artisan British brand after reviewing it in September. The elixir makes a lovely nourishing night oil and the eye serum is terrific for toning and smoothing the skin around the eyes. Loved them both.
- Foreo Serum Serum Serum* – I’ve been using this with my Foreo BEAR device, of which more soon. Great product, which I’m really missing now that I’ve replaced it with a cheapie dupe.
- Lovemore sheet mask – I used to love sheet masks but haven’t bothered with them for ages. Don’t know why, they’re so glam…
- Omorovicza Balancing Moisturiser – Loved my sample of this with its delicate herbal scent. Terrific moisturiser.
- bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie x 2 – These lip glosses had a slightly minty tang to them. I think I got them in TK Maxx, back when there used to be shops.
- The Body Shop Festive Berry body butter*
- The Body Shop Almond Milk & Honey Shower Cream* – Two lovely products from my review of The Body Shop’s Christmas range.
- Sisley Cleansing Milk – Pretty good but didn’t wow me. I think I have cleanser fatigue.
- Frederic Malle Carnal Flower – This is very much a ‘going out’ kind of fragrance but it was threatening to go off, so I wore it to do jigsaws.
- Frånk by ånd fragrance* – My little sample of this perfume lasted all over Christmas and into New Year. Really beautiful fruity frankinsence scent. Find out more about the brand here.
- Algenist Sleeping Collagen – Only had a little sachet of this but would be keen to try more. Algenist is a great brand.
- Clark’s Botanicals Retinol Rescue Overnight Cream – A sachet sample wasn’t really enough to tell me anything about this product, apart from the fact that it exists.
- Foreo Glow Addict Enhanced Brightening mask*
- Foreo H2Overdose Hyalironic Acid-enfused mask* – Couple of outings for my UFO2 device. The app has had an upgrade so it’s easier to use. Still enjoying it and hoping to use it more in February.
- NARS Laguna bronzer – I’ve been using this for years, and only managed to use it all up by utilising it as eye shadow as well as bronzer. Quite proud of how deep pan I managed to go on this.
I’m kind of shocked as to how many products I used up in January. And so many cleansers! I guess that’s because I’ve been using up travel sizes and the fact that January was about a billion years long..
Product of the month
This was a toss up between L’AVES terrific eye serum and the gorgeous Frånk by ånd fragrance .
And the winner is…
Frånk by ånd fragrance. This was such a beautiful, evocative scent. If I sit still and remember, I swear that I can smell it again now.
Now I am going to chuck/recycle/repurpose and empty the wash bag ready for what February brings. This has to be one of the most satisfying blog posts I’ve created in a long time. See you at the end of the month.