Trimming My Stash - December 2019 Edition - Empties, Mini Reviews And A 2019 Round Up*

Before I continue with my long overdue unboxing posts I thought I'd a little break from all of the newness and take you back to 2019 again, with my December empties.

Elemis Skin Nourishing Hand Wash - 200ml
#6 Micellar Cleansing Water - 200ml
Anatomicals Boob Tube Grab Your Melons Shower Gel - 50ml
Cussons Carex Fun Edition Mr Tickle Antibacterial Hand Wash - Sherbet Lemon - 250ml
Total - 4 Items

Despite all of my promises to end 2019 on a high, December ended up being a bit of a damp squib, and I only managed to finish 4, not very interesting items.

1. Elemis Skin Nourishing Hand Wash - 200ml

Despite Mummy Lou's continuing, and very environmentally conscious love affair with the humble bar of soap, as a pet owning household we go through quite a lot of hand wash. Although we normally finish a bottle or so a month I don't normally include it in my trimming my stash totals because to be honest it always it seems to be more of a household item rather than something that I finished but breaking the habits of a lifetime December's empties total actually contains 2 hand washes. 

The first one that I'm going to talk about was actually part of a gift set that I received a few Christmas' ago, from luxury British spa brand Elemis. Now, whilst writing this post I've searched high and low for it online but unfortunately I can't find it anywhere so I've came to the conclusion that it was either a QVC UK exclusive or it was a limited edition.

To call this just a hand wash is actually a bit of a disservice - from their famous Skin Nourishing range, this hand wash is actually much more of a hand treatment. Containing camellia, cotton seed extract, and milk proteins, just a small amount of this thick, opaque gel, produced a gentle, light weight, but really nourishing and moisturising foam, you actually felt as though you were giving your hands a treatment rather than just washing them. The treatment aspect was also compounded by the soft and creamy,  almost powdery, gentle floral scent that runs through the entire Elemis Skin Nourishing range.

Perfect for dry hands or just hands that needed some love I'm really sad to see the back of this but thankfully I still have quite a few products from the Skin Nourishing range to use up including the corresponding hand cream. If you haven't tried this range, then I would thoroughly recommend it, it's ideal for skin that easily irritated, and skin that needs a bit of moisture. You can buy Elemis products from a variety of retailers online including QVC UK, Debenhams, John Lewis, Look Fantastic and Feel Unique.

2. #6 Micellar Cleansing Water - 200ml

Next up a skincare item, and something from Poundland's #6 skincare range. When it comes to beauty I'm not a snob, I love brands and luxury as much as the next person, but I'm not frightened to try dupes, and bargain basement items - if I love it, great! if I don't I haven't wasted my money.

The #6 range was designed to deliver a range for all skin types, that delivers healthy looking skin on a budget, but containing high end ingredients such as ceramides, Vitamins A and E, and algae extracts.

For just £1 an item, the first item that I tried from the range was their micellar water, which is hypoallergenic, dermatologically tested, opthamologically approved, alcohol and fragrance free, and suitable for vegans. Containing Pro Vitamin B5, aloe vera, chamomile, and Vitamin E it is designed to remove make up, cleanse, smooth and purify the skin.

The packaging is pretty basic, a clear plastic bottle with flip top cap, and to be honest the contents doesn't look very exciting either, it just looks like a typical micellar water, aka a clear water like liquid, with no real scent. Performance wise it was pretty gentle on the skin, it removed even long wear make up without too much effort. Like a lot of micellar waters I did find it tingled slightly when it was left on the eyes. I didn't find drying on the skin and I didn't see any redness but it did leave a slightly tacky finish on the skin which took a few minutes to subside.

For just a £1 this wasn't bad and whilst I wouldn't buy it and use it regularly I wouldn't hesitate to pick it up in an emergency or to use it again. It's certainly not the worst micellar water than I've ever used and as I often say I've definitely spent more than this and liked a product less, so I firmly believe that you don't always get what you pay for. You can find the #6 range in Poundland stores.

3. Anatomicals Boob Tube Grab Your Melons Shower Gel - 50ml

The next December empty is something that I think that I received in a subscription box. It's a quirkily named, melon scented shower gel from Anatomicals, that was produces in association with breast cancer charity Coppafeel.

I'm not a huge fan of melon scents but to me this is just a very fruity scent, with a hint of a floral, that I loved. I can't find this mini tube anywhere online but you can buy the full 250ml size from ASOS for around £3.49, and 80p of that goes to Coppafeel. Thanks to the November 2019 edition of Pink Parcel (the least said about the debacle that is Pink Parcel at the moment the better though!) I have another full sized bottle in my stash but this is definitely something that I would consider repurchasing.

4. Cussons Carex Fun Edition Mr Tickle Antibacterial Hand Wash - Sherbet Lemon - 250ml

Finally another hand wash and something else that I actually bought in Poundland. This was just a cheap impulse buy that I picked up because I'm a bit of a fan of Mr. Men & Little Miss. It was nowhere near as luxurious as it's Elemis counterpart, but it was gentle, it was antibacterial (essential if you have cats), and it had a lovely, fruity, sugary, lemon scent.

I'm currently using a festive AVON hand wash but I've already picked up the Mr. Bump Tutti Frutti version to try. The price for these hand washes does vary quite a lot, you can get them for as little as 95p, to £1 in Poundland, Boots, and Tesco, to as much as £1.89 in Superdrug, so shop around if you can.

So that was December Trimming My Stash, and that was 2019, but just how did I do in 2019 overall? Well let's see...

January - 4 Items

February - 5 Items

March - 8 Items

April - 8 Items

May - 4 Items

June - 3 Items

July - 5 Items

August - 8 Items

September - 11 Items

October - 5 Items

November - 2 Items

December - 4 Items

Total - 67 Items 

Well, in total in 2019, I managed to finish a grand total of 67 beauty products. It sounds like a lot but like Decembers total it turned into a bit of a damp squib. 2019 was actually my worst year since I started counting down my empties, and I was 5 products down on last years total of 72. I'm a little bit disappointed but despite that I think that 2019 was the first year where I've actually been able to see my stash diminishing. I definitely didn't buy as much beauty stuff in 2019, I had several good sort outs, I gave some things away, I binned a few bits, and I finished a few ancient products that had been hanging around in my bathroom since the year dot.

It goes without saying that I'm going to continue to trim my stash in 2020. The same goals will apply, to finish as many beauty products possible, to buy less, and to try and only buy what I need. I made a good indent into my bath and body products in 2019, and whilst I'm hoping that I can keep that up in 2020, I'm also going to try and make more of a dent in both my skincare and my make up stash than I did last year, and of course I'm going to share my journey with you every step of the way, starting with my January empties in a week or so x Let me know if your doing something similar and if you have any questions on any of the products that I finished in December or on anything else then leave me a comment below x 

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