Monday 13 December 2021

Trimming My Stash - October 2021 Edition - Empties, Mini Reviews, And An Update*

Bonjour mes amis! I disappeared again didn't I! Sorry! My COVID booster knocked me for 6 for a few days, and then I came down with a stinking cold! Urgh! Never mind though, although I haven't been that visible on social media, and on the blog lately, I have been busy prepping blog posts for you, so fingers crossed you'll have lots of content to keep you busy in the run up to Christmas and beyond! 


Today I've got a little empties post for you, and after a pretty amazing 4 months, in October I came back down to earth with a bit of a bump!

The Body Shop Drops Of Youth - Youth Concentrate Sheet Mask - 1 x 21ml Sheet Mask
Sunday Rain Rejuvenating Body Scrub Acai Berry - 265g
Primark Alex Steinherr Pore Balance Blemish Rescue Stickers - 22 Stickers
John Frieda Radiant Red Red Boosting Conditioner - 250ml
Total - 4 Items

Yes, after four months of finishing 10 or more items in a month, in October I only managed to finish a pretty measly 4 products, but hey they all count don't they. Not a very exciting mix this time round but a few nice bits, and some things that I will definitely repurchase.

1. The Body Shop Drops Of Youth - Youth Concentrate Sheet Mask - 1 x 21ml Sheet Mask


First up a face mask, and this one was a free gift that came with my autumnal Vanilla Pumpkin haul from The Body Shop.

From their popular Drops Of Youth range, this biodegradable sheet mask contains a high concentration of their trademarked Drops of Youth ingredient. 99% of the ingredients in this mask are of natural origin, and include edelweiss, criste marine, and sea holly plant stem cells, as well as community fair trade moringa oil from Rwanda.

Designed to fresh, smooth, awaken and plump the skin, this was a really good quality mask, it was nice and thick and as a result it was really easy to unfold.

It felt really wet, but instead of a thin water like texture it felt more like a slightly oily serum, with a sweet, green herbal scent, that reminded me a bit of geranium or rose geranium essential oil.

Before


On application the mask immediately felt quite cooling on the skin, but like most sheet masks it warmed up on contact with the skin and it gradually seemed to dry out as my skin started to absorb the serum. I did feel a slight tingling sensation at first but it wasn't extreme or uncomfortable.

On Application


My skin really seemed to like this mask, and it seemed to really absorb the serum, so when I took it off there wasn't too much excess product left on my face, but as per the instructions I massaged the odd patch of leftover serum into my skin. My face felt a touch sticky but that quickly subsided leaving my skin just a touch softer and smoother.

To be fair though this mask isn't really about changing the texture of your skin, this mask is really about changing how it looks, and although you can't really see much in these pictures, in real life my skin definitely looked more hydrated and refreshed, which was exactly what that mask promised to do.

After


I have to say I really liked this mask, although I don't think it's something that I would use all the time, I would definitely use it again if I felt my skin needed a boost.

The Body Shop Drops Of Youth Concentrate Sheet Mask retails at around £5

2. Sunday Rain Rejuvenating Body Scrub Acai Berry - 265g


Next up a body scrub, and it's another one from Sunday Rain. I've used a few different scrubs from vegan body care brand Sunday Rain now and so far so good. Their body exfoliators seem to fall into two categories, their exfoliating cubes (You can read my thoughts on the charcoal ones here), and their more traditional style scrubs like the Mango + Coconut Polishing Scrub.

This Rejuvenating Acai Berry Body Scrub falls into the second category. Containing acai berry extract which is rich in Vitamin C, and natural sugar, this pale pink scrub is very similar texture wise to the Mango + Coconut scrub. It felt quite damp, and it contained small but present grains of sugar. It wasn't the scrubbiest or strongest of scrubs, but it did the job, it was easy to massage into the skin, and even though it's pretty gentle, you can really feel it working.

What I liked most about this scrub thought, was the fact that it turns into almost a creamy milk on contact with water, it was really easy to rinse away, mess free and it left my skin feeling lovely and soft and smooth.

As much as I liked the Mango + Coconut scrub, I think I actually like this one more, I loved the subtle, sweet fruity scent and who doesn't love a bit of pink in their bathroom! I will definitely consider buying this one again. If you fancy trying it for yourself then you can buy if from a variety of retailers including ASOS, Superdrug and Beauty Bay for around £6.

3. Primark Alex Steinherr Pore Balance Blemish Rescue Stickers - 22 Stickers


When it comes to Primark hauls this year has been a pretty barren one. Thanks to lockdown and ill health, I can count the number of times that I've been to Primark this year on one hand!

Have I missed it? Well yes and no! I've missed the freedom of real shops, and hunting for gems amongst the racks, but again it's really showed me that I can live without buying so much stuff. I have more than enough shoes and clothes, and more than enough beauty and make up products to last me a life time!

My buying and spending habits have got to change, and in 2022, they're going to with the return of Project 10 Pan, and the introduction of a spending diet or two. Obviously more on that to come, but before that I actually have a Primark visit planned for this week, so it's going to be one last hurrah, and whilst I'm there I'm definitely going to see if I can find another packet of these.

It's been so long since I've been to Primark that I don't even know whether or not they still stock the Alex Steinherr beauty collaboration, but if they do these are well worth picking up. Yes, you can get cuter shaped ones, but since you wear that overnight who really sees you wearing them? These were basically circular, velum like stickers that were infused with tea tree and salicylic acid, and were designed to help clear redness, reduce inflammation, and fight blemishes.

Perfect for individual and one off spots, making sure your skin is clean and dry, you stick a patch to the offending spot, head to bed and let it do its thing overnight. The next morning it will have gone one of two ways, your spot will be less red, and less obvious, or in some cases it may actually by bigger, and I'm sorry if this is too much information, it may have already burst or it may be ready to burst or to pop. You might need to apply them a couple of nights in a row for really stubborn spots, but either way my spots definitely didn't last as long and didn't look as angry when I used these patches. They really did what they promised and unlike some other similar patches that I've tried they didn't sting and they actually stayed put over night.

Obviously these patches aren't really for you if you have a lot of spots or acne, but if like me you get the odd hormonal spot, these patches can really help clear them up more quickly.

For just £3 for 22 patches I would definitely buy these ones again if I could, in the meantime though I have some similar patches from Korean inspired skincare brand Oh K! to use, so I'll keep you posted as to how I get one with those ones.

4. John Frieda Radiant Red Red Boosting Conditioner - 250ml


First up an apology, I'm sorry that you can only see half of an empty tube here but Mummy Lou got to it first, and I only just managed to retrieve half of it from the recycling bin!

A couple of months ago now I changed my hair colour again, going for a slightly more natural looking brown shade at the roots, and going from a redder shade from the mid lengths to the ends.

I love red on my hair but it fades so quickly that you really need to use some specialist products to give it a fighting chance of sticking around. One of my favourite specialist red hair ranges is the John Frieda Radiant Red range, and you can read my thoughts on this particular product here. I really like this conditioner and I will definitely repurchase it again in the future, even though I'm currently loving the TREsemme Colour Enhancing Hair Mask in Warm Red, which in my opinion is even better for enhancing red hair.

The John Frieda Radiant Red Red Boosting Conditioner has an RRP of around £6.99 for 250ml tube, and is available from various retailers including Boots, Feel Unique, Tesco and ASDA.

So they were my October empties, there weren't many of them but November's total as you can see 👉 (post coming soon!) was a little bit better, and here's hoping I can end 2021 on a high and boost my yearly total in December. Again if you have any questions please leave me a comment below, and if you've left me a comment in the last month, all comments (not spam though!) will be approved and responded to later this week x 

Thanks for reading and I'll see you later this week with a Glossybox unboxing x 

*This Post Contains Added Automatic Affiliate, Added Affiliate And Non Affiliate Links

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