Trimming My Stash - October 2020 Edition - Empties And Mini Reviews*

So, i'm playing super duper catch again, not just with Glossybox but also now with empties posts. I honestly don't know what I've been doing over the last month or so two to fall so behind on my posting (well actually I do) but I'm going to try and get as many posts as I can up before the end of 2020. So as the first snow of the seasons hits for a lot of us in the UK, let's take a look back to October.
 

Naobay Orange Juice Hand Cream - 100ml
MineTan Body. Skin Exfoliating Coffee Scrub - 30g
Beauty Pro Pumpkin Infused Sheet Mask - 1 x 22ml Sheet Mask
Superdrug Nourishing Nail Polish Remover Acetone Free - 200ml
Beuti Skincare Anti-Inflammatory Skincare Beauty Sleep Elixir - 30ml**
Sunday Rain Scrub Away Exfoliating Cubes Charcoal - 8 Cubes - 150g

Total - 6 Items

I didn't quite manage to read September's total of 8 beauty products, but I still managed to finish a fairly respectable 6 items. This post as you will see is a tiny bit of a cop out because I have talked about all of the items in it in the post, but that's just the way it goes sometimes, and as per usual I'm just happy to have finished a good amount of items and created a little bit of space.

1. Naobay Orange Juice Hand Cream - 100ml

First up something that I reviewed back in September. This lovely citrus hand cream from Spanish natural beauty and skincare brand Naobay, came in the July 2020 edition of Glossybox UK and you can read a full review of it here x 

I really love my hand creams and this was a nice one, it was really hydrating without being too greasy or sticky, and I love the slightly bitter orange scent. 

I would definitely consider repurchasing this one again, especially if it was a little bit easier to find x 

2. MineTan Body. Skin Exfoliating Coffee Scrub - 30g

Next up another Glossybox item and something that came in the September 2020 edition, which scarily I only talked about on the blog about a week ago!

From an Australian owned self-tanning brand, this was a coffee ground based body scrub that also contained salt and sugar grains, and loads of other nourishing and moisturising ingredients.

You can read a full review here, but I actually really like, it was scrubby enough without being scratchy, it left the skin feeling really smooth, and looking more even in tone, and the strong coffee aroma was perfect for creating that get up and go feeling first thing in the morning.

3. Beauty Pro Pumpkin Infused Sheet Mask - 1 x 22ml Sheet Mask

After a couple of Glossybox items, the next couple of items are actually things that I've actually chosen to buy. First up something that I bought to try and get myself into the Halloween spirit, whilst treating my skin at the same time to an infusion of pumpkin, ivy, bergamot, and chia extracts.

Again you can read my full review here but as far as Beauty Pro are concerned it was another winner, and vegan friendly to boot.

4. Superdrug Nourishing Nail Polish Remover Acetone Free - 200ml

From a little treat, to something that I buy and use on a regular basis, the Superdrug Nourishing Nail Polish Remover. 

I've used a lot of nail polish removers over the years but I keep coming back to this one. Despite being acetone free, it removes everything that you can throw at it, it smell okay (to my nose at least, Mummy Lou isn't keen though), and it's really affordable.

Although the packaging (and the price) has changed since I wrote this product rave post, the product inside is pretty much the same. Alas after a few months of decent nails, they all started to break, and I now have my little shorty nails again, and whilst I still have a few nails of the day posts to share with you, I will mainly be using this product to remove strengthener rather than pretty polish - ho hum :(

The Superdrug Nourishing Nail Polish Remover now retails at around £1.49 for a 200ml bottle, but you can usually get it on a buy one, get one half price offer, so I usually end up buying a couple at a time.

5. Beuti Skincare Anti-Inflammatory Skincare Beauty Sleep Elixir - 30ml**

Next up something that I rediscovered the dregs of back in September, and it's something that I fell in love with all over again.

This was a press sample and it was something that I talked about way back in 2016. This product made me fall in love with facial oils, and it made me realise that it isn't just dry skin that can benefit from the application a good quality facial oil.

It smells amazing and whilst you can use it during the day, it's has a perfect aromatherapy scent, that just screams bedtime. You also such a tiny amount it lasts for ages and it leaves the skin no matter what your skin type feeling super soft. You can read my full review here. 

Again the packaging has changed, as unfortunately has the price but it still seem to be the same product. A 30ml bottle of Beuti Skincare Beauty Sleep Elixir retails at £47 and is available direct from Beuti Skincare and also from selected Harvey Nichols stores.

6. Sunday Rain Scrub Away Exfoliating Cubes Charcoal - 8 Cubes - 150g

The final item in this post is the only one that I haven't actually written a full review of but I have mentioned it in depth here if that still counts.

I don't think that sugary, salty, charcoal based cubes are the most economical way to buy a body exfoliator, but they are fun to use, again they are nice and scrubby without feeling scratchy, and they leave the skin feeling super soft.

I think I will probably buy these again, but I want to try the normal charcoal scrub and the watermelon cubes first. The Sunday Rain Scrub Away Exfoliating Cubes - Charcoal retail at around £6 - £7 from various retailers including NEXT Beauty, Beauty Bay and ASOS. 

So there we have it a solid amount of empties with a slightly cop out ridden blog post - never mind! My aim with these countdowns is always to do better the following month, and if you take a little look in my sidebar then you'll know that November was a pretty decent month. Obviously I'll talk about that more in the next week or so but my focus has now shifted to December's total, and finishing the year with a bang rather than a whimper ;) Thanks for reading as always and don't forget to let me know if you have any questions, and I will see you in a day or so with another post xx

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

**Press Sample

AD / Press Sample - Beuti Skincare Beauty Sleep Elixir - A True Skin Saviour!* **

When it comes to my skin, I have to say that I think I'm fairly lucky. Yes, I had a bit of acne when I was in my teens, and I still bemoan my oily t-zone skin and large pores, and the occasional dry flaky patch, but overall I think I'm pretty luck to have escaped the major skin issues that so many people face on a daily basis. My mum is her seventies now and her skin is amazingly smooth and supple for her age so I'm hoping upon hope, that I've inherited her good skin genes.

Skin isn't just about genetics though, so many things can affect how our skin behaves from diet, to health, to lifestyle, to skin care products and of course that old chestnut, hormones. For many years my skins been pretty stable, but earlier this year I made the decision to stop taking the contraceptive pill. Within a matter of months, the hormonal breakouts of my teenage years returned with a vengeance, and my chin was scattered with a horrible, sore spots and bumps.

Concealer became my best friend, and spot killing and drawing products again became part of my skincare regime, and at that point I was willing to try anything to get my skin back to normal. Around that time I was given the opportunity to try out a new skincare product, that already counts the Duchess Of Cambridge, Emma Watson, Rita Ora, and Iggy Azalea as fans, I was hesitant at first for reasons that I'll come on to but when I read a little bit more about it I decided to give it a go.

Beauty Sleep Elixir is the first product to be released from new British company Beuti Skincare, whose aim is to provide effective, natural, animal friendly skincare products without any irritants or unnecessary chemicals. All of their ingredients are natural and organic where possible. The Beauty Sleep Elixir is in essence a multi functional product that acts as both a complexion booster and as an anti inflammatory and anti ageing facial oil.

In case you haven't guessed already the oil factor was what I was initially scared of. When you have oily skin like I do the whole oil thing can be quite scary, I always used to think that adding oil to oily skin would make it more oily but in reality that isn't how it works, oils can actually help to hydrate and balance an oily skin.

There are facial oils though and there are facial oils, and this 100% natural Beauty Sleep Elixir definitely falls into the latter category. Beuti carefully blend together a mixture of 14, yes 14! plant based oils, including camellia, chia seed, bitter cherry seed, strawberry seed, pomegranate seed, blueberry seed, cranberry seed, raspberry seed, sea buckthorn, sandalwood, lavender, geranium, neroli, and coconut.

This combination of oils was carefully chosen after years of research to tackle the very technical sounding inflammaging. In it's simplest terms this is inflammation of the skin due to pollution, sun exposure, general stresses and using the wrong skincare products, that can lead to the ageing of the skin. 

The Beuti Skincare Beauty Sleep Elixir provides the skin which a huge vitamin and mineral boost, that can help to reduce any inflammation on the skin and improve general skin tone, and ultimately help the skin to renew and repair itself while you sleep. 

Once I'd got over my initial hesitancy because of the oil texture I couldn't wait to give this a try. At the time I was looking for a solution to my uncomfortable, irritated, and inflamed skin, and I really wanted this little bottle to do it's thing and save my skin...

This oil comes boxed and packaged in beautifully, shaped frosted glass style bottle. and unlike a lot of facial oils that tend to have a dropper type application, this Beuti Sleep Elixir has a nice and easy to use pump action dispenser.

You can use this oil in two ways but be far the best way and way it was intended to be used, is as a night treatment. All you need to do is apply a couple of drops onto clean, dry skin just before you go to bed. The oil is a beautiful deep amber in colour, and although it's quite runny, it has quite a viscous texture, and a little definitely goes a long way, 1 or 2 pumps, are more than enough for both my face, my neck and the backs of my hands! You can also use a couple of pumps during the day either on bare skin as I've been doing or if you have a drier skin you can also use it under your make up.

As soon as you dispense this oil and start patting it into the skin, the fragrance hits you! Given the list of plant oils, you would expect this oil to smell amazing and it does. I don't personally smell any of the fruitier notes, instead I can smell the lavender and geranium essential oils, which makes this oil perfect for bedtime, and perfect for getting you into a more restful frame of mind.

Immediately after application the skin does look very shiny, and it does feel quite oily especially on my t-zone, but give it about 5 minutes and it starts to absorb into the skin, immediately leaving the skin feeling softer and more comfortable. The name of this product is the Beauty Sleep Elixir and after you've had a good nights sleep, after using this product your skin also looks and feels as though it's had a good nights sleep as well.

I found that my skin felt a lot softer, the texture and tone had improved and my skin was actually left with a bit of a glow. I've been using this product for nearly 4 months now and during that time despite the trials and tribulations of life I've noticed a real difference in my skin, it looks brighter and more even, and touch lots of wood, the blemishes and spots seems to be under control. It could be down to changes in hormones, but this oils seemed to instantly calm and soothe the sore spots on my chin, and since I've started using it the spots don't seem to last as long or look as red and inflamed as they did before.

So what can I say about this product, well if you have skin of any type or texture you need to try it! My mum used for about a week on her drier, more mature skin and she loved the feel of the oil and the scent, and I've loved the effect on my oiler skin. For so many years I've avoided facial oils like the plague, but if they're done well like this one is then they really can make all the difference. The careful blend of natural ingredients and extracts meant that this oil has not only been able to hydrate and balance my skin but it's also been able to calm and soothe my breakouts and sore patches. I can't recommend this product highly enough and in this case if it's good enough for celebrities and royalty then it's certainly good enough for me too. To find out more about Beuti please check out their official website. The Beuti Skincare Beauty Sleep Elixir retails at £47 for a 30ml bottle. It's available from their own website and from Harvey Nichols stores. It's currently showing as out of stock on Look Fantastic but they're expecting to restock later this week, get in there quick though if you can, as this oil usually sells out pretty quickly x If you have any questions please leave me a comment, and I'd love to know your thoughts on facial oils, are you a fan? let me know below x

*AD / Press Sample / Non Affiliate Links

** As Of 2020 The Packaging Has Changed