Trimming My Stash - August 2021 Edition - Empties And Mini Reviews*

Hi all, I hope you all had a good weekend x Mine to say the least was mixed, it started off on Friday when I had a whole host of technical problems, and that pretty much set the tone for the rest of the weekend!

Never mind though, my productivity increased as the weekend went on, and even though I didn't manage to post what I wanted to, I still managed to get my nail post up on Saturday night, and I managed to get this one, my August empties post, drafted yesterday.

Lanolips Antibacterial Hand Cream - 50ml
Nivea Q10 Multi Power 5 In 1 Firming + Cellulite Gel - 200ml
EOS Evolution Of Smooth Essential Hand Lotion - Berry Blossom - 44ml
Soap & Glory Melty Talented Dry Skin Balm - 30g
AVON Senses Winter Treasure Raspberry And Vanilla Liquid Soap - 250ml
BYBI Strawberry Booster - 15ml
Nair Wax Strips - Face - 12 Wax Strips
Beauty Pie Soul Providers Re-Energizing Dry Oil Sugar Scrub - 475g
Naobay Detox Illuminating Micellar Water - 200ml
Creightons Cocoa Butter Softening Hand Cream With Vitamin E - 50ml

Total - 10 Items

I know I hinted at it in my July empties post, but yes in August I secured the hat trick, and I managed to finish another 10 items! Again a nice mix of body and skin care products, with a few products that you've seen before and a few more bargain buys.

1. Lanolips Antibacterial Hand Cream - 50m

First up, the first of 3 hand creams in this post, and this one is from the dry skin specialists, Lanolips. If you haven't heard of this cult brand, where have you been? Lanolips is a beauty brand that is based on the power, and the healing properties of pure grade, cruelty free, lanolin.

Particularly famous for their lip balms, they've now branched out into skin care and body care. I think that I got this particular hand cream in a previous edition of Glossybox UK, and sadly, based on my own research, I think that it's now been discontinued.

This wasn't just a hand cream though, it was an antibacterial hand cream, so it was perfect for these germ obsessed times. Designed to condition and protect, this hand cream claimed to kill 99% of all germs whilst at the same time moisturising and protecting the hands.

With a creamy texture, this white hand cream had a really fresh, clean green, herbal scent that reminded me a bit of pine needles and fresh rosemary. It was fairly easy to massage into the skin, and it almost seemed as though it was coating the skin. It was a touch tacky at first but it did eventually absorb in to skin leaving the hands smooth and protected.

This really was the perfect hand cream for a COVID winter so it's a real shame that it seems to have been discontinued.

2. Nivea Q10 Multi Power 5 In 1 Firming + Cellulite Gel - 200ml

Okay, I can almost hear the words that you're currently shouting at your screen right now - something along the lines of "anti cellulite products are a scam" and you can't firm your thighs by rubbing in a cream" and yes I hear you, but I do actually really like this product!

Did I notice a visible difference in my cellulite within 3 weeks like Nivea claim? To be honest not visually but my skin on my bottom and thighs certainly feels smoother and softer, and I love the fresh, fruity scent of this turquoise gel, so I've bought a couple more tubes and I'm going to keep using.

The RRP of this product is £11.99 but I didn't pay that I was suckered in on a half price offer, so if you fancy trying this for yourself then keep an eye out in Superdrug, as this is often on offer for around £5.99 or on a buy one get one free.

3. eos - Evolution Of Smooth Essential Hand Lotion - Berry Blossom - 44ml

Next up another hand cream, and this one was another £1 bargain buy from Poundland. From another cult brand eos, Evolution Of Smooth, this is one of several different types of hand cream in their range.

Packaging innovators, this hand cream comes in an almost ergonomic style, easy to hold pod shaped tube, with a flip top cap.

Containing shea butter, aloe vera, cocoa and oat extracts, this fruity / floral scented hand cream is yellow in colour, and has a light, creamy texture. It's super quick to absorb and it leaves the hands feeling silky smooth and smelling heavenly.

I really loved this hand cream and I particularly loved the soft floral combined with fruit berry notes of the Berry Blossom scent, but whilst it feels good in the palm of your hand, the pod style packaging does make it quite difficult to get the product out. It's made of quite firm plastic so it isn't the easiest tube to squeeze, and it's also pretty hard to cut it open and get the last dregs of product out,

I do have another one of these also in Berry Blossom to use up, and I also have another one in the Fresh Flowers scent to try, but I would definitely consider buying it again in the future.

Despite seeing a few other eos products in Poundland recently, I haven't seen this particular hand cream for quite a while now, but if you fancy trying this one for yourself. you can pick it up for around £2.99 from various places including eBay, Amazon, Direct Cosmetics, and Beauty Outlets.

4. Soap & Glory Melty Talented Dry Skin Balm - 30g

With Christmas on its way, it shouldn't be too long before the Boots Christmas Gift Guide is out. It's definitely one the signs for me that Christmas is on its way, and I love nothing more than reverting back to childhood and circling the things that I want, and trying to work out what this years Star Gifts are going to be.

The next empty that I am going to share with you is a product from one of the famous Soap & Glory Star Gifts, and like so many of the original Soap & Glory products this one too appears to have been discontinued.

Packaged in a retro style, metal tin, this multi use dry skin balm contained a combination of coconut and almond oils, mango butter, and vitamin E as well as wheatgerm and castor seed oils.

With a semi solid texture, this natural yellow balm, with a subtle vanilla / coconut scent, melts on contact with the skin. Being a multi use balm you could pretty much use this anywhere that needed a bit of extra moisture, from your lips, to your knees and elbows, the ends of your hair, and to your hands and cuticles.

I mainly used this as a cuticle treatment and as a hand moisturiser. You only needed a tiny fingernail size amount for all 10 nails, a little went a very long way. It felt very moisturising, and obviously a touch oily, but at the same time it didn't feel too heavy or sticky. It took a little while to absorb but the skin immediately looked more hydrated and glowy.

This was a really nice hand and cuticle product, and I can imagine that it would have been great for dry patches or for people with generally drier skin. I know this particular product retailed at around £5 but as I say it's out of stock on the Soap & Glory website, and I can't find it at all on the Boots website, so it look as though it's gone for good. 

5. AVON Senses Winter Treasure Raspberry And Vanilla Liquid Soap - 250ml

Next up another hand care product and this time it's a liquid hand soap. Although I've been using a lot of Carex hand washes lately, I'm a huge fan of a lot of the seasonal fragrances in the AVON Senses range, and also of their Care range, and this one Winter Treasure Raspberry And Vanilla, was I think for either last year or the year before.

Bright red in colour, it wasn't the most outwardly festive scent that I've ever smelled, instead it had more of a warm fruity scent.

Alas this particular scent has now been discontinued (although you might still find the odd product on eBay) but I just had a look at the latest AVON book and this years festive shower gel and hand wash scent is Gingerbread. I do love me some gingerbread scents so I'm definitely going to be ordering myself both a hand wash and a shower gel.

6. BYBI Strawberry Booster - 15ml

The next item on the list is the first of two products that I received in the January 2020 edition of Glossybox UK, and you can read my full review here x 

I don't really have too much to add to my original review - I still feel that it was very much a seasonal product for someone like me with a more oily skin, and I'm still disappointed that it didn't have more of a strawberry scent, it smelled quite oily, and that scent only got stronger the longer the bottle was open. Personally I don't think that I'd repurchase this product but if you have a drier skin especially in the winter months that this could be something to try.

7. Nair Wax Strips - Face - 12 Wax Strips

If you read my June 2021 empties post then you'll have already seen me raving about these bargain priced wax strips, and about what a revelation they've been in my life! Again not too much to add other than I still love them and I'm going to keep buying them for as long as Poundland stock them!

8. Beauty Pie Soul Providers Re-Energizing Dry Oil Sugar Scrub - 475g

Now I'm not going to go into too much depth about Beauty Pie here as I have a few first impressions posts coming soon, but if you aren't familiar with it, it's basically a membership service, that allows you to buy high end products under the Beauty Pie brand, without the marks ups, and advertising costs of designer and high end brands.

After a friend bought me a few bits for Christmas, I signed up for my own membership at the end of December, this is one of the first products that I bought.

I'm a huge body scrub junkie and I'm obsessed with trying new ones, so it made perfect senses that I would try one of the two body scrubs that Beauty Pie offer as one of first items.

The one that I went for was the Beauty Pie Soul Providers Re-Energizing Dry Oil Sugar Scrub, which contains Demerara sugar, sea salt, lemon peel sweet almost oil, apricot kernel oil, evening primrose oil, Indian gooseberry extract, holy basil, black pepper, and cedrat lemongrass fragrance.  It also cruelty free and vegan.

It comes boxed and as well as the tub of scrub itself, you also get a lovely Beauty Pie branded, wooded scoop to stir and scoop out the scrub,

Peel back the protective seal and you're greeted with quite a coarse sugar and salt scrub containing smaller darker particles, including tiny pieces of lemon peel, with a layer of oil on top. You need to give it a stir first to mix the oil into the sugar mix, then you just scoop it out and massage it into the skin in circular motions before rinsing it away.

On the Louise scrubby scale this is quite a scrubby scrub, there is a lot of texture to it, and you really feel as though you've had a thorough spa like exfoliation every time you use it. The high oil content stops it from being too harsh though, and when you've rinsed the scrub away the oil almost turns into a milk, leaving the skin feeling almost glass like smooth and moisturised.

Oh and did I mention the scent? Look at the ingredients list and imagine the scent and you're probably thinking along the right lines; it smells beautifully spa like with a real citrus hit of lemongrass - gorgeous and both refreshing and relaxing!

This is by one of the best, if not the best body scrubs that I've ever used, it smells gorgeous. it's really scrubby, and it leaves the skin super soft - it therefore goes without saying that I've already bought another pot. In fact I love this product so much that this scrub alone has justified my Beauty Pie membership.

Beauty Pie members pay £10.37 for this 475g tub, which has a typical recommended retail price of £50. If you want to try Beauty Pie for yourself then you can use my personal recommendation link here or type LOUISE_HOLLOW into the recommended by a friend box when you sign up, for £10 off your first order, and because Beauty Pie are nice like that I'll get £10 off my next order too, so I guess that's an #affiliatelink :)  

If you're interested in finding out more about my experience so far with Beauty Pie then make sure you stay following my blog to see my first impressions make up hauls, which should be up sometime in the next few weeks x 

9. Naobay Detox Illuminating Micellar Water - 200ml

Next up another skincare product, and like the BYBI Beauty Strawberry Booster, this product also came in the January 2020 edition of Glossybox UK, and again you can read a full review here x 

This product I guess sums up one of my frustrations with Glossybox, I potentially would have repurchased quite a few more products that I've been introduced to by Glossybox, including this one, but so many things are just too hard to find, even with the entire internet at your disposal, which is a real shame.

10. Creightons Cocoa Butter Softening Hand Cream With Vitamin E - 50ml

Finally we have another hand cream, and this one was another bargain buy, this time from Home Bargains. Established in 1954, Creightons are an award winning British company who design, create and manufacture a wide range of 100% cruelty free, skin care, hair care, body care, and wellbeing products.

As you know I love me some cocoa butter, so I couldn't resist giving this hand cream a try. Containing cocoa seed butter and vitamin E, this hand cream comes packaged in a metal look, plastic paint style tube. The product inside is creamy white in colour, and it has a light but dense creamy texture. Rather than the true chocolate, vanilla scent of cocoa butter, this hand cream has a much subtler almost vanilla yogurt type scent.

It was really easy to massage into the skin and it seemed to absorb quite quickly, leaving the skin smooth, and looking and feeling more hydrated.

For around £1 I would definitely consider buying either this one, or one of the other fragrances in the range such as argan or coconut again. I got mine in Home Bargains for around £1 but you can also buy it direct from Creightons for around £1.29.

So they were my August empties, and it was another solid performance with 10 empties. Could I do better in September? Well believe it or not I could! My September empties post will be up in a week or so, but in the meantime if you have any questions on any of the items in this post then please leave me a comment and I'll see you later this week with another post x 

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

A Life Update And Trimming My Stash - August 2017 Edition - Empties And Mini Reviews

After a pretty manic few weeks I've finally managed to grab a few minutes to sit down and blog. I wish I could say that I'd been away sunning myself but the reality is a little bit more boring than that, so I'm not going to bore you with too much of a life update. 

This week on the whole, has been a fun one though, I've combined a huge shopping trip, with lots of friend and family time, culminating in celebrating my mums birthday yesterday and a family meal tomorrow night. I'm not going to lie I'm exhausted and lacking spoons but when you've done or you're going to do, something that you enjoy it makes the drained feeling a little easier to stomach.

I know it's a bit of cliche but this year is really flying by, I can hardly believe that the first week of September is now done and dusted, despite my lingering hopes of an Indian summer, Autumn is definitely on it's way. I've drank my first Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte of the year, the Halloween and Christmas bits are starting to appear in stores and the leaves are beginning to fall from the trees. I'm still trying to cling on to the last remnants of summer but I need to stop kidding myself, August is long gone.

Sanctuary Body Scrub - 50ml
Benefit The Porefessional Instant Wipeout Mask x 1
Elemis Exotic Frangipani Monoi Moisture Melt - 35ml
Elemis Exotic Frangipani Monoi Bath And Shower Cream - 200ml
Creightons Creme de Coconut & Keratin Nourishing Conditioner - 250ml
Creightons Creme de Coconut & Keratin Moisturising Shampoo - 250ml
My Little Beauty Body Scrub - Sandy Shore - 210g

Total - 7 Items

Before we forget August completely though, it's time to take an all be it, late look back, at all of the beauty products that I finished last month. Although I'm nowhere near July's total, 7 items is still more than acceptable. There wasn't a lot of skincare again but I did finish a few pairs of products, that pleased my slim OCD side immensely.

1. Sanctuary Body Scrub - 50ml

This is a product that I've talked about on a few occasions. The Sanctuary range is one of the mainstays of Boots bath and body care brands, and it's a popular one when it comes to Christmas gift sets. I haven't bought a Sanctuary product in it's own right for a number of years now, but I do occasionally receive their products as gifts. This was a mini, travel sized body scrub that I probably got in a gift set. The smell of the Sanctuary products is intoxicating, an exotic mix of essential oil that creates a warm, slightly citrus scent. This is a gel based scrub that is full of fine, pumice based particles. It foams up nicely but it's just not scratchy enough for me. I would use it again if I got it but I wouldn't go out of my way to buy it myself.

2. Benefit The Porefessional Instant Wipeout Mask x 1

Next up a product from one of my favourite brands Benefit, and quite surprisingly it's a skincare product. I haven't tried a lot of skincare products from Benefit but I know for a fact that they have their devotees. In it's simplest terms these are a cross between a pore strip and a sheet mask. You pop the button and it soaks the mask with a pore refining solution. You then pop the mask on either your nose, your forehead or your chin and leave it for 10 minutes, before massaging the rest of the liquid over your face with the rough side of the strip. I know pores don't open and close like doors but this menthol scented, slightly tingly feeling strip definitely left my skin feeling a little bit smoother and tighter. I think these are on the verge of been discontinued by Benefit so if you want to try these get a move on! You get 8 masks in a pack and whilst they aren't a miracle product they do seem to improve the texture of your skin at least in the short term.

3. Elemis Exotic Frangipani Monoi Moisture Melt - 35ml
4. Elemis Exotic Frangipani Monoi Bath And Shower Cream - 200ml

Products 3 and 4 are both from Elemis Exotic Frangipani Monoi Moisture range. I'm a huge, huge fan of this range, if you want a luxurious bath and body range then this is definitely a one to try. With the beautiful exotic fragrance of tropical white flowers, infused with coconut oil, these products are perfect for pamper time, and they are even used in one of Elemis' post wedding treatments. The shower cream is rich, thick and moisturising, and it produces a rich, creamy foam that leaves you skin beautifully scented and feeling like silk.

The Exotic Frangipani Moisture Melt is a beautiful and unusual multi use product, solid at room temperature, pop the bottle into a bath or a bowl of warm water and it melts down to a beautiful, moisturising fragranced oil, that you can use on your body, your nails, your hair or even as a bath oil.

Both of these products are pretty expensive (the shower cream retails at around £26)  but if you want some luxury body treats and you love heady, white flower scents then you need the Elemis Exotic Frangipani Monoi range in your life.

5.Creightons Creme de Coconut & Keratin Nourishing Conditioner - 250ml*

6.Creightons Creme de Coconut & Keratin Moisturising Shampoo - 250ml*

Another coordinating pair of products and these were a budget shampoo and condition that I was recently sent to review. You can read my full review here x but for just £1 a tube I was pretty impressed with both the shampoo and the conditioner which in my experience proved that you don't need to spend a fortune on hair care basics if you don't want to or your if your budget doesn't stretch to it.

7. My Little Beauty Body Scrub - Sandy Shore - 210g

Finally a product from one of most recent My Little Boxes (check out my unboxing videos on You Tube) and it's another body scrub. This is from the My Little Box exclusive My Little Beauty brand, which unfortunately isn't available to repurchase in the UK. This was everything that I love in a body scrub and a little bit more besides. From the name you can probably already guess that this is a salt scrub, nice gritty grains, suspended in a moisturising oil. You could apply it to wet skin or if you wanted a real intense, almost painful scrub then you can use it on dry skin. It was nice and scrubby and it smelt beautiful - a combination of baby powder, and white flowers. I loved this and I'm gutted that I can't get any more x 

So it was a little bit late but they were my August empties, if you have any questions then leave me a comment and let me know x I've got a busy weekend ahead but I will hopefully be back on Sunday with a yummy recipe that I made for my mam's birthday and then next week with a haul, a review or two and a couple of videos xx

*Press Samples

Creightons Creme de Coconut & Keratin Shampoo And Conditioner*

Whether you're a new reader or whether you've been with me since the start. or even since somewhere in the middle, then you'll probably have already established how much I love beauty products. I'm a real beauty junkie and I love trying out new products and new brands.

Although I do repurchase certain things (mainly skincare) you could never describe me as loyal. I don't repurchase a lot of products now and I'm always on the look out for the next miracle product or the next big thing. You may have already realised that one of my weaknesses is hair care. When it comes to beauty products I'm not a snob, and over the years I've probably tried hundreds of different hair care products at all different price points, and I'm a firm believer that price and quality doesn't always go hand in hand.

When it comes to haircare I've loved products at both ends of the price spectrum, and I've disliked as many expensive products as I have cheap ones. In most cases I'm of the opinion that you don't always get what you pay for, it really is horses for courses and sometimes it's worth giving things a go especially if they are at a more affordable price point.

Over the next few months I have a lot of hair care reviews coming up on the blog, and in an attempt to provide something for everyone, I will be reviewing some high end products and some more budget friendly options. I know a lot of people love their high end and salon hair care products but in this day and age, high end hair care can often be an expense that some people just can't justify so today I'm start off by talking about two products, that definitely won't put a dent in your wallet.

Being a proud Brit, I love supporting British brands and one such brand is Creightons. Even if you have haven't heard of them I can pretty much guarantee that you will have seen at least a few of their products in both bricks and mortar stores and online. They produce a wide range of skin, body and hair care products that are all manufactured here in England. Their haircare line is particularly impressive when you consider that the majority of products in the line start at just £1. A lot of their haircare products also remind me a lot of some of the more mid range, salon and stylist driven brands all be it at a much lower price point. Creightons hair care line contains a variety of different products including shampoos and conditioners for both blondes and brunettes, as well as products for frizzy hair, curly hair, and for hair that is lacking in volume; They also have an Argan oil based range and a Coconut based range for people with drier or coarser hair

Quite a while ago now I was sent a couple of different shampoos and conditioners to try, I will be reviewing two products from the Beautiful Brunette range in a future post but today I'm going to talk about two products from the Creme de Coconut & Keratin range.

Both the shampoo and the conditioner come packaged in basic but practical, easy to squeeze plastic tubes, with a secure flip top lid. The shampoo comes in a brown tube and the conditioner comes in a creamy white tube, so it's easy to see exactly which one you're picking up and using when you're in the shower

This range is specifically designed for drier hair types, and both products contain a blend of 3 specially selected ingredients, coconut, keratin proteins, and vitamin E. The products are designed to hydrate, indulge and nourish the hair, whilst at the same time leaving it stronger, smoother and more manageable. The ingredients sound good as do the claims but just how good can a shampoo and conditioner that cost just a £1 a bottle be?

Creightons Creme de Coconut & Keratin Moisturising Shampoo - 250ml

First up the shampoo, and this particularly shampoo, contains a blend of coconut milk and keratin, alongside all of the other ingredients that you normally find in a shampoo such as water, and foaming agents (in this case SLS).

The shampoo itself has a slightly runny, gel like texture, and clear and slightly opalescent in colour. It took a little bit more shampoo than what I would usually use, but thanks to the SLS it lathers up into a really nice creamy foam, that rinses out easily and left the hair surprisingly smooth, and not as dry as I'd expected. If you had an oilier hair type then you could probably get away with just using the shampoo, but I felt that I needed a little bit more hydration so I generally used it alongside the accompanying conditioner

Creightons Creme de Coconut & Keratin Nourishing Conditioner - 250ml

Like the shampoo the conditioner also contains a blend of coconut milk, and keratin (the protein naturally found in both hair and nails) as well as Vitamin E, for that extra conditioning, nourishing boost.

The conditioner itself is a slightly pearlised, off white in colour, and it has a rich, creamy texture. It's thick and creamy but it's still easy to apply and it's easy to massage in and comb through freshly washed, damp hair.

The packaging doesn't really tell you how long to leave it on, so normally I just left it on for a few minutes, before rinsing. Despite it's creaminess it was easy to rinse out in the shower, and almost instantaneously I could feel the difference in my hair, it feel smoother and less tangled even when it was wet. When I left it to dry naturally it was definitely less frizzy, and it definitely felt softer, more controlled and more manageable.

I think that these two products just scream summer, not only are they perfect for when your hair might be feeling a bit dry and parched, but the creamy coconut scent also make you think of summer and tropical beaches even when it's dark and rainy outside. I have a love / hate relationship with coconut fragrances and flavours thanks to a bad experience with a certain coconut and rum based beverage, but I was okay with this fragrance, it was creamy coconutty and sweet but it wasn't too sickly.

Despite my opinion that paying more money doesn't always mean a better product I've got to be honest I was pretty sceptical as to whether these two £1 products would do their thing, but these products actually really surprised me.

As well as smelling great they also left my hair feeling clean, and well conditioned, and looking smoother and less frizzy. If you're not a fan of SLS and sulfates in your products then obviously these two products won't be for you, but personally I didn't notice any irritation or dryness, on either my hair or on my scalp.

The only real difference that I noticed with these products compared to say some similar, higher priced products was the amount that I needed to use. I think I'm in a minority but I'm one of those people that normally uses way more shampoo than conditioner, but with these products I actually finished both of the product at the same time, which is very unusual for me.

Whilst I can't guarantee that I'll repurchase either of these products, I definitely wouldn't be adverse to using them again. For the price I think that these products are pretty decent and they prove, at least to me, that you really don't need to spend a fortune on shampoo and conditioner. Creightons Creme de Coconut & Keratin Moisturising Shampoo and Creightons Creme de Coconut & Keratin Nourishing Conditioner both come in 250ml tubes and retail at around £1 a tube from various retailers including Asda, Primark, Wilko and Poundland. Are you a fan of budget haircare ? or is there such a thing as too cheap? Let me know in the comments x

*Press Samples