Products I've Used Up

Before we move on the weekend, I needed to clear out the big bag of products that I have finished in the past couple of months from beneath my desk. 

First of all, to get it out of the way, a few of the items here are actually Tim's. Two of them are the Head & Shoulders Pyrithione Zinc Dandruff Shampoo for Men in Active Sport and the Old Spice Matterhorn Body Wash. Tim has really sensitive skin and a really dry scalp. So he has to use a dandruff shampoo that isn't too harsh. The Head & Shoulders ones all seem to do a good job, but he likes the manly smelling ones best. I've already repurchased another bottle, but I bought the collaboration Head & Shoulders has done with Old Spice. My Dad used Old Spice aftershave for years, and while they've significantly modernized the different smells, I just get nostalgic over Old Spice stuff in general. I bought Tim the body wash because of it and I'm so glad I did. The Matterhorn scent is so good. Every time he showered with this I wanted to seduce him. Too much info? Sorry! It just really smells that good. I couldn't find it to repurchase, so I bought him the Old Spice Champion one instead, but it doesn't smell as good or linger as long. The Matterhorn scent is still listed on their website, so I'll just have to look around for it a bit more. I bought both of these products originally at Shoppers Drug Mart.

I was so sad when I finished up this tub of Lush Ocean Salt Face and Body Scrub. For one, it's really expensive. And besides that, I absolutely love this stuff. The sea salt is really coarse and gritty so that you really feel like it's exfoliating. I get lots of ingrown hairs and bumps and I found this helped a lot. Plus it's nice and moisturizing. It doesn't have a strong scent at all. I haven't repurchased this yet because I have a Soap & Glory scrub to get through, but the next time I'm at Lush I'm definitely picking up another one of their scrubs. I bought this one at Lush in Boston.

I (boringly) used up a canister of Gillette Satin Care Passionista Fruit Shave Gel. I have nothing bad to say about this. It smelled okay, it worked well. I've never met a shave gel that really stood out to me. Also finished are canisters of L'Oreal Elnett Satin Extra Strong Hold Volume with Pro-Keratine Hair Spray and Batiste Original Dry Shampoo. The L'Oreal Elnett is a cult product that deserves every bit of praise it's received. It has great hold but doesn't get crunchy. If you comb or brush through it, it doesn't flake. It doesn't smell overly heinous. I just wish someone would explain the difference in all the different strengths and holds to me. I don't understand them. I've already bought another bottle of this. I love the Batiste for keeping my hair looking good without greasiness. I have really, really fine hair and it gets greasy at the roots very quickly. The Batiste also adds in some volume. Because my hair is dark, it can look very white and powdery on, but I just take the time to really massage it in with my fingers and it's usually okay. I HATE the scented versions of this. Especially the Blush or Blossom - the pink one. It's very strong, and very chemical smelling. They didn't have the Original version in stock when I went back to Shoppers to buy this, so I bought the Fat Hair dry shampoo instead. 

I finally used up the tub of my favourite Davines Melu Mellow Anti-Breakage Lustrous Shampoo with Spinach Extract for Long or Damaged Hair. This stuff is the best I can find for long, thin hair. I had such incredible results stopping breakage with this stuff. It's really moisturizing and protective, but it doesn't weigh my hair down at all. It's pricey, but I would absolutely recommend it if you have long and damaged, or long and fine hair. It doesn't take much, so it lasts a long time. I buy it at Catalina Salon. They're currently out, so I'm just waiting for it to come back in stock.

Three more full-sized products I finished are the Soap and Glory Hand Food Hydrating Hand Cream, Bioderma Sensibio H2O Micelle Solution for Sensitive Skin, and Lancome Bi-Facil Double Action Eye Makeup Remover. The Soap and Glory hand cream is my favourite hand cream for work. I'm an accountant and work with paper all day in a dry office environment, so I go through a lot of hand cream. This one smells great, very light and not offensive when you're working in an office. It's nicely hydrating, but not sticky or oily. The Bioderma is another cult product and I completely agree. It's amazing. It's so gentle on your skin. But it's a really good cleanser that even takes off a lot of eye makeup without a lot of work. I've never had any problem with it getting into my eyes and hurting. This is my lazy night solution when I don't want to actually wash my face but I need to take off the day's makeup. It's also what I use first thing in the morning when I don't shower to wipe the sleep and oil off of my face and just prep my skin for moisturizer and serums. For days when I'm wearing a lot of eye makeup or just want something that works a bit faster than the Bioderma, I use the Bi-Facil. It's a double phase cleanser, so some kind of a water based and oil based cleanser in one. You shake it and they mix. The oil is really gentle on your eyes and way better at removing makeup than a water based cleanser. Once it sits for a bit it settles back into the two separate cleansers. I have been using this cleanser for years. I've tried other brands, but keep coming back to this. It's just so good. I've already repurchased all of these items at Shoppers. 

The last two full-sized products I've finished are the OPI Matte Nail Envy Nail Strengthener and L'Oreal Paris MagicLumi Concealer in Light. The OPI Nail Envy is my favourite base coat. It's strong, dries quickly, and protects my nails from discolouration from the coloured polishes I use. I don't know if I actually buy into it improving my nail condition. My nails are still super weak and tend to split easily. I do feel like it extends the length of my manicures. I've already repurchased another base coat from this line from Winners. I love using the MagicLumi concealer to brighten up my undereye area. I do generally use it over my Lise Watier concealer that provides more coverage. I thought that I would try out the Maybelline DreamLumi and I can't wait until it's finished to go back to the L'Oreal one. The Maybelline one just goes on too pink. It's not as brightening.

I have also managed to finish a whole bunch of samples from my stash. I actually gave the Lancome Creme Radiance Clarifying Cream-to-Foam Cleanser for Normal/Combination Skin to Tim because he was breaking out and really oily over the summer. He LOVED it. The foam consistency means he doesn't have to lather it up (so lazy), it doesn't really have any smell to it, and it's really gentle. I've already purchased him the full size of this. 

I used up a little bottle of the La Roche Posay Physiological Foaming Water and didn't like it as much as the Bioderma. I felt like it wasn't quite as cleansing and left a residue on my skin. Plus it had more of a scent to it. 

I did really like the Vichy Capital Soleil Sheer Lotion SPF 60 Bare Skin Feel - even more than my La Roche Posay facial sunscreen I'm using now. It felt like it absorbed into my skin better and was a better base layer for makeup. I'm really fair, so I like to wear a strong sunscreen most days. The Vichy Liftactiv Serum 10 for Eyes and Lashes was a neat product too. I liked that you could spread it completely across your eyes. I used it underneath my regular eye cream. I didn't see a huge difference from using this tiny sample, but I would consider buying a full-size to really give it a good shot.

I've gone through tons of these little bottles of Lancome Genifique Youth Activating Concentrate. I use Lancome foundation and the Bi-Facil, so if you order online you can always time it to get their sample sets, which are really amazing. They generally have a full eyeshadow quad and lipstick, a moisturizer and/or a serum, and are always in gorgeous little makeup bags. I really love their serums. I still have lots of samples, but I would consider buying a full-size bottle eventually. The Murad Rapid Collagen Infusion Serum is the same for me. The sample was too tiny to tell if it had any results, but I really loved the feeling of this serum. I would definitely consider buying a full size, but I don't think Shoppers carries this. I have been super leery of this whole BB cream trend lately. Not because I don't like the skin benefits they claim, but because none of them seem to be light enough for my skin tone. There just aren't enough shades in most lines. But I got a sample of this Garnier Miracle Skin Perfecter for Combination to Oily Skin in Light from a magazine and I really like it. Enough to buy it next time I'm in Shoppers. It doesn't feel like you have any makeup on, but it gives light to medium coverage. It just makes your skin look really good and it is definitely light enough for my pale skin. 

I used a few of my one-time-use fragrance samples. I need to be better about this, since I still have a whole drawer of them. I loved each of the Ralph Lauren The Big Pony Collection for Women 4, Givenchy Play for Her Eau de Parfum Intense, and Givenchy Play for Her Eau de Parfum. I don't need any more perfumes right now, but if anyone wanted to give me a gift, these are all really up my alley.

Such a long post!! Now that I have the blog back up and running, I'll try to do these more frequently so they aren't so overwhelming.