Empties Vol. 18: Mid-year check-in

It has been such a long time, I finally found the mood and a suitable stretch of quiet to dust off this old blog.  How have you been faring this summer?  More importantly, I hope you have been taking care of yourself throughout this pandemic.  The last few months had been incredibly stressful for me, with a nightmarish home relocation and several legal tussles that sucked up so much of my time and energy.  I had my 42nd birthday in July, and was contemplating writing a blog post to capture some thoughts, but spent my spare moments nursing some new plant babies instead.

It sounds cliched but in a blink of an eye, more than half the year had passed and we are now in August!  I was too busy before my move to properly photograph a whole load of empties, and I also binned a lot of products that I just wasn’t enjoying instead of packing them to my new home.  So I started fresh, with things that I had great hopes for.  The products that I am reviewing today were emptied as of June, but my thoughts about them remain relevant today.  Let’s hope I manage to get some fresh content out before Christmas creeps up on us again!

As you can probably already tell from the group snap above, I broke out all the big guns to properly pamper myself.  No expense was spared, even for my hair, and I LOVED all the haircare products here!

HAIRCARE

Fayre Beauty* is a haircare range brought in by a friend, formulated in Australia and designed to recreate a spa-like experience at home.  The entire range is paraben free, and features Moroccon Argan Oil and Vitamin E.  I loved how the shampoo cleansed well yet did not leave my hair feeling all tangled up.  The hair mask really softened my chemically-stressed out tresses, and reduced the frizz.  The deep conditioning hair oil felt thick on my hands, but I was amazed at how well my hair absorbed it and did not leave me feeling greasy or weighed my hair down.  My hair just does not feel the same after I moved onto other products.  You can shop it here (unaffiliated link).

I also went through a few other hair conditioners / treatments, as you can tell, I really use alot of this stuff!  The Ouai Conditioner is more of a daily conditioner and does not do as much intensive treatment as the Fayre Hair Mask, but can be a nice option if you don’t have time to wait for a hair mask to work on your hair.  Alternatively, you can opt for the Aveda Damage Remedy Daily Hair Repair.  This one only requires 3 minutes to be absorbed, so you can slather it on, and then do a body scrub or wash your face before rinsing off.  The Yves Rocher 2 in 1 Cream Mask* is a sample size, but I really enjoyed it while it lasted!  A nice rich texture that helped detangle my hair and keep it feeling soft.

BODYCARE

Not too many this round, as I was too busy to really indulge in scrubs and most times even forgotten about hand creams and body lotions… :(. But the 2 here, I really enjoyed.  Less is more, right?  The Oway Detox Body Bath* was a sample and I was genuinely surprised by how pleasurable it was!  Formulated with lots of skin-loving ingredients like Echinacea, Violet Rice and Skullcap, it has a slightly gel-like texture that doesn’t foam too much yet cleanses well and leaves my skin feeling perfectly balanced afterwards.  It is completely non-drying, which explained why I did not feel the need for my usual body lotion.  The Clarins Tonic Bath & Shower Concentrate is not new to me, but I had been saving this last bottle for awhile.  I love the intoxicating scent of essential oils it releases in the shower, and always makes me feel so pampered afterwards.  Definitely one to restock!

SKINCARE

Moving onto skincare, there are actually not as many here as it seems.  This is the only category where I felt sufficiently compelled to bring products from my old home with me.  There is a bunch of mini Sulwhasoo products here as I recently discovered a bunch of them in my collection that are near expiry.  These are too good to bin, so expect to see more of them in the next empties post as well.

I was also desperately putting my beloved La Mer creams to use before they spoil.  If you have been following me for some time, you would have seen La Mer products scattered throughout my empties post.  This Moisturizing Cool Gel* is my favorite out of all the La Mer moisturizers, and I am truly sad to see it go.  Someday when I finally run out of moisturizers, this will be the first thing I repurchase!

Another huge win here was the Shiseido Future Solution LX Eye & Lip Contour Regenerating Cream*.  I don’t know why I never got around to reviewing this, but this is sooo good!  The texture is silky and there is a slight floral scent, so luxurious and so pampering.  As with all the Future Solution products, this features the SkingenecellEnmei that encourages skin cells to regenerate.  My eye area is very easily irritated by eye products, most eye creams leave me feeling itchy, but not this!  It moisturizes my eye area perfectly, smoothing away wrinkles and giving my lids a much-needed lift.  I feel it also gives a brightening effect to reduce the appearance of dark circles.  Highly recommended!

If 2020 was the year for La Prairie skincare, 2021 is shaping up to be a year for Chanel skincare.  Chanel has been slowly revamping and improving their skincare products without much fanfare, but it is definitely no longer just an extension of a makeup brand, but really effective and luxurious products to contend with.  I will be sharing more in the next empties post, but for this round, just 2 cleansers to recommend – L’Huile Cleansing Oil* and La Mousse Anti-Pollution Cleansing Cream-to-Foam*.  Both are suitable for all skin types, and I would recommend using La Mousse alone for morning, and L’Huile followed by La Mousse in the evening.  Unlike some of the other cleansing oils that I have introduced here in the past, Chanel’s L’Huile is a relatively light oil cleanser that melts away heavy makeup without leaving oily residue on my skin.  It also does not have a strong scent of oil nor is it heavily fragranced.  La Mousse creates a luxurious foam and cleanses thoroughly without stripping my skin.

Just a quick word on the rest of the products in this category: Biore UV Aqua Rich* is a drug-store product that outperforms many high end departmental store sunscreens.  From its lightweight watery texture to the high high SPF rating, it is simply unbeatable in my mind.  Decorte Sun Shelter Multi-Protection* has more bells and whistles added to justify an inflated price.  Question is, do we really need our sunscreens to give us miniscule skincare benefits?  Fresh Kombucha Facial Treatment Essence* is a product I had used before but never quite saw noteworthy improvements to my skin.  Tea Tree Oil Spot Stick* is a brilliant spin on a product we all know works.  Now why can’t The Body Shop add a roller ball too??

Now, tell me, would you be interested in reading about either my hellish home relocation exercise, or a “lessons learnt” from living 42 years?

_{Many of the products discussed here (marked with *) were generously provided for my consideration.  Regardless, all opinions expressed here are my own honest, unbiased views.  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.}