Thursday, August 7, 2014

Empties Vol 2

My first empty is my holy grail of skin care products. In the past I have used acne focused moisturizers for my face, Retinol SA's, Retin A's, AHA's, BHA's, Salicylic Acid, Benzoyl Peroxide, OMG! You seriously have to study biochemistry engineering to be a woman, or a very self-conscious human being for that matter, to "look good". So when I came across a sample of Josie Maran's 100% pure Argan Oil, it was a blessing... that's literally all it contains: Argan Oil.

No fuss, no chemicals, just that. And guess what? My skin has never felt better; redness has been reduced, I hardly ever get any spots (sadly if I wear makeup I do get some), it doesn't feel oily, etc.
The pros could go on and on and the only "CON" is the price being a little out of my range although I can't really complain that much about the price either; I bought one full size bottle in Jan/Feb this year and I haven't finished the whole thing, we are now in August. It could've easily lasted me another month buuuut (this was unexpected) my partner has started using it to style his hair/treat a severe case of eczema he had for years which has been significantly reduced and has nearly disappeared since he started using Josie's Oil! Go Josie!

I know this isn't a "Single Product Review" post but I am in shock that now my guy is hooked on it too and he says he doesn't like using other styling products because this oil gives him  nice "natural" (non gooey) look. :)

Next empty that I swear by: It's a 10! Leave in Conditioner (purple lid, not orange). I've gone through 3 bottles already in the past 5 months.... I seriously need to find a dupe because this stuff is NOT pocket change friendly!  I am used to buying my own stuff with my own money, but I recently had to quit my job and go for anything else that was out there... and that meant a considerable pay cut. So nearly $20 for something that; yes, is amazing, but doesn't really give you the best bang for your buck (AKA tiny ass bottle) is NOT worth the splurge, unlike the previous mentioned product which was like $50 or $60 that has lasted about 6/7 months.

I thought I'd never go back to L'Oreal. I am currently on my second tub of L'Oreal's Total Repair 5 Damage Erasing Balm. It claims to repair up to 1 year of damage in one use. That's overrating yourself a bit L'Oreal. But I do have to admit that after a month of use I began to see positive results. The one day; my curiosity got the best of me. Once a weeks I will put some coconut oil in my hair, leave it over night in a silk scarf and wash in the morning. So one Sunday night I did the same thing and before pining my hair up into my scarf, I stared at my tub of Damage Erasing Balm and decided to experiment on my hair, rubbed some on my hands and braided my hair (already covered in coconut oil) with the Balm as-well. The next morning after wash and letting my hair air dry to about 70% I ran my fingers through my hair to detangle it..... OMG!!!!! My hair felt like baby hair, in a good way. It was crazy soft! And stays that way for days and days without weighing down my hair.

That's another empty, my organic coconut oil LOL.

The not so great one: Tresemme's Two Extra Hold Non-Aerosol Hair Spray. I know I've said in the past that I just don't like hairspray in general, but sometime you need a sleek look for a formal affair or a special event. So I bought this one day during my lunch hour because it was a crazy windy day in East Anglia and my do was all over the place. I chose unwisely. It took me forever to wash this out of my hair, made me feel like I had a helmet on my head, I tried to brush it out a bit before washing... didn't help. I had to wash it again and again. Now I'm not bashing on Tresemme, I love their regular hair spray, it's not too sticky and stiff but unfortunately it is in aerosol form. Sorry ozone :(