little white truths

Hello and welcome to another empties post for November.

We're so close to the end of the year now and I've been working hard this month to get through as many products as possible, so I can start the new year with a wave of fresh items in the bathroom and on my desk. This includes both makeup and skincare, since many of the products I'm using have been around for a while and I'm ready to move on to other things.

Anyhoo! Here's my next bundle of empties for this month.

Full review here. This came from Maslow & Co and while I quite liked it, it's expensive for what it is (the full size costs $76 AUD) so I wouldn't buy it and I don't think you need to spend that much on a decent exfoliant.

It's a turmeric-coloured powder and you add it to a carrier (I use water) before applying it to your face. Look, it worked well as an exfoliant, but an expensive powder that's messy to use like this would need to be pretty amazing for me to want to buy it, and this wasn't. Plus it always dyed my face the colour of turmeric and got in my eyes when I used it, which was annoying. Purchase? No.

Kevyn Murphy Plumping Wash and Plumping Rinse

The wash was absolute rubbish. It didn't clean my hair at all so what I had to do was double-wash with another shampoo (I always double-wash) and then use this afterwards to see if it did anything else (it didn't).

The conditioner, however, was lovely and it left my hair feeling super nourished and soft. It smelled nice too. Having said this, while I normally get four or five days between washes, with this conditioner my hair was dirty and gross by day two or three. Not ideal.

I didn't notice any plumping with either product - although my hair is textured, frizzy and wavy so perhaps that's why - and you might see more results on fine, straight hair. Purchase? No.

These also came from Maslow & Co and I remember struggling when I reviewed them because there wasn't much to say about them - aside from how they smelled and the fact that they were little oils that you add to your regular skincare (eg your moisturiser) to super-charge it. See that review here.

Basically the only one that did something 'extra' for me was the Po+R Hydration: it was very hydrating so it kept my dry skin feeling nourished and comfortable. Yes the other two also helped nourish my skin - of course they did, I was adding oil to non-oily products - but they didn't do enough to leave a mark.

All these are, are expensive and very small products (the full sizes are only 5ml) and they require an extra step because you need to open another bottle and add more product to whatever product you've just opened. I personally would rather just buy the right skincare and use that. Purchase? No.

Asap Gentle Cleansing Gel

Full review here. This product was ok. It was definitely gentle and it was fine for the morning spot (I used it as my second cleanse), but it didn't remove makeup well and it wasn't something I loved using because it didn't grab me. 

Having said this, it wasn't a bad product and it never left my skin feeling stripped so you could certainly do a lot worse than this and I think it would suit sensitive skin. Maybe the issue is that I've used so many cleansers and have found so many I love, that this one was a bit meh by comparison. Purchase? No.

Merumaya Melting Cleansing Balm

I really enjoyed this product and I'm sad to see it go, although by the end I was ready to move on and try something else because it lasted such a long time. I've reviewed it here.

It was a standard cleansing balm and it smelled quite strong (herbs and ginger) so if you don't like scented products then I would avoid this. It removed makeup well but I tended to use it in the morning as my first cleanse, and it left my skin feeling clean and hydrated after use. Plus it was super easy to remove (some balms/oils aren't), which matters to me because I don't like the ones that you need to hack off. Repurchase? Yes.

Project Pan items

As always I won't go on too much about these here because I've already talked about them to death, but I will let you know briefly what I would and wouldn't repurchase.

In sum

Hooray for more empties! The best items in this lot were the Hourglass bronzer and the Merumaya cleansing balm. Everything else I can live without.

Let me know in the comments if you've finished anything amazing this month: I'd love to hear.

Hope all's well with you, and speak soon x