Empties #2

Over the past few months I've been tossing all of my used-up products into a box under my bed and pretty much forgetting about them. The other day I have having a little sort out and I stumbled across said box and was very surprised about how full it was!

I really like reading other people's empties posts as you get really honest reviews, so I thought I'd share mine with you today!

A lot of these products are conditioners - shout out to all the dry haired curlies out there - but I'll start off with the skin care products I've used up. These are literally in the order I picked them out of the box in, so sorry if I jump around at all!

 Olay Essentials Complete Care SPF15 Daily Fluid for normal/oily skin. I have loved this product ever since I first got into skin care (about 16 or so) and up until now it has been the only moisturiser I have ever used. I love how light weight it is - it soaks in so quickly and doesn't leave my skin feeling greasy. Sadly this product isn't cruelty free, so there will be no more repurchases for me!

Superdrug Dead Sea Mud Mask. I've spoken about my enjoyment of this in another post, and I've actually already re-purchased this product. I think they may have slightly changed the ingredients between purachses, though, as now when I use it my skin has a very small allergic reaction (it is hot and red for a while after removing the product). However, I've not let this stop me as I still love the effect of this product. I have quite oily skin and as the mask dries you can really see it pulling all the junk from your pores.

Superdrug Tea Tree Deep Cleansing Nose Strips. As I've said before, I suffer from blackheads as a result of not really washing my face throughout puberty. Like the mud mask, I love that you can really see the grime get pulled out of your skin when you use this. Sometimes the stick on the strips is a bit hit and miss (and if it doesn't stick straightway then the strip is useless), although I think that's probably down to my poor application rather than the product itself. I only ever buy these on offer as you only get five in a pack and they're £4 a pop - which I think is a bit of a rip off (if you'll pardon the pun).

B. Nourished Night Serum. I'd never tried a night serum before so when I saw this on offer I thought I'd pick it up. I love it, it applies really nicely and soaks in pretty quickly so you don't have to worry about getting greasy moisturiser over your pillow! You only need two pumps to cover your face. I've already re-purchased this (on offer, again) as I found my daily moisturiser was too heavy on my skin at night.

Marks and Spencer Limited Edition Foundation in the shade Nude. I'm actually not in love with this foundation - it takes quite a lot of blending to get it looking natural and it's perhaps slightly too yellow for my skin tone. That being said I very rarely wear foundation - only ever on nights out - and it provides pretty good coverage which is what I want. As you can see, I even chopped the top of the tube off to get the last bits of product out! I've already re-purchased this as it's cheap and does the job, but when I have more of a disposable income I'm going to look for a higher quality foundation.

B. Refined Exfoliating Cleanser. I love this product and have gone through loads of these since I first discovered it. I've currently got one on the go but I've trying to switch up my skin care a bit so I'm mix and matching with some other products. This is still the best of the bunch as an all rounder, though! It's very milky in its consistency and the exfoliating beads are really small, which means it is very delicate.

Original Source Mint and Tea Tree Shower Gel. This is my all time favourite shower gel, and it's vegan too! I love the tingling minty sensation - it's perfect to wake you up first thing! There's some mixed information about whether or not they are cruelty free, though, and since Superdrugs own brand is just as nice I'm not going to re-purchase this product.

Herbal Essences Bee Strong Shampoo. I was a huge Herbal Essences fan before I went cruelty free. This product (and the matching conditioner) is really nice and moisturising - I think it's my favourite of all the Herbal Essences collection. However, I think they may have changed the ingredients as this shampoo has left me with a nasty dry patch on my scalp which 6 months down the line I just can't shift. I even went to the doctors to get it checked out - apparently I wasn't the only one to have this problem with Herbal Essences. Needless to say, I won't be re-purchasing this product.

Dr Organic Virgin Coconut Oil Conditioner. I  got this on a half price offer and I LOVED this conditioner. It was so nourishing to my hair and felt great! Sadly the price tag on this bottle means it was out of my price range to re-purchase, but as soon as I've got some spare cash I'm going to get this again.

Co-operative Coconut and Honey Fragranced Conditioner. I could really tell the difference between this £1 bottle and Dr Organic's £6 conditioner. I had to use a lot more product each time and still didn't get the same results. However, for a cheap conditioner it was pretty good quality for money, and when I'm strapped for cash I'll probably re-purchase this.

Wella Shockwaves Curls and Waves Mousse. This is my cruelty free Achilles heel. This was the first product which saved my hair from being a frizzy mess and I'm very tentative to try something else. If you've tried out a cruelty free mousse that's worked please let me know! I would fee so much more comfortable knowing I was investing in a good product!

Any suggestions for cruelty free products I should try? I'm currently on the look out for a good, affordable, undereye concealer! Tweet me @VickiMaitland, leave a comment below, or tag me in a pic of you using your cruelty free products on Instagram @vickimaitland!