My skincare empties for the start of 2018, which technically were emptied a couple months ago and I just had the photos waiting for a blog post to be written up.
I am trying to be better about sorting through products I’ve finished before I amass a huge amount (like in my last empties post), so this one is mostly just essences/serums and creams – as they are the skincare products I seem to go through the quickest.
Lancome Eau Micellaire Douceur – for all skin types):
I think I’ve mentioned before that I’m not a fan of micellar waters and this one hasn’t changed my preference toward balm/oil cleansers to remove makeup. I got the full size of this for free a while back from a promotional offer with my Lancôme Miracle Cushion Foundation (which I adore if you haven’t read my review of that), and it is a really nice micellar cleansing water and definitely one of the superior ones I’ve tried. It leaves your face clean, you don’t feel any excess residue or oil left behind and my skin never felt uncomfortable or too dry, even when I didn’t wash & moisturise straight away.
My only gripe was I really disliked the smell of this when it came in contact with my makeup, it was quite unpleasant and overbearing for me. I don’t even know how to describe it. It was a problem no matter which makeup base I used it with, but then again this could be a problem specific to me only. If you like using miceallar waters then I would say this is a good one to try, but for me personally I hate the wastage of using 3 cotton pads to remove my makeup and find it far more quicker and efficient to just use a cleansing oil.
Amore Pacific Vintage Single Extract Essence:
This was the small 30ml travel size version I received with my purchase of the full-size bottle in my AP haul (which I haven’t yet opened). This lasted me a really long time and I typically used it after toner, poured a bit on the palm of my hands and patted it onto my skin. I love this product because of its potent green tea antioxidant goodness and while you don’t see drastic results, it did help maintain the healthy condition of my skin and left it feeling soft, smooth and calm. Can’t wait to dig into the big bottle.
(Buy at Sephora US (worldwide shipping) or Amore Pacific (US only)
LJH Tea Tree 90 Essence:
I’ve talked about this before in my past empties and I just love this. I’ve gone through 3 or 4 bottles of it and while I’ve currently moved on to try other products, I know this is always a staple I’ll return to. If you are prone to blemishes, acne or other skin problems, this tea tree essence is fantastic at calming and healing quicker than if you didn’t use it. I do think constant use made me skin a little more immune to it as I wasn’t finding it as effective during my last bottle but I’m sure when I go back to it I’ll love it all over again.
(Buy at Amazon UK, HKC plaza)
Huxley Essence; Brightly Ever After:
I need to do more in-depth reviews of Huxley products because most of what I’ve tried from the brand, I just love. It’s not necessarily that it’s the most effective skincare out there, but their products provide such an enjoyable sensory experience, from its texture to its gorgeous scent to how it makes my skin feel and how effortlessly it applies. It’s been hard to assess how effective this particular product is at brightening though, because with the exception of pure vitamin C products, most brightening serums/essence are more of a slow, gradual process. I also didn’t use this bottle consistently enough to test if it is effective at fading pigmentation, but I really liked to use this in daytime for its antioxidant, anti-pollutant effect and have a backup waiting.
Huxley Oil Essence:
This along with my Huxley brightly ever after essence, are probably my two favourite products from Huxley. This oil essence is just beautiful and I can’t wait to crack open a new bottle of this. It really takes the best of both worlds – being a lightweight oil that helps to add and lock in that moisture, but has the properties of a lightweight essence that absorbs quickly, isn’t heavy and doesn’t clog up your pores. I find this to work great all year round, especially in the colder seasons when my skin is more dehydrated.
(Buy at StyleKorean, Jolse)
Belif Hungarian Water Essence:
This may seem like a very simple, ‘unexciting’ type of skincare product because essentially its main benefit is to provide hydration. I never got bored of it though, because I liked that it did feel hydrating (on days I didn’t use it I noticed the dehydration more), and it was a great consistency/texture with an inoffensive herbal Belif-type scent. It was lightweight enough and absorbed quickly for me to be able to layer with other serums without a problem. I liked it, but admit it’s pricey for what it is. If your skin is on the normal – oily side I’d say don’t bother because you don’t need it.
(Buy at Sephora US, Amazon US)
Innisfree Whitening Pore Synergy Serum:
I loved their Whitening Pore eye cream (highly recommend if dark circles are a concern for you), which is what made me curious to try the serum in the same line. I don’t love it as much, because the results aren’t as immediate, but I did enjoy using it and I feel it did gradually lighten pigmentation on my skin even though they didn’t completely disappear. The results aren’t drastic; rather it has a subtle brightening effect over time and certainly lightens scars quicker than if you didn’t use it. I did really enjoy the consistency of this serum too; it wasn’t heavy despite looking like it might be, and absorbed quickly so I could layer products over this. I would still like to try more products from the whitening pore line.
Belif The True Cream – Aqua Bomb:
This is a moisturiser that I didn’t love at first use, and was actually underwhelmed when I tried it, because of how popular and well loved this was by everyone. I started using during a period in summer when it was hot and humid and felt that this coated my skin in a slightly uncomfortable silicone-type film, which felt neither hydrating nor lightweight. I started gravitating more towards the Belif Water Bomb which I think is fantastic for summer heat. Then I went back to this Aqua Bomb when it started getting cooler towards Autumn and found that it was perfect and fell in love. Perhaps I just got used to the consistency, perhaps it is better suited in the cooler months, but I found myself enjoying it a lot and even wore it daily under makeup at the start of Winter and found it moisturising enough to keep my skin comfortable during the day. So now I am a fan and see what the hype is about. I definitely would repurchase this and use it around the Spring and Autumn time.
Buy at StyleKorean, Amazon UK, Sephora US)
LJH Team Tree 80 Cream:
I feel like I’ve had this in my stash for ages but it’s taken me this past Autumn/Winter to properly use and appreciate it. When I first bought and tried it a couple times it just didn’t seem to agree with me. I thought it was too greasy and emollient and left me feeling quite oily on the t-zone as the day wore on, or the next morning. The past year, my skin has changed a lot and become noticeably more dehydrated and less oily. So when I decided to try this again, I really liked using it! It felt calming on my skin, never broke me out, and wasn’t even too heavy to wear in the day under makeup. I think I will repurchase again in future.
Yuripibu Cucu Black Truffle Eye Cream:
Interested to try this when Yuripibu became really popular with bloggers last year and when I also started taking eye creams more seriously in my routine. This isn’t my favourite eye cream I’ve tried but I do like it. When it works, it works and glides and blends into the skin beautifully, leaving it silky, soft and moisturised. However, because of its creamy, buttery like texture, sometimes it has the tendency to spread out but not absorb; as you rub, it tends to move back and forth on the surface of your skin but not sink in and takes a bit more effort to get it to do so. This usually only really happens if you’ve been layering a lot of skincare prior and the area is already moisturised, so to combat the problem I would apply this eye cream first and then go in with other moisturising products. I think this is worth checking out though because it has the fantastic ingredient that is black truffle which contains moisturising lipids and antioxidants to help combat the signs of fine lines and ageing.
(Buy at Amazon UK, Amazon US, Glowrecipe)
And that’s a wrap. See you in the next one. 🙂
