I’ve gone a bit too long since my last Empties which has left me with a lot of products to share about. This is only part 1 of perhaps 3(?) from the things I’ve managed to use up these past 5 months! I got a lot of haircare stuff that I’m planning on doing separately.
If you’ve used any of the products mentioned, I’d love to hear your experience in the comments below!
Thank you for reading :)
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Now Solutions Moroccan Red Clay Powder
Being someone who’s acne-prone, I’ve always leaned towards clay-based face masks. What’s wonderful with them is that they are relatively cheap (this one’s about $10!) and will last you a very long time. I got this one back in 2015 where you can read my original review.
What happened is that my skin has become normal, I would say. There’s really no reason for me to use a mud mask other than perhaps during the peak of summer when my skin can get a bit congested. But even then, I’ve found that clays can be drying, which aggravates my skin further. Since the end of 2017, I’ve rarely turned to or used any of the clay masks that I own.
With that said, I still do like this type of face mask. The Moroccan Red Clay Powder – not to be confused with Rhassoul clay – is one of my favorites ones because it turns to a smooth paste that’s easy to apply and easy to wash off. I do find it to be more suitable for drier skin than many of the others I’ve used, including charcoal masks.
It’s just that right now, my skin benefits more from hydrating and soothing face masks.
Repurchase? I actually might, but right now I have about two jars of Rhassoul clay left to use up.
IDUN Eye Cream
I wrote a short review some months ago on a few products from IDUN.
My opinion of the eye cream hasn’t changed much since I wrote the review. I might’ve started hating on the packaging a little more but overall I liked it. However, I didn’t and won’t be repurchasing it again. Instead, I ended up getting the anti-aging eye cream from ACO which has a very similar ingredient profile. It also has somewhat of a nicer texture, is more than half the price, and comes in a more
Repurchase? No, just because of the price in relation to the formula.
First Aid Beauty Facial Radiance Pads
Got this last year when FAB started selling in Sweden. Although having a so-so rating on Beautypedia, I gave it a chance because of the large amount of positive reviews. I mean, P50 lotion has its problems, but there’s still a large cult following for it?
The radiance pads has 5% strenght of AHA (lactic and glycolic acid, as well as cucumber water, radish root ferment, and a bunch of extracts. Actually, my reasoning for picking this up was that it has the lemon and orange extract rather than their essential oil that’s otherwise commonly used. My reasoning being that it might be less irritating as it doesn’t come with the sensitizing properties that essential oils have. Meaning, from the look of the ingredient list, linalool and other common sensitizing.
Towards the end, I had to scrap about 5 pads because they were getting dry. But this shouldn’t be an issue if you use it daily or more regularly than I have. With that said, despite being somewhat dry it managed to make my skin feel soft and glowing the next day. But I do think packaging like this might not be the best.
Overall, I found them effective and gentle. I’ve been using other chemical exfoliants, so I haven’t been able to use them daily. But at 5% strength, they seemed gentle enough for daily use. I would say that this and the COSRX AHA/BHA toner has a shared spot when it comes to lower strength exfoliants. The pads were also easy for my boyfriend to use, even though I had to remind him when to use them.
Repurchase?
ACO Pure Glow Renewing Daily Cleanser
A few months ago the Swedish pharmacy brand ACO came out with a line of products for adult acne-prone skin. I quickly jumped to try all three products because of the affordable price. The line consisted of this mousse cleanser with salicylic acid,
Unfortunately, the face creams were a disappointment and my boyfriend complained about how fragranced they were even hours after application. The day cream felt weirdly grainy and stingy upon application, and the night balm didn’t feel balmy nor hydrating enough. I ended up selling the creams further and only giving the products a short mention on my Instagram.
The only product that I enjoyed was the one that wasn’t left on the skin. This cleanser
Repurchase? It’s fragranced and I’ve had better, but wouldn’t mind as a body cleanser.
L300 Hyaluronic Renewal Day Cream (Winter edition)
I had this in my last Empties-post where I expressed how this cream didn’t seem to suit my skin during summertime. I keep a critical eye on when and how I use my products, and I didn’t find the summer to have been the best time to try it out. So I went and bought another bottle to use for winter. And I have to say that it worked much better for me during winter than during the warmer months. However, it wasn’t necessarily a perfect match. Although my boyfriend still liked it, I was feeling as if, instead of feeling slightly heavy, it would kind of not feel moisturizing enough…
No matter season, it’s like I can’t find a nice middle ground; slightly too heavy in the summer, not moisturizing enough during winter.
So, unfortunately, I won’t be returning to this one as I’ve done many times with the night cream from the same line. There is another day cream from this brand that I like better (their Fresh Hydration Face Cream) that seems to works beautifully with my skin all year round – with the exception of very humid and warm weather.
So, right now I’m on the lookout for a daytime moisturizer for the summer that will leave my skin feeling matte but hydrated.
Last summer was awful and I’m surprised at how well my skin coped and rehabilitated. Humidity and warmth have a dehydrating and aggravating effect on my skin. So I truly need to find something that makes my skin stay cool and matte, but also keeps it hydrated and stops moisture from escaping.
Repurchase? I won’t say “never”, there’s just that I like another one better from the brand.
L300 Intensive Moisture Night Cream
This little pink jar, I believe, is one of the original products whose formula hasn’t changed much since the start of the brand. Though I’ve had it for a year, I haven’t talked much about this product. As the look and its name suggest, this is a cream for dry to severely dry skin.
My skin doesn’t necessarily fall into that category, but I wanted to try all the night creams from the brand. It’s literally only 100SEK/~€10 and is packed with hydrating and restoring ingredients like ceramides, betaine, lactic acid, salts, shea butter, urea,
Though it has a waxy texture, the cream isn’t as heavy as you’d imagine. However, unless you have dry skin, this might not be the best cream to use daily; I did experience some pimples if I used it more than 2 nights in a row without an excuse to need that type of hydration.
So I mostly reserved its use for whenever I used retinol or strong acids. For those occasions, it did help my skin feel moisturized and calm.
It also was a life savior during that time I over-exfoliated my skin using the P50V Lotion! Helping my skin recover and restore.
This product isn’t sold outside of Sweden/Scandinavia, but for a similar cream, I’d direct you to look into CeraVe’s night creams. Their formula is perhaps the closest thing. I always say that L300 is like the Swedish version of CeraVe, only CeraVe’s product line is a little more extensive and L300 uses 4 more ceramides. But potato potato…
Repurchase? Yes, because it’s always good to have a recovery cream on hand, plus it’s really cheap!
Simple Micellar Water
A few years ago I was deep into micellar waters! I think I’ve tried like 7 different brands. But then I moved on back to oil cleansers and simply have not looked back since. So it took me a while to finish this one. I still got a big bottle of Filogra Micellar Water that I’m trying to use up…
Nevertheless, I really liked this makeup remover from Simple! However, it’s not like it felt anything special. It’s a good drug store one, with a little more beneficial ingredients than the usual. Like, niacinamide, panthenol, vitamin c, and chamomile extract. But it does have this particular chemical scnet about it that I’m not crazy about.
Still, I do find oil and balm cleansers to be more sufficient and more gentle at removing makeup and sunscreen, as well as less wasting when it comes to cotton rounds. I used to like micellar waters for traveling, but then I also had to remember to pack enough cotton rounds and all that… With a good oil/balm cleansers that
I can understand that if you wear a lot of heavy water-proof makeup, then micellar water can serve as a step to check that everything has been removed. But for the moderate user of makeup, micellar waters are an unnecessary expense in my opinion. But of course, can also depend on your skin type and all.
Repurchase? If I’ll ever get into micellar waters again, then maybe. But overall, it’s a no to all micellar waters in general and not this product in particular.
iUnik Vitamin Hyaluronic Acid Vitalizing Toner
This toner was gifted. And while I loved the iUnik Tea Tree serum and drank up every last bit of it. This toner, on the other hand, wasn’t as easy to finish.
My mind about it hasn’t changed since my original review. Although it’s a lovely gel-based toner, it just wasn’t for my skin or preference. I like my toners to be liquid as to not feel like I have too many layers on. However, it did help a lot to combat winter dryness and my skin to recover from over-exfoliation.
Repurchase? No, but I wouldn’t mind trying some of the other toners that are more liquid.
