February Empties

 I think I'll be having a theme for the February Empties, and that is Target: Good Skin...

Read on if it worked or not:

1. La Roche Posay Thermal Water - I've been discussing this spritzy number in my 'Improving French' post. It's really neutral and the lovely size makes it wonderful for carrying around. Somewhere I read that Avene even has a better option -> curious

2. Kris D'Amour Soothing Body Butter -> I talked about it here and I have been putting this one on my eczema spots on both face & body. It's lovely, somewhat soothing but unfortunately not curing. I'm trying the Trevarno TLC cream now that feels like a better melt for the skin.

3. Antipodes Aura Mask -> purchased last year and finished lately for the heck of it. It's nice, but not what I would say "good". I've been testing it pre-[important]-date this summer and it didn't do that much in 1. clearing up skin 2. tightening pores nor 3. soothing dryness. Also nothing on brightening/luminising skin. I don't know what it does except getting money out of my purse. Then again, it's moisturizing and not irritating.

4. Elemis Pro-Radiance Illuminating Flash Balm -> This is one of those Clarins beauty balm clones out there. It smells a bit strong, and does a bit of illuminating under the foundation. I like it, but I wouldn't repurchase it for the fragance.

5. S5 Illuminate serum Hyperpigmentation -> This has been actually good in diminishuing post-sun darkness. I would repurchase but I'm on Kahina Brightening Serum now and that one is stellar.

6. Rouge Bunny Rouge Genesis Primer -> I stick with my original review. Moreover, it really whitens the skin too much [after self tan] and I do not think a primer without any CC (blahblah) should alternate the original skintone, just improve pores/skin/etc.

7.  Kris D'Amour Soothing Serum -> like most organic skincares the serums are often oils. It's nice but it didn't cure my eczema, so the search goes on.

8. Trilogy Very Gentle Moisturizing cream -> Delightfully scentless, and actually delightfully nothing. Perfect for when skin cannot stand anything but moisture.

Generally, nothing really worked so I had to bring in the extra cover of foundation, etc. Thus, I used up my very 1st foundation within 3 months (Rouge Bunny Rouge). Now there's something to say about not using that much makeup when having eczema, but not using it is not very self-confidence-building either: especially when one of those flawless girls next to you in the beautyshop complains about redness on her face: *grlllsishkll&*$%* [oh, I wasn't supposed to get agitated again as it aggraviates the skin??? Ooops]

1. Winner '13 Koh Gen Do Maifanshi still gets my vote, and I have to order from Barneys for that one.

2. Omorovicza Complexion Enhancer SPF 15 almost made it to my Best '13 list, weren't it a bit too orange. Actually, I feel this tinted moisturizer is more of those CC creams and the orange/peach perks up the skin. But sometimes it's a bit too orangy. I adore it's scent: Hungarian hothouse spa-ness!

3. Rouge Bunny Rouge Age Defying Foundation: My ultimate cover-up favourite! Somehow I'm still a 'natural girl' when wearing this one...

4. Pixi Sheer Cheek Gel in Sunkissed: This is also NATURE, not blush...It's lumiscent, dewy and looks like I woke up really beautiful...

5. Shiseido Maquillage Lip Essence Ex: Booohooo, I finished up my last backup! I once wrote about the 'lipstick transforming powers' as this is the powerranger among skinny lips. But where to get it now? I need mooooore...

Yes, my skin hasn't been too succesful these months, so when I didn't wear makeup I went for this Cousin It style:

That needed hair again, so here are the hair-empties:

1. Weleda Millet Nourishing Shampoo: This sample was my introduction to Weleda shampoos. They've gotten the raves but this shampoo was quite meh. It didn't clean that much, the moisturizing was not that good and it smelled like a weird herbal: and that is coming from someone who has been quite organic lately

2. Solgar Hyaluronic Acid supplements: Moisture from the inside to tackle the eczema. Meh, the healthy parts of my skin do look dewier and less wrinkly but I wanted it to help for the parts that really needed it.

3. L'Oreal Professionel Nature Mask Cacao: I totally adore the Cacao line and this mask has been brilliant! My hair has been cut a lot so the dry has been gone; I do not need that much of it these days but it still soothes like nothing else. The yummy & natural scent of chocolate is one of the perks as well! Absolutely gorgeous hairmask.

4. Apivita Propoline shampoo for oily roots & dry ends: Oh man, makeupalley rates this one so high and all I though about it was how average this shampoo was. It's really like Herbal Essences which is nice but not earthshockingly good. Also I felt it was irritating -> it gave me a new spur of dandruff. I've been throwing away this 3/4 full bottle :(

5. Kose Happy Bath Day handcream: Another "Why has this been discontinued" moment! It's also the last one from my stash. I was counting on something dupe-a-ble but I haven't found something that equals the thin-ness and effectivity (original review here)

6. Physalis Krill Omega Oils: I think I consist of 70% of oils these days, instead of water. I've been taking flaxseed oils, Chia Seeds, bake in coconut oil and I've been taking this one too. Effective? Might be but not effective to cure. I'm tired of all these efforts and oils now.

7. Schwarzkopf Bonacure Hairtherapy CS Shampoo in Silver: It's actually purple instead of silver. It gets the warmth out of highlights. My hair has been pulling a bit too reddish lately. I like being slightly strawberry blonde, but I toned down some warmth with this shampoo. It gets high rates and is quite effective. However, not too scalp-friendly so I will be moving on to Lush Daddy-O.

Pjew, lot of mini-reviews and a bit of complaining. Sometimes it gets a bit too much of having heaps of products that claim to be effective, but are not. I hope this helps a bit for the ones looking around :)

♥