Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all had a fantastic holiday season. I spent mine mostly playing Animal Crossing and desperately trying to escape the heat (we actually hit 45° last Saturday). But I’m back and ready to face 2024 head on. Before I can do that, though, I do have the small matter of my December empties to get through. This will be a smaller empties, and a lot of it I used up early in the month. But I’m super proud of the products I managed to finish before the year ended. Let’s dive on in!
LA ROCHE POSAY CICAPLAST B5 MASQUE – $13.95
I’ve used so many of these over the years. Still a top tier sheet mask.
BOOST LABS MULTI-PEPTIDE ANTI-AGING SERUM – $29.95*
My skin drank this up! A fantastic little serum that assisted in hydrating and protecting my skin barrier. I have another peptide serum in my routine. But I did spot this at my local Amcal. So I would consider picking it up again.
BONDI SANDS HYDRA UV PROTECT SPF 50+ – $21.99
*TGA Declaration – purchased myself* High amount of SPF coverage. Protects against UVA and UVB damage. Very thin, lightweight consistency. This is my third bottle.
REME BEAUTY RE-BASE MAKEUP CLEANSING BALM – $50.00*
I was very kindly sent this one. And it had a hell of a trip getting to me. All in all, I liked it a lot! The texture was firm, but melted down easily upon contact with my skin. It broke down all of my makeup, including waterproof mascara. The only knock I could give it is that I wasn’t wild about the scent of it. It’s fragrance free, but it contains herbal oils that occasionally make my nose itch.
FRANK BODY GLYCOLIC BODY SCRUB – $25.00
This, I could never be mad at. Without question in my to five favourite products for 2023. But I’ll talk more about that soon…
MAC COSMETICS FIX+ MAGIC RADIANCE – $54.00 for 100ml
It took me way too long to realise this was different to normal Fix+. It’s supposed to be more glowy and hydrating. I tend to prefer setting sprays to finishing sprays (which is what Fix+ is). I do want to try the setting spray version that they launched recently though.
THE INKEY LIST SALICYLIC ACID CLEANSER – $19.00*
I will admit to neglecting this one. I’ve been quite fortunate to have received a few new cleansers over the last few months. So, I was priortising them. But when I came home from Sydney, I was breaking out pretty badly. And I went to use this only to discover that the formula had changed significantly. Meaning that it had definitely gone bad. So, this is a declutter. And it’s a shame, because it was a really good cleanser.
TBH SKINCARE REBOUND SERUM – $59.95
Bottle number 4 finished now. This is magical stuff!
GUINOT BEAUTE NEUVE CREAM – $160.00*
I liked this enough at first. I was using it as a night cream. But I began to notice towards the end of me using it that it was pilling on my skin. And this is too expensive of a cream to be messing around like that.
BORING WITHOUT YOU FOR FACE SAKE – $64.00
Davey, you’re a genius! I will always have this somewhere in my routine.
MAC COSMETICS MACSTACK MASCARA – $57.00
I reviewed this back in June. And while it’s not the worst mascara I tried in 2023, it’s close to the top. It has a spikey rubberised wand that I found difficult to use. And the formula was so wet and smudgy. Will not be repurchasing.
L’OREAL BOND REPAIR CONDITIONER – $17.00
I picked this and the shampoo up when I saw a few of my mutuals mention that it’s a good Olaplex dupe. And I have to say, I think I like Olaplex better. I found that this range left my hair quite dry and frizzy. And just generally unpleasant feeling. I have since heard that the pre-shampoo is what’s truly worth checking out in this range. So, I might grab that while it’s on special.
FRANK BODY SPF 50+ HYDRATING BODY SUNSCREEN – $30.00
*TGA Declaration – purchased myself* very hydrating formula. High SPF protection. Contains hyaluronic acid, vitamin E, and aloe vera to soothe and hydrate. Pleasant coconut scent.
And that is my December empties! I cannot wait to see what 2024 has in store for us all. I will be back on your internets on Friday. And stay tuned for my 2023 Best In Beauty posts!
Cheers and love
Emily xo