EMPTIES! #3 | Summer Edition (April - August 2014) ☀ PART 2

"Back again with the second verse, it's all clean so I'm not gonna curse..." - Freak Nasty  Here's Part 2 of my epic summer of empties!  If you missed Part 1, you can read it here.

HAND & BODY CARE //

"Everybody, yeah!  Rock your body, yeah!" - Backstreet Boys

1. Jergens Original Scent Cherry-Almond Moisturizer, $6.99 USD: I love the light yummy scent of this and the fact that it hydrates really well and soaks in quickly.  There's a reason this lotion has been popular since the 1920's!

Would I repurchase? Yes.

2. Nivea A Touch of Happiness Moisturizing Body Wash, $3.99 USD: While I am a ride or die bar soap gal, I occasionally find myself intrigued by a genuine body wash.  This one was a winner!  It smelled so incredibly good, like a thousand nectarines exploded in my shower, and left my skin soft enough after using it to skip lotion.  Party time!  Excellent!  If this came in bar soap format, I would buy crate loads. 

Would I repurchase? Yes.

3. Weleda Calendula Soap, $8.00 USD: This was a nice gentle soap that foamed well and had a pleasant and subtle herbal scent.  I think the price is a bit steep for the size, but you can find it online at various health food retailers for about half the cost.

Would I repurchase? Yes.

4. Tatcha Indigo Soothing Silk Body Butter, $48.00 USD fo 6.8 oz: This has been on my wish list ever since Laurie of 312 Beauty featured it on her blog back in January.  I was lucky enough to win a deluxe sample of Tatcha's Moisture Rich Silk Cream from a giveaway Tatcha sponsored with Sabrina of The Beauty Look Book.  I was also able to try 3 samples from their line, and I jumped at the chance to try the Indigo Body Butter.  It was just as luxurious as I'd hoped, moisturizing deeply and sinking into the skin almost on contact.  Truly lovely!
Would I repurchase? Yes.

5. *Magnolia Foaming Sugar Scrub, $7.00 USD for 2 oz: Full review here.  I love this foaming scrub/cleanser hybrid!
Would I repurchase? Yes.
*press sample

6. L'Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream, $28.00 USD for 5.8 oz: It took me about a year to finish this monstrosity!  It was a beaut.  If you're overwhelmed by the endless options available in the hand cream game, go with this.  It's a best-seller because it leaves the hands remarkably soft and smells fresh and clean.
Would I repurchase? Yes.

7. Nivea Extended Moisture Hand Cream, $3.99 USD for 1.7 oz: I really loved this one!  It soaked in lightning fast and left my hands feeling like the smoothest of criminals.  The 1.7 oz size tucks nicely into any bag.
Would I repurchase? Yes.

HAIR CARE //

"Bit--es lookin' at me strange but you know I don't care, step up in this motherf---er just a-swingin' my hair" - Snoop Dogg (I'm in a musical mood, can you tell?)

1. Herbal Essences Honey, I'm Strong Shampoo, $4.29 USD: This was my HG shampoo until my scalp went bananas after the blonde ambition experiment.  Now my scalp, and hair as a whole, needs moisture so I had to start hunting down a new shamp champ.  I hope that someday, when my hair recovers from the bleaching, I can go back to this shampoo!

Would I repurchase? Yes.

2. L'Oreal Color Vibrancy Instant Shock Treatment Lightweight Melting Mask, $6.99 USD: This stuff rocks!  Wait, do I sound too much like Vern Yip from Trading Spaces?  Moving on, this deep conditioner sinks into my fine hair quickly and leaves it feeling slippery-soft but not a bit weighed down.  I honestly think it's VERY similar to Aussie's 3 Minute Miracle (my HG for life!), only the L'Oreal smells more like Finesse shampoo.  

Would I repurchase? Yes.

3. Not Your Mother's Clean Freak Refreshing Dry Shampoo, $5.99 USD: LOVE.  This is my favorite dry shampoo ever, and this was my 4th or 5th bottle.  It is very lightly scented and does a great job of de-oiling my roots without any adverse reaction from my scalp (it raises the roof often).  Other dry shampoos I've tried have had the most overpowering scents that lingered ALL DAY LONG.  The one from Drybar being the most heavily scented of them all, to the point where I got nauseated.  If strongly fragranced dry shamps turn you off, give this one from NYM's a whirl.  

Would I repurchase? Yes.  Already have!

4. Herbal Essences Naked Dry Shampoo, $4.74 USD: This one smells (and feels) minty, which I wasn't a fan of at all, and did absolutely nothing to soak up oil.  I tried it numerous times.  I liked that it didn't leave a white residue, but my hair seemed oilier afterwards.  I also didn't find it volumizing.  This one is not empty, but it's going to the bin.

Would I repurchase? No.

5. Aussie 3 Minute Miracle, $2.97 USD: What can I say about this product?  It's my hair's very fave and they've been besties since 2000-ish.  It never leaves my fine hair weighed down, hydrates to perfection, and leaves my hair shining like a new dime once it's dry.  I also adore the packaging.  There is a little pressure-sensitive valve on the bottom of this; you squeeze the tube, you get conditioner.  I love not having to fumble with a cap!  This stuff works better than any high-end conditioner I've ever used and it's STILL UNDER $3 BUCKS!  Aussie 3 Minute Miracle is in my Desert Island Beauty Bag.

Would I repurchase? Yes.  Always!

6. Lush Daddy-O Shampoo, $9.00 USD for 3.3 oz: I do think this deep purple shampoo helped fight brassiness a little during my brief period of blondness, and it smelled really good, almost masculine. 

Would I repurchase? No.  I'm back to brunette so I don't need brass-fighting shampoo any more!

7. Bumble & bumble Gentle Shampoo, $8.00 USD for 2 oz: I found this and the mini Super Rich Conditioner at Sephora during my last visit there before my wedding.  They were perfect travel sizes for the h-moon, so I snagged them.  I really liked the shampoo, I found it did a good job of cleansing without drying out my scalp.

Would I repurchase? Yes.

8. Bumble & bumble Super Rich Conditioner, $9.00 USD for 2 oz: Like but not love.  The only conditioner to ever come close to my HG Aussie 3 Minute Miracle was the L'Oreal Instant Shock Treatment.  The Super Rich Conditioner worked fine, but I didn't find it as softening as I like.

Would I repurchase? No.

9. Bumble & bumble Creme de Coco Tropical-Riche Shampoo, $8.00 USD for 2 oz: True love!  This shampoo is wonderful!  It hydrates my hair and scalp without leaving it oily or weighed down with conditioners, and it smells like paradise.  It's actually a bit difficult to find the travel size version of this one, but I was lucky enough to snap up 2 for $3.99 (!!) from ACW when they had them in stock.  I love B&b's minis because they allow you to test drive a shampoo before committing to a full sized 8 oz bottle.  

Would I repurchase? Yes!  A full sized bottle is on my wish list!

Thanks for sticking with me through this extra long empties journey! :D

What's your HG shampoo and conditioner?