There were a ton of standout products for me in 2015, and I've found so many incredible staples that I'll be repurchasing for years to come. Today I'm featuring my top 10 first, then a bunch of other products that I've used up since my last empties post.
✓ L'Occitane Immortelle Oil Makeup Remover - Removing my makeup with this oil cleanser is the best part of my nighttime routine. Massage it onto dry skin for 20 seconds, then rinse with warm water. Your makeup will completely disappear.
✓ Nivea Sensitive 2 in 1 Micellar Cleansing Water - I do not wash my face with water in the morning, since it is way too drying and my skin is usually quite clean. I'll saturate a Dollarama cotton pad with this micellar water and sweep it across my face to gently clean and condition before makeup.
✓ Klorane Dry Shampoo With Oat Milk - No dry shampoo works as well for me as Klorane. My current favourite variety is their new tinted one. You should definitely try it out.
✓ L'Occitane Citrus Verbena Fresh Shampoo - Hands down, the best shampoo I've ever used. I love the invigorating scent, silky lather, and very clean, shiny finish that it leaves on my hair.
✓ L'Occitane Almond Shower Oil - This is my favourite body cleanser, especially for the decadent scent and hydrating feel on the skin. I now have a giant pump bottle living in my shower.
✓ Froosh Go Deep Facial Wash & Scrub - I love using this face wash with my Clarisonic Cashmere Luxe brush. It has a very very fine grit, and foams up to a fresh tea tree lather that doesn't strip my skin.
✓ Parissa Organic Wax - This sugar wax is magic. Unlike some traditional wax, it requires clean skin and only attaches to the hair. This ensures a fast and easy treatment with little redness. Any residual wax dissolves with warm water, making for an easy clean-up and a reusable tub once it's done.
✓ Listerine Total Care Dental Floss - Best floss ever. It has little ridges that rub off plaque, and the stretchy strand makes it very gentle on the gums and easy to slip between teeth. 10/10
✓ Thayers Alcohol-Free Toner Cucumber Witch Hazel - I will never be without a bottle of Thayers, and cucumber is my favourite scent at the moment. I spritz a bit of it on right after the shower, and before I apply a salicylic acid toner. I'll even use it as a light moisturizer on my chest and back.
Scroll down to the end to see a recent YouTube video featuring these 10 favourites.
✓ Sally Hansen Strengthening Nail Polish Remover - I love Sally Hansen nail products, and this inexpensive remover didn't disappoint.
✓ L'Occitane Rebalancing Exfoliating Shower Gel - This scrubby shower gel was so pleasant to use. It cleansed well, kept my skin soft, and lived up to the "balancing" claim.
✓ Pure + Simple Collagen Elastin Plus - This was a strange serum/liquid. It was hydrating and stuff, but I wouldn't repurchase.
✗ Tata Harper Regenerating Cleanser - OK. I hate all Tata Harper products that I've tried thus far. Between this and the moisturizing mask, I can't figure out how people like the (expensive) brand. This cleanser did not clean my face at all, and the scent is gross!
✓ Rocky Mountain Organic Sugar Scrub French Lavender - This was a nice moisturizing sugar scrub. I did find it to be too harsh at times with the big chunks of sugar, and the container got a bit too oily. I wouldn't repurchase.
✓ Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap in Peppermint - I loved using this concentrated soap as a brush cleanser, but the scent did start to get weird at the end of it. I'll stick to their solid bar soap going forward as I only clean my makeup brushes every week or two.
✓ Bioré Pore Penetrating Charcoal Bar - This was a nice bar soap to use on the body. I'm not crazy about bar soaps, but I enjoyed it while it lasted.
✓ Nivea Soft Body Moisturizer - I like Nivea moisturizers in general, and this one didn't disappoint. It was lightweight and kept my skin feeling soft and comfortable.
✓ Weleda Sea Buckthorn Body Oil - Though I have tried it in the past, my sister actually used this body oil up recently. I love Weleda products, and the sea buckthorn oil in this one works very well to even out skin texture and tone.
✓ Benefit Cha Cha Tint - This coral cheek/lip stain is a very nice colour, but I wouldn't repurchase it. I hate applying it to my cheeks and it was drying on the lips. I'll stick to cream blush and lip balms.
✗ E.l.f. Essential Eyelid Primer in Champagne - I do enjoy e.l.f. eye primers in general, but this one was a bit of a bust. I don't like the chunky glitter and it didn't work as well as the original nude shades.
✓ Burt's Bees Herbal Blemish Stick - I'm on the fence about this product. The alcohol in it sometimes irritated my skin, but it reduced blemishes slightly. Regardless, the roll-on application can get some gunk inside the tube, so I'd only recommend trying it if it's on sale or something.
✗ Kate Somerville ExfoliKate - I don't like this exfoliator. It's too irritating for sensitive skin, the thick green paste is hard to apply, and it's SO expensive. I purchased this in a skincare set (here) and I'm happy that I didn't actually pay $30 flat for this tiny bottle.
✓ Laura Mercier Mineral Powder in Real Sand - I fell in love with this mineral powder over the past year, and decided that it's time to let my original loose formula go. It's too old, has begun to turn orange on my skin, and can cause some itching. Expired! I have since purchased two of her pressed mineral powders in the same Real Sand shade.✗ Kate Somerville ExfoliKate - I don't like this exfoliator. It's too irritating for sensitive skin, the thick green paste is hard to apply, and it's SO expensive. I purchased this in a skincare set (here) and I'm happy that I didn't actually pay $30 flat for this tiny bottle.
✓ Too Faced Shadow Insurance - This is a great eye primer. I loved keeping the tiny tube in my travel bag, and I'd happily purchase it again if they sold smaller tubes like this.
✓ Emu Gold Emu Oil - This is a thick and extremely effective repairing oil. Any damaged or scabbed skin heals 10x faster with some Emu Oil. I purchased this one from Vita Cost, but it can also be found at nutrition/natural stores.
✓ Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Pacific Blue - This nail polish got too gloopy to use, and the scent of blue polishes seems to be unusually off-putting. Pretty colour, but not an ideal application.
✗ Ole Henriksen Lemon Strip Flash Peel - Much like Exfolikate, I really dislike this product. It's from the same Christmas skincare set, and it's also way too harsh. I didn't see any good results after using it.
✓ Make Up For Ever Smoky Extravagant Mascara - This dome-shaped brush was too hard to use on my lashes, but the mascara itself was OK. I also didn't like how there would always be a blob of product at the tip.
✓ Clinique High Impact Mascara - This is a great high-end volumizing mascara. I love getting samples of it to keep in my travel makeup bag.
✓&✓ Kirkland Makeup Remover Pre-Moistened Towelettes - I still love how these face wipes work, but the packaging has gotten on my nerves. The plastic clip fell off and I'm using my L'Occitane Immortelle remover most nights, so I won't be repurchasing these any time soon.
✓ Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleansing Cloths - This thin package is the best for on-the-go face and body towelettes. They have no fragrance and get the job done. I'd prefer if they felt a bit softer and were more wet, but they're still OK for a drugstore option.
✗ Paula's Choice Clinical KP Treatment Cloths - These cloths sounded great at first, but I was sadly disappointed. The mix of lactic acid and salicylic acid aims to smooth out any bumps and blemishes on the body, but they left a sticky residue and the packaging got all damaged from the seeping liquid.
Happy 2016!
xx
I love how you laid out this post! It makes it so easy to see what you like and didn't. I personally don't like L'Occitane products (because of problems with their customer service), but that Too Faced eyeshadow insurance is one of my all time favourite products. I've been repurchasing it over and over for the last 8 or so years. I can't live without it!
ReplyDeleteKatherine || The Green Bows
Thanks so much Katherine, with all these products I had to colour code them some how! :P
DeleteUgh it's too bad you haven't had a good experience with L'Occitane. I don't repurchase many high-end products, but these hit a happy medium for me. I wasn't so fond of Paula's Choice CS recently, so I called them up today and settled the water a bit. It's always nice to know that they're open for dialogue when problems arise.
I was actually thinking about repurchasing Shadow Insurance!! My drugstore ones are creasing like mad, no matter what. Luckily, MAC Soft Ochre is super awesome, but Too Face will be my fallback. xx