Trimming My Stash - January 2016 Edition - Empties And Mini Reviews

I seem to say this an awful lot but here we go again, goodbye January and good riddance. I always try to start the year in a positive frame of mind but within 2 weeks it had all gone belly up. I'm trying to keep personal stuff off the blog at the moment but please, please will something nice happen to me for once! I'm trying to keep myself focused on my goals though, and as I've said in my previous post, I'm been having a lot of pamper time, and pamper times involves using up a lot of beauty products, so I present to you my January empties :)

The Body Shop Vanilla Spice Body Butter - 200ml
Philip Kingsley Body Building Shampoo - 20ml
"OPI" Cuticle Revitalize Oil Pen - Rose
The Body Shop Frosted Cranberry Body Polish - 75ml
May Beauty The Incredible Face Mask - 10ml
L'Occitane Foot Cream - 10ml
Leighton Denny Slick Tips - 12ml
Total - 7 Items

Bar a couple of exceptions January's empties were all about moisture. Although it wasn't the coldest of months the damp and the wind have all played havoc with my skin. My hands and nails have been super dry and my feet haven't been much better. I've cleansed, exfoliated and I've slathered myself with moisturiser from head to foot and at last I'm starting to see some results, and in the process I managed to finish 7 items.

1. The Body Shop Vanilla Spice Body Butter - 200ml

The Body Shop Body Butters are one of my winter essentials, and although I often use them if I've been on a beach or hot holiday, for me they are one of my holy grail products for dry, and chapped winter skin. I usually have about 4 different fragrances on the go at once, and as much as I love the original Cocoa Butter variant I love their festive scents. Unfortunately this fragrance didn't reappear in 2015, but it's one of my all time favourites. Couple a creamy vanilla scent with nutmeg, clove and cinnamon notes, and you've got a beautifully sweet, cake smelling body butter. A little of these butters goes a long way, and whilst they take a little while to absorb they really are a dry skin saviour.

2. Philip Kingsley Body Building Shampoo - 20ml

I was sent a kit a little while ago from the lovely people at Philip Kingsley that contained 3 of the best selling hair care products. The kit contained this lovely shampoo, that smelled gorgeous and that I really enjoyed using. You can read my full review here x

3. "OPI" Cuticle Revitalize Oil Pen - Rose

This is the second one of these cheapo potentially fake OPI, ebay cuticle oil pens that I've used up, and whilst I don't think they're the most moisturising product out there, they're cheap, and they're great for emergencies, travel or when you're on the go. The only thing that annoys me is that you can't get all of the product out of the pen but for a pound or so you can't argue.

4. The Body Shop Frosted Cranberry Body Polish - 75ml

Another festive fragrance from The Body Shop, and it's another one of my favourites Frosted Cranberry. I love this mouthwatering juicy fruit fragrance but I have to admit that I'm not really a fan of this particular product. It has quite a sticky, jam like texture, and the cranberry seed exfoliating particles for me just don't do it. The smell is lovely but the texture for me doesn't quite work.

5. May Beauty The Incredible Face Mask - 10ml

With changes in the weather, over indulgence, stress and being ill, over the last four weeks my skin has paid the price. I've dealt with pretty much everything from dry, red patches, to a horrid hormonal breakout. The breakout was the reason that I used this mask and it definitely seemed to have knocked it on the head. I'm really pleased that I bought myself some more of these for those spells when my skin just won't behave. You can read a full review of these masks here x

6. L'Occitane Foot Cream - 10ml

Apologies for the lack of picture but Mummy Lou threw the tube out before I'd had the chance to photograph it! This is a mini of one of my favourite foot creams of all time. I love the texture but what I love most about this is the smell. I'm not a huge fan of minty smelling foot products, so this lavender scented one fits the bill perfectly, and it makes it a perfect bedtime treat.This shea butter based cream also contains a little bit of mint that you can't really smell and arnica to make it a cooling and soothing essential for hot, dry and tired feet. I have quite a few foot products to use up but I will definitely consider purchasing the full 150ml size despite the £19 price tag.

7. Leighton Denny Slick Tips - 12ml

Apologies for the rubbish photograph, but the fact that I finished 2 cuticle products in January probably shows you just how dry my hands and cuticles have been. Created by celebrity manicurist Leighton Denny, you would expect this be a decent product and it is. It really helps moisturise and soothe dry, sore cuticles but the smell unfortunately doesn't rock my world, to me it smells like a combination of mint and lemongrass. I like it but there are products that I prefer so whilst I'll use up the other one that I have, I wouldn't go out of my way to repurchase.

On the whole I think this is a pretty decent start to the year x This month my aim is to use up a few skincare products and I'm also hoping to start working my way through a few make up items. Project 10 Pan is definitely still a possibility though so I might hold off on those till I make my mind up for definite ;) I'm also planning on having a little bit of a sort out of my bath and body products so hopefully I'll find a few more bits to use up. I know a lot of people start doing something similar in the new year so if you're trying to use up products or if you do a regular empties post or video then please leave me your links x