Trimming My Stash - May 2021 Edition - Empties And Mini Reviews* **

 Hey Everyone, I hope you've all had a lovely start to the week. I've got to be honest and say that the heat in the UK over the last few days has knocked me for 6. Give me a sunny beach in the Med and I'm great but in the UK it's a whole different story! 

Despite the heat, and so called 'freedom day', I dragged my hot, masked and weary self to the Metro Centre for a couple of hours. A lot of people were still wearing masks but by the time I left it was getting just a bit too busy for me to feel truly comfortable. I mainly went for an eyebrow wax and tint, and although I did have little look on a few shops I didn't honestly buy that much, even in Primark, so alas no haul post but if you want to see what I did buy then take a look at my Instagram Stories today, or under the Instahaul 4 highlights tab x 

I really meant to upload this post yesterday but I was so zonked out after my few hours out of the house and the heat that I just spent the day trying to keep cool. Today is supposed to be a little bit cooler but I thought I'd make an early start anyways and get this post uploaded. Before I play Glossybox catch up later in the week again, I thought I'd play empties catch up and share my May beauty empties post with you x 

Neals Yard Remedies Bee Lovely To Your Hands Hand Cream - 50ml
Gwidhw Goody Hoo Muscle Soother - 250ml**
The Body Shop Frosted Berries Shower Gel - 250ml
Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula With Vitamin E Original Solid Formula - 30g
L'Occitane Shea Butter Frangipani Hand Cream - 30ml
Beauty Pro Avocado Infused Sheet Mask - 1 x 22ml Sheet Mask
The Body Shop Himalayan Charcoal Purifying Glow Mask - 15ml

Total - 7 Items

Just like in April, in May I managed to finish another 7 beauty products. Unlike most of my 2021 empties posts so far, May's total contained no hair products, instead I finished a nice mix of body and skincare items. Again it's going to be one of those posts when you've probably seen fairly in depth reviews of most of the products before but as I say it can't be helped, and you never know there maybe a product or two that you've probably forgotten about x 

1. Neals Yard Remedies Bee Lovely To Your Hands Hand Cream - 50ml

First up a hand cream, and it's something that I've talked about quite a few times on the blog. The Neals Yard Remedies Bee Lovely To Your Hands Hand Cream is crammed full of moisturising oils and butters, as well as honey and sweet orange oil, and has lovely warm, sweet, citrus scent. You can read a full review of it here, but I really love it, and it's something that I would definitely consider repurchasing. 

2. Gwidhw Goody Hoo Muscle Soother - 250ml**

The next product is the first of what will be several ancient, so old it's quite embarrassing products that I've recently rediscovered. A few years ago now we had our bath taken out, and our bathroom was converted into a wet room / shower room. That involved us having to pack the entire contents of the bathroom up into boxes, and guess who has just rediscovered a box of old skin and body bits? Well, me of course, and since I'm a bit stingy, I'm trying to finish everything that's still usable, and hasn't changed texture and that doesn't smell funky. Well this product looked, and smelled the same as it used to, so after a period of fibromyalgia related neck and shoulder pain, I decided to finish it off.

I was originally sent this to review from natural beauty site My Pure, and you can read a full review here. Whilst My Pure, and sites such as Ecco Verde, and Celtic Herbal still sell a range of Gwdihw balms, this camphor and menthol scented gel appears to have been discontinued which is a huge shame, as it was a nice, 'natural' alternative to some of the more mass market high street muscle ease products.

3. The Body Shop Frosted Berries Shower Gel - 250ml

It wouldn't be an empties post with a product from The Body Shop, and today I've got two for you, and the first one is a festive item.

From the 2016 (maybe?) Frosted Berries range, this berry, red shower gel, has a lovely fruity, slightly tart, raspberry, cranberry, and blackcurrant based scent. I love The Body Shop shower gel formulations , and this shower gel was a delight to use no matter what the season. Alas this was a Christmas limited edition so it's now long gone bar on eBay, thankfully though I still have a few products from the range to use up so I can enjoy some berry bliss for a bit longer.

4. Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula With Vitamin E Original Solid Formula - 30g

The next product on May's list is something that came in the December 2020 edition of Glossybox UK, but it's a product that I didn't get round to both reviewing and using up until May, and it was one of those products that from the first minute that I tried it, I knew I would buy it again, and I already have. You can read a full review of the Palmers Cocoa Butter With Vitamin E Original Solid Formula here x 

This was just a little pot but I've gone on to buy the full big daddy, 100g size, and I still love it, and I'm still using it mainly as a hand and cuticle moisturiser, but every now and then I can't resist popping a bit on my lips to try and combat the chocolate cravings!

5. L'Occitane Shea Butter Frangipani Hand Cream - 30ml

Next, up another fairly old product, and it's something from French brand L'Occitane. I'm a huge fan of L'Occitane, and their hand creams are easily some of the best that I've ever used. As well as the original shea butter, they also come in a range of both core, and limited edition formulations and scents.

This frangipani fragranced hand cream was a limited edition product, and I believe that I got this particular one in a set from QVC UK. Containing 20% shea butter, this thick white cream was surprisingly easy to massage into the skin. It did take a little while to absorb though so I mainly used this one as an overnight hand cream with cotton gloves. It left the skin feeling really smooth, hydrated, and protected, making it and the other shea butter based hand creams in the L'Occitane range ideal for anyone with drier skin.

As I say all of the L'Occitane hand creams are amazing but this one was probably one of my all time favourites thanks to the beautiful summery, coconut, and white flower scent.

6. Beauty Pro Avocado Infused Sheet Mask - 1 x 22ml Sheet Mask

The next product on the list is the first of 2 skincare items on May's list and it's the first of 2 face masks. This was another Glossybox item, and it was something that came in the January 2021 box that I didn't get round to using until May.

You can read a full review of this mask here, but in brief it was a good one, it was soothing, cooling, and hydrating, and it was great for drier (or sun exposed!) skin. In fact I liked it so much that I went on to buy one for a friend.

7. The Body Shop Himalayan Charcoal Purifying Glow Mask - 15ml

Finally another face mask, and it's another product from The Body Shop. I received this particular mask in the 2020 Glossybox advent calendar, and you can read a full review of it in this Sample Saturday post here x 

As I get older my skin is starting to dry out a little bit, and I definitely don't get as many spots as I used to (although I do have 2 at the moment - what the hell?), but for the occasional hormonal breakout I would definitely consider buying this mask again.

So there you have it, quite a few products that you've seen before, some recommendations, and a blast from the past. I already know that June was a better month than May trimming my stash wise, but fingers crossed I can end July on a high and beat that total.

As per usual if you have any questions then please let me know, and I will see you soon with another belated Glossybox unboxing and review x 

*This Post Contains Added Automatic Affiliate, Added Affiliate And Non Affiliate Link

** Press Sample