Empties: Guerlain, Sensai, Dior, Revlon etc

Time for another blast from the past empties post! I’ve tried to itemize everything in this photo and try to remember how I felt about these products. Broadly speaking, I’d say there’s three categories: meh, doesn’t even register, and still using.

For a while I was really into scented hand washes and loved having one by Rituals or Molton Brown in my bathroom. I enjoyed many scents – not just the ones in this particular photo, but over time I realized these soaps were not for me. As nice as the bottle looks and the product smells, I found all of them to be very drying on my hands. I wash my hands very often and what works best for me is having a gentle, fragrance-free soap, followed by some moisturizer to keep my skin healthy. So, it’s not that I dislike these products, they’re just not for me.

I remember having pretty high expectations for the Revlon ColorStay eyeliner. It claimed to be smudge and waterproof, the espresso brown colour was exactly what I’d been looking for, and the price point was great. In my experience however, it just didn’t deliver. It’s as simple as that – it didn’t do what it said on the tin. It absolutely smeared and smudged and was not waterproof. I also remember the pencil itself being flimsy and feeling cheap. Alas, a fail. I’ll also quickly mention the other pencil in the image. I’ll make it short and sweet: I have no idea what it is/was, so let’s move on!

Both Dior’s Diorshow and Clinique’s High Impact mascaras are cult favourites, so I gave them a shot. At the time I was still looking for a classic, non-tubing or waterproof mascara, that wouldn’t smudge on my lids. Neither of these were a win – panda eyes for days. I suffered through both and used them up. As you can see, the Sensai 38C Volumising Mascara is also in the mix – I used it then and continue to. Both the mascara and the Sensai Designing Liquid Eyeliner are among my hero products, seen here with the old packaging. Love them!

I’ve purchased the transparent Lumene Brow Care Fixing Gel multiple times. I think it’s fine – I’ve tried a few others here and there and none have blown me away. I don’t have any strong feelings towards this product, but I enjoy having it in my routine.

I also re-purchased the La Roche Posay Rosaliac UV Legere moisturizer a few times. I don’t have any strong feelings towards this one either. I used to want a lower SPF moisturizer with a nicer texture for the winter months when there’s barely any daylight, let alone Sun where I live. The LRP Rosaliac Legere was just OK. Currently I’ve been using the same high SPF products all year round, but I may re-visit this type of moisturizer in the future.

The Guerlain 4 Seasons Terracotta Bronzer in 00 Nude was my first ever bronzer and using it up felt like the end of an era! If I could re-purchase it, I would. The packaging was so nice and heavy – absolutely, positively luxurious! I think the one blush quarter was such a good idea – it looked great both mixed with the other colours and on its own. One thing that I also pay attention to is how quickly a pressed powder product starts to fall apart once you hit pan. It’s a bit of a pet peeve of mine when there’s still technically weeks of use, but the powder starts to come apart in chunks and you either have to toss it, or transfer the crumbs to a different pot etc… The Guerlain Bronzer was actually pretty decent in this regard – yes, it wasn’t perfect, but I didn’t feel like too much product went to waste.

And finally, one of the oldest items of makeup I had – the Make Up Store single eyeshadow in Oyster. Needless to say, they don’t make this anymore. I remember that there was 4g of product – that’s incredible by today’s standards! And even though it was my only eyeshadow for many years, it just lasted and lasted and lasted… At some point I got really sick of it, but now I actually miss it and would love to have that kind of shimmery brown/taupe with a silver sheen in my makeup collection again. I think the packaging was kind of brilliant in its simplicity as well – the lid just screwed on, so I never had the issues of it breaking like almost all hinged lids eventually do. Those were the days…

And that’s it for today’s empties. Quite the walk down memory lane, and a reminder that good products aren’t necessarily exciting, they’re just good… So good that you use them for a decade, or more.

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