REVIEW: November's farewelled products

So this is my second last empties post for the year - without further ado let me get right into it!

Skin care

114) L'Oreal Youth Code Lumiere (aka 'Luminosity') Extraordinary Serum (30ml)
I've got back on the wagon with serums as I figure my middle-aged skin can do with all that extra penetrative skincare!  L'Oreal's serum was the first because it promises to correct my dreaded dark spots and I've been using this along with Luminosity Day Cream because, well, it can't hurt! What can I say about it??  The formula is loaded with Vitamin Cg and has a faintly citrus scent.  It absorbs instantly as you'd expect and did give my skin an instantly more luminous veneer as promised because of its light-reflecting formula.  As usual, even after using this for just over a month I can't really detect that this product has reduced my pigmentation but it hasn't got any worse either! Is that a win? I guess so.  Would I repurchase? Probably, because this is well priced at $35.95AUD for quality skincare - although I have a backlog of three other serums to get through first!

115) Coca-Cola Vanilla Lip Smacker (4.0g/0.14 oz)
I didn't know just how to categorize this so let's just go with skincare shall we? I bought this for a bit of fun and ended up using it as my nightly lip balm.  I actually liked this fun product very much - it did a really good job of moisturising my lips and the scent/'flavour' was more cinnamon than Vanilla Coke so I quite liked that too!

116) Bloom off, off and away cleansing wipes (24 wipes)
After around a year of trying out different facial wipes I'm feeling a bit like the connoisseur, lol!  As you can see I picked up this pack (and another) at the reduced price of $3.00 and to be honest I'm glad I didn't pay full price.  These wipes are probably the smallest wipes I've used and on several occasions I've found a second wipe necessary to cleanse my entire face.  What I did like was the gentle, alcohol-free formula and the pleasant cucumber scent.  Would I repurchase? Not at the full price, no.

Hand and body care

117) Sally Hansen Mega Shine Extended Wear Top Coat (12.7ml/0.43fl. oz)

This top coat is an old favourite of mine from my pre-blogger days when I didn't need my polish to dry in 60 seconds flat!  Sure, this isn't the fastest drying top coat, although it still is reasonably quick and touch-dry in a matter of minutes, but heck the shine is fantastic!  I still love it and will definitely repurchase.  The only thing which bugs me a little is the opaque bottle.  I've got no way of knowing exactly how much product is left in the bottle until it runs out - sometimes mid-manicure!

118) OPI Original Polish Remover ( 120ml/4fl.oz)

My tenth bottle for the year. 

119) Palmer's Skin Smoothing Lotion with Alpha/Beta Hydroxy & Shea butter (250ml - 8.5fl. oz)

I've raved about this body lotion many a time because of the genuine skin smoothing formula and this is my fourth emptied bottle this year.  

120) OPI RapiDry Top Coat (3.75ml - 1/8fl. oz)

I've always got full sized backups of this top coat on hand because it's quick drying and non-shrinking.  The mini bottles like this one do frustrate me though because there's about a quarter of the bottle wasted as the brush simply cannot reach that far.

121) MOR Marshmallow Hand Cream (50ml - 1.7 fl. oz)

This was my handbag hand cream and it's certainly attention-getting!  The scent is a rather strong and lingering musk candy which can be smelt metres away, so I discovered one day at work when one of my friends asked what I was wearing.  The cream itself is rather thick and reasonably moisturising but I found the scent just a little too distracting for me.

Cosmetics

122) Essence Glossy Lip Balm (Sparkling Cherry)

Cheap and cheerful, and a really pretty sheer cherry red on the lips.  Unfortunately these little cuties have been discontinued.

123) Wet 'n' Wild Lip Liner Pencil (666 Brandy Wine)

This little stub doesn't tell the full story (or does it?) but this pencil lasted me years and I loved it so much that I requested a backup.  See here for a swatch and a little more of my raving over this drugstore gem.

124) Napoleon Perdis Mascara/Lipgloss

I got this as a magazine freebie some time ago and this two-in-one was a hit and a miss in one.  The sheer icy pink lipgloss was surprisingly flattering and I loved it but the mascara was another story altogether - I hated it!  The mascara was clumpy and not water-resistant in the slightest - panda eyes anyone???  At least I didn't actually buy this.

125) L'Oreal Lumi Magique Touch of Light - Highlighting Pen (2 - Medium)

Unfortunately, this product was one of the makeup disappointments of the year for me - you can read all about it again here.

Fragrance

126) Tom Ford Violet Blonde EDP (1.5ml -.05fl.oz sample)

Complimentary samples, the the only way I can afford Tom Ford fragrances *sigh*.  When I first smelt this I thought it was a little too mature and bold for me but on a second, and third sniff I changed my mind - I like the unusually dramatic powdery floral scent.  This fragrance has top notes of "...violet leaf, Italian mandarin and pink pepper;  middle notes of Tuscan iris absolute, Tuscan orris butter, Sambac jasmine and sampaquita;  and base notes of musk, suede, cedar, vetiver and benzoin".  If only I could afford to buy one of TF's fragrances...

127) Narciso Rodriguez Essence Eau de Musc EDP (75ml)

I loved the softness of this fragrance and it was suitable for every day wear.  This has, "...dominant aromas of musk, with aromas of ylang-ylang, jasmine and orange blossom".  It's simply very pretty in my opinion and I would definitely repurchase.

That's it for another month!

Vita :)