the tortured empties department

The titles for these only get worse.

Oh my god, have I started and abandoned so many posts since *checks notes* May 26. Suffice it to say, I have been Going Through It. I can’t really remember most of June and July was an act of dragging myself towards the week off that was waiting tantalisingly at the end of it. Writing about beauty seemed false and writing about grief is too hard. I am shopping too much. But over the past few weeks I have spent lots of time with friends, exploring the west of Ireland, watching the Olympics, giving my cats increasingly esoteric nicknames, things of that nature. A corner has been turned but there are many more corners to come, as I have kiiiind of accepted at this point.

I have somehow amassed a post-worthy amount of empties, so let’s just pretend I’ve been a faithful and frequent newsletter editrix and get into that.

Sculpted by Aimee Sun Mist SPF 50

This isn’t totally empty, but it was thrown into a drawer at the end of last summer and is probably well out of date (SPF is the one thing I do care about use-by dates with). I loved this! These mists aren’t a replacement for regular SPF, but ideal for reapplication over makeup, on hands, back of the neck, etc. It’s instantly dry to the touch and doesn’t disturb anything you might have on your face. My one quibble was that the bottle was a little chunky for a Small Handbag Girl like myself, but they have redone the packaging since I bought it, so that issue may be addressed. I replaced it with the Garnier Over Make-Up Mist, simply because it was on offer in Boots, but I’d buy the Sculpted one again.

Garnier Vitamin C Daily UV Invisible SPF 50+

Speaking of Garnier SPF products, this is their new SPF moisturiser that they have been aggressively promoting to me on Instagram and TikTok. I got the non-tinted version, and it is… okay. I mentioned in a previous post that I prefer my K-beauty sunscreens, but it certainly isn’t a bad product. The pros: It really is invisible! And easy to rub in. It’s got an almost matte finish, which might suit those with oilier skin types. The cons: I find the level of fragrance in it to be completely unnecessary – I’m not against fragrance in products, but this is a) not a nice one and b) so, so heavy, at least in my opinion. It’s also not as hydrating as other SPF moisturisers I’ve tried. All in all, not a repurchase for me.

Beauty of Joseon Relief Sun Rice + Probiotics SPF 50+

My beloved. I won’t go into too much detail on this again, only to say that I went from the Garnier one to this and the difference was stark. The BoJ sunscreen is definitely more of a moisturising product, and leaves the most gorgeous dewy glow, which is something I seek out. And the brand is now available in Boots! You love to see it.

Sol de Janeiro Bom Dia Bright Clarifying AHA BHA Body Wash

I let the Sol de Janeiro train pass me by, because I barely moisturise my body enough to spend almost €50 on body cream, but I was looking for a body wash with actives in it, and this one caught my eye. It’s got salicylic acid and fruit exfoliants and all sorts in it to do away with rough skin and body acne, and like all SdJ products, smells incredible. THIS is where I want my scents, brands! Not my sunscreen. It doesn’t feel crazily priced at €24, considering it lasted me months and months. I cannot tell you if it actually made a difference to my body acne (it has cleared up but that may be for other reasons, detailed below), but it made for a very nice shower experience. 

Aldi Lacura Almond Gentle Shower Oil

Not every Aldi beauty dupe falls into my basket, but when they do… it’s a mixed bag. I’ve tried some great Aldi dupes (their versions of the Bobbi Brown Vitamin Enriched Face Base and Eye Primer are good!) but this isn’t among them. I haven’t used the L’Occitane shower oil this is based on, but I have smelled it, and it smells a lot nicer than this fake, cloying scent. Other than that, it’s a bog standard body wash. What it has done is make me want to buy the real thing, which is kind of the opposite of what a dupe should do.

Palmer’s Coconut Oil Formula Coconut Hydrate Body Oil

I know I said I don’t moisturise my body enough, but the only way I will bother to do it is if it’s directly after a shower with something like this. It goes straight on damp skin, sucks up all the moisture, and leaves you with gleaming, soft limbs. And it only takes a minute or two to apply, much less of a slog than massaging in a cream for four to five hours (I may be exaggerating but that’s what it FEELS like). I’ve replaced it with the Aveeno Skin Relief Body Oil Spray which, other than smelling like a Victoria’s Secret, does an equally good job at moisturising my skin. 

Hair by Sam McKnight Cool Girl Texture Mist

Like the Sculpted SPF mist, this has been in the back of a drawer just about empty for yonks. You’d swear I didn’t actually like it, but I do! It’s described as being “barely there” and I find that to be true – some texture sprays can feel almost crunchy, but this adds a bit of grit without the sensation of having tons of product in your hair. It also smells very sophisticated and, yes, gives me Cool Girl hair (though I have the kind of hair texture – thick, kinda wavy – that works well with sprays like this one). I would buy it again.

Banila Co Clean It Zero Cleansing Balm

The way I was rationing out the products I got in Seoul… but all good things have to come to an end. I’ve used this a few times before, and was glad to see that it’s still a lovely balm cleanser. Gets the makeup off, skin feels clean, happy days. I like the sorbet-y texture of it. This is the exfoliating version, and I don’t think it did much of that, but I didn’t really need it to.

Skinoren Azelaic Acid 15% Gel (prescription only)

Another fallen soldier in my years-long fight against adult acne! Ah no. I think azelaic acid is a great ingredient and I’ve incorporated it into my skincare routine, even though it was not the cure I sought for my hormonal, cystic spots. Annoyingly, from the top lip upwards my skin looked fantastic, because azelaic acid fights redness, hyperpigmentation, and milder acne, but my chin and jaw were still a mess. Clearly, whatever is causing it is underneath the hood, so topical treatments can only do so much. I’m now on my third month of taking spironolactone, which has worked, and my skin looks really, really good. I want to write a full post on my adult acne ~*journey*~ when I’m out of the spiro “probation period,” but things are looking up, acne-wise.

La Roche-Posay Toleraine Dermallergo Eye Cream

This has featured countless times on this newsletter so I’ll be brief: Great for sensitive eyes, has gotten me out of a few painful, reactive eye situations, and I’ll keep using it to avoid that happening again.

Charlotte Tilbury Magic Water Cream

OK, so. A good while ago, some pals who remain in the magazine industry gave me a very generous Bag of Shite (what we used to call the piles of PR products we’d get, lol sorry brands). In that Bag of Shite lay this product – a product that costs ninety-five entire euro, that I would and will never buy for myself because I don’t believe in €95 moisturiser. BUT. God is it nice. I thought it would feel like all the other water-gel-cream moisturisers I’ve tried, but it’s somehow richer, without being at all heavy. I looked dewy and hydrated and I liked it a lot. I will probably never see it again, but I will forever think of it fondly, like a summer fling or a Mars Delight. 

Laneige Water Sleeping Mask

This is what I was thinking that Charlotte Tilbury cream would be like; a lightweight, fresh-feeling gel. The Laneige mask is a very nice, hydrating night cream, at a more competitive price. It has been mentioned plenty on here, though I won’t be repurchasing it at the moment – not for any negative reasons, just because I am slutty with moisturisers.

Benefit 24-Hour Brow Setter

No matter what I do, my brow hairs will march to the beat of their own drum. I’ve tried soap brows and any number of brow gels, but my eyebrows are just a bit crap and sparse-yet-thick and very little can change that. Even so, I liked this, a clear brow gel that could hold them for longer than most of the others. I definitely did not get 24-hour hold (I never tested it, to be fair) and I couldn’t achieve the stuck-down “laminated” effect some people are able to get with this, but I could certainly groom them and stay groomed for an appropriate amount of time, with no white crumbly bits (cough Refy). I won’t be rebuying yet, as I have a Maybelline one I want to use, but I will consider it.

NYX Thick It, Stick It Brow Mascara in Brunette

This, by contrast, is a fibre brow gel, designed to tint and thicken your eyebrows. I found this great for a quick brow on days when I couldn’t face the whole pencilling in malarkey, though I think the wand is way too big to be totally effective. I am begging cosmetics companies to shrink their brow wands by about 50%, so that I’m not smearing the product all over my skin while trying to catch the hair. I’m turning more towards clear gels at the moment for less of a heavy brow (not that I can do much about my jet black brow hairs), but if you’re in the market for a tinted one, this is good and affordable.

Charlotte Tilbury Hyaluronic Happikiss in Crystal Happikiss

Whenever I finish any lip product, it is like I have climbed Everest. This was a translucent pink shade I was using more or less as lip balm, but it still counts. I liked this range well enough in the past, though on reflection, I have balmy lipsticks I prefer – these can be quite thick and sticky, and the other shades are more pigmented than I think is required of them. Plus, the twist-up packaging is a recipe for disaster. I don’t think the formula is particularly hydrating either, and now that there are so many lip balms on the market (tinted or otherwise), why wouldn’t you go for one of those instead? I think it’s a case of them being interesting when they launched, but not so much now that the market has changed. Sure Chazza has probably forgotten they even exist, what with her putting out about seven million products a month.

Thanks for reading Vanity Project! And apologies again for my less-than-stellar output. I think I needed to write this to get over the hump… so we’ll see how things go now. Chat to ye soon (hopefully)!