Ode to an Empty: ELEMIS Pro Collagen Energizing Marine Cleanser

Ahh, Elemis. How I love you. How I miss you when you are gone. This is the second product by this company that I have finished and again, I am left both bittersweet and satisfied. All I can do now is write this goodbye blog post and, of course, do my usual assessment.

1. Did I use this?

Clearly, as I'm writing about it after it has been completely emptied. And I do mean completely. I was squeezing the very last bits out of it to have as many days with it as possible. 

2. Was it a good amount?

Speaking of me getting product out of this tube, I must say it certainly lasted me quite a while. I was only using it as a nightly cleanse, but still, for a deluxe mini to last over two months is pretty great. Of the many things one must give Elemis, being generous with product is certainly one of them. 

3. Did I enjoy it?

I think one of the keys to sticking to a skin routine is finding products you look forward to using. Whenever I thought about starting my nightly face ritual, the idea of putting this product on my skin always made me happy. It has a mild, lovely scent that always leaves me feeling very fresh and calm. It went on gently. My skin felt good after each use.

4. Did it live up to my expectations?

Elemis is an expensive product, so I expect a lot from it. So far, it has not disappointed me. As I mentioned above, I always receive a good amount, even in the minis, and have a great experience. This was no exception. My skin is so much better after using this cleanser.

5. Would I repurchase?

If I had the money to shell out for it, I would purchase it in a heartbeat. 

Another great thing about this cleanser is that it lasted until it absolutely needed to. I have more cleanser arriving today so this worked out well. I mean, it's not like that was planned or anything, but it's a nice little touch.

Ode to an Empty: Elemis Peptide4 Plumping Pillow Facial

Last night, I ran out of my ElemisPeptide4 Plumping Pillow Facial. I loved this cream! It was wonderful and soothing and calming for my skin. I need that because my skin tends to stay irritated most of the time. This is also supposed to reduce redness and fine lines. I have a lot of stuff going on my skin right now to reduce redness and fine lines so I can't say as to how much this contributed to that, but I can say that it certainly helped.

My two favorite things about this product were the scent and the texture. The scent contained Star Avensis, Indian Night Jasmine, bitter orange, orange, and coriander. I love all of these, though admittedly, while I love the smell of coriander, I am one of those people who thinks cilantro tastes like soap. However, the combination of all of these left me relaxed and happily ready for a good night's sleep. The texture was was very gentle and lightweight. As soon as I put it on my skin, I could feel it not only absorbing but also helping to absorb the serum and eye cream I had on under it. After that, my skin felt soft without any kind of greasy or oily sensations.

When it comes to skincare, one of the things I make determinations on is just how it makes me feel afterward. Mind you, a lot of the time, that's just nothing at best or covered in textures at worst. But with this, I actually felt better about things. I felt serene, tranquil. That's a very good way to feel before bed and certainly an indication of a successful overnight mask.

As I finished the tube, clearly I loved this. In fact, found myself reaching for it as often as I could. Would I repurchase? I certainly would were it in my price range. This product is expensive, but if you have the funds, it would be worth the investment.

May Box: Final Items

The last three items in the box were the best. I know I said I only got five items because that's all one is really paying for. The last item, a bonus perfume sample, is, well, a bonus. More on that later.

The last two purchased items were by far my favorites. The first is SUNDAY RILEY Ceramic Slip Clay Cleanser and it retails for 45$. This cleanser is designed to help skin that has problems with acne and issues with oiliness. The two clays (a green French one and a Moroccan rhassoul) clean out the pores and then tighten them. When I first got this product, I thought it was going to be a thick clay mask kind of thing, but it wasn't. It rubs into the skin like a lotion. It smells really, well, organic. It isn't unpleasant . . . okay, it kind of is. It smells like dirt. The smell is something you can live with though because this stuff is great!

My skin feels so good after using this. In fact, even after the first application, I was basically dazzled by the level of result. I know it's probably just the change of pace from what I usually do, but seriously, wow. If I had the money, I would totally buy this product.

The next time was the Christophe Robin Cleansing Purifying Scrub with Sea Salt. It retails for 53$. This whole thing started a funny conversation between my roommate and me. I got the name wrong at first and told him it was made by Christopher Robin. He asked me if it was ground up Winnie the Pooh. I pretended to be reading the back of it and told him it was. I should have actually read it because I didn't realize this was a shampoo. I thought it was a scrub to put on after you shampooed with something else. This caused things to sud up in a pretty massive way.

Unlike the mask, this product smells amazing. It smells really clean and fresh. The crystals in it are large and I had to make sure I really scrubbed to get them to all dissolve. My hair felt really good afterward. Hair products are always tricky on me because I have really, really oily hair and things tend to look awful after only a little while. My hope is that I can get some of that handled with this product while it lasts.

Like the lip plumper, I think this is one that will take repeated applications to really give me some results.  However, from what I've experienced so far, I like it. Would I pay this much for it? I'm not sure. If it does wonderful things to my hair, in the long run, I just might.

The bonus scent was MAISON MARGIELA ’REPLICA’ Beach Walk and if you want to purchase this, it will cost you 126$. I am sure you can guess that I have never put anything this fancy or expensive on my skin. I'm not really a perfume person. My body chemistry amplifies scents and projects them. Honestly, some people don't put on too much scent as much as their body just makes it seem that way.

The perfume aspect of the monthly box is another thing that really appealed to me. Scent is probably the aspect of cosmetics that I know the least about. I know what smells good on other people, but I've never really had the experience of being able to test to see what smells good on me. I wouldn't even know where to start.

Replica was a good place. It isn't anything like what I would have bought for myself. For one thing, it's beachy. Even though I like the beach scents, it's not really my scene. I wouldn't see this as something to use. I liked it, though. The beach scent was deepened by a sense of freshness and an undercurrent of watermelon. Of course, there was no actual watermelon in it. It's Bergamot, Pink Pepper, Lemon, Ylang Ylang, Coconut Milk, Heliotrope, Musk, Cedarwood, Benzoin. All of that added up to something quite nice.

Now, would I spend that much money on this? You know, if I had it to spare, I think I would. I love the scent and the actual bottle it comes in looks like an old an apothecary jar. I'm kind of a sucker for things like that.

Anyway, that's the review of my first Sephora box. Overall, I'm pleased.