Empties Review Express!

These empties have been collecting dust for a while (see: over a year, ooops). I've been dying to recycle them so I'll give these a quick and dirty review before I toss them goodbye!

Here goes: 

Kings & Queens Sultan of Granada Lemon Flower Body Butter

Made in Greece

Ingredients: aqua, glyceryl stearate, butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), beeswax, PEG-100 Stearate, shorea robusta seed butter, behenyl alcohol, cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, isodecyl neopentanoate, glycerin, hydrogenated myristyl olive esters, C12-13 alkyl lactate, hydrogenated polyisobutene, PPG-3 benyl ether myristate, triethylhexanoin, allantoin, asorbic acid, asorbyl palmitate, benzyl alcohol, butylene glycol, butylphenyl methylprpional, carthamus tictorius (safflower) seed oil, citral, citric acid, geraniol, glycyrrhetinic acid, hexyl cinnamal, limonene, linalool, linoleic acid, malachite extract, nymphaea coerulea flower extract, panthenol, parfum, PEG-8, phenoxyethanol, potassium sorbate, prunus amygdalus dulcis (sweet almond) oil, punica granatum fruit extract, sodium cetearyl sulfate, tocopherol, tocopheryl acetate, urea, xanthan gum

Rundown: I was excited to try Kings & Queens since I found out they were the sister company of Korres. The price point is sweeter than Korres. $15 for 200mL ( I paid $4.99 at TJ Maxx) verses Korres' $29 for 235mL. I also prefer Kings & Queens' formula. It's thicker and hydrating, Korres' was not moisturizing enough for me. I'm not a fan of lemon scents in general, but they also offer it in mango and honey scents, yum. I'd love to repurchase, but it's hard to find it anywhere. The brand used to be sold at Target and Nordstrom, but have since stopped being carried. I saw it last year at the Duane Reade drugstores in New York. Give it a try if you come across it, especially if you can get it on clearance like I did. :)

Neutrogena Deep Clean Gentle Scrub, Oil Free

Made in USA

Ingredients: water, sodium methyl cocoyl taurate, polyethylene, glycerin, cocamidopropyl bentaine, glycol distearate, stearic acid, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, linoleamidopropyl PG-dimonium chloride phosphate, neopentyl glycol dicaprylate/dicaprate, salicylic acid, disodium EDTA, xanthan gum, manesium aluminum silicate, sodium hydroxide, cetyl alcohol, phenoxyethanol, methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, agar, mica, titanium dioxide, iron oxide, red 30 lake, fragrance

Rundown: This was my gentler scrub option when I weaned myself off from St. Ives Apricot scrub. I am a fan of Neutrogena skincare and this is a solid but not life-changing pick. It's gentle but effective enough to buff off the rough dead skin on my nose. Smells like orange tics tacs if you're into that. It's available at most drugstores have costs $6-$7.

Kose Softymo Airy Whip

Made in Japan

Ingredients (translated): water, butylene glycol, TEA-cocoate, liquefied petroleum gas, cocamide DEA, lauryl betaine, horsetail extract, hops extract, pine extract, lemon extract, rosemary extract, disodium EDTA, PEG-6 cocamide, polyquaternium-39, sodium chloride, phenoxyethanol, propylparaben, methylparaben, fragrance

Rundown: Ordered it from Sasa after Kathi's comparison of foam cleansers and it came out on top. Indeed, it's as gentle and non-drying and has a delightful tea-like scent as Kathi described. But beyond that, it's not a must-have. Certainly not worth tracking down in the US. I paid around $6 for 180g. 

Kirkland Signature Borghese Age-Defying Protective Eye Cream

Made in USA

Ingredients: water, C12-15 alkyl benzoate, cetearyl alcohol, yeast extract, hydrolyzed rice bran protein, stearyl ethylhexanoate, butylene glycol, aloe barbadensis leaf extract, octyldodecyl erucate, ceteareth-20, sweet almond seed extract, soybean seed extract, camellia oleifera leaf extract, wheat bran extract, menyanthes trifoliata leaf extract, ceramide-3, panthenol, allantoin, propylene glycol, squalane, carbomer, bisabolol, glycyrrhetinic acid, glyceryl polymethacrylate, trisodium EDTA, cholesterol, lecithin, triethanolomine, phenoxyethanol, methylparaben, butylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben, isobutylparaben

Rundown: Again, like but not love. Non-irritating and moisturizing but didn't do much to reduce the fine lines in my undereyes. Was sold exclusively at Costco in a night cream/eye cream combo. Sold in .5oz pots, wish it came in tube form. It's discontinued now and has been replaced by Borghese's intensive eye serum which is more silicone-y and comes in an airless pump (yay, sanitary factor).

Sana Uruotaishi Moisture Gel

Made in Japan

Ingredients (translated): water, glycerin, cyclopentasiloxane, alcohol, PEG-400, dimethicone, butylene glycol, (hydroxyethyl acrylate/sodium acryloyldimethyl taurate), hydrolyzed hyaluronic acid, sodium hyaluronate, hydroxypropyltrimonium hyaluronate, hydrolyzed collagen, vinyl dimethicone/methicone silsesquioxane crosspolymer,dimethicone/vinyl dimethicone crosspolymer, arginine, silica dimethyl silylate, ethylhexyl palmitate, phenoxyethanol, methylparaben

Rundown: Bought it because of Muse's positive review. I hated it and couldn't figure out why. It was not hydrating enough and pilled when I applied too much. It wasn't until I look at the ingredients and realized why it felt drying (alcohol) and pilled (silicone OD). Warning, ladies. Cute packaging may be deceiving! I bought it on Sasa for around $8 for 25g, which is pricey for so little amount of basic moisturizer. I've seen it for $12-$13 at Marina Foods as well. There is better products to be found though. 

The Body Shop Watermelon Body Lotion

Made in UK

Ingredients: aqua, ethylhexyl palmitate, ceteareth-20, glycerin, steareth-2, bertholletia excelsa seed oil, sesamum indicum seed oil, propylene glycol, dimethicone, phenoxyethanol, sodium benzoate, butyrospermum parkii, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, dipropylene glycol, allantoin, bisabool, disodium EDTA, citrullus lanatus (watermelon) fruit extract, sodium hydroxide, citric acid, red 4, yellow 6

Rundown: Picked it up January of last year during The Body Shop's annual winter clearance sales for $3. The scent really appealed to me. The salesperson described it perfectly as Jolly Ranchers. Unfortunately, the formula was way too light to properly moisturize my skin, to the extent my legs got cracked and scaly. No bueno. Give it a try if you don't need heavy hydration like I do. It seems to be discontinued in the US but can be found on the UK and Australian Body Shop sites. 

Clearly, the mini-reviews are a little useless since most of the products are either discontinued or hard to find. But that's my fault for waiting a year to write about them. I'm glad to finally toss these into the recycling bin after holding onto them for so long. Ah, hoarding trash. Beauty blogging makes you do some crazy things. ;)

Any thoughts to share on these products? Happy weekend!