Empties #12

La Roche Posay Effaclar Purifying Foaming Gel Cleanser

I credit this as one of the brilliant products that completely turned my skin from cystic acne to clear and smooth. This cleanser is just so completely brilliant and I struggled to find a negative point about it. Except for one: La Roche Posay test on animals. If this weren’t tested on animals it would be my Holy Grail cleanser that I would use day in and day out without fail. While I find most foaming cleansers to be quite drying and strip the good oils from the skin, this soap free one from La Roche Posay gets rid of all dirt, oil and left over makeup while still being incredibly gentle. It also aims to keep the skin P.H at a balance of 5.5, which means it won’t be too harsh. This cleanser smells like violets and is easily one of my favourite cleansers of all time. I am so disappointed the L’Oreal owned La Roche Posay are such heavy animal testers because this cleanser is one of those ‘change your life’ products. TESTS ON ANIMALS.

Mary Kay Foundation Primer with SPF 15

I was surprised at how much I actually liked the Mary Kay primer. When I first felt it I found myself being reminded of the Porefessional by Benefit that I absolutely loathed. The texture and consistency are the same but that is where the similarities end. When I used the Porefessional my makeup slid right off and if some of it managed to stay in tact it would look patchy and unblended. With the Mary Kay instead of hindering the makeup on top, it took it to a whole new level.  I found once applied my makeup stayed on a lot longer and looked a lot smoother. It also has an SPF of 15 to help give a little boost of sun protection underneath your makeup. I have a problem with enlarged pores on my nose and this helped my foundation to glide right over the top and made them look much less noticeable. If Mary Kay were a cruelty free company, I would repurchase this in a heartbeat. Unfortunately they are not so I will have to continue on finding more primers I love. For now my favourite cruelty free primer has been from Inika but I still want to test a few more out. TESTS ON ANIMALS.

REN Evercalm Global Protection Day Cream

Absolutely loved this product. It is so nourishing on the skin and once applied leaves skin feeling smooth, calmed and with a noticeable reduction in redness. This was perfect to apply before makeup and I would often use this in replace of primer because it left skin beautifully prepared for makeup application. It’s also free from parabens, sulfates, synthetic fragrances, synthetic dyes and petro chemicals and is instead filled with lots of powerful antioxidant ingredients. The smell is a slightly herbal and the cream itself is quite thicker than others I’ve used but it never caused breakouts and would be great for sensitive skin. I love what this had done to my skin so I will be rushing out to repurchase this. Cruelty Free.

Swisspers Naturals Aloe Skin Perfecting Cleansing Wipes

Walk into any Woolworths and you will be perplexed at how hard it is to find cruelty free makeup wipes. I usually pick up my makeup wipes from Priceline as they stock a lot of Burt’s Bees, ModelCo and a few other cruelty free skincare brands. But one night I finished too late at work to get to a Priceline and had to pick some up at my local Woolies on the way home. All you will find packed on the shelves are Johnson & Johnson, Simple and many other brands that test on animals. The only brand that I could think of that wouldn’t test would be Swisspers and a quick scan on Google showed that they don’t, even though it was a bit hard to find the relevant information. Nonetheless I picked these ones up and they were quite nice. They’re a bit thicker in texture than normal wipes and they removed all my makeup including waterproof mascara and I found them very soothing to the skin because of the Aloe. While they are a good basic wipe, they aren’t my favourite of all time. Though it is good to know I can find a cruelty free backup at the supermarket that does the job if need be. Cruelty Free.

Avene Cleanance K Cleansing Gel

Every product I’ve tried from Avene I have absolutely loved but this one was terrible. This cleanser is for oily acne prone skin and it is just so harsh and drying. I have very oily skin but this completely stripped it of not only the bad excess oil, but the good oils as well. Once I had rinsed my face and dried it off it was just so tight that it felt like I had a face lift Real Housewives of Beverly Hills style. This was so harsh on my oily skin that I can’t imagine what it would be like on pimple prone people with normal, dry or combination skin. Normally Avene products are so soothing and calming to the skin, but I wouldn’t recommend this product at all. TESTS ON ANIMALS.