Every time I tried to write this post, it seems that I've gotten distracted and quickly moved on to more exciting posts. Not that talking about empties isn't exciting, but when I'm running around to different countries and have shiny new products to play with...well, THAT's exciting.
Because I kept delaying this, the empties that I had started to slowly pile up. And instead of slowly surrounding myself with empty products, I took pictures of them in installments. All of this comprises empties from about April through August....and there's a lot so let's get started!
The first group of products is from May. I've talked about how much I love the Pacifica Body Butter and all their fragrances before, so there's another one to add to the pile. I also used Vaseline Soothing Moisture Body Lotion religiously, so this lotion is nothing exciting, except I do love it for maintaining my chronically dry skin.
I also used up the CVS Strengthening Nail Polish Remover. It wasn't the greatest remover I've ever used, but it did its job. I prefer the original CVS remover as it removes all my polishes more effortlessly.
I finally used up the L'occitane Cherry Blossom Hand Creme, which I absolutely loved....mostly because of the smell. It has a light texture, so it's better suited for warmer weather, but whenever I did wear it, I fell in love with the smell. It is a little expensive for what it is though, since I find that my Soap and Glory Hand Food hand creme does a better job.
I usually love the Maybelline the Falsies Black Drama Waterproof mascara, but I think I got a bad batch of this because it was really dry and didn't give me as much length or volume as I wanted. I'll try it out again soon, because I remember loving it the first time I bought it!
The Seche Vite Dry Fast Clear Top Coat is something I use up a couple times a year. Love it, makes my nails shiny, and it makes my nail polish last forever.
One of my favorite liquid highlighters is the Revlon Age Defying Face Illuminator in Bare Light. I use this especially in the colder months before I even put on foundation, or I'll mix it into my foundation for some extra luminance. I have another bottle of this as a backup, so I will definitely be using that this fall/winter. This particular one has been discontinued, but Revlon has released their Photoready Illuminators, which I believe are very very similar.
Another product I love and used up is the Sonia Kashuk Radiant Tinted Moisturizer.
It is sheer but has light coverage, keeps my from getting too oily
compared to other tinted moisturizers, and was pretty cheap. Again, I
have a couple other tinted moisturizers I want to try, so I think I'll
take a break from this one, but it's definitely a product I would go
back to!
While I was traveling, I was able to use up a lot of travel-size items, although I didn't include the items that I decanted into travel size bottles because, well...that just seems like cheating. But I did include other samples that I either brought along with me or bought while I was there.
For the not so exciting items, I finished a toothpaste from Aquafresh. It's actually one of my favorite toothpastes because it has a light citrus flavor. Since I didn't want to take a bottle of nail polish remover with me, I settled for the Kiko Nail Polish Removers. They were handy and very saturated, so it took off my nail polish easily. Since I just needed them for convenience, I wasn't too picky. I bought another pack as a backup, but I won't be too upset when I run out again.
For even less exciting things, I used up the Secret Clinical Strength deodorant. I brought it because I had it handy and it was a small travel size. It did a great job, although I'm perfectly happy with my regular Ban deodorant. Annd because I wear contacts, I used up a contact solution. I never include these in my posts because its hardly something worth being proud of, but hey..why not.
You've probably noticed that I never feature haircare on my blog, and that's because I really am the laziest person when it comes to my hair. Beyond a shampoo and conditioner, all I really use are a leave-in conditioner, texturizing cream, and occasionally a dry shampoo. For my travels, I only brought along travel sizes so that I could throw them out as I used them. The first product is the Peter Thomas Roth Mega-Rich Conditioner. Although I wouldn't buy a full-size of this, I actually liked how it was lightweight and left my hair feeling soft.
I actually did like the Bath and Body Works Aromatherapy Orange Ginger Shampoo. I have a body scrub from the same line, and I am in love with the scent. I don't really need a shampoo to do anything special for me, so the scent really made this a nice shampoo to use. However, because I don't really use specialty haircare, I wouldn't go out of my way to buy this.
I bought the Alverde Nutri-Care Almond and Argan Oil Conditioner on a whim, but wasn't too impressed with it. I usually love Alverde products, but this conditioner didn't do much for my hair at all. It was a little too thick, so I wasn't satisfied with the way it spread through my hair. And lastly, for the shampoos, I brought along a trial size of the Pantene Color Preserve Shampoo just so I could use it up. I don't have color treated hair, but it worked just fine for me. Again, I'm not especially picky with shampoos so this was just average.
Now for a haircare product that I did like - the Ouidad Moisture Lock Leave-In Conditioner. Ouidad products are generally targeted towards those with curly hair, but this conditioner did wonders for bringing out the natural waves in my hair along with adding moisture. All I did was scrunch my hair after I washed it, and it would dry into the perfect subtle waves that I've been trying to achieve for ages. I have a couple leave-in conditioners that I'm using right now, but once those are finished, I am seriously considering buying a full size version of this. And in conjunction with this, I used the Nivea Volume Sensational Styling Spray. This was another impulse buy that I wanted to use a texturizing spray. I wasn't too impressed with how it performed, although it did seem to add just a touch of extra volume. I'm not even sure this is available in the States, but I'm searching for other texturizing sprays! I just picked up the Oribe spray so I'll be testing that out soon...
And lastly, I've talked about my love for the Caudalie Beauty Elixir before for its refreshing and freshening abilities, so I naturally had to buy another one as soon as I finished this one. For the record, I buy this in France so I end up paying at least half of what it costs in the US, making it much easier to justify for me. I'm a little more hesitant to buy the smaller bottle with the $18 price tag in the US, but I would probably still do it.
And lastly.....some makeup products! These are what I get the most excited about because it means that I get to start using other items in my collection.
Both samples I used up were primers from Benefit, the Stay Flawless Primer and the Pore Perfection Primer. I was actually really really impressed with both of them. They made my makeup last visibly longer, and helped give a smoother look to my makeup. I think I might like the Pore Perfection just a liiiitle bit more because it really did make my pores disappear. I would consider getting a full-size version, but I would love if it had some oil control properties as well.
But to get just a couple more boring things out of the way....another mini contact lense solution, and a mini version of Bioderma. I love this just as much as everyone else in the beauty world, and I bought the huge bottles when I was in France. The Isana Shampoo was from awhile ago, but I didn't like how it lathered up, so I ended up using it to clean all my brushes. I have to say that I"m pretty glad it's gone.
The EOS Lip Balms are also an HG product, and I use it every single morning to prime my lips, so I go through a few of these a year.
I finally finally finally used the MAC Paint Pot in Bare Study. I've used this consistently for a few years, and I love its neutral champagne shimmer as a base for my eyeshadows. I love MAC Paint Pots, but I think I'm going to try to get some use out of my Kiko Eye Sticks before I buy a replacement.
One of my old standby products was the Clinique City Block SPF 25, and I honestly don't know why I stopped using it. I finally got around to using a sample size of it again, and fell back in love with how it seemed to smooth out my skin ever so slightly, provide sun protection, and still feel lightweight on my skin. I think I may need to add this back to my collection......
I used up another Cover Girl Lash Blast Volume Waterproof. Nothing crazy here since it's my favorite mascara, and it lasts for ages. I buy this every summer since it's the most waterproof mascara out of all the waterproof mascaras I've tried. The Elf Mineral Eye Primer was a cheap thrill, since I think it
was only $3. It worked fine for my lids. I'm not too picky with my eye
primers so I would probably purchase this again.
I also finally finished the Maybelline Age Rewind Concealer. It's been discontinued, but it was well loved by many people when it was still sold. I found it kind of eh..and it wasn't quite yellow enough for me. I'm glad to see this go. Another concealer that I've had for ages is the Sonia Kashuk Hidden Agenda Concealer Palette. It was great for covering up blemishes, but I have a couple other concealers I want to try out. The light shade is just simply too light for me so there's no point in trying to use that up.
And finally...a lipgloss! It's a deluxe sample size, but I still get a strange feeling of accomplishment whenever I finish a lip product...probably because I just have so many of them. The Bite Beauty Lush Fruit Lipgloss in Vintage came with a Sephora lip set a couple years ago, and it made me completely fall in love with Bite Beauty. Besides the perfect subtle sheer plum shade, it had an amazing smooth cushiony texture that was moisturizing. I absolutely loved using this, and have practically all their shades on my wishlist...and this is coming from someone that has almost completely stopped using lip glosses altogether.
Well, that was a lot of products....proof that I do actually use things up! I already know that my next post will include lots of skincare so till next time on the empties posts!
As for my next post, look out for some food ;)
In the meantime, catch up on all my posts with:
Instagram - which I update the most often with random food and life snapshots!
Pinterest - for all my food pins
and
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