April - May 2013 Empties

I have so many emptied products this time around that they wouldn't even fit in one group photo! I also knew I had to post this ASAP because they were literally spilling out of my drawer... So, without further ado, here's my stash-reducing progress for April & May!

First up, bodycare items were definitely the highest pile in the past couple months. I finished a Shikai All Natural Shower Gel in Vanilla (I previously had Coconut and I like both equally; if possible, I prefer using SLS-free body washes like these ones), a Haus of Gloi Pumpkin Butter in Vice and a Bubbling Scrub in Ghost Puffs, a NailTek Advanced Hydrating Hand Cream, which was all right but smelled a little bit like bathroom cleaner, and LAVANILLA The Natural Deodorant in Passionfruit; you can read more about this in my 'Products I Regret Buying' post (so no, I did not care for it). I also tossed a half full tube of Badger's SPF 30 Sunscreen as it was too greasy to even use on my legs, and it also started separating - full review over here. I've also used up two bars of soap, one Lush and one Fortune Cookie Soap.

 As for full-sizes of skincare and haircare, a meager four products have been used up: a travel packet of Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes, which were not my favorite but then, I'm also not a huge make-up wipe gal to begin with, and Clarins Extra Comfort Cleansing Cream, reviewed here. I also finished TIGI Catwalk Session Series Finishing Hair Spray, the hold and dry finish of which I quite enjoyed, and Redken Body Full Volume Amplifier; as much as I don't really care for the Body Full shampoo and conditioner, I find this all-over body booster quite good for a softer effect without any product feel in the hair.

I also did substantial damage on the deluxe skincare sample front, and here are my (very) brief thoughts. The samples I really enjoyed using and may consider repurchasing in the full size were Murad's Hydro Dynamic Ultimate Moisture for Eyes, Estee Lauder's Projectionist Mascara and CeraVe PM lotion for the face. For products that performed reasonably well but that I wouldn't repurchase in the full size: Lancome Bi-Facil make-up remover, Dermalogica Dynamic Skin Recovery SPF 30 (a bit heavy for my combo skin), Ahava Time to Clear Purifying Mud Mask (strange scent and slightly irritating). Products that were a complete fail for me included Kiehl's Ultra Facial Oil-Free Lotion (contains alcohol, incredibly sticky and clingy on the skin), Clarins Gentle Eye Make-up Remover Lotion (ineffective on my eye make-up), 100% Pure Organic Coffee Bean Caffeine Eye Cream (which I haven't even tried because it completely separated in the tube before opening) and V Beaute Eye Never eye cream (haven't noticed any results with the sample, and the full size is really expensive).

All in all, I would say I'm definitely happy with my progress in using up some lingering products, especially in the travel/ deluxe sample size but I didn't quite stick to my rules in terms of buying new products. I only purchased 2 new items of make-up in April but also splurged on two unnecessary skincare products after having a facial, which now gives me even more back-upped products to use up. In May, I bought 3 instead of 2 make-up products, one of them being a full size mascara as I was getting fed up with using up my samples for the past 6 months; but still, I'd exceeded my allowance and didn't feel very pleased with myself. I'm feeling a lot more restrained this month though and I'm hoping to stop at the one single item I purchased to make up for the laxity of the past two months. And yet again, I gave away some of my make-up and skincare products to a friend, so overall my stash has definitely shrunk so far. I've also decided to stop counting my empties as it's more about aiming to reduce the size of my collection than reaching any specific number, so there'll be no more of that; you can count them yourselves if you wish! ;)

So that's it for my progress check-in for the past two months; how have you been doing on the stash-reducing front? Have you been swayed by the new summer collections or just powering through your make-up and skincare drawers?