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Friday, July 8, 2016

Beauty Empties: 2nd Quarter of 2016

The bag of beauty trash is overflowing again, so here we go! To be honest, when I do my empties posts quarterly, I get quite overwhelmed with the number of products and dread having to type them all up - but then again, I still personally love empties posts and videos from others, so I continue doing them as well. Let's start with my skincare - I made a lot of progress!
Products I disliked and wouldn't repurchase: Peter Thomas Roth Rose Stem Cell Mask (reviewed here), First Aid Beauty Facial Cleanser, Paula's Choice Hydralight Toner* (reviewed here but when used over a longer period of time, it started irritating my skin)
Products I enjoyed, but I'm trying out other things: Shu Uemura Anti Oxi Cleansing Oil (reviewed here - I said I was on the fence about this product and now I still think it's overpriced, but I've tried some other oil-based make-up removers from my back-up stash recently and they don't even come close in efficacy to the Shu), Insta Naturals Vitamin C Serum* (reviewed here), Eau Thermale Avene, Dermalogica Skin Hydrating Booster, Paula's Choice Hydralight Moisture-Infusing Lotion* (reviewed here), Josie Maran 100% Argan Oil (would rather buy a cheaper argan oil)
Products I would repurchase (but am probably trying out other things too):  Pixi Glow Tonic (reviewed here), Paula's Choice RESIST 5% AHA Smoothing Treatment* (reviewed here - I have a back-up already)
I've also finished quite a lot of make-up products in the past three months, mostly thanks to my Project 10 Pan. If you like seeing make-up empties from me more regularly, make sure to follow me on Instagram where I'm counting up all of them to see how many I can go through within a year.
Products I disliked and wouldn't repurchase: L'Oreal Telescopic Carbon Black Mascara (reviewed here)
Products I enjoyed, but I'm trying out other things: Givenchy Phenomen'Eyes Mascara (reviewed here), Guerlain Maxi Lash Mascara (here), Stila Waterproof Eyeliner in Bluefin, Revlon Lip Butter in Berry Smoothie (discontinued), Jane Iredale Lip Plumper in Tokyo (deluxe sample), NailTek Hydration III base coat (reviewed here)
Products I would repurchase (but am probably trying out other things too): Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir Major Volume Mascara* (reviewed here), NARS Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base (so far, my HG eyeshadow primer), Fresh Sugar Shine Lip Treatment (reviewed here - I have another deluxe sample in the shade Rose waiting to be used)
I've also made considerable progress on my fragrance collection, and I'm getting very close to hitting my inventory goal for perfumes - yay! Mind you, I've been working for over two years on the two full-size bottles in the photo.
Products I disliked and wouldn't repurchase: Givenchy Dahlia Divin perfume sample
Products I enjoyed, but I'm trying out other things: Victoria's Secret Dream Angels Heavenly Fragrance Mist, Prada Candy EDP, Annick Goutal Petite Cherie perfume sample
Products I would repurchase (but am probably trying out other things too): Thierry Mugler Angel deluxe mini.
Bodycare empties are somewhat modest this month; but aside from that one soap box in the photo, I used up three more bar soaps but as they came unwrapped/ packaged in just a bit of paper, I didn't want to clutter the picture.
Products I disliked and wouldn't repurchase: Derma E Vitamin E Intensive Therapy Hand Creme (for the price and ambitious claims, it did very little to moisturize my dry, eczema-ridden hands)
Products I enjoyed, but I'm trying out other things: Bulgarian rose soap (gift from my mom), Purell Hand Sanitizer, L'Occitane mini hand creams in the Almond and Peony scents (my favorite is the original Shea and I would purchase a small size of that one to keep in my purse)
Products I would repurchase (but am probably trying out other things too): Suave Essentials Almond Verbena Body Wash (the cheapest shower gel I could find in a local RiteAid, but I ended up really liking it - it may have some harsh ingredients but surprisingly I didn't find it to be particularly drying).
Haircare - look at all these deluxe samples/ travel sizes exiting my stash! Pretty much all of these were really good.
Products I disliked and wouldn't repurchase: None.
Products I enjoyed, but I'm trying out other things: Redken Diamond Oil, 12 Benefits Leave-in Hair Treatment*, Pacifica Super Kale Juiced-up Shampoo* and Conditioner* (good but I wasn't a fan of the minty herbal scent)
Products I would repurchase (but am probably trying out other things too): Aveda Air Control Hairspray* (reviewed here), Pacifica Hairvana Leave-On Detangling Conditioner* (reviewed here), Batiste Dry Shampoo Travel Size in the Cherry fragrance
Sheet and one-time (more like 5 times) use masks.
Products I disliked and wouldn't repurchase: DHC under eye patches (did absolutely nothing to hydrate my eye area)
Products I enjoyed, but I'm trying out other things: Murad Pomegranate Exfoliating Mask (discontinued - and the full size actually came in maybe 5 of these foil packets), Freeman Pumpkin Peeling Mask (reviewed here - when I had the genius idea to use the remainder up on my chest and shoulders, it left my skin red and burning... So that's a no, I guess. Discontinued anyway), Freeman Brightening Facial Paper Mask (not much essence, didn't notice any results from one use).
Products I would repurchase (but am probably trying out other things too): Leaders Insolution Moisturizing Recovery Mask (the second Leaders mask I've tried and I liked both very much - would purchase another from the brand especially that it's now available at Ulta).
Lastly, half-used and barely used tosses; all of these products either ostensibly went bad or are now too old for me to use comfortably.
Products I disliked and wouldn't repurchase: Bobbi Brown High Shimmer Gloss in Bellini deluxe sample (pretty shade but I dislike glitter in lip products)
Products I enjoyed, but I'm trying out other things: NYX Powder Blush in Taupe (from my Project 10 Pan), Revlon Superlustrous Lipstick in Cherries in the Snow (fantastic drugstore lipstick but I have a similar shade in my stash, and currently would also rather use a red shade with a matte finish), Mountain Rose Herbs Hazelnut Oil (gone rancid - I shouldn't be purchasing any plant/ carrier oils in such large bottles), Paula's Choice C15 Booster sample, Maybelline LE Color Sensational Lipstick in First Class Fuschia (smells off, haven't been in a mood for a bright pinky coral in months).
Products I would repurchase (but am probably trying out other things too): None.

I think that was quite a lot of products, especially in the make-up, skincare and fragrance categories. Using up my products and not repurchasing much is definitely helping to bring me closer to my goal of a smaller, manageable beauty stash. Have you finished any difficult products recently?

Disclaimer: Products marked with an asterix (*) were press samples I received from the brands' PR for review consideration. I purchased all the other products myself or they were gifted to me by friends and family. All links are non-affiliate. All opinions are 100% honest and unbiased, no matter if the products featured were purchased with my own monies or provided free of charge. Thank you for reading!

6 comments:

  1. Almond Verbena sounds like a really interesting fragrance. I am going to have to look for that one. I usually buy pretty cheap body washes, because I'm not very picky about them, but I don't know if I've tried Suave, so thanks for the rec.

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    1. I believe Suave now has those commercials where they say their fragrances are preferred over those from Bath and Body Works, but I don't really care about that so much - this one was fresh, lathered nicely, and didn't dry out or irritate my skin. I don't think I can ask much more from a body wash :D

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  2. Hey, you finally got rid of Cherries in the Snow! I've been following your progress on that one with a lot of envy, haha. I still can't bring myself to destash mine, even though I'm like you in preferring matte reds to satin.

    Out of curiosity, how old does a lipstick have to be to fall into your "too old to use comfortably" category? I tend to use mine until they change in appearance or scent; I have a few four-year-old ones that I still wear regularly...

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    1. You know, I haven't touched my Cherries in the Snow since the end of my last Project Pan and I figured I probably wouldn't want to wear it again until maybe Christmas... and I don't want to have it sitting around for that long, especially that I have a Bite Lip Pencil in similar shade that's practically unused.

      It really depends with lip products for me; that Revlon lipstick was at least 4 years old but no change in scent/ texture, but then the Maybelline one was newer - maybe 3 years old? - and the scent was a bit suspicious, a lot different from my other Color Sensational lipstick from them. Also, I don't really dig that shade anymore on me. So I guess my answer is that a lot of times it's a combination of factors: if a product changed scent/texture/color then it obviously goes, but also if it's old, unchanged BUT also unloved, I'll have less scrupules in letting go. I need to allow myself to not like certain products anymore; I may have loved them in the past but it doesn't mean I need to hold on to them a few years down the road.

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  3. Lots of empties! I'll have to check out the smoothing treatment. I enjoy Paula's products. Fresh makes lovely balms.

    ahintofbeauty.blogspot.com/

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  4. Wow, that's a lot! I think you have tossed and emptied more than me. Well I only know some of your products, but I haven't used any of them. I had the red telestopic mascara vom L'Oreal and I didn't like it either.

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