January/February Empties!

I think I've done a pretty good job of using stuff up these past few months! In fact, I was going to switch to a quarterly empties system, but my little basket was over flowing so I figured I'd better hurry up and log all my empties.

First up, hair care.

Kracie Ichickami Conditioner and Treatment - I really liked both of these a lot more than the shampoo. The treatment in particular made my hair incredibly soft and smooth. I love the smell of both of these, but I won't be repurchasing any time soon just because I have so many other shampoos and conditioners!

Oscar Blandi Shampoo alla Crema and Pronto Wet Instant Volumizing Conditioner - The shampoo was just standard and probably not worth whatever it cost, but I really liked the conditioner. It smells really nice in a salon sort of way and the scent really lasts a long time.

NuMe Arganics Argan Oil - This was a sample I received in a Glossybox (I think). I really wish it was labelled as a hair oil and not just argan oil because I almost put it on my face, except I was suspicious because it was so viscous. It made my hair soft, but it is mostly silicones with some argan oil.

FURminator deShedding Ultra Premium Conditioner - Finn wanted to include one of his empties this month! He says this makes his fur smell nice and clean, but doesn't really do anything for his shedding. I can attest to that too!

Lots of skin care this month!

Skin Food Brown Rice Oil Deep Cleansing Oil Tissue - I don't use wipes that often, mostly pre-gym. These did a good job of removing makeup. They were a little pricey at around $10, but there are 40 wipes which I think are more than most.

Hadanomy Aquaplacenta Mist - A moisturizing facial mist that I thought was sometimes a bit much for my combo skin. BUT when I was sick this was a godsend! I won't be repurchasing now because I want to try other things like this peach one I just saw at the Japanese market.

Boots No. 7 Moisture Quench Hydration Night Cream - My face felt very moisturized when I used this night cream. I'm currently still working on finishing up the matching day lotion. They're both pretty basic moisturizers, but they do a good job.

Clarisonic Normal Brush Head - This really isn't an empty because I only used it a couple of times. The normal is just too rough for me. I'm like the Goldilocks of Clairsonic brush heads - delicate is too soft, normal is too rough and sensitive is just right. Fortunately, this was just a freebie when I bought my Clarisonic.

Natassja Skin Enzyme Facial Peel - This reminded me of those Asian peeling scrubs where little bits of skin pill off. I liked this alright, but for scrub/peels I'm all about the exfoliKate.

Rinse Bath & Body Co. Peppermint Pucker Stick - I haven't used a minty lip balm in so long that I forgot how refreshing it is! This was kind of addicting and because the texture was sorta soft, I went through this really quickly. I have a few more in other flavors.

Pangea Organics Egyptian Fennel with Grapefruit and Sweet Orange Lip Balm - This jumbo sized lip balm has a nice flavor, but it was pretty ordinary.

X Out Shine Control - Could not wait to be done with this. I guess it mattified alright, but the effects didn't last very long. I got this probably a year ago in one of my first Glam Bags.

Estee Lauder Idealist Even Skintone Illuminator - I used this as my day serum and it lasted a long time - probably over 6 months? It has a pearly sheen so you get an instant glow, but I'm not sure about any long term results. I'll have to see if I miss it now that I'm not using it anymore. It's quite expensive (I think it was around $80) so I would hope for better results.

Deve clean & clear Cleansing Milk - I bought this because I wanted a light, gentle cleanser for morning. It's great for morning, but despite what it says on the bottle ("remove hard makeup") I don't think it's good for removing makeup or a deep clean.

L'Oreal Clean Artiste Eye Makeup Remover - This removed eye makeup well, but on the few occasions that it got into my eyes, it really stung! I'm open to repurchasing this, but I have a few other makeup removers on my Sephora wishlist that I'd like to try first.

Body, nails and misc.

Johnson's Baby Oil Gel - I usually can't stand chocolatey scents, but this smells so good! Okay, I guess it's not chocolate, but cocoa butter. This is super thick and I used this after shaving my legs. In the morning, my skin still felt really moisturized! It is kind of sticky though, so best used at night.

Body Shop Japanese Cherry Blossom Body Butter - I like the scent of this and I'm still finishing up the shower gel. This body butter was not as thick as others I've used from the Body Shop though.

Julep The Best Pedi Creme Ever! - Um, no not really. I like my foot creams a little bit thicker. It says noticeable results in 1-2 uses, but I didn't notice any thing!

 Up & Up Nail Polish Remover and Cutex Nourishing Nail Polish Remover - The Up & Up (Target brand) one was pure acetone and removed polish soooo much faster. One cotton pad was enough to remove polish off of both hands! I'm sure it's bad for you though because my fingers would be white with dryness afterwards. I didn't have that problem with Cutex, but it also wasn't as effective. Also, I didn't go through two bottles in two months! They were both half empty and I decanted one into another container.

Blender Cleanser - I think this came from a Birchbox and I received it without getting a Beauty Blender. Fail. Oh well, it did a good job on brushes and this teeny bottle lasted a long time.

That's it! That is a total of 17 full size and 4 sample size products. With my new "rewards" scheme that is a total of $19 earned. It's a good thing I "earned" that money because I sort of made an unnecessary purchase at MAC. And from NYX. Maybe I'll share later. Maybe not lol.

November/December Empties

How the heck did I get through so many products in September and October?? This round of empties is super pathetic in comparison. I think there will be more coming up though as I have decided to attempt a 3 month beauty spending ban. I have so much stuff that I could probably go all of 2013, but I'm going to start small and try for 3 months. I bought some stuff over the holidays, so hopefully that will hold me over!

Coppertone NutraShield Dual Defense Sunscreen - Technically this one isn't empty. It expired over TWO YEARS ago!! Check your sunscreen expiration dates people! I liked this one though because it wasn't super thick like the Neutrogena ones.

Love & Toast Clemetine Crush Sugar Scrub - I loves me some body scrub. I got this on clearance at Target for like $3 and I loved it. I should have bought more! Very scrubby and smells delish.

Clarisonic Refining Skin Polish - I got this body scrub in a set with my Clarisonic. Unlike the Love & Toast one, this is not very scrubby, but I guess it was designed to be used with the Clarisonic body brush head. Speaking of the body brush head, I like it alright, but I feel like you get better exfoliation with a scrub or even a body pouf.

Mario Badescu AHA & Ceramide Moisturizer - This is a really tiny sample that I used while I was in Vegas. I found it very moisturizing, but a bit heavy.

Clinique All About Eyes - This lasted me forever! I really like this and want to try the rich version. In my opinion, it's a bit much for day time use (or I'm too impatient to wait for it to sink in!), but great for night.

Kate Somerville ExfoliKate - I still want to write a review specifically about this product because I love love love it! It is so amazing and leaves my skin baby soft. Too bad the full size costs $85!

Kracie Ichickami Shampoo - I already talked about this before. Smell great, but only meh results.

Method Mandarin Mango Hand Soap - Smells so fruity and juicy. It's hand soap though, what can I say?

VitaCare Multicare Toothpaste - I got this in an Eco Emi box earlier last year and finally got around to using it. At first, it was kind of weird because the mint pomegranate flavor is not as minty as the Crest I was using before. I also thought it was interesting that it proudly states "NO FLUORIDE." Huh?? I thought fluoride was good for you. I did some research and people say that fluoride is a toxin and was originally used at rat poison. WTF! Now I am confused and don't know what to think. How do you feel about fluoride?

September/October Empties!

I can't believe it is November already! And not just November, but mid-November because I've been lagging on my blog upkeep! Well, if you live in Southern California, you'll know that it's only recently started feeling even remotely autumnal, so I guess I can just pretend it is still August.

Well, that huge pile of garbage/recycling up there are my September and October empties. I love reading other people's empties posts and I don't go through product quite fast enough to do a post every  month, so maybe I can make this an every other month thing.

First up my body empties.

Dove Original Clean Deodorant - I've been loyal to Dove deodorants for years. I like the packaging and it works well enough. But recently I feel like it hasn't been as good as it used to. I think maybe my body has developed immunity to it??

Dove Ultimate Visibly Smooth Nature Fresh Deodorant - This one is supposed to "minimize the visual appearance of hair over time." I can't really say I've noticed any results, although I did get lasered over the past year, so who knows. I have another one of these to use because I got a two pack, but I'll probably give something else a try after that one's through.

Body Shop Mango Whip Body Lotion, Shower Gel and Scrub - Yes, I like me some matching bath products! I love love love the scrub. The lotion and shower gel are pretty standard, for some reason I think the scrub smells better! I like the scent, but I did tire of it towards the end.

Skintimate Skin Therapy Moisturizing Shave Gel - I've been using this product on and off forever. Again, another two pack purchase at Target, so I have another one to get through. It lathers really well and does the job. My one gripe is that rim of the can gets rusty. They fixed the bottom so it won't rust, but not the rim??

Next is hand and nails.

Orly Top 2 Bottom - This was alright. I didn't really notice any changes to the lasting power of my manicures, but I can't say I've noticed that with any top coat.

Orly Bonder - I really like this base coat. It's rubberized and is supposed to grip on to your polish. It's a good and bad thing because maybe it makes your polish last longer, but it also makes it easier to peel strips of polish off which I like to do! This got really really gloopy towards to end, so I like to buy the half size bottle. I've already purchased another one.

I actually finished some makeup items!!

Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush in Pink Frosting - These have been discontinued so it doesn't really matter what I say! This color was way to sparkly for my taste/age, but I really like the soft mousse texture.

Blinc Eyeliner - This brand is built around being good for people with sensitive eyes, but I wasn't too impressed. Once it's dry, there is zero smudging, but with a little rubbing it will flake right off. I found it creased really easily on my eyes.

NYX Super Skinny Eye Marker - I really love these marker/pen style liquid eyeliners. This one is good, but it could be a little blacker IMHO. This lasted a really long time without drying out and only recently did the pen tip start getting kinda bushy.

Now for some super old hair care.

Kiehl's Amino Acid Shampoo - Who knows how long I've had these two products! I really loved the slight coconutty scent of this shampoo. My hair is pretty normal, so I'm not too fussed over shampoos so I don't know if this was good or not. I would be open to purchasing the full size though.

Bumble & Bumble deeep Treatment - I love a good hair mask, but it's so hard for me to use the ones that need 20 minutes to do their thing. What am I supposed to do get in the shower, wash my hair, and get back out for 20 minutes, and get back in?? This is one of those conditioners. My hair didn't feel any differently after using this, but admittedly, I never left it on for 20 minutes!

And finally, a butt load of skin care!

Olay Pore Minimizing Cleanser + Scrub - I never realized how much stuff I buy in multiples! This is my second of a two pack from Costco. This works great with the Clarisonic as even though it is labeled a "scrub" the beads are super super tiny. Also, can I just say that the I love the pump on this thing? You can clearly see that you get every tiny little bit of product out.

Hadanomy Aquaplacenta Cream - I really like this lightweight gel cream. It's supposed to contain the placentas of salmon or something, but I sort of just block that part out. This is a pretty big jar and very reasonably priced at less than $20.

Arcona Cranberry Toner - This came in my Sample Society box and I read reviews that said it was too heavily scented. I do agree with that a little as I can smell it on my skin, but it's not an unpleasant scent - fruity and soapy. Toner has been a step I haven't bothered with for a long time, but I might have to reconsider after using this!

Caudalie Beauty Elixir - I have a whole post about this so I won't go on too much. I still don't think it does anything for my skin, but I am addicted to the scent! I might buy another...

DDF Amplifying Serum - This tiny tube lasted FOREVER. A tube probably isn't the best container for this product because it is very liquidy. I used this after I ran out of my Estee Lauder Advance Night repair, but I didn't notice any benefits. I've since gone back to the Estee Lauder!

Body Shop Seaweed Mattifying Moisture Lotion SPF 15 - I hate this with a vengeance. It has to be the worst moisturizer I have EVER used. It made my face so greasy that the only way I could use this was to follow it up with blotting papers. WTF How is this "mattifying" at all? Or maybe my skin is just freaky??

REN Glycolic Skin Renewal Peel Mask - This has gotten a lot of blog press recently and rightfully so. My skin feels super smooth after using it and I really need to consider the full size. I'm kind of torn between this, Alpha H Liquid Gold and Kate Somerville's ExfoliKate (which is amazing, but $$$). The only thing about my sample is, I found the texture to be a little chunky like marmalade, while pictures I've seen online make it look smooth. Was mine off??

Exuviance Night Renewal Hydragel - I got this as a sample in a package from Ulta. You're supposed to use it at night and it is supposed to reduce oiliness the next day. I didn't think it worked, but maybe my face wasn't that oily to begin with.

Elemental Herboloy Facial Glow Radiance Peel - This is similar to the REN mask, but it works in only 4 minutes (why not 5??) and contains AHAs. It's white like a lotion and it actually did it's thang in only 4 minutes!

Murad Skin Perfecting Primer Acne and Shine Control - I guess this is more of a cosmetic item, but it's a tinted primer. I actually really liked this and am considering the full size. It comes in dewy and matte varieties as well. The thing is, the tint is quite a medium color, so it works great for me, but I can see it not matching very fair or dark skin tones. Since I'm not a big foundation wearer, I feel like I can get away with using just this, like you might a tinted moisturizer.

Clarisonic Refreshing Gel Cleanser - I got a few sample sized cleansers with the purchase of my Clarisonic nearly 3 years ago and I've finally just used them up! It's fine, nothing to rave about and I'm sure you could get something similar for far cheaper.

PHEW! That was one long ass post. Using up products is definitely satisfying and I really like whittling down my "stash". If only, I could use up makeup items faster! So for two months that is a total of 14 full size and 11 sample size products! I love my beauty subscriptions, but damn those samples really start piling up. Til next time!