October Empties

Hi guys! It’s once again time for my monthly empties post! Back in September, I honestly didn’t really have a lot of empties, but got super close to finishing up a TON of products. Which means that this month, I’m back to having a lot of empties!

First up is the body category. I used up the Soap & Glory Clean on Me body wash in the travel size. It smelled like rose (I think it’s S&G’s signature scent that is mainly rose but includes other scents, as well). It’s a bit creamier than most of the body washes I use. Would I repurchase? Maybe. It was good but nothing amazing.

I also had this Creighton’s Tea Tree body wash for months. I’d used it for my body acne, and found that I did like it, but a dermatologist recommended a different product with zinc in it. So this body wash was just sitting around in my shower, going unused for months, even though it was like 85% empty. After finishing off the S&G body wash, I went through this, too, on the areas of my body where I didn’t have acne. Would I repurchase? Probably not – I’m not crazy over the tea tree and mint scent, and have a better product for my acne.

I decided to try the Zest FruitBoost Smoothie body scrub in the Very Berry scent, because I had a 25 cent rebate for it. The scent was extremely fake and not really appealing, and I wasn’t crazy over the texture, which overall was a bit more like a watery gel than I prefer. The scrubbing particles were ground pumice, which did work pretty well, but otherwise I didn’t care for it. Would I repurchase? No.

Then comes the Ulta Body Lotion in Sheer Apple Blossom. I’d had this for years and never really used it much, so this summer I decided to finish it off. Of course, I rarely use moisturizer on my body, so it still took five months to get through it! It’s a very thin, watery lotion, which is very different for me and isn’t something I really liked. I did like the scent. Would I repurchase? No. I have a lot of other, better body moisturizers in thicker consistencies that I prefer.

Next up is hair. I went through a Suave Natural Infusion Moisturizing Conditioner. I normally prefer a more expensive sulfate-free shampoo and go with a cheaper conditioner, but this was a bit too cheap. It didn’t add enough hydration to my ends, which are super dry from bleaching them. I hate that really powerful conditioner scent (I have a strong nose) and found this was pretty bearable.  Would I repurchase? Not with the bleached ends, but possibly once they get cut out.

I was flat-out surprised when I finished this Klorane dry shampoo. I think I just needed a lot more product than what I normally use with other dry shampoos because it went fast. Originally, when I first used this I HATED the scent, but since then I haven’t really noticed it. Read my original review from Birchbox here. Would I repurchase? No.

I went through this Marc Anthony Nourishing Argan Oil. This was one of the first hair oils I used, and I felt that it did make a difference in the softness and shine of my hair. I have another argan oil sample from a different brand that is a thicker consistency, and I have to prefer this formula, which seems to be a flat-out oil. Read more about what I first thought of receiving this in an Ipsy bag here. Would I repurchase? Yes.

Onto skincare! I went through this Boots No. 7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Oil. You can find my full review of that here, but overall I just found it to be kind of thick and okay-ish. It did its job, but was otherwise just bland going into bad. Would I repurchase? No.

I’m also including the Marula Foaming Cleansing Oil, which you can read more about here in my Sephora Favorites set review. I tried using it more as a normal cleansing oil and it just didn’t seem to work well as one because of the foaming properties. I found myself reaching for a different cleansing oil instead of this when I was consciously trying to use this up.

I’m getting rid of this Estee Lauder Take It Away Total Makeup Remover. It’s old and the cream formula doesn’t get used as much as a liquid formula or a cleansing oil.

This Hey Honey Take It Off Exfoliating Honey Peel Off Mask is again something old and unused. If I want a chemical exfoliant, a peel takes less time, is less painful to take off, and seems to do a better job. I got this through an Ipsy bag, which you can read about here.

I also went through the Ole Henriksen Sheer Transformation moisturizer from the same Sephora Favorites set as the Marula oil above. And I did really like this moisturizer. It was light enough on my skin but still gave me enough moisture. Would I repurchase? Yes.

The Clinique All About Eyes eye cream had a really nice, thicker and moisturizing consistency. I found that by using this, I didn’t really have any problems with dry skin around my eye area. I have very dark under-eye circles, and this didn’t really do anything for that, but I haven’t found any products that have yet. This doesn’t have anything for lightening the skin that day (such as Origins GinZing eye cream) so at least I can’t complain that that part wasn’t working, either. Would I repurchase? Maybe.

I honestly don’t remember much from this Coola Daydream Mineral Primer, but I think that overall I don’t notice much about how primers are performing. When I had it, I preferred this over my e.l.f. Hydrating Primer, and you can read more about my first thoughts here in my Birchbox review. Would I repurchase? Probably not.

When I first saw this adorable TonyMoly Panda’s Dream Eye Brightening stick, I fell in love. Pandas are my favorite animals, the packaging is adorable, and I need all the undereye brightening help I can get. But I found that this doesn’t really apply nicely onto my undereye area because it’s too big to fit the contours of my face and so doesn’t apply any product on the areas that need it the most. If I went in with a light layer and blended it out, I didn’t see a difference. If I used a thicker layer, it first of all was hard to blend into the skin and it had a cooler white tone that seemed to highlight the purple tones in my undereye area rather than hide them. I found that this was just an extra step that didn’t do anything for me, and I wasn’t even able to really showcase it on my bureau.

I really liked this Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation sample in 3.5. I liked the formula and staying power, but I got this as a sample set with shades 5 and 8 as well, and thought that 3.5 would be too dark for me. I thought I’d be in the 2 range but this seemed to match me perfectly. Would I repurchase? I want to, but my budget can’t really support a $40 foundation right now. I do want to get color matched to see if 2.5 is more of my winter shade.

This It Cosmetics Bye Bye Undereye Concealer in Light is way too pale for me. Their CC cream in Light was a bit too dark for me, but the concealer seems to match their Fair shade in the CC cream. Such pale shades never seem to hide the dark purples of my undereye area, and instead make it look ashy. A concealer meant for the undereye area should have a warmer undertone as well to color correct, and this is pretty warm. Would I repurchase in the right shade? Maybe, but for the price, I’d rather just get an Anastasia concealer, which has a huge shade range instead of the four of this range.

I went through this mini Urban Decay All Nighter setting spray and really liked it. This gave my skin an extra bit of dewiness and stopped my makeup from looking too powdery and matte. This also smelled great! Would I repurchase? I already bought the full size!

The Frat Boy Blush from theBalm is a pretty shade but this sample is pretty small and chalky. I was trying to get through this sample but gave up because it’s just annoying to use when I have better ones that I’d rather be using. This was another sample from Birchbox.

I never really cared for this Maybelline palette in Electric Blue. A few years back I loved bright shades in matte formulas, but the pigmentation wasn’t here at all. I got away from using these sort of shades and rarely went for this quad, and honestly I have no idea how I still have this around despite not liking or using this for the past two plus years.

I’m also getting rid of this Estee Lauder x Lilly Pulitzer quad, which was a free gift from about two and a half years ago. I was always a bit confused with the shade selection – three pale shimmery shades (pale purple, pink, and tan) where you never need more than maybe two in the same look, plus an unpigmented purple-blue.

So once upon a time I got an Ipsy bag with a Mr. Write Now eyeliner from theBalm. I tried it and it irritated my eyes so I got rid of it. Ipsy made a mistake and sent me a second bag later that month with a different color (this was the shade Jac). I gave it to my sister right away, but after a few months I got it back from her, still in the plastic, because I think certain color pigments/ingredients irritate my eyes, not specific brands. This unfortunately was dried out so doesn’t really deposit any color.

I’ve mentioned before that I don’t like the eos Lip Balms. Everything about them is bulky and I feel like I really need to push the balm against my lips to get anything to come off. They don’t do much for my lips and the packaging gets super gross and dirty. This Vanilla Mint scent honestly smelled more like chocolate, too. Would I repurchase? No.

I’m also throwing my Butter Lippy Liquid Lipstick in Tea With the Queen. This is more of a thick gloss formula that isn’t my favorite but I can deal with, but find this shade is a bit too light for me and has a cooler undertone that I’m not crazy over.

The Make lipstick in Taffy just felt and smelled a bit odd, and it was a bit too small to be easy to apply, especially since it was so sheer that I had to build it up a lot. It was a sample in my October Birchbox.

This Paris Fashion perfume was a cheap knockoff brand. It’s a sweet scent that I liked as a spring and summer perfume, but it’s old and something I don’t really love, and I don’t want to keep it around for another six months until I can use it again.

Lots and lots of products this month! Hopefully I’ll still get through a ton of products in November!

-xo, Andi

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