Empties - August 2015

Hi everyone! I know I've been MIA for a long time but things have been a little busy and also I've been quite frustrated with Blogger. I was working for 2 days in a row in a very long post because I wanted to share with you what I had purchased on the Sephora VIB Spring sale and when I am about to hit the "Post" button, this crazy thing messed everything up and it erased all of my work. All of the text and edited pictures were just gone and I got so mad that I didn't want to try again and submit a post but, hey, here I am, tryig one more time, hoping for the best.

This time around I would like to share my trash, my empties with you guys and it's quite a lot of trash so let's get started!

Let's get started with skin care, hair care and body care:

In the makeup removing wipes we kind of have a lot:  3 empty packs of my fave, the ELF makeup removing wipes (they do irritate my eyes a little bit but they are very saturated with remover and being so cheap I can't wait to restock), 2 packs of the Abbsolute! cleasing cloths (these are my second favorite since they are cheap, do the job right and are readily available here in Panama), and a pack of the Almay makeup removing wipes (which eventhough I liked I will not repurchase because I feel that at $8.00 a pack of 20-25 is too expensive having cheaper alternatives).

Bath & Body Works foaming hand soaps: In Winter Cranberry, Garden Strawberries, Vanilla Bean Noel, Midgnight Pomegrante, and Dancing Waters. Later on, another Vanilla Bean Noel and a Sparkling Winter Snow or something like that were done. These are my favorite to have in the bathrooms at home and I urgently need to go and restock.

For hair care, it takes me quite a while to finish up shampo and conditioner and even more, hair treatments but since my hair is so fine and falls so much, I tend to wash it at most 3 times a week. This time I finished up the 2 Khiel's samples that if I am not mistaken were in my products to use up. I liked the conditioner more than the shampoo. I felt the shampoo left my hair a little stringy. I also used up a full sized Herbal Essences "Alborótalos" shampoo and conditioner, they were nice, nothing to write home about.  From my hair care what I did love and I am serious on buying a full sized is the Agave hair oil. My hair was so shinny, not weight down at all, smelled awesome, and no frizzes whatsoever.

I used up 3 small sizes of 3 different cleansers. I know, I can't choose one. Actually, I can. I love my Purity Made Simple, from Philosophy. I think is the only higher end cleanser that I have bought a big size and now this 3oz. one to refill my big bottle since it was running low. I love Purity, it leaves my face so clean, not dry at all, has a very subtle scent, and it doesn't irritate me at all. I will keep repurchasing it.  

Also I used up my Murad Energizing Pomegranate Cleanser. I really liked it. It has a pump and comes out like a foam and cleans very well. Having combo/oily skin is important for me to have a clean face, get rid of the oils and have a nice canvas to put my makeup on. This was the cleanser I used in the mornings.

As for the Origins GinZing cleanser, I do not think I will buy a full sized. It was an exfoliating cleanser but what pushed me away a little was the very strong citrus scent it has but it is a good product. I mean, with cleansers, at least for me it is quite hard to make to much of a difference.

Continuing with skin care, I have used 3 Clarisonic brush heads. From all of them I will go back to the sensitive brush head. I didn't like the cashmere one, I felt it was not strong enough. Right now, I am using the deep pore head and is kind of harsh, it make me break out but I guess those nasty thingys needed to come out and leave me along.

From Lush, I had purchased a long time ago Ocean Salt that is a face and body salt scrub, mostly from my daughter because she has KP on her arms. She used half of it, it kind of helped with the bumps but since she is a kid, she just forgot about it so I used it up. I really liked it but for my body, didn't even try to put on my face. What I liked the most is that it will not leave an oily residue on my body. Right now I am using some sort of a loofa/sponge with my L'Occitane Almond Shower Oil that I really like.

I almost forgot about this cleanser. The First Aid Beauty Face Cleanser. This is bomb! So creamy, non-irritating and I will repurchase one for me and one for my daughter, once I finish up like the 2 or 3 that I have from other brands, unopened.

Two tiny body lotions from Kiehl's and L'Occitane. I keep them at work to use after everytime I wash my hands since soap and air conditioning dry my hands out. They are nice and now that I have a bigger size of the L'Occitane lotion I am liking the scent a lot more and it my hands and even legs are a lot softer after I use them.

Continuing with skincare, and trying to keep everything related, I used up a Sephora brand Lotus Sleeping Mask. This type of masks are supposed to be left on your face when you sleep because that is when your skin renews itself. The Lotus mask claims that it will lock in water and reduce the signs of fatigue. For $4.00 a pop I will definately buy more and I was able to get several uses from it. Really enjoyed it and the next day my skin was not too oily as usual.

Dr. Jart's Dermaclear Micro Water: I got this in my Birchbox (yes, I caved in and subscribed but we'll talk about that later). I took this in my trip to Orlando in early July hoping it will be enough to remove my makeup and also to not take my Clarisonic with me since it was too expensive to take the chance to put it in my bag and someone stealing it. Anyways, this on its own is not enough, it will not remove makeup however, I kept using it to remove the left over makeup after I already used my makeup remover lotion and wipes and it did a decent job. I will not buy a full size, I will stay with the Sephora Cleansing water or even buy Bioderma online.

This I had to throw away. I totally forgot I had it and it just went bad. Is the Tarte Pure Maracuja oil, a deluxe sample size that came in a kit from December 2013 so obviously it went bad and I can't remember if I liked it or not from the very few times I was able to use it.

For deluxe sample sizes: I used up 2 eye creams, the one from Tarte and the one from Murad and I have decided I will not spend money on expensive eye creams hence I don't feel or see major chances in my under eye area. I finished up a serum from BioEffect, along with its moisturizer, that I got a long time ago in one of My Petite Boxes: I liked them but will not buy full size since this brand is not so readily available (I mean, it might be but it's been quite some time since I went to a store to take a look around). Used up 2 packets of the Glamglow Powermud Dual Cleanse treatment and I have to say I will not repurchase because first, it is so dang expensive for a little tub ($69.00), and second, the scent, awful!  The other 3 samples left, the Josie Maran powder cleanser, will not purchase full size, too much of a hassle to use, I prefer my liquid cleansers with my Clarisonic. The Boscia black cleanser, I did enjoy, a lot so it is a possibility and the Origins Plantscription is a very nice, rich serum-y lotion that I did enjoy and will consider it for my nighttime serum.

For my randoms: a Real Techniques Complexion Perfection Sponge that has seen better days and I have a backup for it that I will start using once I consider that my Beauty Blender is done. My beloved and expensive for what it is, the Shiseido cotton (I think is like my second or third pack, lasts a lot for me), a Bath & Body Works small Eucaliptus Mint candle that I had in one of the bathrooms, and my Renu contact drops.

Now, I think we can move to the makeup stuff: 

Starting with powders, I used up my Essense all about matt powder, which I really enjoyed and helped me mattify my face and is so cheap that it makes it kind of hard to find. The bad thing is that when you hit pan, a lot of it, it starts to crumble. From ELF, I used up the HD powder that I really enjoy and also the Tone Correcting Powder that I don't think I will repurchase since I did not see any tone correcting with it, it was just another regular setting powder.

For foundation, a full sized one, I used up my CoverGirl 3-in-1 that I love. This was my second bottle and I even depotted it in a smal container once the pump could not reach the bottom and I had about 2 more weeks of daily use left. Definately a repurchase at least when I am done with one of the 7 foundations that I have right now.

I kind of used up my Dream Mousse Blush from Maybelline that was part of the products that I wanted to use up by the end of the yeard. I had to scrap off the little bit I had left because it kind of dried up since it was too old and have very little pigmentation. Not a repurchase since this has been discontinued. The other shade I had, a plummy one, I gave it to my BFF since it was newer compared to this one.

For mascaras, I used up 3: a deluxe sample size of the Make Up For Ever Smoky Lash, a full sized Clinique Bottom Lashes, and a deluxe sample size of the Smashbox Photo Op Brightening Mascara. Out of the 3 I don't think I will buy full sizes because: the MUFE transferred onto my brow bone (but it gave a very nice lenght), for the Clinique I found a cheaper alternative for my bottom lashes on the Jordana Best Lashes Extreme, and for the Smashbox, I didn't see any brightening effect, it was just a regular mascara for me.

For eyeshadow primer, one of my ELF $1.00 primer. I love it, have backups, and will repurchase since it is a really cheap alternative to the Smashbox primer that I am currently using that sells for $20.00 and does the very same thing.

For primers, and sorry for being all over the place, I used up a sample of the Kat Von D primer that I really enjoyed since it filled in my pores, did not feel greasy, and it help control the oils from my T zone. The next up is the ELF Poreless face primer that I really like and I have to backups that, as soon as they are gone, I will bite the bullet and buy the full size of the Kat Von D one. From Smashbox, and in the products I wanted to use up, the Photo Finish Primer is finally gone (won't purchse the full size since I have found better) and the primer water that I liked more as a setting spray than a primer and it is in my wish list.

I used my deluxe sample size of the Fresh Sugar Rosé lip balm. I love this lip balms and I think I will buy a set of 3 minis that I saw on Sephora's website. Once you try them, nothing compares to how good they are. Bad thing, $22.00 for a lip balm is a lot.

I am finally done with my CoverGirl & Olay Simply Ageless concealer. You can see a little bit left but it was drying out. I used it to carve out my eyebrows since it was too dark for my undereye area. It is such a shame that it got discontinued.

Found another powder, the Tarte Amazonian Clay Smooth Operator powder. I liked it a lot, it made pores dissapear and left the skin look beautiful. It might got to my wishlist.

I used up 4 foundation samples: The Becca Ultimate Coverage Complexion Créme, the NARS Stay Luminous, the Dr. Jart BB DIS-A-PORE, and the Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation. Out of the 4 I liked the Dr. Jart BB cream beacuse it was very lightweight on the skin, had good coverage, matched me very well, covered my pores and did not make me a grease ball. I also liked the coverage in the NARS one and I am considering purchasing it in a different color (the sample matched really well but it was not a perfect match). As for the Becca foundation, I did not like it at all: it moved around, broke on my and looked patchy. The Bobbi Brown made my T-zone oilier and it was not enough coverage for me.

And to wrap things up, a couple more random stuff:

An ELF blotting paper pack (it's dirty cheap and gets the job done), a CLEAN perfume sample (I liked it a lot, might buy full size), and finally used up my Essence brow pencil (from the things I wanted to use up). You can see some product but it was harder to grab onto it and to sharpen so I decided to say good bye since I have tons of brow stuff.

Well everyone, that's it. Hopefully my next empties post is not this obscenely huge (I'd look around for a smaller container to keep them in).

Thanks a lot for stopping by and I'll see you in my next post!