Saturday, March 28, 2015

Empties!


Just got through a LOT of empties!

Harvey Prince Ageless Body Wash: I loved this stuff. It smelled like pomegranate and I loved it. I was so sad it was so small. I'm on a makeup freeze right now so I can't really buy any more, but it was delightful and I would absolutely repurchase it.

Suave Almond and Shea Butter Shampoo: I've had this for.ever and it's just "meh". I don't love it, but I don't hate it either. It's cheap and it cleans my hair. I love the smell of it, though. I feel like I smell yummy after I use it. It doesn't do anything volume-wise that the others don't, but I'll probably repurchase.

Redken Body Full Shampoo: When my sister was the receptionist at a hair salon, she used her discount to get me some of this shampoo, plus it was on sale. I have one backup left, and it's pretty good! It doesn't have much of a scent to it, and it doesn't clean any better or worse than other shampoos. But I did like it. I can't justify spending all that money on expensive shampoo, but it does what it's supposed to do. I did notice a bit more volume with this shampoo, but not a ton.

Epice Purifying Exfoliant: I know this was supposed to be exfoliating, but I felt like it was scraping my face with every use. It wasn't gentle at all. I hated using it and kept it at my boyfriend's place to use it all up. Not a huge fan of it at all. I won't repurchase it.

It's a 10 Miracle Leave in Product: This stuff is awesome. It makes my hair feel soft and shiny and it's definitely awesome. I'll repurchase it when I have a bit more money to play around with. I have other leave-in products to use up in the meantime, but this is liquid gold.

Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair Hair Mask: Love this! Have a backup of it, thank goodness. It's incredible. It makes my hair feel really soft after I use it, and it doesn't take a whole lot to make a difference. It smells fresh, and it doesn't weigh my hair down.

Okay, that's not as many empties as I thought, but it's some. I've got to start using some more up.


Thursday, March 5, 2015

February Monthly Favorites

I wasn't prepared to do this post, obviously. I threw away one of my favorite products because it was empty and completely forgot to include one of the blushes I wore all month. Oh well. It's not super important. The world won't end because I don't want to take more pictures of my things. Besides, I feel like most of these things are repeats anyway. 


Missha Pomegranate Fermented Cleansing Foam: I bought this during the Missha Thanksgiving sale, but I tried to use up the chocolate cleansing foam first. I went back and forth with those these month and I really liked this cleanser.

Benton Aloe BHA Skin Toner: This is my holy grail toner. My only problem is that sometimes it is difficult to get at a good price on eBay and the shipping takes a few weeks. I usually have to order something else with this in order to get a good deal, which is what I ended up doing this time around. This toner has been absent from my skincare because I've been trying out other ones, but I always go back to this one.

Benton Snail Bee High Content Essence: Another one of my favorite Benton products. Benton makes really nice skincare with great active ingredients that usually aren't found in American products. I use this after my daytime ampoule for a little added moisture. I really like this in the summer because it's nice and lightweight.

Missha Time Revolution Night Repair Science Activator Ampoule: I feel like this has been a staple in my favorites posts. This is my holy grail ampoule and night treatment and I will always repurchase and currently have a backup ready to go just in case I run out.

It's Skin Power 10 VC Effector: I love this stuff, but I feel like every time I post about it that my bottle is almost empty. I've gone through almost two of them and I just ordered another and two different varieties from the same line. My bottles don't last as long as the Missha Time Revolution and sometimes I don't even use this every day.

Mizon Returning Starfish Cream: This is a new item that I haven't posted about before. I bought this to replace my Tony Moly cream that I had been raving about. This cream is nice and thick, but feels like a gel when you rub it in. I really like the texture and my skin hasn't been flaky since I started using this on a nightly basis. 


Skin79 Super Plus BB Creams in Green and VIP Gold: I've been using these two BB Creams again all month. I'm actually starting to get worried that I'm going to run out soon. I hate that you can't tell how much is left, but compared to another one from this brand that I don't use as often, they're starting to feel lighter. I might start mixing these with something else.

MAC Skin Base Visage: I've really been enjoying this lately, but I think there's another primer that I want to start using instead. I just dug through some makeup that I forgot existed, so I might try to rotate some things. I noticed that this makes my foundation or BB cream pill up a bit if I don't let my moisturizer set under the primer or even let the primer set. It does work pretty well though, and I think it's almost gone.

Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Dark Circle Eraser: I've been going back and forth with this concealer, but it's my favorite. I haven't included this in a favorites post for a couple months because I've been trying new things, but I keep going back to this because it blends perfectly.

Skinfood Salmon Dark Circle Concealer: This is one of the other concealers I've been going back and forth over. It really depends on how long it takes to do my makeup. If I have time to really let my moisturizer set in and then apply primer and foundation and then let that dry down, then I'll use this. I actually prefer the coverage and color of this concealer to the Maybelline, but that one is lower maintenance and it blends better. This is just so creamy that sometimes and blends away my foundation and I'm left with a ring of blotchy concealer around my eye area and it looks bad. 

beautyblender Sponge: I've been loving my beauty blenders even more now that I've been setting my makeup with them. I've always dipped the point into powder and set my under eye area, but lately I've been dabbing my entire face with a beauty blender covered in powder. I found that sometimes I didn't hit all the areas I needed to set with a brush and that my foundation would do this weird peeling thing if I half assed it with my setting powder.


For these, I'll be going clockwise starting at 12 o'clock and ending in the center.

theBalm Mary Lou-Manizer: I can't stop with the golden highlights. I feel like I'm really going to be using this one and the Bobbi Brown one all summer too. Sometimes this can be a little heavy if I use the wrong brush, but this highlighter looks so good with a light hand.

Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Copper Diamond: I've been using this nonstop since I purchased this around the holidays. I'm so glad I love this as much as I do because it was definitely a pretty penny. I love this highlighter so much and I really hope that Bobbi Brown releases other nice ones so I can add another one to my lineup.

MAC Adored Mineralize Skinfinish: When I wasn't feeling a golden highlight, I would spring for this powder. This skinfinish gives a opalescent pink glow and I really liked using it in conjunction with Pink Sprinkles, which is the pink MAC blush included in this picture.

MAC Extra Dimension Bronzer in Aphrodite's Shell: I think I've used this pretty much consistently since purchasing it almost a year ago. I really like this color for a pale girl bronzer, although I do tend to use a darker color in the summer. I think I'll be using this for a couple more months and transition into a darker bronzer color.

MAC Pink Sprinkles: Originally, I bought the other Simpsons blush color because I liked the packaging, but I did want this one too. I'm glad I got both blushes because the other one will be a nice color in the summer, but this one is nice year round. I'm really finding that I love the blushes I've purchased and I enjoy rotating them every month.

Estée Lauder Nude Nuance: I didn't use this blush after slipping it into a palette because I broke it when I was taking it out of the plastic clam shell packaging. I was so pissed that I just really never used it. Well, I love blush. It's definitely the shade that I've been loving, like the NARS blush below that I've been using. 



NARS Luster: I've really been loving this blush from the Joie De Vivre palette. This shade is one of those that looks like nothing in the pan but really transforms on your cheeks. I was going to reach for Angelika, which is one of my favorites and right next to this one, but I reconsidered. Then I found that I wanted to use this blush instead of trying something new.


Versace Bright Crystal Absolu: This has been my favorite perfume since I purchased this bottle. I feel like I've already put a little dent in the bottle, so I may try to use different scents during the next month. I've accumulated so many because I have a problem, so that won't be difficult. I'm going to try to use my other fragrances because I don't want to run out of this one! 

Escada Moon Sparkle: I've also been loving this scent. It's so nice and fruity, but it doesn't last as long as I'd like. I feel like I've also made a dent in this one, too, so I might try to avoid wearing this one too and save it for summer.

Vera Wang Princess: I'm actually shocked how much I've used of this perfume already. I didn't realize that I wore it nonstop this month after finally getting my bottle. I can't believe it took me so long to finally purchase a full size bottle and I also keep a small atomizer of purple liquid to touch up. I love this so much, but I don't think of it as a summery scent, so I don't think I'll wear it once it starts warming up. We'll see! Maybe I won't avoid this perfume and see what happens, considering I've already worn it once in March already!