Empties #4 April 2015

          This empties post is a lot of bath products and not a lot of makeup items. I have become rather obsessed with organizing, reorganizing and using up my huge stash of bath/shower products. They are just so much easier to use up than makeup. Alrighty, here we go:

          Like I said, a lot of bath products. 

Vanilla Bean Bubble Bath from Bath and Body Works

           I was not a huge fan of this scent, it just didn't smell like the usual vanilla scent. It was not unpleasant but I just found it too strong I guess. 

French Lavender Sea Salt Body Scrub by Thymes Essentials 

           I already have another in the shower, I really loved this but the last couple times I used it I noticed it's really stung my legs. If you have dry skin I would not recommend this to you. I will try another scrub once the one in my shower runs out.

I Love Raspberry and Blackberry Bubble Bath and Shower Gel

            I bought this such a long time ago from Shoppers, probably about two years ago. It smelled great, was a fine bubble bath and body wash, my only wish is that the scent would stay on my skin after leaving the shower. 

Peony Pomegranate Blush Bath Salts, The Macbeth Collection by Margaret Joesphs 

           This was one of the items in a set that was on sale at Shoppers, I did not include it in a haul because some of it went to the gift pile. The bath salts were nothing to write home about, pretty cheap really but they smelled amazing. They smelled like a sweet, floral perfume. I am sitting here smelling the empty container. 

Fruit Frappe Grapefruit with Gooseberry Exfoliating Shower Gel by Upper Canada Soap and Shea Butter and Caramel Body Polish by Nirvana Spa

          These were both good products but didn't send me offer the moon, I like my exfoliants to remove at least two layers of skin so they were just too gentle. They both smelled great and were good body washes though. 

          I also used up some hair products. 

Oil of Morocco Argan Oil Volume Hairspray by Marc Anthony 

         I got this from Ipsy and I did like it, I found it was better for when I was wearing my hair down to keep it straight and frizz free. I know I sound like a broken record but it also smelled great. 

Precision Foam Colour in Brilliant Brunette by John Frieda 

          Does anyone else feel like there is an actual Marc Anthony and an actual John Frieda and they are in a huge hair care feud? No. Just me? Ok, moving on. This is the easiest home hair colour I have ever used, the foam is thick and there was more than enough to cover all my hair. Really easy to use, no drips and great results. 

450 Blow Out Blow Dry Spray by Sexy Hair

          Another item I got from Ipsy and I loved this. It just leaves your hair feeling soft, shiney, protected and it really seems like my hair dried faster. I think I will go online to order more because I can not find it in stores around here. I would also like to order the beach spray from the Healthy Sexy Hair line.

Rosemary Mint Cleansing Conditioner by Renpure Solutions 

           While I was using this I really enjoyed it but I have switched back to regular shampoo after Target closed and I couldn't find it anywhere else. I was having such a hard time with my hair, it was falling out more than usual, it was always limp and I couldn't do anything to it without it getting greasy and this product fixed all of that. Also if you are looking for a dupe of the Wen Cleansing Conditioner this is far cheaper, under ten bucks. I still reccomend this it just became inconvenient for me to keep using it. 

Malibu Heat Beach Waves Hair Mist from Bath and Body Works

          This was the first beach spray I tried and one of the best. I got this from BBW a few years ago but have not seen it there again. It gives beach waves without crunchiness or making my hair stiff plus it smells like coconut and pineapples. If I saw this at BBW again I would buy a couple bottles. 

          Some face/skin care products I used up, a couple of which I have been trying to use up for quite a while. 

Vitamins E, A & D Moisturizing Cream from GNC

            Go buy this. Seriously, such a good hand cream. I bought this because my hands were so dry this winter and this healed them completely. I used half the first tube before I read the directions and they suggest using it as a facial moisturizer and primer. Turns out this is the best primer I have used and you can buy three tubes for under 5 bucks. I have them everywhere, it is quite a thick formula with an almost glycerin feel to it which I do not normally like but this just makes my skin feel so good. It just feels like you are healing dry spots and doing something good for your skin. 

Mary Kay TimeWise Microdermabrasion Step One

            My office-mates mother in law used to be a Mary Kay lady and had a whole bunch of samples to hand off to us, bless her. This was one of the best things. We got this and the lotion that is Step Two. I love microdermabrasion products, it just feel so good to scrub all the gunk off your face and out of your pores. This formula was so thick and full of fine little exfoliants and fragrance free. I loved this but the collection is rather pricey and I don't want to get a Mary Kay last because that would mean talking to someone new. 

Tea Tree Skin Clearing Foaming Cleanser from The Body Shop 

          I actually just used up a second one of these as I had two on the go for whatever reason. It really cleared up my skin but it is very drying as well so I switched to something less intense but I would reccomend this to someone having trouble controlling blemishes and oil.

Skin Genesis Skin Perfecting Toner by L'Oreal 

          I have had this for a disgusting amount of time. It didn't really do much for me. I would not repurchase. 

         I only have two makeup products that I used up and one I am tossing. 

Revlon Photoready BB Cream in Light Pale 

          This item is almost used up but I have had it so long that it has separated and won't mix back up. This was a decent BB Cream, very liquidy and not much for coverage but just sort of smoothed out my complexion. I used this when I was in Jamacia for days when we weren't in the pool all day because it had SPF 30 and I was extremely paranoid about getting sunglasses tan lines. I wouldn't repurchase as it isn't great for oily skin. 

Julep Blank Canvas Mattiying Eye Primer 

          This was an excellent eye primer, it went on smoothly and was just a light beige colour. They should really make eye primers clear so all skin colours and tones could use them eh? I mean most primers are, why not eye primers? Anywho, good product, probably expensive since it's from Julep.

Maybelline Dream Wonder Powder in Porcelain Ivory 

          I love this powder. I use it over my makeup to set my foundation, a necessary step for oily skin, but I have also used it by itself for light coverage. This is a staple in my routine, it doesn't leave my skin looking powdery or overly made up, it just glides on and smooths everything out. Love this, I have repurchased a couple times and will continue to do so. 

On an empties binge? Let me help you out: Empties #3

Thank you for reading!

A.

@dirty_cupcake

Products I Want to Use Up - February 2015

          I have so many candles and I just bought three of the new scents from Bath and Body Works so I am forcing myself to use these ones up before I start burning the new ones regularly. From right to left I have Pumpkin Spice, Bergamont Woods, Fireside, Clean Linen, Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin. I have the Pumpkin Spice on a candle warmer now but I think the scent is mostly gone as it does not seem to be putting out much of a scent. Maybe I am just used to the wonderful candles from Bath and Body Works. The Fireside candle is amazing and I may put it aside for next fall/winter so I can fall completely in love with it again. I really want to use up my fall/winter scents before I pull out the spring/summer candles so I do not have to store them. Not that winter is showing any signs of easing as we have a blizzard on the way in a couple days.

          I have had this L'Oreal toner for YEARS, I rarely use toner just because I an lazy. I think I can use this up fairly quickly if I actually remember to use it. The toner is a good product, my skin does feel clearer and smoother after using it. 

          I want to use the Tea Tree Foaming Cleanser because I have two bottles that are almost empty. I do like this cleanser but I have not been using it much as I have fallen head over heels for the Charcoal Cleanser from Biore. I use the Tea Tree Cleanser once a week or if my skin breaks out heavily as it is a good product to use to clear up blemishes however it is a little drying for dry winter skin. Because I was so impressed by the cleanser I bought the Tea Tree Gel for blemishes. I do not like it at all. I do not find it does anything for me at all. I am sure it is slightly beneficial so I will use it up but I will not repurchase. 

          Something else I have a foolish amount of is perfume. I do not think I will really "use up" the Bath and Body Works products, they are more so a product I want to focus on. Each scent is lovely and I do not want them to go bad. The White Citrus is a clean, fresh scent that is almost masculine but still flirty enough to be feminine. The Merry Marshmallow is a lovely holiday scent, sweet and light. One of my favorite winter scents. I do not know how much progress I will make as I can not wear scents to work but we will see. The little sample I got from Sephora (I think) and is the Dolce perfume from Dolce and Gabbana. It smells so sophisticated, I wish I had somewhere fancy to wear it but for now it works great with my jammies.

          Here we have a couple moisturizers. The first is a sample from Cailyn Cosmetics and I love their lip colours. This is the Water Drops Cream and is a very light, quick absorbing face cream. At first I though it would not take too long to use as it is a little sample tube but has lasted much longer than I first thought it would.

          The Julep Rock Star Hand Cream was in my last products to use up post and I have not really made any progress. It is a lovely cream, Julep has a long complicated  description of why it is the be all end all of hand creams. I like the scent but it is rather strong and perfumey so I do not bring it with me so I forget I have it sometimes.

          This GOSH lipstick in Cappuccino was the very first nude lip colour I ever bought and likely one of the first lipsticks I had ever bought; which is kind of gross but I am over it. It is a nice colour and so creamy and moisturizing. I only stopped using it because I moved on to other colours and it got buried in my collection.

           The little pot is a sample from K&N Body Butter that I got from Madame Ladybug. This is a terrible body butter, it is oily and grainy at the same time. I washed my hands immediately after I put it on. This makes an excellent lip conditioner though, I can't decide if is that is gross or not but that is what I am using it for. It is Candy Cane scented and instantly makes dry winter lips feel conditioned and smooth. 

          I am pretty sure I have mentioned the Elizabeth Mott It's So Big mascara before. It is my everyday mascara and is just so lovely. You can use one layer for your everyday look or put a couple more coats for extra length and thickness. I have a back up and this one is getting close to its expiry date.

          This Protein BB Cream is from an Ipsy bag and while it did not transform my hair into a magical mane it is a a solid hair product. I use it to fight frizz and I find it helps keep style when I wear it straight.

           This is just a simple hand sanitizer from Bath and Body Works. I am not a fan of the scent and I have others that I prefer so this got pushed to the back. It was in my last products to use up post, not much progress and I am not overly optimistic I will make much progress before my next post.

Thanks for reading!

A.

       

Empties #1 January 2015

 

          Go grab a coffee, this will be a long one. Will out any ado whatsoever here we go: 

          Get used to seeing candles, Bath and Body Works has the most amazing candles and room sprays. I have so many back ups of this candle, burning one right now actually. When I got this scent I went all out, no joke, I have the candles, room spray, body wash, plug in bulbs, and lip gloss. Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin is the ultimate fall smell. 

          Apparently I took a photo of the French side but this is an olive oil and aloe body wash, I originally was introduced to this when an ex left it begind in the shower and I'm so glad he did. It just smells so clean, like I'm in Italy and about to walk through the countryside during the olive harvest. It rinses clean, moisturizes and the scent lingers just slightly. 

          This came in an Ipsy bag and is one of my favourite things I have received from Ipsy. The Dr. Brandt microdermabrasion was AMAZING, I have an unnatural love of exfoliating and this fed my sick obsession. The little scrubby bits were so tiny and they were so concentrated that I really felt like all the dead skin was banished from my face. The tube is so nasty looking because a. I'm too lazy to wash it off for you. 2. I left it in my shower for so long because I was in denial that I had used it all up. If it wasn't so pricey I would have purchased it in bulk. 

          Speaking of an obsession with exfoliating, I used a discount code from Ipsy for 50% off to get little sample tubes of this exfoliant, a moisturizer and face wash. It was a great deal since I think the three pack was only three or four dollars. I ordered some extra to send to the woman's shelter. They were all decent products but the exfoliant was for sure the best, again little granuals. I mixed it with the face wash to get a deep clean. 

          This mask was a couple bucks from Target and I really enjoyed it. It was the first sheet mask I've tried and I didn't think I would like that but I'm glad I tried it. It was a good mask, my skin felt refreshed and the smell was very relaxing. A great bubble bath companion. 

         I have many items from The Body Shop's Tea Tree collection and do find it works well for oily skin and blemishes but these I did not like. Especially for the price. They were sort of dry right after I opened them, didn't remove makeup any better than my $3 baby wipes. I will not repurchase these. 

          This is the Mary Kay Oil Free Makeup Remover, I got this through a co-worker and loved it. It was very effective without stinging or leaving any residue behind. The only reason I didn't repurchase this on the sad day I used the last drop is because I don't have a Mary Kay lady and I avoid human interaction. 

          This was either the first or second primer I ever tried. I honestly can't remember how well it worked. I feel like it wasn't that great as I repurchased once then moved on to the Julep primer. 

     I've had a couple of the samples of the Porefessional pore minimizer and always use them up fairly quickly. Not a product I would buy but I always like receiving them in sample bags, it really does make my pores look much smaller and my makeup go on smoother. 

          This is the Victoria Jackson foundation duo compact. Also featured is my giraffe that lives on my desk. I got this free quite a while ago with a coupon code from Ipsy which was awesome. I used this product frequently, kept it in my purse for touch ups and really got some use out of it. The latch broke so I stopped using it as much then my cat knocked it over and laid on it so it's full of fuzzies and cat hair. Time for that to go. 

     For a long time I was obsessed with Julep's Glycolic Hand Scrub. When I first started painting my nails regularly I was horrendous at it so this was great for getting polish off the skin around my nails without damaging the polish. It really does feel like a facial for your hands. I repurchased this when it went on sale or in combo packs from Julep. Lately the company has had some bad press but I never had a bad experience with them. I haven't gotten anything from them recently as I've moved onto using gel polishes the beauty products are not exactly cheap. 

          This was another Ipsy sample I loved. It was a creamy lotion that just smelled like summer. I read online that you can buy this at Target and I found the brand but not this specific product. 

          I received these in the Her Fitness Box I reviewed in a previous post. They made my hands smell like a barn, and actual moo cow, hay and grain barn. I emptied into a container I had laying around and still use it periodically because it really does give an intense amount of moisture without sitting on your hands, I mean it smells like a clean barn so that's ok right? If I got this in another sample box I wouldn't even give it to anyone, I would just toss it. 

          Again, an Ipsy sample. I didn't like this originally, it didn't seem to do much for my hair beyond make it smell amazing. A month or so later I started using it before braiding my hair at night and I noticed it really did help fix my split ends or at least make them less noticeable. If this company makes a perfume with this same spicy scent I would snatch that up in a heartbeat. I amay keep this tube just so I can smell it because I have problems. 

          I picked this up at Sally Beauty for an at home spa day and wasn't overly impressed. It seemed to weigh my hair down an make it greasy. It may be a good product for someone with severely dry and damaged hair but it was too much for me. 

         Lastly I used up a few things of boring old cotton rounds from Costco. 

Thanks for reading! 

A. 

Favorites #1

          Here are some of the products I am loving right now. There are quite a few so I will try not to ramble on too much.

First up is the Tea Tree Face Mask from The Body Shop

I actually bought this by accident. I had little sample packets of this and it burned my face bad enough I had to take it off immediately and I gave away the rest of the samples I had. Since I am equal parts cheap and lazy I decided to try it again rather than give it away or return it. I am so glad I gave it another shot. I stopped taking care of my skin as well as I should (ie leaving my make up on at night, I know, I know.) This is what is saving me right now. It is great for blemished skin and really feels like all the junk is just pulled out of your skin. It is a little drying and I wouldn't recommend this for anyone with sensitive skin but I also have the face wash, gel (I use it as a spot treatment) and pore minimizer and the line is really working for me. I will repurchase everything but the pore minimizer. Its alright but I am not blown away.


Aveeno Active Naturals Positively Radiant Intensive Night Cream

Jennifer Aniston is not lying to us in those commercials. This is the shit. I have actually noticed so many improvements in my skin because of this. It evens out skin tone, fades dark spots, softens, all the things the box says it does are for real. Just go to target and buy it. I used to have the normal daily moisturizer and it also does exactly what it advertises. I was hesitant to purchase the night cream at first because it was somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 bucks but beyond worth it. I have been using it for months and it is just starting to look like its been used, a little goes a long way. Since it is such a heavy cream it does feel kind of oily in the morning but once you wash your face it just feels lovely.


Aveeno Active Naturals Skin Relief Body Wash

Again with the Aveeno, its just a great brand. This I bought on sale at Shoppers Drug Mart for, I want to say like 8 bucks. I wanted something to stop itchy cold weather skin and it worked immediately. It is fragrance free which I don't love, I will look for a scented version when I repurchase.

E.L.F Lip Exfoliator 

This is a winter must. I can not handle dry, flaky lips. This is so much better than any other lip scrub, it is just like putting on lip balm. The scrubbies stay on the stick and it leaves a light balm on your lips. Best $4 purchase ever.

Tarte Amazonian Clay Full Coverage Foundation

The only thing that isn't amazing about this foundation is the price, at $50 bucks I hate myself every time I have purchased it. Luckily I am still on my first bottle. That's not really a bottle is it? Tube? Moving on. It goes on like a dream, you can use a light had and still up with full coverage. Heavy handed doesn't feel caked on, on those terrible skin days you I can put it on like Spackle and it still feels like I have light makeup on. It blends almost by itself and it works well with powders and blushes. It also puts up a brave fight against oily skin and working in a restaurant.  




Alright, I still have a pile of products on my table but I am just so beyond exhausted so you have to wait until tomorrow. 

Thanks!
A.