March Empties!

Even more empties this month as I moved last weekend and decided to purge some items! I'd definitely been holding onto some stuff for too long! There'll likely be another purge soon as well since I'm moving outside of Canada and won't be able to bring much with me! More on that later though!

L to R: Nails Inc. Marylebone, Nails Inc. Chester Street, Nails Inc. Porchester Square, ELF Cream Eyeliner in Copper

Nails Inc. Marylebone: Unfortunately this is hard as a rock, which is too bad because this was a one-coater glitter, and I loved the colour combination of purple, pink, and silver! Life is too short to cry over hardened nail polish, and I have plenty more to use before I pick up a replacement / dupe. Click here to see it in action.

Nails Inc. Chester Street: This was a meh polish for me and I'm not too sad it's turned into a gloopy mess. There are more flattering taupes out there for me to try out!

Nails Inc. Porchester Square: Another hardened Nails Inc. mini, definitely a sign that I just can't use these up quick enough and there might be a flaw in their formula / packaging. This wasn't too flattering on me either.

ELF Cream Eyeliner in Copper: I bought this a few years back for $3, unfortunately it's all dried up and unusable now. I liked the shimmery brown shade, but it did take a few passes to build up opacity. I have too many eyeliners already and will not be replacing this with anything! I don't find myself reaching for a gel eyeliner as much as a pencil.

L to R: Ulta Brilliant Color Lip Gloss in 15, Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Pink Afterglow, Martina Lip Balm in Vanilla, Bath & Body Works Anti-Bacterial Hand Gel in Maui Mango Mai Tai

Ulta Brilliant Color Lip Gloss in 15: While this wasn't fully used up (it was about 2/3 empty), the container was a sticky mess, so it's being tossed. This was a "my lips but better" lip gloss for me, and I loved the vanilla scent. It was a bit sticky, and there are better glosses on the market so I won't be picking this up again.

Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss in Pink Afterglow: This was only 1/3 empty, but the container was even stickier and messier than the Ulta one. I'd been storing it in it's own ziploc bag for years now and I've decided to clear some space and just toss it! Too much effort to have to wash your hands clean of sticky gloss after using this! This was a glitter bomb high-shine lip gloss. I liked the colour of the gloss, but too much shimmer for 2016 and this is a sticky gloss that tends to migrate all over your face when wearing. Gross. Will not be replacing.

Martina Lip Balm in Vanilla: This was super old and needed to get tossed! While I liked the consistency, the bit of shimmer, and the scent, I'm not a fan of lip balms you use your fingers to apply with! Will not repurchase

Bath & Body Works Anti-Bacterial Hand Gel in Maui Mango Mai Tai: I liked this scent! Fruity and tropical!

L to R: Quo Nail Polish Remover Strengthening, Delon Premium Cosmetic Cotton Rounds

Quo Nail Polish Remover Strengthening: This did a great job removing polish. Will likely repurchase

Delon Premium Cosmetic Cotton Rounds: These are my HG cotton pads! Perfect texture, no fluff, good strength! Highly recommend! I found these at Costco so I have about 5 more packs of them to get through!

I used up 7 full-size products and 3 deluxe-size products in March!

What did you use up in March?

Thanks for reading!

January Empties!

Prepare yourself! I did quite well in January!

L to R: Ducray Elution Shampoo, Crest Complete Whitening + Scope Dual Blast Toothpaste

Ducray Elution Shampoo: Same as original review here. Will continue to purchase!

Crest Complete Whitening + Scope Dual Blast Toothpaste: This was much foamier than the non Dual Blast version, but it kept breath fresh so I can't complain! I'm not tied down to any one toothpaste, still searching for the best!

L to R: Clean & Clear Splash Wildberry & Guava Morning Burst Body Wash, Clean & Clear Makeup Dissolving Facial Cleansing Wipes Oil-Free

Clean & Clear Splash Wildberry & Guava Morning Burst Body Wash: See review here. Still like the scent a lot, but don't love the formula as much as Dove's.

Clean & Clear Makeup Dissolving Facial Cleansing Wipes Oil-Free: See my updated review here. Will repurchase as necessary (still prefer Neutrogena though)

L to R: Bath & Body Works Anti-Bacterial Hand Gel in Vanilla Bean Noel, Tarte Clean Slate 360 Creaseless 12-hr Smoothing Eye Primer, Swisspers Make-Offs Cotton Squares

Bath & Body Works Anti-Bacterial Hand Gel in Vanilla Bean Noel: Still my favourite formula of anti-bacterial hand gel! This is a basic sweet vanilla scent! Really enjoyed! Will continue to repurchase in various scents!

Tarte Clean Slate 360 Creaseless 12-hr Smoothing Eye Primer: I bought this in a tarte set of primers from Sephora a while back. I don't wear eye shadow everyday, and I don't wear primer under all eye shadow. So this took me a while to finish up. Also I was surprised at how a little went a long way here! It goes on white and leaves a slight white cast to your eyes. I don't know about the 12-hr wear time, but it did an acceptable job of helping my eye shadow last! I'm not sure I'll repurchase because I'm perfectly happy with elf's $1 eye primer. But this was nice!

Swisspers Make-Offs Cotton Squares: These are similar to these, but a larger square shaped cotton pad. Still generic, but did a better job at polish removal with less fluff. Still not my favourite, but they did the job!

L to R: Dove Go Fresh Restore Body Wash Blue Fig & Orange Blossom, Secret Clinical Strength Clear Gel Sport Fresh Antiperspirant, RoC Enydrial Repairing Lip Care

Dove Go Fresh Restore Body Wash Blue Fig & Orange Blossom: I really enjoyed this one! Not only does it add moisture into my skin in the shower, but I was surprised to find myself drawn to a floral scent! I really liked this scent, made me look forward to showering! Will consider repurchasing after I use up 4 more body washes (I have quite the hoard...)

Secret Clinical Strength Clear Gel Sport Fresh Antiperspirant: As you know, I really like the Secret Clinical Strength clear gel formula, this scent isn't my favourite, but I feel fresh on most days with this!

RoC Enydrial Repairing Lip Care: I really liked this lip balm, it did a reasonable job of moisturizing dry, chapped lips. I do prefer scented or flavoured lip balms, and this is a boring unscented, clear lip balm. However this would be ideal for sensitive users. Will consider repurchase after I use up 2 more lip balms.

L to R: elf Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20 in Porcelain, REN Glycol Lactic Radiance Renewal Mask, Covergirl Lashblast Fusion Mascara in Very Black

elf Tinted Moisturizer SPF 20 in Porcelain: I bought this for $3 on a Walmart trip a few summers back. The colour was wayyy too yellow for me, but I didn't mind the light coverage and the benefit of SPF 20 was nice too. If I didn't have 7 other face products on the go (with other multiples sitting in the cupboard waiting for their turn), I would probably buy another shade of this. As my hoarding situation is out of control, I will consider repurchasing after I finish up 5 skin products.

REN Glycol Lactic Radiance Renewal Mask: From this haul. I got 2 uses out of this mask sample. The first use I thought it was quite good, my face looked fresh the next day. The 2nd time I used it, I was slightly repulsed by the orange-ish booger quality it looked like I smeared all over my face. And, it irritated my skin that time as well (and I followed the directions and only kept it on for 15 minutes). This might be partially my fault as obviously I received this sample in 2013... Anyways I will not purchase the fullsize.

Covergirl Lashblast Fusion Mascara in Very Black: See full review here. Probably my favourite drugstore mascara! Will consider repurchasing when my mascara hoard is down to only 3 (who knows how long that'll take...)

Whew! I had a productive month! 11 full-size products and 2 deluxe-size products finished up!

Big pat on the back for me!

Did you finish up any products?

Thanks for reading!

US Mini-haul!

I recently took a shopping trip into the States and picked up a few goodies! Total cost was less than $10! Not bad considering nails inc. polish retails for closer to $12 in Canada!

 

 

L to R: Nails Inc. Gel Effect Polish in Bond Street, elf Essential Lip Gloss Stick in Sangria Starters, elf Essential Jumbo Eyeshadow Stick in Little Miss Thing, elf Essential Eyelid Primer

 

Pretty much everything here was trying out new things, I have more than a few nails inc. polish, but seeing this Gel Effect bright purple for $4 was a no-brainer, hopefully it turns out as super shiny as it advertises! The lip gloss stick I have in a different shade, but wanted to try the non-shimmery colour as well wanting to expand my vampy lip collection! I love eye shadow pencils and figured I'd get this elf offering to compare against Tarte and NYX (nope, not really the same...you get what you pay for here), and I have the elf Mineral Eyelid Primer, so figured why not pick up a backup from their cheaper line?

 

I wish elf was more widely available in Canada, as they do have a number of great products for awesome prices!

 

Have you found any good deals recently? What about products that don't live up to your expectations?

 

Thanks for reading!

July Empties

Here are the products I used up in July!

Top row L to R: Ducray Squanorm Shampoo, Bumble and bumble Thickening Shampoo, Bumble and bumble Thickening Conditioner
Bottom row L to R: ELF Lengthening and Defining Mascara, Boscia BB Cream

Not much exciting stuff but here are my thoughts on the products.

Ducray Squanorm Shampoo: This is the best and most effective anti-dandruff shampoo I've tried (and I've tried A LOT). If you have oily dandruff or have found that other anti-dandruff shampoos don't work for you, I suggest trying this out. I have already bought a replacement.

Bumble and bumble Thickening Shampoo: I got this as a free sample from this haul, and finally got around to using it up (I think around 3 uses from this small packet on my medium length hair). Smells like other bumble and bumble shampoos, and I did think this added volume to my hair. But this isn't an area of concern for my hair (see above) so I will not repurchase.

Bumble and bumble Thickening Conditioner: See above, made my hair feel soft, but I will not repurchase, scent isn't my fav and I don't need much help thickening my hair.

ELF Lengthening and Defining Mascara: I got this as a freebie from an ELF purchase back in January and although I probably only got around 10 uses from this mascara (it dried up pretty quickly), there were some parts I liked. The good: it lives up to the lengthening claim and also adds good volume to my lashes. The bad: this smudges quite easily and isn't waterproof, so I did end up with undereye smudges when I wasn't careful (I was able to do a quick swipe with my CoverGirl LashBlast Fusion Waterproof mascara and suddenly this was reasonably waterproof and stayed on my lashes). For $1, I will repurchase this again, because I liked the way my lashes looked and you can't beat the price!

Boscia BB Cream: I got this as a sample from this haul and got around 6 uses out of this small looking foil packet. This is supposedly a one colour fits all, but I found it too dark for my skin tone. This also reacted strangely with water, if your face got wet the BB Cream wouldn't go away but would stick itself more strongly to your skin. I don't think this caused any skin concerns, but I did not like the way this product felt or the lack of colours so I will not purchase this product.

What products did you love or finish up in July?

Thanks for reading!