January 2015 Empties

Hi everyone! It's time for me to share what I used up in the first month of the year. I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with everything I used up, and I'm going to be trying really hard to make a dent in my beauty collection for 2015. Lets see what I've used up!

The first product I used up is the Bath & Body Works Moisturizing Hand Soap in the Fresh Picked Strawberries scent. I'm more of a fan of their hand soaps with the little scrubby bits in them and this one didn't have those. I didn't really care for this hand soap because it smelled a bit perfume-y to me and my husband didn't really like it either. Glad to see it gone!

I then used up the ZenWise Labs Hair Growth Vitamins. I was sent his product from BrandBacker to try and I did a review of it here. I'm still sticking to my original thoughts on this, and that is it did help with growing my hair, but not with the thickness or new growth. My roots are showing like crazy now, so if you just want your hair to grow out faster, this product will help with that, but it won't help with making it thicker. 

I used up a Degree Expert Protection Deodorant in the scent Linen Dry. I got this at Big Lots and it was pretty cheap, probably around $1 or $2. I liked how it smelled and this is supposed to release scent when it detects motion, and I did notice as I moved around I could smell it, which didn't bother me at all. 

I used up quite a bit of skincare, so woohoo on that! The first product is the Peter Thomas Roth Aloe Tonic Mist. This toner is alcohol free and fragrance free, so it reminded me of my beloved Aloe Calming Toner from The Body Shop.This stuff is alot more expensive, but it worked the same at TBS toner, so I'll keep repurchasing that one for quite a while. 

I used up a little baby container of the Josie Maran Argan Oil. I used this over moisturizer if I needed extra hydration and I also started using one drop in my foundation/bb cream. I got that idea from Wayne Goss on YouTube and that changed my life honestly. I don't think I'll do that trick in the Summer, but in the Winter it's great. It helps my foundation go on better and it makes my skin look flawless. 

I also used up another baby container of the Juice Beauty Oil-Free Moisturizer. I remember I took this little tube with me on my honeymoon over a year ago and just wanted to finish it up since it still had about 4 days of use left. It smelled and looked fine though, so no worries about that!

I finally ran out of the little tube of the GlamGlow Thirstymud Hydrating Treatment mask. I did a review on this here, and I have to say, this is a Holy Grail product for me now! I can't not use it after I use a clay mask that's drying. I have a full size of this and will continue to repurchase despite it being so darn expensive. It makes my skin feel just amazingly soft and supple. 

I used up The Body Shop Aloe Protective Serum, and I mixed this into moisturizer in the morning to add some extra hydration to my skin. I still love this product as it calms my skin but gives me the little boost I need this Winter. 

I was happy to finally finish up the Philosophy Help Me Retinol Night Treatment. I will say, I think it did help my skin a little bit, but this stuff smells so strange! It's not like it was too old to use strange, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. It was a bit drying too so I had to follow up with an extra hydrating moisturizer. 

I used up my morning time moisturizer from The Body Shop, the Tea Tree Sin Clearing Lotion. I absolutely love this stuff for my oily, acne-prone skin, but in the Winter it's really drying, so I used the Aloe Serum above mixed in and that helped out alot. This gel type moisturizer is definitely a Summer time moisturizer.

Now for a bit of randomness. I was so excited to finally use up the Massive tub of The Body Shop Shea Body Butter. I had been using this since last Winter and probably around the second week of January it was gone. I don't really use body butters in the Summer as I'm not as dry. Once in a while I will, but I usually stick to light lotions then. These body butters are no joke though, they hydrate your skin like crazy and this one smells so clean and fresh. 

The Almay Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover Pads were pretty awesome. I used one for each eye at night when I removed my eye makeup and I had no problems taking off mascara or dark eyeshadows. Occasionally these did sting my eyes a little bit, but it wasn't terrible and I always washed my face thoroughly after removing makeup. 

I got the Figs & Rouge Hand Cream in the scent Rose Berry in an Ipsy bag, and I loved how this stuff smelled. It had way more berry than rose which I'm fine with, but I have to be honest, this isn't hydrating at all for me. I think it actually made my hands drier. I still used this when I was at work just so I had something, but most days when I got home, I had to put on a thicker hand cream to help my hands feel better. 

The Urban Decay B6 Vitamin-Infused Complexion Prep Spray came in a 500 point perk from Sephora. I think this is the most gimmicky product. It doesn't do anything special for my skin and acts no different than other makeup sprays. I will never buy a full size of this.

I have two mascaras here, the Pop Beauty Smoky Lash Kapow!!!, and the Bobbi Brown Everything mascara. The Pop one was just dried out so I couldn't use it, but the Bobbi Brown one was fantastic! It made my lashes look amazing, but the only downside is it smudged on me. If it didn't smudge, it would be perfect in every way. 

The final product I used up is the Tarte Clean Slate Creaseless Eye Primer. This is a white liquid-y primer that was just okay for me. It didn't really make my shadows last any longer and I still got creasing by the end of the day. There is still nothing that compares to the original UD Primer Potion for me.

What did you use up in January?

Remember I have my Borghese giveaway going on until the beginning of March, so there's plenty of time to enter! Also, I have my blog sale as well :)

October 2014 Ipsy Bag

Hey everyone! My Ipsy bag came a little late this month, this past Friday actually. I was just busy all weekend and I can now get to showing you all what I got! I have to say, I'm impressed this month!

For the actual bag the products come in, I love the color! Teals are beautiful. I'm just not a fan of the pattern. I don't really see myself using this bag for anything honestly. The products are what's important!

The first product I received is the Ecru New York Acacia Protein BB Cream Beauty Balm for Hair. I've never heard of this brand before but I had heard of bb creams for hair. I'm definitely looking forward to trying this since I colored my hair a burgundy/auburn color and I want to maintain the health of my hair. 

Next up is Epice International Purifying Exfoliant. I can always use a good exfoliant and with the colder weather coming up, this will come in handy. 

Then I got a Starlooks Lip Gloss in the color Gulity Pleasure. I think the color is great for Fall and compliments my fair skin nicely. When I swatched it however, it did feel a bit sticky. I haven't tried it on my lips yet, but I hope the stickiness isn't too bad once applied. 

I also got a Jessie's Girl Mineralized Baked Shadow Powder in the color Plum Frost. When I swatched this, I was surprised at how pigmented this shadow was. I know this brand is sold in the drugstore, but I was pretty impressed. It's definitely a beautiful color that I can see myself using.

Next up we have a Figs & Rouge Hand Cream in the scent Rose Berry. I have heard of this brand before and it comes out of the UK, which is pretty neat. I'm glad I got a little hand cream because I can take it to work with me and have it not take up too much space in my work bag. It does smell very nice too but I have yet to test it out on my hands. 

Now this sixth product is one that I had used my points for and it's the Eyetini Eye Cordial Cream Shadow Tint & Base. I wasn't too happy that I didn't have many choices when picking out what I wanted, but I had some points expire and I didn't want to lose any more. Believe it or not, I actually really like this product! I used it as a base under eyeshadow and it looked pretty, had good pigmentation, and also made my look last all day! 

Swatches of lip gloss, eyeshadow & eye base

Overall, I'm highly impressed this month! The last couple months were a little meh, and I did consider cancelling my subscription. This bag has totally redeemed itself for me as it has a nice mix of skincare and makeup. 

If you want your own Ipsy bag, use my referral link here! It's only $10 a month, plus shipping for some, and you get a good range of products sent to you every month!