Hey everyone! This past month wasn't that great with empties, but it was enough to warrant a post of what I did use up. There are mostly skincare products but definitely next month I will have more makeup. I'm close to using up alot of different makeup, so that makes me happy. Anyways, lets get into what I used up in July!
I'm gonna start off with vitamins. I think vitamins are an important part of beauty because it helps your body feel good which should just help you feel good in general. I used up a Nature's Bounty Hair, Skin and Nails supplement. I honestly don't notice much of a difference in my skin, but my hair tends to grow a little faster and my nails are strong and healthy when I take supplements. I also used another Nature's Bounty Multi Vitamin for women. I don't know really what benefits I feel from these, but I kinda always took a multi when I was younger so I keep getting them.
Now for the skincare. I used up The Body Shop's Tea Tree Skin Clearing Facial Wash. I love this cleanser in the Summer months as my morning cleanser to help prep my skin for the day and get all the grease and dirt off that collected from the night before. I usually have a few backups of these on hand plus I have alot of other cleansers to use up as well. Definitely a repurchase once my stash diminishes a bit.
Typically, I have yet another The Body Shop Aloe Calming Toner. I can go on and on about how much I love this toner but I won't. I use it all the time, mostly at night.
I used up a moisturizer by Benefit called the Triple Performing Facial Emulsion. This is oil free and has SPF 15 PA++, what ever that means. I honestly didn't like this much. I used it during the day because of the SPF, but it was just a meh moisturizer. It did feel a little hydrating but made me oily after about an hour or so. This is probably a good moisturizer if you have normal to combo skin. I won't be repurchasing this only because I'm super oily.
I finally used up my Queen Helene Mint Julep Masque. I love, love, love this mask! It's been talked about for ages, but it really is great for oily skin that feels congested. I love the smell of this and I might repurchase, but I have alot of masks to use up first.
Last of the empties! I used up the Maybelline Clean Express! Makeup Remover. This is the waterproof eye makeup remover and I was so in love with this stuff! I had originally bought this because I had a $1 off coupon for it when it was first released and I bought it at Walmart so I'm pretty sure I only paid about $3. Like I said, I loved this alot. It didn't burn my eyes and removed my makeup incredibly well. I will most definitely repurchase when I use up my other makeup removers.
I used up another Philosophy shower gel in the scent Ginger Berry Frost. This shower gel actually had little flecks of shimmer throughout that I wasn't really a fan of and I didn't care much for the scent. For me, it was a little too sweet smelling, which is definitely odd for me because I love sweet things. I think this came in a holiday kit from Sephora a while ago.
I'm starting to get into the habit of using up some of my samples I have since they're overflowing. I decided to use the Givenchy Mister Light in the shade 4 Mister Macaroon. This was a bit dark for me, but when I used a Beauty Blender or the Real Techniques sponge, I was able to make it work. This was an interesting product. The texture of this felt great, it was creamy but light and blended well. However, there are shimmer particles in this that made me look a bit like a disco ball but when I used a good amount of pressed powder, it took it away a little. Seeing how much this is in pen form, I will not purchase this.
I used up another Similasan eye drops for allergy eyes. Love this stuff and it doesn't burn my eyes like alot of other drops do. I will always repurchase this.
My last empty is Benefit's They're Real! Mascara. Alot of you will probably hate me for this, but I don't get the hype surrounding this mascara. It made my lashes look spidery and bad. Towards the end of its life, I would get balls of mascara on the tips of my lashes and I'd always have to use a comb to get them out. Not going to purchase. Ever.
That's everything! Like I said, next month should be better in the makeup department. What did you all use up in July?
November was a great month with empties! I haven't been buying as much as I have in the past, but I'm on a serious mission to use up as many products as I can. I gave myself a goal to use up at least 20 products between November and December, and in November I used up 13 products! I haven't used up much so far this month, but I may be pretty surprised by the end of December. Anyways, lets see what I used up in November!
First I'll start off with shower and bathroom products. I used up the last of The Body Shop Banana Shampoo and Conditioner I had left. I did a review on both of these last year here, and while I like these products, I got so tired of them and just wanted to use them up. I have so much shampoo and conditioner to use up, and these are pricey, so I probably won't repurchase.
I used up a Philosophy Shower Gel called Celebrate Love, and the scent is a blackberry musk smell. I love these shower gels so much and really only buy the larger sized bottles when they have a sale, since they're normally priced around $16 each. I have a bunch of the smaller bottles that I bought from kits. I'm usually not one for musky scents, but this one was light enough for me so I ended up liking it!
I finally used up The Body Shop Satsuma Body Butter that I had been using since the Summer. I love these body butters, and this Satsuma scent smells so yummy, like just peeled clementines. So delicious!
I used up a Creamy Pumpkin Antibacterial Deep Cleansing Hand Soap from Bath & Body Works. I like getting the deep cleansing ones, especially for my husband because he works in construction, so he gets dirty quicker. I personally like the foaming ones a bit more, but these are still nice. Plus this creamy pumpkin scent is amazing!
I finally used up the Garnier Nutritioniste Daily Exfoliating Gel Cleanser. I didn't particularly like this stuff as it smelled overwhelmingly of perfume and mint. It's also pretty harsh to me, so I don't know why this was called a daily exfoliating cleanser. I'm never repurchasing this.
I used up another one of my beloved Aloe Calming Toners from The Body Shop. I've talked about this a million times, and I'm already almost finished another one. This toner is just fabulous.
The Garnier Fructis Volume Extend Instant Bodifier Dry Shampoo was interesting. It smells amazing, like all Garnier hair products, and when you spray it in your hair and rub it in, there's no white cast. For me, it didn't do any kind of volumizing and it didn't make my hair feel clean like Batiste does. I swear, Batiste is truly my Holy Grail hair product. I've tried numerous dry shampoos, and I do have another one to try other than Batiste, but they never ever compare. I will not repurchase this product!
I used up a hand cream from The Body Shop, and it's the Absinthe Purifying Hand Cream. This hand cream is terrible! Seriously, never buy this stuff! All it did was make my hands even drier and it made them crack on the knuckles. The smell of this also smells like aftershave that old men use. Nasty stuff man. The best hand cream they have is the Hemp Hand Cream. That's one amazing product, but this one is the biggest dud I've ever tried!
I used up Natrol Biotin 10,000 mcg. I took these to help with my hair, skin and nails. I don't notice much difference with my hair, my nails have always been pretty good and my skin has it's ups and downs. I still take biotin pretty much everyday hoping it'll make mostly my hair better. I've been struggling to have good hair for years, but it never grows past a certain length and I get split ends like crazy.
I used up another one of my Similasan Allergy Eye Relief Eye Drops. These are the only eye drops I can use. Other brands burn and sting like crazy, but this brand is amazing! I do have very sensitive eyes and horrible allergies that always affect them, so this is perfect for me. I use these twice a day, morning and night.
Last two products! I finished up the Luster Now! Instant Whitening Toothpaste, and to be truly honest, this didn't whiten my teeth at all. I got this product in an Influenster box, and I'm happy I got to try it, but it did absolutely nothing. It didn't even make my teeth feel clean. I definitely won't go out and buy this!
I have a makeup product! This is a blush from The Body Shop and it doesn't have a color name, just the number 04 on the back. Now I bought this when I got a job at The Body Shop, get ready for this, 4 years ago! I had used this almost daily, and it still took me 4 years to go through. I know there's still some product in there, but I couldn't wiggle my brush enough in it to get any product on the brush. This was actually a nice blush. It was a peachy pink color with shimmer in it and it was nicely pigmented without being overly pigmented, if that makes sense. I have to say, I'm incredibly happy with myself that I was able to use up a blush. I never thought I could!
That's everything I used! I'm pretty happy with the amount of products I have here. I definitely feel a sense of accomplishment when I use up something, especially makeup!
What did you use up in November?
June was an awesome month in using up products! I'm really happy with what I used up and I finally feel like I'm making a dent in my stash. I also wanted to mention that I'm doing another spending ban as of July 1st. It's going to be another 3 month long ban, and I feel like I can do it, especially since I did so well on my last one. Anyways, let me show you what I used up!
I'm incredibly happy I was able to use up a bunch of skincare products! I used up The Body Shop Tea Tree Skin Clearing Toner. I know I've talked about this toner before, but it's amazing to use in the Summer because it really helps to control my oily skin. I used this in the morning after my cleanser.
I used up a toner that I used at night after cleansing, and it's the Clinique Mild Clarifying Lotion. I prefer this toner to one of the 3 step system toners because this one doesn't have alcohol in it. I used the Clinique 3 step skincare program before and the toner I got burned my face so bad because of the alcohol in it. This toner is very gentle and made my skin feel clean and soft.
I also used up another product from The Body Shop and it's the Tea Tree Skin Clearing Lotion. I used this in the morning and it helped my skin stay matte and soft, but didn't dry it out either.
I used up one of the Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Sunblocks with SPF 55. I won't ramble about this as I've mentioned it a ton but it's definitely my favorite sunblock of all time.
The Body Shop has gotten a bunch of love from me this past month and I used up the Seaweed Ionic Clay Mask, finally. I did a full review of it here, and I'm not quite sure why, but it's the most viewed post I have on my blog. This isn't the best mask on the planet, so if you're interested in it, read my review of it.
The final product I used up from The Body Shop is the Tea Tree Oil Blemish Fade Night Lotion. Honestly, this is nothing special. It's a fairly basic moisture that definitely has that tea tree oil smell and I don't think it helps much with blemishes.
Now I'm not too sure if you guys care about replacement brush heads for the Clarisonic but I'm throwing out the Delicate Brush Head that I've been using for I don't know how long. I know you're supposed to replace them every 3 months if used daily, but there was a time when I didn't use my Clarisonic for like a month, so that's why I don't replace the heads that often. I use my Clarisonic only when I wear a full face of makeup during the day, which is rare. I'm currently using the Deep Pore Brush, but you might not see that in an empties post for a long while.
Now for makeup empties! I'm throwing out the container to the ELF Daily Brush Cleaner, but technically it's not used up. I actually had to pour this cleaner into the Sephora Daily Brush Cleaner because the nozzle on this just did not work. I can't remember if I mentioned that I used up the Sephora Cleaner or not, but I used that up and poured the ELF cleaner in that container.
I finally used up the Neutrogena Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover. This got my eye makeup off pretty well, but my all-time favorite is the Lancome Bi-Facil. It's so flipping expensive, which is why I purchased this. I was hoping it would be comparable to the Lancome, and it kinda was. It's the same concept where it's a dual-phase liquid that you have to shake the bottle before you use it. I just think the Lancome one is better.
I also used up the Urban Decay De-Slick Makeup Setting Spray. I think this is alright. I just have insanely oily skin and it's been tough finding products to keep my face looking matte. I have repurchased this though as a backup once my Kat Von D setting spray is gone.
This product isn't old, it's just terrible. It's the Maybelline The Falsies Flared Mascara. I can't even begin to say how much I hate this mascara. I tried using this for as long as I could, but it kept making my lashes clump together, I never got an even application, and it flaked like crazy on me. I'll never repurchase this atrocity!
The final makeup product I used up is by a brand called Love & Beauty and it's a Minty Lip Gloss. Now I had to do some research on this because I actually got this from a co-worker, and it looks like it's a Forever21 brand. I don't own any makeup from Forever21 but I kinda liked this lip gloss. It tasted really good and it was a nice color. It also wasn't sticky at all which is pretty awesome.
Here's the final mish-mash of products I used up. I finished off the Herbal Essences Dangerously Straight Shampoo for my fiance There was maybe only a quarter of the bottle left and he didn't want to use it up so I used it up for him! I'm in love with how good Herbal Essences Shampoos and Conditioners smell, and I'll probably end up buying some after I use up more of my stash.
I used up the Bath & Body Works Pink Sugarplum Shower Gel. I love how this smells but I think I may be allergic to this. It kinda made my skin itchy and I couldn't wait to put on moisturizer once I got out of the shower to calm it down. I've used other BBW shower gels and haven't had that happen to me, so I'm not sure why I had a reaction to this.
I also used up another Bath & Body Works product and it's the Fresh Picked Tangerines Antibacterial Moisturizing Hand Soap. I loved this stuff but it took me ages to use up. I promise you guys, I wash my hands on a regular basis, but this stuff lasted forever.
I used up the Colgate Optic White Toothpaste I received in an Influenster VoxBox. I like this toothpaste, but the mouthwash to this is terrible. I feel like I'm foaming at the mouth using it and it burns like hell. The toothpaste didn't do that, fortunately. I won't repurchase this though as there are way better toothpastes out there.
The final product I used up is the Similasan Allergy Eye Relief Eye Drops. I know I've talked about this before, but this is my favorite brand for eye drops and I'll never purchase another brand.
That's everything I used up! Not to bad, huh?
What did you guys use up in June?
Okay, so I think I went through a ton of stuff this past month. It seemed like I went through everything within like a week and a half after the month started and at the end of the month, like maybe two or three things. Oh well, there's more room for other things! ;)
I finally went through The Body Shop Banana Conditioner. I swear, I go through so much shampoo but it takes forever to use up conditioner. I don't think I use a ton of shampoo at one time, but I might try and see how much I actually use. Anyways, I did a full review of the shampoo and conditioner here. I liked the conditioner alot and the smell actually stayed in my hair, but it's not obnoxious.
I also used up one of my beloved The Body Shop Aloe Protective Serums. I love this stuff so much and I had a request to review the products from the aloe line that I've tried, so a review will definitely be coming up in the next couple weeks!
The packaging of the E.L.F. Tone Correcting Concealer sucks so bad. The actual product sucks too but I couldn't get anymore product out of this tube no matter how hard I tried. I had another one of these in an empties post and this was my last one. This stuff only costs $1, but it really does not do a good job at all of concealing anything. There are so many amazing E.L.F. products that I love, this was just a total bust for me and I will never repurchase this. Ever!
I finally used up the Origins Well Off eye makeup remover and I liked this alot. It didn't leave any oily residue and took off my eye makeup really well. It also didn't sting my eyes like other eye makeup removers do. I put this in my September favorites here if you wanted to see what else I loved that month.
Next I used up a hand cream that I had been using for a long time and it finally ran out and it's the Olay Quench Therapy Hand Cream. I really, really liked this. I love the body cream they have in the Quench line as well. This hand cream did an amazing job at moisturizing and this might sound weird, but my hands looked "pretty" after I put it on. It was just an amazing product. I don't think they have this product anymore because I can't even find it on the Olay site. Bummer :(
It seems like I used up a bunch of skincare too. I finally used up the Aveeno Ultra-Calming Foaming Cleanser. I've talked about this before and it's just a very nice cleanser that doesn't irritate my skin at all .
I also used up the rest of The Body Shop Vitamin C Eye Reviver. I'm so sad this is empty because this was the best eye cream ever and I can't find if I have a backup of it. The Body Shop stopped carrying this and has something different now, which I'm sure I've mentioned before. There have been some things that I didn't care when it got discontinued but this makes me really, really sad.
I used up another product from The Body Shop and it's the Tea Tree Skin Clearing Lotion. I have so many backups of this because this has been a go-to moisturizer for in the morning for ages now. I don't even know how many different tubes I've gone through. It's good at leaving skin matte and the tea tree helps prevent and clear up breakouts.
Then I used up the Paula's Choice Skin Balancing Carbon Mask, which I did a review on here and it's on the list of my favorite face masks here. I love this mask alot! It really helped to smooth out my skin and really clear out my pores. I have insanely large pores (gross, I know) and this mask was pretty much the only thing that helped them look smaller. I'll repurchase when I use up my other masks.
These are the last few things I used up! The big bottle of Alba Botanica Very Emollient Body Lotion took me well over a year to go through, but I didn't use it every single day though. I'm glad I can use up some of my body butters now that it's super cold out and my skin's really dry. I liked this lotion alot, but it definitely is thick. I always think lotions are thinner and meant more for Spring and Summer use. This stuff was really good though. It's gentle and doesn't have any smell so it didn't irritate anything.
I wasn't sure if you guys wanted to see what kind of eye drops I use, but I used up my Similasan eye drops for allergy relief. These are the only eye drops I use because everything else I've tried has felt like I was pouring acid onto my eyeballs. Not a good feeling.
I also used up the Berkley & Jensen Hair, Skin & Nails supplement. I'm trying to be better at taking vitamins and I want to keep mainly my hair and skin looking nice.
The final thing I used up is The Body Shop Lip Butter in the scent Guarana. I've talked about this before and it's your basic lip butter that moisturizes your lips very well. The only thing is it leaves a white cast if you use too much or don't massage it on your lips enough.
That's everything I used up! I'm pretty happy with all those products but I don't know how much I'll go through when January is over so we'll see!
What did you guys use up in December?
