May 2016 Empties

Hey everyone! As you know, I've been a bit MIA here on the blog. I mentioned in my May favorites that I'll be able to talk more about what's going on in my life, so stay tuned. I'll be updating in the next couple weeks or so! Anyway, May wasn't great in the empties department either. Like I've said already, I haven't been interested in makeup much, and taking care of my skin has taken a bit of a backseat as well. I did manage to use up more than I thought, so lets see what I have!

I'll start off with some skincare. I finally used up the Skyn Iceland Glacial Face Wash that took me over two months to use up. This cleanser foams up like crazy even though it doesn't feel like it would. You only need a little bit to get the job done, and I used this in the morning. It helped to wake up my skin and prep it for the day. 

Next up is a konjac sponge. I don't know the brand, but it's your typical white konjac sponge, and I really liked it while it lasted. It started getting moldy in one spot, so I decided to toss it, even though I didn't use it for very long. 

I used up two lip balms. Yes, two! That never happens to me, but these tubes were pretty tiny. The first one is the Aquafina Flavor Splash in the Wild Berry scent. I loved this at night because it left my lips feeling nice and soft until morning. The second one is by Olive Natural Beauty and it's their Moisturizing Lip Balm in the Refreshing Rosemary scent. I didn't like this too much honestly. The hydration was fine, but I couldn't get past the smell and it kept making me nauseous. Luckily, I used this up within about a week and a half, so I didn't suffer too much. 

Next up is just a couple mini body washes. I absolutely loved the Dove Go Fresh Nutrium Moisture Body Wash in the scent Mandarin & Tiare Flower. Holy crap was this lovely! It smelled citrus-y and a bit flowery, but not over the top flowery. You all know I can't stand flowery smells. I'm very tempted to go and buy this in a full size, it's that good. 

The sceond mini body wash is the Bliss Lemon + Sage Soapy Sap Fresh Foaming Shower Gel. Absolutely loved the scent, but it didn't lather very well, so I used it up pretty quickly. 

Last few products are some random bath products. I finished two deodorants, one being the Dove ClearTone Deodorant and the second being the Secret Clinical Strength Clear Gel in the scent Completely Clean. The Dove was nice, and the concept is that it's supposed to help with taking care of the darkness that some people get on their underarms. I didn't notice a difference in that area, but it kept me smelling nice and not sweaty. I did love the Secret Clinical Strength, and I was sent this in a little package a while ago. It's just a travel size that didn't have much use in it, but it's amazing and doesn't get white marks all over your clothes. 

Of course we can't forget about toothpaste! This is the Colgate Baking Soda & Peroxide Whitening Toothpaste in the Frosty Mint Stripe flavor. It was nice, did what I expect from a toothpaste, so I have no complaints. My husband helped use this up so it went pretty fast. 

Number of products used up: 9
Total for the year: 75

Yeah, I didn't do too well in May. I was hoping by now I'd have used up closer to 100 products. I'm sure you know by now, but this is the year of decluttering and using up what I have. I made the goal of using up 250 products, and that will include samples and mini sizes of products. I can't even begin to count how many samples alone I have. It's quite ridiculous actually. I have a long road ahead of me, and please bear with me until I can finally talk about what's going on with life!

What did you use up last month?

January 2016 Ipsy Bag: All Eyes On You

*Ipsy link is an affiliate code*

Hi guys! Today I'm going to be sharing with you all what I got in this month's Ipsy bag. It came just a couple days ago, which is early for me honestly. This month was a good one, and the theme is All Eyes On You. 

I think the bag everything came in is so cute! It's got a vinyl feel to it, and the back of it is a pretty blue color. The zipper is at the top of the bag, which I definitely appreciate. 

The first product I received is a travel size of the Skyn Iceland Glacial Cleansing Cloths. I love the Skyn Iceland brand and am currently using a cleanser of theirs that is pretty darn good. I can always use wipes like these. 

Next up is a City Color Eyeshadow Trio in Falling Leaves. It comes with a matte burnt orange, metallic bronze and a champagne highlight color that look pretty nice, but I have yet to swatch them and see how good they are. City color isn't really a brand I've dipped my toes into. 

Next is a Lasting Smiles Lip balm in the scent Peppermint Creme. I love lip balms and have a stash of them that will probably last me for the rest of my life. The cool thing about this brand is that for every one of these lip balms sold, it helps to fund cleft surgeries for children. Every 1,000 sold helps out one child. 

Then we have a Tre'StiQue Mini Matte Lip Crayon in the shade Florence Fig. This is a beautiful color and I'm pretty sure I've gotten one of their lip crayons in a previous bag before. This brand makes some nice products though, so I don't mind having another one!

The last product I received is theBalm Mr. Write(Now) Eyeliner in the shade Jack B. Bronze. I've tried a few theBalm products and haven't been too impressed honestly. The eyeliner I got is broken and fell out when I first opened it, but it's still usable, so I won't bother contacting Ipsy Care about it.

That's everything I got! Not too bad for just $10 a month, if you ask me. If you want your own Ipsy bag, I'd love it if you used my affiliate code here. Like I said, it's just $10 a month, plus shipping for some, and you get typically 5 deluxe beauty products to try. Occasionally you'll get a full size product, which is pretty nice!

If you're already subscribed, what did you receive?

August 2014 Empties!

Hi everyone! August was great in the using up products department, so this may be a longer than usual post. Lets check out what I used up.

 I'll start with the more random products first. I used up a Bath & Body Works handsoap in the scent Candy Cane Bliss. I absolutely love this stuff man! I kinda have a thing for peppermint and this smells like a straight up candy cane. Love it and will repurchase if it comes out again this year!

I also used up a Lady Speed Stick deodorant in the scent Shower Fresh. I liked the scent of this and I feel like it did the job well. I bought this I think for only $1 but I honestly don't remember where.

I used up one of my favorite toothpastes, the Crest Sensi-Relief. I'm sure I've mentioned in the past, but I have super sensitive teeth and gums so I'm always on the hunt for a toothpaste that's good with sensitivity but also affordable. I think this tube retails for around $4 or so, but I wait til I can find a coupon to use. Definitely will repurchase.

 A couple more random products, I used up the Philosophy Happy Birthday, Beautiful! shower gel. Loved this since it did smell just like a vanilla birthday cake. I featured this in my July favorites and I'm really hoping they have a scent like this that's permanent because I'd stock up on this stuff!

Now this may be a strange product, but it's the Udderly Smooth Udder Cream. I used to use this alot when I was younger as a hand cream because it's got a good consistency that melts right into the skin but it's incredibly hydrating. I found this bottle and I think I have another one hiding in my stash, but it rekindled my love again. When I was at Walgreen's the other day, I actually saw a two pack of these things! I could only get them in Amish Country at a local store and would stock up when my mom and I would go. If you live in Pennsylvania, Amish country is in the middle-ish of the state, so like Lancaster/Harrisburg/Hershey area. It would take about 2 hours to get there but it was worth it.

Now for lots of skincare! The first product I finished up is the Clarisonic Gentle Hydro Cleanser. I featured this in my June favorites, and now that I've completely used it up, I wish I would've saved this for the winter time. It's a thicker cream cleanser that doesn't foam up at all, which makes for a good makeup remover. However, I did notice that as the Summer went on, it started feeling a bit heavy on my oily skin. I only used it at night and it is wonderful when used with the Clarisonic, but I feel like I would've gotten better use out of it when it's really cold outside. Oh well, live and learn! Would I repurchase? Maybe, I have so many other cleansers to use up before I think of repurchasing anything.

This bottle of Neutrogena Oil-Free Moisture for combination skin lasted me ages! And by ages, I was using this when my husband and I were dating and I would stay over at his house. we've been together a little over 4 years now and married almost 1 if that says anything. I'd only use this at night but once in a rare while, mostly in winter, I'd use it during the day if my skin felt dry. This is a great basic moisturizer and lasts forever, so you definitely get your money's worth!

I used up a Clarisonic brush head in the deep pore version. Clarsonic recommends you change out the brush heads every 3 months, but I assume that means with daily use. I use my Clarisonic at most three times a week, so I stretch that out a little. After every use I always wash it well, so I feel I can get away with changing them out less often. I like this brush head surprisingly. It's not harsh on my skin which is great and I do feel like my skin is alot cleaner when I use my Clarisonic. I have so many backups of brush heads, it's pretty nuts.

Next we have the Philosophy Take a Deep Breath Oil-Free Energizing Oxygen Gel Cream Moisturizer. I'm pretty sure this is one of my favorite moisturizers I've ever tried! Honestly, it's got the best texture for oily skin, doesn't feel heavy, and it still feels hydrating. If I didn't have a million moisturizers to go through, I'd go out and buy multiples of this stuff, that's how good it is. I don't think I have a full size jar of this, but this sample size lasted quite a while, about a good 3 weeks I'd say. 

I used up the Clinique Spot Healing Gel pretty quickly. I must've had alot of breakouts or something, but this tube did not last long at all. I think it helped heal any blemishes I had, but the spot treatment I'm currently using blows this out of the water. 

I actually never got to use the Skin Iceland Icelandic Relief Eye Cream. When I ran out of a different eye cream, I went to use this and it was just a ball of goo and wasn't useable at all. I cleaned out the jar and I'll probably reuse it for something else.

Last skincare product is the Lancome High Resolution Eye Refill-3X. This is a sample size that came in a gift with purchase set. I didn't really care for it much, it kinda burned a little and didn't feel very hydrating. I looked it up online and the full size jar of this costs a whopping $64! I couldn't justify buying an eye cream that expensive, but hey, someone else may love this.

Now for the makeup! Basically it's all mascara and one eyeshadow primer. The first mascara I used up is the Covergirl Natureluxe Mousse Mascara. I talked about this in my May favorites and I pretty much loved this stuff. It made my lashes look so nice and I'm really sad it's discontinued.

The next mascara I used up is the Clinique High Impact Mascara. I really liked this too! It gave me decent length but was great in the volume department. I might repurchase this after I use up my mascara hoard.

Next up is the Lancome Hypnose Doll Lashes mascara. I thought this was alright. It clumped up a bit which I had to go back with a lash comb to remove but it gave me some nice length. I'm pretty sure I already have a full size of this to use up, which I'm kinda upset about since I didn't like it. I may just use it in conjunction with a different mascara.

Now I tried to use the Duwop Lash Venom, but when I opened it, the brush was flattened to the wand! I tried my hardest to make it useable but I figured it was just too dried up to use. It's a shame because I was really looking forward to trying this out.

I was using the Tarte Gifted Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara for almost a week when I noticed it wasn't really that great. It was giving me those little balls of mascara at the tips of my lashes and they were hard to get rid of. Unfortunately, in the trash it goes!

The one lone eye primer I have is the Tarte Lifted Natural Eye Primer. I used this for quite a while then it started to dry out on me and wasn't useable. It was alright while it lasted. It didn't really make my shadow last long, but it did make the colors pop. I'm pretty loyal to my Urban Decay Primer Potion but I do have a lot of primers to use up!

What have you used up lately?