Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Empties

I've finished up a lot of stuff as of late, or at least I've collected a lot of used up products without writing about them, so I'm just going to jump right in. This is going to be a long post.



I finished up this huge 16 oz bottle of the Mario Badescu Glycolic Acid Toner. I think this stuff really does do the job at exfoliating, so be careful. If I used this twice a day undiluted (with my Clarisonic), I found this to be irritating. I ended up diluting it with a hydrating toner, and after that this stuff was awesome, still exfoliating, yet non-drying and irritating. If you don't use a Clarisonic, I do think you could get away with this without diluting it, whether it's once or twice a day. I think I would repurchase this, as it did do a good job.




I finished up the Caudalie Body Lotion I got at a pharmacie in Grenoble. I love this stuff. It's so hydrating, but it sinks in really well and feels light. The scent is slightly more on the masculine side. I would repurchase this, but I do have some cheaper stuff that I like just as much that I'm going through right now. This is more of a treat.



Not the most glamorous body wash you can use, but this stuff does the job. I've found the Dove body washes to be very hydrating, and they all have a great lather. I would repurchase, maybe in a different scent, but only when I don't feel like trying anything new. This is more of an old stand-by product.



I finished up a bunch of deluxe samples of skincare. I got through a bottle of Nuxellence Jeunesse from Nuxe. Quite honestly, I'm not sure what this is for. It's not hydrating enough to be a moisturizer (maybe a light weight moisturizer to use under sunscreen in the morning, but it's not better than any other moisturizers for the a.m.) and it doesn't have any effect to be called a serum. It's just kind of blah and not a product to repurchase.

I finished two minitubes of Vichy Normaderm Anti-Age, which again, doesn't really do much. It has a lot of fragrance and denatured alcohol, so it's not really something I enjoyed putting on my face, and it didn't have much of an effect as far as oil production and blemishes go. Not one to purchase.

I also finished the Av ne Soothing Hydrating Mask. This actually gets a lot of hype, not sure why. It feels like a lightweight moisturizer that you rinse off. It's definitely not the best thing I've used when my skin felt dehydrated. It does nothing basically. No repurchase here.

On a more positive note, I finished a deluxe sample of the Garancia Diabolique Tomate Water Cream / Cr me d'Eau and absolutely loved it. It's lightweight, sinks in and hydrates, makes your skin look and feel healthy, and I felt like it helped control oil. It smells great, too. I would definitely get the full size.



I finished up the Clean and Clear 3 in 1 Facial Cleanser. I got this stuff when I ran out of the Vichy Normaderm 3 in 1 because the formulas and ingredients sounded pretty similar (although this one lacks exfoliating particles). I do think the Vichy is ultimately better (although I do like the scent of the Clean and Clear more), but if you can't get your hands on that, this works, too. I did find this to be very drying, so make sure you moisturize properly after cleansing. I would repurchase, but only if I couldn't find the Vichy Normaderm 3 in 1 at a good price.

I went through another set of the L'Or al Everliso / EverSleek in the US shampoo and conditioner. I keep repurchasing this stuff because it's a pretty good deal for sulphate free hair care formulas. It doesn't have silicone, which is more of a minus than a plus for me, but if you care about that, this is a line to look at. It's not nearly as good for my thick and frizzy hair as the Free Your Mane haircare line, but it is a third of the price. I did repurchase them again, and I'm almost all the way through those ones, too. I left those almost finished bottles in the US, and I'm now using the Oribe Moisture and Control shampoo and conditioner (which are good, but not 37 bucks good) and have the L'Or al EverCr me range lined up. L'Or al hair care gets a big thumbs up from me.

I don't know if I can count this as an empty, but my pot of Bold Gold 24 hour Color Tattoo from Maybelline dried up on me (and I had used most of it anyway, the glass jar being way more than just visible) so I thought it was time. I know the whole microwave trick thing, but this wasn't really worth the stinking up of my host family's microwave. It was dryish when I first bought it anyway, and the formula was no where near as good as Bad to the Bronze. Plus, it's not one of those "wear on its own" shades, which is the point of a cream shadow for me. For now it's not a repurchase, definitely not over a regular gold eyeshadow.

I made my way through the Deborah Milano Cipria UltraFine powder. It was good on the coverage front, but it wasn't nearly as flawless and natural in finish as the Trish McEvoy mineral powders, and it smelled like a grandma. The color was never right for me either, a bit too dark, and it could look cakey at times. Not to mention the mirror broke off from the rest of the packaging. It was a bit expensive, too. Not a repurchase.



I finished a floss. Standard. Boring. I would pick up another free one from my dentist's office. Heh heh.

I also finished up the Caudalie Vinoperfect Radiance Serum. I love this stuff. I find it does make a difference in skin discoloration. However, i do think the packaging is flawed. The dropper doesn't reach all the way to the end of the bottle, so you have to dump the product out once the dropper has stopped reaching it. Then after that, I had to stick my fingers into the bottle to scrape away the remainder of the product. I used up all I could reach, as you can see from the picture. I think this would be nicer in an air pump with a darker color packaging to protect the contents from degradation by UV exposure. Just a thought. Although I really liked this, I'm not going to run out and repurchase because of the packaging and the price. I got this for a very good deal, but if I were in the US, it would be pretty darn expensive.



I finished up the last of my L'Occitane hand creams, the Mango Flower one. I love this stuff. It smells beautiful, sinks in without being greasy, and is very hydrating and healing of course. I might definitely repurchase after my other hand creams are gone.

I finished up the Nuxe R ve de Miel lip balm in the stick version. I won't be repurchasing. This was okay, but the one in the jar is a zillion times better. This one also isn't matte like the one in the jar. At the end, as with most stick balms, you have to stick your finger in and scrape out the remaining product.

Finished a hotel lotion. Cool.



I also finished a bottle of the L'Or al Micellaire Water. It's supposed to be a dupe for Bioderma, which I have not tried. I'm really just over the whole micellaire thing, not that I really got into it anyway. No micellaire water is going to remove makeup as well as a proper cleanser would. This certainly didn't. I liked the smell (like coconut water), and it was nice to keep around for those days when you just really wanted to get the bulk of your makeup off and get into your sweat pants (or drunk nights when you're can't be bothered to do anything and just want to go to sleep). I would not repurchase though, and I don't think I'll be purchasing any micellaire water for that matter. They're the better version of wipes, which still are not good. I'll just be washing my face.



I didn't completely finish the Nuxe Bio Beauty deodorant, but it was not worth transporting to the US from Spain, so I ditched it. It worked well at first, but after a few weeks, the BO just came through. It also went on pretty wet and gooey and never really dried completely. Herbal-y smell, not for everyone, not for me. Not a repurchase.



Another almost finished but ditched product, this Jasmine oil, which funny story, was not actually perfume oil but air freshener oil. Turns out this university student can't read. Again, almost finished but I didn't feel like it was worth carrying an air freshener oil with me the US, especially if I shouldn't be using it on my skin anyway. I didn't have anything funky happen to me, but you can see why I wouldn't repurchase.

I also finished the Rimmel BB Cream. Many claims with this one. 9 in 1? Um sure. I felt like I got pretty greasy through the day with this, and depending on what's under it, it did not blend very well. It blended okay and had good coverage if used alone, nothing under. Not a repurchase. In fact, remind me to never buy another BB cream again. They've all been pretty disappointing so far, and I'd rather just do the whole sunscreen and concealer thing.



I almost finished the Garnier Ambre Soleil SPF 30 suncreen oil (which I put in a little bottle to take with me to Madrid (to use as a body lotion because it's also hydrating), where I ditched it because it's not worth carrying a little amount of liquid to the US from Spain). This stuff was great. It smelled like Jo Malone Vanilla and Anise cologne, it was hydrating, gave the skin a glow and no white cast, and I used it the whole summer. It has good and pretty protection. I would repurchase if I can find it cheaper than other sunscreen oils.

I didn't finish this natural deodorant that I got in a market in Spain. Not worth carrying back to the US. It didn't do anything, and it left white bits under the armpits. Lovely. Not a repurchase.

I finished the Bourjois Volume Clubbing Ultra Black mascara. Definitely would not repurchase. I didn't like this stuff at all. At the beginning, it was too wet and would clump lashes together and get all over the place because the brush was huge and awkward. It smudged. When it dried out towards the end, I couldn't get much volume out of it, and it flaked. If this is supposed to be similar to Chanel formulas (because Bourjois owns Chanel), I will never ever buy a Chanel mascara.

I also finished a tube of Sensodyne. This stuff is gross. I used Marvis toothpaste, which tastes like heaven, so going from that to this was like a slap in the face. Also, weird, but this stuff made my mouth shed. Yeah, dead bits of skin would roll off of the inside of my cheeks. This stopped when I switched back to my beloved Marvis. I would not repurchase this ever.



I also finished this Cleansing Milk from Yves Rocher. Not the best cleanser, as it didn't fully remove makeup. However, it did smell like a watermelon Jolly Rancher. Not a repurchase.



I finished the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder. This was hard to get through because I hated it. I used to love the Stay Matte powder, but then Rimmel went and reformulated it. The new formulation is cakey, has no coverage, and does not mattify my skin. Not a repurchase. P.S. the packaging stinks.



I finished the Mario Badescu Vitamin C Serum, which I LOVE. This is very effective for both hyperpigmentation and acne. I love the ingredients list. It's hydrating, too. It goes yellow towards the end, but no big deal. That's just how vitamin c products age. I would buy this again if I could get it discounted on Hautelook like I did the first time I bought it.

Another deodorant (you guys must really think I have BO issues by now). The Dove Go Fresh deodorant in Cucumber and Green Tea is pretty standard and effective. I prefer the stick form, though. I don't know why roll on deodorants are such a huge thing in Europe. I already repurchased the same STICK formula deodorant, but I picked out two different scents that I prefer (Blue Fig and Orange Blossom and Plum and Sakura). The Dove ones are really hydrating, soothing, leave no white marks, and actually control BO.



My most recent empty is the Kiko Compact Powder. It has very decent coverage, and the color was perfect for me. However, it was pretty cakey and didn't mattify that well. Not a repurchase. Trish McEvoy wins the powder competition always.

Hope you enjoyed! I tried to make that as short as possible.



What have you finished up recently?



Btw, leave some mattifying powder recommendations down below if you'd like! I'd like. ;)
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