The E M P T I E S 006 | A Lil' Bit of Everything
In March I said I was going through my own version of 'March Madness' and wanted to use up as many products as I could. I think I've been doing a swell job and my cabinets and drawers are slowly emptying up - which I just give along with a huge sign of relief.
M A K E U P
On the makeup front, I really went to finish up a bunch of eyeliners and mascaras. I was able to finish up 2 liquid eyeliners: my Stila Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner, the Kat Von D Tattoo Liner in Trooper, I've been trying for the longest time to finish up my liquid liners, and finally they got to the point of not leaving a crisp line and I knew it was time to retire them. The KVD liner has stolen my heart and I already have my backup purchased and in play. The Stila felt tip tends to fray over time so I won't be repurchasing it.
I finished up another Smashbox Always Sharp Kohl Eyeliner in Sumatra. Now I love this one a lot and it's so convenient, especially when traveling. However I'm sure a lot of product goes to waste as I've gone through quite a few. But then again it may just be that I'm using them every. single day. After I finished this one up, I noted that I would try to go through and tackle all my dark brown eyeliners, which (let's be real) I have a shit ton of. The first one to be completed was the Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-In-Place Eye Pencil in 02 Coffee. I love this one as it's dark, creamy, and stays in place all day. It also has a little sponge on the opposite end so you can really smudge this into your lash line. I'm slowly making my way through them, and I just gotta commit to using one at a time so that I can get through them faster.
On the mascara front I finally bid farewell to my TooFaced Better Than Sex Mascara. I'm still a bit weary about this one, I've held onto it since last year as I didn't reach for it as often as I liked and it wasn't dried out at all (kudos for that). But I just never felt satisfied with my lashes when I used this, even when layering this over a waterproof mascara. I am a bit interested to try the newly released waterproof version to see if I can see what all the fuss was about. (Also, it's been around for a year. Imagine the number of germs in that tube - I don't even want to think about that.) I also decided to retire my Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara as it has been quite a while since I've been using it. This one is one I will definitely repurchase as I love how much volume and length it adds. If I had to wear any spidery lashes, it would be done with this and this alone. It was subtle enough to be worn on a day to day basis, but could be built up for a night out. Many a time I got asked if I was wearing falsies - it's that good.
I also finished up my NARS Pro-Prime Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base. This still takes the reign as my favorite eye primer, it leaves your eyelids silky smooth and doesn't feel heavy like it's layered with product. I haven't had much problem with creasing and this layers beautifully under your regular eyeshadows and cream eyeshadows. If you're in the market for a new eye primer, this is the one for you.
S K I N C A R E
1. Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Makeup Remover: I'm pretty sure this has been featured in an empties before, and this is probably my 4th or 5th bottle that I've gone through. I keep going back to it as it's one of those bi-facil makeup removers that breaks down all the waterproof eye products I wear, but without leaving my eyelids feeling oily.
2. Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate: I finally used this baby up and I am actually sad to see it go. I took a break from my Sunday Riley Luna to finally get this one out of my bathroom cabinet and I could tell that this made a big difference in how my skin looked in the morning. I recently picked up the Daily Reviving Concentrate which is the daytime version of this - and I am loving that so far. It really helps give a glowy look to your complexion, read all about how I achieve that look HERE.
3. Origins GinZing Moisturizer (Sample ): I got a sample of this a while ago and held off on using it for a while (who knows why). Safe to say I loved it and ended up adding it to my Sephora wish list months ago - but I was good and waited for the VIB Sale to roll through. See what else I ended up picking up HERE. Luckily I picked up another deluxe version from Sephora so I'll be able to take it with me on my trip next month.
4. Boscia Purifying Cleansing Gel (Sample) : hated this stuff. It smelled strange and somewhat chemically and I just wasn't a fan of it. Also almost all of the wording came off in the shower within a month. I remember looking at my fingers wondering what the little black bits were - and then I saw the bottle and all the missing letters. I just don't want to be rubbing those little bits anywhere near my eyes or face. I'm a much bigger fan of the Boscia Detoxifying Black Cleanser which I just happen to be nearing the end of too.
5. Caudalie Micellar Cleansing Water: the micellar cleansing water hype is still going strong and after my disappointment with the Bioderma micellar water, I decided to give this French version a go. I just don't think these are meant for me as they never leave my face feeling as clean as a good cleanse and water would do. This definitely does nothing in regards to taking off my makeup off, but I do notice that it can help remove some foundation/dirt that I may have missed down my neck area. But I think this is my last run with micellar waters, and I won't be repurchasing. Caudalie does do great hand creams though, and I'm quite interested in trying out their face masks once I finish some of mine up!
6. Kate Somerville Dilo Oil Treatment (Sample) : This one took me a while to use up as it just felt very oily. I actually ended up mixing this in with my lotion and applying it to my dry winter legs and arms to help give them a good moisture boost. It actually made a world of a difference and was fantastic for that - if you're looking for an oil to really help transform your dry or parched skin I would definitely recommend this one for you.
H A I R C A R E
1. L'Oreal Sulfate-Free Ever Pure Moisture Conditioner: When I got sick last year I was taking antibiotics and discovered that I was actually allergic to sulfur. Not severely, but minorly. I did notice towards the end of last year that I started losing a lot of hair (like clumps sometimes). I'm not sure if it was a combination of my body recovering after the sickness or stress, or even a combination of both, but I wanted to change things up. I thought maybe my body was still being sensitive to sulfur which is actually in a ton of shampoos and conditioners. I'm on a mission to find a good shampoo/conditioner routine that is sans sulfur - and this was one of my first to try! I'd been using purple/blue shampoo previously with my ombre hair, but now that it's mostly grown out I wanted to try some other bits. The smell was strong with rosemary but I did feel like my hair grew out and felt much better. Not a fan of the packaging as a lot of the wording did rub off on this as well.
If any of you have any recommendations for sulfur-free haircare, PLEASE send them my way!
F R A G R A N C E
1. Elizabeth and James Nirvana White: This is described to have notes of Peony, Muguet, Tender Musk. The first time I smelled this I wasn't a huge fan, but this scent has actually grown on me quite some bit. I have about 3 spray testers of these so they'll last me a bit before I decide I may need it. I'm kinda excited for it as the packaging of this just looks so badass and cool.
2. Chloe Love Story: I quite enjoyed this one as well, as you know I am a huge fan of the original Chloe perfume. This one is a much sweeter scent, with notes of Neroli (Orange Blossom Oil), Stephanotis Jasmine, Physalis, Cedarwood. All scents which I am typically a fan of anyways. The packaging of this bottle is not as cute and I actually find it a bit tacky. I may just pick up another sample of this to decide if I would want to purchase the full size or not. Maybe a rollerball would suffice for this one.
That's it for this round! I'm actually quite satisfied with the number of empties posts I've had recently. They're a good size, not too much and not too little. And it's great since I'm a rambler and this way you don't read too long of an essay. With each empties post I just feel so much more relieved that things are finally clearing out. In the next month or two I'll be doing some closet/makeup clear-outs so stay tuned! I'll try my best to document those for you guys!