The E M P T I E S | 013
Another month, another empties post. You know the drill. By nature I'm a bit of a hoarder, and I can easily accumulate products and not throw them out. This includes my empties. A lot of you have mentioned how massive my empties posts usually are, but that's mostly just because I save them up for long stretches of time. I'm trying my best to do an empties post each month (or two) - empty products permitting - to help clear up dead space and help give you guys more quick fire reviews often. I always say this but I'm trying my best to use up as many products as I can and I'm quite proud of the progress that's happened with my skincare game in my bathroom. I've been making big waves of effort to use products up and I'd say I've been rather successful. As much as I like skincare, I am absolute crap when it comes to body care. I keep saying this but the full body scrub I got in Korea was amazing and it feels like my skin had never been that soft before in my life. I'm trying to keep up and maintain that smooth skin goodness and with a plethora of skincare products at my reach, I thought I'd start tackling more and treating my body well in the meantime. These next few months should be fun. But anyways, let's get into the products shall we?
I have a lot of exfoliating products, and a lot are for my face. As my skin is pretty sensitive, I try to steer clear of too many exfoliating products near my face. I've had this Kiehl's Rare Earth Deep Pore Daily Cleanser since last Spring and as I was nearing the end of the recommended shelf life, I started using this to exfoliate my arms and legs. It's been pretty successful and after doing that for the last 2ish months, I'm finally finished with the product - my elbows and knees thank this product a lot. The product was rather drying (due to the clay) on my face so I didn't particularly enjoy reaching for this for face cleansing purposes. However, I would say this one is quite gentle as an exfoliant so if you're looking for a clay exfoliating cleanser, I'd say to give this one a try.
Next up is the Tata Harper Repairative Moisturizer. I know a lot of people would be upset to hear this but I ended up using this on my arms and legs. I did like this when I first got it months ago, but recently I reached for it and it just didn't feel the same. The other moisturizers I've been reaching for are just more moisturizing and I prefer those. Since I was close to past due in the shelf life, I decided to just use this for body care. Paired with the Kiehl's cleanser, my skin was pretty happy. I'm not a huge fan of the packaging as it's nearly impossible to get every last bit of product out. I tried keeping it upside down but a lot of the product just stuck to the side. I know that there is the Tata Harper Regenerating Cleanser which come in this same bottle shape, and the nozzle could definitely get clogged as the opening isn't very large. This one is a bit pricey so I'd say get a sample of it before you actually fully invest in it.
I have wayyyy too many hand creams and I'm trying my best to work through them one at a time. After finishing up my Caudalie Hand & Nail Cream last year, I thought I'd tackle the Oskia Renaissance Hand Cream. For any rose lover out there, this one may be your jam. It has a light rose scent and a nice and light consistency - it does not leave your skin oily. I'm really bad at applying creams to my hands, although I really should be better as my skin is alwaaays dry, so it does take me a long while to use products up. The shelf life on this was coming up and as an effort to use it up I took it and left it on my work desk. When I hear someone else applying lotion I'd use that as a friendly reminder to do the same. And 7+ months later (yeah, seriously), this one is finally done! One thing I disliked about this product had to be the bottle itself. Since the consistency is runny it would leak and goop up - pretty messy. I would not recommend carrying it around in your purse.
Next up is the Youth To The People Kale + Spinach Green Tea Hyaluronic Acid Cream. I picked up the mini duo with the face cleanser and had every intention to use them together. But I had way too many face cleansers open and wanted to finish those up before I opened yet another. I used this one on it's own and I loved the consistency of the product, however I didn't love how it felt on my face. Others mentioned that it sunk into their skin quickly and they didn't feel it. I have pretty dry skin so I expected it to do the same, but it sort of just felt like it was sitting on top. I used about 3/4 of the product on my face/neck and then got bored of it and just applied it to my elbows/knees. Oddly it did sink into my arms/legs much quicker so I'm not sure what was going on. I have heard a few people talking about the YTTP eye cream so I am curious to try that. If the consistency is anything like this cream, I think it may be a hit. Especially with Fall/Winter right around the corner.
The Bobbi Brown Instang Longwear Makeup Remover is one of my faves, I've gone through a good amount of bottles and I love using this when I wear waterproof mascara. I know a lot of people don't like using waterproof eye makeup for the sole reason of not being able to remove it without a hassle at the end of the night. I usually put a bit on a cotton round and hold it over my eye makeup before I wash my face. Paired with my fav cleanser (Glossier Milky Jelly Cleanser), I get every scrap of eye product off. If there's any residual smudges under my eyes, I'll just take a Q-Tip and run that under my eye to remove any panda eye baggage. Speaking of mascara, the Tarte Lights, Camera, Splashes is my favorite waterproof mascara. This one adds volume, thickens, and lengthens my lashes - and never making them look clumpy or spidery. I'm a bit silly and had opened a new tube back in April. In early May I got eyelash extensions and let my tube of mascara sit around for a few months. Even after I got my lashes off at the end of June, I let my lashes recover and didn't start reaching for my mascara until late in July. And by then - it was a bit dry/off and I didn't want to risk an eye infection.
For hair I finally finished the Phytocitrus Color Protect Shampoo*. I was gifted this and although the product is pricey, it definitely lasts a long while. A little goes a long way and it leaves my hair feeling fresh and clean. It also has a light and clean scent so my hair in turn also feels clean (I personally cannot stand overly scented hair products) - the main scent for this one is grapefruit. One thing I wasn't a fan of however was the packaging. As sleek as it looks, the packaging doesn't allow for much squeezing at the end. It also has a large opening so sometimes a bit too much product oozes out. I'm a bit confused by the product as it does claim to be sulfate free, however one of the ingredients listed is SLS.. (what?). But anyways, on the path of sulfate free hair products, this one didn't irritate my hair/scalp/skin so I guess I'm fine with it. I have a few more Phyto hair products that I've been using (and loving) - so I'm sure I'll do a roundup post soon if you guys are interested :)
Something I use on the daily is a cotton round of some sort. I usually go for my typical bulk pack from Target but lately I've been wanting to branch out and try other brands. I made an order from MISSHA a few months back and picked up some of the Premium Silk-Feel Cotton Puffs to qualify for free shipping (lol). I did love how soft and thick these were, they definitely felt nice and luxe for applying toner on my face. They were also nice to remove makeup from my eyes as they were very soft and gentle on the delicate skin around my eyes. I also like that these come in a box container so you can just pop it in your drawer and it stays nice and tidy!
Last up are the Pixi Glow Peel Pads. These ones aren't actually empty but one thing I cleared out of my medicine cabinet as it was just collecting dust (figuratively). I didn't love the application, wait time, and wash off process that these required. As much as I love glycolic acids, this one just wasn't cutting it for me. I did see a video recently from Jessie (sunbeamesjess) where she said she left it on and didn't wash it off - it actually has me curious to give this another try. But I have a ton of other products to use up first so maybe later on. I actually did a little IG quick-fire story doing a run through >> and I'm gonna be mailing this off to another blogger friend who gladly said she'd take it! (PS - I plan to do that more on IG stories as products deserve to have better homes, so follow me if you aren't already!)
But there you have it, another empties post. I've been going through SO many products since I snapped up this photo so I know the next empties post is gonna be a reallll good one. What are some products you've used up lately? How do you go about being diligent in using products up?