Tuesday, January 15, 2019

December 2018 Empties

All my garbage of the month! :D
1. Sheet Masks Galore:
nu Pore Rosemary Collagen Essence Face Mask: This is a nice hydrating, refreshing sheet mask. it has a bit of an herbal spa-like scent but I wouldn't say it smells like rosemary the way I was expecting.
TONYMOLY I'm Red Wine Gel Eye Patch: I found this eye patch to be really hydrating and de-puffing for the under-eye area. I really like these eye patches because I find that my under-eye area looks more hydrated, brighter, and that the fine lines around my eyes seem less prominent when I use them.
TONYMOLY I'm Lemon Gel Eye Patch: Truth be told I found that all of these eye patches have a fairly similar result, just different scents. I was concerned that the lemon might be irritating to my under-eye area but that was not the case at all.
A'Pieu Coffee Milk Air Pocket Sheet Mask: This mask is EFFING INCREDIBLE! I cannot wait to buy more! Firstly, it smells exactly as its name implies. Like a café au lait! But on top of smelling wonderful it also left my skin feeling firmer, more hydrated, and refreshed.
A'Pieu Cicative Zinc Sheet Mask: I found this to be a fairly hydrating sheet mask.
the Creme Shop Last Christmas Forever Young Face Mask: I find this was a good refreshing, hydrating mask. 
nu Pore Aloe Collagen Essence Face Mask: A nice soothing, hydrating face mask.
I'm Sorry for my Skin Jelly Mask - Revitalizing: Frankly speaking these masks are not my favorite. They're over-saturated in this jelly serum and feel like a wet rag more than a refreshing sheet mask. I find overall that it worked ok but is nothing to write home about.
I'm Sorry for my Skin Jelly Mask - Hydrating: Although I know the point of this mask is to combat the skin dulling effects the dehydration that drinking too much coffee may cause I found myself disappointed that it didn't smell like coffee. As the one above this worked ok but I wouldn't pick it up again.
A'Pieu Cicative Calcium Sheet Mask: I found this to be a lovely sheet mask that made my skin feel hydrated and supple.
I'm Sorry for my Skin S.O.S. Jelly Mask - Calming: Frankly I'm not the biggest fan of these masks as I find the jelly serum too thick and gelatinous for my liking.
I'm Sorry for my Skin Jelly Mask - Pore Care: As with the other mask described above I found the serum too thick and gelatinous. I don't find that this made a difference for my pores.
TONYMOLY I'm Green Tea Gel Eye Patch: I found this eye patch to be really hydrating and de-puffing for the under-eye area. I really like these eye patches because I find that my under-eye area looks more hydrated, brighter, and that the fine lines around my eyes seem less prominent when I use these patches. It's described as refreshing and I have to agree with that.
the Creme Shop Clarifying Face Mask: A nice, refreshing sheet mask.
A'Pieu Icing Sweet Bar Sheet Mask: This is a really nice, refreshing sheet mask that smells like pineapple juice. I think it's fun but I don't find that it did very much for my skin.
Nu Pore Vitamin E Collagen Essence Sheet Mask: A nice, hydrating sheet mask.
Nu Pore Honeysuckle Grapefruit Moisturizing Eye Mask: I found this to be a refreshing under-eye mask but that being said, it's lighter-weight, and therefore not as hydrating, as the TONYMOLY masks are. 
Nu Pore Green Tea Collagen Essence Face Mask: A nice, soothing, hydrating face mask.
Nu Pore Cucumber Collagen Essence Face Mask: A nice, hydrating face mask.
patchology Soothe 5 Minute Flashmasque: Although this is meant to be a quickie 5 minute sheet mask I kept it on for 20 minutes the way I do with my other masks. Firstly, at $8, it's pricier than my other sheet masks so I wanted to get my money's worth... or rather THE money's worth as this happened to be a gift-with-purchase at work. Anyhow, I found that it did a nice job of feeling hydrating, soothing, and slightly reducing the redness in my skin.
Nu Pore Pomegranate Collagen Essence Face Mask: I think you can gather from my one-liners about these masks that I found them to be just ok. I like pomegranate masks but this one was also, just ok. It was refreshing and hydrating but I wasn't really moved by it.

2. Tree Hut Shea Sugar Scrub in Tropical Mango: As you folks know I absolutely adore these body scrubs - they're super scrubby and do a wonderful job of getting rid of hard, dead skin cells and waking me up. This smells sweet, tropical, and delicious!

3Bath & Body Works Butterfly Flower Fragrance Mist: This smells like the rest of the Butterfly Flower range - a beautiful lightweight summer floral.

4. Clinique Pep-Start Double Bubble Purifying Mask: Although this is supposed to be a purifying mask I found that it did an alright job of making my skin feel cleansed and mostly the bubbles just tickled. I wouldn't go out of my way to pick this up.

5. m-61 Vitablast C Serum Pad: Although I enjoy the idea of these pads and found them to be alright while I had them overall I found them a bit tacky feeling and not well-moistened enough (especially in comparison to the Hyaluronic Acid pads). I find that although convenient, these pads are extremely pricey for what they are and honestly it's much more cost-effective to purchase a bottle of serum.

6Tree Hut Shea Sugar Scrub in Pear & Chia Seed: I believe this is a newer scent and it smells absolutely delicious! A nice sweet, refreshing scent with the intense scrubby sugar that I'm used to.

7. CVS Pomegranate and Lime Brightening Gel Facial Mask: Although not marketed as such, this mask has somewhat of a self-warming function and feels really nice on the skin. I find that it refreshes my skin and leaves it looking and feeling hydrated. This also has a nice scent to it. I wish it were available in a large tube as I really do enjoy using it.

8. Clorox Disinfecting Wipes in Fresh Scent: This is the last of the batch I had and I am glad to b done with these. The scent is cloying chemical and although I love that they disinfect I don't love that they have such an intense chemical scent - I feel like there's all kind of awful harsh things in this which makes me wary of wiping things like my makeup down with them.

9. Bath & Body Works White Tea & Ginger Shower Gel: I love tea scents and this one doesn't disappoint. It smells incredible, produces a great foam, and leaves me feeling clean without being stripped.

10. m-61 Hydraboost HA Serum Pad: I really enjoyed these pads, I feel that they really hydrated my skin and felt REALLY well-moistened. One pad covered my face, neck, décolletage, back-of-the-neck, elbows, AND backs of my hands. That said, I still feel like you'd get more of a bang for your buck buying a bottled serum versus buying these pads.

11. TONYMOLY Changing U Magic Foot Peeling Shoes: While these work alright I find that it took FOREVER - I'm talking like a good 8 days for my feet to begin peeling. In these 8 days they felt intensely tight, dry, and itchy to the point where I was about to give up and moisturize them right around the time they started peeling (I don't moisturize my feet when I do peeling masks as I find that it negates the peeling effects). Now, I wouldn't say it was worth the wait as I know my feet were rather dry and crusty and the peeling that occurred was no more intense than other masks I've tried.

12. Now Essential Oils in 100% Pure Lemon: This is a really delicious-smelling lemon essential oil. I use it mainly in my fragrance diffuser but it works well to gargle (infuse about 10 drops into a cup of warm water) a sore throat with.

13. wet n wild photo focus Concealer: I have to say that this is probably, hands down, my favorite concealer - if not one of my favorites. It glides on beautifully, provides great coverage, and is seriously inexpensive. I am genuinely sad to be out.

14. Trish McEvoy Wild Blueberry Vanilla Scented Candle: I have to be honest in that these candles disappointed me. For high-end candles I expected for there to be a throw - even if I was burning a mere 3 votive candles. This smells delicious, like blueberries & cream oatmeal and Trix cereal had some sort of baby. I really love the scent but given their lack of throw and high price point I wouldn't consider picking this up again.

15. Tresseme Flawless Curls Mousse: This is a nice mousse that gives definition to my waves and a bit of hold. It can occasionally be crunchy if I use too much or don't do a good job of distributing it through my hair evenly but overall I find that it works great and smells nice too.

16. NARS Audacious Lipstick in Apoline: This is a really pretty pinkish nude shade and I received a lot of compliments when I wore it.

17.L'Oreal Smooth & Glow 3 Pure Sugars + Grapeseed Pure-Sugar Scrub: I found this scrub useable but overall more aggressive than I'd like for the facial skin. Although I used to like harsher scrubs in the past I find that my facial skin responds best to either chemical exfoliators or to softer, more gel-like physical scrubs. That said, this smells absolutely delicious.

18. Odacite Ba+S Baobab Sarsaparilla Eye Contour Serum Concentrate: This serum smells fantastic and I found that it did a beautiful job of hydrating the eye area without being thick or heavy. I felt like a little went a long way - I'd use a drop per eye but a drop for both eyes would've probably worked just as well. I found that I went through this kind of quickly but I enjoyed it while I had it.

19. Sally Hansen Big Kwik Dry Top Coat : I found that this topcoat worked just okay - it didn't dry quicker than most other top coats that I used and I didn't really feel like it prolonged the wear of my nail polish.

20. Darphin Hydraskin Light All-Day Hydrating Cream Gel: This moisturizer is just incredible. Although it's a cream gel I find that it moisturizes my skin really well without feeling heavy. It has an absolutely beautiful texture that my skin just LOVED.

21. Crown C511 Brush: I've had this brush for 2 years now and it's gotten rather frayed and a lot thinner than when I originally bought it. Given the inexpensive nature of Crown brushes I don't mind parting ways with this. It was good while it lasted but I have a backup which I'll be using.

22. NEST Fragrances Sparkling Cassis Scentstick: This was a singular mini liquid-less diffuser stick that SCENTED UP MY ENTIRE ROOM with the delicious scent that it has. I have to say I am quite impressed.

23. dermalogica Skin Resurfacing Cleanser: This is a very gently exfoliating cleanser. I found that it worked to cleanse my face but is overall more drying than I'd like. In addition, it doesn't smell that great - the scent is kind of chemically.

24. Bath & Body Works Frosted Cranberry Scented Candle: One of my favorite holiday scents - this has a nice sweet, refreshing cranberry scent.

25. Dr. Barbara Sturm Anti-Aging Body Cream: While this body cream has a really nice apricot scent I find that it's fairly lightweight - I wish it were thicker and richer, more luxurious-feeling for its price point. I also didn't notice any lightening, tightening, or brightening of the skin where I would've thought "oh wow this really has anti-aging" benefits. I don't wanna be the one but I'm gonna be the one - this is just very overpriced skin cream in  my personal opinion and I'd really have to be wowed a lot harder for me to want to go out and buy this.

26. Indiee Lee I-Awaken Eye Serum: This is a nice depuffing, hydrating serum for the under-eye area. I like that it feels hydrating and isn't heavy.

27. Dr. Barbara Sturm Face Cream: I will say that I really like this cream - it's not too heavy but feels hydrating. That said, I genuinely don't understand the sky-high price point for an everyday face cream. Like, I get that for the high-end luxe crowd $215 may not feel like a lot of money to drop on a cream but for an everyday person who maybe understands that their skin would benefit from a moisturizer that's insanely expensive! In addition to that, I didn't find that this did anything so mind-blowing for my skin that I feel that the price point is in any way justified. I'm just kind of annoyed with this being so pricey.

28.Dr. Barbara Sturm Enzyme Cleanser: This is a powder cleanser that you are meant to emulsify with water. I like that it foams and does a nice job of cleansing my skin whilst still feeling gentle. Like the face cream I think it's lowkey ridiculously expensive for what it is and while I think it's nice it is by no means $75 nice when my favorite cleanser is a mere $10 and frankly makes my skin feel just as good, if not better, than this does.

29. Dove Go Fresh Cucumber & Green Tea Scent Body Wash: A staple item - I really like these body washes to shave with because they're really moisturizing, smell good, and provide a good glide for my razor.

30. Ardell Double Up in 206 Black: I feel like I'm always trying the double up lashes hoping I'll find a pair I like and it always fails. These look kind of chunky and spidery - not a fan.

31. Eylure x Jasmine Brown Lashes in Jaybee: I absolutely LOVE these lashes - they're a nice full, spikey lash that give great definition to the eyes. This pair lasted me three weeks and really kept its integrity - in fact they still look fairly new, outside of the band itself being kind of crusty from glue.

32. Moroccanoil Volume Thickening Lotion: One of my friends got this for me as a gift and honestly I wanted to love it but I find that it works well as a styling cream - meaning it adds moisture to the hair and helps with flyaways and creating a smooth look but it doesn't make a noticeable difference with making my hair feel thicker.

33. Beauty 360 Advanced Nail Polish Remover: I will say that, although this isn't as good as my fave - the Sephora Instant Nail Polish Remover - it's a close second. This has little silicone nubs in it that help to buff nail polish off the nails. I find it works well.

34. Laura Mercier Body & Bath Fresh Fig Soufflé Body Cream: This is a nice body cream with a sweet, soft powdery scent. To be honest the scent in the jar usually turned me off because it's so powdery but I decided to try it out and I really like the way it smells on me - sweet and feminine.

35. Klorane Nourishing Shampoo with Mango Butter: I really wanted to love this shampoo because it smells like a mango smoothie. IT SMELLS SO GOOD!!!! Unfortunately, however, I find that it doesn't really moisturize my hair all that well.

36. Maybelline New York Master Primer by Facestudio Hydrate + Smooth Primer: I found that this primer did a really nice job of keeping my makeup on in addition to feeling really hydrating and refreshing when I initially applied it.

37. Dr. G Callus & Cuticle Exfoliant Cream: I mainly used this as a cuticle softening cream and I found that it did a really fantastic job of softening the cuticles enough to allow me to push them back easily. It felt fairly gentle and moisturizing when I had it on - not like it was eating through skin or anything like that.

38. tokidoki Donutella EDT: I feel like this is fairly random but my parents had moved one of their dressers because the folks from the phone company needed to come and fix the landline and they found the remnants of this behind the dresser. It has this odd powdered sugar-meets-floral scent and while I don't mind it I also don't love it. I find that it's not a scent I'd go out of my way to pursue.

39. Moroccanoil Body Soufflé Body Moisturizer: I found that this did an alright job of hydrating my legs (which is mainly where I used moisturizer) but given that I don't love the Moroccanoil scent I wouldn't go out of my way to get this again.

40. Crown Brushes Pro C510 Brush: This is a really nice run-of-the-mill basic paddle brush that's fantastic for work on the lid and packing color on. Unfortunately mine has gotten fairly frayed and it's time to move on to a new one.

41. YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat: I feel like I've had this bottle of foundation entirely too long and I've finally used it all up. This is the older formula for the Touche Eclat so I'm unsure how the new one differs. That said, it was a nice, medium coverage, glowing foundation but given that it didn't cover as much as I would have wanted it to and has a fairly high price point I wouldn't go out and get it again.

42. Bath & Body Works Hello I'm A Unicorn PocketBac in Berry Lemonade: This is a nice-smelling hand sanitizer. I like the scent a lot and I'd get it again if it were available.

43. Sally Hansen Violet Voltage Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Nail Color: Although it's a really pretty color this has started to separate really badly - I'm unsure why that's the case but I feel like it's safer to discard it then to try and mix it back together.

44. Odacite Moringa + Petitgrain Serum Concentrate Very Dry Skin: I found this to be truly deeply hydrating. However it smells awful, kind of like an oily black pepper concentrate. I'm not a fan.

45. Bite Beauty Agave Lip Scrub: This did an alright job but I felt like it wasn't well balanced in that there was a high goo-to-scrubby bits ratio. My lips felt soft after using this but I wish it were more consistently scrubby.

46. Moroccanoil Night Body Serum: This product is intended to add a moisture boost to your current body moisturizer and while I felt like it delivered on its promise I also found this to be sort of sticky and oily.

47. Clinique Black Honey Almost Lipstick: I think it's funny how years ago I reviewed this as a stand-alone product and didn't love it but now I used it as a lip balm and enjoyed it for that purpose. I think it moisturizes the lips in a nice, lightweight way but on its own it doesn't wear for long. However it does provide a nice moisturizing base for other lip products.

48. Julie G Frosted Gumdrops Collection Sugar Crush: I love this nail polish - it's such a gorgeous vermillion red with golden glitter. Unfortunately it's all goopy and won't go on my nails nicely. We have to part ways.

49. NARS Audacious Lipstick in Grace: This is a pretty deep bright pink lipstick. I feel like although it's a fairly bright shade it works nicely with a lot of different looks.

50. Lune + Aster Stratosphere Volumizing Mascara: I'm sad to see this mascara go as I found it to give me really nice volume, length, and separation. I feel like if I didn't feel like wearing falsies as often anymore, I'd gravitate toward this as I really love the effect it had on my lashes.

Disclaimer: I purchased all of the above with the exception of the M-61, Clinique, Trish McEvoy, NARS, Odacite, Darphin, NEST, Dr. Barbara Sturm, patchology, Indiee Lee, Moroccanoil , Clinique, Bite Beauty, Sally Hansen  and Lune + Aster products. 

No comments:

Post a Comment