January '13 Empties

Here's what got used up this month. Some of these are good products, which I enjoyed using even if I wouldn't buy them again, and the rest were more miss than hit.

 

1. Giovanni 2chic body wash - Brazilian Keratin and Argan. This is good stuff to have around in the winter, and I liked it ok. I might buy it again, but I haven't really found any body washes that I really love. This is why I have five of them in my shower right now and still want more. Back to this stuff: mild, somewhat nutty scent, little exfoliating grains, good foam, creamy feel. Not bad, but on the more expensive side of the body wash spectrum.

2. Tarte Smooth Operator tinted moisturizer - Agent 00. Yes, I really used up a full-size foundation product! I'm kind of moving away from tinted moisturizers in favor of more traditional foundations. Since I used up the whole damn thing, I'm pretty qualified to say how it worked for me. As a replacement for foundation, this product failed for me. It started to slide around on my face (which gets oily) fairly quickly. So I decided to sub it in for both foundation and moisturizer. Used that way, it worked a lot better for me. Since it's the dead of winter, I'm not exposed to as much UV radiation, and the SPF 20 seems sufficient. I also got better coverage when it wasn't being diluted by other products already on my face. 

3. Salma Hayek Nuance Firm and Smooth Serum. This is a great moisturizing product, but I didn't feel like it had that much other benefit. 

4. Salma Hayek Nuance brow pencil - blonde. A little hard for my taste, but otherwise a good product.

5. Cover Girl LashBlast Length mascara. Note to self: in future only buy orange tube and green tube. Definitely no to future buys of purple tube, red tube, or yellow tube.

6. Tarte Gifted Amazonian Clay mascara. I honestly noticed no difference between this formula and the older Lights, Camera, Lashes one. They both give me great volume and length, they both smudge a bit under my eye, and they both dry out and get clumpy way sooner than a mascara that costs this much should.

7. Wet'N'Wild Mega Plump mascara sample. Ok, so I didn't really use this so much as it dried up waiting to be tested. I think that's enough said.

8. Lush Cupcake Fresh Mask face mask sample. I think I liked this, but it wasn't amazing enough to repurchase. There's a floral scent there that I don't think adds anything. I'd rather the natural ingredients be allowed to shine more.

9. Korres Quercetin and Oak primer sample. I really like this, as a moisturizer. It doesn't seem to make a huge difference with makeup longevity, and it doesn't have sun protection, so it occupies that niche of evening makeup, for something so fancy you redo your whole face.

10. E.L.F. wipes. I love wipes but hate paying for the convenience of them, so I was hoping these'd be good. They're not. They leave behind a grimy feel and they smell like floral lotion on dirty feet.

11. Pantene Age Expert shampoo and conditioner samples. You might like this if you like drugstore products and a silicone party in each bottle. I got these for free from Walgreens, so I used them.

12. Garnier Fall Flight shampoo and conditioner samples. Ditto.

Used It! August 2012

In August, I used up 8 full size products, an eyeshadow sample, and a pile of other random samples.

Aspirin* - used this primarily for face masks. Aspirin does make the skin nice and soft, but it's messy! Be prepared to shed white flakes on whatever you're reading while it sets.

Fyrinnae Calavera Cupcakes free sample. Beautiful shade, especially over a sticky base, but I like Chrome better for a silver.

Giovanni Direct Leave-In.* This used to be a HG product for me - when my hair was bra-strap length, it worked really well as both a conditioner and a styling product. I can't get it to work as well for waist-to-hip length hair. If you have mid-length (between armpit length and mid back) wavy or curly hair, you should give this a try.

Kenra Clarifying Shampoo.* This is really good for getting gunk off your hair, but I'm not sure it's better than cheaper products. I don't have the bottle because I transferred it into a smaller container when it was half gone.

Kiss My Face SPF 40*

Nuance Salma Hayek skin firming body creme.* I bought this because I really liked a sample packet. Liked enough to buy three of them. I did not notice any "firming" effects, nor did I expect to. It's a lotion, and an expensive one (for drugstore) at that. I'll break out the others when it's colder out, but by then, I'll be so sick of it I won't want to repurchase. Also - I HATE applying body lotion and being all sticky afterward.

Red lip franken.* I'm counting this as gone because I can't find the tube. I had a quarter inch left. It was a franken, so I can't make it again.

VO5 Blackberry Sage Tea conditioner*
VO5 Kiwi Lime Squeeze conditioner.* Both of these together ran me 1.26 plus tax. When I use these conditioners, I use a lot of them and go through them quite quickly. They work for me, provided I follow up with a leave-in, but I don't enjoy using them. I bought them because I didn't want to "waste" my "good" conditioner while I was using up a bunch of shampoo packets last month.

I also used up this pile of samples.
-Comfort Zone sample packets - I got these back in March when I got my facial. I used them to try to give myself a mini facial at home. I think the facial was successful in large part due to the skill of the esthetician, and she could have done amazing things with any product out there.
-Josie Maran Argan Bronzing Oil - not bad, but extremely messy to apply. Worked best with a drop mixed into foundation.
-Nars Sheer Glow and Sheer Matte foundation (Siberia) - slightly too light, also should have paid attention to the "sheer" part - too much so for me.
-Too Faced BB Cream (vanilla glow) - still too dark!
-Too Faced Close-Up foundation (vanilla creme, warm vanilla) - too dark, very yellow.

Sunblock Sunday: Nuance Salma Hayek Advanced Hydration Smooth & Firm Perfector

This is Nuance Salma Hayek Advanced Hydration Smooth & Firm Perfector, SPF 20. It's marketed as a moisturizer/anti-aging treatment with a "Silky, age-defying formula melts into skin, filling fine lines and wrinkles and locking in hydration." I'm not convinced that it's a Holy Grail sunblock or anything, but it does have some nice perks. My primary concern with it is the longevity of the sun protection: it contains avobenzone but not octocrylene or another similar stabilizer of avobenzone. That makes it a poor contender for a morning moisturizer worn under makeup - it would wear off before I felt like redoing my whole face. It's also not as high up the SPF ladder as I like. I have been using this as a portable arms and neck product, and it works great for something to throw on less-protected areas later in the day to ward off impromptu sun damage. I won't repurchase because it's normally too expensive to justify that use. I bought mine on sale, so I'm less concerned about "wasting" this product by using it principally as a body sunscreen.

That said, this is what I do like about it:
- it does have a lovely texture. It's not greasy at all, and it sinks right in.
- it's not white AT ALL.
- it doesn't smell like sunscreen.

Details:

SPF 20
Size: 1.5 oz.
Price: $19.99 (I paid 6.99 during a killer sale)
Price per ounce: $13.33 (yikes!)
Availability: CVS

Active Ingredients: Avobenzone (2.0%), Octinoxate (7.5%), Octisalate (5.0%).
Inactive Ingredients: Agave Tequilana Leaf Extract, Albizia Julibrissin Bark Extract, Butylene Glycol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil, Cetyl PEG/PPG-10/Ldimethicone, Cyathea Cumingii Leaf Extract, Cyclohexasiloxane, Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Fragrance (Parfum), Glycerin, Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Root Extract, Hexyl Laurate, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Opuntia Ficus-Indica Stem Extract, Phenoxyethanol, Phospholipids, Physalis Angulata Extract, Polyglyceryl-4 Isostearate, Polysilicone-11, Retinyl Acetate, Silica, Spilanthes Acmella Flower Extract, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Tocopherol Acetate.

April 2012 Used It! Part II

Orly Glosser* I used this up by coating some wooden hairsticks I'm decorating with it. It's not really anything as a top coat, and I never just paint my nails clear. 

Self-made shea butter hair cream* This was my second batch of this. Now, I'm on my third. I use it as a pre-shampoo treatment, as styling paste (can either calm down flyaways or help braids stay sleeker longer), and as a leave-in conditioner for my ends.

Silk Naturals Awesome Sauce* This was my second bottle of this. It's pretty great stuff, and I highly recommend it, but I'm trying their Super Serum instead now.

Silk Naturals Equalizer sample - I'll probably get a full size of this yellow-green powder at some point. It's great to tone down redness and even out skintone a bit without looking made up.

Simple Cleansing Wips travel size - Wow! These work! They're just not a fun experience, and they feel a bit too rough, even though they're designed for sensitive skin.

Tarte Amazonian Clay Foundation sample - I did buy a full size tube of this. It's not bad stuff. The shade "fair" matches me pretty well, and it looks good on my skin. More to come on this, probably.

Yes to Blueberries facial wipes* - Smell nice, sort of work, not worth the price. Also, they kind of sting if I use them to take off eye makeup.


I am going to be talking about the rest of the stuff I used this month in another post more focused on my opinions on acids in skincare.


*Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel (full strength) - little tube. 
*Brazilian Peel sample vial

*Dr. Dennis Gross blemish treatment sample
*Dr. Dennis Gross serum sample

April 2012 Used it! Part I (Sorry so late!)

C.O. Bigelow My Favorite Lip Balm* - Your favorite, maybe. Not mine.

CVS brand tooth whitening strips* (not pictured) - These did seem to work a little bit, but they do not dissolve like the box said they would. Instead, they turned into a snotty, mushy, sticky goop. Also, some of them wouldn't come off of the paper backing very easily. Overall, not impressed.



CVS brand nail polish remover minis - regular and the one you dip your finger in.
The normal one is ok, but nothing earth-shatteringly awesome. The one you dip your finger in has some serious limitations, like being useless for toenails. Also, on this one, the hole for the finger wasn't wide enough. And the formula didn't seem to do anything.

Desert Essence Lemon Tea Tree Shampoo* I very well might buy this again. It smells amazing, just like lemons, works pretty well, and did I mention that it smells like lemons?

DivaWash* (not pictured) - Works fine for its intended purpose, but (TMI alert!) due to my "method" of choice, I haven't needed a cup or anything for years. It works nicely as a face wash or body wash, too, but not nicely enough to justify the price.

Evil Shades Opal eye primer sample - Decent stuff, but didn't keep things in place as long as I wanted. If your skin's drier than mine, go for it!


Kiss My Face Whenever conditioner* - This might be my Holy Grail of conditioners. I also think that this should count as two or three products, because it was the 32oz size with the pump. It's at least the third, if not the fourth, of these that I've gone through. It smells amazing (lime, cut with green tea), conditions my hair without coating it, and provides some slip but not so much I can't do anything with my hair.


Nivea moisturizer sample - Not bad, not great, don't put it on broken skin unless you like stinging.

Nuance Salma Hayek Macadamia Body Scrub* - Impulse buy at CVS. Mistake. This seemed slightly drying, despite the high moisturizer content, and I did not like the way it smelled.




I already reviewed these as part of my Sunblock Sunday series:
Devita Solar Body Block SPF 30+ sample
Devita Solar Protective Moisturizer SPF 30+ sample
Lavanila The Healthy Face Cream SPF 40 sample

March's Empties

*Herbal Essences Hydralicious conditioner (not pictured)* I used this up after the man bought it when he couldn't find his usual. The smell went well with the shampoo I'd been using. I can't say anything else good about it. This stuff is adequate.

*John Masters Organics Bearberry Balancing Serum sample packet. Nice stuff, just don't think it's worth the hefty price tag.

*Josie Maran Argan Oil mini size. I got this as a Sephora 100-point bonus. It's great for my hair but not so great for my face, which responded with some teeny zits. It's not great enough for my face to justify the purchase of a full size, especially not when there are so many wholesalers selling the stuff for so much less.

*Mountain Rose Herbs Cleansing Grains* I think these may actually have made my face worse. Which makes sense, if acne can be bacterial, then putting grains on your face is like feeding the monsters. Also, for me, the grains didn't do any cleansing.

*Nuance Salma Hayek Spot Treatment* I am not sure this did much of anything.

*Nuance Salma Hayek Wild Lime Exfoliating Gel* This does seem to make my face smoother, but I'm not sure it's better than other things that take less time.

*Pacifica Island Vanilla body butter - small size. I loved the scent of this, but not the form. I think I should look into their solid scents instead, as I could take a bath in all my lotion.

*Philosophy Mocktails Peach Daiquiri body wash, bubble bath, shampoo* I was thrilled to find this at a Marshall's because I liked last years Sephora birthday gift one. At first, I really liked the smell. Then, I couldn't believe how much of it there was left. I actually did try it as all three uses, too. It's an ok body wash, an ok shampoo, and not very bubbly as a bubble bath. For the price, you'd expect it to be great. Also, this stuff had sulfates in it, which I did not expect initially.

*Physicians Formula Healthy Wear foundation* This was my second one of these, and I do like this product, but I don't like how it's not in stores anymore. This means that it's impossible to get on sale. And I don't like it enough to pay full price plus shipping. If it were a better match for my skin tone (it's a bit pink), then I'd be more excited about it.

*Self-made cleansing oil (not pictured)* I liked this enough to make up another batch. It's a great thing to have around as a makeup remover. I mix roughly 9 parts oil to 1 part cromollient sce, which is an emulsifier and rinsing aid.

*St. Ives Green Tea Scrub* I still do not know if I'll buy this again - I liked it, but I have a few other things I want to try before committing to this one.

*full size item*

January Used It!

In January, I finished off eight products; two minis and six full-size items.

Organix Coconut Milk Anti-Breakage Serum*
Buy again? Maybe. I have no idea if it helps with breakage or not, but I did like the way a little made my hair feel. This is definitely a less is more type product - too much will make your hair look stringy.

Sally Hansen Real Nail Polish Strips - Teal with it*
Buy again? Probably not. They're on the expensive side and take too long to apply.

Lumene Sensitive Touch wipes mini pack
Buy again? No. I just bought them because I wanted something and I was on a trip. They're fine, but I don't want to buy anything that's just fine.

Nuance wipes*
Buy again? Probably not - they were this strange rectangular shape - more oblong than I usually like in a wipe, and they had more texture than I prefer.

ELF Studio Complexion Perfection*
Buy again? Probably not. This has its uses - it will lighten the appearance of a too-dark foundation, but it's hard to travel with and you don't get as much as you'd expect - the layer of powder is pretty shallow. It did work fine, but it wasn't awesome.

Silk Naturals Ginny liquid lip gloss*
Nice color, nice formula, but I really don't like wand-style, especially when there are so many natural ingredients. I worry it will go bad, which is why I made the effort to use this one up.

Garden of Wisdom Sulfur Clearing Mask*
I think things with sulfur might help clear teeny pre-zits, but I haven't found that it takes care of the monsters I really want gone.

Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Conditioner 3oz size
This is probably one of the two conditioners I've repeatedly bought over the past couple years. It's cheap, works fairly well, and is widely available. I don't love it, but it's convenient and functional enough that it's what I buy when my favorite's hard to come by. (My favorite is Kiss My Face Whenever conditioner - green tea and lime - smells like dessert but not so sweet it's sickly.)

December 2011 Used It!

Happy New Year!

Last month, I used up 13 products, 7 of them full size. The Tea Tree Tingle body wash from Trader Joe's is the only real clear winner - but I think I won't repurchase until summer - great for cleaning off sweaty griminess, overkill for winter.


Caudalie vinosource quenching sorbet creme sample tube
Silk Naturals 9:59 GWP shadow*
Adorned with Grace foundation/celestial silkening powder**
Silk Naturals GWP Watermelon Coconut Detox Mask
Hourglass Veil mineral primer spf 15 sample
Carol's Daughter Macadamia Heat Protecting Gloss sample
Trader Joe's Tea Tree Tingle Body Wash*
Ecotools body wash - travel size
Yes To Cucumbers Soothing Moisturizer with SPF 30*
Ponds Evening Soothe face wipes
Cover Girl Exact Eyelights mascara - green eyes*
Nuance Chamomile Cream Cleanser*

September 11 used it!

September '11 Used It!
In September, I used up six full-size products and five sample sizes.

- SN Devoted cream blush*
Not bad - though the formula's recently been reworked to exclude the cyclopentasiloxane Karen used to use. I found it easiest to use with a duo-fiber brush: then it was fine over powder foundation.

- Garnier Nutrisse Moisture Rescue Gel Cream*
I used up some of this in my frankenlotion, and used the rest of it on my face as a moisturizer. It's ok, but I don't think I'd buy it again. I've tried other water-based serums that I liked much better.

- Sally Hansen (Carmindy line) luminizing face primer*
Don't waste your time. Even if you really want to look like a vampire from Twilight, there are cheaper ways to do that. It didn't even really help my makeup stay on. Instead of "Luminizing," it should say "contains chunks of glitter."

- Silk Naturals Oatmeal Serum*
I liked this better than the Green Tea and Aloe, but if I use their Awesome Sauce, there's not really a need to keep it around.

- Nuance Salma Hayek Volumizing Conditioner*
Worked fine, smelled a little "ripe" for my tastes.

- Garnier Fructis Intense Cleanse anti-dandruff shampoo*
Just slightly too harsh for me. I did enjoy the little scrubby beads in it, though.

- Aromaleigh seafoam pure matte eyeshadow sample
Nice pale blue.

- TanTowel (one)
First time I'd ever tried a self-tanner. My legs glowed for a couple days, but I was glad when it wore off because I didn't apply it super evenly, and it was nice to be the same color all over again. I think I'm fine with being super white and don't want to spend the time to look darker.

- Urban Decay makeup remover sample decant (new kind)
Does not smell as good as the old kind.

- Sample baggie Meow Pink Inc. Blush - Cashmere
I want a full size of this pretty badly - it's beautiful. Subtle, but leaves me glowy. Hard to overdo.

- Boots Naturals makeup remover sample decant
Fine. Nothing special.

Yes! I will use up 200 things in a year!

So maybe I'm reaching and using up sample packets and other easy-to-use things. But so what? If I finish off 3 more things by Friday, I'll have dispatched 200 things in a year. And that would be amazing.

*Nuance Salma Hayek cocoa coffee body firming cream sample (x2). This smells like a mocha latte! I have to acquire a full size or two of this at some point, because it really is like rubbing the best part of morning on my skin.

*John Frieda Root Awakening smoothing cream sample. Eh. This may have even made the hair by the nape of my neck tangle more than usual.

*Barielle intensive hand cream. I wasn't impressed by this, it's an unnatural light blue color, and contains a lot of petrochemicals. I also didn't care for the fragrance. But it was free from Meg's, and I couldn't seem to swap it away, so I used it.

*GOW/Camellia Rose sample - Perfect My Eye-ris gel. If your main (only) problem is lines, this'll probably plump them up real well. This had a bit of a "tightening" effect, and almost seemed uncomfortable at times.

(Since Sept. 2, 2010)
197 items gone
72 full size items gone

200th post!

And kind of a random one, at that. I used up some more stuff. And I'm gonna see if I can go until October 15th before buying anything new (including makeup, skincare, haircare, nail polish). I need to shrink my collection some. Or a lot. It's time for some major detox - I had a stressful summer and compensated by buying things.

Using things up feels good, but it's also a methodical process that keeps me away from a lot of my collection.

And, it's 5 days away from when Project Use It hits the yearlong mark. I wonder if I can get to 200 products by then? After the year, I don't know what I'm going to do about keeping track of stuff - maybe a monthly or biweekly post?

Things that are gone now:
*SN Bubbly GWP eye shadow - can't buy it again, but it was lovely. I even got a compliment on it from the lady at Ulta! I'm kind of looking forward to moving onto something else now, though. It was a tan champagne shade with lots of sparkles.

*Meow Pampered Puss foundation sample - Sleek Persian. I did like this enough to get a huge tub of it at their recent sale. Probably could have waited some more, as I still have an Aromaleigh full size and a tub of adorned with Grace. Oh well.

*Nuance Salma Hayek Tinted Moisturizer samples - Light. I took three of these, because they're really only good for testing the color if you only have one. Turns out three of these are also not enough to test out coverage. I ended up piling my normal stuff on top of it, because it was like it didn't do anything.

*Neutrogena Instant Nail Enhancer. This claimed to be a way to make your nails look better without polish. I say it's basically a very thin, very fast drying clear nail polish. I also say it's not worth the effort, which is why I had it sitting around for years and had to make a conscious effort to use it up so I could harvest the silver balls for a Frankenpolish.

(Since Sept. 2, 2010)
192 items gone
71 full size items gone