Finished It!!! Volume 10

Disclaimer: Most of the products in this post were purchased by me. A few were giveaway prizes, were given to me by a friend, or were promotional freebies. All opinions are my own. I have included my referral link for The Honest Company. 

I'm working on editing pictures from my big holiday set hauls. Sadly, there seem to be some that I need to retake because they are blurry. I hate when that happens. I wish I had been able to get more of them up during Sephora's VIB sale, but that's life. 

In the meantime, I've been trying to clean my office (again). One of the things that I need to do is get rid of the pile of empties that have accumulated. 

The Body Shop Strawberry Shower Gel - I bought this during The Body Shop's Cyber Monday sale last year. The smell was okay. I wasn't in love with how well the lather lasted. I don't plan on repurchasing.

Dr. Bronner's 3-in-1 Hemp Almond Pure-Castile Soap - I use this for hand soap. I put it in a foaming bottle with about 1/2 to 2/3 of the bottle being water, which means this huge bottle lasted a long time. I recently started using Dr. Bronner's soap as a face wash too. I'll get back to you on how that works for me.

Macadamia Rejuvenating Shampoo - Over the summer Target had Macadamia sets that were essentially by-one-get-one free. Otherwise, I wouldn't have bought the shampoo because I need shampoo that combats a flaky scalp, but I came up with the solution of adding tea tree oil directly into the shampoo in order to use it. Since this shampoo is quite expensive (retail is $21 for this size bottle) and it doesn't meet my hair needs, I won't be repurchasing it. 

Alba Botanica Very Emollient Cream Shave in Mango Vanilla - I stopped using a special shaving product several years ago; I just use my shower gel to shave. I'd heard good things about this cream shave on YouTube, so I figured I would give it a try. While I an understand why people like it, it wasn't for me. It was really thick, so it accumulated on my razor. Using a separate product to shave with also added a step to my shower routine. I won't be repurchasing.

Luxury Lane Soap Triple Care Hemp Wash in Vanilla Oak - This was a really nice body wash made by an indie company. I reviewed it here. I really liked it. The product is currently being reformulated, and I do plan on trying the new formulation when it becomes available. I also want to point out that Luxury Lane Soap is offering free shipping from now until they close for the holidays, so it is a great time to give their items a try.

Silk Naturals Kiss Cleanser - This has been my regular face wash for several years now. I love how gentle it is. It does a decent job removing the majority of my makeup (stubborn mascara and eye liner tends to stick around). I already had a back-up bottle ready to go when this one was finished. 

Mario Badescu Acne Facial Cleanser - For a few months, I used this with my Clarisonic Mia after I did an initial wash of my face with Silk Naturals Kiss Cleanser. I got lazy though and haven't done that in a while. I did have a back-up bottle ready to go though when this one was finished. Sadly, I heard recently that Mario Badescu products are being sold in China, which means that I no longer consider the brand cruelty-free and will not purchase from them any more.

Neutrogena Rapid Clear Foaming Scrub - This was in a bag of products a friend gave me that she didn't like. I used it on my body instead of my face to use it up because I didn't want to be wasteful. Neutrogena is not a cruelty-free brand, so even if I did like this product, I wouldn't purchase it again.

CeraVe Facial Moisturizing Lotion AM and PM - I picked these up because CeraVe is one of the few cruelty-free skincare brands that I have easy access to and because the day lotion had an SPF of 30, which is a requirement of mine. I liked both of them. The only thing I didn't like is the packaging. I dislike products like this with pumps because it makes is really hard to impossible to get the last of the product out. Because of that, I didn't repurchase them, but I might in the future. 

Maybelline Expert Eyes Moisturizing Eye Makeup Remover - I bought this a long time ago, mostly because of the bottle. I hate the eye makeup remover bottles with the caps that have the cardboard at the top because half the time the cardboard disintegrates before the product is gone and the bottle starts to leak. I didn't particularly care for the product itself (and rarely use an actual eye makeup remover anyway), and Maybelline isn't cruelty-free, so I won't be buying this again. I might keep the bottle around though because I think it could be handy.

 

The Honest Company Shampoo & Body Wash - This was part of the free trial set I got from The Honest Company (referral link) over the summer. The scent is Sweet Orange Vanilla, which was okay but not my favorite. I did buy a full size in one of my bundles I have received since my trial kit. I may or may not repurchase this in the future. It is a good body wash, but I like others more.

The Honest Company Face & Body Lotion - This either came in a box I got from Totalbeauty.com or from the free trial set I got from The Honest Company. It was okay as a body lotion. I didn't try it on my face. I didn't notice anything special enough to repurchase it. 

Mario Badescu AHA Botanical Body Soap and Citrus Body Cleanser - I got a $10 gift certificate from Mario Badescu for my birthday back in September (they do this for everyone registered on their site), which I used to pick up one of their toners, and these were two of the samples I got with my order. Again, I no longer consider Mario Badescu to be cruelty-free, so I won't be buying a full size of either of these. 

Tata Harper Rebuilding Moisturizer - I attended some sort of Facebook "party" where Tata Harper Deluxe Beauty Sets were being given away as prizes. This was a nice enough moisturizer, but I don't think it was special enough to justify the $100 price tag for a full size. 

John Frieda Conditioner (from a hair dye kit) - I have been using John Frieda hair dye for a while because I thought it was cruelty-free (but now I'm not so sure). I have a couple more boxes left in my stash. I think my goal is to get myself through the summer and then try a henna hair dye. If you've got any suggestions for cruelty-free hair dye options, please let me know. 

Kiss My Face Peaches & Creme Moisturizer - I have dealt with lots of bumps on my legs for years, and now I'm getting them on my arms. I have self-diagnosed myself with keratosis pilaris. I've tried multiple ways of exfoliating to get rid of the bumps, including this lotion with AHA. I liked the scent, but it didn't solve the problem. I think I have another one of these tubes that I need to use up. I probably won't repurchase it. 

EVOLVh Shampoo and Conditioner - These came in a box I got from Totalbeauty.com. The brand is expensive, so I wouldn't consider repurchasing. I don't know their cruelty-free status. 

Holika Holika Essential Petit BB Cream - I liked this BB cream. I bought it because Phyrra reviewed it. Our skin tone is essentially the same, so when she reviewed this and said that it matched her, I figured I would give it a try. I've got too many foundations to work my way through before I might consider repurchasing. I'm also not positive on Holika Holika's cruelty-free status since it is an Asian brand (Phyrra reviewed it a long time ago before she went cruelty-free). 

Silk Naturals Sleep in a Jar Light Peach - This is a staple product for me. I use it daily under my eyes. I do find it a bit drying sometimes, but I keep using it to hide my dark circles. 

Silk Naturals Maybe Baby Blush Sample - This is a clone for MAC's Blushbaby, which is a nude toned blush with a hint of pink. It was an okay color, but it wasn't anything special enough for me to repurchase it. 

Paula's Choice Barely There Sheer Matte Tint SPF 30 in Level 1 Fair/Light Sample - This was a nice tinted moisturizer. The color match was good for me, and I liked that it had SPF 30. I might buy a full size at some point, but I won't be purchasing it right now. 

Make Up For Ever HD Powder - This came in a value set I purchased from Sephora last year. It was okay, but it is expensive for what it is (100% pure silica). I can buy the same thing from TKB Trading for a lot cheaper. Make Up For Ever is not cruelty-free.

Meow Uncharted Eye Shadow Sample - This is a sample from Meow's Caribbean Escape collection that is only available during the summer. Meow describes it as a neutral beige taupe with gold shimmer. I already have a full size of this shade in my collection.

Silk Naturals Bone Eye Shadow (the empty pan) - This was a matte highlight shade. I had pressed it, which is why it is an empty pan. I think I added too much binder to it when I pressed it because it was a bit too hard. I also prefer Wet n Wild's Brulee for my matte highlight, so I don't plan on repurchasing. 

Alima Pure Foundation Sample in Neutral 1 - I had this for a long time. It was a little too dark for me, so I mixed it with the MUFE HD powder to use them both up. I won't be buying a full size.

bareMinerals Original Mineral Veil SPF 15 - This was in another Sephora set I bought a long time ago. I wouldn't go out and buy a full size, but I would use it again if it came in another set.

Tarte Gifted Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara - I've had major issues with mascaras. They seem to want to flake on me, and at the end of the summer, mascaras were smudging onto my browbone all the time. I liked this one when I was using it. It didn't flake or smudge. I wasn't using it in extreme heat though, so I don't know how well it would have held up then. I've got another one of these in my stash (I got them in Tarte QVC sets) that I'll pull out eventually, but I've got a couple of mascaras that I'm already using at the moment.

Silk Naturals White Chocolate Macadamia Lip Balm - I enjoy Silk Naturals lip balms. I really like the texture. I don't always keep them on hand, but when there is a flavor that catches my interest, I make sure and pick it up. 

A Bunch of Random Samples - I've been trying to work my way through a backlog of skincare samples lately. None of these really stood out to me since there's really not enough of any of them to decide of I liked them. I will say that I didn't care for the La Fresh wipes. Several of these are from brands that aren't cruelty-free. 

theBalm TimeBalm Juniper Oil-Free Face Moisturizer - This was okay. It should have been in the other picture, but I missed putting it there. 

Neutrogena Make-Up Remover Cleansing Towels - I primarily using these types of wipes to remove swatches. These did the job okay, and they were free in a sample box from Walgreens. Neutrogena is not cruelty-free, so I wouldn't repurchase them. I'd love to know of some good, inexpensive, cruelty-free wipes if you have any suggestions. 

Another load of empties gone! I'm happy to see so many products leaving my stash, especially all of the ones that aren't cruelty-free that won't be coming back into my stash. 

Do you have any suggestions for cruelty-free hair dye or makeup remover wipes? 

Disclaimer: Most of the products in this post were purchased by me. A few were giveaway prizes, were given to me by a friend, or were promotional freebies. All opinions are my own. I have included my referral link for The Honest Company. 

Finished It!!! Volume 6

It's that time again. I want to throw a bunch of stuff out, so I have to blog about it first. Hooray for getting rid of things!

Nature's Gate Tea Tree Shampoo and Henna and Pomegranate Sunflower Conditioners - The Tea Tree Shampoo and Pomegranate Sunflower Conditioner are staples for me. I have bought multiple bottles of each and will continue to do so. The Henna Conditioner wasn't bad, but it didn't work as well as the Pomegranate Sunflower one, so I don't plan on repurchasing it.

Philosophy Vanilla Birthday Cake Body Wash - This was my Sephora birthday gift from 2011, and I finally got around to using it. I like the Philosophy body washes, but they are, in my opinion, over-priced for what they are. I might buy more at some point if there is a really good deal, but it's not going to become a staple product for me.

John Frieda Precision Foam Colour Conditioner - This is the conditioner that comes with the John Frieda hair dye, and they always stick around forever because I forget to use them. I liked the hair dye and just bought another box yesterday because it's that time again. I'm trying a new color this time, which makes me nervous. I'm going a bit darker because my town doesn't carry the color that I used before, and I want to try a darker shade for the winter.

Skindinavia 10 Years Younger Makeup Finish Spray - I do believe that this spray helped my makeup stay on longer. Another benefit was helping get rid of the powdery look after I've finished my makeup. I bought the XL bottle of Urban Decay's All-Nighter Spray when this one started running low since Skindinavia makes that as well. I will continue to purchase whichever brand has a better deal at the time I need to purchase more finishing spray.

Benefit The POREfessional Deluxe Sample - I think I got this in a set from last Christmas. I liked it. It did seem to help hide my large pores. I've got several other primers to get through before I buy any more, and I don't think I loved this enough to repurchase it when I do need more primer.

EOS Travel Lotion in Cucumber - Another lotion bites the dust. Yes! I sound like a broken record when I finish lotions, but I'm going to say it again. I have a ton of lotions to use up before I buy any more.

CeraVe Moisturizing Cream - The was a decent, no-frills moisturizer. It didn't have SPF, so I used it at night. I might actually pick this up again after I go through my current moisturizer since I'm using a retinol cream at night, so I don't need a nighttime moisturizer with a lot of frills.

Bobbi Brown Correctioner in Porcelain Bisque - I'm still on the hunt for a Holy Grail corrector for under my eyes. This one wasn't it. Having a different shade might have helped (I purchased blind off Sephora.com because I don't have access to a Bobbi Brown anywhere nearby), but I didn't like the formula enough to repurchase it in another color.


Chloe Perfume Sample - This is a nice floral scent. I'm not big on floral scents, but I like this one. I have a mini bottle that I got in a Sephora value set and a rollerball of this from the Superstars Beauty Essentials set that I picked up. I will continue to use and enjoy those.

Napoleon Perdis Mesmer-Eyes Mascara - I got this over the summer in a Meg's Makeup package, and I really enjoyed using it. I loved the comb wand, and the formula didn't make my lashes feel stiff or flake on me. The only reason this is going away is because I used it for three months, and I'm trying to be good about switching my mascaras in that amount of time. I'm normally hesitant about purchasing high-end mascaras, but I've had so much bad luck with drugstore mascaras that I've purchased to try that I might break down when I'm through my current stash and buy a high end one that I know I like.

Physicians Formula Healthy Wear Powder Foundation in Translucent Light - I had one of these in my last post of finished products. I think I went through this one much quicker than my last one because I wasn't wearing makeup as often over the summer. I have one more of these left, but I won't be opening it up just yet because I'm now officially too pale for it. The last remnants of this one got mixed in with my regular super pale powder to use it up.

Philosophy Full of Promise Samples - These samples were so small that I used both of them for one application. I've been tempted to purchase high end skincare, but I haven't actually done it yet. Philosophy is at the top of my  list to try if I do go the high end route.

Simple Hydrating Light Moisturizer Sample - This came with a $2 coupon off a Simple moisturizer, which I ended up using on their Vital Vitamin Night Cream. It's a nice basic moisturizer, which is what I was looking for since I'm using a homemade serum and a retinal cream; I don't need bells and whistles in my moisturizer too.

Urban Decay Primer Potion - I think this has officially become my favorite primer. I've tried a few other primers recently that other people say work just like UDPP or Too Faced Shadow Insurance, and they crease on me. I like TFSI, but I get annoyed with the fact that it separates.

Urban Decay Complexion Primer Potion Samples - These are okay. I didn't notice anything special about them. I have a bunch of other primers right now.

Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation in 3.5 and 2.0 - I am loving this foundation. I'm now too pale for both of these shades. I picked up a sample of 0.5 yesterday at Sephora. I'm dying to get a full size of it, but I want to try out this shade first, and I need to work through at least one of the foundations I currently have before I buy another one.

Ojon Damage Reverse Instant Restorative Hair Serum - This was okay. It wasn't a big enough sample to notice the effect of this over time. I'm sure a full size is much more than I'm currently willing to pay on hair care.

Pond's Original All Day Clean Towelettes and Simple Cleansing Facial Wipes - I've mentioned before that I primarily use these when I'm swatching products or occasionally when I want to remove my makeup before doing a face mask, so I'm not overly particular about them. Both of these worked well enough for my purposes. I tend to buy whatever I can get for a good price.

That's it for finished products for now. I'm pleased with what I've been able to finish off even though it always feels like I'm fighting a losing battle. I need to start working my way through mineral eye shadow and blush samples because I have a million of them, and they barely get touched. That however, it a project for another day and another post.

Have you made any progress finishing up items recently?

Weekend Haul - Sephora, Ulta, CVS, Walgreens, WalMart

My fiance's cross country team went to sectionals this weekend, and I went along as the female chaperone for the group. It was a nice trip with a really good group of high school kids. The bonus of the trip was that my duties were done after the races were over, and since I had to drive separately, I got to go shopping on my way home. It was an area that I was familiar with, so I had a list of stores that I wanted to check out and a list of things I wanted to try and pick up.

My first stop was the mall since I needed lunch and a potty break (there were only port-a-potties at the races, and I wasn't going to use one of those unless I HAD to). I then stopped in at Sephora. I wasn't planning on picking up much there because I had a 20% off coupon for Ulta, but I wanted to check it out anyway.

Look what I found!

This was a boxed set of The Body Shop that was originally priced at $42, and it was on clearance for $20. I had a new eye cream on my shopping list, and I figured I would spend that much even on a good drugstore one, so I went ahead and got this set. I love face scrubs, and I know vitamin C is good for helping with scars, so can't wait to give these a try.

I also asked for a sample of the Urban Decay Naked Skin foundation in 2.0. I got samples in a couple of Urban Decay orders I placed a while back, and I like the foundation, but 2.0 will soon be too dark for me. This way, I should have enough to get me through until I'm back to my normally super-pale self.

After a quick cruise through Bath & Body Works and not getting anything (Victory!), I headed over to Ulta to use my 20% off coupon.

I planned on buying the Urban Decay Naked Skin foundation in 0.5 because that will be my shade soon, but it wasn't in stock. Boo! There were a few other items that I considered getting as well that Ulta didn't have, which was kind of nice because I didn't walk out with much makeup. Here's what I did get:

I got a Clarisonic Mia in Turquoise. My skin started freaking out recently, and I caved to the hype. I hope it ends up being worth it. The cleanser came with it, and I picked up two extra sensitive brush heads since they were 20% off. If you've tried any of the other brush heads, let me know what you think of them. I'm thinking of picking up a couple of the deep pore ones when Sephora does their VIB sale next month.

I picked up some haircare things as well. I got the got2b dry shampoo and volumizing powder because I've been wanting to try both of them out, and I grabbed anohter Salon Grafix conditioning cleanser because I'm out and I miss having it (Side note: Salon Grafix is BOGO 50% off at CVS this week).

My current daytime moisturizer is almost gone, so I decided to give the CeraVe one a try.

I purchased the Essence dual pencil sharpener because I've read that it's a good dupe for the Urban Decay Grindhouse, and I wanted a pencil sharpener with a cap. I grabbed the NYX retractable eye liner in Bronze because I never hear anything about these, and they're cheaper than the Slide On liners.

My last Ulta item was the $9 trio of Tarte primers to try out. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to try the eye primer or not because I haven't had good luck with Tarte eye primers. If you've tried it, let me know what you think.

My next purchases were from CVS. I have a coupon for $2 off any $4.99 Wet n Wild purchase that I wanted to use. I was hoping the CVS that I stopped at would have the limited edition 8-pan palettes, but I was out of luck there. Instead I picked up two liners, one liquid and one retractable (both of them are brown, even though the packaging looks black in the picture. Sadly, I can already tell that the liquid liner is going to be a dud. It is really red when swatched.

My next stop was Walgreens. I love this particular Walgreens because I've had really good luck finding limited edition items there, and yesterday was no exception. They had the Wet n Wild display with the 8-pan palettes I was looking for. Yippee! I only picked up the Sparkle 'Til Morning palette because I thought it would get the most use.

I also noticed some Sinful Colors eye shadow palettes, and I grabbed one in Barely There Shadow. I can't wait to try it out. I just did quick swatches on my hand, and they are nicely pigmented and apply smoothly.

The last item I picked up from Walgreens was another brown liquid liner. EleventhGorgeous on Youtube loves the Jordana FabuLiner, and I've been wanting to play with liquid liners, so I figured I would give this one a try too. Thankfully, it swatches much better than the Wet n Wild one. It's a nice, deep brown.

My last stop of the day was WalMart. I thought I might pick up a couple of the new Hard Candy items, but nothing interested me there. The few things that I did pick up were a Palmer's Cocoa Butter Swivel Stick, Simple Vital Vitamin Night Cream, and a couple of powder puffs.

That was the end of my shopping adventure. Since I didn't sleep the night before (there were bugs in my hotel room beds - Ewww!), I nearly fell asleep watching a tv show with my fiance, and we were both in bed by 9 p.m. Yep...we live really exciting lives. :-)

Did you get the Ulta 20% off coupon? What did you use it on? Have you had any fun shopping adventures recently?