Finished It!!! Volume 8

It's time for another round of showing off my trash. I'm excited about this one because I have a few items from my list of products I want to finish that I get to include (those products will be labeled with a star).

Let's get started:

The Body Shop Love Etc... Body Wash - I wasn't in love with the scent of this, and the lather seemed to disappear pretty quickly. I won't be rebuying.

Bath & Body Works Berry Vanilla Body Wash - I loved the scent and the lather is fantastic. I have several bottles of Bath & Body Works body wash left in my stash. I don't think I can get this scent again, but I will probably end up buying more of this product in the future.

The Body Show Satsuma Body Wash - This body wash smells amazing! The lather didn't last as long as I would like, and it didn't always do a good job of helping my razor glide along my legs (I don't use shaving creams). I probably won't repurchase.

Yardley London Vanilla Sugar Soap - I wanted to love this, but I'm just not a fan of bar soaps. Sadly, I have a couple more of these left to use or get rid of in some way.

 Bath & Body Works Cherry Blossom Lotion - This isn't the most moisturizing lotion formula, but it isn't bad. This is one of my favorite scents, and my fiance really likes it too.

Scentsations Vanilla Sugar Body Lotion - I got this at Kohl's a long time ago with a coupon. It is really watery and not very moisturizing. I won't be repurchasing from this brand.

Burt's Bees Radiance Body Lotion - While I like the idea of shimmery body lotions in theory, I hate them in practice. The shimmer gets everywhere and sticks on my hands much longer than I'd like after applying it. I won't be picking this up again.

Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion - This was a freebie from some Ulta order. It was okay, but it wasn't anything special. I don't plan on picking this up again.

Silk Naturals Kiss Cleanser - This is a holy grail product for me. It's a great, simple face wash. Silk Naturals suggest putting it in a foamer bottle that they sell and diluting it with a 70:30 ratio of water to cleanser, so one bottle lasts a long time. I already had a backup, and I will continue to repurchase it in the future.

Neutrogena Acne Stress Control 3-in-1 Hydrating Acne Treatment - I've used this for a long time, and it works well for me. I still have a couple of tubes of this in my stash.

Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair Eye Cream - I like that this eye cream has retinol in it, but it wasn't quite moisturizing enough. I don't plan on repurchasing it.

Tarte Clean Slate Primer - This is the old formula and/or packaging. I liked it. I've got several other primers to use up and at least one other one that I want to try, but I might eventually repurchase this.

Lumene Double Stay Long-Lasting Makeup in Vanilla Meringue* - One of the major positives of this foundation is that it matches my skin. Unfortunately, it isn't easy to get here in the US. I ordered it off ebay when I bought it. I've got other foundations that are easier to get that match me, so I don't plan on getting this again.

Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment - This was a freebie from Sephora. I was glad I got to try it, but it didn't seem overly moisturizing to me, and it was so soft that I had to depot it into a jar before I was even halfway through it. A full size is also really expensive. I won't be purchasing a full size.

Darling Girl Raspberry Mist Lip Balm - I really like Susan's lip balms. I love that she has so many flavor options. I've gone through several, and I will probably buy more in the future.

Yankee Candle Pomegranate Fruit Lip Balm* - I liked this balm well enough. I think the packaging is really cute since it looks like a mini candle, but it's also too bulky for someone who likes to keep her balm in her pants pocket. These aren't easy to find, so I probably won't pick this up again.

Urban Decay Lip Junkie Lip Gloss in Naked* - This was the mini that came with the Naked 2 palette. I really liked the color. I wasn't a huge fan of the consistency because it was a little too sticky. I won't buy a full size.

Perfume Samples in Marc Jacobs Daisy, Betsy Johnson Too Too pretty, and DKNY Pure - I already have a mini of the DKNY Pure. I don't plan on purchasing Daisy or Too Too Pretty (BTW: those two stopped spraying, so even though there is still perfume left, I can't get to it).

 Lots of Random Samples - I didn't love any of these. The only one really worth noting is the Silk Naturals Colt Eye Shadow Sample*. It's a nice color that is a dupe for Urban Decay's Darkhorse. Since I already have two full-size pans of Darkhorse, I feel no need to purchase the dupe.

Herbal Essences Totally Twisted Curl Boosting Mousse - This left my hair feeling too crispy. I'm glad to see it gone. I won't pick it up again.

Those are my empties! Have you finished up anything lately?

Fresh Sugar Lip Balms - Worth the Price?

I was thrilled when I found out that Sephora's 2012 birthday gift for VIBs was a duo of mini Fresh Sugar lip balms in original and Rose. There's a lot of hype about these balms, but I just couldn't justify the $22.50 price tag to try out a full size (Ouch!). Getting to try them for free was a much better deal.

Here's a look at the duo from the day I brought them home. The packaging itself makes these balms feel fancy because they are metal tubes and the cap twists on and off.

Sadly, this is what ended up happening to my original balm after a handful of uses:

This balm is SO soft, you can't keep it in your pocket, which is where I always keep my lip balm that I'm using for the day. The packaging gives the balm too much wiggle room. It would work a lot better in a more traditional lip balm tube where the balm is formed to the side of the tube. I ended up having to depot this into an empty jar that I had on hand because I just couldn't use it in the tube anymore.

As for how well the balm actually performs, it is a nice feeling balm. It's not overly slick, but it isn't waxy feeling either. It has a citrus/lemon scent that is nice but not over-powering. One major positive is that it has SPF 15, which is always nice. As for how well it moisturizes, I don't find it amazing. Since I'm trying to use it up, I'm using it pretty constantly right now, and the edges of my lips start to feel dry, and I don't know why that is. After doing a scan of the ingredients, my best guess would be because it has benzyl alcohol in it, but I have no proof to back that up. 

Final Thoughts

Is this balm worth $22.50 for a full size? Not for me. I don't want to have to be super careful when slicking on a lip balm or keep it in my purse instead of my pocket, and the formula isn't amazing enough to overcome that negative. If it were in a value set that I already wanted, I wouldn't object to using it again, but I'm not going to go out of my way to pick more up.

What do you think of the Fresh Sugar Balms? What is your favorite lip balm?