Finished It!!! Volume 7

It's that time again. I get to throw away the stash of empties that have piled up.

Bath & Body Works Night-Blooming Jasmine Shower Gel - This is a scent that I fell in love with during college, and I still really enjoy it. It isn't part of the permanent line anymore, but it is usually available during the semi-annual sale.

Gud Vanilla Flame Body Wash - The bottle says this scent is a combination of vanilla and rice milk. This is a really good scent for people who don't like their scents to be too sweet. This was a decent body wash, but it was a bit expensive (I think I paid close to $7 for it).

Salon Grafix Conditioning Cleanser - I am declaring this product to be such a staple that I won't be including it in my posts of finished products anymore, just like I'll no longer be including my regular shampoo and conditioner). I love this for those lazy nights when I don't want to mess with two products. I recently saw a person on YouTube say that this product is awful compared to Wen, which I've never tried, so your results may vary.

Giovanni D:tox Purifying Facial Scrub - I've had this for too long. I like it when I first got it, but then I just stopped using it. It's not overly scrubby, so I was able to use it every day when I was using it. One pet peeve of mine though is the packaging. I hate when bottles like this have their labels painted on in such a way that they start flaking off.

Philosophy Amazing Grace Shower Gel - This was a freebie that I got in an Ulta order. I'm not a big fan of the Philosophy perfume scents. For me, Philosophy shower gels are over-priced for what they are, and I'd probably never purchase them unless there was a good sale or value set, and I would stick with their sweet, foody scents.

John Frieda Precision Foam Color Conditioner - I'm going to stop throwing these in too. I like the John Frieda hair color enough that I'm going to stick with it for the time being. The conditioner that comes with it is okay.

 Mary Kay Satin Hands Vanilla Sugar Hand Cream - I got this free through a drawing a long time ago. I enjoyed the scent, but the hand cream itself wasn't anything special. I don't plan on repurchasing.

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula with Vitamin E - Another product that I've had around for way too long. I finished it up by using it on my feet and cuticles, but of which are super dry this time of year. I currently have a stick version that I'm using on my cuticles. I don't plan on repurchasing the tub for the time being.

Neutrogena Visibly Even Daily Moisturizer SPF 30 - This was a decent face moisturizer and met my requirement of having an SPF of at least 30. I don't think it helped my skin tone at all though. I'm currently testing out the CeraVe daily moisturizer, so I'm not repurchasing this one.

The Body Shop Peppermint Smoothing Pumice Foot Scrub - The Body Shop had an AMAZING Cyber Monday sale, and I couldn't resist. This little sample was part of a goodie bag that was $30 with any $30 order. It only lasted me about 3-4 uses. It felt nice, but it didn't have a lot of scrub to it, and my feet have pretty hefty calluses, so this didn't really do anything for them. I won't be purchasing a full size.

Sally Hansen Cuticle Oil with Vitamin E - Honestly, I'm guessing on the name of this. I've had this for way too long, so the name has worn off the bottle, and I'm too lazy to check. This was too oily for me, and yes, I do realize that it was an oil. It didn't absorb very quickly, and I've decided that I generally enjoy cuticle creams.

Tarte Pure Maracuja Oil and Josie Maran Argan Oil - I started experimenting with essential oils in my skincare routine a couple of months ago. Since essential oils need a carrier oil, I figured I might as well use the ones already in my stash. I'm really liking the essential oils, but I didn't notice anything special about using these particular oils as the carrier oils. Once my stash runs out (I have a 1 oz bottle of the argan oil and 2 full-sizes of the maracuja oil to work through), I'll be looking for a cheaper alternative.

This is my attempt at clearing out all of my little sample packets. I have a ways to go, but it's definitely a start!

Strivectin-SD Intensive Concentrate for Stretch Marks & Wrinkles - Not nearly enough of a sample to tell if it is effective.

DDF Erase Eye Gel - I felt like this eye gel was masking the problem more than it was attempting to fix the problem. It has dimethicone and mica in it, so it feels like a primer and has a slightly shimmery, yellow tint to it. I wasn't a fan.

Josie Maran Argan Oil Hair Serum - This felt nice and didn't leave my hair feeling greasy.

Philosophy Purity Made Simple - I had been wanting to try this because so many people love it, so I was excited to finally have a sample to try. I think it was causing my skin to break out. I'm not positive on that, but it did push me over the edge to commit to my current face washes and stop trying out new ones. I'm happy with what I have (Silk Naturals Kiss Cleanser and Mario Badescu's Acne Facial Cleanser). It works, so I'm not going to mess with it anymore.

DHC Deep Cleansing Oil - This didn't do a very good job of removing my eye makeup, which surprised me.

Silk Naturals Cucumber & Rhassoul Clay Mask - This came as an extra in a Mystery Adventure Club package a long time ago (MAC was a program where you got a package with all of the gift with purchase shades for that given month along with some sort of fun extra). Silk Naturals masks come in powder form, and you mix in the liquid, typically water. I was feeling adventurous, and I used witch hazel with this. I liked it, but it has never been released for sale, so I couldn't get it. I also have several other face masks to use up.

Jergens Daily Moisture Dry Skin Moisturizer - It's a lotion. It felt okay. I have a ton of lotion in my stash.

Asian Cream Cleanser - I have no idea what the brand is. This was part of my Secret Santa package. It burned my eyes a bit.

Hanfang Anti-oxidizing Mask - This was a sheet mask, and I couldn't deal with leaving the sheet on my face. The eye holes weren't quite large enough, and it would have driven me nuts. Instead, I just got as much of the liquid on my face as I could (which was actually quite a bit) and used it that way. I don't think I will be picking up more sheet masks.

I took these shampoo and conditioner packets with me while traveling over the holidays. None of them were anything special.

Kiss My Face Vanilla Honey SPF 15 Lip Balm - I think this is the last Kiss My Face balm in my stash. I like them. This felt kind of goopy by the end, and I've had it so long, I don't remember if it always felt that way. It wasn't totally off-putting though. I just dabbed it onto my lips instead of swiping it on. I might eventually buy more of these.

C.O. Bigelow Lemon & Black Cherry Lip Balm - I bought this back when they were on clearance at Bath & Body Works. It wasn't until after I bought it that I realized it contains shea butter, which causes my lips to crack. I used it some on my lips, but not much. Instead, I used it on my cuticles to get rid of it.

Badger Pink Grapefruit Lip Balm - I like the Badger lip balms. I just wish they had an SPF.

Buxom Lipstick in Amsterdam - I got this in the Sephora Give Me Some Lip set from a couple of years ago. The color was a bit too brown for my taste. I'm also not a big fan of lipstick. I won't be purchasing any of these.

Boyfriend Perfume Sample - I like this perfume, and almost more importantly, my fiance likes it. I might eventually buy this perfume, probably in roller ball form.

Subversive Apothecary Serum - This was a freebie sample that I got a long time ago. This is supposed to be an amazing anti-aging serum, and a full size of the serum is really expensive. I've been using essential oils (with a carrier oil, obviously), and I just decided to pour this into the mix to get rid of the sample vial.

Tarte Gifted Mascara - I've mentioned on here several times that I'm not a fan of Tarte's Lights, Cameras, Lashes mascara. It flakes on me. I didn't have high hopes for this one either, but I got it with a QVC kit, so I figured I would give it a try. I really liked it. It worked much better than the LCL mascara. I used it for 3 months, so it's time for this one to go away.

Tarte Smooth Operator Finishing Powder - This is such a fine powder that a cloud of dust kicked up every single time I used it. It didn't help that the sifter came off and dumped all of it into my swirling bowl. I ended up mixing in my Meow mineral foundation hoping to minimize the dust cloud. It didn't help much. I'll be getting a full size in a QVC kit in February, and I may try it again to see if I can get it to work. At this point, I wouldn't be purchasing more of this if it wasn't part of a kit.

Tarte Clean Slate Primer - I don't know if you can see, but there is a lot of product still left in this tube. This is the old packaging, and I have not verified if the current Clean Slate Primer is the exact same formula or not. Either way, this packaging was horrible. It made it really hard to get product out, and I've just given up. I know I could cut the tube open, but I don't really like that idea. I read a blog post (I think) a long time ago where a woman explained that she doesn't cut open her Urban Decay Primer Potion tubes (obviously the old style packaging of that) because tiny fragments of the plastic would end up in the product. I'd rather not be rubbing jagged plastic fragments all over my face.

Silk Naturals Sleep in a Jar Light Peach - I think this is the third time this product has shown up in a finished products post. I use it every day. I love it. It's HG for me. Enough said.

That's it for now. I'm really happy with the fact that I was able to use up a bunch of samples and things that I've had for way too long. Hooray for reducing beauty product clutter!

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?