NEW // FEBRUARY & MARCH

February and March were a little indulgent, to say the least!  I went to visit my parents in New Jersey and during my trip in to NYC, I went to MAC and.... well, the rest is history.

On the positive side, however, I did finally find a foundation that works for me!  MAC's Mineralize Moisture Foundation doesn't cling to my dry patches and is actually my color.  It is subtly radiant and I can apply it with my fingers (the tools of choice for most makeup application, tbh).  It's going to last forever, though I probably will stop buying most MAC products (other than my HG Ruby Woo lipstick) because they do test on animals.  There are so many other brands out there that are cruelty-free to choose from, why not just use those! 

My journey to MAC was originally just to pick up another tube of Ruby Woo (which was the first lipstick I've ever finished!), and it devolved in to getting my makeup done by an artist, since I had to wait for the bus.  I also picked up the lipstick in So Select, which is a great dusky rosey greige color.  Very on trend!

I also got another Charlotte Tillbury lipstick in Amazing Grace, which is beautiful!  I love CT's matte lipsticks so much, I wish I could own all of them.  The gold tubes are so luxurious and the formula and colors are SPOT ON.  I actually bought this same color for both my mom and best friend for their birthdays at the same time.  We match!

I also finally took the plunge and bought another bottle of perfume!  I got a sample of Chanel No.5 Eau Premiere from my friend, and I didn't realize how much I loved it until spring!  It has been my perfume of choice these past months since I've bought it.  I tried to love the original Chanel No.5, but it's a bit too heavy for me.  This one is perfect!

I also got a perfume sampler from A Beautiful Life, which is a brand I've known about for a while but kind of forgot about.  Most of the scents aren't really to my liking, but I really find my tastes change depending on seasons and also where I am in my life!  The other samples are are Geurlain.  I got Shalimar pure parfum, l'Heure Bleue EDT, and Apres l'Ondee EDP.  I love Shalimar, and I hope to one day buy a tiny bottle, but maybe next year?  Maybe later this year?  Haha.

I also purchased three items in a blog sale, two of which I forgot to photograph, of course.  I got Burberry lip cover in Oxblood, Charlotte Tillbury Eyes To Mesmerize in Jean, and Burberry Lip Definer in Bright Plum.

I also finally ran out of concealer, so I sprung for NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer.  It's pretty great!  It's super light, so it really does a great job at masking anything that needs a bit more coverage.  I also got a tub of Layrite Pomade for defining any vintage sets, curls, or rolls I do,  It's water based, so it doesn't leave your hair with a greasy film, and it's a nice alternative to heavy hairspray, which I find makes my style last less due to not washing my hair all the time.

I also got a sample of Paula's Choice 2% BHA Liquid, and it seemed like it was working, but my skin was SO dry.  The woman at MAC said that BHAs actually dry your skin out a lot, so I stopped using it for a while and my skin didn't seem any worse for wear without it.  Skincare is hard.

I also purchased three Kiehl's products, one of which isn't pictured.  I really dropped the ball this time, huh??  I got their Creme d'Elegance, which I had tried a sample of.  It's so rich and amazing, and it doesn't irritate my sensitive skin.  I also got a bottle of their Midnight Recovery Concentrate, which I can't tell as of now if it's breaking me out or not.  I've given it a rest right now, but I probably won't return it because I really want it to work.  :(  I also got their mineral sunscreen because I needed a new one.  It leaves a white cast, which most zinc based sunscreens do, but a little foundation or skin tint over top evens that right out.  

I also got a LOT of GWPs this month.  I don't really have much to say about any of them other than that I have a growing bag of samples and I never use them??  GWPs are scams, I tell you!!  Though I did use Bumble & Bumble's Pret-A-Powder and it was really great.  May have to buy a full size bottle of that, haha.  Whelp!

EMPTIES // FEBRUARY

This month wasn't super exciting, but I did get rid of a lipstick!  If you had told me from a year ago that I was getting rid of a perfectly good lipstick, I would have clutched my pearls in horror!  If you're following my super duper special lipstick challenge, you'll have seen that Wet N' Wild's Stoplight Red was my first purge!  Very exciting.  I'm also getting rid of that bottle of sea salt spray, because even if the spray nozzle hadn't broken off, it smelled awful.  :(  Finally, I'm getting rid of my hairbrush!  I've had it for years (gross, I know) and one day I realized, huh, the brand is right on the handle.  Why don't I just look it up on amazon and see if it's reasonably priced.  And it was!  So I bought a new one!!  Joy of joys!!!

As for things I actually used up: Nivea!!!  I've had that container for way too long, but I've recently started using it on my hands at night, which is great.  I also used up my sample of Lancome's Teint Idole Ultra Makeup Stick, which was really nice.  I would maybe be interested in purchasing a full sized one to try it out.  Kiehl's Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleansing mask was interesting; it was super intense and made my face burn.  Maybe not for me??  I find that mud masks all make my skin tingle and burn like nobody's business, so maybe I need to find something more gentle, or just forego them all together.

Bogavia's Exfoliating Facial Scrub was nice, but I never feel like manual exfoliation helps me at all.  I exfoliate my face whenever I wear makeup when I take it off with the washcloth, so I feel like maybe that's enough for me.  I also tried out a sample of Bogavia's Night Cream (not pictured, I saved the little jar) which was nice!  But it didn't solve my dehydrated skin, even though it felt good and was unscented.  Maybe for a summer cream?  First Aid Beauty's Ultra Repair Cream was also a bust.  I used it for about a week before my skin completely rebelled.  I got little bumps all over my forehead, and more red spots on my cheeks and chin.  I mentioned it in the comments on XOVain and someone pointed out that it has Eucalyptus Leaf Extract in it, which is irritating to sensitive skin.  C'mon FAB!  I'm going to give the other packets I got to a friend, so hopefully it'll be better for them.

I also decided to finally toss some of my other samples that I never use.  The two packets I got at least three years ago, probably have gone bad by now.  The pots are Sunday Riley's Night Oil and Good Genes, both of which are totally out of my price range, even if they worked for me, which I don't know if they do tbh.  I tried them for a bit and then broke out a bit, blerg.  Whelp!

February Totals

Empties // Full Size // 1

Empties // Foil Packets // 5

Empties // Deluxe Samples // 0

Purged // 3

Toss // 5

Yearly Totals

Empties // Full Size // 8

Empties // Foil Packets // 6

Empties // Deluxe Samples // 1

Purged // 24

Toss // 15

EMPTIES // END OF 2015 & JANUARY 2016

Hello all!  Happy New year!  I thought I'd start the year off with a nice little purge.  A friend of a friend of mine made a post on facebook about giving gently used beauty items to a women's shelter in Buffalo, so I've decided to finally get rid of a whole bunch of stuff I never use but have been lugging around because I can't just throw away my money.  I also did get through a couple of products between now and the last empties post I made.  Very exciting!

My goal for the year with products is to really try to get through one product before purchasing another.  So, hopefully, I'll have a good amount of empties all year round!

Empties //

All these empties I feel really great about!  The Aveeno Men's Shaving Gel was an awesome product.  It smelled like almonds and lasted quite a while.  It was also great for sensitive skin and didn't itch or burn like Skintimate has done for me in the past.  I also finished a second tube of Weleda's Almond Face Lotion which is great and mild, but definitely cannot stand up to the Buffalo winter.  Maybe I will repurchase for the summer, if I don't find something I like more.  The cotton rounds are just a general good purchase.

The Shea Moisture Deep Treatment mask is yet another of the same, I talked about how much I like it in last month's empties.  On the other hand, I finally finished my first tub of Meow Meow Tweet's Tea Tree Deodorant!  I love this stuff.  It makes me feel good when I apply it and it keeps me smelling good all day.  It has a really mild, natural scent, which is great for someone who dislikes the flowery scents of traditional women's deodorant.  It also lasts forever; I got this pot at least half a year ago, if not more.  Something that may be a downside for some people would be that you have to apply it with your fingers, but it never bothers me.

It was time for this Maybelline Fit Me concealer to go.  I maybe could have eeked out a bit more, but I've had it for at least two years, and it honestly does not get the job done anymore.  It was time to face the facts, haha.  I also finished another tube of Physician's Formula brown eyeliner, which I should probably just repurchase again.  I was debating trying something different, but honestly, it's such a great eyeliner and suits me so well.  And they sell it in packs of three!

Samples wise, all I used were two lotions from Kiehl's: A pot of Creme d'Elegance Repairateur and a packet of Ultra Facial Cream.  The Repairateur was a favorite and I definitely want to repurchase a fullsize, but the Ultra was not great and I got the burning sensation I sometimes get with certain moisturizers.

Give-Away //

Holy products, Batman!  I won't even really try with this category, I just liked the photo of all this stuff spilled out all over the place.  A few items of note: Most of the makeup was just not the right color for me, the lemon body butter smelled awful,  the simple face moisturizer broke me out and the No7 one didn't moisturize well, the e.l.f. brushes were scratchy as hell.... I could go on.

Toss //

To start, those little sample pots are all foundations that dried up as they didn't work for me.  I used to love the Maybelline BB Cream but then fell out of love with it and now it's kind of old.  The Sport Face sunblock also lost it's consistency, but it was my facial sunscreen of choice for years.  I never really enjoyed the Vanilla Body Butter's scent, and the Maybelline's The Falsies mascara never worked for me either, and now it's dried up.  I also have a Stilla eyeliner in there, which still has a bit of color left,. but none of it goes to the tip of the felt tip, so drawing a wing is impossible.  Also, I much prefer my gel pot liner and brush now.

Now, taking some inspiration from the lovely Gummy Vision, I thought I'd write down my totals each month and then the cumulative total for the year!  It's always cool to see how much you've used/purged.

January Totals

Empties // Full Size // 7

Empties // Foil Packets // 1

Empties // Deluxe Samples // 1

Purged // ~21

Toss // 10

Yearly Totals

Empties // Full Size // 7

Empties // Foil Packets // 1

Empties // Deluxe Samples // 1

Purged // 21

Toss // 10