Empties: April 2012

Before I dive into my posts from New York, I decided to do my empties post for April first, given that tomorrow is already May and I am too obsessed with doing my monthly empties to postpone it. This post is, of course, dedicated to the original Beauty Reductionista, Liz. Without further ado, here is my empties tally, collected from March 31 to today:

• Shiseido Super Mild Conditioner — Green Floral (600 ml)
• Lush American Cream Conditioner (250 ml)
• Lush Big Shampoo (325 g)
• True Blue Spa Paraffin Super Softening Hand Lotion (74 ml)
• True Blue Spa Monoi Oil Nourishing Body Lotion (236 ml)
• Skyn Iceland Glacial Face Wash with Biospheric Complex (150 ml)
• Benefit b.right! Moisture Prep Toning Lotion (177 ml)
• Estée Lauder Idealist Pore Minimizing Skin Refinisher (100 ml)
• Lancôme Crème Radiance Clarifying Cream-To-Foam Cleanser (125 ml)
• Boscia Revitalizing Black Hydration Gel (30 ml)
• MAC Cremewash (100 ml)
• MAC Oil Control Lotion (50 ml)
• MAC Lightful Charged Essence (30 ml)
• Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm SPF 25 — Lemon & Chamomile (7 g)
• Shiseido Facial Cotton (80 g)
• Butter London Powder Room Acetone Free Lacquer Remover (59 ml)
• Quo Nail Polish Remover Regular (354 ml)
• MAC Eyebrows — Lingering (0.09 g)
• MAC Haute & Naughty Lash Mascara — Black (9 g)

Total: 19 products (18 full size, 1 jumbo size)

Bodycare/Haircare:

Shiseido Super Mild Hair Conditioner — Green Floral (600 ml) — In case you haven't seen it before, this is a part of Shiseido's "drugstore" line, which is big in Asia, but not so much in Canada. All the writing on it is in Japanese, so I can't really tell you what it's supposed to do or what it's supposed to smell like, but I love, love, love the scent of this. This conditioner comes in three fragrances, but I am partial to the green one, which is a light, fresh, clean floral scent. I love that this conditioner isn't heavy, but leaves my hair feeling super soft and silky and completely detangled without leaving a residue. (For the record, I have non-dyed, long, medium-thick, coarse, dry hair.) Plus, it comes with a pump (which I personally like), and a 600 ml bottle is around $16 here (but it does go on sale for around $12, which is when I buy it).

Repurchase? Yes.

Lush American Cream Conditioner (250 ml) — I totally picked this up on a whim when I was at Lush, and I found that it didn't really do anything for my hair (non-dyed, long, medium-thick, coarse, dry) in terms of conditioning or detangling. The scent is a hit or miss — warm vanilla and honey — but I really loved the way it made my hair smell. Once your hair dries, the scent really lingers so you can pretty much smell it all day long. I personally like it, but many people don't like lingering scents in their hair products.

Repurchase? No, not worth it just for the scent.

Lush Big Shampoo (325 g) — You can read my review of this here. Basically, I love it.

Repurchase? Yes!

True Blue Spa Paraffin Super Softening Hand Lotion (74 ml) — Amazing, amazing, amazing. Totally bought this on a whim at Bath & Body Works last year when they were having a promotion (I think it was Buy 2, Get 1 Free). It has replaced the much more expensive L'Occitane en Provence Shea Butter Hand Cream as my favourite. I use this at night before I go to sleep because it is fairly emollient (e.g. greasy). I didn't realize how well this cream worked until I started using it again. I was using my MOR Grape & Basil Hand Cream, which is nice but not the most hydrating for my purposes (I have ridiculously dry, cracked hands from a combination of over-sanitizing and washing as well as eczema), and I switched back to this to see if it would work better, and what do you know? My hands were visibly smoother and more hydrated than before. This is seriously amazing at repairing super-dry hands.

Repurchase? Yes, already did!

True Blue Spa Monoi Oil Nourishing Body Lotion (236 ml) — Again, I bought this on a whim at Bath & Body Works when they were having a 2 for 1 sale. I really like the consistency and texture of this lotion, which definitely feels more like a rich cream than a lotion (though not as thick as a body butter). Amazing for dry to really dry skin. I wasn't too keen on this scent; it smells good at first, like a tropical fruit punch or something, but the more I used it, the more cloying it became.

Repurchase? Yes, but in a different scent.

Skincare:

Skyn Iceland Glacial Face Wash with Biospheric Complex (150 ml) — I didn't use this for make-up removal, so I'm not sure how effective it is for that purpose, but this is otherwise an amazing cleanser for my combination-oily skin. It really makes skin feel super-clean without drying it out, and it smells really fresh and clean. It has a very slight cooling effect which would make it perfect for hotter weather.

Repurchase? Yes.

Benefit b.right! Moisture Prep Toning Lotion (177 ml) — I absolutely hated this. It feels so gross to be spreading all over your face, like a slimy liquid-gel (actually reminded me a lot of jizz). It left my face feeling sticky and just not clean at all, like I had a layer of residue on; I seriously had to resist the urge to re-cleanse my face afterwards. Again, this is a moisture prep toner, so I should have known it was not going to be the best for my combination-oily skin, but I didn't know it would be this bad. Those with dry skin types might appreciate this more, but I could not wait to finish this damn bottle. The only redeeming quality is that it smells nice. And the bottle is quite cute, too.

Repurchase? God, no, never again.

Estée Lauder Idealist Pore Minimizing Skin Refinisher (100 ml) — I've been using this for years as my day time serum. It's a skin refiner, so it's main goal is to make skin look and feel smoother. Aside from making my pores look smaller and my skin more even, it also helps with any flakiness or roughness. Especially amazing to use before applying make-up.

Repurchase? Yep, I always have a back-up bottle.

Lancôme Crème Radiance Clarifying Cream-To-Foam Cleanser (125 ml) — You know, this has been my "holy grail" cleanser for years, but I think I like MAC's Cremewash a little more now! But this is amazing for removing make-up (including eye make-up and mascara), and it also cleans my skin effectively without leaving it feeling dry. But now that it's $35 a tube, I just can't justify getting a new tube every two months.

Repurchase? Yes, but only occasionally now; it's just too expensive.

Boscia Revitalizing Black Hydration Gel (30 ml) — I was using this as my night moisturizer. It has a light gel texture, so it's a great option for those with combination-oily skin. It left my skin feeling fresh and hydrated, and there is a cooling sensation that is pretty wonderful, especially after a shower (my face gets super hot). I didn't really find a huge difference in the texture and clarity of my complexion, but it didn't make me break out or leave dry patches of skin. However, the packaging is a total deal breaker. It comes in this pump jar which was great until it broke. I don't know how it broke because it was working perfectly one night, and the next, the pump was stuck right in there. I couldn't fix it, I couldn't un-twist the top, nothing. I was super pissed, too, because there was still some product in there, and seeing as each container only has 30 ml, I wanted to get as much of it out as possible. Such bullshit.

Repurchase? No, the packaging is horrendous!

MAC Cremewash (100 ml) — You know, the more I use this, the more I love it. It seriously takes off all my make-up (you're not meant to be using this in the eye area, but I do and it takes off everything, even stubborn mascara!), and leaves my skin feeling so soft and so smooth and so clean. It foams up beautifully and has such a rich, buttery lather. And it smells really clean with a hint of sweetness, kind of like apples and flowers. This is my new "holy grail" cleanser.

Repurchase? Yes!

MAC Oil Control Lotion (50 ml) — I was using this as my day moisturizer. This lotion is meant to disperse the oil on your face more evenly as the day goes on, so oils don't pool up around certain areas (like the edges of the nose). It does make your face look matte to a certain extent, but I get so oily that you can definitely see my grease face coming through after half a day of wear. As far as it goes, though, it's a decent oil-free hydration lotion. Not the best in terms of mattifying, though.

Repurchase? Maybe, if I can't find anything better.

MAC Lightful Charged Essence (30 ml) — Amazing at evening out skintone. You have to use it to believe it. All the redness in my face was much less noticeable even after a week of use. MAC's Lightful line is essentially their "whitening" line, so it's meant to fade dark spots and even out skintone. I don't know if my beauty marks and freckles are any less noticeable at this point, but it really does help with skintone.

Repurchase? Yes, I have the new version now (Marine Bright Formula).

Jack Black Intense Therapy Lip Balm SPF 25 — Lemon & Chamomile (7 g) — Best emollient lip balm I have ever used. It really hydrates lips and repairs cracked, chapped, generally dry lips, instead of just protecting them (like Vaseline). And this one tastes and smells like lemon cupcakes.

Repurchase? Yes, I always have back-ups, and I keep them everywhere.

Miscellaneous:

Shiseido Facial Cotton (80 g) — Best cotton pads, ever. Ridiculously soft and fluff-free, and holds product better than any other cotton pad out there, so you end up needing less product. And before you think $9 is too steep for a package of cotton pads, think again. In terms of cost per pad, it's about the same as your typical drugstore brand. Also amazing to use to remove nail polish, because it holds remover like no other so it's always soaked.

Repurchase? Always, I have about four back-up packs.

Butter London Powder Room Acetone Free Lacquer Remover (59 ml) — I got this as a bonus gift when I ordered a bunch of polishes from Butter London's site. Really amazing polish remover (I would say as good as Zoya's) and smells amazing. But the bottle is tiny, and it's $7 each.

Repurchase? No, too expensive for the amount you get.

Quo Nail Polish Remover Regular (354 ml) — After having used both Zoya's and Butter London's polish removers, you will never go back to this shit. Quo's remover is terrible; you need double the amount of product and time to take off polish than the other brands I mentioned.

Repurchase? Maybe as a back-up remover only.

Make-up:

MAC Eyebrows — Lingering (0.09 g) — I have been using this eyebrow pencil for years. I love that it's self-sharpening and that it has the finest point I have ever seen on an eyebrow pencil. I have thin, patchy, asymmetrical eyebrows, and this really helps fill them and shape them with precision. And Lingering, a soft taupe brown, is the perfect shade for me.

Repurchase? Yep, I go through one in about two months, so I always have two back-ups.

MAC Haute & Naughty Lash Mascara — Black (9 g) — This is now my go-to mascara. I have really long, but really thin and straight lashes, and this amps up the volume like no other. And it doesn't smudge, even though it's not waterproof. The formula is really wet, though, so it can be prone to clumping and it can get a little messy around the tube opening... but the effect is totally worth it, 'cause I love huge, dramatic lashes.

Repurchase? Yep, I go through one in about 1.5 months, so I always have a back-up.

Guys, I think I hit a new record for empties this month!