Tag: Empties

Beauty, Humor

Empties!

“There are no ugly women, only lazy ones” 
― Helena Rubinstein

My nosy love of these kinds of posts and videos continues unabated and so, in the interest of science, I’ve been hoarding items since November (just after I posted my last bathroom shelf tell all) to see what I kept using and coming back to. And also because I’m keeping track of the beauty items I use up in a calendar year because I am a ridiculous woman who loves nothing more than keeping lists. Leave me my weird pleasures without judgement.

I keep all my empties in a couple of bags under a bathroom sink so I had no idea how much stuff we were dealing with until I upended them on the coffee table for the purposes of documentation.

Here’s the grand total. Good lord.

Let’s break this down into more helpful batches, shall we?

I’m absolutely positive that I’m missing bottles of this category but say hello to the bath and body care we’ve made it through in the past few months. I love baths but it’s been sweltering hot for weeks now and I haven’t had a hot soak since about April. Otherwise, in spite of evidence to the contrary, we don’t have brand loyalties in this category and almost always buy body wash when it’s on sale.

Next up: hair care. The continued bane of my existence. My trusty T Gel continues to keep my scalp at bay and most other items in this category are also the result of sales at Boots. I made it through another bottle of Living Proof dry shampoo as well as a travel size Klorane and a similarly petite can of Elnett. I’m not sure how my Oskia cleanser made it into this batch, reorganize that in your head to the skincare category…which is still coming up and which is a doozy.

I have made it through a pathetically small amount of cosmetics during this time, at least as far as fully panning them is concerned. I’m not counting single eyeshadows or other items yet and will tally those up later in the year after I’ve hopefully racked up a few more empties to show off. Makeup takes forever to use up and this, if nothing else should be the reasoning that helps me stay on the straight and narrow when it comes to my shopping goals for the year…but as you know I’ve succumbed to another highlighter like the weak-willed fool I am.

Ah well! I’ve used up a brow pencil, a brow gel, a mascara, some sample sized primers and a satisfying amount of perfume in the past six months, including a full bottle of Glossier You which I really, really like. And which I’m forbidden from repurchasing until I use up yet more perfume lying around my house because there is still an obscene amount on my bathroom shelves. I also used up a full lipstick which qualifies me for some kind of beauty hoarder Olympics I think, but which is not shown here because in the process of holding on to the tube to lovingly add it to my empties stash, it ended up in a bag that was absolutely soaked in olive oil after a tragic farmers market incident. And if that isn’t the silliest sentence I’ve typed in a long time, I don’t know what is.

Holy mackerel. Okay, let’s talk about skincare, the category of products that takes most of my money and where I definitely have brand loyalties to speak of. I’ve made it through multiple Glossier cleansers, serums, and moisturizer tubes, as well as several bottles of The Ordinary’s Hyluronic Acid. The Ordinary features in a few other products which I finished and linked but will not be repurchasing for the time being. Trusty stand bys in the form of Clinique, Bioderma, and Kiehls are tucked in here, as are a few South Korean skincare items. The SoKo women know their SPF and serums, and if you have not yet tried either, do yourself a favor. I discovered the Thank You Farmer SPF several months ago and went through it in record time; in fact I ended up on a ridiculous waitlist to replace it when it was gone and did the rare thing (for me) of back ups against the day that I ran out again.

Good lord.

Beauty, Goals, Humor, Life, Money, Shopping, Style

Empties Update

“My dad used to say makeup was a shallow girl’s sport, but it’s not. It’s armor.” 
― Courtney Summers, All the Rage

Back in April, as part of my Style Month project, I shared several months worth of empties–the products I’ve used to the last drop. I remain pleasantly fascinated with empties videos or posts from other writers and of course, I’ve been on a bit of a kick when it comes to thinking and writing about consumption myself. So obviously as soon as I had hit publish on my last post, I began stockpiling items as I used them up for an update. Six months later, it’s time for an update!

I’ve bought very few new products in the last half year and so have been able to use up quite a few things to learn more about what I like, what I hate, what I swear by, and what I think is just not worth the money.

Not too bad, C., you may say. Seems manageable until you–

Oh god, what kind of monster am I?!

Skincare first! There were quite a few repeats in here as this is my second bottle of Sunday Riley Good Genes, at least my bottle third Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Concentrate, my second Clinique All About Eyes Rich eye cream, and third Kate Somerville ExfoliKate scrub. All of these are beloved favorites, but I’ve made a commitment to use up much more of my own beauty stash before I allow myself to repurchase any of these items (particularly as they aren’t exactly cheap). You may be surprised to hear that I dislike a Glossier product, but their Super Pure formula is my least favorite of their three serums and I wouldn’t repurchase it. The Pestle & Mortar Superstar retinol oil was excellent, but I’m road testing a much cheaper version from The Ordinary which thus far I really like! Speaking of, I also finished off a bottle of hyaluronic acid serum from the The Ordinary displaced another Pestle & Mortar similar product as well. Quality doesn’t need to break the bank, kids!

Another bottle of Glossier Milky Jelly cleanser down. I already had a bottle of this on stand by that I purchased over the summer, but I’m ridiculously lucky and got two free additional bottles from attending the Glossier pop up earlier this summer, and then scored another back up as the G-team apparently mailed out some gift boxes as follow up to that press event later in the summer. Because they are freaking brilliant at marketing. Long story short, I haven’t had to repurchase this in a while, but I fully intend to when my stash runs down again. It’s a really good product, perfect as a morning cleanser or a second cleanse in the evening (if I’ve been wearing a full face of makeup and SPF all day). My evening cleanser for months has been the Oskia Renaissance Cleansing gel–a gel/balm formula that turns to oil on your skin. It dissolves most makeup and doesn’t strip your skin in the slightest. The Kiehl’s cleanser has been included in this stash for the sake of honesty. Technically it was Jeff’s product but I made liberal use of it in the shower and contributed to its demise–so into the bag it went! I’ve used up two masks, the Aesop Parsley Seed mask and Moisturizing Moon mask. I may repurchase them someday, but I want to try some similar products from other brands first…once my current mask stash is depleted. I definitely would not repurchase the Tidal cream by Sunday Riley–odd smell, nothing special as a moisturizer, and sparkly flecks in it to boot.

Hair continues to be my personal Waterloo, but here are some of the mane-taming products I used up recently, along with a couple of shower bits. I’m not precious about my bathing and use Jeff’s razors and bodywash without shame. In fact, I’m positive I missed at least two bottles of bodywash that rightly should have been included in this confessional but recycled them first. Oops. My eczema continues to wreak havoc on my scalp, hence the two different medicated shampoos (also probably not an honest reckoning), but I did manage to make it through two bottles of conditioner. A powder style dry shampoo and leave-in conditioner round off the pack. The powder smells wonderful but I would not repurchase as I’ve found a much better spray formula. All the other items, however, are pretty much my standard shower rotation and their replacements are in situ.

While we’re being honest, that comment about stealing Jeff’s face wash? Same for deodorant. I just don’t see the point of the pinker, lady-friendly stuff when he has a perfectly good can of product sitting on our dresser that I can swipe. The Certain Dri roll on, however, is definitely mine. Also in the spirit of full disclosure, this stuff is fantastic and when I use it regularly/properly, it’s a miracle product. I tend to pick up a bottle whenever we go back to the States. I also used up a No 7 make up brush cleanser from Boots (great product!) and a bath oil from Sanctuary Spa. I take a bath almost every night, especially in cold weather and prefer oils to bubbles…even if it means I have to scrub the tub more regularly. It’s a small price to pay for zen.

Finally, some make up! Er, kinda? It takes me quite a while to get through make up products, though you may remember my recent discovery of the MakeUp Rehab reddit community which has inspired a number of “use it up” personal challenges for me. If I do another post like this six months from now, I’m hoping to have a few empty makeup tins and pans to add to the pile. This time at least, I made it through yet another tube of Maybeline Full ‘N Soft mascara–my go to for years. Glossier Boy Brow did good service in the beauty wars and its replacement is already in rotation. I loved this hand cream from Elizabeth Arden and will definitely be buying a full sized tube once my seemingly infinite amounts of other travel sized lotions have served their time. Finally, I used up a bottle of Hermes Jardin sur la Nil perfume which I loved but am happy to part with as friends after a four year run.

Your turn, kittens, if you feel up to oversharing in the comments. Do you keep track of items that you use up–if so, what and why? Is my fascination with personal consumption at all interesting or just weird? Let me know your thoughts, I’m braced for impact!