Empties! A Plethora of Products I Used Up or Tossed in April

I've got more empties from April than I can shake a stick at, so let's get started. I'm not going to give a description of each item, but will highlight those that stood out, either for good or bad.

I was hoping the eclos Cleansing Oil would be a less expensive option for my holy grail DHC Deep Cleansing oil (review here), but it didn't quite live up that standard.  While not a bad product by any means, I found it did not always remove my mascara and I just wasn't feeling it.  Subjective, I know, but DHC still reigns supreme for me.

Halleluhiah, I finally finished one of the many hair heat protection sprays I've got crowding my bathroom shelves.  I blame Birchbox, who sends out quite the variety of hair products from multiple brands.  I especially like the colorful label art, which probably was as responsible for me reaching for this, but fortunately the quality is right up there as well.  If I didn't have a glut of hair products I'd consider purchasing, for sure.

This is the second bottle of the Clarin's Radiance-Plus Golden Glow Booster that I've finished, and I've got a third waiting to be put in action.  I'm not even tempted to try anything else, that's how much I like this facial tanner.  You can see my original review here.  A bottle lasts me a good 9 months, which really means I purchase one a year.  Love.

The Loving Care Body Balm by le Couvent des Minimes manages to do a good job of leaving my skin moisturized, soft, and pleasantly scented, so consider me a fan.  There is something about le Couvent des Minimes products that really draw me in, much more so than parent company L’Occitane's offerings, for some reason.

Some items either didn't get completely used up or were tossed right after opening because they were smelling a bit off, sigh.

The TokoMilk Smoked Salt Lip Elixir did get a fair amount of use until I got tired of wrestling with the container, but it's gone bad.  The color is now a neon yellow, which is not how it started out (see review here). Change the packaging and I would consider repurchasing!

The SheaTerra Argan & Green Coffee Around-Eye Beauty Serum is actually a blend of argan oil, rose hips oil, coffee been oil and shea nilotica for use around your eyes.  I used it at night but could not tell it really did much of anything.  It's a large bottle and I see no reason why you couldn't also use it on your face, but I lost interest and it's been sitting in my bathroom forever, so I'm tossing what's left (a good 3/4 of the bottle).

The little bits floating in it are probably bits of shea nilotica and it still smells fine, but......

Unfortunatley, the deluxe travel sized Glycolic Mask by Andalou naturals smelled off as soon as I opened it, so I'm guessing this is a case of a natural ingredients based product that surpassed it's limited shelf life even though I had just purchased it.  It happens.

Same with this Sunday Riley Good Genes sample.  This may have been sitting unused in my sample pile for a while, so bad on me.

I've been trying to use more of my facial sheet masks, although I'm still probably only averaging one a week.  Need to step up my game because I just got a huge box of masks from Memebox.  Of the Bon Vivant Botanical Mask Packs, I enjoyed the mint + tea tree version the most.  It's supposed to be a pore tightening and sebum controlling mask, but the appeal for me were the cooling peppermint and tea tree oils.  

The Innisfree It's Real Squeeze mask in Lime was probably my favorite of the bunch. It's supposed to brighten your skin but I just liked how how refreshing it felt and smelled.  All of the It's Real Squeeze masks contain the Jeju green complex, which consists of green tea, tangerine, cactus, camellia leaves, and orchids.  I bought a variety pack off of Amazon and I've enjoyed them all, but the lime version is standing out for me.

When's the last time you finished a full-sized perfume?  I don't even buy them anymore, as travel or sample sizes suit me just fine.

This bottle of Marc Jacobs goes back many years, and what little juice left in it had started to darken so I tossed it.  I wore this lush gardenia scent for many years and even now have a full bottle languishing on my perfume shelf. I still enjoy the fragrance but somewhere along the line the concept of a signature scent became quite foreign to me, and wearing the same scent once a month is even a bit strange.

So, I stick to samples now.  All of the Black Phoenix Alchemy lab samples were burned in my oil burner, but the PHI Une Rose de Kandahar by Tauer Perfumes did manage to get used as a perfume.

It contains a rare and difficult to source rose oil from Afghanistan, along with notes of apricot, cinnamon, bergamot, rose, tobacco, patchouli, vetiver, vanilla, tonka, musk, and ambergris.  Sounds complex and rich, no?  My skin amped the cinnamon above all all so many of the nuances did not register for me, so I'd say this was a like but not a love.

Whew, lot's used up in April, including a few foil samples above.  I've got no more words left in me, so happy Friday and have a great weekend!