Empties! Products I Used Up (or Tossed) in August

I'm ready for cool weather, or at least hints of it.  However, I it will probably be more dog days of summer (the hottest period of the year - reckoned in antiquity from the heliacal rising of Sirius, the Dog Star).  In the meantime, let's look at some highlights of products I used up in August, as well as two lip glosses I tossed.

The Beauty Protector's Protect & Oil is a Birchbox exclusive, and I'm a fan of this Argan oil based hair treatment.  I like the fragrance and it does a good job of smoothing and protecting my hair without weighing it down.

belif is a Korean brand new to Sephora, and I picked up a deluxe sample of The True Cream - Aqua Bomb with a code, if I remember correctly.  I love gel based moisturizers, as they seem to work well with my oily skin.

This one contains a blend of apothecary herbs, including antioxidant-rich lady's mantle, which is supposed to help neutralize skin-damaging free radicals, improve skin elasticity, and minimize the appearances of pores.  I found it lightweight enough to wear under makeup and thought it was a solid performer!

Caudalie's Vinoperfect Radiance Serum is supposed to improve the appearance of dark spots, promote even skintone, and boosts radiance.  This is an expensive serum at $79 for the full-sized, and I'm not sure the sample was enough to convince me to pay that much, but I did like this.  Just not enough.

First Aid Beauty's Face Cleanser and a tried and true favorite of mine (you can see a full review here), and I would definitely pick up another one.

I tossed these two lip glosses because the formula irritates my lips for some reason, despite their natural/organic ingredients.  Perhaps because of, who knows?.  I've got a drawer full of glosses, so no point in suffering through these.  Now, come on cooler weather!

Sephora Colorful Ink Gel in Orchid

Disclaimer:  I purchased this.

Sephora's Colorful Ink Gel blushes ($14) are described as "translucent, long-wearing, buildable gel stains" to give cheeks a natural flushed look. Available in six different shades, I chose #03 in Orchid, a warm pink.  

I apply a pea sized dab on the back of my hand and then use my favorite brush for cream blushes to apply.  It's a small but dense brush that does a great job of blending cream or gel based blushes without disturbing the underlying foundation.

Orchid does indeed stain the skin, and my arm swatch lasted through a night of sleep and some sweaty yard work before starting to fade.  The Colorful Ink Gel formula includes hibiscus extract, which is supposed to both calm and smooth skin.  In fact, it's known as the botox plant.  Who knew?

I find Orchid to be a very realistic and natural looking blush.  It's definitely on the subtle side as I tend towards one layer only.  It does take a few minutes for the gel to dry down completely, but once it does, it wears for a good 8 hours on my oily skin.   Very nice!

Loving Your Unloved v3: Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters in Raspberry Pie, Creamsicle, Sweet Tart & Candy Apple Usage

Picture taken July 4th

I ended up taking almost 2 months for the 3rd volume of my Loving Your Unloved series, as it seemed like these Revlon Colorburst lip butters just did not want to show any signs of being used.  Perhaps it was because I was trying to make progress on 4 of them (I had to be restricted when it comes to variety), so I compromised by extending the time.  Plus, I've been too busy with work to take pictures :-)

If you are unfamiliar with my Unloving Your Unloved series, it's where I focus for an extended period of time on a product (or products) that has been neglected for a while.  This neglect can be a result of just having too much freakin' stuff to chose from (guilty), or because it just never grabbed my fancy the way I had hoped.  My goal is to make progress using up some cosmetics or to fall (back) in love with something that's been neglected.  Let's see how these four Revlon lip butters fared.

Well, Raspberry Pie, as beautiful as it is, remains neglected because it's just a color that falls outside of my comfort zone.  More often than not, I would  wear Creamsicle layered on top to temper the shade, although the above is Raspberry Pie worn alone.  I need to get more comfortable with this color as I can't find it in me to toss.

Creamsicle was the one I expected to use the least, but I ended up wearing it the most.  It worked well blended with the other colors, and while on it's own it washes me out a bit, I do like how moisturizing the lip butter formula is and would find myself reaching for it more as a lip balm during the day. Here's an example of Creamsicle being used to temper a very intense color, L'oreals matte I Lacque You a Lot, which is an in your face red hot candy color that is drying to wear on it's own.:

I Lacque You a Lot

I Lacque You a Lot + Creamsicle

Sweet Tart is a fairly wearable pink for me, but I wouldn't say I'm crazy about it.  Still, it works well enough that it will stay a part of my collection and will see some wear.

I did fall in love with Candy Apple, which is an uber wearable coral red for me.  Love.  I'll be reaching for Candy Apple a lot more often.

So, some hits (Candy Apple and Creamsicle) and some near misses (Raspberry Pie and Sweet Tart), but nothing that needs to be tossed.

My choices for v.4 of the Loving Your Unloved series are two MAKE blushes, Geisha and Czarina, two lovely blushes that have languished unloved for too long.  

Paul & Joe Lipstick Refill 204 Toujours Heureux and Lipstick Case 020

The pretty designs offered by Paul & Joe have beckoned me for a while, and I finally decided to get one of the lipstick refills and a lipstick case to house it in.  My ongoing quest for the perfect peach lip shades led me to Toujours Heureux ($20), and my love of Asian influenced art resulted in the lovely blue and orange lipstick case 020 ($7).  Just so pretty.

The case is made of cardboard but feels pretty sturdy, and my biggest fear is it getting dirty from being handled and/or carried in my purse.  Oh well, such is life.  The refill fits nicely in the case and I love the design details of the P&J initials in the lipstick and the name on the tube.

Toujours Heureux is part of the "Natural" line and it turns out to be much less vivid on than it appears in the tube, as the finish is more sheer than opaque.  The formula includes cocoa butter and jojoba oil, and I found it comfortable with a wear time of about 3 hours, which is about average for me.  

Toujours Heureux means "always happy", and I'm a believer in surrounding myself with positive people and items that make me happy, so I like the name :-)

Birchbox for CEW Prestige Headliners Box

Disclaimer:  I purchased this.

Friday I showed you the contents of the Birchbox for CEW Mass Appeal box, and today I have the Prestige Headliners Beauty Collection box ($18).

This box featured 7 different items, most of them sample sized with the exception of the Nudestix lip pencil.  Let's take a look!

I've received the Coola Fresh Mango suncreen before in another Birchbox, and I do remember liking it more for body use than on my face.  Nice scent.

A quick sniff of the Fekkai Creme Vanillee hair fragrance mist/primer ($5) was pleasant, although I've yet to use it to test out the static control and shine claims.

I'm kind of ho-hum regarding GlamGlow products.  I've tried several, and haven't been wowed enough to want to invest.  Maybe these will change my mind.

Nudestix's Cheek and Lip pencil in Blush was the sole full-sized product.  I was initially disappointed that the color seemed so similar to the Burt's Bee's Sedona Sands contained in the Mass Appeal box, but side-by-side swatches showed Sedona Sands leaning more pink to Blush's terracotta tone.    I've yet to try this as a blush, and I'm so so on it as a lip color.

Next is the They're Real! push-up liner from Benefit.  I've had a sample of this laying around somewhere for months, need to give it a whirl.  I'm just not that big on black eyeliner though.

An item I'm more excited about is the Marula Pure Beauty Facial Oil.  This will be the perfect travel size to take on my next trip to an as yet unknown destination.

I think I got this box more because of the $5 discount if you bought both the Mass Appeal and Prestige boxes together, plus I was able to use a 20% off discount code, which brought my total cost for both boxes down to $21.60.  Hard to pass up!  Both boxes are still available if anything appeals to you.