Tag Archives: Neutrogena

Empties – November 2014 through January 2015

February 6, 2015Empties, MiscellaneousAveeno, Benefit, Chella, Dr. Brandt, essence, Estee Lauder, Fortune Cookie Soap, MAC, Make Up For Ever, Neutrogena, Olay, Real Techniques, Revlon, The Body Shop, Urban Decay, VaselineChelle

Garbage time!

Having never used a brow gel, I wasn’t sure what to expect. But uh… it’s really just gel.. for your brows. Revolutionary. I don’t have unruly brows (hell, I barely have brows at all) so this was essentially pointless on me. I used up the Chella Eyebrow Defining Gel and it was perfectly adequate, but I doubt I’m the best test subject for this kind of product.

Purchase? Nah.

This was super disappointing. Make Up For Ever‘s Aqua Liner in 13 Black was super shiny which caused it to collect eyeshadow from the rest of my lid. It picked up pigment from the eyeshadow on my lid. It was beyond infuriating and drove me absolutely mental. Never again will I buy a shiny liquid liner. Ugh.

Repurchase? GOD NO

MAC‘s Prep + Prime for lips – a must have for me. I finish one of these every 3-6 months because I wear it whenever I wear lipstick. It holds my lip product in place and prevents bleeding outside my lip line that not even lip liner can stop. Must have!

Repurchase? Already have two more open! One at work and one at home.

Real Techniques‘ Miracle Complexion Sponge is my preferred way to apply foundation. I can barely stand to use brushes now because this thing is so amazing. I’d actually been using this one since March of last year and was worried that perhaps it had gone mouldy in the middle (since I’d heard some people complain that had that happen with their Beauty Blenders) despite regular washings. So I cut it open one day and low and behold, it’s perfectly fine. So if you clean your sponges regularly enough, I wouldn’t worry too much about it going rotten on the inside, even if you’ve been using it for about 9 months.

Repurchase? Already have! I picked one up at IMATS 2014.

I’ve had MAC‘s Lip Conditioner in Petting Pink for quite a while before I finally used it up. It was a bit goopy and never really stayed on my lips that long. I didn’t find it actually moisturized all that much since it wore off so fast.

Repurchase? Nah. Pass.

essence Get BIG! Lashes, Benefit They’re Real!, Estee Lauder Sumptuous Infinite, Urban Decay Perversion

essence Get Big! Lashes (pr sample) – Great product, but I never really fell in love with it for whatever reason. The curve of the brush made it easy to apply to my lashes and it definitely made them quite black.
Purchase? Nah.

Benefit They’re Real – I love this mascara! It makes my lashes look enormous since the volume it builds is incredible. HOWEVER, this stuff dries up way too fast. For a thirty dollar mascara I’m pretty pissed off that it’s near un-useable after a month and a half. BUT for that month and a half, my lashes looked amazing.
Repurchase? On the fence.

Estee Lauder Sumptuous Infinite (sample size) – This one surprised me. I was expecting an old style bristle brush, but it was actually a rubberized wand with really nicely spaced out bristles. It applied mascara evenly and separated my lashes perfectly.
Purchase? Maybe. I’m put off by the price of high end mascaras, but I really did love this one.

Urban Decay Perversion (sample size) – Another amazing one! Not as separating as some mascaras, but the volume on this was one was especially nice. This one small sample size actually lasted me a really long time (longer than the Benefit one!)
Purchase? Same as the Estee Lauder one. Nice to use, but damn that price is really a put off.

Revlon Colorstay Top Coat was… a top coat. Man, I don’t notice any difference with top coats really. Like what’s the difference between a top coat and a clear nail polish? I sure as hell don’t notice one!

Repurchase? Nope.

A well loved eye makeup remover, but not my favourite as I prefer oil-based removers.

Repurchase? Nah, gone back to my favourite Marcelle one.

This was interesting. I’m not a big fan of primers, so I’m mostly trying to finish up what small samples I have to get them out of my collection. However, Dr. Brandt‘s Pores No More primer was a lot of fun to use. It smells like tea tree oil (and was therefore quite refreshing on my skin) and smoothed on my face like butter. It’s tinted slightly darker than my own skin colour (roughly MAC NW20), so it helped darken up some of my lighter foundations. I have no need for a primer, but this was fun to try out nonetheless.

Purchase? Nah.

Olay Fresh Effects – Bead Me Up and Shine, Shine, Go Away

Olay Bead Me Up! Exfoliating Cleanser – Totally sucked in by the awesome packaging on these. The scrub is nice, but not especially abrasive. Smelled nice, worked just fine.

Olay Shine, Shine, Go Away! Shine Minimizing Cleanser – Yeah, I’m not convinced this reduced any shine on my face at all. I did love the product though – it was a cool grey colour and smelled really fresh.

Repurchase? Maybe (to both). I don’t have sensitive skin so I like trying out new products all the time, but I’m sure I’ll eventually repurchase these.

Aveeno Skin Relief Body Wash – I *love* the smell of this. To me it smells intoxicatingly like almonds and cherries (not the cough medicine kind of cherry smell). It’s also gentle on the skin, especially during the winter months when my skin can feel dry and itchy.

Repurchase? This is probably my tenth bottle of this stuff, and I already have another one in the linen closet ready for use!

All of the Fortune Cookie Soap items are not going to be repurchased by me as they are primarily seasonal scents. Mini reviews below.

Personal Space Air Freshener in Flying Monkeys – This was no good at all. It would scent a room for about 10 seconds, then totally dissipated and it definitely didn’t take any bad smells with it.

Lip Scrub in Blow Me! – Delicious! Tasted like bazooka gum with a bit of Fun Dip. Did its job and was fun to use.

Deep Conditioner in Christmas Bonus – This was WONDERFUL. The pepperminty, white chocolate scent was amazing and it made my hair feel fantastic.

Whipped Cream in Wicked, Good – Lovely, but a bit too much of the rich pumpkin scent. The scent would’ve worked better as a candle.

Whipped Soap in Fried Pussycat – Smelled nice and was fun to use. Not sure it’s a cost effective way to make or use soap though.

Hair Oil in Hair Flip – I used this on the ends of my hair and while I didn’t notice a change in the quality of my ends, it sure did make my hair smell nice.

This was my “leave at work” moisturizer. I’ve bought Vaseline‘s Cocoa Radiant moisturizer many times over the years. It can be a bit greasy, but it’s because it’s so thick. Heavily moisturizing and smells great.

Repurchase? Definitely.

The Body Shop Frosted Cranberry Shower Gel

You really can’t go wrong with The Body Shop‘s shower gels. This one in Frosted Cranberry smells like a fruity alcoholic drink. It was a small size (it was in my Christmas stocking), but it gave me about 5-10 uses out of it.

Finally! /throws out the garbage

What I Bought This Month – December 2014 Haul

December 31, 2014HaulsBite Beauty, Blistex, Burt's Bees, e.l.f., Lise Watier, Neutrogena, Real Techniques, The Body Shop, Too Faced, Urban DecayChelle

Oh December. So filled with holiday presents and limited edition palettes that I just want to devour. Forget spending money on other people, I swear I end up spending more on MYSELF during the holiday season. I feel like I need/want/can’t live without it and it’s not necessarily a mindset I want to be in because the closer I get to being a Sephora VIB Rouge, the more and more scared I get!

That being said, I was the recipient of some pretty sweetass gifts this Christmas (plus, you know, I bought things as well), so I am more than happy to share it all and pass on the lust that product photos induce!

Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar palette ($59 CAD)

Oh god. The Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar palette. Like, do I really need another neutrals palette? I mean honestly, I’m not even a neutrals kind of female!

But it’s got (slightly) different colours than the original, it smells lovely and… holy WOW, I was not expecting the slimmer packaging (I have the older, fatter version of the original Chocolate Bar palette) to make so much of a difference, but it really, really does. I’m more inclined to use this because I don’t feel like I’m pulling out a safety deposit box every time I go to use it like I do with the older palette.

I wasn’t the only female into it. Kolme’s getting a kick out of the smell as well.

D’awwwwwww.

Too Faced Melted – Peony, Violet, Fig, Fuchsia ($25 CAD each)

And then… and then the Too Faced Melteds happened. I already owned three, but I got five more throughout the month of December. FIVE. I cannot go on about these enough – seriously, best lipstick ever (go check out my rave on Lipstick & Lullabies). So much so that I’m trying to avoid buying other lipsticks because I know they’re just not going to be as amazing as these are. I was gifted Melted Peony by Chantal during a Secret Santa exchange, I picked up Melted Violet and Melted Fig during a Sephora order, and my husband gifted me Melted Fuchsia and Melted Ruby for Christmas. What a serious score. Yessssss!

Bite Beauty Mix N’ Mingle Lip Mini in Musk/Retsina

I was also gifted a Bite Beauty lipstick duo (Retsina and Musk) by Chantal as well! My shot on the right is pretty awful (bad lighting) but it’s nowhere near as pink as the bottom shade on the box depicts! I’m excited to try these shades out as I’ve been using Fig obsessively since I bought it earlier this year.

Dear god. This eyeshadow. I wasn’t able to photograph it that well (and boy did I ever try), so go check out Kalyn’s photography of it because that’s what made me buy it. At 25 bucks for the SINGLE eyeshadow, I had a little bit of sticker shock. I have to admit I’m still cringing over having dumped the money on it, and even more irritated at myself that I haven’t even used it yet! But… the time will come and I too shall enjoy Lise Watier‘s Teal duochromeness.

I snapped up the elf Small Stipple Brush when I happened to be at Target over the holidays (I’m never at Target). Emily Noel goes on and on about this brush so I figured I too must have it in my collection.

Real Techniques – Lash/Brow Groomer ($7.99 CAD)

This was bought as a filler item on an Amazon order to bring me up to the free shipping threshold (sigh). I’ve sort of been wanting a lash comb… but not really. I’m sure it’ll come in handy at some point.

Ohhhh yes. When my mom asked what I wanted for Christmas in November, I essentially told her she had to go rush out and get the Urban Decay Vice palette from Sephora pronto because I was worried they’d be sold out.

And like a champ, she pulled through (and it IS in fact sold out on Sephora’s site now). I had been lusting over this ever since I started seeing it pop up in several YouTube videos. This is the kind of palette I want to have when I’m travelling: A few rows of boring basics, and the rest are bright, loud shades that I can have fun with. Super pleased with this one, which is slightly amusing to me since I had zero interest in the previous iterations of this palette.

Side note: Why the hell are beauty bloggers/YouTubers always so obsessed with the “perfect travel palette”? We’re always talking about the best palette to take on vacation with us like it’s vital to our wellbeing, but let’s be realistic here, we don’t travel THAT much in a given year to warrant the number of “travel-friendly” palettes that we have!

Blistex – Mint, Burt’s Bees Beeswax Lip Balm

A couple of lip balms I was gifted as well – both highly necessary for the winter!

Pair of stocking stuffers here: The Body Shop‘s Frosted Cranberry scent in a shower gel and a shimmer(!!!) lotion.

And yet more Body Shop stuffs! This time in the Pink Grapefruit scent (I’m a huge fan): Body Sorbet (totally new product to me) and another shower gel as well.

Neutrogena Make-up Remover Cleansing Cloths ($8.49 CAD)

And what’s a haul without some Neutrogena wipes? 😉

Phew! Fini!

What I Bought This Month – November 2014 Haul

November 28, 2014HaulsLabello, Laura Mercier, Lavera, Lit Cosmetics, London Brush Company, Look by Bipa, Manhattan, Morphe, Naked Cosmetics, Neutrogena, NYX, Real Techniques, Too FacedChelle

Oh boy. This was the month of Sephora’s VIB sale and IMATS. I didn’t do too badly really, as I do feel like I reigned myself in a bit, but I’ve definitely got an excessive amount of new goodies play with. (Not that this is a bad thing!)

Too Faced – Everything Nice palette (regularly $68 CAD, purchased for $54.40 CAD)

Unfortunately I have no clear full shot of this palette since the lighting has been atrocious lately (I rely on natural lighting and winter-time is so not my best friend for photos). Too Faced‘sEverything Nice palette was a last minute impulse buy during the VIB event. I had last year’s Too Faced holiday palette and figured I didn’t need this. Then I saw a few too many YouTube tutorials on it and I snapped it up during the sale. There are some repeat shades in this palette when I compare it closely to the previous one, however there is a surprising number of shades that are not.

I’m not a huge fan of the slightly bulkier packaging, but it’s a beautiful all-in-one face palette that includes 20 eyeshadows, 2 blushes and a bronzer and highlighter. There’s also a mini Better Than Sex mascara as well. Excellent quality and a great deal all around. The only completely STUPID thing about this palette is that it WILL NOT FIT into the glittery pink makeup bag it came in. No amount of shoving worked here. And considering this palette has no real closure (no latch or super strong magnet) this is a completely idiotic move in my eyes. If you have last year’s bag though, it will fit in that one.

Too Faced Melted Candy (regularly $25 CAD, purchased for $20 CAD)

This was just tragic. I already owned Too Faced‘s Melted Candy but then I fell out of my pocket on my way to work one day. Since this is one of my top five holy grail lip colours, I had to pick it up again during the VIB sale. Stunningly vibrant shade, this one is a definite keeper. Unless… you drop it and lose it.

Laura Mercier Artist’s Palette for Eyes & Cheeks (regularly $70 CAD, purchased for $56 CAD)

I was so enchanted with Laura Mercier‘s 2013 holiday palette that despite not being overly enamoured with the colours this year, I still wanted to snap it up. The shadows are just as I expected – buttery soft and blend like no other shadows I own. (As a note, when I bought this, it was 70 bucks on Sephora’s site. I did get the VIB discount, which knocked it down to $56, but it’s CURRENTLY on sale on Sephora’s site for $59 CAD.)

NYX Studio Liquid Liner in Extreme Silver ($7.49 CAD)

I actually picked up NYX‘s Studio Liner in Extreme Silver on Halloween night for use for my Halloween costume. I haven’t used it since… and I’m kind of wondering just how often I’m going to use a silver liquid liner…

Neutrogena Make-up Remover Wipes – Hydrating ($9.99 CAD)

My staple wipes. ‘Nuff said.

Finally! My extra products that I bought on vacation in Vienna were shipped to me (I had stupidly left them in a car) so I have a few overseas goodies to add in the mix. First up is Labello‘s lip butter in Coconut. I’d not seen this flavour in the Nivea lip care line (they’re the same company) so I snagged it up to try out. It’s lovely, but it has the same “makes your lips white” problem that I have with all the other potted Nivea products.

I’d heard a bit about the brand Manhattan, but wasn’t really sure what to buy from the line. I like bronzers a lot, so I picked up this one. It doesn’t seem to have a shade name other than “Natural Bronzing Powder”.

Also from Manhattan is their eyeshadow base. I’m curious to see if this will work on me at all.

This one was stupidly expensive for what it is but hey, I was on vacation! Lavera‘s eyeshadow quad in Cuprum Glam interested me because that bottom green shade has some interesting duochrome to it.

I bought this Look by Bipa lipstick (Crystal Jam) purely because it reminds me of my favourite eyeshadow from Inglot. How I’m going to wear a shiny, shimmery orange lip… I have no idea. But there you have it.

Real Techniques – Duo Fiber Set ($30 CAD), Powder Brush ($10 CAD) and Miracle Complexion Sponge ($10 CAD)

Next up is my IMATs stuff! I snagged up a bunch of Real Techniques brushes I didn’t have yet” The Duo Fiber set, the powder brush and another Miracle Complexion Sponge because mine is starting to get pretty ratty.

Naked Cosmetics pigment stacks in Ivory and Tropical Paradise ($55 CAD for both)

AT LONG LAST! I have been oogling Naked Cosmetics pigment stacks for a very long time. A few years ago they were heavily touted on YouTube and I’ve been itching to get my hands on them ever since. They had a deal on, so I picked up two stacks – one in Ivory (these are white pigments with a coloured duochrome – they are GORGEOUS) and Tropical Paradise(your standard bright colours, some with a duochrome). I’ve used them a bit and so far I’m over the moon about them. I’m not a huge lover of pigments, I find them messy, but these are so, soooo worth it.

If Jaclyn Hill is to be believed, Morphe products are the second coming.

So I picked up a palette of brights (36 Glam) because it was nineteen bucks, the quality felt nice under my finger tips and it was a little too pretty to walk away from. I’m sure this looks like clown makeup to some people but I’m just sitting here like “YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS COME TO MAMA”.

Morphe Brushes – MB Angel Blush/Contour ($8 CAD) and M160 1/16 Angle Taklon Liner ($2 CAD)

I’m hoping the quality on these Morphe brushes are good because they were incredibly cheap as well! The small angled one is working out really well for my eyebrows so far.

London Brush Company – #0 Fine Art Liner ($10 CAD)

Mmm such lovely photography (I’m kidding, really). I picked this up from the London Brush Company because I’ve been wanting another small liner brush for my gel liners. At the moment, I’m feeling like the brush hairs are too long. Makes it a bit floppy for applying gel liner.

Another brand I’ve been dying to try out! Lit Cosmetics was having their usual kit sale – $40 for their glitter base, three glitters, two brushes and a puff that helps remove glitter from your face.

Lit Glitters in California Soul, Lemon Tart and Back in Black

Reasoning behind the colours I chose:

I had nothing like them
I’ve been dying to have a black glitter
xsparkage did a video in 2011 that used that yellow glitter and I’ve been dying to get my hands on it ever since
That orangey-red was screaming my name

And there you have it! A hefty makeup month and I’m loving every second of it!

Empties – August through October

October 17, 2014Empties, MiscellaneousAveeno, Benefit, Briogeo, CoverGirl, derma e, Julep, MAC, Marrakesh, Neutrogena, Pixi, Revlon, Sephora, St. Ives, The Body Shop, TweezermanChelle

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Time to rifle through my garbage! Makeup items first, all the boring stuff after that.

I loved this polish like nobody’s business. Kalyn had sent me a package of Julep polishes after I had won them on her blog and I dove nose-deep into this disco glitter one. Julep‘sParis is a 3D glitter polish that seems to hint gold more than silver. I wore this sucker out on my toes for several months and eventually finished up the entire bottle.

Repurchase? Unlikely only because it’s a mail order thing and I prefer to pick up my stuff in stores.

I bought MAC‘s Feline eye pencil because it was hyped up several years back on YouTube. It was supposed to be the blackest pencil available and would stay on my waterline. Well… it’s black. But it’s also incredibly smudgy and would never really stay put if I used it as a solid line. This was great for smudging out and creating smokey looks, but it usually had to be set with a powder to keep it from transferring. Wouldn’t stick on my waterline either. And unfortunately, the closer I got to the bottom of the pencil, the more it just kept breaking off. :/

Repurchase? Nah.

Revlon Just Bitten Lipstain + Balm in Twilight

I love the Revlon lipstains + balms something fierce. They may be drying, but they feel “normal” on the lips. I don’t have to be worried about my lip product transferring to clothing, food, glasses, etc., and that’s a huge relief to me. This product was in myProducts to Use Up in 2014 post and I’ve only just now reached the point where it’s dry enough that it’s not worth wearing anymore.

Repurchase: Yes, but a different colour.

CoverGirl‘s Clump Crusher mascara is a long standing favourite of mine: It separates my lashes well, the brush is fun and easy to use and the product doesn’t clump up. So with that being said, I don’t know what the hell was wrong with this tube but it sucked. It was too dry and didn’t work as well as the previous tubse I had purchase. This may have something to do with the fact that I picked it up at a discounted price at Winners one day, so it’s possible I just got a really old tube. (Ew)

Repurchase: Yes, definitely, but I’ll be picking it up at a drugstore next time!

I was gifted this pair of Tempting lashes from Sephora‘s collection by a friend who didn’t think she’d wear them. I didn’t get as much use out of these as I expected given the price tag associated with these suckers. I think maybe 3-4 uses? The band tended to straighten out more than I would like, which gave me a lot of grief when I would apply them. The effect was pretty, but not quite as voluminous as I tend to like my false lashes.

Purchase? Nope.

Soooo I didn’t realize that eyelash curlers aren’t supposed to hurt. I just assumed that since they look like torture devices, they’re actually supposed to feel like them too. Since this was my first ever pair of eyelash curlers, I really didn’t know any better. I left them at home by accident when I went on vacation and “had to” buy a new pair from a different brand at Sephora. The difference was unbelievable and I’ve since learned that theTweezerman eye lash curlers SUCK for my eye shape! I am so happy to discover that something can fit my eyeball shape better!

Repurchase? A world of no.

Benefit‘s Big Easy foundation (BB cream?) has certainly seen some hype, so I was interested in trying the sample packet I got from Sephora. However… First of all, there isn’t enough in one of those little swatchy things to actually do your whole face. Secondly, my skin was too dark for their third and fourth darkest shades and yet the 5th darkest said was way too dark. I mixed all three together and even then had barely enough to cover my face. The colour was still off. I’m kind of meh on the skin colours and the product didn’t wow me either.

Purchase? Not worth it in my book.

Another freebie from a friend! Pixi‘s Flawless and Poreless primer was… okay? I guess? I didn’t notice it actually doing anything under my foundation, but I felt compelled to use it anyway.

Purchase? No, I don’t see the point in it really.

You’ve seen these before, so I’ll be brief. Neutrogena Makeup Removing wipes are god-like. The Hydrating ones are better.

Repurchase? Yep!

Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer

Aveeno‘s Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer is a staple in my skin care routine. Love this.

Repurchase? Forever and a day.

derma e Microdermabrasion Scrub and Fortune Cookie Soap Walnut Facial Scrub in Swankified

derma e Microdermabrasion Scrub: Small sample from my Ipsy bag. It was fine. Smelled a little too much of fake lemon.

Purchase? Unlikely.

Fortune Cookie Soap Walnut Facial Scrub in Swankified: I hated this by the end of the bottle. It worked fine on my face, but the scent was gag-inducing to me.

Purchase? NO!

I don’t know if this actually smells like what Shea Butter smells like, but I couldn’t care less, this stuff is delicious. The Body Shop‘s Shea Butter scent is almost masculine and rather cologne-like. And I seriously love it. This is a wonderful scent and a fantastic product.

Repurchase? Definitely.

Marrakesh Endz and Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair

Two samples from Ipsy.

Marrakesh Endz: I quite liked this actually. It smelled faintly of cinnamon and was thick and creamy. The ends of my hair seem fine, but I also recently had a hair cut, so who the heck knows if it actually works.

Repurchase? Possibly, if I saw it at a discount store.

Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair Deep Conditioning Mask: This stuff SUCKED. I used it as the instructions said and it didn’t leave my hair feeling nice at all. If anything, my hair was sticky and close to uncomb-able after using it. What a piece of crap.

Repurchase? NO!

St. Ives Oatmeal & Shea Butter Hydrating Body Wash was left at my place by a guest who had come and stayed for a while. I finished it up because why would I let it go to waste? It was okay. The scent wasn’t amazing to me, but it was a perfectly serviceable body wash.

Purchase? Unlikely.

Empties – May through July 2014

August 6, 2014Empties, MiscellaneousAveeno, Barry M, Benefit, Boots No7, Burt's Bees, Clean & Clear, Dermal Therapy, Dr. Brandt, Eva NYC, Fortune Cookie Soap, Ipsy, L'Oreal, MAC, Make Up For Ever, Murad, NARS, Neutrogena, Philosophy, Pop Beauty, QUO, Revlon, Tree Hut, Urban DecayChelle

201408_empties

Garbage time!

My empties bag has clearly since better days. Poor guy.

As per usual, makeup items first.

It’s a mascara graveyard here today. I had so many bite-sized mascara samples to use up and they got completely mauled throughout the last few months.

Anyway, back to the actual product. Benefit’s They’re Real is amazing. I’ve never given in to high end mascara hype because I don’t WANT to love the product. I really do not want to develop a habit of enjoying $30 mascara at all! However… My mom even thought I was wearing false lashes when I had this on. Having used this sample size, I have to say that there’s a high chance I’ll actually end up dishing out the money on this one in the future (once I run through all my deluxe mascara samples!).

Purchase? More than likely.

L’Oreal Voluminous Carbon Black waterproof mascara

I used to love this mascara, but this time round the block L’Oreal‘s Voluminous Carbon Black mascara just didn’t cut it for me. I’ll leave it for a while and then revisit it in a year or so. Maybe.

Repurchase? Eventually.

Make Up For Ever’s Smoky Lash Extravagant

A surprising favourite out of the bunch. MUFE’s Smoky Lash Extravagant builds up quite well and doesn’t clump. It dried up after a month or two though. I didn’t love it more than the Benefit one though.

Purchase? Unlikely.

No. Just no. Useless and dry.

Purchase? Hah. NO.

Love this. I’m one of the unfortunate people that NARS Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base doesn’t actually work on its own to prevent creasing, but it does work in conjunction with Urban Decay‘s primer potion to kill all creasing so I love it for that reason. Word to the wise though, even when the wand pulls out nothing from the tube, cut that baby open and get out the remainder. There is MONTHS more product in there even after it feels empty.

Repurchase: Definitely.

Absolute favourite. Revlon’s Creme Brulee lip butter is my favourite nude lip. This is my second tube of the stuff and it’s one of the easiest lip shades to wear on my complexion.

Repurchase? More than likely.

*The* eyebrow shade for blondes. MAC‘s Omega has the right kind of grey tint to the powder that makes my eyebrows not look overly ridiculously blonde (not that I have much in the way of eyebrows to begin with). I loved this eyeshadow, but I’m currently plugging through my Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade to try something new because this eyeshadow lasted me longer than a year even with daily use!

Repurchase? Maybe eventually, but for now I’m having fun exploring other options.

Second… third maybe? tube of MAC’s Prep + Prime for lips. Fantastic for preventing lipsticks from bleeding outside my lipline.

Repurchase? Already have!

I didn’t notice Murad’s mattifier working especially well, but then I also noticed the expiry date was roughly four months prior to when I used it. Whoops. It also smelled like glue. Ew.

Purchase? No thanks.

Ohhhh yes. Barry M‘s Diamond Glitter nail polish had a lovely home on my toenails for about six months this past year. The bottle is dead empty now which is a shame since you can’t buy Barry M in Canada!

Repurchase? If I find myself in the UK again, I will *definitely* pick this one up!

I swear Quo is the only brand of nail polish remover I can ever find at the drugstore. I default to this because it’s there, it’s functional and it’s relatively cheap.

Repurchase? Yes, because I don’t know of anything better out there!

No shocker here. Neutrogena‘s makeup removing wipes are the only ones I use now. Definite preference to the hydrating ones.

Repurchase? For sho.

I’ve used several bottles of Neutrogena‘s makeup remover now and have another one cracked open. It doesn’t work as well on waterproof makeup as my Marcelle stuff did so I think I’ll be reverting back to the Marcelle one.

Repurchase? I have an open bottle, but aside from that I think I’m going to try something else out next time.

MOR Hand Cream – Kale and Watercress and Urban Decay Anti-Aging Primer

The foil packets of the lot.

MOR Hand Cream in Kale and Watercress smelled nice, but it’s a hand cream… Nothing amazing here.

Purchase? Pass.

Urban Decay‘s Anti-Aging Primer Potion is basically the same as the Original really. I didn’t notice it really having any anti-aging properties (I basically think that anything that claims that is utter hogwash really) so meh.

Purchase? I’ll just stick to the Original one I normally use.

Fortune Cookie Soap – Captain’s Berried Booty Whipped Cream

FCS‘s whipped cream body butter is an awesome formula, however, their Captain’s Berried Booty scent was totally nauseating to me. It’s fruitloops and cardboard, basically.

Repurchase? Not in this scent!

Fortune Cookie Soap – Tick Tock Whipped Cream

Another FCS whipped cream. I liked their Tick Tock scent quite a bit. I have no idea how the scent relates to the Hunger Games, but anyway… it basically smells like clean laundry to me. Very detergent-y, but it doesn’t bother me.

Repurchase? I liked it, but not enough to repurchase it. There are other things I like more.

Sample size of Tree Hut‘s Coconut Lime Shea Body Butter. This was okay, but not amazing. The smell wasn’t really my cup of tea either.

Purchase? Nope.

Dermal Therapy – Hand, Elbow & Knee Moisturizer

This stuff isn’t fancy, or pretty, but oh man does it ever work. Dermal Therapy products are a godsend for anyone with incredibly dry skin. I get pretty scratchy elbows and ankles and this works miracles on them.

Repurchase? Definitely.

And this ganked up nasty jar is Dermal Therapy‘s Heel Care. The best thing EVER for heel cracks. This can repair the Grand-freaking-Canyon of heel cracks and make your heels look baby-butt smooth in the span of a week. I’m not kidding because I’ve seen it happen on me. (You’re welcome for that visual.)

Repurchase? Forever and a day.

Burt’s Bees Almond & Milk Hand Cream smells nice, but it’s super thick and super greasy.

Repurchase? Nah.

Clean & Clear – Deep Action Cream Cleanser

One of my usual cleansers. I like how this one has a cool tingle on the skin. I do find your skin gets used to that tingly feeling though, so I tend to swap out my cleansers pretty frequently.

Repurchase? Definitely.

Snagged this from a friend who didn’t want to finish it up. Boots No7 Beautiful Skin Foaming Cleanser is good but the scent is a little bizarre to me. This may be completely offputting to some, but it smelled faintly like cigarettes. Or like the afterburn of a cigarette. It truly wasn’t as gross as I’m making it sound, but there was that scent to it that was really hard to place.

Purchase? Maybe, if on sale.

Fortune Cookie Soap – Lemon Drop It Like It’s Hot Microdermabrasion Scrub

FCS‘ first skincare item. I liked it at first, but the scent started to bother me over time. Nicely abrasive though.

Repurchase? Nah.

Philosophy – The Microdelivery Exfoliating Wash

Another product I swiped from that same friend as before. Philosophy‘s Exfoliating wash smells terrible to me. Did not enjoy it at all.

Purchase? Nope.

Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant

Dr. Brandt‘s Microdermabrasion skin exfoliant was AMAZING. It completely cured me of a milium spot I had on my lower left eyelid. This stuff packs a hefty price tag, but I fortunately received this sample size in an Ipsy bag. If I had milia again in the future though, I would absolutely pick this up even at the full price.

Repurchase? If necessary due to skin problems, then absolutely yes!

Aveeno – Clear Complexion Daily Moisturizer

A staple daily moisturizer for me. The packaging’s all messed up though. I normally get the Radiant one, but this one says Clear Complexion in English… but Radiant in French! What the hell? They’re normally two different types!

Repurchase? Definitely. I’m almost done another bottle in the bathroom already.

I wouldn’t normally post hair stuff, but this came in an Ipsy bag so I thought I’d mention it. This is nothing more than a hair conditioner. I don’t feel it did anything extra special to my hair, even when I left it on for a good ten minutes in the shower.

Repurchase? Nope.

PHEW! That’s a lot of garbage to get through. Looking at some of these products, I kind of wish I’d saved them for Kalyn’s Sample Killah month. Darn!