2017 August Empties

Another month, another set of empties.

 Sunscreen:  Yet another trusty bottle of my sunscreen gone.

 Vitamin C serum: I think I won't buy this again because there are cheaper ones out there with more vit C concentration.

 Body scrub: OK. I'll buy again but I can take it or leave it.

 Toners:  Using up my samples.  I'll repurchase the Honey Cera toner and everything in the Moistfull lines because they smell so good!

 Hair creme:  I won't repurchase this because I feel like it doesn't do anything special for me.

 Hand cream:  I'll repurchase this.

 Creams:  I LOVE the Hada Labo gel-cream (the one on the right) it's so rich and dense and makes my skin dewy which is something I need in this weather.  Kiehl's one (in the middle) I can't stand because it smells so godawful.  Normally if I don't like a product I'd grudgingly use it up but I can't stand even this one, and to think of how expensive it is.  I'm glad I didn't have to pay a single penny for it.

 Sheet masks: These are OK but they're not that impressive, plus the sheets were quite difficult to unfold.

Makeup: This MAC concealer was a bit underwhelming, and I won't purchase it again but mainly because I'm trying to phase out non-cruelty free products.

EMPTIES: July 2017

 Not much to say here except for that empties are going at a ...healthy rate.

Sheet Masks

Detangler.  I really want to get this one again!

Hydrating Toner/Lotion.

Hand Cream

Wrinkle Filler

Hair Treatment

Facial Cleanser

Sunscreen

Facial Oil

Eye Cream

Concealer - Will definitely buy this one again. It's so good!

Palette of the Month: Urban Decay Naked Smoky Palette

I must admit that I felt quite relieved when I could finally switch out this palette. There's nothing really wrong with it. The colour selection is good, it performs well in terms of texture, colour payoff and blendability, but those colours really aren't my thing. I am going to school almost full-time now, and I feel like the colours are more appropriate for party, night-time or special occasion wear.  So the only colours that I feel are appropriate for school are the three colours on the left and three colours on the right, and even the three on the left are almost too glittery to wear to school.

EMPTIES: June 2017

I did exceptionally well with finishing off full-sized products this month and I'm very proud of myself for that! It feels so satisfying to get my money's worth of the products.  I'm looking forward to continuing this trend over the coming months.

Body Scrub:  I guess it's cool but now that I can't buy it here in Sweden, I'll buy something else instead.

Hair Dye:  I love this but I'm not sure where I can buy this in Sweden.  I have two more tubs which I'll use up and will figure out what to do with my hair after that.

Wash-Off Mask:  I'll not repurchase this as the fragrant is too strong. Shame though as I love its performance.

Makeup: It's so sad that my MAC Pro Longwear dried out before I can use it all up but I'm too lazy to salvage it.  Same goes for my Lipnicure.

First Cleanser:  I would purchase the full bottle of this.

Essences:  Out of all of these I only *might* repurchase the Hada Labo Alpha Milk (the red bottle on the left), everything else is just meh.

First Serums:  I'll repurchase The Therapy bottle as I love the scent, really not sure about the Muji one.

Body Lotion:  Out of all of these I will only repurchase the Crabtree & Evelyn one (the one on the far right).

Hand Creams:  The Urtekram one on the left belonged to my boyfriend.  I'm just using it because he doesn't use it; he said that it doesn't do anything for him.  I got to agree, but I'm the type to use things up grudgingly and he's the type to just stop using it.  I'll definitely not repurchase that.  I will however repurchase the Innisfree hand creams when I get the chance, and I'm glad I have more tubes stocked up in different scents.

Sunscreens:  I was so happy to have found a bigger tube of sunscreen but it feels like I still use it at the same rate as the smaller bottles anyway - at one bottle a month. Maybe I am using too much. Anyway, the Aqua Rich which served me so well in hot and humid Singapore (due to its high alcohol content) is really shrivelling my skin up here. Brr! Maybe there's something good to be said about those greasy western sunscreens after all.

Sheet Masks:  I'm actually surprised at how few sheet masks I went through this month.  I haven't been doing it because I was lazy and my skin didn't feel that bad until about a couple of weeks or a week ago when my skin started feeling dry despite my regular routine, and wearing a sleeping mask every night.  Bah to Swedish "summer"!  The cold and windy weather is drying my skin out I think so I'm starting to use this more often again, and I don't think I will repurchase the Aloe masks, because I don't feel like they're that moisturising or hydrating.

HAULS: June 2017

This month has got to be the loneliest haul month ever since I started keeping this blog, but I don't really have a reason to keep on buying things anymore.

ISADORA Big Bold Mascara Super Voluminizing - A Swedish drugstore cosmetics brand. Seems promising so far. I only bought this because the brush looks crazy big!

Palette of the Month: Too Faced Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar Palette

I've been using this palette on and off for two months because I have been busy with moving and as a result, not really using so much eyeshadow so I wanted to use a palette for a bit longer before I write about it.  I like it probably a bit more than the original Chocolate Bar palette because the shades are more everyday friendly.  I don't notice the difference in quality or texture as a lot of beauty bloggers and Youtubers say.

EMPTIES: May 2017

The photos for this post were done in two parts as I moved countries in the middle of this month.  Just super cool to see that I'm continuing to bust out more full-sized empties, and many of them makeup, too!

Cleansers: I don't have anything against repurchasing the Etude House cleanser but I won't repurchase the Innisfree Green Tea Cleansing Water, because it smells so strongly to the point where it stings my eyes when it gets near my eyes, and there are so many micellar waters in the market that have the same price point, work just as well and are far less irritating with less obtrusive scents.

Hand Cream:  I LOVE the hand creams from this range and in fact already have so many more tubes of it lined up!

 Facial Mist: I won't repurchase this Innisfree Sparkling Jeju facial mist again, because I just find it so...lacklustre.

Lip Balm: This balm took me ages to finish! It lasted a very long time.  I'm not sure if I'll repurchase this because I think I've tried enough Kiehl's products and can say that I find the brand to be mediocre in quality and overpriced. At least in Singapore, anyway - I've checked the Swedish Kiehl's website and the prices look considerably lower. However, they also test on animals so that's not very attractive to me.  Also, I think this is limited edition.

Sheet Mask:  I really like this hand mask because my hand often gets really dry and cracked  and wrinkly, but I only have one of it left. Now that I'm in Sweden it's not as easy as just going to the shops to buy it so I just have to take care of my hands better.

Makeup: I'm trying to phase out MAC because they're tested on animals, though I'm going to keep these MAC makeup empties (basically everything except the NYX one) and back-to-MAC them.  This was also my first experience with NYX Soft Matte Lip Creme. I like it but I don't like the shade, I don't think tangerine/salmon of shades suit me, though it was OK when there was so little of it left and I was scraping the bottom.