Empties ~ September 2017
It’s kind of embarrassing how many items I’ve collected in my empties bin recently. I haven’t purposefully been trying to use up a bunch of products like in previous posts, so I’m not exactly sure how it got to the point of overflowing but it did. I can’t even tell you how satisfying it is to finally dump all of this stuff in the real trash and get it out of the way. There are a few repeat items that I’ve mentioned before and there are also quite a few that I enjoyed so much, I’ve already repurchased.
Starting with skincare items first, I know I’ve mentioned both of these before. I ran out of another Cetaphil Daily Facial Cleanser and a T.N. Dickenson’s Witch Hazel. The Cetaphil is my favorite, even over acne-specific products that I’ve used in the past. I wash my face multiple times a day and this is gentle enough to not damage my skin. I use the witch hazel for so many things, as a toner for the face, different areas of the body such as cuts or mosquito bites. I like it because it does the job, but is more gentle than rubbing alcohol. I always have to have both of these around and already repurchased more before I even ran out.
The Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix Daily Cleansing Pads have made an appearance on my blog many times, especially recently. This is my second or third container that I’ve used up and I already had another one waiting in the closet. I use these at night before my moisturizers and they seriously have helped improve the texture on my cheeks. As with most skincare products, it takes a little bit to notice a difference but I really can’t recommend these enough.
The last facial skincare item that I ran out of was a travel size of the Clinique Repairwear Laser Focus eye cream. This felt very moisturizing and nourishing under my eyes, but I can’t really say that I noticed any difference after using it. Although it’s such a small size, it lasted me quite a few months because you don’t have to use very much. I liked how it felt, I just would’ve liked to see more of a firming effect.
I realized I had two travel size tubes of the Crest 3D White toothpaste that were both about halfway used up, so I made the effort to finish it and get them out of the way. I used to use Crest 3D White toothpaste all the time and it was my favorite one. I still like it a lot and how clean it makes my mouth feel. I think it’s great and do recommend it, the only reason I haven’t repurchased it is because my fiancé prefers toothpaste that’s targeted for sensitive teeth. Otherwise this would definitely be in my cabinet.
A few months back, I posted my review of the Lipsense starter kit. When the distributor sent it to me, she also included a lip scrub because that’s what you’re supposed to do before applying those products. It was basically just brown sugar mixed with a few oils, but it was honestly the best part of the entire set. I continued to use it once a week and although it’s more complicated than my favorite DIY lip scrub, it was pretty good.
Can you tell I like apple cider vinegar? I usually just buy the store brand apple cider vinegar in the smallest container I can find to mix with my favorite clay face mask. For that purpose, I don’t think it matters what quality you get. I had heard everyone raving about the Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar because it has the “mother” ingredient in it, so I decided to give it a try. I used that one as a facial toner and thought the organic might make a difference. It was just okay. Definitely didn’t live up to the hype! I could tell a difference in texture with the “mother” ingredient in the organic one, but didn’t see any differences in how they performed. The organic is more expensive and difficult to pour, so I decided not to repurchase that again and just went back to my small, much more affordable store brand bottle instead.
For eye products, I ran out of both my contact solution and my eye drops. Both of these are my favorites and I repurchased them both before completely running out. The Opti-Free Replenish contact solution is what I’ve always used and it’s never given me any problems. My contacts stay moisturized and comfortable. The Thera Tears eye drops are my favorite because they’re so refreshing. Removing my contacts and washing my face at the end of the day feels so nice, but adding a few of these eye drops is just the icing on the cake.
I used up another one of my favorite shampoos, the Pantene Curl Perfection. Pantene is definitely my favorite hair care brand, especially when it comes to shampoo and conditioner. I not only love the way they smell, but no other brand has ever left my hair feeling as soft as Pantene products do. I will always repurchase this one. When I had my horrible hair incident at beginning of the year, it was literally just falling off every time I touched it. I didn’t know what else to do but to go buy a product that had really helped strengthen my hair in the past. I can only find this Oliology 7-in-1 Keratin Oil Treatment sometimes in certain TJMaxx stores and thankfully the store closest to me happened to have it in stock at that time. I haven’t been able to find it since, but when I can I’ll definitely be buying it again.
I actually used up a few bath products, which is pretty rare for me. I’m not a huge bath person, but there were a few times this month where my muscles felt sore and I just needed to soak. Epsom salt is always my go-to product and I get this White Mountain carton of it at Walmart for 88 cents. It really does help soothe the muscles and you couldn’t beat that price if you tried. I had the Dr. Teal’s Comfort & Calm Epsom Salt Foaming Bath sitting next to the tub for a while. I got it because I wanted bubbles, but it didn’t provide as much as I wanted. The scent was nice, I just wanted more bubbles than what it gave me. If you have any recommendations for the bubbliest bath, please leave me a comment below!
This is a little more random, but I wanted to include it because it’s the first time I’ve finished one of these huge soap refills. I’m really picky when it comes to soap, I always want it to be antibacterial or I usually won’t buy it. I had been purchasing the small Dial antibacterial liquid soap pumps. I’d still prefer it to be antibacterial, but I decided to get the big refill instead of the small dispensers because it’s a better deal and I can refill them as needed. Not to mention that I went back to Target and bought two more of my favorite soap dispensers for the other bathrooms. I like the Coconut Water & Mango scent, but it wasn’t very strong so when I repurchased it I got the Himalayan Pink Salt scent instead and like that one much better.
I only have two makeup items that I ran out of recently. The first being my favorite Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser for dark circles. I use this in the shade Fair and it hides my dark circles like nothing else. I can’t even think about how many years I’ve been repurchasing this product. It has a permanent home in my collection! Even the full review I posted of this product almost two years ago has now become one of my most viewed posts!
I also finished another travel size tube of the Clinique High Impact mascara. I don’t know how these always find their way to my collection, but they do. I’ve had so many of these, I’ve lost track of how many I’ve gone through. It’s not my favorite mascara in the world just because I like such intense lashes, but it’s definitely not the worst there is either. I don’t mind when I get them, I just wouldn’t pay the price for the full size based on my lash preference.
This is a sneak peak into one of next week’s posts. After putting these two in the empties bin, I realized I desperately need to clean out my nail polish collection. What a task that will be! You can obviously see that there’s still product in both of these, but they had to be thrown out. The OPI polish is really pretty, it’s just so low and goopy in the bottle now that there’s no use in trying to get anything else out of it anymore.
I wish I could get more out of this ncLA So Rich cuticle oil because there’s really nothing wrong with it aside from the packaging. If you saw my recent fails post, then you’d know exactly what I’m talking about. The square bottle mixed with the short dropper means that once you pass a certain point, you can’t get any more product out of it. It seems like such a waste, but the only option would be to pour it on my nails which would create a huge mess. Ughh!!
Now for the random, miscellaneous category. I ran out of two essential oils that I got from Earthbound. I’m pretty sure this is their store’s brand of oils and the scents I used up are Cucumber Melon and Tranquility. I put them in my essential oil diffuser at night and loved the way both of these smell. I remember them being pretty affordable and I’ll definitely be going back for more after I finish the scent I have right now.
The last and most random item I have to mention is a selfie stick. I stayed away from selfie sticks for such a long time because after being out in public and seeing everyone look silly with theirs, that was a trend that I tried so hard to stay away from. But I realized that I don’t always want a closer selfie, sometimes I’d like to include my clothes or more of a background. It sounds silly, but I specifically got this for blogging. I haven’t left the house with it. I got it at Target for a few bucks in the dollar section and the button on it stopped working recently, so I have to throw it away. I know I’ll be buying another one, this time for our honeymoon. I might just try to find a better quality one instead that won’t break.
I bet you can only imagine how much more space I have now that all of these things are finally in the actual trash instead of sitting in the empties bin. I’m not a clutter lover / hoarder type of person, I’m actually a clutter hater. So to have all these just sitting around drives me nuts sometimes. But I love giving my reviews after finishing a product because that’s when it’s the most accurate. Time to start over!
If you have any other questions, please feel free to leave them for me in the comments section below. Have you used any of these products before? What are some of your recent empties?
~Christina~
Don’t forget to follow me on all of my social media!
