Collective Haul | April 2015

Another month, another haul... Let's go!  I have to say, I did a lot better in April than I did in March.  I'm hoping to do a lot better in May, especially since I'll be doing a 30 day spending ban coming up!  But that's another post for another day in the near future!

For some odd reason, this month I've been buying more nail polishes than I need.  Also I don't know why I've been eyeing a lot of Essie polishes lately either...

First off, body-ish products:

• Bath and Body Works Georgia Peach & Sweet Tea Fragrance Mist travel size 
• L'Occitane hand cream
• Bath and Body Works Georgia Peach & Sweet Tea Shower Gel travel size

Make up items:

• Maybelline Color Sensational Creamy Matte lipstick in Divine Wine
• L'oreal Telescopic Carbon Black mascara
• Essence Lash Princess mascara
• Maybelline Master Conceal concealer

Nail related items:

• EOS hand lotion in Cucumber
• Up&Up Nail Polish Remover Dip-It in Acetone
• Essie nail polish in Ballet Slipper
• Revlon Parfumerie nail polish in China Flower
• Essie nail polish in Plumberry

These are the products I picked up in the month of April.  Although it doesn't seem like much compared to my March 2015 haul, it is still definitely an excess since I didn't need any of these items for survival purposes.

What are some of the products you picked up last month?

Empties | 2014 Vol. 2

I decided I want to start this year with a clean slate and get rid of any empties I have from 2014 so I can keep track of how many products I used up in 2015.  So here are the last few products I used up from last year.

I know it's not that much, but I'm actually pretty bad about using things up.  I like to buy things, but they just sit there most of the time.  Hopefully I'll start using more things up this year so that I'm not wasting my money anymore.

Body products
Softsoap Pure Cashmere Body Wash.  This was actually my sister's.  She gave it to me to finish because she didn't really use body washes.  I thought it was ok; the scent was light and it lathered up pretty nicely on my loofa.  What more can I say about a body wash?  I might consider (re)purchasing this if it were on sale and I had coupons for it or something, but I won't go out of my way to look for it.
The Body Shop Loofa.  I received this in a gift set from The Body Shop a few years ago as a Christmas gift from a friend.  I actually really like this loofa better than the one I'm using currently. It's a lot softer and I don't feel like I'm scratching my skin every time I'm using it.  It also lathers body washes pretty well.  I would probably not repurchase this, seeing as it most likely cost a lot more than what I would like to spend on a loofa.

Moisturizers
Josie Maran Argan Oil Light Sample.  Got this from Sephora, duh!  I have to say a little goes a long way and these samples lasted me at least a few weeks.  You should also know that I'm terrible at moisturizing my skin every day.  This sample absorbed into my skin pretty well and doesn't make my face too oily.  The only thing I wish the sample came with was the droppers so that I am only using about 3 drops per using rather than random amount every time.  I have repurchased the travel size of this.
Tarte Maracuja Oil Sample.  Another sample from Sephora.  Apparently I'm Captain Obvious today.  The Maracuja oil is a lot thicker than the Argan oil light.  It does leave my face pretty oily after each use, but that doesn't really bother me that much because I use this at night.  I've repurchased this and am currently using it at night.

Makeup
L'oreal Lash Out Butterfly Mascara.  This is probably the first mascara (I'm a late bloomer in the makeup world) that I really loved.  It made my lashes look voluminous and fluttery.  I like my lashes to look more on the natural side so I usually don't layer mascaras or even wear multiple coats.  I want to do a review on this soon so I will talk more about it in the review.  Have repurchased multiple times.
Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing Mascara.  This was a hand-me-down from my sister.  I know you're not supposed to share mascaras with anyone, and I usually don't, but for some reason I feel it's ok with my sister.  We don't do it often, and it's usually just letting the other person try it once to feel the hang of the mascara before going out to purchase it for themselves.  I didn't use this mascara often but it was just sitting in my collection for the longest time, so out it goes.  I will most likely (re)purchase this in the future to see how I like a new tube of it.

Others
INM Out The Door Topcoat.  This is currently my favorite top coat.  It beats Seche Vite in my book because it is not only cheaper (I got it for $3.99 at Bed, Bath, and Beyond!), but is also free of some of the bad chemicals that are included in Seche Vite.  It dries just as fast and leaves your nails just as shiny as Seche Vite.  It also does not goop up as early as Seche Vite.  I actually noticed it started getting thicker about 2/3 of the bottle.  I have repurchased this and will always repurchase unless I find something better.
Bath & Body Work Twilight Wood Pocket Bac.  Another hand-me-down from my sister.  I don't know how to describe hand sanitizers besides from their scents.  This was a pretty strong scent and I won't repurchase in this scent.  I have repurchased the Pocket Bac from Bath & Body Works in other scents though.
EOS Strawberry Sorbet Lipbalm.  This was the lip balm that kept going on.  I purchased it to try, then gave it to my sister who gave it back to me.  I swear I was trying to use this up for over several months but it just would not end!  It felt like I went through my Lemon Drop one so much faster than I went through this.  I have another Lemon Drop one to use, but after that one is done I don't think I will be repurchasing EOS lipbalms again unless I find an amazing deal I can't pass up.

I've already used up some more products since the beginning of the year and will probably do another empties post either after I finish using a certain amount of products or every few months.

What are some of the products you've recently used up?

Monthly Mission - November 2014

Happy November!  This post is about half a month late because of my little hiatus the second half of October.  Sorry!  For those who don't know, Monthly Mission is where I talk about five things I want to accomplish/work on throughout the month along with five products I want to focus on/use more of.  So I will talk about this month's goals and products before I go over how I did with my goals last month.

Here are my five missions for November:

1. Wake up earlier.  I really want to start waking up earlier, even if it's just a few minutes, so that I can get one or two things done in the morning.  I've noticed that when I get things done in the morning, I feel more accomplished throughout the day.
2. Start using up products.  I've been buying things and not really using them at all.  I want to start using up products so that I can justify buying new things when I finish using my products up or something.  I really want to make it a point to use the products daily I've chosen to focus on this month.
3. Get Christmas shopping done.  I am usually a last minute shopper so I can't wait to start planning and looking for deals/shopping earlier.  I don't think I'll get things for everyone on my list, but I hope to make a good dent in it by the beginning of December.
4. Eat breakfast.  Simple and easy but I don't do it.  I have a very bad habit of not eating breakfast.  I really need to break this habit.
5. Plan posts ahead.  I think one of the reasons why I ended up feeling unmotivated and took a hiatus at the end of last month was because of my lack of planning.  I hope I can plan and organize posts for the next few months so that when it comes time to write the post, I've already done most of the thinking.

And now onto the five products I want to focus on:

1. Jergens BB Body Perfecting Skin Cream.  This was in September's list and I'll be honest, I barely used it five days back then.  I want to start using it daily since I have a Christmas party to attend in the beginning of December.  I want to be able to wear a dress and have my legs looking nice.
2. Tarte Pure Maracuja Oil.  I've been using this as a moisturizer and a little goes a long way.  I have another sample of this, and a super size of this that I purchased a while ago.  Hopefully I can use this up soon and start on my other things.
3. EOS lip balm in Strawberry Sorbet.  This has got to be used up soon.  I've been working on this lip balm for the longest time and it just refuses to get used up!  I've just started seeing the pink plastic in the middle of the balm recently so I know the end is near!
4. Beauty Rush lip balm in Colada Love.  Another product that has got to be used up soon.  I've had it for a little too long, and this particular product has been discontinued from VS's beauty range for over a year now.  This is a really good MLBB (my lips but better) product but I don't like the fact that it includes glitter in there too.
5. Lubriderm Advanced Therapy Lotion.  I have a lot of hand creams at home and this is one of the ones that are almost done.  Hopefully with continuous usage throughout the month, I can finish it up soon!

Now onto last month's missions.  I believe I accomplished about half of the missions I set out for.  I didn't do well with the new blogging schedule; I just could not get myself to post up every Tuesdays and Fridays and I did not remember to write down highlights for the whole month.  

The decluttering goal was half achieved.  I did not get rid of a product for every product I brought in, that goal will probably appear sometime next year, but I did manage to get rid of 10 products last month.  Instead I've decided to get rid of 10 products each month so that I won't end up hoarding everything.

The two goals I did achieve were drinking more water and keeping track of my spending.  I ended up drinking a cup more water a day by switching out my water bottle I used.  My old bottle could only hold 24oz, which is 3 cups, while my new bottle could hold 32oz, or 4 cups.  I know that's not nearly as much as I should be drinking, but I'm slowly getting there.

Out of the five products last month, I used the deodorant a lot more than I used the other products.  The eye cream and the body sprays were used a bit more than I would have used if I wasn't consciously trying to use it.  Unfortunately I did not use the body butter or the body wash.

Like I said last month, hopefully November will be a better month with my missions and using my products.

Do you guys make goals for yourself to accomplish monthly?  If so, what are some of your goals for November?

Empties: Lippies Edition

I know I just posted a products empties a few weeks back but I've managed to collect a handful of lip products over the years.  This will definitely be my one and only post like this, since I don't use products up fast enough, let alone a bunch of lip products!

Monthly Mission - September 2014

Happy September!  Holy cow, three quarters of the year already passed by and the holiday season is just around the corner!  Each month I want to start having five little monthly goals/missions that I want to work on, along with five products that I want to focus on using.  I figured this would be a good way to improve myself each month and a good way to incorporate something new into my daily routine.

So without further blabbering, here are my five missions for September 2014:

1. 30 Day Challenge.  More specifically, 30 day abs challenge.  I started something like this back in April but I didn't finish all 30 days.  I believe back then I got up to day 24 or something and I stopped.  Recently, I've been feeling a bit bloated, and I've noticed that my eating habits have changed (I've been eating out a lot more and eating random junk food in-between meals). I really want to tone my abs area, and if I get abs, that'll be a bonus!  I'll be combining two different challenges (abs challenge & beach body challenge) since I noticed that when I did the abs challenge by itself, I did not see any sort of results until after 20+ days.  This time, I am hoping that by combining these two I'll get to see the results faster, making the challenges a bit more rewarding.
2. Read one book a month.  I really enjoy reading but lately I've noticed that I haven't made time to sit down and open a book.  Recently, I started listening to various audiobooks and I found that it is a lot easier to just listen to audiobook as I'm going about my day rather than finding time to sit down and read.  This month I want to make some time to read a physical book along with listening to different audiobooks.
3. Take vitamins daily.  I have a bad habit of not taking vitamins daily.  I think it is starting to affect me because I feel like I don't have enough energy to carry me through my whole day.  I have the pack of gummy multi-vitamins from Costco and I haven't really touched it in a long time.  Hopefully this will start a habit of taking daily vitamins for the rest of my life (or is it a wishful thinking..?)
4. Make lists and schedules.  I think I have a lot of random thoughts in my head and I need to dump it all out somewhere.  I've read somewhere that some people take certain amount of time in their days and have a little brain dump session.  I think that can be beneficial to me to get everything on paper so that I'm not constantly afraid of forgetting to do something or forgetting some new ideas.
5. Blog schedule.  I want to into the habit of incorporating blogging into my routine.  And in order to do that, I really need to start setting strict schedule to myself and start planning ahead of time for me to achieve what I want to achieve with this blog.  Hopefully this month will allow me to get into the swing of things.

And now the five products I want to focus on this month:

1. Clean & Clear Moisturizer.  I've had this moisturizer for a while now and I need to start using this more now that I finished using up my Garnier gel moisturizer.  
2. L'oreal Lash Out Mascara.  This was so hyped up when it first came out a few months ago and I totally jumped on the bandwagon and fell in love with this mascara!  It is definitely my favorite mascara I've tried so far and I want to use this up so I can try some other ones I've purchased recently.  (plus, I have a few backup that I got a while back)
3. Elf Liquid Lipstick in Perfect Pink.  When I first bought this shade, I was a bit scared that the pink would be too blue based for my skin tone but I was decently surprised to find that I like how it looks on me.  The formula is a bit sticky but it does leave a nice sheer tint on my lips.  I don't think it's pigmented enough to be called a liquid lipstick but it is a decent lip gloss for $1.
4. EOS Lip Balm in Strawberry Sorbet.  This lip balm just won't quit!  I've been trying to use this up for the past several months and I can't wait to use it all up!  I don't remember taking this long with my first EOS lip balm but I am slowly getting through it.
5. Jergen BB Body Cream.  Another item that was hyped up in the beauty world, and I fell victim to the bandwagon.  I will say it has a nice scent to it and it does leave my legs nice and soft.  I don't think it leaves my legs looking magical but it does make a good daily moisturizer for my legs.

So these are my goals/mission for the month of September.  I hope to accomplish these and make these into habits to help me with my every day life.  

Sooo, what are some of your goals for this month and how do you plan to accomplish them?