Showing posts with label up&up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label up&up. Show all posts

Empties | 2015 Vol. 2

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

This is a really belated empties post that was meant to go up sometime in September... and as we can all see, that never happened.  Anyways, the products in this post were used up during the months of May to August of this year and sadly I only used a few more items than I did in my previous empties post.  


Like usual, I've separated the items into different categories, starting off with packet products.


Packet products:
  • Up&Up Cotton Rounds.  Purchased this at Target and it seems like a regular cotton rounds.  Nothing extraordinary, but goes on sale often at Target so it makes it really easy to stock up during the sales.
    Repurchase?  Bought multiple of these cotton rounds when it was on sale.  Might not repurchase after I finish using them, only because I want to try some from Korean brands.
  • My Beauty Diary Strawberry Yogurt Mask.  This is one of my older sheet masks that I want to get through before they get bad.  The mask came with a lot of essence, which is nice, but I remembered the actual mask being really poorly fitted.  The piece between the nose and the mouth was really awkward and just didn't sit will on my face.  I don't remember if it did anything spectacular to my face since it's been a while.
    Repurchase?  Most likely to try again in the future if/when I get through my collection of sheet masks.
  • Garnier Ultra-Lift Miracle Sleeping Cream.  I received this sample in my spring walmart beauty box.  The packet contained enough product for me to use at least three times, which was really nice.  It honestly seems like a regular cream that they just marketed as night cream.  I did like the thin texture of it and luckily my face did not break out from it!
    Repurchase?  Have already purchased the full size using the coupon that came with the sample.
  • Simple Micellar Cleansing Water.  This was a wasted sample because I thought the sample would come in a small bottle that I could use multiple times instead of a tiny rectangular cloth soaked in the micellar water.  So it's safe to say I wasn't expecting the cloth so I ended up wasting that sample.
    Repurchase?  Purchased the full size using the coupon that came with the sample.

Lotions and moisturizers:
  • Nivea Extended Moisture.  I believe this came in one of the first Target beauty bags ages ago, that actually came with a makeup bag!  I used to use it as a hand cream, which took forever to use up so ended up using it as a body moisturizer and it went by a lot faster!  My sister was not a fan of the scent but I didn't mind it.  It had a thin texture and soaked into the skin relatively fast.  I still have another one of these samples but in a different scent somewhere in my collection.
    Repurchase?  Most likely not
  • Lubriderm Advanced Therapy Lotion.  Wrote about my thoughts in my previous empties post.  Still feels the same about the product.  I thought I used this up pretty fast since I had it next to me at work and applied it several times throughout the day.  I'm currently on my last tube of it and it's almost done!
    Repurchase?  Nah, there are other ones in the market that I want to try.
  • Jergens BB Body Perfecting Skin Cream.  This is one of those Youtuber-made-me-buy-it products.  I heard Tati and several other youtubers raving about it so it was only logical for me to go out and purchase some for myself.  Yes, you read that correctly... purchased some.  Anyways, I did not see it perform any life changing tricks on my legs but it did a nice job at moisturizing them.
    Repurchase?  Already have several of them in my collection.
  • Bath and Body Works Fresh Picked Hand Cream in Strawberry.  This is actually the same product I went through in my first ever empties post.  I decided to go back and squeeze every drop of product from that tube, and there was quite a bit of products left in there!  I wish Bath and Body Works didn't discontinue it though; I don't even know if they even sell this line of products anymore, but it is one of my favorite hand cream ever!
    Repurchase?  Definitely would in a heart beat if I ever see it again!


Body washes:
  • The Body Shop Sweet Lemon Shower Gel.  This was an older Christmas gift I received several years ago that also included a loofa and a body lotion with it.  I've already used the loofa but haven't gone through the body lotion yet.  I don't know if it's the current loofa I'm using but I don't remember this shower gel lathering up that much.
    Repurchase?  Would not go out of my way to purchase shower gels from The Body Shop, but if I ever see them on sale, I might purchase them.  
  • Bath and Body Works Georgia Peach & Sweet Tea Shower Gel.  This is one of BBW's summer scent and it's one of my favorite out of the collection.   It smells like Peach but not quite full on fruity peach.  I found that this shower gel lathered up so much better than the one from The Body Shop.
    Repurchase?  I have a collection of these travel size BBW shower gels to go through!


Miscellaneous products:
  • Elf Brush.  This is the brush that came with Elf's cream liner.  The liner dried up ages ago and I've been using this brush to clean up my manicures.  It does a decent job but I didn't take care of it well so it started shedding and I decided to retire it and purchase another elf brush as a replacement.
    Repurchase?  I don't think I'll be purchasing the Elf cream liner just for the brush, but might purchase it to try it out in the future if I ever get into cream eyeliners.  
  • Aussie 3 Minute Miracle.  This is probably my most used hair mask and it's the most affordable one too!  I really love how you only need 3 minutes for this compared to 5-15 minutes for other hair mask.  It's really convenient for me to just put it on and put my hair up into a bun while I wash the rest of my body.  And by the time I'm done washing the rest of my body, I can just rinse this out and be all done.
    Repurchase?  Already have and will buy more once I run out.

Face products:
  • Garnier Clean+ Purifying Foam Cleanser.  This face was took forever to use up!  I thought the bottle was interesting because it seems like you would push down on the pump to get the product out, but you actually squeeze the body of the bottle.  It comes out as a foam and cleansed my face alright.  I don't think it left my face feeling dry, but I could be wrong since I finished this 5 months ago.
    Repurchase?  Most likely won't because I like to try out different products.  
  • Nasarang Rose Balancing Toner.  I received this in my first ever memebox and I really enjoyed using this.  It felt like a very light moisturizer and absorbed into my skin relatively fast.  I don't remember the scent bothering me at all, so it must not have been a strong scent.  I remembered feeling sad when I finished using this product.
    Repurchase?  Most likely not but it was nice to use when I had it.
  • Verikos Advanced Power Tightening Cream.  Another product I received in my first memebox!  This was a thicker product, kind of like a mixture of gel and cream and had a light lemony scent which I liked.  I don't think I observed any tightening properties but it was a nice cream to layer on top of my other skincare products.
    Repurchase?  Probably won't because I don't need anything with tightening properties yet and I like to try different things.
So, I'm quite embarrassed that I only used up 15 products from May to August.  It was a little bit more than the first four months of the year but it's still shameful.  I really don't know how many more products I'll be able to finish by the end of the year but I'm really embarrassed that I'll be using up less than 50 products for the year of 2015.  I'll definitely have the total count along with the next set of empties up either at the end of December or beginning of January.  And hopefully I'll be able to go through more products in 2016.

What are some of the products you've gone through recently?  Did it take longer than you had expected to go through those products?

Collective Haul: May, June, and July 215

Friday, August 7, 2015

Today I bring you one of my biggest haul I've ever posted on this blog, and hopefully it'll be one of a kind.  Since I took a mini-break from blogging end of May to July, I had been buying things and just have been collecting them for a collective haul post.  I will warn you, I did NOT go out and buy this in a day, in one shopping trip.  This is the result of 3 months worth of buying a little here and there. 


I'm playing around with this new photo editing program I got recently so you'll be seeing a bunch of differently edited pictures coming your way until I find a way that I'm happy with.  But I am so happy there is a white balance function in that program so now I can make my pictures have white backgrounds instead of that yellowish tinge I used to have.  Like usual with my hauls, I organized my products into different groups, and I'll start off with the smallest... random products.


Random products:
  • L'oreal Blow Dry It Quick Dry Primer Spray
  • Honest Co. Hand Sanitizer Spray


Skincare products:
  • Up&Up Eye Makeup Remover
  • Simple Cleansing Micellar Water
  • Sonia Kashuk Radiant Boost Restorative Facial Oil
  • Murad Rapid Results set
  • Garnier Ultra-Lift Miracle Sleeping Cream
  • Boots Botanics Shine Away Ionic Clay mask
  • Simple Eye Make-up Remover
  • Sephora Super Regenerating Oil-Serum


Tools:
  • Up&Up Retractable Brush
  • Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponges


Nail products:
  • Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover
  • Trim Cuticle Sticks
  • Essie Gel-Setter set in Bahama Mama
  • Essie Nail Polish in Baby's Breath 
  • Sally Hansen Big Peel Off Base Coat


Lip products:
  • Revo Beauty 360 Lip Balm Sphere in Honey
  • Revo Beauty 360 Lip Balm Sphere in Strawberry
  • Maybelline Super Stay 14 Hour Lipstick 
  • YSL Volupte Tint-In-Oil in Cherry My Cherie
  • Sonia Kashuk Moisture Luxe Tinted Lip Balm in Hint of Berry
  • CO Bigelow Mentha Lip Balm Stick
  • CO Bigelow Mentha Lip Shine
  • Maybelline Color Elixir Iridescents Lip in Radiant Ruby
  • L'oreal Paris Colour Riche Lip Balm in Nourishing Nude

Another I wanted to mention is that these products were purchased before my 30 day spending ban.  So far I am on day 7 of my spending ban and I have to say I'm doing pretty well.  I haven't had any temptations to purchase things yet.

What are some of your favorite things you've purchased recently and how are you liking them?

Collective Haul | April 2015

Friday, May 1, 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?

Monthly Declutter: October 2014

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

I accidentally took an unexpected break from blogging the last few weeks.  I have no excuses but I just felt uninspired when I have time to sit down and blog and felt like I was just meeting some blog post quota.  Anyways, I have a few blog posts to catch up on that I missed in October, so I will get on with them before I move on to November posts.


I've noticed that I tend to buy things a lot more often than I get rid of them.  Recently I've been feeling like I've been hoarding a lot of my things so I want to start a monthly series where I declutter 10 things a month.  It was really easy to find 10 things to get rid of this month, but I'm sure it'll get harder as the months go on.  Hopefully this will help me live a more minimalist lifestyle that I hope to achieve in the future.

So here are the things I'll be decluttering for the month of October:


Up&Up Multipurpose Solution.  I have not worn contacts on a regular basis for the past two years so this solution is definitely long expired.  I have no need for contacts solution and definitely don't want to use expired solutions for my eyes either.
Bon Bon Brand Nail Polish.  A friend of mine gave this to me as she was decluttering a few years ago.  I gave it to my sister, who gave it back to me.   This is an old nail polish and I don't feel like dealing with the thick and goopy formula, so out it goes.
Old panty & pair of socks.  I have a bunch of panties that are old; I got a bunch before I enter college, so I'm slowly going through them now and tossing any out that have holes in them and slowly replacing them with sexier VS ones.  I somehow manage to always get holes on the heels of my socks, and this one is no exception.  Seeing as I have many other socks in my closet, I will be tossing this one out.
Small bottle of VS Sweet Daydream.  Way back when Victoria's Secret was still selling the Sweet Daydream scent, my sister and I bought one, but we both enjoyed it.  So I decided to purchase a smaller bottle and take it with me to college.  Unfortunately, the bottle was cheap (from Daiso) and the plastic scent is now mixed with the actual body spray.  Not a pleasant scent to wear at all.
Travel size St. Ive's Apricot Scrub.  I purchased this so many years ago, I can't believe I kept it this long.  Unfortunately I read that the actual apricot seed in the scrub is really damaging to your skin so I honestly haven't used anything that harsh for my skin.  I prefer St. Ive's Oatmeal, Green Tea, and their Grapefruit scrubs better.
Clinique lipgloss, ELF lip balm, Ulta Cream products (x2).  A handful of old and unwanted lip products.  I think I'll have a bunch of old lip products to declutter in the future.  These particular ones are either really old (Ulta ones), not a big fan of the texture (ELF) or the scent (Clinique).

Hopefully I'll be able to go through my belongings each month and declutter them little by little so that I'll only have products that I really love and enjoy.
OLD