July 2015 Empties/ Mini Reviews

Hi hi!


It's time to go through my trash again LOL. Let's do this!!

1. Clinique Even Better Eyes Dark Circle Corrector

I want to say it does nothing,  but since I ran out of this and returned the Aveda one and only been using the Kiehls Avocado eye cream in the morning... I've been noticing my dark circles have been horrible O_o so maybe it did do something. Not repurchasing this time around but gonna get something with caffeine for my morning eye cream. 


2. Clarins Shaping Facial Lift Lipo-drain Serum

Have had this for a longggg time. Stopped using it because it makes my skin feel dry??? It's kind of hard to describe. Not a tightening feeling, just it just gave me a weird feeling as if my skin is dehydrated from the inside. Lol I don't even know, I just know I don't like how it makes my face feel after. Anyway didn't want it to go to waste so I only applied it to the jawline and neck this time around (you're supposed to apply it to your entire face and neck, followed by a "massage" routine). This works for water retention so it does have a slimming effect. Lipo-drain? I think that's false claim. I bought two of them at that time so currently working on the second bottle.


3. Skin & Co. Truffle Body Milk Sample

Nothing special. Smell reminds me more of almond milk lol. 


4. Clarins Advanced Extra-Firming Neck Cream
 

 
This is just a deluxe sample size I got when I purchased the lipo-drain serum. I actually liked it! And I do feel like it works. It does give you that tightening feeling and I feel like my double chin is less saggy/prominent while I used it LOL. Don't know if I'm gonna purchase the full size product. I feel like I like it but don't love it to splurge.


5. Diorsnow UVB Protection
 
... This is the first time I noticed it says "UVB" protection on this product. Does that mean it only has UVB protection and not UVA??? Or is it merely emphasizing it has UVB protection in addition to UVA??? I gotta look into it O_O

Anyway you guys know I love this sunscreen. Talked about it multiple times (see here). The only thing I will add though is it is more suitable for winter. Even in the desert/dry climate here in California, I found this sunscreen to be a bit too heavy in this heat... Didn't realize how heavy it feels until I switched to Anessa. That said I still love this sunscreen and I do have two more in my stash. I need to stop hoarding!!

 
I noticed they do have new packaging now! Which is awesome because when the product is low, the cap just will NOT stay on. Kept falling off which frankly was very annoying. I'm really glad they changed the packaging but I'm also bummed out that I have two of the old package ones -_- lol
 
Love that it comes with a pump. Super easy to control. Not sure if the new ones do (feel like the new ones look like regular screw-on lids).

 
Thought I squeezed out all of the product but when I cut it open there was SO MUCH product left. I ended up applying the leftover product on my body and there was more than enough.


6. Arcona Magic Dry Ice Hydrating Gel Sample

It was nice... ppl who like gel moisturizers will probably like this. But to me it wasn't special and I don't miss it. Smells like cherry flavored cough syrup which was a turn-off for me.


7. Origins Youthopia-Lift Firming Cream Sample

I'm not even sure if this was discontinued or renamed/repackaged. Can't seem to find the Youthopia line anymore. Anyway this thing is really old too but I do like it! Like the Clarins firming cream, it gives a tightening feeling and somewhat "reduce" the appearance of my double chin lol. I'm more inclined to look into firming products from Origins than Clarins... ummm... simply because I like Origins? lol.


8. Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Conditioner 



Here's another one

You'll probably see this product on my blog until the day I stop blogging.


9. Guerlain Abeille Royale Face Treatment Oil Sample

I think it's nice and it does hydrate my face/make it plumper, but I don't think it's that special. First time I used it was very taken aback by the smell-- it was like applying perfume to my face. Doesn't smell like old lady exactly... maybe smells like rich middle aged lady skincare??? lol


10. Lancome Soothing Recharging Night Cream

This expired before I had a chance to try it on my face O_O I just used it on my body.  I think I would've very much enjoyed it though. The name "cream" is really misleading because it's more of a thick gel. If you like the Clinique Moisture Surge I think you will enjoy this. It was very hydrating when I tried it on my body.


11. NUDE Progenius Omega Treatment Rescue Oil Sample

When I was at Sephora the SA insisted that I need to try this because she said it was basically the most amazing oil she's ever tried. Ummm... sadly didn't work out that way for me. It has rosehip oil so I was excited to test it out. But when I applied this it didn't want to sink it. The two nights I had it on I could feel a layer of oil on my face. The Sunday Riley oils and Guerlain oil didn't do that. And I didn't notice anything extraordinary either.


12. Yes to Coconut Polishing Body Scrub

The formula of this body scrub was very interesting-- it contained exfoliating beads in jelly. Don't know how else to describe it lol never used anything like this before. It did feel quite hydrating and not in a residue/uncomfortable sort of way. Not sure if I will repurchase. It was okay.


13. Wen Lavender Cleansing Conditioner

As you can see... the pump broke -_- I have no idea what happened to it. Anyway too lazy to use it. I'm pretty much over cleansing conditioners anyway so I just decided to toss it out. Such a waste but whatever. Not gonna try to hang on to products I don't like when I have so many other good products that are waiting for me to finish before they expire O_O lol.



14. Aveda Invati



Talked about it here. Since I wrote that very recently and my thoughts have not changed, please just refer to that :)


15. Maybelline Fashion Brow Duo in BR-1

Really enjoyed this product! At one point I was pretty much in love/obsessed with it lol but that has passed. Still doesn't change the fact it's great though! But it ran out quite fast @_@ seeing that I've never ran out of other brow products before. 


One end is the twist up brow pencil, the other brow powder. I have backups of this product so I'll make sure to write about/swatch it the next time I open up a new one =P



16. Kate Lash Maximizer (white)

It contains a lot of little fibers, which became really annoying as the formula dried-- the little fibers stuck out and poked my eyes. The same applies to all fiber mascaras though-- have to make sure to use a tweezer to get all those fibers that are sticking out. It does the job of holding curls/volumizing, but I won't repurchase. Too expensive for what it is. There are cheaper and better options.


17. Mistine Super Model Mascara

This is a dual end mascara that I got while I was in Thailand. The description was all in Thai so I kind of had to figure out how to use it on my own LOL.Was a bit cautious when I bought it cuz I've never tried Thai cosmetics but I've seen positive reviews on it (from a Taiwanese YouTuber) so decided to give it a try.


1. Mascara has little curl hold. It doesn't make my lashes go stick straight but my lashes would lose a bit of the curl
2. The fibers stick poorly to the lashes if you don't lay something down as a base first

I used the mascara two ways. I'd use my mascara primer as always, put on a layer of the mascara, follow up with the fibers, then mascara again. More often I would use my own mascara primer, then just the mascara end. I found the mascara is pretty good for length/volume without the fibers.

If you want to use the fiber end but don't have your own mascara primer, I'd still suggest putting down a layer of mascara first, then fibers, then mascara so you can get the fibers to stick.





I will say, the fibers aren't messy as I anticipated. I didn't experience any fall outs/irritation while using it. Major kudos to that since I find most fiber formulation really irritating to eyes. When you apply the fibers to your mascara-coated lashes though, you might find the fibers clump up quite a bit. But that can be combed out as you use a second layer. Yeah kind of troublesome that's why I usually forgo the fibers lol.


I do have some application photos for you =P Took them a long time ago lol.





Not the cleanest looking lashes. Personally don't really care hahaha. They do look better from afar



Overall effect



Really love how much my lashes stand out with this mascara.

Pretty much in my last few posts I was using the primer+mascara combination (so no fibers). You can see the effect best here.  The mascara itself works pretty well. Fiber end really isn't needed lol.

Will I repurchase? Probably not. I'd be totally willing to try out another mascara from Mistine though! I will probably just look for a regular mascara without fibers.


18. MAC Liquidlast Eyeliner in Coco Bar

Discontinued. Hoarded some backups when it was being discontinued. Later discovered Milani Infinite Liquid Eyeliner is a dupe.


... I always felt like I didn't finish that much stuff, but how come my empties posts always end up being so long? -_- lol.

Have a great rest of the day :)




<3 Frances