Okay, okay, so that title is a lie; some of these empties are from as long ago as last July. I'm always torn between wanting to do a substantial empties post...and not wanting it to be ridiculous. This post is going to be ridiculous, sorry to say, because I really want to through out my trash, haha. So, basically, this is about four months worth of empties, give or take a bunch of things that I forgot about and just tossed.I'm doing this in blog format because it will be way easier to scroll to relevant parts than in a long-ass video. I hope to never acquire this much trash again. I'm hoping to do one of these every other month, if it's interesting. (If all I have is a bunch of cotton and products that I've shown before, don't expect an empties post - I enjoy these types of things...but not when they're redundant.)
Food Stuff
That gum was the weirdest thing...it was definitely birthday cake flavored but it had a minty aftertaste? Weird. I, obviously, chewed all of it. Those peppermint jumbo marshmallows are LIFE and five thousand times better in hot chocolate mmmm! And those are a few Nature Box snacks. I know, I know, Nature Box is everywhere and it's way overdone. Well, I pay for my monthly subscription myself and I must say; those lemon tea biscuits are amazing and I had to restrain myself to not eat the entire pouch in one sitting. The pistachio clusters were equally good. I have already gotten both at least two more times!
Randoms
This is the dye I use to get my red hair. I've gone through over thirty tubes of this stuff, and I will continue to use it. I use it with 40 cream developer and I get both from Sally's. Also, a random bottle of Airborne. Okay, that stuff may be a total gimmick and completely placebo effect BUT I haven't had a cold in four years since using various forms of that stuff.
Hair Products
I love the Batiste Wild scent. I want a perfume of it. I want to drench my entire bo-okay, anyway, I really like that stuff and I have about fifty backups! That TRESemme heat protectant smells good and I like it but I HATE the nozzle. I have average sized hands, they're not small and delicate, and that dang nozzle is too small and uncomfortable for me to use. I have a different heat protectant I'm using now, but I would repurchase this one and pour it into a better spray bottle! The Pureology product is one of my favorite things; I got that little body in a Glossybox and I freakin' love it. Pureology products are vegan and it does smell a little ehhhh but it was one of my favorite things; better than the It's A 10, and I've already repurchased the jumbo bottle from Ulta. I'm including the link so that everyone can read about the ridiculous claims. I can tell you right now that I didn't pay attention to see if it really did those 21 things BUT my hair was soft and silky and, more importantly, my color lasted significantly longer. That last product was a hair oil that I got from Birchbox. It was a tiny, dinky little thing but it seriously lasted for three months (mind you, I don't regularly wash my hair sooo...) It smells beyond amazing (like Pink Sugar) and made my hair feel so nice. It's an exclusive Birchbox product and I'm saving my points for it.
Hair Care
I finally used up the AG shampoo and conditioner! I purchased those liters OVER A YEAR AGO during the Ulta liter sale and I love them. AG is another vegan hair product line and this stuff smells so good (like orange creamsicles and candy) but it can be a bit much for a lot of people. I had the moisturizing line (not the Fast Food though) and I LOVED it. Made my hair feel so good. However, it stripped the color out of my hair! Boooo! So even though everything else about this stuff was amazing, I won't be repurchasing. :( The Clean dandruff shampoo also took me forever to use. It stripped the color out, for one, but also I discovered I don't have dandruff, I actually have a dry scalp! I use a bit of argan or jojoba oil on my scalp and problem solved! I used this as a clarifying shampoo when my dye was already faded as hell, hence why it took over a year to finish it off. The last thing is the Hair One for color treated hair. It's the WEN knock-off from Sally's and I use about one bottle every three months.
Cotton
I use a lot of cotton. I use it with makeup remover, with my micellar water, with my toner. I don't have a specific brand, just a specific type - I LOVE the exfoliating cotton rounds. I go through packages of those like crazy. They have these little plastic nubby things on them and they work magic with my toner. I've heard that the Shiseido cotton pads are magical, albeit more pricy, and I'm going to try them soon now that I'm working at Macy's too.
Makeup Wipes
I really liked these Yes To Grapefruit wipes for a really long while, but I probably won't repurchase unless they go on sale because they were pretty standard wipes, they didn't really brighten too much, just made my face feel clean.
I, obviously, love the Neutrogena wipes and I use a lot of them. I know a lot of people like the knockoffs, but I don't, I'm not a fan of the Kirkland ones, or the Up & Up brand, or the Walmart versions...they don't clean AS well and they sting my eyes. I buy these when they're on sale at Ulta because I can get them for pretty cheap.
Now, I just said that I didn't like any of the knockoff Neutrogena wipes but these Meijer ones are GREAT. That being said, they're nearly as expensive as the Neutrogena ones and if those are on sale at Ulta I can get them for way cheaper than the Meijer ones. They clean well and they don't sting. If you live in the midwest, I definitely recommend checking out the Meijer wipes. The green package I didn't like as much though. It's supposed to be like the Simple wipes and those DID sting. Finally the Dr. Lin wipes are a newish skincare brand we have at Ulta. They have salicylic acid in them and I use them in the morning sometimes.
Skincare
Two makeup removers; the Maybelline one (which is being discontinued I believe, or at least being pulled from most of the stores near me) which wasn't that good. I don't like duo-phase removers anyway, but this one claimed to remove waterproof mascara and it struggled to remove my non-waterproof mascara. The Lumene one is better, but again, I don't like the duo-phase ones. I liked the acne foaming Aveeno cleanser a lot and I'd rebuy it if I wasn't using The Body Shop tea tree products. The Clarisonic cleanser is very average and REALLY fragranced; I wouldn't repurchase. Boscia is no longer sold at Ulta, so I wouldn't purchase the toner again. I liked the Garnier moisturizer a lot and have repurchased in the past but I'm using some anti-aging products now. The Clean & Clear product was, sadly, discontinued! I loved it and I still have a few left in my backups. I have just repurchased the Acne Free mask and I really like using it. It has sulfur as its active ingredient and it works to dry up bumps. The Queen Helene scrub was a surprise find at Sally's, I only knew about their face masks! I love the way it smells, and if you like the St. Ives scrubs, then you'll like this. However, I'm obsessed with the Dark Angels scrub from Lush, so I will not be repurchasing this.
Body Care
I go through a lot of those Clinical Strength antiperspirants, as you can probably tell. I've tried other brands of "clinical strength" products and they're just not as good as the Secret brand. For whatever reason, the sporty scent is my favorite. I finally used up some witch hazel. I used to use this as my toner for at least a year but I'm really enjoying The Body Shop's tea tree toner so I don't plan on repurchasing this but it is really good and pretty cheap, so if you're looking for a cheaper toner for oily/acne-prone skin, this is still a good option. The Crest Radiant Mint is my current favorite toothpaste and it works really well with the mouthwash and the whitening strips. Finally, that's the Up & Up brand knock-off of the Jergens daily tanning stuff. I liked it about as well as the Jergens but I found an even cheaper alternative at Walmart (which is also a knockoff of the Hempz products) so I probably won't repurchase this one either, but it worked fine.
Makeup Pt. 1
I'm beyond shocked that I was able to use up an entire Wet N Wild highlighter because those things are dang huge. That being said, I was slightly aided by gravity, since a third of it shattered on my bathroom floor. That being said, I really like it and I've already repurchased it. I'm trying to use up a different highlighter right now, but I'll go back to this one soon. The NYC Sunny bronzer was probably one of my favorite bronzers back in the day but the drugstore has definitely improved with its offerings of matte bronzers and this one is a bit too light and too orange for my liking now. That is old Revlon Color Stay packaging and I wasn't too fond of this particular formulation. I haven't tried it since it got repackaged, but the color on the older powder was a bit too peachy for me. The Nearly Naked powder is probably the best drugstore powder I've ever used. I've already repurchased, already using it.
I blew through some eye products; the Hard Candy liner was shit but it has been redone so I'm not sure if the new one is any better. The Flower liner is actually one of the best felt tip liners I've used, considering I tend to not like felt tips. Physicians Formula liners are my go-to, but it's not super black, so if anyone knows of a good brush tip liner, let me know. I've heard good things about the Kat Von D one! The Hard Candy pencil liner wasn't so hot, the Flower pencil liner was surprisingly long wearing. I really enjoyed the Essence liquid liner but the felt tip frayed super fast on me so that is a no go. I liked the NYX eye primer but I have so many eye primers to go through that this is rather low on my list of repurchases. I SO dislike those Maybelline lipsticks and the color was just not my style. The Out The Door top coat is good, but it wasn't as thick looking and glossy and I would have liked.
Makeup Pt. 2 - Mascaras
- Benefit They're Real: I liked this but I didn't love it. I know it's a fan favorite but this formula was interesting. It made my lashes look really textured. I did like it better as a layering mascara.
- Rimmel Sexy Curves Full Volume: I've used the Rimmel Sexy Curves in the purple tube before and I did like it. The brush head was plastic and it worked well with the formula. This brush however, was normal bristles and they just didn't work well with this wetter formula. It was the most natural looking mascara and if you already have lovely lashes, this will probably work for you.
- Covergirl Clump Crusher: This mascara was amazing...up until it dried out on me after three weeks. I can't bring myself to repurchase, even though I really enjoyed the look, because I have other mascaras that I love which DON'T dry out that fast.
- NYX Doll Eyes: This mascara was really nice, perfect formula, nice brush. The only thing is, I prefer a drier formula and this mascara got sticky after a couple of months. Mascara has a short shelf-life as it is, so this wasn't exactly a deal-breaker but I would probably not repurchase right away.
- Maybelline The Falsies/Falsies Flared/Big Eyes: I love The Falsies, I've repurchased several times. I didn't like the flared version as much, it didn't do anything for me. It didn't flake, clump, or smudge either, but it didn't add any length or any volume. I loved the Big Eyes but I just never repurchased although I would in a pinch.
- Bare Minerals Flawless Definition: This mascara was GREAT for definition and length. Not so great for volume. I liked layering it with the Benefit They're Real, because using this as the second coat cut down on the textured scaly look the Benefit one had.
- Revlon Colorstay: I don't get this mascara. What was its purpose? What was it supposed to do? Because on me it did absolutely nothing. I could apply fifty coats and it was like applying air.
- Essence I Heart Extreme: It's okay. The formula was actually a bit too dry for me. This isn't necessarily a bashing on this mascara though, because the tube has no safety seal and I'm sure people were opening all of the tubes. Normally I'm careful and only buy makeup on truck days when I know it's new, because I'm the one putting it away, but this time I wasn't careful. Also, this mascara is $5 and I can get stuff like The Falsies for cheaper so...
- Almay Get Up & Grow: Pretty sure this was a emilynoel83 purchase and I love this mascara. I'm not sure if it REALLY helps your lashes grow, but the formula is perfect and it doesn't feel crunchy or hard. I've already repurchased several times. The brush is huge, but it's normal bristles and doesn't poke or scratch. Overall I really like it!
Okay, bonus points if you've made it through this whole post. I am DEFINITELY going to be consistent with these types of posts, because no one needs this much trash lying around for months on end. I have A LOT of fun posts in the works, here's hoping I can keep the blogging going!
