Summer Empties

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I put empties on hold for a while since I wasn’t going through things fast enough to be interesting, but after a couple months I finally have a stockpile of trash to show you! Aren’t you excited?

I’m most impressed with myself for finishing up my Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer, finally. I used about a gazillion minis and travel sizes before I eventually decided to spring for the full size, and it was so worth it. It’s a bit mattifying without drying me out, and it’s worked surprisingly well under every foundation I’ve tried. It can make my sunscreen ball up a bit though, if I don’t wait long enough in between them.

Other makeups that bit the dust recently – Chanel Inimitable Intense mascara and my beloved NARS Brow Perfector. I have to admit I was a little relieved when I noticed the mascara was getting near the end of its life span. You can get some amazing-looking lashes with it, but the flakiness just totally turned me off – no one wants that  ‘lived-in look’ by 5pm. The NARS brow pencil, on the other hand, is a new staple for me. I ordered a new one as soon as I realized this one was on its last legs. They last for a really long time, too, so I expect to be happily using my current one for the next several months.

I have mixed feelings about the Alterna deluxe samples that I finished up (Caviar CC Cream and Bamboo Plumping Strand Expander). Of the two, I expected to like the CC cream better (10-in-1, does everything!), but you know the old definition of multi-tasking – doing multiple things at the same time, badly. To be honest, I don’t notice any difference at all in my hair when I use it, except that it weighs down the roots if I use it there. The Strand Plumper (seems like such a weird name), on the other hand, I actually liked enough to spring for the full size. It definitely helps lift up my roots and makes my hair look thicker. Unfortunately I ran out before I had a chance to get a backup, but praise Amazon for two-day Prime shipping.

As always I also burned through a ton of skincare. I didn’t realize it until I took the picture, but I may have a moisturizer problem. I finished up yet another tub of First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream, which is a long-time favorite. In fact, I finished off my first tub of it around this time last year, plus a couple of the 2oz tubes before that. I think the Nuance Age Affirm Day & Night Cream might take its place as my ‘summer’ moisturizer though – it’s a bit lighter, which is nice when my skin is a little more oily.

I was less thrilled with First Aid Beauty Detox Eye Roller. I got it in an effort to kill some of the puffiness under my eyes, and on paper it should be practically magical – caffeine, tea extracts and witch hazel should all help out with that. It really didn’t get rid of the puffiness any better than my usual method though, which is a soaked and refrigerated tea bag. Tea is much cheaper, so there you have it.

Neutrogena is 1 and 1 for this round. The Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover is pretty great – it takes off my most long-wearing eyeliners and mascaras with no complaints and doesn’t leave a gummy, oily, greasy feeling in my eyes. I wasn’t a fan of the Ultra Sheer Dry Touch Sunscreen. I was using it as my daily body sunscreen – gotta preserve those tats, you know – but it dries my skin out and sometimes leaves sort of a white film. It doesn’t smell like coconuts, which is a point in its favor, but I’m still on the hunt for something new.

Now if only I could manage to finish up a color product. One day, you guys, one day….