February 2015 Empties

Is is strange that one of my favorite posts is the one where I talk about my garbage? I love looking back at what I used up and figuring out what I actually liked and didn't like instead of just tossing it and then wondering in the store 3 weeks later which lotion gave me a horrible rash. It is also the only time you can really give a fully in depth review of a product. Sometimes that foundation you loved after a week will turn your face orange a month later. February was a decent empties pile, I think there was a day I used up like 4 or 5 items! So let's dig into this pile of garbage and see which ones were the gems in the bunch.

All total I had 19 empties, which is pretty decent I think. The breakdown came out to: 7 makeup, 5 hair care, 5 skin care, and 2 body care items. Two of my project pan items ended up in the empties pile this month, they were the lipstick and the little clear jar. And in the interest of full disclosure, two of the items are not empty, but I'll explain why they are in the pile when I get to them. And for an easy visual reference, this month all items I liked have a little heart on them while all items I disliked have a circle with a slash through it on them.

Yu-Be Moisturizing Skin Cream: (Repurchased) This was a Birchbox sample that I ended up really loving. Winters in Oregon can be super hard on your skin so I used this to protect my son's face from the cold and harsh winds. I also used it on my hands to keep them from getting chaffed from the cold as well. I've already bought a full sized and will buy another one for sure once that runs out. Hands down love this item.

Victoria's Secret Delicate Petals Body Lotion: (Not Repurchasing) A gift from a LONG time ago, I don't actually know if they still sell this scent. It wasn't bad, just not one I'd repurchase. Plus I have a gallon of lotion to slog through before I buy anymore lotion.

Dove Oxygen Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner: (Not Repurchasing) These were a free sample from some program and I ended up hating them. The shampoo had little micro beads that would NOT rinse out of my long hair so I'd spend all day picking them out if they hadn't burst during shampooing. Not OK. The conditioner wasn't bad in all honestly, but I'm trying to be more conscience of the companies I support and Dove does some things I'm not personally OK with so I won't be buying their products if I can help it.

Amika Nourishing Mask: (Not Repurchasing) Another Birchbox sample, It worked OK but for the price I expected a whole lot more out of it. My $8 a tub Organix hair masks blows this out of the water. Really heavily scented too, which can get irritating sometimes.

Tresemme Naturals Shampoo: (Not Repurchasing) This was on sale for just a few bucks so I bought it. I liked it at first but the more I used it the less I liked it. Nothing horrible, just not really a great shampoo.

Psssst! Dry Shampoo: (Repurchasing) This is a constant repeat in the empties pile, I finish a can about every other month typically. This is my favorite dry shampoo, great price and works perfectly for me. Next time Ulta has them on sale I'll be stocking up, though they are only $6 normally so not a big deal to buy them not on sale.

Innarah Defense Masque: (Not Repurchasing) Another Birchbox sample, this is the crazy expensive mask from a box or two ago. A full sized is $125!! Obviously unless it made me sweat diamonds I wasn't going to buy an actual jar. It was a nice moisturizing mask, but not any better than one of my $4 Freeman masks. $125 is seriously ridiculous.

Caudalie Vinosource Moisturizing Sorbet: (Undecided) I love Caudalie, their stuff is always amazing but it can be a bit pricey. Its from France so there's all the import costs on top of being a higher end brand. This is basically fancy face lotion, but it made my skin so soft I literally could not stop touching it. I really want a full sized tube but I can't quite talk myself into shelling out almost $40 for it. Especially since I have a ton of face lotions already. If someone wants to buy me some I'd be eternally grateful though.

Dr Brandt Pores No More Vacuum Cleaner: (Undecided) Another brand I like but is a bit higher price than I want to pay. This worked pretty well and the Birchbox sample did last me a while, so I will probably eventually pick up a full sized. Sometimes Marshall's has Dr Brandt items at a discount so fingers crossed that I get luck and find a tube for $20.

Vasanti BrightenUp! Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator: (Repurchasing) Also a Birchbox sample and also a higher priced brand, this is a fancy microdermabrasion cream. It isn't quite guilt inducing expensive, so I will probably be pick up a tube for my birthday. Really helped my skin, so I consider it worth the price. Kept the winter dull skin at bay and helped even out my skin tone a bit I thought.

GlamGlow YouthCleanse Daily Exfoliating Cleanser: (Not Repurchasing) I had heard so much hype over the GlamGlow brand that when I managed to snag a free sample of their new cleanser I did a little happy dance. But I really wasn't impressed. Did it clean my skin? Yes, but that was it. Nothing remarkable there, I can buy a face cleaner for less than a Starbucks Latte so why should I pay almost $40 for one? I get that it was a sample so I won't see long term use effects, but if I'm not wowed after 2 uses why would I buy it?

Tarte Clean Slate Poreless Primer: (Not Repurchasing) I had to force myself to use all of this up, I hated it that much. It literally felt like I was putting silicone caulking on my face every time I used it. Felt so thick and heavy, this would actually peel off my face if I tried to spread it thinner. What an awful product, I'm so glad I didn't purchase this (won it in a giveaway).

Dr.Jart+ BB Cream: (Not Repurchasing) This is the second Dr.Jart+ item I've received from Birchbox and I've decided I just don't like their BB Creams. This one was a little better than the Black Label Detox one (which was a greasy mess on my face), but I really didn't like it. Never really felt like it dried, if that makes any sense. Had to be set with powder and then repowdered at least once a day to not look truly awful. I think if you have very dry skin you'd like it, but this was a no go for me.

ELF Clear Top Coat: (Not Repurchasing) This isn't actually empty but it was getting gross and would actually dissolve the nail art I was trying to protect, so out it does. Came in a bundle with some other polish I liked, so no money wasted.

Mary Kay Mineral Powder Foundation: (Not Repurchasing) A friend of mine sells Mary Kay product so every once in a while I'd buy stuff from her. I bought this powder quite a while ago and even though it's only halfway empty it just needs to be tossed. A good color match for me but I can't justify the price when there are powders I like for half the price.

Ulta Super Stretch Fiber Mascara: (Undecided) This came in a free gift bag with purchase that I received over the summer from Ulta. I actually really liked it, I though it did a good job lengthening my lashes without making them all clumpy. Are there mascaras I like more? Of course, but for $10 this isn't bad at all. I may repurchase in the future if I ever run out of mascaras.

Wet and Wild Eyeshadow Depotted into Jar: (Not Repurchasing) This was a Project Pan item, so I'm very happy I finished it up. It came from a Wet and Wild quad that I bought at the Dollar Store, and worked well as a neutral set to keep in my makeup bag, but at this point I have so many other eyeshadows I really don't need to be buying any more.

ELF Tinted Lip Balm in the shade Rose: (Undecided) Another Project Pan item, this was a nice and moisturizing lipstick that I actually wore all the time. I will probably repurchase it in the future, but right now I have a hoard of lip products to work through first. But I highly recommend this for anyone who is looking for a good tinted lip balm.

Freeman Beauty Facial Masks

My one skin care must have has always been a mask, I just love how they make my skin feel and how fancy I feel using them. But some of them are SUPER expensive (Talking about you GlamGlow), so I've spent many years looking for the best affordable facial masks and one brand keeps impressing me over and over. Freeman Beauty is one of those brands that if I see their logo on it I'll buy it for sure, I've never been super let down by them. I even discovered a few weeks ago they make my favorite dry shampoo, which kind of blew my mind. They are most well known for their masks and I've acquired a rather large collection of them so I thought I'd give you my thoughts on them.

I own 6 of the 15 full sized bottles available, so my collection has some growing to do still. Now I personally don't like the peel off masks, so I don't own any. They work great but my face gets itchy waiting for them to dry enough to peel off. I tend to lean towards to clay masks I just now noticed, but I'll try all of them eventually. Some of the ones listed on their website I've yet to see in a store, so I may have to place an order some time soon. All masks are $3.99, though at stores you can sometimes find them on sale to make them a better value.

Let's go from left to right, starting with the Mint and Lemon Clay Mask. This is suppose to clear up breakouts and minimize the appearance of pores. I use this the most out of the clay masks I own currently. The clay really dries up my oily face and can help keep a breakout from becoming huge. The mint and lemon help to cool and soothe my face, plus it smells awesome, exactly like you'd expect it to. You smear it all over your face, let it dry, then wash it off with warm water. The mask itself is a light green color, which cracks my 3 year old up. He calls it my monster mask.

This is actually my least favorite of the masks, but I know lots of people who like this one the best so your experience may be different than mine. This is suppose to enrich and balance your skin while unclogging your pores, all while working some aromatherapy magic on you. I will admit the scent, a mix of lavender and bergamot, is super relaxing, as it the ocean blue color, but this does nothing for my skin at all. It might soften it a bit but doesn't seem to help with acne or oiliness, which are the main reason I use masks. I use this one when I'm doing a relaxing bath or when my son wants to do masks with me since this is mild enough he can wear it for a bit and not irritate his skin.

This right here is my holy grail skin cleaner, and I talk about it in great detail here. But seriously, go buy this and use it.

I recently (aka Saturday night) went to Ulta and bought three new masks, and this is one of them. I'm going to warn you now, this smells so good you'll want to eat it. Chocolate and Strawberry Clay Mask. Like, I had to go make some chocolate pudding to keep from eating this stuff it smells that good. Cocoa is actually really good for your skin, and this also contains cocoa and Shea butter to help soften your skin. I used this Saturday night for the first time and so far I really like it. Dried up all the oil like clay masks do, but left the skin feeling pretty soft. Did I mention how tasty it smells? Seriously, chocolate skin mask. Yum.

I have not gotten to try this one yet, I only exfoliate my face twice a week so this will have to wait until Tuesday. But this is an enzyme mask, like the Vasanti one I love from Birchbox, so I'm hoping this will give me similar results since the Vasanti one is pretty expensive. Pineapple is great for tenderizing meats, so I'm expecting to be left with really soft skin after this, and according to the packaging also contains AHAs to help stimulate skin renewal. The mask itself is a gel mask with sand like scrubbies in it, so more of a microdermabrasion than a scrub, which is what I wanted. There's also Tea Tree oil and Peppermint oil in it, so that should kick some acne butt. I'll do a separate post on this once I've tried it a few times. Smells like pineapple, so very tropical feeling.

This is the last of the ones I just bought, but I've used this one before and always liked it. The avocado will leave your skin seriously soft and I've found that the oatmeal helps soothe my skin, which can be really sensitive at times. This is one I'd be ok using multiple times a week without worrying about my skin getting raw and overworked.

Overall I love this brand and will continue to hoard every single mask I can find, including the peel off masks which I really need to try again. If you use this brand, what mask is your favorite?

Pssst....I've Got a Hair Care Secret!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin As you may remember from this post, I've been on a quest to find a really good dry shampoo that won't cost me a fortune. The second one I tried was the Psssst! dry shampoo, by Freeman (yes, same company that makes all of those amazing masks), and it was love at first spray. I'll keep testing them out for this blog, but this is the one I'm going to buy to personal use.

Dry shampoo, for those who don't know, is a spray you use to soak up oils from your hair and refresh it. Since washing your hair every day can actually damage it, dry shampoo is a blessing for people like me with oily hair. I use dry shampoo every other day, which is why a good price tag is so important. I don't have the funds to buy the $20 a can that often.

Pssst! is $5.99 for a full sized bottle, which with my level of use will last you about 2 months or so. You spray it on your roots, rub it in with your fingers, give your hair a fluff, and you're good to go. This spray does a really great job of absorbing the oil from my hair, I can actually go about my day with hair that looks clean and soft and actually has some volume to it. Sometimes for extra volume I flip my head upside down and spray the back of my hair.

White cast is the white residue left over from the corn starch in the spray. With some sprays they leave enough white cast that you look like an old person, so it kind of defeats the point of using it to make your hair look good again. Obviously every dry shampoo is going to have white cast due to the corn starch in it, which is what absorbs the oil from your hair. Psssst! has some white cast to it, but if you rub it in enough its barely noticeable, and I've got pretty dark hair.

This stuff smells nice, makes my hair look and feel clean, and even gives it some volume, all for $5.99. That makes me super happy. You can find it at Ulta, through the Freeman website, and Target for sure, but I would imagine you can probably find it at places like CVS, Walgreens, or Fred Meyers. If you are looking for a dry shampoo I highly recommend this one, it gets my personal seal of approval.

The Best Face Mask for only $4

I use to take really terrible care of my skin. I'd sun bathe with no sunscreen, never take my makeup off before bed, and I'd hardly ever use anything besides hand soap to wash my face. So by time my mid-twenties came around my face was showing signs of just how beat up it was. Now I try and take the best care I can, and part of that is doing a weekly facial mask. I have several I rotate through but my favorite is the Freeman's Charcoal and Black Sugar Facial Polishing Mask. It pulls all the nasty gunk out of your face AND exfoliates all at the same time. Best part? It's $3.99. Seriously.

Basically what you do is smear this scrub onto your face, leave it on for 5-7 minutes, exfoliate you face, then rinse it off. All total you're looking about about 10 minutes, so this is a quicker mask for those who don't have half an hour to spend on a mask.

The activated charcoal helps to absorb the oil and gross stuff from your skin while the black sugar makes for a nice and scrubby exfoliator. You can feel it working right away, the charcoal makes the scrub get warm when exposed to air. It smells nice, feels great, and my skin always looks great after using it. I try and use it once a week in addition to whatever other mask I use and I've really noticed a difference in how my skin looks. I've had less break outs and the black heads that I normally get in the middle of my forehead have all but disappeared. Several other companies make similar products, but why spend twice as much when this works just as well?