Midsummer Empties

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Nope, it's not midsummer anymore, but that's when I took these photos, so that shows you how far behind I am on posting things. Everything's in flux--I moved from my previous apartment to a 6-week sublet, and I'll be moving from here to Texas in a week and a half with only as much stuff as I can fit in our car. And on top of our car in one of these strap-on bags. Deciding what to take and what to store for the next year has made me more brutal than I might otherwise be when it comes to culling my hoard, so I've split my empties here into three categories: full-size empties, mini-empties, and shit that wasn't empty but I threw it away anyway.

As always, I'll give you a few words about whether or not I liked the product and/or link you to previous reviews.

Full-Size:

(Starting the the top left:)

O'Keeffe's Healthy Feet Foot Cream: Love it! Reviewed here. I've got the version in the squeeze tube now.

Batiste Dry Shampoos in Bare and Neon Lights: Batiste is my favorite dry shampoo (reviewed here), and I liked these scents, though not as much as the cherry fragrance.

Bioderma Sensibio Micellar Water: I ended up liking this quite a lot, even though I never got around to reviewing it. I used it as a second cleanse when double cleansing. I'm now trying the Simple micellar water, which works ok, but I find it to be a bit more drying. I haven't decided if I should buy another bottle of Bioderma when I finish that one, or if I should try the Garnier stuff that people say is the same. Suggestions?

Tree Hut Shea Moisturizing Body Wash in Almond and Honey: Another favorite. Reviewed here. Maybe I should try one of the other scents next time?

e.l.f. Daily Brush Cleaner: This took me years to finish. It's basically just alcohol in a spray bottle, so I'd recommend using that instead.

e.l.f. Blotting Papers: These also took many years to finish, mostly because I kept misplacing them. They work.

A'Pieu NanCo Tea Tree Spot Patches: I'm not sure these actually did anything for me, even though tea tree oil is usually a good spot acne treatment for my skin. (Emi from Project Swatch gave these to me to try out--thanks!)

CosRx Acne Pimple Master Patches: Reviewed here. I like these things a lot. My skin was pretty shitty last month, and so I went through three packets of these in quick succession. I still have a couple left, and I'm thankfully using those up more slowly.

Paula's Choice Skin Balancing Invisible Finish Moisture Gel: Briefly reviewed here. I've been using this moisturizer for about a decade now, and I still love it. I'm sad that it's become so expensive, and that the closest cheap alternative I'd found seems to have been discontinued. I've moved on to a new tube of this stuff now, but when it runs out, I'll have to think carefully about whether or not it fits into my budget anymore. (By the way, cutting the tube open to get a few more uses out of it doesn't work very well, because it will dry out over night.)

Minis:

Smashbox foundation and concealer sampler card: I tried the lightest shade of each of these, and neither of them really impressed me. Mind you, it's pretty hard to tell much about a foundation from a sample that size.

Nars Audacious Lipstick in Audrey: This was a sample from the now-defunct So Choix. It was a nice lipstick, but not so amazing that I plan to buy it.

Paula's Choice BHA 9: I didn't notice any real results from using this as a spot treatment, even though it tends to be well reviewed.

Origins Modern Friction Scrub: I don't know. It was fine. Chunky. Nothing special.

Fragrance samples: Juliette Has a Gun Lady Vengeance, Mad Madame, and Miss Charming. Also Atelier Cologne Rose Anonyme. All poorly reviewed here. I bought a full(ish) size bottle of Lady Vengeance.

Urban Decay Naked Skin Color Corrector sampler card: I bought the yellow corrector after trying one of these samples (reviewed here). I like the pink too, but the others don't do much for me.

Shiseido White Lucent Anti-Dark Circle Eye Cream: I can't say I noticed any lightening of my very dark circles while I used this sample, even though it seemed to last forever. It didn't give me any milia, though, which more than I can say for most eye creams.

Yu-Be Moisturizing Skin Cream: This stuff has an extremely strong eucalyptus/menthol fragrance and corresponding tingle. I used it on some dry spots on my knees. It worked fine.

Non-Empties:

Paula's Choice Resist Weekly Resurfacing 4% BHA: I really didn't notice any better results using this weekly than just using the 2% BHA liquid daily, so in over a year, I never managed to finish it.

e.l.f. Makeup Lock & Seal: I have no idea how many years I've had this, but I discovered it forgotten in a drawer, and since I apparently hadn't missed it, I reasoned that I didn't need to keep it.

pür Minerals 4-in-1 Pressed Powder: I finished a whole full-size compact of this stuff before buying this mini. Unfortunately, they reformulated it, and while the new version is easy to apply, it wears terribly on my combination skin. I got tired of being horrified when I looked in the mirror at the end of the day. Bye.

Maybelline The Falsies Mascara: This mascara looked pretty--until it flaked all over the place, starting in the first hour of wear. I know that flaking and smearing are related to individual body chemistry, so you may not have the same problem. Usually I use even mediocre mascaras until they dry up, but I didn't make myself suffer through this.

Too Faced Lip Insurance Lip Primer: This stuff works great (reviewed here), and it lasted forever. I didn't manage to finish it all before it started to get a little funky. I've bought a new tube since.

e.l.f. Shimmering Facial Whip in Lilac Petal: Reviewed here. There was nothing wrong with this stuff when it was new, but I've been trying to finish a Benefit High Beam for about a century, and so I haven't touched it. It didn't need to come with me.

So Choix samples of Smashbox matte liquid lipstick and Lancome Juicy Shaker: Just didn't like them enough to keep them around.

theBalm Time Balm Concealer: Reviewed here. Very, very old.

LA Girl Pro Conceal HD Concealer: Reviewed here. It wasn't the worst, but the issues with separating that I mentioned in my review got much worse over time. The last time I opened it and tried to squeeze some out, a geyser of clear liquid shot into the air. Fuck that.

L'Oreal Telescopic Mascara: Reviewed here. Again, an ok mascara, but I stabbed myself in the eye with the tiny bristles three times in a row and threw it out in a fit of anger. Life's too short, etc.

So that's all my July garbage, and I'll toss a bunch of other shit before I leave the state next month! In the meantime, I actually have a review of something shiny lined up, so here's to trying to get that written up in a reasonable amount of time.

Tell me about products you got fed up with and threw away before they were finished!