EMPTIES I: November 2011

I first came across Beauty Reductionista's blog a couple months ago when blog-hopping and quickly became engrossed in reading all her past posts. I love her writing style, her humor, and the content of her posts - particularly her two series of posts: "Empties" and "Inventory". As the titles imply, one is a series of posts regarding products that have been used up in the previous month or so and the other is an inventory of a particular type of product (blushes, mascaras, etc.).

It's not a new concept; I've seen it on other blogs. But Liz does it the best! Since I have no shame, I'm taking a page from her books with a series of Empties posts myself. Thanks Liz!



NOVEMBER EMPTIES LIST:
Forever21 Love & Beauty Hydrating Wipes
Clean & Clear Face Cleansing Wipes
Pond's Cleansing and Makeup Removing Towelettes
Vaseline Dry Skin Condition Lotion
Clinique Dermawhite Brightening Moisture Gel Cream
NYC 16H Lip Stain in Endless Spice 495
MAC Lipglass in Prize Petal from Spring 2007 "Strange Hybrid" Collection
Chanel Precision Lip Definer in Lilirose 19
Bath and Body Works Country Chic Body Lotion Travel Size

TALLY:
Total Items: 9
True Empties: 6
Expired: 2
Others: 1



Forever21 Love & Beauty Hydrating Wipes - I found two packages of these taped together (30 wipes each) with a $1.50 price stamp on the taping. I checked with the cashier and she confirmed that was the price. I still think it was a pricing error but who am I to complain? There's nothing special about these - they have a light fresh scent, nothing distinctive, and they are quite soft. They take off visible color makeup (not waterproof mascara or eyeliner) but after swiping my face with toner, I still find minimal residue. But for the price, these are great "freshening" wipes for the summer or makeup correction. I would re buy because the price is right.

Clean & Clear Face Cleansing Wipes - This is a sample package of 7 and came taped to a tube of C&C Pore Minimizer Moisturizer. Again, a light fresh scent, nothing distinctive. I found that it cleansed a bit better than the Forever 21 version but not much more. I wouldn't rebuy as they're priced the same as other brands and didn't outperform.

Pond's Cleansing and Makeup Removing Towelettes - I bought these from Winners for $5.99 - they always have a lot of facial wipes (Pond's, L'Oreal, Olay, Blum, Marcelle, etc.) there so I recommend checking it out! Most are around $6-8 for a package of 30. These come in a package of 30. The towelettes were thicker and soft and the scent was stronger but still quite pleasant (as you would find in a pot of moisturizer) but again, the performed about the same as the others. I wouldn't rebuy as I'd rather spend my money on the continuous hunt for the great one.



Vaseline Dry Skin Condition Lotion
These are about $7-9 at Shoppers but they regularly go on sale for $2.99 a bottle. There are a number of different types - Aloe, Cocoa Butter, Unscented, etc. I bought this one last winter as my skin was beyond dry. Well, this was NOT moisturizing for dry skin! 15 minutes after I put it on, I felt like I need more! This bottle is 325ml and I actually finished the whole thing - not because it's a good product but just because I needed so much of it to have any affect on my skin. Will definitely NOT buy despite the enticing cheap price (the cocoa butter one is a completely different story though).

Clinique Dermawhite Brightening Moisture Gel Cream
This is second empty actually. I have a 3rd pot that I'm about 3/4 the way through. I bought these at the MAC/Estee Lauder warehouse sales (which unfortunately I no longer have a hookup for...boohoo!) for $10 or $15, I believe. I don't notice a brightening difference but I just love the consistency of this product. It's similar to the L'Oreal Hydrafresh gel moisturizers. Great for the summertime! If I can get it for the same price, I'd buy again. At retail, I'll stick with similar products from drugstore brands.

NYC 16H Lip Stain in Endless Spice 495
This was on sale for $2 so I bought two. I lost one and this one I'm throwing away because after only a few uses, it's done. I know there is still a lot of product in there but the felt tip nib of this marker does not allow enough product to penetrate. After you've stained one lip, it's too dry to do the other. Leave it for a few days and more ink is on the nib but that's useless! I love the Covergirl Outlast Lipstains a lot more - those are super pigmented and the tips are always saturated with stain. The color is beautiful but what does it matter if you can't use it? Don't waste your money on these.

MAC Lipglass in Prize Petal from Spring 2007 "Strange Hybrid" Collection
This is a pretty light pink shimmer and so nice in the summer or over a cream lipstick. Unfortunately, I forgot about this and now it has that plastic expired smell. I wouldn't buy it again just because MAC has so many similar colors. Actually, I've yet to rebuy any MAC color because there's so many new collections released.

Chanel Precision Lip Definer in Lilirose 19
This is a beautiful color - a brownish-pink "rose" color. When I first got it, it was so smooth and creamy to apply. Very pigmented and I could use it on my whole lips with just some balm. The brush was great and allowed you to brush the product around almost like a lipstick. Unfortunately, it's another product I forgot about and the product core dried up. The brush was also a casualty of some overpacked makeup box.

Bath and Body Works Country Chic Body Lotion Travel Size I love the travel sized bottles from B&BW. They are fantastic to keep at work, in the purse, car, and pretty much every little nook and cranny I can find. They retail $4.00CDN but usually sell $2/5. Sometimes they offer a "preview" of a new scent via a bottle of this priced at $1.00CDN, found by the cash registers. The Frangrantica website description says: "Top notes are grapefruit, pear, green notes, tagetes and amalfi lemon; middle notes are jasmine, african orange flower, gardenia, lily and raspberry; base notes are musk, patchouli, virginia cedar, amber, peach, orchid and praline." It's a fruity floral scent - very sweet and perfect for the summer. I really like it but will not repurchase because like MAC, B&BW comes out with so many new products I want to keep trying new ones.

So that's it! My first empties post. Really looking forward to December's. I have to admit, it feels like a great achievement and is as satisfying as purchasing a new product, if not more.

PS: Go visit Liz's blog! >> BeautyReductionista.blogspot.com

Can't Stop Buying...Love & Beauty Nailpolishes

At $3.80 a pop, the polishes from Forever 21's cosmetics and skincare line "Love & Beauty" are cheaper than Starbucks Frappucinos but just as addictive.

The colors are all quite fashion forward and they keep coming out with new ones. Unfortunately, they put them right by the cash register so it is very VERY VERY hard to resist!

The polishes come in a variety of colors and textures (cream, shimmer, foil, glitter, scented, etc.) and are surprisingly good and consistent quality...unlike the rest of their color cosmetics line. With a good base and top coat (I use China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat and Color Club Vivid 10 Color Intensifying Top Coat) this polish lasts just as long as many of the salon polishes in my collection....OPI, Essie, China Glaze, etc.

One thing I like about the Love & Beauty nail polishes is that the pigmentation is great, especially for the price point. I find the main difference between many drugstore brands versus salon/designer brands is the lack of opacity, density of glitter, etc. in the former. This is not the case with the L&B polishes. 2 coats is sufficient.

Granted, if you compare glitter to glitter, shimmer to shimmer with one of the higher price-point lines, the formula in some colors may be slightly sheerer or the glitter slightly less dense. But at under $4 a pop, I think you can live with applying two coats instead of one.


My growing collection of Love & Beauty nail polishes. You'll notice the last one is actually labeled L.A. Girl Rockstar Nail Lacquer. It was also purchased at Forever 21 and comes in the same packaging so for all intents and purpose, it's the same thing. I suspect this is a case of the same manufacturing creating polishes under Forever 21's house brand Love & Beauty and as L.A. Girl for sale by other retailers.

On that note, this makes the $3.80 price ever better. L.A. Girl is sold at some retailers for $5-6. I've seen it at Urban Outfitters and Rexall Pharmacy.


Unlabeled (cream with fine glitter)
Multi (glitter)
Unlabeled (cream with shimmer and fine glitter)


Lavender (cream)
Mauve (glitter)
Navy (cream)


Blue (glitter)
Green (pearl)
Green (glitter)
Teal (pearl)

From L-R, top to bottom: Green, Blue, Navy, Mauve, Lavendar, Green, Teal, Unlabeled, Multi, Unlabeled.

I guess the one thing you don't get with these cheap thrills is a good naming system. "Mauve" for a purple glitter or "Green" for both a glitter and a pearl? That REALLY makes sense...

Some Bling Bling

J.Crew and Anthropologie both make funky, romantic, and whimsy jewelry that appeal to me. I actually try to resist the urge to even browse them online because I fear falling a little too much in love.

Unfortunately, the price points just can't be justified for something I would only wear occasionally. And that's where Forever 21 comes in. The materials they use may not be as costly - no silver or gold plating, semi precious stones, etc. but I have found that they really hold their own in terms of quality and style. For a fraction of the price, (I really do mean a mere fraction!) Forever 21 offers pieces that look like they could've easily come from a boutique.

The pieces below were all under $20 and the smaller gray and gold earrings were only $1.50!! Needless to say, this is just a glimpse of my large collection of Forever 21 pieces.

I highly recommend taking a closer look at the jewelry section at your local store.