5 Out: Product Reviews

It is that time again where I finally wrote about 5 more products in my collection. I am trying to do these posts twice a month, so I am writing 10 product reviews a month. I am behind though, because I have a basket of trash collected from this year that I still have yet to review. Next year when I am concentrating on 19 things instead of 200, I am sure that I will be going through a little less product. I will be working on mostly full and full sized items. Most of it will also be makeup which takes a while to use up. I can take the time next year to finish up the reviews from this year and keep up with next year’s empties. I still use up a lot of items throughout the year, but with having a set goal this year, I was motivated to use products every day and not skimp out most of the time. I am looking forward to enjoying my collection more next year instead of focusing on using up most of my mini products.

Philosophy Purity Made Simple Facial Cleanser

For a high end cleanser, this was too basic. I expected more from this brand. It didn’t even remove all of my makeup. My Aveeno cleanser did a better job than this one. This mini was overpriced at $10 USD. I do not recommend and I will not repurchase. You can do so much better at the drugstore or Marshalls. I have to say though that it is hard to find cruelty free at the drugstore. The ones that I know offhand for skin care are Alba, Elf, and Burts Bees.

Disney HSM Super Moisturizing Body Lotion

Nearing the end of its life, this body lotion started to turn on me, which is why there is a bit melted to the side. It hardened into the side of the bottle. This was a really light gel-like body lotion that was also very moisturizing. I enjoyed the light sweet scent that I couldn’t place. It didn’t really smell of anything recognizable. It didn’t smell like vanilla, just sweet. It is hard to describe. I wouldn’t go out of my way to buy it, but it is very good.

Manna Kadar Sheer Glo Shimmer Lotion

I enjoyed mixing this stuff with my moisturizer. It gave a very subtle lit from within glow. I am starting to mix all of my liquid highlighters in with all of my moisturizers for this glow that I am enjoying so much on my oily skin. You don’t need this particular one. Any liquid highlighter will do. This one gives a nice, healthy pink glow to the skin! I have yellow undertones, so it wasn’t too much pink for my complexion. If I ran out of liquid highlighter and I saw this at the store, I would repurchase it. I do recommend this, but it is very subtle as a highlighter. It is great for those of us that wear minimum to no makeup for a healthy glow.

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in Light 2 Vanilla

I did not enjoy this under my eyes. I think it made my under eyes dry and did nothing for concealing my dark circles. Powder tends to cling to the concealer making it look like you have dry patches of skin. I used this all over my face as a foundation. It was okay as a foundation, but nothing special. I do not recommend it and I will not be repurchasing anything from Nars as they are no longer cruelty free.

Boscia Charcoal Pore Pudding

This did not minimize the appearance of my pores, but it did purify my skin and helped pull out acne. I would not purchase, because I have a few clay masks already that do the same thing. I would purchase from the brand again, but this mask is nothing special. i think I would try their peel off mask, because I have a ton of black heads and I think that type of mask would be more effective for my skin concerns. On the plus side, this mask was very easy to remove with a warm wash cloth.

With Love,

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Project 200 Pan: April

April was a very light month when it came to empties. I know that I will have a bit more makeup next month, because I have a lip gloss on its last leg. I also hit pan on a couple of items this month that were very surprising to me, because they were my April makeup picks and one was completely brand new. I guess it just goes to show that I really loved using these two products last month.

The first thing that I hit pan on was this Marc Jacobs Lip Gloss in Sugar, Sugar. I recently got it for Christmas and only swatched it. At the end of April, I am already seeing side pan on this deluxe size. I am absolutely in love with this lip gloss formula. It isn’t sticky and it isn’t heavy. It feels perfect on the lips. It is my favorite lip gloss and I think the only formula that I would repurchase right now. I want to get a set of his glosses once I go through a few more in my collection. I’m not a fan of this nude though. It does nothing for me. My lips are too pigmented, so all you see is the gold sparkle.

I also hit major side pan on my Benefit cream highlighter in High Beam. I even had to remove the stopper to get more of the product out. I will not repurchase, because Benefit is not CF. I do love adding this in with my moisturizer for a glowy look. I am using glowy powders for the month of May and it looks more artificial on my skin. I love these cream highlighters more for a natural glow.

We left off at 38/200 or 19% of this project completed in March. Now, we are at 40/200 with the products that I have hit pan on. Let’s see which empties count towards this month’s total, shall we?!

I finished up another 2 deluxe sized makeup items: a highlighter and concealer. I would not repurchase the Nars due to the brand no longer being CF and I wouldn’t go out of my way for the Manna Kadar highlighter lotion either. 42/200

This body lotion was so light and gel-like. I absolutely enjoyed using it. It started to turn bad on me, that’s why there is still a bit of lotion stuck to the bottle. I mean, like literally melted on there. I don’t know what happened, but some of it turned colors and hardened to the side of the bottle. I’ve had this since Freshman year of high school, I believe. So yeah, never again will my lotions go like 10 YEARS before I use them. 43/200

I finished a sheet mask to watch tv one night and the serum in this packet is INSANE. I easily got 5 more applications (of the serum) out of the packet. I love these masks for moisturizing only, because honestly, I don’t see any difference between all of the variations. I do see increased moisture in my skin with every one though. Plus, how can you go wrong for like 50 cents a sheet mask?! I also used up this pore mask that really didn’t do anything to my pores. They weren’t smaller or cleaned of blackheads. I would not purchase that mask. It detoxified the skin, but that is it. 45/200

I am 22.5% done with this project now. I was hoping to be closer to 25% at the quarter of the year mark. That means that I am 2.5% behind so I need to catch up to that PLUS keep up with my regular pace. I need to keep at 5% every month and catch up on the 2.5%. Hopefully, I can do some catching up in May. This challenge of using up 200 products has been more challenging than I thought it would be. I am still keeping at a great pace and not falling too behind. I feel good about it. I know that I am using up my stuff. It gives me that push to apply body lotion when I feel too lazy after a shower or reapply gloss after I have eaten. I really am using this stuff up and it gives such a high when you finish something after laboring over it for MONTHS. Seriously, project panning is SO addictive. Next year, I want to do four seasonal project pans.

With Love,

April Empties

Another month checked of of my calendar and we are officially in my birthday month. I am super excited to be getting my birthday treats and having a great second Mother’s day. I cannot wait for the day that Dean makes me Mother’s Day gifts from school. Speaking of school, that will be a big topic for me next year in regards to Dean. I was discussing it with his EI Speech therapist and I realized that he won’t be in mainstream classes. Since Dean is nonverbal, he will have different goals than the other kids and after kindergarten, will be separated and put in the “special” classroom with the other children that have autism, down syndrome, and mental handicaps. Part of me is glad that he won’t be made fun of and the other part of me is sad that he’ll be segregated from neurotypicals. I have very mixed and raw feelings about this right now.

1. International Delight Amaretto Coffee Creamer

2. Dunkin’ Donuts Cinnamon Coffee Cake Coffee

3. MJCARE EGF Sheet Mask

4. Boscia Pore Pudding Mask

5. Goody Paddle Brush

6. Revlon Conditioner

7. Disney HSM Super Moisturizing Body Lotion

8. 9. Perfume Sample Cards

10. Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in Light 2 Vanilla

11. Manna Kadar Sheer Glo Shimmer Lotion

12. 13. B&BW mini candles

14. Papermate Ink Joy pen in green

15. Tylenol

16. Equate Ibuprofen

That is it you guys. Really small empties post this last month. I am hoping that May will be a bigger month, because it is my birthday month. If I am going to be using some stuff and pampering, this will be the month for it. I am hoping to finish off a face powder and a lip gloss this month. Anything else will be a nice bonus, because I am not focusing on anything. I am just enjoying the stuff that I have and using it up will just follow naturally. I don’t want to use stuff up for the sake of using stuff up, you know?

With Love,