May Empties

I feel really good about the amount of products that I was able to push out this month. It even out the amount of products that I have brought in. I really have been concentrating on using up samples, deluxe sizes, and almost empty products this month. I am sure there will be just as many empties in June as well from my May efforts. I don’t want to have a crazy backstock of items. I don’t want to have to keep 3 bins in my closet to hold all of my items (hair, body, skin care). I want to hold everything in just one backup storage bin. If by the end of the year I can have two bins, I will be a very happy girl. I think this is more realistic at this point in time. I keep my makeup totally separate, but I would like to have one empty drawer out of my jewelry case for my everyday jewelry to be accessible. I have larger makeup items on top where jewelry is stored, so I’d like to have an empty drawer for that purpose. If I use up enough makeup, I can make this happen. Fingers crossed!

1.DKNY Be Delicious Fresh Blossom

I used up this perfume in my project pan. It was the first item in the project that I was able to use up. I enjoyed this Spring scent, but I am more interested in buying a different Be Delicious perfume than repurchasing this one. I would not repurchase this one, because the scent wasn’t apple-y enough for me and too floral. Glad to have a perfume out of my collection. That is the second perfume used up this year, so I am a happy girl right now. Hopefully, I’ll be able to move out two more by the end of the year and keep up the pace.

2. Smashbox Primerizer Sample

I have no opinion on this product. It was a nice primer to use up, but I notice nothing from foil packets. I’m not interested in trying this primer, though.

3. Sumita Jaipur Gold Contrast Eye Pencil

This came in a subscription box, but has since dried out. It looks great on the back of my hand, but I cannot press it hard enough into my eye lid for the same pigmentation. I am not going to kill my eyeballs for the sake of using up an eye liner that I didn’t even buy myself, so I am happily decluttering this one.

4. Marc Jacobs Velvet Noir Major Volume Mascara

Chunky and clumpy lashes. I just hate that type of look on me. I have naturally long dark eye lashes, so I am just looking for darkening and volume. It was too clumpy to salvage it. I even tried using my lash brush to brush out some of the clumps and I had mascara bits all over my face from brushing out the clumps. I’m glad to be decluttering, because I don’t enjoy using it. The short stubby bristles on the wand are not great for lengthening and gives really chunky lashes.

5 – 7. Moda Oval Makeup Brushes

I hate these with a passion. I don’t like them. I prefer traditional brushes. The only one that was good is the biggest one, but with a flimsy wand, I quickly grew tired of it. Now, I have the ELF blending brush and couldn’t be happier with it.

8. Benefit High Beam Cream Highlighter

I scraped out every last bit that I could. I even cut the tube in half. I enjoyed this by adding it into my moisturizer for a healthy glow. It was perfect for that. I am enjoying using up my cream highlighters in this way. I would rather use a glowy primer when I am done with my cream highlighters though. I still keep a pink cream highlighter in my collection though in case I use a pore filling primer. It would be good to use on no makeup days for a glowy look. Yeah, I think I’ll always have a pink cream highlighter on hand, but that is all the cream highlighter that I need. I will not repurchase this. It was too frosty for what I want to use it for and it is not cruelty free.

9. HIGH Expectation Cannabis Facial Oil Sample

This sample lasted me a week of nightly use leaving me very pleasantly surprised. It sinks in faster than other oils and smells like fruity pebbles. I like other oils that sink in faster and do more for my skin than just hydrate AKA the Sunday Riley UFO oil. I still did enjoy this sample, but I mostly buy main stream brands and I’ve never heard of this one before. Oh and the fact that its cannabis doesn’t bother me in the slightest. LOL.

 

 

10. MAC PREP + PRIME FIX + MINI in Lavender

I don’t see these as a necessary step in my routine if I am already using primer. I feel like I need a pore filling primer or a mattifying one that does something for my skin rather than this one that just adds moisture. This might be nice for dry skin, but I don’t see the point for my skin. I will gladly use my minis up and buy this on sale again, because it is very refreshing and nice. I wouldn’t buy it full price. I’d rather spend money on a setting spray that will lock my makeup in place. I really enjoy the experience of using this though. I can see drier skin types loving this spray.

11. Johnson’s Bedtime Baby Moisture Wash

I bought this for $1 or $1.50 when a Walmart I lived near was clearancing this line out to redo their baby section. I used this as a nighttime bubble bath for Dean. I got a ton of use out of it and it did have a very soothing scent. I would not purchase this full price, but I would buy it on sale again. I usually buy Dr. Teals or the Walmart brand bubble bath. I am not gonna lie, I used this a few times as well. It made quite a few baths and lots of bubbles. Even though technically its not a bubble bath, we used it as such and it performed great.

12. Drunk Elephant Lala Retro Whipped Cream Sample

This was enough for 2 uses on the face. It was nice enough, but I really have no opinion of it. I would need a deluxe size to really comment on it.

13. Josie Maran Whipped Argan Oil Body Butter Unscented

I only used up one of the samples. I’ve had it before. I wouldn’t purchase it. It takes a long time to sink into the skin, so it’s kinda a hassle to use. It was enough for almost 2 full body uses.

14. Magic Bath Crackles

This was enough for 2 baths. Dean ignored it for the most part. It was worth a shot.

15. Crayola Color Bath Dropz

These continue to be a repurchase for us. Dean loves different colors in his bath water. It makes bath time a fun experience for him. They just change the color of the bath water, so there isn’t much to review about it. It doesn’t stain the tub or his skin, so its a winner in my book.

16. Not Your Mother’s Way To Grow Long & Strong Shampoo

I really enjoyed this shampoo. I liked the fragrance and it lathered nicely. I don’t know if it did anything to make my hair grow longer, but I would buy another shampoo from this brand again. It is a great cruelty free drugstore option. I wasn’t blown away by this shampoo, but it is a solid shampoo with good ingredients. I’m not too fussy when it comes to shampoo, but I do like them to clean my hair. I always shampooed my hair twice with this as I felt that once wasn’t enough to strip out all the oil in my hair. I wouldn’t mind repurchasing this again, but I’d rather try another shampoo by the brand.

17. ROLOXIN LIFT INSTANT SKIN SMOOTHING MASK

I am decluttering this to my mom.

18. Mr. Bubble Bubble Bath

My mom put this is Dean’s easter basket and we used it up once our bath was fixed. In a few baths, we finished this bad boy off and I ordered some bubble bath at Walmart. Dean loves bubbles in his tub and I do like it as well when I indulge in a bath.

I am very proud of how much stuff I was able to use up on my birthday month! I am happy that I used up 18 products this month with 8 being full sized, 4 deluxe, and 6 samples. I don’t expect much coming into my collection in June besides maybe another VS bra or something since I do have another $10 gift card. Nothing beauty wise though, so these numbers have put me in a good spot to cut down on my collection while adding to it. I am very happy and proud of what I have been able to accomplish this month. Hopefully, June is just as good of a month. I can see quite a few products hanging by a hair in my collection, so I’m going to take that as a good sign.

With Love,

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April Empties

I was able to use up my Nexxus Pro-Mend Split End Mender and I would not repurchase this. I didn’t notice a difference in my hair at all. I’d rather use something that helps with strength and detangling. My hair gets knots easily, because of how long it is getting. When my hair was at my collar bone, it was very rare to get a single knot in it. I am tempted to do a big chop at the end of the summer to start my hair afresh without all the bleach damage. I also know that my natural hair is light enough to use the brand SPLAT on it for fun colors. I know that purple works specifically on it, because I did that back in 2013 and it was fairly easy to use.

I am decluttering my Maybelline Dream Bouncy Blush in 45 Orchid Hush. I actually hit major pan and had intentions on using it up. The formula has changed however and it is super crumbly. I don’t enjoy it anymore, so I am throwing it out. This is the oldest bit of makeup out of my collection and I feel like I got my money’s worth. It just would have been nice to have used it up. I am not a fan of cream blushes in general. I’d rather use powder on my oily skin, but I did enjoy the just bitten color it gave my cheeks. Now, I can move onto the cream blush stain in my project pan.

I finished up my sample of the MAC Strobe Cream in Pinklite. I really enjoyed this luminous primer and I would purchase this once I am out of my current primer and run out of liquid highlighters to mix in with my lotion that give me the same effect. It does the perfect job of primer the skin, giving me moisture, and a glow that does not emphasize texture or bother my oily skin. It just gives me a nice lit from within glow that I am all about. I am a matte girl through and through, but there is just something about healthy glowy skin (NOT DEWY) that has been calling to my lately. It looks more youthful than a matte look. I’ve been reserving my matte look for long work days in the office and special occasions where I want my makeup to last. Otherwise, I have been rocking a healthy glow instead of a matte complexion.

I also had another sample that I used up of the Sephora Waterproof Eye Makeup Remover. I really enjoyed this bi-layer makeup remover that I used on my entire face. I would get another sample as a point perk, because it was really nice. If Sephora was cruelty free, I would purchase a full bottle for them too. I highly recommend it for removing all types of makeup efficiently.

Martin bought me this to makeup for me having to go coffee free for a few days and then, his Keurig was broken so I couldn’t even use it! LOL. We got a used Keurig from my mom, so we did manage to use up this Starbucks Breakfast Blend in Medium Roast. I really enjoyed the simplicity of popping in a cup and having a good cup of coffee and the fact that someone else thought of me. I have been eyeing their specialty packs on Amazon like the caramel and the mocha coffees. Seriously considering buying a Nepresso machine and keeping it in our room.

Used up another deodorant because you know, priorities. I still love this brand of deodorant, but I am currently using Secret. I went back to a full strength aluminum deodorant, but I will be going back to this one. It was just sold out at Walmart when I needed deodorant.

Last but not least, I was able to use up my MAC Cleanse Off Oil. It is just a baby sample, but another item out leaves room in my collection. May is my birthday month, so I have a ton of items coming into my collection this month from makeup to skincare. So, even tiny samples I am happy to be out of my collection. I really love cleanse off oils and balms. Once I finish off my full sized cleanser, I will replace it with an oil or a balm. I am more partial to a balm personally, because I feel like it gives my skin an added boost of moisture.

I was able to move out 7 items out of my collection, abide one was a declutter but I had MOSTLY used that one up as well before the texture changed. I writing this post on May 2nd and I feel like I will have maybe ten empties this month. I am mostly working on full sized items, but I do have a few samples and items that already have progress in them. I am trying to work through all of my opened products this year. I will only open a new product if I don’t have something like that opened. Next year, I plan on doing another inventory count and sticking with it. I just had/have so much going on this year that it just fell behind.

With Love,

October 200 Pan

In September, we left off at 126/200 and now, we get to see our total for October. If I finished 10 items this month, it would be a lot. I don’t even think that I have that many empties. I am not discouraged though, because I still have two months until the end of the year and I think that I will still be able to knock off a few more things. I won’t make it to 200, but over 100 is more than I ever thought that I could do. I am still so proud of myself. When I see room in my backup stash, it makes me so happy to soon have that space back to store other things besides products collecting dust. On a side note, I am in my element right now. I have written so many blog posts to try to keep ahead of the curve and I just had so many ideas. Now, I feel a bit emptier and less stuff is on my mind. But anyway, I am happy to see that my backups are not squished together anymore, but have plenty of room. I will not fill up that space though.

SKINCARE:

130/200 I have four items here and I am counting all of them. I have a full pack of the Aveeno Baby hand and face wipes complimentary of Influenster and they were very nice. They are expensive, but if you have the money, they are the perfect morning face wipe. I finished two deluxe sized eye creams. One was my day gel and the other was my night cream. I also used up my month’s supply of Curology. I just got my 2 month supply bottle. I will be reviewing this on my blog soon, so stay tuned. Sneak peek, I LOVE it.

MAKE UP:

132/200 I also finished up 1 lip balm and I decluttered this Nude Stix lip crayon that left white residue around the inside of my mouth. It also wore terribly and flaked away. Not to mention that the color was all wrong for my skin coloring. Not too bad on the lip front with two more out of my collection. Maybe, I can get one or two out again by the end of the year. I go through lip products and I have a good stash of them. I enjoy buying the Sephora Favorites kits to refresh my supply. I rarely buy a full size. I mostly go for mini sets, because they are the better deal and I love trying new lippies.

HAIR CARE:

133/200 I finished up one deluxe sized can of dry shampoo and two packets of hair conditioner that I use to shave my legs with. These conditioner packets come with my dad’s hair dye and I use them. I have separate conditioner that I like to use for my hair, so these are perfect for using for shaving where I don’t care what kind it is. I am going to be buying pricier hair care that is CF, so I will not be using my expensive conditioner on my legs. If I ever use up my back stash, I will buy a cheap conditioner to use for my legs. I have one more can of dry shampoo and then, I will attempt to use up my Lush one again.

BODY CARE:

135/200 Wow. I actually did have ten empties! That really surprises me! I am pleasantly surprised. I used up my B&BW Sweet Pea Body Spray. We used this as a bathroom freshener. Dean really stinks up the house when he goes number 2. I have been going through all of my sprays this way. I am consistently going through 1 a year. I used up one last year and now, this one for this year. I am currently working on a VS one in the Fresh and Clean scent. It is a rarity that I use up a body gel, but I used up this no name sweet pea one that Danielle gave me.

MISCELLANEOUS:

I broke one of Dean’s bubble wands. We salvaged the fluid and poured it into two other wands. I didn’t do it on purpose. It just snapped from use. The other is a pencil that I used up. Remember those plastic pencils with the little lead refills? I still have a few of those hanging around from my middle school/high school days.

135/200 is what I wanted to have done at the very least, so I am very satisfied that this is what I got done in October. I have a masking challenge going on in November and December, so that will be boosting my empties a little bit. I also have a few odds and ends on their last legs as well. I think I might have 15 to 20 empties in the month of November. Now, that might be a generous prediction, but I believe it might come true. At the very least, I want another 10 to be a productive month. I have two skin cares on their last legs, two body lotions, and a few makeup bits and bobs. Hopefully, I can make this prediction come to life. Wish me luck!

With Love,

September Project 200 Pan

It is the end of October, so you know that I am finally getting around to telling you what I used up last September. If you have read my 15 to Jess post, then you know that I am up to 115 out of 200 items. I only have 75 more things to use up by the end of the year. Now, I know that this is very much of a stretch. I would have to use up (not including September) 25 items in October, November, and December. I really do not use up that many items in a month. I thought that I could do it, because in the beginning, I had so many minis. As the year went on, items started to decrease in numbers and I am very happy to have gotten rid of a bulk of the clutter. I am happy with my current number 115, but I want to still push for that 200. I’m not going to use things for the sake of an empty though. I am using my items and enjoying most of them.

MAKEUP:

116/200 I painted my toe nails this bright red orange from Julep in the shade Gloria from the Bombshell collection. I will be keeping this for the toes. It is more red than I like for my fingers. Painting my nails is a miracle which is why I’m counting it as an empty to motivate myself to paint my nails more. Next year, I am actually having 2 nail polishes in my finish 19 in 2019. This shade will not make it in there though since I can only use it on my toes. It is a pretty color though.

BODY CARE:

120/200 I am not counting Dean’s Shampoo/Body Wash as he goes through them pretty regularly. I finished off two of my dad’s body scrubs. He leaves a lot in there, because he doesn’t want to work hard to get the last bits out. I get roughly two weeks of body scrub out of each bottle that he wants to throw out. I count them, because I am not using my own body wash most of the month. My dad never liked this lotion. I finally finished this huge bottle. I used it at night after a bath/shower, because it is unscented. I like to use scented body lotion during the day. I FINALLY used up my Bio-oil from my pregnancy days. This did nothing for my current stretch marks, but it did help against stretch marks during pregnancy. I didn’t get any stretch marks until I started to loose the baby weight. That is how I got my original stretch marks from my teen days. Any time I lose a lot of weight fast, I get stretch marks. I really want to try a stretch mark cream and a cellulite one, because I have both thanks to Dean. 🙂

HAIR CARE:

124/200 Hair care was where it was at this month. I redid my grey hair, although it is looking more brown toned than the icy grey that I was getting before. This is the last time that I am doing grey, because I think I will need to lighten my hair again. I’m going to do a smoky blue and maybe a purple. Since I have this darker ash vibe, I still want to play with color and maybe I can be a bit more vibrant but dark at the same time. I finished a one time use foil packet of a hair mask and it was okay. I used up this scalp scrub that I did not understand and all it did was dry up my hair. The Infusium 23 I received from Influenster for review purposes and I really didn’t care for it. I am sad that my Aussie conditioner is done. It is my favorite conditioner, but they are not CF. No repurchases in this category for me.

SKIN CARE:

126/200 I got the little deluxe sized sample of bronzing face lotion from Danielle and I really liked it. It gave a natural tan look to my face and never looked orange or fake. I didn’t care for the Kiehl’s face gel. It wasn’t moisturizing enough and I don’t think it did anything for my acne. It also pilled up ANYTHING applied underneath it. I ended up using this on my legs and it helped with razor bumps. There are cheaper things you can purchase for that though than this moisturizer. I really want to try their midnight recovery oil/serum thing. I’m not turned off by the brand. I just don’t like this product.

MISCELLANEOUS:

I finished up two pens. Both my favorite: PaperMate Ink Joy pens, but the orange is the gel pen. I am IN LOVE with the gel pens. I will repurchase another pack once I’m down to my last few ones. They have lasted two semesters so far with only one causality out of 10 pens. We finished up a mini toothpaste from the dentist and a pack of 100 cotton rounds. I am currently working on a huge bag of cotton balls. We don’t use them and they just sit. Honestly, I don’t see much of a difference between the two. I might switch to cotton balls, since it is more cost effective.

126/200 That is not bad for the end of September and nine months into my year long pan project. October isn’t looking too promising, so I think ideally, I would want to hit at least 150 to 175. 200 is looking farther and farther away. I’ll be relooking through my collection. I think there is one more color corrector that I need to declutter, but I pretty much did most of my decluttering already of items that I am not a fan of. I might be resubbing to Sephora PLAY in 2020 if my 2019 project pan goes well. That was my favorite sub box and I have been keeping an eye out in case I wanted to buy any months after the fact.

With Love,

Project 200 Pan: July Update

To recap June, I have completed 35.5% of the project and that is 71/200 items. I needed a really good catch up month and I think this past July was the month for it. I was able to use up quite a lot of products, so I should be having at least a couple of review posts up in September from July. Right now as I am writing this, I am on my last week of the semester and I am finishing up two powerpoint presentations. I hate writing presentations. I am not good at them. I would much rather write a paper than do a presentation. I am not artistic and I just don’t have a flare for that sort of thing. Anyway, that’s completely off the topic. Let’s see what I was able to use up/declutter in the month of July that counts towards my 200 pan goal.

13 items to add to the project. I hit pan on the liquid lipstick from bareMinerals. I am currently trying to use the whole thing up now. At this point, I had to remove the stopper, which I count as “panning” lipsticks/lip glosses. The Mark lipgloss has gone bad as I was trying to use it up. Every time I use it too much, it dried out my lips and caused cracked lips with some bleeding. I used up one full sized eye liner and three deluxe sized samples. The Urban Decay dried out before I could use the whole thing. I depotted two color correctors and three eye shadows. I would never use the green or the orange correctors. The black, dark purple, and dark blue eye shadows are ones that I never wold have touched with my hooded eyes. I decluttered the purple glitter, because who am I kidding?! I am also decluttering the Sally Hansen leg makeup, because it looks orange and rubs off of my skin. 84/200

Another 5 rounded up! I finished a full sized toner, eye serum, and eye cream. I finished up two deluxe sizes of eye cream and baby wash. I would repurchase the toner, but I can go without everything else seen here. 89/200

7 products to add to my list. I didn’t see this bubble bath, so I didn’t repurchase. I would repurchase it though. I bought the Equate knock off of the little Aveeno baby tubs, but I think I prefer the $3 tubs. I do not think that they are created equal. The deodorant was really nice and I would repurchase it again at Marshalls. The Degree spray I would not repurchase. Another sunscreen. Might have a few more sunscreen empties by the end of summer and next year we will need to buy all new ones! 96/200

I wanted to show you all Dean’s smile, because I love it! ❤ 96/200 is a really great way to catch up. I am 48% done with this challenge. I am so close to being half way down that I am smiling ear to ear. I really want to make it and have really put in the effort in July. I laxed in August, which you will see. So, I need to really step it up in September to make up for it by using up more of my stuff. I need to finish at least 10.4% of the challenge every month in order to complete it by the end of the year. So that would be like 20 products a month. I know that I won’t make it for August, but I will try to have an epic September like this month was. At this point, I don’t think that I will make it, but I am still going to have fun trying.

With Love,

July Empties

My camera is still being a pain, but I will be buying a new one really soon. Please bare with me. I was able to take pictures in a dim corner with the flash on. I cannot wait for my new Kodak camera, but I am looking at reviews first to make sure that there is nothing wrong with the product first. I’m just surprised that a $200 camera that was 50% off wouldn’t last more than two years. Seems very strange to me. Anyway, I went through a lot of product in July, but so far August has been a bust. So, I guess it will even out seeing as I have a whole basket of empties here. I am excited to see just how many I have and what will count towards me empties goal of the year.

Makeup: 9 Empties

Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs in Light/Fair

Rimmel Stay Matte 2 packets

No name brand purple glitter

Benefit Gel Pores No More Primer

Hilari Black Eye Liner

Urban Decay Zero Eye Liner

Avon Eye liner in Silver and Bronze

Hair Care: 1 Empty

Clairol Conditioner Packet

Skincare: 5 Empties

Good Things Deep Pore Cleanser + Toner

The Ordinary Coffee Solution

Valentina True Glow Eye Cream

Caudalie Eye Serum

Johnson’s Baby Head-To-Toe Wash

Body Care: 8 Empties

Nickelodeon Bubble Bath

Degree Dry Spray Active Shield Deodorant

Schmidt’s Bergamont + Lime

Aveeno Body Butter x2

Nivea Body Lotion Packet

Dangerous Body Wash

Coppertone Sunscreen

Misc.: 7 Empties

Papermate Inkjoy pens x3

Home & Garden Party Blueberry Cheesecake Candle

Equate Acetaminophen

Crest Kids’ Toothpaste

B&BW I Tried Mini Candle

There you have it folks! I had 30 empties for the month of July! That even amazes me. lol. I didn’t think I had nearly as much as I did. Since I am already halfway through August, I cannot count my goals towards this month. So, I will talk about September’s goals. I would like to use up a few more makeup products. I have a bunch of primers on their last legs and I want to use them up. I also have two lip products that could be used up as well. I want to use up a lotion, a hair product, and a skin care one as well. I think these are modest goals for September. Most of my stuff rain out in July and I opened new things. Probably will explain why August will be so light.

With Love,

 

5 OUT: August

I found some old reviews in a notebook that I was writing, so I thought that I would combine 5 here again for the month of August. I have another one for September in the works and if I have time, one of the months may have a bonus one as well. It takes me a long time to use up a product, because I am usually switching between a few products. I love testing out new stuff and I hardly have any old, true products that I still love now. The things that I fall in love with have a tendency of being discontinued or reformulated. Brands should stop it when they have such a good thing going. I used to love the Garnier Aqua Surge and now it is named something totally different and doesn’t hold a candle to the kind of moisture that it used to give my skin.

Lush Razzel Dazzle Solid Bath Oil

I love the lovely dusty pink bath water with a hint of shimmer on the surface. It is a very oily, very moisturizing solid bath oil. It was too oily for me, so I let my dad have the other half. We both loved the fruity scent and my dad was very impressed in how moisturized his dry skin felt after the bath. He didn’t care for the pink or shimmer. He wasn’t glittery or shimmery after the bath, but his skin was a bit “pink”. I would say it can slightly stain your skin. I would buy a less girly bath oil for my dad, but I wouldn’t repurchase this again. I have the golden egg, which is half bath bomb and half bath melt. Is that the same as a bath oil?

Softsoap Body Scrub Coconut Butter

My dad loves this body wash, because it moisturizes and has a good grit to it. I have used this a handful of times and I like it. I like Tree Hut better though and it is a cruelty free option. Hopefully, stores around me start to carry the Tree Hut again. This has been a repurchase by my dad and I can usually find him a coupon for it.

Hawaiian Tropic Sheer Touch Lotion Sunscreen SPF 30

I love the smell of these sunscreens and they are cruelty free. I will be repurchasing. This one sinks in quickly and I love smelling like coconuts. I would repurchase the spray for Dean in the high SPF. I would like to see different scents or something. I would buy the face SPF, but I am still working on a Clinique one. It is great to know that they are cruelty free, because I don’t know if I would live without this brand. It is a summer staple. It is nonirritating and very effortless to rub in. No white cast and sinks in fast.

B&BW Slatkin & Co Tree Room Spray

This is a very concentrated room spray that lasted many years! I only used it during the holidays, but I would love to get more of them. They are great in the bathroom and for freshening up a house that hasn’t had a chance to be aired out during the Winter. I would buy them on sale again. I believe that I bought one and got the other one free or half off. Either way, it was a great deal. It quickly fills the room and is very long lasting. More so than a candle. Don’t spray too much or it will quickly become overpowering and nauseating. Less is more with this one.

Lipton Green Tea Acai Dragonfruit Melon

I have to say this one wasn’t my favorite, but I do prefer it cold with ice rather than hot. When it is cold, all of the flavors blend better and the iciness of the melon goes with a cold drink. When I have it hot, I find the cooling melon flavor to be weird and not taste right. I do enjoy green teas and I do recommend Lipton as a brand. I want to try more flavors of tea, so if you have any that you recommend, please let me know. I’m not a tea snob, I try anything as long as the name of the flavor isn’t too out there.

Those are my 5 highlighted reviews. I have another five coming right at you either at the end of this month or in September. The reviews are almost done and then, I’ll get on my next batch of reviews. I am always behind on my reviews, but my life is so busy right now and very hectic. The semester is almost over and then, I get a week break before the madness begins all over again.

With Love,

 

June Empties

I am sorry again with the late post. I don’t have nearly as much time for my blog as I used it. I still get the joy of blogging and I love it. I just can only do it an hour every Sunday and maybe squeeze in 30 minutes on my other day off. Believe it or not, I can get about 3 posts done in an hour and not skimpy ones either. I am not going to say how fast June has gone, because July is almost gone right now. June is a distant memory right now. I am a fan of lengthy intros in case anyone is wondering. I like to get my thoughts out there before I get to the point.

SKINCARE:

Alba Botanica Acne Dote Deep Pore Wash

VS About Last Night Face Mask

HAIR CARE:

L’Oreal Colorista Semi-Permanent Hair Color in Soft Pink

Revlon Colorsilk After-Color Conditioner

MAKEUP:

Dermablend Long Wear Makeup Remover

Bite Agave Lip Mask Sampler

Sample Perfume in Tropical Wish

BODY CARE:

Crayola Bathtub Fingerpaint Soap in Vivid Violet

Hang Ten SPF 50 Sunscreen

Goddess Garden Organics SPF 30 Sunscreen

RANDOM CATEGORY:

Cutex 100& Pure Acetone

Crest 3D White Diamond Strong Toothpaste

Parent’s Choice Diaper Cream

That is a total of 13 empties this month. I have a feeling that the trend of less empties will continue for the rest of the year. I don’t know how I am going to finish up 200 items now. I really need to step up my game and start reaching for products that I can hit pan on. I should also really work on my lip collection as well. I could probably empty a couple of those in August if I really try. July’s basket seems to be a bit empty, so I might have less than this month. I won’t really know until I count them out. I am going to shift my focus to makeup now that I have some of my skincare under control. I don’t have time for eye make when I go to work, so I will be focusing on base and lip products. I will make a better effort to do my eye makeup when I am at home. It is time to get serious, so I can drop some serious dough on makeup next year.

With Love,

 

May Empties

I may be late sharing my empties, but I never knew how much I had to share in a month until I cut down my schedule to about 15 posts a month. I’ve been having to switch around the format of my posts and so this one is coming up later in the month than what I like. I basically sit down two Sundays a month now and write posts. I now have two Sundays a month free for classes. I only work on my blog for about 4 hours a month. That only includes writing the posts, not taking the pictures and coming up with the ideas. I am happy with this new pace of my blog. It makes it so I can be a well-rounded person and have time for everything that I want to have time for. It is nice to know that when life gets hectic, I generally have a week or two already planned out on my blog.

You hear about these every month, so I am cutting out the drinks that I purchase without fail every month. You know that I love them or else I wouldn’t have featured them for over a year here on my blog.

1 Not Your Mother’s Clean Freak Refreshing Dry Shampoo

2 Hair Teasing Brush

1. MJCARE Sea Weed Sheet Mask

2. Alba Botanical Acne Dote Deep Clean Astringent

3. Borghese Clay Cleanser

4. GlamGlow Super Clean Cleanser

5. Philosophy Purity Face Mask

6. Clinique Pep Start Eye Cream

7. Derma E Hydrating Day Creme

1. VS Coconut Mango 2-in-1 Wash & Scrub

2. Soap & Glory The Righteous Butter

3. Equate Pain Relieving Cream

1. Dr. Brandt BB Cream

2. ELF Color Correcting Powder

3. Buxom Plumping Lip Gloss

4. YSL Black Opium Perfume

5. 1. Perfume Sample Cards

19. Physician’s Formula Cushion BB Cream

1. 719 Walnut Avenue Honeysuckle Jasmine Hand Soap

2. Fresh Breath Brushing Gel

3. Equate Cotton Rounds 100 ct

4. 1. PaperMate Ink Joy Blue
5. 1. 1. B&BW Mini Candles

6. Avon Mini Emery Board

Well, I had a lot more empties than I had originally thought. I cannot wait to do my progress update on my 200 pan goal. I have been working on my pictures and I hope you can tell a difference. I think it looks more professional and I have added a bit of brightness to the pictures themselves by staging some lightening. Since I have a bit more time, I thought that I would put more effort into the picture taking themselves. I have a feeling that my empties will be slowing down, because I am running out of mini things. I still have a whole bunch of samples that I need to get through though. I hope you enjoyed looking through my trash today. Reviews are to come. 🙂

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,