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.
I actually haven’t read any books this month. For those of you who may be unaware, I have started full time online college in July and I have been so busy with that it doesn’t leave a lot of free time to myself. I thought that I would share instead the book that I am currently reading on audible and my thoughts on it at this time. I have been enjoying listening to an audio book while walking on my manual treadmill. I downloaded the Audible app to my phone (which apparently my SOS will no longer be updated, so I need to buy a new phone) and I can hit on the app to listen to where I left off the last time I was exercising.
After combing through my to read shelf on goodreads, I remembered that I hadn’t finished reading this Meg Cabot series yet. I also downloaded two more books, before putting my Audible subscription on a 90 day hold. It is already August and I am still working on my first book. I knew that the other two were going to take me some time to read as well. I am halfway through this book and it is good. Not as good as when I was reading it in my teens, but decent. The narrator is SO annoying though. Her voice irks me and it is nothing like I imaged Em to sound like. Where is the NY accent?! Why is she southern?! Makes zero sense. I’m hoping to finish this by the end of August, so I can give you guys a proper review. I do highly recommend Audible though. I got two free books through my Amazon account. Most books are worth more than the 14.99, so it is well worth it.
I kept my makeup the same as last month’s. I am really enjoying these products, so I decided to keep them around for another month. I have been focusing on using up the PIXI blush and I think that I will keep that in my makeup bag for the rest of the year. I have been working hard on the perfume and have made a huge dent in it. I have been really lax in the lip products, so I am hoping to get more out of them for the month of July. This includes the eye gloss as well. I’d like to use it in July during my work from home week. The palette is beautiful! I think next year, I am going to be focusing on panning it and I just mean hitting pan in every shade. I am resuming my project pan in 2019. I will be doing 19 in 2019. These three will be in that project! I am super excited and I continue to use and love these products in July.
I wasn’t sure how to name these review posts. I knew that I want to title them 5 Out, but I didn’t know beyond that. I think that I will just name them with whatever month that we are currently in. Even though, these are items that I finished in May. It takes me awhile before I get around to blogging about them, but I am going to be better about it for sure. I have 5 more items waiting to be written about and I will do that right after this post. You might see two if these posts in July then, but they will be named the same.
Not Your Mother’s Clean Freak Refreshing Dry Shampoo
I liked this dry shampoo, but I would not repurchase it. I don’t think it absorbed enough oil in my hair. It still was a bit oily. If I sprayed a ton, it did leave a bit of a white cast, but you couldn’t really tell with my grey hair. It does not leave your hair feeling gritty and it does provide some volume. I think there are other dry shampoos that do a better job on oil hair. I have oily roots and this did a 50% job on day 2/3 hair. I need to find something affordable to work on my hair. The only dry shampoo I have found that works is Amika Perk Up. That stuff is amazing!
Victoria Secret’s PINK Coconut Mango 2-in-1 Wash & Scrub
The scent on this is to die for, but I will not be repurchasing. Somewhere along the way, VS has become non-cruelty free. I will continue to buy bras and such from them on sale, but no more beauty products. This was a great scrub, perfect for summer. It was very gritty like sand on the beach. It was like a beach in a bottle. I really enjoyed this scrub, but it is not as good as Tree Hut scrubs. Hopefully, I can get my hands on them at Marshall’s soon. You can always get VS on promotion, so never buy them full price like B&BW. It is not worth it.
Alba Botanica Acnedote Deep clean Astringent
Alcohol is the second ingredient, so I will not be repurchasing for that reason. It stung my skin if I used it after a drying mask. It was effective against acne, but there are less harsh things that work just as well. If this brand makes an alcohol free toner, I would buy it. I like to use a toner that also doubles as a morning cleanser or micellar water. It also had a strong smell that irritated my eyes and made them sensitive. I like that the ingredients are 100% vegetarian and that it contains no “bad” ingredients, except for the alcohol.
Dr. Brandt BB Cream Self-Adjusting Flawless Coverage SPF 30
I am decluttering this BB cream. It is not self-adjusting. It comes out super orange and muddy. I cannot wear this at all. I don’t know why I have this around still and it for sure went bad. It was a good idea if you have a medium skin tone or are tan. I will not purchase from Dr. Brandt, since he is not CF. I have never found a BB cream that matches my skin tone. When I think I am medium, I’m light. When I think I’m light, I’m fair. It is just a bit of a guessing game with most brands.
ELF Tone Correcting Powder in Cool
I am super sad that they discontinued the warm powder. I loved this powder. The only drawback is that the cool makes me overly pale and ghostly. I have warm yellow undertones, so it doesn’t really suit my skin tone. The only other negative is that the powder kept on getting hard pan on the blue and yellow side until I repressed it. The powder is finely milled and kept my skin oil free all day. I didn’t notice any benefit from the color correction, but I have yellow undertones. So, a purple color would have suited me better for a brightening effect. Overall, a great powder for 3 dollars.
Do you like this new review style? I think it works for my blog and makes my review posts more interesting. It does take awhile for me to write these posts, because I have to take the time to review each item. I hand write all of my reviews first before they appear on my blog. I like to get my feelings out on paper first before typing them up and adding a few bits and pieces that I forgot to mention. Even though I do online college, I still take notes in my notebooks. There is just something about putting ink to page that speaks to me and helps me remember. But maybe that is just the writer that is talking in me.
I feel like I used up quite a bit in July and so far, I feel like August hasn’t been as successful. We shall see next month. But this update is a big deal for me. I finished a ton of perfume samples and I am still steadily going through them. I’m using up all of my sprayer samples first and then going onto the dabbing ones. I finished up 4 deluxe sized makeup products as well. It’s very hard to go through a lot of makeup, so I’m very happy with the results that I see here. So at the end of June, I used up 7 out of 20 products with the total adding up to $78.74 out of $200. Let’s see what I can add to that.
Perfume samples: 5 = $5
I enjoyed how sweet the Brittany Spears Midnight Fantasy is. I would pick that one up if I came across it as Marshalls, but I’m on a no perfume buy. It is so crisp and fresh and sweet like candy. I just love it. If I see a bottle at Walmart, I might just have to buy it. The rest of the samples were okay, but nothing that I would purchase for myself. There were no scents that I couldn’t wear. I just didn’t care for them.
I liked using this as a night time treatment, but I would not purchase it. It felt grainy if I got it on my teeth and I don’t like that sensation. This lasted me forever! I already found my dream night time lip balm, so I’m just trying to use up my balms.
Model Co Lip Lacquer in Viva = $6
I really enjoyed using this and the peachy color pay off. I took out the stopper and used up every last drop. I would not purchase this, but I am glad to have moved it out of my collection. I’d much rather buy a lip oil. I thought that I wouldn’t like this though and I did. It had a lot of pigment for a gloss and I used this up at work so very appropriate.
I am considering buying this in the full size. I want to use up the rest of my primers first, but when I get down to 1, I really want to buy this. It was very moisturizing and gave my skin a nice glow. I used this mostly on its own and my skin looked flawless with this on. I got a lot of compliments on my skin when wearing this. I need to use up what I have first though. I’ll revisit this next year.
DERMAdoctor DD Cream = $8.76
This was WAY too dark to use on my face, so I used this on my legs when I wore a skirt to work. My legs looked tanned and toned. It was too dark for my face, but not only that, it was too greasy as well. I’m glad that I used it up and it’s gone. I need to do this with the rest of the creams that I bought/received that are way too dark for my face. It also didn’t moisturize my legs very well. I cut it with some body lotion to help with that.
Okay, I am pretty impressed with the monetary value that I used up in July. I have used up 11 out of 20 makeup items with the total being $113.70 out of $200. I am over halfway there now! I really think that I have a chance at completing this project. Next year, instead of project pans and this series, I will be doing a Finish 100 by 2019 and monthly makeup bags. This series is going so well that I want to pull in all of my other categories like hair and skin care for next year. The makeup bags will be fun, too. Every month, I’ll focus on different items to use up.
I have quite a few products that I used up in July. July turned out to be a good month for me and it is mostly due to my project pan. It really motivated me to use and enjoy what I have in my collection. I’m looking forward to reviewing some of these products in my post, so stay tuned for some reviews. I’m really a review blog for the most part. I love writing reviews on products that I have used up and I have a ton of posts in back stock. I just use up so many products that the reviews get backlogged. I try to mix it up, so it’s at least a variety. That means that some of these items won’t be reviewed for months though. Now that I have explained that. Let’s get counting.
13. Tony Moly I’m Real Red Wine Sheet Mask Pore Care
14. Yes To Grapefruit Brightening Paper Mask
15. Soo Ae Charcoal Clay Bubble Mask
16. Kate Somerville ExfoliKate
17. Palmer’s Coconut Oil Facial Moisturizer
18. 19. Oribe Shampoo & Conditioner For Brilliance & Shine
20. 21. 22. John Freida Frizz Ease Beyond Smooth Shampoo, Conditioner & Primer
23. B&BW True Blue Spa Malibu Radiance Whipped Body Cream
24. Coty Lady Gaga Fame Black Shower Gel
25. Colgate Radiant Optic White Toothpaste
26. Equate Acetaminophen
27. Orange Paper Mate Ink Joy Pen
28. Hair Tie
29. Swisspers Cotton Rounds
30. Better Than! Ears
31. Munchkin Diaper Pail Refills
32. Josie Maran Surreal Skin Argan Finishing Balm
33. 34. 35. 36. 37. Sample Perfumes
38. DERMAdoctor DD Cream
39. Jouer Essential Lip Enhancer
40. ModelCo Lip Lacquer
I impressed myself this month with 40 empties. Granted only 23 were beauty, skin care, and hair care products. Still, 23 beauty related empty products is amazing in one month. I think August will bring around 20 items total. I really emptied quite a few products. Most of what I am using now are mostly full. I’m not thinking that I will have a whole lot, which is good. I have so many reviews to write about now. About 20 I think. I know it’s August 6th right now, but I have an empty bucket.
Yes, it is that time again, where I share my trash with all of you that I managed to use up in July. I finished up quite a few things, if I do say so myself. I took a week off of blogging last week to give myself a breather from Julamorous. I hope you all didn’t mind. So, I’m going back to blogging Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday, and the occasional bonus Friday or extra Saturday post. I’m not sure how long I’ll be blogging for or if I’ll blog every week, but I will try. Pregnancy does funny things to you and makes things you loved a chore. Honestly, all I wanted to do last week was sleep, eat, and repeat.
Garnier Ultra-Lift Miracle Sleeping Cream, sample
I honestly didn’t think anything off this sample to be quite honest.
Peter Thomas Roth Beta Hydroxy Acid 2% Acne Wash, 2 fl oz
Maxwell House International Cafe Cafe Vienna, 9 oz
Online Pic
Bath & Body Works Amber Blush Eau De Toilette, 0.24 fl oz
Jhimack Distinctions Silver Plus Ageless Shampoo, 13.6 fl oz
Silver Shampoo
Maybelline New York Fit Me! Foundation in 210 SPF 18, 1 fl oz
A Pair Of Worn Out Kmart Flats
They were destroyed shoes. They had to go and I never took the brand new picture of them…I need more shoes.
Schick Hydro Silk Sensitive Care Razor Head, 1 ct
I’m not going to show you a disgusting razor head, you wierdo!
Schick Quattro Disposable Razor, 1 ct
I still had one lying around. They are not as good as the 5 blades ones. Those are like SILK!
Nestle Nesquik in Chocolate, single serve pouch
Purina Beneful Healthy Smile Dental Dog Snacks in Ridges, 8.4 oz or 24 mini treats
L’Oreal Volume Filler Thickening Conditioner, 12.6 oz
Lipton Natural Energy Premium Black Tea, 1 bag
EmergenC Super Orange Flavored Fizzy Drink Mix, 1 pouch
Those are all my empties for the month of July. What was yours?!
I thought that I would share the exercise routine that I will be doing all month long. I switch up my routines every month or else I will get bored. This is a short 20 minute routine. You can always add more reps that would suit your endurance level. Since I’m pregnant, I can only do a beginners level workout, which I would have laughed at before. I could easily walk 2 miles and then do a 45 minute intense workout. That would total almost two hours on a weekday and I would do double that on a weekend day. Let’s get into the workout!
Butt Kicks & High Knees:
Run in place kicking your heels to your butt for one minute.
Run in place raising your knees as high as you can for one minute.
Mountain Climbers:
Get in a push up position and bring one knee to your chest. Make sure to balance on the balls of your feet.
Support yourself with your arms as you quickly switch legs (in my case slowly, because I cannot do sudden movements).
Repeat for 1 minute.
Water Bottle Extensions:
Lie with feet flat and knees bent. Hold a 1-liter water bottle (filled) over your head keeping arms straight.
Lower the bottle until it almost touches your forehead and raise it up again.
Do 1 set of 15 reps.
Power Towel Crunches:
Lie flat with a roll of paper towels between your shins and put your arms up in the air (like you just don’t care).
Lift shoulders off of the ground, lifting your legs straight up as well. Crunch far enough to tap the roll, then return to start.
Do 1 set of 12 reps.
Soccer Ball Leg Lifts:
Sit in a chair with your back straight and arms at your sides. Squeeze a ball between your ankles.
Push up with your legs and extend them until they are straight. Return to start.
Do 1 set of 15 reps.
Bicycles:
Lie on your back with feet in the air and knees at 90 degree angles.
Make circles with your legs as if you were riding a bike.
Do it for 1 minute.
This routine promises to firm you up in just one month of doing this exercise routine three times a week. I also walk my dogs for 30 minutes every weekend day. So, that is an hour of this routine a week and an hour of walking a week, which totals two hours of exercise and my doctor recommends 1 hour of exercise a week. Nothing wrong with double dosing. What’s your routine?
I have been working on my July Monthly Spread in my ECLP and I thought that I would share what it looks like right now. It will probably be a bit more full at the end of the month, because things always tend to come up or you forget things. Since it is early on in the month, I thought I would share the spread and then share the finished one when I show my August at a glance. I worked hard on my spread and I will do my best to tell you everything that I did on the pages.
I love the rainbow washi that my friend Danielle gave to me as part of my birthday present. I used it to cancel out the days that are not a part of July. The strips ended up aligning perfectly, which is an added bonus. I used the pink washi on the ends of all of the days in July, because I’m writing what posts upload on my blog for each day. I can see which ones are done and which ones are left to do. This way, my blog doesn’t have to be on my weekly spread for long blogging events. I wrote in things I need to do, bills my dad pays, and my cleaning schedule. Each week, I do a cleaning zone and just do small tasks in each area everyday, except Sunday. I want to try to observe the Lord’s Day.
I used the rainbow washi again to cancel out that day in August. I used green washi for pay days and the little day off sticker for getting the day before the Fourth of July as a paid work holiday (which is today!). I like using the Goals section to breakdown my paychecks with what bills need to be paid, then adding a goals section on the bottom. I love how busy looking my planner is. It makes me happy just looking at all the pretty colors. I like the idea of keeping the planner as a scrapbook of sorts. It is aesthetically pleasing to me.
I know that I am extremely late with this one, but I promise to be better for the one that I get in August. I have a few surprises for my blog this month, so stay tuned all month long for some special posts.
The Theme:
The card is not as great as last months, but I still feel that the picture goes with the theme of being a bit “sunkissed” from being outside so much during the summer. However, I feel like two items out of my bag do not go with the theme, since they do not contain SPF and do not scream “summer” to me. Three out of five is still really good though and I do like one of the not so summery items.
The Bag:
OMG! So girly and bright and PINK. This is not my favorite bag, but I am sure that many girls would be thrilled to have it. That being said I do not hate the bag. I just do not love it. It is not my style or cup of tea.
The Contents:
Hang Ten Dark Tanning Oil With Natural Sunscreen SPF 8 Protection, 1.50 USD for 1 fl oz
This is my second least favorite product that was sent to me this month. I do not tan and I am not interested to start. I have had two run-ins with skin cancer and I do not want to have to go through it again a third time. Also, is there really a difference with dark tanning oil and regular tanning oil? I will be using this as a moisturizer. It doesn’t smell the greatest, but it is very moisturizing. It also leaves the prettiest sheen. I would not go out and buy this. It is nice to try out though and Ipsy really responds to feedback from their customers. I doubt that they will send us a product like that again.
Befine Food Skin Care Daily Moisturizer With SPF 14 With Rosemary, Pomegrante, & Rice, 22.50 USD for 1.5 fl oz
This is really close to a full sized product, so I was really glad to get this in my Ipsy bag this month. I love trying moisturizers out and this one has SPF, which is really good for the summer. The moisturizer is very light and hydrating. It smells strongly of SPF with underlying scents of rosemary, not so much a pomegrante scent. It leaves my skin feeling soft and smooth. It will last me at least two months of consistent use. I like that this contains antioxidants and that it is all natural. If I fall in love with this, I might be buying more from this line. I like that I can skip the step of adding on SPF, since my skin can be really sensitive to it.
Pixi Tinted Brilliance Balm in Unique Pink, 10.50 USD for 0.06 oz
This is almost a full sized product as well. It is two thirds of the full sized product and I have to say that the stick is really small for being almost the full size. I love how cute the tube is though. I will get plenty of use out of this tube! The pink balm does not tint my lips, which are pretty pigmented naturally. I can say that if you have pale lips, this will leave a pretty pink stain. My hand is stained from the swatch that I did on the back of my hand. The balm is very minty as well, which is very refreshing and breath freshening. I would buy this once I ran out of the rest of my regular balms.
Whet Refined Nail Lacquer in Facetious, 10 USD for 0.3 fl oz
Another almost full sized product! Wow! My bag was filled with three almost full sized products this month. One of the best bags yet for that reason! Anyways, with two coats on, this polish is still a bit sheer in places, but I feel with more practice, you could apply it in two to three coats instead of four. I’ve only had this polish on for a day, so I cannot comment on its staying power (It starts to wear on the tips after a day, but starts to chip in four days.). The color, however, is way too dark for the summer. It is a dark indigo blue like an ink pot blue, if you know what I mean.It makes my skin look paler than it is and pale skin is not what I am going for in the summer. It doesn’t contain the big three poisons that are in nail polish though, so that is a big plus. Not a fan of the formula, though.
bareMinerals 5 in 1 BB Advanced Performance Cream Eyeshadow With Broad Spectrum SPF 15 in Divine Wine, 6 USD for 0.03 oz
Not BlendedBlended
I really love this cream eyeshadow by bareMinerals! It is super creamy and blendable. I love how these neutral shades can be flattering on anyone. This shade makes my eyes look a bit more dramatic with depth, but not overly made up. I favor more natural looks than in your face bright makeup. Divine Wine does not disappoint. It is matte and sets to be smudge-proof for a day of wear. I cannot say enough about it. I would actually buy this cream eyeshadow.
Well, my overall thoughts on this bag is a three out of a five. It wasn’t my favorite, but I still really liked this bag and I have had the subscription for seven months now. I may only keep this until December, because I am accumulating a lot of makeup. I might switch it up with a different box that isn’t makeup based. What are your thoughts?
Home Sweet Phoenix Cove 