August Empties

Well, better late than never, huh? I was busy over Labor Day weekend and it didn’t leave much time for blogging. I’ve been trying to get a lot of posts scheduled to go up this weekend and next week. There are so many posts that I want to write, plus a lot of products are piling up in my basket to review. I have a very busy end of year for me. There are so many appointments for Dean to go to and my dad is having foot surgery at the end of the year. I’m going to get in as much blogging as I can, because I might be off and one at the end of the year. I’m taking time off to take care of my dad and Dean, because he won’t be able to take care of Dean for a bit. This is such a busy year for me. Also, it has been the most productive year as well.

I decided to sign up for the next Insurance course to get an Associates degree in Insurance Data Analytics. I’ll be getting my books in a couple of weeks. I might be blogging less. I’m going to take the exam sometime in Jan to March, which is my exam window and I get to chose the day and time to take it. Two Associates degrees kinda equal 1 BA degree right? I didn’t get to interview for that job, strictly on the basis of no BA. Talk about discrimination in the workforce.

I basically felt degraded by the HR manager that talked to me about having no degree and once I told her that I had an Associates degree (in the job description it said you could have an Associates with 4 to 6 years of documented work HISTORY, not specific work experience), she said I needed a BA and work experience to get this job. Quote: “You don’t go from down here to up here. Do you understand?” Oh, I understood perfectly. You just didn’t want to give me a chance to prove that you don’t need a formal education to work in IT.

But, let’s get to my empties post.

6. Gerber lil’ Beannies

8. International Delight Coffee Creamer

9. Boston’s Best Breakfast Blend Coffee

10. New England Coffee Colombian Supremo

11. Dunkin’ Donuts Dunkin’ Dark Coffee

12. Garnier Micellar Mattifying Cleansing Water

13. Dial Spring Water Antibacterial Hand Soap

14. Swisspers Cotton Rounds

15. Lab Series Daily Moisture Defense Lotion

16. Davines Natualtech Repluming Hair Filler

17. Jane Iredale Just Kissed Lip & Cheek Stain in Orange

18. Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Wintergreen Chews

19. Roloxin Lift Instant Skin Smoothing Masque

20. Sunday Riley Ceramic Slip Clay Cleanser

21. FAB Coconut Skin Smoothie Priming Moisturizer

22. Palmer’s Luminous Hydration Facial Oil

24. Perfume Samples: Chloe & Oscar Delarenta

Not as many empties this month, but still quite a bit. I already have quite a few for September, so I think I will have more empties for this month. I am glad to be using up more of my collection. Eventually, I would like to buy some new stuff that I have been DYING to try. I’m really trying not to be a hoarder and to use and enjoy what I have. I think I have been very successful, despite splurging for my birthday and tax money treat. I need to treat myself sometimes, right? I’ll be treating myself to clip in hair extensions soon enough. I’m embracing my darker, natural hair color. No more bleach. No more blonde. Just…..me.

With Love,

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August Sephora Play!

I am extremely happy with this month’s Sephora Play box. I feel like the subscription just got better and I got products in my shade. They actually took my skin tone in mind and chose a perfect match. this leads me to believe that Sephora Play is getting more personalized or at least they are looking at what you put as your skin tone to give you a decent match when they send out foundation or concealer samples. The theme this month is The Innovators, but I don’t think that any of the stuff that I got is really cutting edge beauty. I would just say that they are popular brands.

Apparently, the brand Makeup Geek is very upset that Sephora used that phrase on their bags. I guess, they weren’t really thinking, now were they? I didn’t even think of that brand though, when I saw the bag. I mean, it’s just a saying. Maybe they should have said Makeup Junkie. I don’t know people get so worked up over these things.

BeautyBlender Micro.Mini for $9

I’m happy to give this mini sponge a try. I’ll probably use it to bake under my eyes. Honestly though, I could have done without it. I’m not crazy about Beautyblenders. I bought one in the beginning, but I wasn’t really impressed. It fell apart on me by month 3 and I didn’t want to spend a twenty to get another. I will use this for my concealer and baking under my eyes though. It might be very useful for that or be too small and be a pain. I’m happy to try it though. Also, this little sponge almost makes up for the whole value of this box. That’s one expensive sponge!

Hourglass Vanish Seamless Finish Foundation Stick in Shell, 0.04 oz for $7.66

I am so exited to try the new Hourglass foundation stick. It has been years since I have used a foundation stick. Like 10 years ago long. This seems to be a really good color match for when I lose my summer tan. I only tanned a couple of shades from being outside so much this summer with Dean. I’ll probably be more tan next year when he can last longer in the sun. Although, there is not a ton of product in here, it is enough to try and see if I would like to purchase it as I am in the market for a foundation. Although, the full size of this is only a quarter of an ounce.

Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue 1.5 ml for $2.28

This perfume isn’t sweet enough for my taste, but I will use up the sample. I wouldn’t purchase it though. I wish I got the Kat Von D ones, but it’s a free sample.

Kat Von D Lock It Concealer Creme in Light 3 Warm, 0.065 oz for $7.59

I have two concealers opened right now, so I’m not going to open this one until I use up my Nars one. I use my Nars one during the work week and my Smashbox one on the weekend. I haven’t worn any eye makeup for the past two weeks. I just haven’t felt like it, since we’ve been going swimming a lot. I’m happy that I got this concealer, because I want to try something that is fuller coverage. What I have doesn’t cover my veins under my eyes. Hopefully, I’ll be able to crack into this early next year.

Caviar Anti-Aging Miracle Multiplying Volume Mist, 1.4 fl for $9

I am always willing to try something to give my fine, limp hair some volume without weighing it down or making it look greasy. It says you have to blow dry after using it. If it doesn’t work without blow drying, then I’ll just use this to smooth my flyaways when I’m doing a bun or ponytail. I haven’t found anything that works to give my hair volume yet. I will be so happy if it works. I only blow dry my hair in the Winter time. Maybe, I’ll save it for then and give it the old college try.

Lancer The Method: Polish, 0.5 oz for $5.93 (based on the 8 oz)

The pamphlet states that this contains pumpkin! I love pumpkin! I want to try pumpkin everything. This sounds similar to the PTR pumpkin enzyme mask. I cannot wait to try it. I’ll currently using a Biore exfoliater in my shower right now, but when that’s done, I will use this one. I cannot wait to see if it smells like pumpkin pie. It is really expensive though. I don’t think I would ever purchase this. I’m more liking to get the PTR, but since they are not cruelty free, I need to find other options.

The total value of my box is $41.46 including the perfume sample. That is 4 times the value! I am so happy with this price point and the items seem more generous this time around as well. I am keeping this subscription for sure. I want to try a face mask subscription. Does anyone know any good ones?

Also, I’ve been deleting pictures off of my blog again. I try to delete old pictures and usually nothing from this year. WordPress doesn’t give you a whole lot of free space. Next year, I’ll probably will deleted everything older than 2017 besides my animal pictures. I use those a lot.

With Love,

Thicker Hair?

For Loreal Paris Advanced Haircare Volume Filler Thickening Conditioner with Filloxane

What it is:

A thickening conditioner for fine, thin hair.

Key Ingredients:

water, glycerin, fragrance, linalool, benzyl alcohol, limonene, citric acid, soluble collagen.

How it feels/smells/looks:

It is a thick, white cream conditioner with the consistency between a lotion and a body butter/hair mask. It smells sugary and sweet like tangy candy. Sweet tarts, maybe?

Why I like it:

While I think it failed to thicken my hair, I did like how smooth and soft this conditioner kept my hair. The scent also lasted as long as I didn’t put something else on top of it, which most of the time, I do put something on it. I would repurchase this conditioner. I want to buy the whole system, though. I feel like that is the only way to find out if this range of products really do something to my hair. I have a huge bottle of shampoo to get through, so this might not happen for quite some time. Maybe I’ll get a blonding conditioner in the mean time…

With Love,