Beauty Empties Edition #2

It's been a while since I've done an empties post but the time was right. The bag I use to hold all of these empty packages was so full it looked like it was ready to burst!

1. L'Oreal Ideal Moisture Day Lotion for Dry Skin: I used this throughout the winter when my skin was incredibly dry. I usually have combination skin but last winter my skin got so dry it was flaking. I loved how moisturizing it was on my skin! It was a very heavy moisturizer but it was great. And the SPF25 didn't leave my skin with an ashy cast. I'd repurchase for use in the winter or when my skin is going through a dry spell.

2. Essence All About Matt Finishing Powder: The powder itself was really great quality, truly translucent with this wonderful pore blurring effect. It mattified my skin right away but the packaging was incredibly fragile and it didn't stay matt all day. Wouldn't repurchase.

3. Dove Pistachio & Magnolia Body Wash: My favourite body wash of all time. I love the delicious warm, sweet, nutty scent and how soft and hydrated it leaves my skin. I adore this body wash!

4. Dial 7 Day Moisturizing Lotion for Dry Skin with Shea Butter: Not my favourite lotion. Had a generic lotion scent. Had a generic lotion feel. I didn't feel like it hydrated my skin that deeply. Wouldn't repurchase.

5. Rimmel Scandaleyes Xtreme Mascara: The brush on this mascara is absolutely fantastic (its in the same vein as the Maybelline Lash Sensational brush and the L'Oreal Voluminous Butterfly brush) and helped to get my lashes looking long, think and defined really quickly. I didn't feel the need to build a lot of coats. Sadly this mascara dried out and got clumpy within a month.

6. Freeman Golden Grain Brightening Face Mask: This is an okay product. The gel was hydrating while it was on but didn't boost the brightness of my skin at all. It didn't help with the formation of dark spots either and that's mainly what I purchased for. Wouldn't buy it again as I've found nicer hydrating masks.

7. Freeman Charcoal and Black Sugar Polishing Mask: This is a fantastic scrub that really worked well to keep my skin soft and keep my blackheads under control. As a mask it didn't really stay on my face, but as I scrub I loved it and can't wait to repurchase this mask and get it back into my life! Once I stopped using it my blackheads returned in full force.

8. Cetaphil Moisturizing Cream: This is so soothing on my skin. My skin is eczema prone so this really helped when I was going through a really horrible spell of eczema. It also works really well as a facial night cream that hydrates deeply without clogging. Love this stuff.

9. The Body Shop Cocoa Butter Body Butter: This body butter was really nice. It was very hydrating on my skin and had a divine melted butter consistency and it smelt like chocolate but still wasn't overpowering. I'd definitely repurchase this.

10. The Body Shop Blueberry Body Scrub: This caught my attention immediately because I thought it was so neat that it looked like blueberry jam. After a while the smell became cloying and I couldn't wait to finish this body butter. Wouldn't buy this again.

11. L'Oreal Sublime Soft Micellar Cleansing Water: My first micellar water and still remains one of my favourites. Click here to read my review. I still love this stuff!

12. Life Brand Clear Action Dual Action Moisturizer: This is Shopper's Drug Mart's dupe of the Clean and Clear dual action moisturizer. I much prefer the Clean and Clear one even though both seriously skimp on moisture and don't include SPF. I don't know if my tube was old or something but it smelt sour. Definitely not repurchasing despite the fact that it did help the acne spots I have, I've found spot treatments that work better.

13. Dove Clear Tone Deodorant: I found this on clearance at Wal-Mart and I know now why it's been on clearance; it doesn't work. It did a good job of keeping my armpits dry and smelling fresh but it didn't even the tone of my underarms at all. I didn't expect it to work so I wasn't surprised. I won't buy these again because they don't work.

14. Maybelline Baby Lips Christmas 2015 LE Ruby Star: The cool red colour of this lip balm was the only thing I liked about it. It was too greasy for my liking. Click here to see my original review of both Ruby Star and Winter Flush.

15. Maybelline Baby Lips Christmas 2015 LE Winter Flush: Didn't like the colour or the greasy feel. I reviewed this at the same time as Ruby Star.

16. Nyx Soft Matte Lip Cream in Addis Ababa: I liked the mousse like feel this lip cream starts off with but then it quickly dries down. I actually liked how sheer this product was because then the colour wasn't too garish. Wouldn't repurchase as I didn't wear this lippie a lot.

17. Maybelline Colour Sensational Lipstick in Untainted Spice: Probably my favourite permanent nude lipstick ever. The colour is the perfect nude for my NW45 skin (It's nude but it's got enough colour to look almost MLBB). It doesn't make me look dead at all, and it looks surprisingly natural. Sadly the formula makes my lips feel numb so I stopped using the lipstick.

18. Essence Colour & Go nail polish in Sweet As Candy: I love this nail polish. It's a nice sheer pink that's great for a natural look or for using as a base for a French manicure.

19. Essence Colour & Go nail polish in Space Queen: My favourite glitter top coat. It also looks incredible over Sweet As Candy. It thickened up after a year which is definitely a first for any nail polishes I own. I really like this polish and would most likely repurchase.

20. Maybelline Baby Lips Electro Strike A Rose: Smells exactly like those sour rocket candies I hated getting in my pillow sack as a child during Halloween. The colour was really pink, cool and pigmented which made me really not like it at all as I didn't like the way it looked on me. Wouldn't repurchase.

21. Revlon Nail Enamel in Cherries in the Snow: I bought this colour mainly because I knew it was a vintage Revlon colour. I actually only like it on myself in the winter because during the winter my skin is paler and the polish doesn't look as bright and as shocking. I didn't wear it a lot and for that I wouldn't repurchase it.

Beauty Empties!

Finally I've finished enough products for an empties post! I don't finish enough products to do this on a monthly basis so I'll show you guys what I've finished after I've accumulated a decent amount of stuff.

1. The Body Shop Vineyard Peach Body Butter: As with most of the Body Shop's delicious body butters, I enjoyed this one immensely. It smells exactly like ripe peaches. Right down to the fuzz. Only thing is I wished the body butter wasn't as stiff as cold butter, a little more like room temperature butter. I won't be repurchasing this body butter, despite how much I like the smell.

2. Equate Sensitive Skin Facial Wipes: I've repurchased this product three times over and plan to continue purchasing it in the future. Not only is it amazing effective at removing makeup without the need to rinse but it doesn't sting my skin like other facial wipes do. Not to mention it's inexpensive!

3. Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion: Bought this during a bout of my eczema. Didn't really like it. I found it to be thin and the moisture didn't really penetrate into the dry layers of my skin. Won't be repurchasing this product.

4. Taylor by Taylor Swift: Got this perfume as a graduation present and I finally finished it! I feel very proud of myself because I hardly ever finish anything. I liked the smell in store but it didn't jive once it was on my skin. Every time I smell it I'm transported back to first year university and I really don't need to be reliving that time period. Definitely not repurchasing.

5. Satin Care Ultra Sensitive: Ugh. Used this twice and the pump broke and it's rather full of product but there's no way to get it out. Oh well. It irritated my skin every single time I used it so I'm not bent on getting to the product anyway.

6. Clean and Clear Brightening Facial Cleanser: This is my second and final bottle of this cleanser. It smells like tropical fruit, gets makeup off well and plays nicely with a facial brush but it doesn't do what it said it would; which is brighten dark spots. I didn't really expect it to anyway. I found it drying too. Won't be repurchasing this cleanser again.

7. Johnson's Baby Lotion: This lotion was actually reformulated but it was just as nice as I remembered the original being. If not even nicer. It calmed my sensitive skin down on days when it didn't need extreme moisture. Definitely would repurchase.

8. Dove Sensitive Skin Body Wash: I bought this body wash thinking it was unscented BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT IT SAYS ON THE FRONT OF THE PACKAGE but if you check the ingredients there is parfum. I was so turned off when I noticed that. It did clean and hydrate my skin just the way I liked it, but I don't like misleading products. Will not repurchase.

9. Freeman Feeling Beautiful Avocado & Oatmeal Face Mask: I really liked this mask. It resets my skin when it gets clogged, removes excess oil and softens my skin. I adore this product and I would certainly repurchase it.

10. Dove Pistachio & Magnolia Beauty Bar: Dove makes excellent soap bars that have set the standard for all the other soap bars I try. This bar wasn't an exception. It's virtually a solid bar of body wash and leaves my skin feeling so creamy, not tight and dry. And the scent is heavenly; sweet and indulgent. I've got these bars stock piled!

11. Avon Banishing Cream: I've had this for three years and it took me forever to use it. When I did I found it didn't work at all, even when paired with sunscreen. It did make for a really nice thick moisturizer for me to put on the drier spots on my face like beneath the bridge of my nose and around my mouth. As misleading as it was, I liked how hydrating it was so I'd repurchase it for that.

12. Clean and Clear Deep Cleaning Cream Cleanser: I liked how this was more hydrating on my skin. The menthol in this cleanser irritated me because it's rather cold in Canada right now and I can't deal with the tingling in addition to that. Sometimes I felt this cleanser burning certain areas of my skin. I will gladly part ways with this cleanser.

13. Bath and Body Works Mr. Hedgehog Anti-Bac: I really liked this sanitizer and I think it's so adorable. It smells like green apples which are my uncontested favourite fruit. Great for getting clean on the go.

14. Nyx Sugar Cookie Butter Gloss: Absolutely adore this shade! I can't extol the virtues of this lip gloss enough. Thank goodness I bought a back up because I cannot be without this shade in my arsenal. Check out my original review here.

15. Bath and Body Works Endless Weekend Preview Eau de Parfum: I really loved this scent and I can't wait to buy a full sized bottle of this scent once I've finished off my other scents. It's smells like a happy, warm summer afternoon. It's carefree and sweet.

16. Rimmel London Scandaleyes Lycra Flex Mascara: One of my favourite mascara releases. If I wasn't constantly trying new mascaras I would buy this again. Previously reviewed here.

17. Burt's Bees Honey Lip Balm: No. Absolutely never again. I can't express how much I dislike this lip balm, because I've exhausted myself in the first review.

Rimmel London Scandaleyes Lycra Flex Mascara Review

This mascara has been out for quite sometime and I've been meaning to try it out after I had read the stellar review it got over at clumpsofmascara.com. But new mascaras kept getting in the way! Finally I got my hands on a tube and I've been using it for about two months and I've got a few things to say about this mascara.

Rimmel's Claims: A big volume mascara that won't leave your lashes stiff or brittle, so you can build drama from day to night! Lycra Technology formula makes lashes look full and voluptuous while remaining soft MaxDensity brush covers whole lash line with one effortless coat to reveal and plump every lash.

Okay so this mascara does build up a lot of volume and it builds volume very well. The Max Density brush is very large. Almost too large (I've included the brush with a quarter for scale). I kept nicking my eyelids with the brush and occasionally I still do, but this brush takes a while to get used to. The denseness of the bristles do ensure that your lashes are evenly coated with, so that's another positive.

I don't understand how Rimmel infused Lycra into their mascara but somehow it works. My lashes didn't feel stiff or crunchy but I was able to build volume easily. I find mascaras that claim to make lashes soft aren't so good in the volume department Rimmel's struck the perfect balance.

I find this mascara didn't flake or clump up on me. Then again very few mascaras flake on me. This mascara doesn't make my lashes feel heavy. I can't speak to how this mascara holds a curl because I don't curl my lashes.

Now that one coat claim isn't exactly true. You do have to take the brush and comb through your lashes to get your desired effect. I'm not the sort of person who applies some mascara and then lets it dry and then goes over it again. I used to be and I find that's the fastest road to clump city. I apply a continuous coat until I'm satisifed with the way my lashes look. I took that approach with this mascara and here are my results.

I love it!

This is definitely one of my favourite new mascaras and I'm glad I finally got around to buying it.

Likes:
1. Formula keeps my lashes soft, not crunchy
2. Isn't too wet or too dry
3. Builds volume and length
4. Dense brush ensures defined lashes

Dislikes:

5. The brush is very large and took me a while to get used to
6. The packaging is a bit bulky

 A