Products I've used up

I’ve been collecting these empty bottles since about November, so it’s a good two, three months worth of products. I thought it would be interesting to save up everything, feature in a post and add up how much they are worth. Then at the end of the year, I could add it all up and see the grand total of how much is it worth I actually use up in a year. I always find it super fascinating.

The first category is mascaras. Now I’ve gone through a lot of mascaras lately, and it’s mainly because I had some of them longer than I am ok to admit. I went cruelty-free a long time ago, and I still had bits in my collection from brands like L’Oreal. I mean I still do, but you shouldn’t use a mascara longer than 3 months and I still did. I’m happy to report they are all out now.

The oldest mascara in the bunch is the L’Oreal False Lash Sculpt mascara. It really wasn’t my favorite. It is really weird, its wand only has bristles on one side. If I remember correctly the hype about it was, that it tightlines at the same time as you apply mascara. Well… it wasn’t exactly working without poking myself in the eye and it made my lashes a bit clumpy in the process. It was ok to use, but even if it was cruelty-free I wouldn’t repurchase it.

The next mascara in line is the Urban Decay Troublemaker mascara. It is not a bad mascara, but it is not nearly as good as Perversion in my opinion. It has a silicone wand, that I enjoy, but the formula was not my favorite. They claim it to be ‘sex proof’ but it already runs whenever I tear up or if I just have a long day, so I don’t see that happening… I’ll just stick to Perversion when it comes to Urban Decay mascaras.

The last two are a sample and a full size of my all time favorite mascara, Better than sex by Too Faced. I love this! I have quite long lashes, so what I really want from my mascara is to give them a bit more volume while separating and this delivers. I can build it up as well without clumping up my lashes and it lasts long without leaving black dots under my eyes by the end of the day. It’s an all-around winner in my eyes.

Next, we have some more makeup items. These are always the part I am the most excited about since it’s really rare that I manage to finish any makeup.

Let’s start with the Dermalogica Barrier repair moisturizer. First of all, let me say I think Dermalogica is a really underrated brand. They have many amazing products and I never hear anyone talking about them. They are a cruelty-free skincare brand, and granted they are on the pricey side, but their products do worth it. Although Barrier repair is advertised as a moisturizer, I used it as a primer in my routine. They developed it to help shield sensitive skin against any environmental damage, and I think that’s why it worked perfectly as a blurring primer. It has a velvety/silicone feel to it when you smooth it over the skin, while still hydrating at the same time. I was lucky enough to attend a masterclass at their HQ and they did mention that this would be great as a primer and they were right. Once I am out of all my pore minimizing primers I would definitely consider to repurchase this. What you see on the picture is only a sample size, it came as part of a kit and it still lasted me a good month all together if not longer.

To keep in with the primer theme, I also had a sample size of the Becca First light priming filter. This is a nourishing primer that also promises to brighten your complexion. I would say it doesn’t really blur imperfections as it says on the box, but it does help with that extra bit of hydration and brightening. It also has a citrusy scent that makes it that extra bit more enjoyable to apply.

I’ve also finished another bottle of one of my favorite foundations, the Charlotte Tilbury Light wonder. This is my third or fourth bottle since I’ve discovered it years ago. I am pretty sure this is the first foundation I am truly loyal to. It’s a light coverage foundation, but it is buildable to a certain extent. It has a radiant, glowy finish and it just leaves you looking healthy and fresh. I truly love this! My Becca Skin Love is challenging it now for the first position in my favorites, but at this point, I couldn’t decide between the two.

Another Charlotte Tilbury product I went through is the Airbrush flawless finish powder. I do like it, I feel like it helps to blur any imperfections away on top of my foundations, as it provides a bit of extra coverage. But! You go through it so quickly! I’m pretty sure I’ve hit pan on it after a month. I only had it in my collection for about a year, because I use many powders on rotation. I’m on the fence about this as I would like to repurchase it, but I also feel like it just doesn’t quite worth it for how quickly it goes. I also wish she would expand the shade range, as she only has three shades at the moment.

The last two items are both lip products. First one in the line is the Avon glimmerstick lip liner. I liked this liner. It was a nice retractable pencil in a pretty pink color. It was more on the neutral side of pink, fairly light so it worked perfectly as a nude liner. I wish Avon was cruelty-free as they are really affordable with some truly decent products.

The last makeup item is the iconic Revlon lip butter in the shade Juicy papaya. I don’t even think they make these anymore, do they? I loved these, I still like the formula to be fair. They are comfortable on the lips and they pack a punch of color. I am happy to get this out of my collection as Revlon is not cruelty-free but at the same time, I’m sad to see it go. It was a pretty peachy color that instantly brightened my complexion. I still have two other lip butters in my collection, which means I get to enjoy the creamy formula for a little while longer.

This won’t be too exciting, but I’ve also finished two nail polish removers. I’ll try to get into the habit of only having one of these on the go, as who needs two at the same time and use them simultaneously? No one. Anyway, there is nothing special about these, and I don’t have huge criteria when it comes to nail varnish removers.

Since purchasing these I’ve realized that neither Boots nor Cutex have clear answers when it comes to testing on animals and/or trading in China, so I’ll avoid these brands till they can provide clear answers on these matters.

The last batch of products involves hair and skincare.

Let’s get the only hair care product out of the way, the Yamuna Levander oil shampoo. Unfortunately, this product is only available in Hungary at the moment, as it’s produced by a smaller Hungarian company. I’ve picked it up last summer when I visited the family and I really liked it. Yamuna is a natural brand and this shampoo is free of nasties like silicones or SLS. Although the bottle only contains 200mls it was enough for a long time as you don’t need much and it was decently priced around £4. I highly recommend to pick some bits up if you come across the brand while in Hungary.

Next in the line is The Body Shop wild argan oil hand cream. I’ve picked it up while on holiday in Malta, as I was in need of a hand cream while out and about and I knew for sure that this will be cruelty-free. I love most TBS products and it was no different with this hand cream. It is a nice hydrating formula, but it sinks in my skin quickly without leaving my hands sticky. It also smells heavenly, I highly recommend it.

The First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Oatmeal Mask will be one of your best friends if you have dry skin. Every time I used this mask it left my skin feeling really smooth and soft. I also feel like it’s a bit chunky ( I assume the oats in there?) so it lightly exfoliates my skin, while removing it. Another thing I love about this is the smell. It smells so sweet, like a bowl of fresh porridge with some honey. I love it.

Next up is my favorite eye cream, the Ren firm and lift eye cream. I believe this is part of their anti-aging line called Keep Young and beautiful, so technically it is not aimed towards my age group, but I love it. It promises to help and reduce the appearance of expression lines, wrinkles and, crows feet. While I am only in my mid-twenties I definitely have loads of smile lines around my eyes, and I do feel like it helps to keep them at bay while leaving my under eyes really hydrated. It is not overly thick but still nourishes better than an eye gel would. I’ve switched from this to another eye cream (you’ll see it in my next empties), but I already stocked up on this one again, as nothing compares to this. This was already my second bottle from this eye cream.

My last empty is the Decleor hydra floral anti-pollution hydrating rich cream. I feel like Decleor, just like Dermalogica is a really underrated and never talked about brand. I love their Hydra floral range, they take care of my dry skin really well. I loved this cream during the colder winter months as it gave my dry skin the nourishment it needed. They also make a lighter version of this cream which is the one I am currently using.

Phew, this was a rather long post. I’ve added up the value of all products mentioned and it is rather shocking. (I only counted full sized products, no samples.)

Just my makeup items here were worth a whopping £126.48 and the skin and haircare items (& nail varnish removers) worth another £109.93 totaling at £236.93. That sounds like so much!

On the one hand, I am happy that I get use out of my products but on the other, it baffles me how expensive it is when you add it all up.

What do you think? Have you used anything up lately?

Have a lovely day!