Emptied Products in February 2013

Hello folks, February had been a slow month for product empties. I only had 2 full sized products finished *sniff* but there are lots of samples being used! I"d love to post this by the end of February but things just got so hectic. Now, let's see what I finished during the past month...

Jill Stuart Cream Wash – it’s safe to say I did not like skincare from the line. Yes, it foams, it’s frothy, it’s creamy. The scent is the usual scent of berries that exist in Jill Stuart products. But I don’t feel this cleanser has done much for my skin. It leans a bit moist instead of a firm and dry puddle of cream when oozed from the tube. I still have tubes of this lying around, maybe I’ll let my dad use it. Can’t wait to finish all of them.

Kiehl's Yerba-Mate Tea Gel Cream – I use this daily in the AM as day moisturizer. I love how it felt because it’s not emollient, absorbs fairly quickly and leaves the least residue on the skin yet offers enough hydration. This jar is gone after a good 4.5 months of usage (only daytime). This has now been discontinued in Kiehl’s range.

Philosophy Amazing Grace Shower Gel – The texture is not runny, the color runs a bit pearly. It lathers off well in general. If you don’t fancy powerful scents for shower, this is quite a refreshing choice. I prefer my shower gels/creams to leave a faint scent on my skin after towel drying. I still love the Gingerbread Man scent from Philosophy more!

Kerastase Chroma Riche Hair Mask - this sample jar is great for travelling. Apply a bit on shampooed hair and let it sit for 3-5 minutes then rinse off. Another hair mask that I like, though I’m not sure where I can buy this locally. MoroccanOil hair mask still remains my HG.

 Burberry Body EDP – this little vial lasted for a long time. This kind of scent is not my favourite perfume note, but I do find it somewhat unique. It smells musky on me at first, which later turned a bit heady, so I wouldn’t say it’s refreshing. Will not repurchase. I’m glad to be finally rid of it.

Guerlain Le Petite Robe Noir EDT - the scent is not complex enough for my taste. I have better luck with EDPs than EDTs too. Enough said.

Chanel Gentle Bi-phase Eye Makeup Remover – Every time I shop at Chanel beauty boutiques, I asked for this as a sample (oh yes I can be that shameless for something I really like). I think to date I’m on the 10^th bottle of this already. This had never failed me in removing eye makeup completely. It’s even better than Lancome Bi-Facil in my humble opinion. This one by Chanel does not leave the eye area greasy (slick with silicone-y touch), and it does not sting or irritate the eyes, it dries pretty fast after you wiped. I think I still have 3-4 bottles of these lying around and the size is just PERFECT for travel. 

Giorgio Armani Designer Lift Smoothing firming foundation (both packet sample and the deluxe sample you're going to see below) – I raved about this previously. The shade I used is #4, which was perfect for winter when I became paler (NC20). I also have two sample tubes of Luminous Silk foundation to use up before I start on the full size bottle in #5 (NC25) for the summer months to come!

L’occitane Pure Vegetal Soap – it’s very hard to pin down whether this is a deluxe sample or a half-size of the actual product (any thoughts?) Anyhow, I always found soap bars to be a bit stripping on the skin but this one was OK. Did not feel the urge to repurchase, though. This soap bar is just a soap bar, get it?

Rouge Bunny Rouge Sketches on Water Tinted Moisturizer in Quercus – sample from Zuneta order. Sadly a bad match for my skintone, this is a bit too pink and dark. Coverage was medium. Not a bad TM, but since shades are pretty limited, will not be purchasing.

Burberry Velvet Foundation sample in a jar - shade forgotten. This foundation is really matte on the skin and coverage is ok high. I uh...already purchased a full size for reasons unknown to my conscious being. Don't ask me why I did it, I seriously had no idea...

Giorgio Armani Lasting Silk UV Powder Compact - I finished the whole pan and only the product at the rims remained. After an accidental drop of the compact I found that the remaining powder at the rims of the pan crumbled. This. was. done. I love this powder because of its oil-control ability, and I already repurchased the one you see inside the compact!

Kiehl’s Cucumber Herbal Alcohol-free toner – This toner is slightly green in color both in the store display bottle and on the cotton pad. It’s not bad but I really am in love with the Calendula one more (previously mentioned in this post)! I really can’t think of anything peculiar to say about this one.

Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Oil-free Toner – I don't remember anything about this toner, so this is pretty mediocre and nothing too special...

Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Toner – luckily this was a sample. The texture is thick and sticky as a toner, no no for my skin. It's milky in color, and is a bit more viscous than the calendula/cucumber one. Granted, it didn’t absorb easily, I did not use it any further after trying it once (could have gotten two to three uses out of it). 

Giorgio Armani Designer Lift Foundation Sample - wrote about that in the above!

Chanel Ultra Correction Lift total eye lift – this absorbs nicely on the eye area but not dramatic effects being seen. Will not purchase.

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Serum Infusion – I got loads of these in packets. This was meant to be applied before the Advanced Night Repair Eye Complex, which I’m also using now. This serum absorbs quickly, but I don’t see any difference it makes to my under eyes circles. In fact I liked it better when using the Eye Complex on its own. 

Astalift Moisture Foam cleanser x 2 – For those who haven’t heard, Astalift is a beauty line from FUJIFILM. Yes you read it, Fujifilm. I finished two packet samples of this. Love how squeaky clean it makes my skin become! Almost everything in the Astalift range is orange in color, which looks kind of funny to use but I really don’t care much for the color as long as it worked. If I don’t have that many unused cleansers at home, I’d go out and buy a full size of this!

Astalift Cleansing Gel – I wish I had more samples of this to try out! I love how nicely it removes makeup. The product is light orange in color and glides on face smoothly without being rough on the skin. I truly felt so good after using this, sadly the sample packet was only enough for two times use, I’d make sure to try a full sized version of this after I’m done with my backup bottles of DHC!

Astalift Liquid Soap – Did not like this. Texture a bit too runny, although it bubbled up OK. I was told by the SA that this had been discontinued in HK due to customers like the Moisture Foam cleanser more (ditto!!). It feels a bit stripping on the skin too.

Astalift Eye Cream – OHMYGOD. How can they make this eye cream? It’s too thick, sticky and doesn’t absorb easily. After an hour of application, I touched my eye and still feel the sticky-ness around it. The worst part? It doesn’t come off easily from wiping/washing with water. I’m writing this post at 11pm and applied the eye cream at 8am, I wiped my face with towel for a few times and now the skin around my eyes still feel greasy! This sample lasted me a few days, I don’t see any reduction in eye circles either. Do not buy this......!

Apivita Express Beauty mask with Pink Clay x 2 – I caved and bought a box of these mask packets (shall I count each packet as one full size product each? or a deluxe sample?), the SA told me she worked for Kiehl’s before (and I am a fan of Kiehl’s in general) and I listened to her advice LOL she said my congested skin needed some deep cleansing and recommended this clay mask (pink clay is milder) and followed by deep hydration. I did notice that Pink Clay is mild than the usual charcoal-grey type mud mask. This can be a bit drying for my skin still so be sure to hydrate after using this! I like this mask and might look into their other offerings in the mask range.

DHC Eye mask – my HG eye mask during the past few years. This eye mask is not soaked with wetness, instead it’s a gel consistency and will stick to your undereyes without falling off. Love using this overnight, wakeup and peel off with a brightened eye area.

Malin + Goetz Detox Face Mask – got this sample from Zuneta, one-time use. It poured out like cream/emulsion texture but after you applied on the face it transformed to spongey type of foam, almost like bubble bath on a face, which is interesting. However I don’t think it did anything to my skin, even though it says detox. Will not buy.

I tossed (mostly without shame) these products:

Philosophy Amazing Grace Body Lotion – This lotion smells heavenly! It’s more obvious than the shower gel. The texture leans pretty light weight though – not the heavy gluey butter type. I have noticed my skin near my waist had little bumps after a few days of applying this Body Lotion, my skin also seemed to get a bit itchy here and there after using this for a few days. TOSSED before finishing it up due to abnormal skin reaction to this! I wanted to like this product!

Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay In Place foundation in 2W0 Warm Vanilla – luckily this was a sample. This offered high coverage but made my skin look very dry. The main problem I have with this foundation is that it’s super duper difficult to remove thoroughly! I used my usual cleansing oil to remove it, it looked ok, but once I used Bioderma Micellar Water (not giving high credits to this product though, we’ll see about that later in posts to come) to wipe again, I ended up using loads of cotton pads and each of them was heavily tainted with traces of foundations left behind! I did not have a problem of this severity in terms of scale with other foundations. Ohmygod, it was such a nightmare to use. I don’t need another issue (whether this foundation had been thoroughly removed from my face) to worry about in life when there’s tons already! Tossed this after a few uses.

Urban Decay 24/7 glide-on liner in Bourbon – I loved this so much when I first used it, afterwards it was the eras of MAC Pearl glides, Armani Smooth Silk Waterproof, Bobbi Brown Long-wear eye pencils, and I never looked back since. I still find UD liners quality good, but it wasn’t the best anymore. This pencil brought back memories of the days when I religiously used it, which was like 2 years ago. Since I have a full size version of this (came from a set, obviously), to the bin this goes, since I suspect this might have turned bad after these years.

Fancl Washing Powder – er...this expired before I could finish it up. I used twice in the past and just left it there. Lesson to learn: Patience and Persistence. Don’t start on too many things at once. Or like any Fancl ads would say: Less is more.

Naruko Total Defence Night Jelly – this is tossed due to expiration in January. *Shame* I did not remember having this and using it earlier. When I discovered it, it’s already early January! This is actually an overnight mask which offers hydration. I used twice and prefer the Laneige Water Sleeping Pack more as the scent of Naruko is pretty overwhelming and cause a bit of nausea to me. The jar was made of glass and was pretty hefty for my taste...

So there you have it...

Full Size: (5) + 2 = 7

Deluxe samples: (6) + 10 = 16

Small/packet samples: (5) + 11 = 16

Masks: (1) + 4 = 5

Tossed: (0) + 5 = 5 (regardless of size)