December Empties

I wish everyone has had a happy holiday last week, I spent the entire week on vacation in December and have managed to finish quite a lot. 

Sofina Beaute Makeup Cleansing Gel - I tried out a deluxe sample size of this and reviewed HERE. Was very impressed by gel-to-liquid formula when it comes to makeup removers. So I redeemed this full size for free using shopper's point. I may get another bottle using rebate in the future, but since I"m moving towards 'cleaner' products, that might not happen, lol.

MoroccanOil Hair Treatment oil - I loved this and swear it with my life, and this is my second bottle of the stuff. It has come to my notice that it's quite laden with silicones and the 'real stuff' (aka argan oil) is rather low in portion. Plus real argan oil is supposed to be good on its own, there's no need to mix it in a chemical concoction to make it 'look like' argan oil. I've also noticed my hair has become thinner. I'm determined to 'detox' my beauty regime so, its time to bid farewell to this.

Emptied Products in October

October is a quick month and I've made trips to dermatologists (I'll write more about that in an upcoming post). As I've been making some changes in my skincare starting from late Oct according to the derm's advice, it's a bit slow on the empties front this month (and the months to come). There's things I can use and things I can't use, but more on that later.

Emptied products in September

I went a bit crazy in September with all the new goodies coming out, lol so I've been a bit more diligent in cleaning out stuff during the month. Here are the results:

DHC Deep Cleansing Oil - Finished it a while ago, still have one bottle to go. I'm trying to stay away from mineral oil based cleansing oils and DHC is one of those. Will not repurchase in future but let's see how long I can stick to using micellar solutions.

Caudalie Vinoperfect Night Cream - This doesn't really sink in to skin so it left a sticky residue behind. I tried using it up and applied it on my legs instead but could still feel the sticky-ness. No no.

MAC Pearl Glide Eyeliner in Designer Purple - I used to use it a lot and then put it aside. When I picked it up again it was pathetically DRIED UP. It couldn't draw a consistent line from the start to the end, and the texture had hardened so that chunks keep falling off as I draw on my hand. Regrettably, this has to go.

Emptied products in August

So much had happened during late August and early September. I took a whole week off and caught up with some sun, rest, and gym, was hoping to catch up with books but to no avail. Then I changed to a new laptop and there's all the nuisance about connecting to the Internet. Call me old-fashioned but Windows 8 is quite difficult to work with, and there's no simple photo editing tool...oh well lol.

Let's get to today's topic: empties in August.

Emptied Products in May

I spent a week on vacation this month and therefore the empties this month would be separated in two parts (pictures taken at different places!). 

Emptied Products in April

April went by in a breeze and I spent most of the time in sickness, ewww. It's not a very productive month in terms of empties but here's what I managed to finish:

Emptied Products in March 2013

Can you believe it's April already? One-fourth of the year is gone! I managed to collect a bag of empties and share with you my thoughts:

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...

Monthly Favourites (Feb 2011) // 每月至愛產品

February has not been a very inspiring month. I didn't get to put on much makeup, didn't buy that much makeup, in general, it has been boring, haha! As you can probably see from the picture below, not many makeup products are being featured, but I figured I would do a monthly round-up post like this every month :P So here you go.

From left to right:

Carmex Healing Cream - my whole family has been swearing by this hand cream. I've never had chapped hands this winter, and I noticed my mom's hands are better than what they used to be during winter. This hand cream gets all the endorsement from my family! Mom even said this is going to run out soon, I said, it's not available in Hong Kong, haha!! This cream absorbs extremely quickly - the slippery feeling would disappear in 10 seconds max and your hands are good to go.

DHC Cleansing Oil - This is probably my 4th bottle of cleansing oil from DHC. Yes it is a tad bit more expensive than usual ones (Orbis, Fancl, etc) but the volume is slightly larger too! I've tried everything from Fancl, Bobbi Brown, Shu Uemura, Orbis, Dove, Jill Stuart...and I always come back to this. This removes makeup pretty well but I always use a separate eye makeup remover for mascaras. Got this when the local drugstore are having BOGOF, hope they'll do it again soon!

Clinique Butter Shine Lipstick in #Natural Gloss - Got this from a swap with a colleague during summer. At first I found this sheer (Clinique website says so too), but I've grown to LOVE this color. It's perfect for the MLBB (My Lips But Better) look, and the formula/texture is DIVINE. Hands down the smoothest and most buttery lipstick I've ever tried, period. This shade is no longer available in the existing lipstick range I believe.

Bare Escentuals Buxom Lips Lipgloss in #Zena - Received this from a giveaway I've won from Fruity Lashes. My first BE lipgloss and I'm addicted to the shade! This gloss gives my lips a cooling sensation that lasts for 2 hours minimum, and plumps my lips, making them look fuller! Sadly this shade is discontinued and I got this in a Bare Escentuals Kit. The size of this mini gloss is rather small, like 2ml and I can see myself going through this quickly.

Sara Happ The Lip Slip One Luxe Balm - Got this lip balm a year ago from a giveaway. It heals my chapped lips when I was freezing in European weather (-31 degrees in Sweden and Norway), I swear by this if you have chapped lips, one jar lasts forever (15 grams) and you only need a tiny tiny bit when applying because it blends and spreads like butter. I put this jar next to my bed so I get to use it before sleep every night and wakeup with hydrated lips ♥ This product is pretty difficult to get hold of but you can buy this here. I checked with a local retailer in Hong Kong and they only stock the lip scrub, boo!

從左至右：

Carmex Healing Cream - 整個冬天全家都在使用它. 香港沒有出售 Carmex的潤手霜, 只有護唇膏. 今個冬天我從未有爆擦既手出現過, 留意到媽媽用了這支hand cream之後對手好左好多, 佢同我講: 就快用晒喇! 我話: 香港無得賣呢 ~.~

DHC Cleansing Oil - 應該係我第4支黎喇, 雖然較貴, 但size都唔少. 用過好多隻 (Fancl, Bobbi Brown, Shu Uemura, Orbis, Jill Stuart), 始終覺得呢支最岩我. 早排見到買1送1.

Clinique Butter Shine Lipstick #Natural Gloss - 暑假時和同事swap番來, 全新的. 起初覺得唔出色, 但漸漸喜歡了它淡淡既顏色, 最岩造 "My lips but better" 既look. 最抵讚係佢既質感, 好滑, 好smooth, 好似搽牛油咁, 可惜呢隻顏色好似沒有得賣了.

Bare Escentuals Buxom Lips Lipgloss #Zena - 從Fruity Lashes收到既其中一份禮物, 我第一件Bare Escentuals (BE) 既妝品. 超喜歡這隻粉紅色, 搽完會有極度冰涼既感覺 (維持超過2小時都feel到), 令嘴唇更飽滿. 可惜#Zena係限定色, 這支又係迷你版.

Sara Happ The Lip Slip One Luxe Balm - 舊年去歐洲時我用黎發誓既lip balm! 係零下31度我既嘴唇無爆裂就係因為佢 ♥ 15 grams有排都用唔完. 我而家會擺佢係床邊, 臨訓前搽, 起身時嘴唇都好潤. 之前JOYCE有得賣的, 但現在好似只有lip scrub賣, 沒有這個了.

What are your favourite products in February? Share in the comments below :) and if you have done a post about it, feel free to drop the link to your post, I love knowing what others like to use!

Review: DHC Cleansing Oil

After trying Fancl's Mild Cleansing Oil (MCO), Orbis Cleansing Liquid (Oil-free), and DHC, I concluded I should stick to my Orbis cleansing liquid, it's oil-free, does not smell like raw oil (unlike DHC), and packaging is minimalist.

So what about this DHC oil?
It's not made by pure olive-oil. And it smells (like unprocessed oils, raw oils, if it makes any sense). It does not leave my skin moisturized (but a bit drying) after washing with this. It's expensive !! It's also overrated I think. I think with this product my blackheads come back, pores seem larger, and breakouts seem more often, I'm not sure if it's the oil in this product or just environmental causes. But anyhow, I hope to finish this bottle ASAP and try out the Bobbi Brown Cleansing Oil !!!