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 November

I'm gonna make this short and sweet. I ordered tons of shower gels for my bf and I, got tons of holiday stuff, and birthday coupons start to roll in come December! It's about time to review the empties project and my spending habit in year 2013 *face palm*. Anyways, to the empties of November:

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 July

I've not been diligent in the empties' project during July. Sometimes I thought it's because I've put much emphasis on getting rid the (annoying) amount of samples/deluxe samples that's been accrued in boxes and trunks, so I could have finished more full size products if not for this. I've also decided not to accrue empties in a plastic bag, instead I'll take pictures of them and will throw them away instantly; yes I'm the girl who's holding a Bioderma empty bottle and a Clarins toner bottle you saw in the morning lift ride. Anyways, here's what I have finished. 

Full Size

Emptied Products in June

June was a slightly more productive in terms of product empties, even though it had been slow on the masks front. There were 6 items which I tossed (shame I know!), read on!

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!). 

This Week's Beauty Radar / 新品速遞

Now is the time we're at the crossroads between spring and summer, and here are the picks that has caught my eye among a sea of new launches. I'll name this section "This Week's Beauty Radar" from now on: 

First up we have Kiehl's Powerful Wrinkle and Pore Reducing Cream, and an accompany eye cream release. This had been released in the USA a bit earlier on this year and it's officially launched here in HK this month. The copper red jar packaging caught my breath instantly - as you might have guessed already - I started using Kiehl's products last year and became quite fond of their skincare, especially the Calendula toner I talked about HERE, Ultra Facial Cream HERE. Anything that targets dilated pores and first lines are totally my cup of tea:

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...

Empties products in January 2013 + blog sale short announcement

Drawing inspiration from Liz's experience mentioned in her “empties” posts, I started to become more aware (read: obsessed) with empties ever since starting this series. I keep a log sheet of products I aim to empty or hit pan on, and set targets for them. Doing this helped me gain a better picture of when and how long I would be able to finish a certain something, and of course, how much I still have in the stash. It’s all about being mindful (of what you have) and disciplined (what you don’t need to have and need not buy therefore). This month, I’ve managed to empty quite a number of products, but it's no big feat compared to other bloggers' attempts. Yet, this marked a big step on my “empties” journey. Yay!

Family pic (with Rouge Bunny Rouge Aqua Primer sample jar unpictured, since I've reused the jar for something else *long story*)

My staple products of late

It's been quite a while since I last shared my staple products. One of my resolutions for 2013 is to blog more, and here I present to you my staples for the past 2-3 months:

Attempting to curb my HAUL-iday madness - the very first Empties Post

Happy Holidays my lovlies! I was inspired the other day to do an Empties Post (after reading Beauty Reductionista's blog, Rouge Deluxe's, and many others), startled at the rate my beauty stash is growing, I decided a curb on the haul-iday madness (pardon me for the pun). Holiday is a a very good / bad time for good deals, depending on how you see it. Most brands would release value-saving makeup / skincare sets which entices you to buy because the sets are such a bargain. My soul fell weak in front of these holiday deals. That was when I embarked on keeping product empties on a monthly basis, and do a short review of each of them.

It's NOT a haul! *AHEM*

I've probably said this many times already that I'm 'on a no-buy'. But every single time the results proved the aforementioned phrase was a epic fail. LOL To give you some insight into my uncurable obsession and hobby, here's what I did today: sorting out a CP (custom purchase) with the wonderful Justine today (thanks to Sheila for introducing us to each other!). I was struggling to get some NARS blushes but then I abandoned the idea.

In case you didn't know, I offer CP for Kanebo Lunasol Christmas Coffret ^_^ along with other brands like Canmake, Shu Uemura, Shiseido Maquillage, Sofina, RMK, Majolica Majorca, Jill Stuart, Paul & Joe, well pretty much every brand that has stores in Hong Kong.

What you see in the picture below is not my haul, they're items given to me by my friend who worked in a beauty magazine.

On the left is Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate (launched a month ago I guess?), it's a beauty serum, so far I've only tried a few times intermittently, will do a full review on it later. Then is the Burberry eyeshadow in Pale Rose (review here), MAC Tartan Tale Follow Your Fantasy eyeshadow (review here), FANCL Liquid Foundation, MAC Antique Green pigment, MAC Venomous Villains eyeshadow single in Vile Violet. And Bliss roller-ball EDT on top of the picture. There's also a lip liner from MAC unpictured here.

The EDT from Bliss: looks so sleek and the scent makes me think of the ocean, which resembles the bluish color of the tube too.

My right eye is feeling a bit weird for few days, think I might be having an eye infection @_@ meaning I have to stop using mascaras for a few days even though it's in my plan to use it up.

On an unrelated note, here's some dessert porn...haha!

Do you have a sweet tooth?

xoxo