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Wednesday 9 January 2019

December 2018 Empties


In case you haven't noticed, I love me some "Empties" posts! I like to see other bloggers and vloggers empties posts and I like to do mine. Gives me a sense of accomplishment. I know I have been slacking and have been grouping some of my empties posts into seasons over the last year or two but I did that either due to time constraints or a lack of quantity in a given month to justify a whole post on the topic. Well for December 2018, I have a number of empties and I am dying to recycle some of these babies!

Ok let's jump in. There are two products this past month that I am so happy to get rid of. I am filled with such a sick and twisted joy, words escape me. The first is the L'Oreal Professional Tec Liss Control Smooth Gel-Cream. I finished every last drop of this product, but I didn't love it. I don't dare tell you how old this bottle is. I am pretty sure this product was discontinued 100 years ago. It was ok, but not great. It can't touch Livingproof's Perfect Hair Day in terms of performance. The reason I am delighted to get rid of it, besides the fact that it has been hanging out in my bathroom for far too long, is that I was swindled into buying it by a hair dresser that had no clue about anything (second to worst hair experience of my life) and after he messed up my hair, wouldn't listen to me, he then made me feel bad about my hair to the point of which I was so upset, I caved and bought it. I think we have all had this experience at one time or another. I never darkened his doorstep again, have warned everyone in my town about him who would listen (he works in the biggest salon in town) and all I can say is good riddance to this product!

Now you might think I am crazy for not chucking out this product sooner as it was associated with a bad experience and the product really wasn't that great. The fact is that I paid good, hard earned money for this product and it worked ok enough. You can accuse me of many things, but I do not waste anything unless it causes me harm or I have a damn good reason it needs to go. I am not one of these people who say "well if it doesn't make me feel special, it's no good except for the trash". Sorry, that's not my jam.

Went off on a tangent there. Moving along. Clinique Quickliner For Eyes 06 Violet. This is an old school eyeliner that I probably should've chucked years ago (a normal person would have!) as it was never great, it pulled on my eyelids a touch, wasn't creamy and the applicator tip was total rubbish. I vowed to finish it out of principal. Again, hard earned money spent etc. I also have one in a green colour I am dying to get rid of. You must apply yourself this winter Alexis and use it up.....So I was cleaning my vanity the other day, picked this up, and the last bit of eyeliner fell out and it was hard as a rock. So it's finally bit the dust. Buh bye.

Klorane Floral Water Make-Up Remover - Love it. I'm not interested in your Bioderma. Countless bottles purchased and finished. Already repurchased. (review here)

Estee Lauder Double Wear Makeup To Go Liquid Compact in 2N1 Desert Beige - I have to be honest with you guys and tell you that I hated this product at first. I find it watery, runny and a bit of a mess. I don't care for the bulky packaging nor the "click/pump action" to get the product out. I disliked the product so much that I started only using it if I had to run out the door to do a quick errand and I didn't want to go totally bare faced. Over time, I found myself reaching for it. The product does look dewy and fresh - more so than the foundation that Estee Lauder is making nowadays (eye roll) but we will get into that separate conversation soon enough in the coming weeks. I got a hang of dabbing my beauty blender into the compact and I made sure to hold the compact away from myself when I dispensed the product out of the lower compartment because it has a habit of squirting maniacally sometimes. I got two of these together at the Estee Lauder MAC sale awhile back and I paid something ridiculous like $25 for two compacts as a set ($12.50 each hello!). Compared to what you pay for regular Double Wear foundation, it was a steal. I am just cracking open the second compact now. Would I buy this again? Only if I got it mega on sale like before. This packaging is seriously crap and I wouldn't dream of paying full price for it which is $50 Canadian for one. Insane. 


Gehwol Fusskraft Soft Feet Cream I don't think I have talked about much except in Empties posts. I really, really like this product and it works well on dry feet. I raved about it so much two of my co-workers bought it and they love it. I'm actually a bit upset that I don't have any on hand at the moment and I will be getting another one very soon. I miss it and even though I like my L'Occitane Foot Cream, there is just something I may like more about this product. Even the spa I go to remarked on how good my feet were looking and they wanted to know what I was using. I said well hey you sell the product....meanwhile most of the staff had never tried it! I do tend to buy this online though as it is cheaper I find. 


I have tried two Ouidad products and I have disliked both. I don't think I will be buying another. Ouidad Climate Control Frizz & Fly Away Fighter is one of them. I bought this bottle at Winners so I paid something like less than $10 I think for it. I didn't like the smell (hate the smell of Ouidad products...) and although it calmed down my frizz when I was in a pinch and had no time to restyle my hair, it make my hair sticky and it made my hair look kind of sticky. Not a fan. I really didn't use this product much, it went really fast! Happy to see it go. 


My holy grail - Living Proof Perfect Hair Day. I can't live without this. I am not sure if this was my second or third bottle finished. I am already onto a new bottle. I've said it before and I will say it again, if you try one new hair product this year, make it this one. 


I have gone through a number of tubes and jars of Origins High-Potency Night-A-Mins over the years. I don't love it, but I like it. The product smells great and is comforting to my skin. I wish I saw more of a difference in the morning like I do with other products. I am not sure if I will rush to repurchase but I would gladly use up another one especially if it is a free gift with purchase lol. 


Ok Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara let's talk about this. I found this tube when I was cleaning up my vanity recently and this stuff is dried out...beyond recognition. So it's done. People rave about this mascara but I don't really get it. The wand is massive and pokey! I have small eyes and small, short lashes. I can't use this brush easily. As for the product itself, meh. It's alright but it doesn't rock my world. I think I have had a couple of these from holiday sets etc. over the years. I might still have a fresh one somewhere in my stash but I wouldn't buy this separately. Oh and you shouldn't say something is better than sex if it isn't. There, I said it. 


Origins Eye Doctor is easily one of my staple products. I have no clue how many jars of this I have gone through. Whenever I switch to something else, I live to regret it. Eye Doctor still doesn't do all that I need it to but it's the best I have found so far. Already repurchased. If any of you know of a fantastic eye cream for dark circles that I haven't tried, please let me know. 

Let's kill two L'Occitane birds with one stone here. I finished up another L'Occitane travel sized foot cream. I use this when I travel. Pretty straightforward. I do like it and buy it again and again. I am possibly more in love with the Gehwol Fusskraft Soft Feet Cream though. I got this mini L'Occitane hand cream in Arlesienne in a set of things from L'Occitane. At first I wasn't keen on the scent, then it grew on me. It was in my purse and went fast. I think I prefer some of there more basic scents but I would use this again. 


Finally, last empty is a tube of Korres Body Butter in Cassis Fig. I found the scent of this one a tad overpowering but the product itself worked well. I got these in a set and have been steadily ploughing through them for some time. This may have been the last of them, but I am not 100% sure as I strategically hid them around my house for easy access when I need some moisture. One may still pop up. I have a friend who loves these body butters like you wouldn't believe. I am not a fan of the ingredients so I likely will not repurchase.   


I am trying to decide if next I should do another Drunk Elephant review or talk about some Tatcha products that I have been saving myself to talk about. If you have a preference, let me know! 


 As a side note, blogger seems to refuse to let me make a blog post one uniform font. Sorry if my posts look crazy, I have no idea what is happening.  

Monday 7 January 2019

Drunk Elephant T.L.C. Frambois Glycolic Night Serum - Review


Hello! I promised you guys more Drunk Elephant product reviews so here is another.

I read a blog post awhile back which I can't locate now where the blogger said this was by far her favourite Drunk Elephant product. I am not sure if it is my favourite, but man does it work and it easily deserves 5 stars. This is a serum that you mix with Drunk Elephant's Virgin Marula Luxury Face Oil, slap it on your face at night and then in morning...you aren't sure where your facial skin went, but somehow you have a new smooth, baby soft face that is visibly clearer and brighter than the face you had the night before! I noticed this the first night I used it.

It feels great wearing it - very moisturizing. Your moisturizer and makeup glide on so nicely the next day. Where has this been all of my life?

My skin has always responded well to glycolic products but this stuff works like nothing I have ever seen before. It is essential that you mix it with the Virgin Marula Luxury Face Oil though or this stuff will burn! I accidentally had a small amount I didn't mix in with the oil properly one day and man did it sting. The face oil is a whole other conversation that I will save for another post. It is fantastic stuff though I will say that.

I bought the NightBright Duo from Sephora which contains an 8ml small bottle of the T.L.C. Frambois Glycolic Night Serum and an 8ml small bottle of the Virgin Marula Luxury Face Oil which was $36 Canadian. Sephora claims it is a $55 value which I believe is true because if you crunch the numbers versus the full sized bottle (holy expensive!) and the amount of product in there, the NightBright Duo is very good value. I will definitely repurchase the T.L.C. Frambois Glycolic Night Serum in the full size one of these days, but hey I might just buy another NightBright Duo and get more bang for my buck if it is still available. 

This is the type of product that I don't think you should use nightly. Once or twice a week is likely plenty. As such, the two little bottles I have may last me for ages...

I highly recommend you check this product out!