2013 Empties Part 3 - Bath & Body Works

Welcome back to the 2013 empties series! This one's all Bath & Body Works products. It is excluding the candles as once I've burned through one I almost immediately repurpose the jar, so I don't recall which scents I've used up this year.

Aromatherapy shower gel in Lemon Zest - loved this scent! Sad it was discontinued, but I'm hoping it'll be back for semi-annual sale! Coconut Vanilla body lotion & Vanilla Bean Noel body lotion - good scents! I do prefer the classic Exotic Coconut to the Coconut Vanilla, but this one's pretty good. Vanilla Bean Noel is my favorite vanilla scent. I dislike the Warm Vanilla Sugar. This one seems less overpowering & mixes better with other scented products.

Aruba Coconut and Forever Red Triple Moisture Body Creams. I love that formula of moisturizer, especially in the winter when my skin's drier. I also like the Golden Sugar Scrub, which I also had in Forever Red. I love the tube packaging until the last bit, when it becomes extremely difficult to get the final uses out. The rest of the time, though, I find them much nicer than the ones that come in jars. 

Finally - the PocketBacs. Nothing really to say about them, I just felt like including them. I mostly only use them at work (more for the customers' benefit than my own), but over the past few years I've accumulated a ton of them from always getting them on a 5 for $5 deal, so I'm happy to finally be cutting that stash down!

This will be the last empties update for awhile, until I've accumulated enough to do another post. Hope you've enjoyed this little series! Let me know if there were any products throughout that you have any questions about.

*Edit* This was meant to be posted the Thursday following the previous empties post...but apparently even after a few years of blogging I still sometimes just save posts instead of publishing them. Sigh.

Julep Maven - Classic with a Twist April 2013

Julep Maven - Classic with a Twist Intro Box (March 2013)

Recent Ulta Haul!

Since I had a 20% off coupon as well as double points throughout March, I decided to pick up some things I'd been thinking about for awhile at Ulta.

For more photos of the products, as well as my thoughts so far, keep reading!

February Manicures!

Apologies for the delay in this post! Evidently instead of publishing it, I just saved it as a draft...twelve days ago. At any rate, if you'd like to see the manicures I did throughout February, keep reading!

OPI Euro Centrale Comparison - Gold

This week I'm going to compare the polishes from the OPI Euro Centrale mini set to the other polishes in my collection.

The final comparison from the set is for the gold polish - OY-Another Polish Joke! I don't really like gold on my skin, so the only other gold polish I have is Goldeneye from the Bondettes mini set from the Skyfall collection. They're definitely not dupes. Goldeneye has much bigger flecks of gold and therefore has more nail that shows through the first coat or two. It's also darker.

L-R: OPI - OY-Another Polish Joke!, OPI - Goldeneye

OPI Euro Centrale Comparison - Lavender

This week I'm going to compare the polishes from the OPI Euro Centrale mini set to the other polishes in my collection.

Today I'm comparing You're Such a BudaPest! I was expecting this polish to be a match for something in my collection as well, but it's unique too! It's a bluer shade than Sally Hansen's Lacey Lilac, although they're about the same level of pastel. You're Such a BudaPest! is sort of like a pastel version of Zoya's Caitlin.

L-R: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Lacey Lilac, OPI - You're Such A BudaPest!, Zoya - Caitlin

OPI Euro Centrale Mini Set

I couldn't resist the mini set from OPI's newest collection! I seem to have tackled this collection much the same way as I did Skyfall - by intending to just get the glitter, and then leaving with the mini set as well. What can I say? These colors really appealed to me! Although, I do wish this set had one of the darker blue or purple shades rather than the gold, but I'll get past it.

For more photos, swatches, and my thoughts - keep reading!

Ulta Haul!

I made two trips to Ulta recently - the first one to use my 20% off coupon, the second to get the things I actually needed and forgot about. With the coupon, I picked up two Butter London polishes and the Nicole by OPI Drying Drops. I've had my eye on Trout Pout for quite awhile, but kept telling myself I had enough coral-y polishes. I'm so glad I finally got it, though! It isn't identical to any of the other similar colors in my collection, and the formula is fantastic. Although I researched swatches of many of their polishes and asked friends for recommendations from the brand, the other polish I got - Scouse - wasn't one I'd looked up at all in advance, it just really caught my eye! I've been curious about drying drops for awhile as well. I'm not sure yet if they're making a massive difference in dry time or not.

The other - slightly more necessary - products are a new face cleanser, dry shampoo, and a glycolic AHA cream. These are all new-to-me products. I've used the Neutrogena Naturals Makeup Removing cleanser before, but this is the other one. The dry shampoo is from the brand Samy, a brand which I've never tried before. Finally, the AHA cream - I'd heard about these a few times, but didn't know much about them. I assumed they'd be pricey for some reason, but when Lauren of RedheadPhD mentioned this one in a recent video, I figured for that price I may as well give it a go!

January Manicures

Another new month means another month's worth of manicures to share with you! I really enjoyed all of them this month - and I was especially into glitters! I also tried Ciate polishes for the first time, and expanded both my Butter London and OPI collections a bit - two brands I've fairly recently come to appreciate.

If you'd like to see, larger photos and names of the polishes I used will be under the cut!

January Face of the Day - Final Roundup

Apparently it's the last day of January, so here's the last set of my Face of the Day photos from the month! As with the past few, each day is also pictured individually, usually with a product list, on my Facebook page.

I like the way I've been doing these. I intend to continue posting my makeup looks weekly-ish (or whenever I get 5-7 days worth!) on here, and more frequently - including product information! - over on Facebook. If there's anything you'd like to see otherwise, let me know!

Outfit of the Day - Favorites from January

I've been missing putting together Outfit of the Day posts the past few months, so I've decided to bring them back to the blog! Instead of photographing my outfit every day, I'll only be doing it if I especially like it, or if I'm trying something new, or if it feels different enough from others I've posted.

I think people's style choices can really reflect a lot about their personality, which is why I love following blogs that at least occasionally include personal style posts. Hopefully you guys enjoy that type of thing as well! Let me know if you'd like any additional information at all.

P.S. I want to have a title for my personal style/fashion posts other than just "outfit of the day" so if any of you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them & add them to my list of choices!

Photos are under the cut!

Face of the Day - Week 3 Roundup

Somehow, another week has already gone by since the last Face of the Day weekly roundup post! As always, head over to my Facebook page to see the FOTD album - and I've tried to be better about listing products for each photo this time! Eventually I'll remember every time, I swear.

bareMinerals - The Cocktail Hour palette

After seeing swatches and reading the review of this palette over on Temptalia a little while ago, I decided to look it up on bareMinerals' website - where it was on sale for $17.15! On top of that, there was free shipping, so I figured I couldn't resist! Although I'm not a huge fan of how much fingerprints and other smudges show on the outside, in general I really love the palette! The shadows are awesome quality, the colors in the palette are diverse enough that I think I could travel with it on its own, the mirror and brush in the palette are great, and it's so compact. While I don't think I'd pay the $40 full price for one of these palettes, on sale it was a great deal. The fact that this is one of just two palettes I decided to keep as is instead of depotting the shadows is definitely a sign as to how much I like the whole package!

For larger photos of the shadows, as well as swatches, keep reading!

January FOTD - Week 1

While posting my "face of the day" look daily was a bit much for me, I never want it to like it did last month, where I basically waited for the entire month to be done before I posted the looks over on Facebook. For this month, I'm trying a compromise - where I post weekly instead! So here's the roundup of my looks from the first week of January. The full-size photos will still be posted over on my Facebook page.

While I think I'll stick to this frequency for this month to fully test it, let me know if you prefer a different method!

December Empties

For my thoughts on the products I finished during December, keep reading!

December Manicures

I can't believe how quickly December went - but it's already time for another monthly manicure wrap-up!

Working two retail jobs over the Christmas season was extremely busy, so my nails stayed the same for longer than usual, and there were a few that I neglected to photograph. The week prior to Christmas, I also did silver nails and then added on little red and green Christmas lights on a string on each nail - it was super fun and easy! I just used a dotting tool for the red and green lights and a black striping polish for the cord that connected them. I'm sad I didn't get photos of it, but I could post photos of the trial run I did on my nail wheel if anyone would like to see! For Christmas day, I just red and green on alternating nails.

Now that shopping has calmed down a bit, I should have more time to make January's manicures more interesting! Especially since I've added some polishes to my collection over the past month that haven't gotten a chance to get used yet!

For larger photos of each manicure and the polishes used, keep reading!

Secret Santa Haul - More Photos & Swatches

In case you missed yesterday's post, these are the items I received from my Secret Santa! If you want to see closer photos of the products and some swatches, keep reading!

November Empties

It's time again for one of my favorite features on this blog! The monthly empties! I am especially excited for this month's edition. Using up products always feels like an accomplishment to me, and for the past few months I've really been trying to use up the many hair and body care products I'd accumulated the past two years living in my apartment.

I finally used up all of the shower gels and Lush soaps and my bottles of shampoo and I'm still working on various small lotions...but as of the end of November I'm DONE with all the shampoo samples I'd accumulated! I had to buy shampoo for the first time in MONTHS and I must say it was pretty exciting!

I like shampoo samples, though - it's a great way to determine whether or not you'll like a product without having to get an entire bottle. I wish samples were easily accessible for every product - that'd probably eliminate a lot of my product clutter!

Out of all of the samples I had, the Garnier Fructis Pure Clean was definitely my least favorite. John Freida Full Repair was my favorite - and what I ended up purchasing when all the samples were gone! I always have liked the L'Oreal Sulfate Free line and would definitely consider going back to one of them eventually, especially if I color my hair again. The others were all just so-so. Nothing terrible about them, but nothing that convinced me to get a full-size bottle either.

In addition to the packet sample of Clear, I also had a little bottle of the shampoo. I did like it, but not quite as well as the John Freida or the L'Oreal sulfate free shampoos I've used in the past. It's a great size bottle though. I really wish more brands had samples like this - more than a packet to get a better idea of how it works at a fraction of the price & product of a whole bottle!

I also finally got a new hair brush. This one I'd had since I was ten years old...and most of the little protective tips on the bristles had come off and were poking my head every time I used it! It was time for it to go. It served me well for the past twelve years, though! 

For face products this month, I used up Pond's Bio-Hydratante Makeup Remover and another jar of Garnier's Moisture Rescue Gel Creme. I'm currently working on samples of other products in these categories. I liked the makeup remover, but didn't love the scent, so I'll probably either try a new one or go back to Sonia Kashuk next time. I plan to repurchase the Garnier once my samples are used up.

The makeup products I finished this month were Revlon Colorstay foundation and under eye concealer, Milani Minerals compact makeup, L'Oreal Voluminous False Lashes mascara, and my Prestige Brow Perfection pencil. I will absolutely get the Colorstay foundation again in the future - it remains a favorite after my second bottle of it. Unless I see it on a major sale, I'll probably just use my other foundations for awhile, though.

I liked the concealer well enough to use up, but not sure if I'll repurchase it. It was a great texture for under the eyes, but in an ideal situation I'd have just one concealer for everything, and this just didn't cut it for concealing on the face.

I loved the texture of the powder but the color was wrong for me - a bit too dark and much too yellow. I'm hoping to try the Multitasker powder from them next - it seems to come in a lighter, pinker shade than this one did.

I really did love this mascara. I always like trying new ones, though, so I'm not sure I'd get it again. The brow pencil was good too - It seemed to last a really long time, and I love that it had a spoolie on the end! Again, I like trying new ones so I probably won't repurchase it.

The final sample I used up this month was Marc Jacobs' Lola perfume. I really like this perfume, but given the choice I think I'd get Oh Lola! for myself instead. 

If you have any questions on these products, let me know!

November Manicures

OPI You Only Live Twice (Skyfall)

Zoya - Pinta

Revlon Colorstay - Cayenne

Illamasqua - Noble

Sephora + Pantone Universe Color of the Year 2012 Nail Lacquer Set

Maybelline Color Show - Twilight Rays

Sonia Kashuk - Two Cent

Sonia Kashuk - Two Cent, OPI - The Living Daylights (Skyfall)

Sonia Kashuk - Two Cent, OPI - The Living Daylights (Skyfall), Butter LONDON Matte Finish Topcoat

Pixi - Paradise Pink, L'Oreal - The Bigger The Better (Diamond Collection)