Product Empties November 2021 (What Beauty Products Would I Repurchase?)

Hey guys! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve done an empties post. I barely had any empties for a while and then within the last couple weeks I’ve finished like five products. I have 12 products for today’s post so let’s get into it!

Up first is the Hempz Natural Herbal Body Moisturizer in the Sweet Pineapple & Honey Melon scent. I was totally influenced by Sierra Schultzzie on this one. She did an “influencers made me buy it” video and fell in love with this lotion which in turn made me buy it. This is a great body lotion! It smells absolutely amazing – it reminds me of this certain gum but I can’t remember the name. I love the consistency because it’s not too thick but still hydrating. It sinks into the skin quickly and the scent lingers a bit but isn’t overpowering. I decided to repurchase the lotion but this time in the Fresh Coconut & Watermelon scent. Would recommend checking out this lotion.

The next product is the Versed Day Dissolve Cleansing Balm. Cleansing balms are one of my favourite products to test out and this is one of the best I’ve tried so far. It’s an oil-based cleanser so I find that it’s incredible at removing makeup. Even the most stubborn mascara, liners, lipsticks and glitters come off easily with this balm. Despite the fact that it’s oil-based it doesn’t leave my skin feeling oily or greasy. Sometimes if I’m feeling partially lazy I won’t double cleanse because my face feels clean enough after using this cleansing balm. AND best of all it’s available at the drugstore. I recommend checking out this cleansing balm if you wear makeup.

My brother has gotten into the habit of using my eye cream. He loved the Farmacy Cheer Up Brightening Vitamin C Eye Cream. We both have very sensitive under eyes and this didn’t both us. I honestly didn’t notice much of a difference but he did. He said it was hydrating and he just found it made a visible difference. He even asked if I was going to repurchase it (to which I replied he can purchase it himself since I have another eye cream open). So this eye cream has my brother’s seal of approval.

The first of two haircare products is the Living Proof Restore Repair Leave-In. I highly recommend this leave-in conditioner. First, it’s curly girl approved so my fellow curly hair friends can use this. Second, it does such a great job of leaving my hair smooth and silky. You can use a leave-in product as a heat protectant since its coats your hair. I will use this if I’m going to diffuse my curls and it helps prevent any frizziness. I currently have some other hair products open but once I finish them up I will buy this again.

The second haircare product is the Playa Healing Hair Masque. Honesltly I was a little disappointed by this mask. I had heard great things about the brand and assumed I would like the mask. It wasn’t a bad mask but it didn’t do anything more from my hair than using conditioner. If I’m going to pay almost $50 for a hair mask I want a noticeable difference and I didn’t get that. Still on the hunt for the best hair mask.

If you suffer from acne, then you HAVE to try the Benzagel Acne Gel. If you’ve followed me for awhile you might remember that I was using prescription acne cream for awhile. Unforuantely I’ve run out of the cream and cannot afford to repurchase it. So I switched over to this Benzagel Acne Gel. This contains Benzagel Peroxide, which is the main ingredient in Proactive. This is the best over the counter cream I’ve used so far. I apply it to wear I break out once a day and I noticed a huge difference in as little as two weeks. I’ll be honest and I still get breakouts but this has helped me. I recommend it to everyone suffering from acne.

Another cleanser I finished is the Laneige Cream Skin Milk Oil Cleanser. If you have dry skin you’ll love this cleanser for removing makeup. Unlike cleansing balms which sometimes can be stripped, this cleanser is quite hydrating. I will say it’s not as effective compared to other makeup removing cleansers so I used this more on my lighter makeup days. I personally won’t be repurchasing it but would recommend to anyone with normal to dry skin.

A moisturizer I finished is the Murad City Skin Overnight Detox Moisturizer. While I like this moisturizer I still find it funny that it has vitamin C. I’ve already heard that it’s best to apply vitamin C in the morning because it helps prevent UV damage, so it’s weird to be that they put vitamin C in a night cream. But besides that this cream isn’t bad. A little on the thicker side, which makes sense since it’s a nice cream. I like the packaging. It’s a push pump so I don’t have to dig my fingers into a jar. Overall it was a good moisturizer but I’m not going to go out of my way to repurhcase it on the Murad website.

A product that I was surprised that I enjoyed so much is the MineTan Body.Skin Hydra Glow Sleep Serum, which is a hyaluronic acid serum. I haven’t had the best of luck with finding a hyalurnoic acid serum that I like but this one worked great! I noticed a difference in how moisturizer my face felt after using this serum. I also noticed that my skin looked brighter as well after using it for a couple of weeks. Overall I enjoyed this serum. Unfortunately it’s only available through their site so I don’t think I’ll repurchase it because I don’t want to deal with the hassle that is shipping to Canada. But if you live in the US check this out!

A finished a makeup product! Doesn’t happen very often but I finished my tube of my Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer. You already know that I’ve repurchased another one. I just love the way it brightens my undereyes and it’s so easy to blend. It does start to crease on me around the six hour makeup but it’s creamy enough that I can usually just tap out the creasing and lines with my finger and it looks fine. I think the fact that I finished a whole tube of this is just a testament to how much I love it.

Back to skincare again, I finished a bottle of the Clean Skin Club Vitamin C Brightening Booster. It was alright. At this point I compare all vitamin C serums to the Biossance one and this one just wasn’t as good. Now if you don’t like an oily feeling serum then you’ll probably like this one because it dries down almost matte. But I didn’t notice having any immediate brightening effect nor was it any faster at helping with my hyperpigmentation compared to the Biossance serum. It’s not bad but not good enough for me to want to repurchase.

And the final product is the Versed Look Alive Hydrating Plumping Mask. I thought for some reason based on the packaging that I would go through this in a few uses. But it took me like two years to get through the mask (expiry dates? what’s that lol). If you just want a mask to add some extra hydration to your skin, this is the mask for you. It’s like an extra juicy moisturizer. I leave it on for ten minutes, wash it off and my skin feels plump and juicy. It has a very nice, light floral scent. And best of all like other Versed products it’s affordable! I haven’t yet but I am considering picking another one up.

And that is it for my product empties guys! Let me know if you’ve used any of these products and what your thoughts are on them. And if you have any hair mask suggestions leave them in the comments because I’m still on the hunt!

xoxo

Lea

August Boxycharm 2021

Hey guys! Can you believe that it’s the end of August and summer is almost over? I feel like the summer just flew by this year. I also got my box early this month so I was able to test out the products for longer. If you want to see my first impressions, check out my Youtube video. Let’s get into it.

The first product I got was the Clean Skin Club Pineapple Glow Mist. This mist has hyaluronic acids, enzymes, peptides and antioxidants to give the skin a healthy glow. This is a lightweight and fast-absorbing formula to help penetrate and hydrate the skin. So instead of wetting my face and using a hyaluronic acid, I can just wet my face with this mist. It’s very easy to use and does absorb into the skin very quickly. While my face doesn’t necessarily feel as hydrated as using a serum it does add a nice glow to the skin. The instructions say only three to four sprays are necessary but I find I need way more to cover my face. For that reason, I’ve used a decent amount already. I like it but I can see myself going through it quickly. Price: $38 US

The second skincare product I got is two masks from Vitamasques. I thought this was a two-pack, but on the website I found them individually. So I guess I got six products this month? The first of the two masks is the Glow Juicy Berries Biodegradable Mask. This mask is meant to brighten the skin. It’s smelled good and did brighten my skin. The second mask is the Nourish Flower Nectar Biodegradable Mask. This mask is meant to help nourish and moisturize the skin. I haven’t used the second mask yet so I can’t tell you what it was like. I don’t know if I would spend the money to purchase them and ship them again. I think I could find masks that are just as good at my local drugstore. Price: $12 each

The next product is the Laura Geller The Casual Collection Multi-Finish Eyeshadow Palette. I think the colour stories matches the theme of a causal collection well. These are quite wearable shades and can be used for both every day and evening looks. I will say that the whole palette leans a little cool tone, including the brown shades. I wish the browns were a little bit more warm-toned since that’s what I prefer. The pigmentation isn’t the strongest so every look I do is quite soft. This means that if you’re a beginner it’s easy to use but if you’re looking for bold colours this isn’t it. Honestly, the palette isn’t bad but it’s not anything special. I have so many palettes similar so I would pass on this one. Price: $45 US, $58 CAD

The second eye product I got is the Lavaa Lashes Flirty Lash Set. This lash set comes with their Flirty lashes, a brush-on lash adhesive and a gold applicator. I love the look of the lashes, they’re long but wispy so I can see my eyeshadow through them. The brush-on lash adhesive is easy to use and does keep my lashes on. And the applicator was easy to use. I have another pair of Lavaa Lashes and have worn them many times, they hold up well. I like this set and would recommend the brand. Price: $21.50 US

The last product I got is the Jecca Blac Play Pot. This product was a dud for me. In the pot is this bright gold pigment but when I blend it out the pigment goes away and I’m just left with glitter. I don’t like glitter on my face so I tried it on the eyes. It smudged all over the place and didn’t last. It’s great that it’s vegan and cruelty-free but the product itself isn’t good and I don’t see myself using it again. Price: $21.50 US, $28.82 CAD

The overall total of my box is $150, which is on the lower end of box totals. I would say that this box was alright. I like the mist and lashes. The sheet masks are nice but they’re single-use. The Play Pot was a total miss. Let me know what you guys think in the comments and if you got similar products!

xoxo

Lea