July and August haul 2026

So what have I purchased during the last two months - so much for trying to stick to a low buy. Small little temptations in Target, Sephora or online sales. 

Shampoo, lip, eye products and pimple patches

Makeup brushes, eye masks and makeup remover wipes

Herbal Essences - Rose hips Shampoo (100 ml): This is the perfect size for travel, and with my summer vacation around the corner this was the perfect little pick me up at Target.

Elf - Liquid velvet eyeshadow in extra toasted (4.4 g): This came highly recommended on social media. It is a bit too warm for my liking though and still have not mastered how to how to use it. 

The Inkey list - Hydrocolloid invisible pimple patches (22 patches): This I saw recommended on social media for bug bites, so I decided to pick one of these up - I got a bite of some sort after being barefoot in my garden in Iceland, and put one on before bed, and I think it worked. 

Nyx - Fluff and snatch brow powder pen in brunette (1 g): I came across this in one of my trips to Target. It works ok, but not great, I do prefer other eyebrow products over this. 

Versed - Lip frame defining lip liner  in debut (0.5 g): This is supposed to be a dupe for The Rhode lip liners, so I did get tempted to purchase this in Target. The color is perfect. 

BK Beauty x Nikki La Rose N17: This I grabbed during a BK beauty sale over the summer. The black side is supposed to be for powder and the white side is for creams and liquids. 

BK Beauty x Nikki La Rose N16: This I purchased to use with cram and or liquid eyeshadows. Too bad BK launched cream stick blushes just days after I ordered. Otherwise I might have been tempted to order one blush as well. 

Maskiss - Collagen Eye mask smoothing and cooling (2 x 6 g): A passenger gifted us these masks during one of the recent flights. 

Neutrogena - Makeup remover ultra soft cleansing towelette (8 towels): Another passenger gift.

24K gold eye mask (7.5 g): This eye mask was also gifted to me while at work. 

Let's see how the low buy will go from here!

January - May haul 2025

So much for sticking to my no buy 2025 - where I gave myself the exception to purchase two items until Black Friday sales in 2025! I caved in three times, as I purchased three items, and that in effect when only just over three months have passed of the year! 

The first purchase was made on my birthday whilst on a work-trip abroad. In came the "birthday" blues - so a trip to Target was just the medicine where I ended up buying myself a elf blush. The other purchases were two different lip balms - one from Refy and the other from Violette Fr. Then some other stuff came into my possession in the form of gifts and purchases, mainly hair-products, a category which I have so far not been wild about. 

Hair towel, mini Guinot products and a hair serum

Sephora gift, samples, and a gifted facemask

Kerastase conditioner and shampoo

Cosrx - The 6 peptide skin booster (30 ml): This was the Utla birthday gift in 2025 - and I was fortunate enough to be close to a Ulta store in my birthday month to pick one up.

Aquis flip - hair drying tool - wove with copper sure: This hair towel I ran into at a Marshalls store in Baltimore. This one is woven with copper which is supposed to be good for the hair. It was on a really nice discount, well turns out the elastic was not very well sown into the base. So I had to sow it up again. But as I have been dealing with hair-loss it is worth giving a go.

Elf - Camo liquid blush - Peach perfect (4 ml): This I got tempted to buy on my birthday in February, wandering around the isles in Target being hit with a wave of the birthday blues. Since I have perhaps used it two or three times, it is a very soft color.

Guinot - Micellaire cleansing water (30 ml): My sister had already gifted me a x-mas calendar containing these Guinot products. But my mom was also gifted this calendar, and she figured she would not use any of them, so she ended up giving me a few of them. 

Kerastase Genesis - Fortifying serum (90 ml): I have been dealing with considerable hair-loss in the last six months or so, and after seeing this being recommended all over social media I decided to grab a bottle during the Sephora sale. It turned out to be hard to find it in store, as I had to visit three different stores in Washington DC to find it in stock. You are supposed to use it every day, in combo with the shampoo and conditioner from the same line. I have not used it like that, but when it is getting closer to a hair-wash day, I put it in the day in before a wash. The smell of this product is nice, but it tends to linger for at least 24 hours. I have also started taking hair-vitamin on a regular basis, and hope I will able to turn this hair-loss around. 

Guinot - Express eye makeup remover (30 ml): This was also re-homed to me from my mom. 

Guinot - Hydra toning lotion (30 ml): The last item I got from my mom. I better start using some of these items, as I have duplicates by now. But they are the perfect size to take to work or on holiday. 

L'occitane - Hand cream - dry skin (30 ml): One of my co-worker who was flying with us on standby, gifted all of the crew small hand-creams. A perfect size for the handbag.

Refy - Tinted lip gloss - Taupe (13 ml): This was a 100% weakness purchase. I had seen this color featured on some social media. And during a layover in Washington I forgot my lip-balm at my hotel room, and instead of me going back to fetch it - I popped into the next Sephora store and bought this one. The color is super soft though - and does hardly show up on my lips at all, I might as well have purchased the clear gloss. But then my lips are quite rosy pigmented. 

Summer Fridays - Lip butter balm - Pink sugar (7 g): This was a part of the Sephora birthday gift for 2025 - so of course I decided to grab the free gift this year.

Summer Fridays - Jet lag mask (15 g): Also a part of the Sephora birthday gift, and have I heard nice things about this mask.

Violette Fr - Bisou Jelly - Bonbon Caramel (2.5 g): This is a brand I have had my eye on for some time, and now it just launched in Sephora. So I got tempted to buy one item in New York. Not sure the color suits me very well, it is described as a warm caramel color, maybe I will just put it aside for a few months as it might be more suitable in the autumn. 

Summer Fridays - Rich cushion cream ultra plumping moisturizer (2 ml): The third and last item in the Sephora birthday gift.

Elemis - Pro-collagen marine cream (2 x 2 ml): This most likely came into my possession at Sephora, as some free samples they give you with purchase. 

Sephora - Green tea eyes mask (6 g): A friend gifted this to me for my birthday.

PS - Two blender sponges: I came across these at the register at Primark, and I decided to give them a try.

Kerastase Genesis - Fortifying anti hair-fall conditioner (200 ml): After I bought the hair serum from the same line, I saw a summer giftbox on a 20% discount in one of the hair salons of Reykjavik, so I decided to splurge and buy the shampoo and conditioner.

Kerastase Genesis - Anti hair-fall fortifying shampoo (200 ml): This was a part of previously mentioned gift set. I have only used it once, so it's too soon to say if it works. I am also taking hair vitamins on the regular, so any improvement will probably be two sided.  

So all in all - quite the fail from a no-buy until Black Friday 2025. I did give myself the exception to purchase two items until that time, well in the period of January - May I have indeed purchased three items, two of them being a lip product. The third; a liquid blush. Ironically when this spring powder blushes are making a serious comeback. And what on earth do I have to do with more lip glosses when I had 14 lip-glosses before and 7 lip balms? Totaling now in 15 lip glosses and 8 lip balms! It usually takes me years to finish one lip-balm or gloss.... 

Something really needs to change! And the only person who has the power to do it, well it's me!

October - December Haul 2024

Here comes the latest update on this years cosmetics and beauty shopping. I am sure I have bought enough for three or four girls during the span of the year. 

Toner, scents, spf, eye cream and eyeshadow

Face mask, brushes, blush, lip liner, powder and an eysshadow

Omnilux led face mask

Lindex beauty bag, Riddle parfum and a solid shampoo bar

The body shop - Aloe soothing toner (250 ml): My normal refill on this one - I love it and will continue to buy it. 

Bath and body works - If you musk, fine fragrance mist (235 ml): This I would have preferred in a smaller bottle, but the fine fragrance mists at Bath and body works only come in the full sizes. This particular scent is supposed to be a semi dupe of Glossier You, but to me it actually smells better than the original. And as I am finally about to finish the full size fragrance bottle I have been focusing on for the last few years, and sold the only body mist I had from Bath and body works in September 2023 - it was easy for me to get tempted to purchase. 

Innbeauty project - Mineral sun glow broad spectrum spf 43 (50 ml): This was recommended by Jessica Braun on YT. It is supposedly the perfect sunscreen under makeup, which I have been struggling to find, plus it is a mineral sunscreen which suits my perioral dermatitis skin better than chemical sunscreen. So it ended up in my basket during the Sephora sale - well "sale" as I got a 15% discount.

Kylie Cosmetics - Cosmic eau de parfum (1.2 ml): This sample I grabbed on one of the event evenings in Kringla.

Jo Malone London - Wood sage & sea salt cologne (10 ml): Again I got sucked in on a Sephora sale, 20% off everything mid December. This has been on my wish list for years, and as I am super sensitive to fragrance nowadays, I decided to dip my toes in, and only purchase a small bottle, and it does not come much smaller than this one, does it?

Merit - Solo shadow matte eye color in vachetta (5 g): I had been curious about this brand, and these eyeshadows. Usually this brand gets two thumbs up in reviews, but these eyeshadows have had very mixed reviews. I love the idea of a one and done eyeshadow, so after a series of eye-infections I bought them for myself as a treat.

Blue Lagoon - Eye cream with BL+ complex (5 ml): I won this in a "spin the wheel" game with the Blue Lagoon store in Kringlan, which turned out pretty good, as I finished my Kiehls eyecream within 2 weeks after getting this one. 

Nickak New York - Soothing aloe facial sheet mask (1x20 g): One of my amazing co-workers gave each of us in the crew a small gift bag, one of the items inside - this face mask!

Tromborg - Vegan brush nr. 5: This I forgot to "declare" and take a picture of in my July-September haul, as I bought it in Copenhagen in July. The brush is very nice, but I seriously question if the white handle is made of plastic, as it is high shiny, milky tone of white - and feels very plastic. On the plus side, it works amazing with the Tromborg silk from my January-March haul.

Vieve - Sunset blush balm luminous liquid blush in strawb (15 ml): This is my third item from this brand and the other products I simply love - I was planning a trip to Glasgow, where I was planning to swatch all the items from this brand I could get my hand on, but I ended up not going - so this was swiftly added to cart on Cult beauty on Black Friday weekend. Red liquid blush anyone?

Sephora - Pro powder brush 50: So much for my 5th goal in my project pan for 2024, only to buy one makeup brush - I ended up buying three of them. This one of course to go with the excessive amount of facial powders I own, and as a matter of a fact - picked up during the Sephora sale.

Jones Road - The lip pencil in nudist (0.92 g): On one of my work-trips to New York, I headed for Greenwich village, where one of the brick and mortar stores for this brand is located. 

Caia Cosmetics - Glow bronzer in gold coast (10 g): This had been on my wish-list for a few years, and I decided to grab it on a 20% off black Friday deal. 

Sephora - Microsmooth powder in 15 neutral (8 g): Did I need a face powder? No not at all, so why did I decide to buy this one during the Sephora promotion, with a 30% discount. Well the 30% discount might have something to do with it. 

Elf - Fine as fleck glitter eyeshadow in champagne showers (2 g): On one of the last Target runs of 2024 this one just accidentally ended up in my basket. 

Omnilux - Contour face led mask: This was without a doubt the most expensive purchase of the year, and that would hit the final nail in the coffin for a serious shopping restraint for 2025 in the department of beauty and cosmetics. 

Lindex beauty bag: I had seen this particular bag years ago in Lindex, light pink with rose-gold zipper - with solid bars inside so it stays open for easy access. I had resisted the urge till now, but when Lindex Iceland sent out a 1000 ISK credit code I caved. 

Ridddle perfum - Original (8 ml): This was a christmas gift from my sister, she has one herself and loves it. Apparently it suits people who are sensitive to scents so this sounds perfect for me. 

Fisher soap company - Champagne toast solid shampoo bar (79 gr): One of our passengers gifted all of the female cabin crew one of these shampoo bars. She is the owner of the brand and I am super excited to try a solid shampoo bar, and this would be perfect for holiday with restricted liquids. 

So what has 2025 in store for me? Well I think you guessed it - a serious retail rehab.

August - October Haul 2023

 There is really a general theme for my purchases in 2023 - and the theme is called makeup brushes!! 

The main haul of Augsut - October 2023

Sephora makeup brushes

Testers from Sephora

Elf - Halo glow liquid filter - 1 fair (31.5 ml): This is supposed to be a dupe for the famous Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood flawless filter. I have never tried the CT one, but this one looks promising. I will for sure have to work on a primer in 2024 for my project pan as I seem to have accumulated quite a few throughout the last few years. 

Glow recipe x Barbie - Watermelon glow pink juice moisturizer (25 ml) and Watermelon glow niacinamide dew drops serum (15 ml): My friend asked me to grab one of these sets when I was in the US - and when I saw the packaging, a pink metal box I knew I had to grab one for myself as well. 

Generic Value Products - Color protecting shampoo, compare to Matrix biolage color last shampoo (473 ml): My friend recommended this brand in Sally's Beauty, so I decided to grab a bottle, as I knew Matrix was a good brand, as my mom used to use that brand in her hair salon. 

First aid beauty - KP smoothing body lotion with 10% AHA (170 g): I have the suspicion I suffer from keratosis pilaris (KP) on my legs, as they tend to be red and spotty. It could also just be eczema as in later years I have skin inflammation issues on my face, so it would be no surprise I have developed KP - so when at Ulta in Target I grabbed a tube with me to give a try. 

Neutrogena -  Rapid wrinkle repair regenerating cream, accelerated retinol SA (48 g): I seriously had a shock after one of my flights to the US in October - the lighting in the restroom in my hotel room was too good, so I was able to spot some fine lines I had never spotted before, I went straight to Youtube to find a good retinol for sensitive skin, and this one was one of the ones that came highly recommended. 

Glossier - Monochrome essential eyeshadow trio in almond (3.9 g): I am always drawn into small eyeshadow palettes (over bigger ones), and this came recommended by a few of the youtubers I tend to watch. I usually draw in a dark brown to complete the look, but I have one dark brown single laying around that pairs perfectly with this one, so I am not very disappointed by the fact that this is just a trio instead of a quad. Though quad for the packaging would have been nice. 

Goden Rose - Mega volume city style mascara (9 ml): this purchase broke one my rules for 2023 - not to buy any mascara, but as I was traveling around in Turkey, I just had to grab one of my favorite mascara on that trip. 

Sephora - Pro foundation 47: I got tempted to buy this brush and the following during the latest Sephora sale, on 30% discount.

Sephora - Pro shadow 14: I also got this one on a Sephora 30% sale - in retrospect maybe I should have gotten the smaller eyeshadow brush number 15.

Sephora beauty insider - Glow recipe - Watermelon glow niacinamide dew drops (15 ml) and Watermelon glow PHA + BHA pore tight toner (25 ml): I was gifted these products and the following while browsing in Sephora, Georgetown Washington.

JVN - Complete air dry cream (20 ml): I was also gifted this item in Sephora. I am not entirely sure what is the purpose of this product, do we need a cream in the hair to let it air dry now?

Did you buy something of late?

According to my calculations I have purchased 9 colored items of the 12 I set my self out as a maximum purchase of 2023 of colored cosmetics products - then to that number I can add 3 sample sizes:

Ilia - The necessary eyeshadow palette in cool nude

Maybelline - eyeshadow in nude glow

Inglot - matte eyeshadow in 356

RMS Beauty - Buriti bronzer

Kjær Weis - brown eyeliner

Nars - gloss in Turkish delight

Elf - Halo glow liquid filter

Golden Rose - City style mascara

Glossier - eyeshadow trio in Almond

Ilia - Multi stick in at last (mini)

Ilia - Limitless mascara (mini)

Rose inc - tinted serum (tester)

Total of 12 colored cosmetics, three of the items are testers/gift with purchase sizes, so I wonder if they should could towards the total 12 count? Still there is quite some product in those samples.

What of the items I purchased I could have skipped? Or which of these I did not like so much in retrospect? Number one that comes to mind, and most likely the only item on this list; the Inglot eyeshadow, it is superdry and almost no pigment comes off from it.

Best purchase? The eyeliner from Kjær Weis and the Turkish delight gloss from Nars - those two are amazing. 

Nota bene I have not started to use the following: Ilia multi stick, Ilia mascara, Rose inc tinted serum, Elf halo glow and the Golden rose mascara..

USA haul

So as my summer job for 2018 as a flight attendant will bring me to the United States of America several times over the course of the next few months, so here come the hauls for beauty products for my first three stops:

Haul one

So in my first stop over in Seattle, I managed to pick a few items up:

Elf - eye shadow brush (1 $ + tax @Target)- I bought this one as a backup for an older similar Elf eye shadow brush, but sadly they have changed the hair bristles. And it does a terrible job at applying color to my eyelid. I have to try it on more eye shadows, but now I can only see it being used wet to apply pigments, or wet eye shadow - as it does an ok job at that.

Estée Lauder - advanced night repair serum (7 ml) (16 $ + tax @Nordstrom Rack) - I have really wanted to try this serum out for some time, but as my skin can't handle any given product, I really wanted to be able to try it out before investing in a full size bottle. And finally I stumbled upon a small sample bottle, and can't wait to try it out

Elf - pencil sharpeners - set of 2 - (1.22 $ + tax @Target) - I wanted to buy a closed pencil sharpener, for two sized pencils to put in my cosmetics bag, ready to go with me to work, and this one fitted the bill, and on at a superior price. 

Shea moisture - African black soap with shea butter, troubled skin/severely dry skin (230 g) (5.99 $ + tax @Target) - 

Two oceans - Soothing Aloe Vera, Purifying charcoal - Deep cleansing charcoal soap bar (225 g) (3.99 $ @Ross) - I just couldn't resist picking this soap up as it is made in South Africa, and contains Aloe Vera and is black in color, as the African black soap, so it might work perfectly for my perioral dermatitis, if not I can always use it as a body soap in my shower. 

Haul two

Sephora - Pro brow brush no. 20 (18 $ + tax @Sephora) - I grabbed this to put in my travel makeup bag - to go with the brow powder duo. And it performs perfectly.

Anastasia Beverly Hills - Brow powder duo - soft brown (2 x 0.8 g) (23 $ + tax @Sephora). I asked for assistance at Sephora, and was recommended the auburn shade, as I have a hint of red tones in my hair, but did not dare to venture in that direction, and she tried this on me and it looked great in the store. But in retrospect as I continue to wear it I feel like it is a bit to warm for my brows, so I might actually return this color and exchange it for medium brown.

Mac - eye shadow in Kid (6 $ + tax @Mac) - as this is possibly a limited edition re-launch I decided to pick this shadow up, as I had heard so much about it on Youtube as the perfect crease color. And I am constantly on a hunt for one of those. 

Haul three

Sonia Kashuk eyeshadow brush- detail smudge no. 230 (11 $ + tax @Target) - as I busted my Elf detail crease brush, which I used as a smudge brush, I decided to pick this one up in Target.

Neutrogena - makeup remover cleansing towelettes - 25 ultra-soft cloths (6.29 S + tax @Target). A friend of mine recommended these towelettes, and said they get off all traces of makeup, even waterproof mascara. So I grabbed the type that comes in the plastic tub, which will be very convenient on the go.

So by now I have successfully finished my entire original quota (of 12 items) of color cosmetics for the entire year of 2018.

I had a very similar project/goal going on in 2013 - except in that particular project I did not count any purchases into the total count that I purchased abroad. With that in mind and considering I have only finished five items from the haul I made in Seattle in 2013, and two of those items being mascaras, I really have to start using my products more before I hoard any more. Still I am going to raise the total number of colored cosmetic purchases for the year 2018 to total of 18 items. But those remaining six items left then for this years quota have to be considered carefully before purchasing. And they have to have a very particular function in my collection.

Beauty goals for 2016 - update 3 - final update

At the end of the year 2015 I put a goal to finish up 10 products, of those 10 products I managed to finish 8, see picture below;

Finished products 2016

So what is left is the eyeliner and the gloss (which I replaced with a Burt's Bees gloss)

The rest of the Lancome black Kohl eyeliner

 (the blush is a repressed Clinique blush not in the project)

The Burt's Bees gloss in Autumn Haze

The gloss is just millimeters from the set goal of using half of the gloss up, the eyeliner seems to be holding on for dear life, and could even take me another year to finish. Probably because it is fairly dry. But it is really the only eyeliner I have used for the entire year! And I have only used 1-2 cm of it as it seems. And I have a bunch of other liners waiting to be used. So I have learned it takes about a year to finish half a gloss. That should really hold me back in future purchases. But overall I am really glad that the products I used up are out of my collection, and have been saved from going bad.

So next is just to decide goals and products for next year, 2017!

Empties August - December 2016

So here come the products I managed to finish up during my stay in Copenhagen, August untill December 2016

Products used up in August - December 2016

Elf mineral eyeshadow primer, very good primer, finished up, and it was a part of my beauty goals for 2016
Revlon moisture stay lip tint in sheer spice 07; was depoted into the little round jar, is completely finished up, and was a part of beauty goals 2016.
The body shop total energy exhilirating body wash; a 10 ml sample which has been in my collection for a very long time - pleasant with scrubbing particles in.
Janssen cosmetics hydrating lotion; this product was really nice, while hydrating my skin it did not irritate the perioral dermatitis. Will for sure repurchase.
Emporio Armani Diamonds body lotion; this was gifted to me for x-mas a few years back as a perfume and body lotion set - it was nice and the scent lingered on my skin for some time afterwards.
Cover Girl clump crusher mascara; a really nice mascara, would repurchase if it was sold in Iceland.
Clarins foaming body exfoliator; the scrub particles in this product are really nice, but I just hate the smell of the "standard" Clarins body products, and would thus not repurchase.
Victoria's Secret Very Sexy sheer sexy mist; I finally used this product up, which was a part of my beauty goals 2016. I used it as a body spray and as a perfume. Will not repurchase, the smell was not unpleasant, but got really tired of it. 

Empties January - May 2016

So here are the products I have finished in these first months of the year

Empties January - May 2016

Penzim: serum/gel-cream I used on my face when I first was diagnosed with perioral dermatitis, it did not cure it but I know it is free from nasty chemicals and parabens.
The body shop, sweet lemon body butter: just a regular body butter from the body shop.
Dove summer glow body lotion: finally I finished this up this spring, it has changed packaging 2-3 times since I bought this one (which even has the label NEW on it). I have already bought a new version of this cream.
Sheer eau de toilette by Aerie: nice scent, glad it is finished before it went bad on me.
Garnier micellar cleansing water: love it, and in fact do not sense a difference between this one and the one from Bioderma.
Physicians formula organic wear BB mascara: it was ok, the wand was a little bit too strange for my liking, and prefer the original one in the green bottle.
Bath & Body works nourishing hand cream in fresh sparkling snow: this was a nice and nourishing hand cream, but the scent was a bit too strong for my liking. Would not buy again.
Labello caregloss & shine: too sticky, with no colour and will not buy again.
Boots no.7 eyeshadow in a pinky purple shade: finished this one finally off. Ended up using it as a blush and an eyeshadow, and eventually when there was maybe 1 month use of it left, it broke into pieces and fell into the sink - good it was not a favorite!
Elf blsuh in mellow mauve: it was a super nice blush, but I got so tired of trying to use it up, and I got sick of the colour, by using it every day for a long period of time. Will not repurchase in the nearest future. 

Beauty goals for 2016 - update 1

So here is an update on all the items I included in my beauty goals for 2016, after about three months use:

the first five products

I finished the Aerie roll on eau de toilette in Sheer - it took over two months to finhish 1/3 of a 7,5 ml bottle. Glad that got used up before it turned bad.

The elf blush in mellow mauve I have owned for almost 3 years now, and used it on a daily basis probably for over a year and a half. Which is a crazy long time for a blush to last it was in total 4,75 grams. The rest of it fell into the sink today, and I was so tired of it I made no attempt to save it from being washed into the ocean. What was left was probably 2-3 months worth of every day use of this blush, which would have made it last for almost 2 years of everyday ware. So when I buy blush in the future now I know how long it will last according to the weight, but then it also depends on the pigmentation on how much you want to use each time.
I made a small progress on the Lancome le crayon kohl noir even though I have used it almost every day since the end of January. I do not understand how girls go so fast through these pencils - but I do not sharpen it every day.
I use the depotted Clinique chubby stick in whole lotta honey every day in the morning as it needs to be applied with a pencil, which makes it very unhandy to put in your purse. So a slow progress is being made on this one.
The Boots no 7 eyeshadow (depotted from a trio - a pinky purple shade) I use every day in my crease, on my lid I use a light pink shimmery shade. I can see quite the process on this one, but the shadow was a bit thinner in the area where the pan is showing compared to what is left of it in the pan.
The elf mineral eyeshadow primer in sheer is on it's last leg, the formula has become quite dry and will only be used a few more times. The Garnier roll-on anti-dark circles in 02 is still going strong and seems to be bottom-less. I have to leave the product upside-down though to be able to get any product out, but it does never seem to be close to empty.

Victorias secret very sexy sheer sexy mist

On the Victoria's secret very sexy sheer sexy mist I have made some progress on this 75 ml bottle, last time the product reached between the X and Y letters in SEXY - now it is about one letter below that - which I will mark with a pen right now!
One product I have used the least is the Revlon moisture stay lip tint in sheer spice 07, I used about 4 times, or untill I could not apply it straight from the bullet. Will finish the chubby stick before depotting this one into the same box the chubby stick is in right now.

I threw the Guerlain Terracotta lip gloss in Terre d'or out of the project as it had started to seperate and smell like plastic. I replaced it wit two lip glosses one of them is the Burt's bees lipgloss in 203 Autumn haze, since I started using it in the end of January, brand new, I have already finished about 1/3 of the product as you can see on the colour line. This is a very thick gloss, so I actually had to let the bottle sit in the sun to try to warm the product up to see the progress I made. The other gloss is almost brand new: Dior Addict gloss in 643 Diablotine - so the one I finish first the half of - I will consider done with the Guerlain gloss, as it was only half left of it.

What this goal has taught me so far it that it takes forever to finish a blush, and it is such a pain to try to finish one, so I will try not to have more in my collection than 2-3, and will not put one in a "project pan" ever again.

Lipglosses are easier to finish than I thought, you just have to keep it in your purse and apply at least 3 times a day to see some progress.

Beauty goals for 2016

I was not sure if I should call this post beauty or makeup goals. But as I include a perfume and a body mist - it is more beauty goals.

I have been sticking quite good to a low buy, not an official one though - and when I am abroad travelling or in a duty free it is the most difficult.

With all the free time during my Christmas school break, I have been very active at watching beauty videos on Youtube, and seeing all the holiday palettes, but incredible enough I have not been craving them so bad, but I started to crave a ridiculously expensive eyeshadow from Nars, in fact one of the dual intensity eyeshadows in Himalia... but I can tell you that much I am not willing to buy an single eyeshadow for 29 USD. After that episode, I am currently craving an eyeshadow worth 19 USD from Urban Decay, half baked as a matter of a fact, a cult favorite. Neither Urban Decay or Nars are sold in Iceland, but half baked from UD is available from feelunique and they ship free to Iceland, on everything that is more that 10 GBP (half baked fits that category).

But how on earth could I justify buying a single eyeshadow when I have more than 20 eyeshadows in my collection, and I have only 2 eyes, and don't even bother to put on eyeshadow every day?

That's where the beauty goals for 2016 come in - it is  inspired by the project pan - videos from Youtube (which I love) but with my twist on it. So my goals for 2016 are to finish 10 spesific products, and the reason I choose them is because they are well along to be finished, and just need the extra boost to actually finish them, plus some of them are turning old in my collection, so it would be good to see them used and gone from my "collection".
The incentive, or reward is then when I finish three of the following products (Garnier concealer and elf mineral eyeshadow primer excluded as they are almost finished anyway) I will reward me with the Urban Decay eyeshadow - if I still crave it at the point of finishing these three products.

Status of 4 products

The products are;

Revlon moisture stay lip tint in sheer spice 07 - a super old lip colour I bought on holiday in the US years ago - there is just a little nub left of it. I will try to dig into it also, we will see how I will manage with the Clinique left overs.

elf blush in mellow mauve - more than half of this is finished, so it is time to give it the extra push to finish it completely. Then I can also start a new blush in my stash.

Victoria's secret very sexy sheer sexy mist - a very hevy schent, untill now I have used this as a perfume on holiday, I will try this out as a body mist and try to finish it like that.

Guerlain Terracotta lip gloss in Terre d'or - this is so ancient that it does not have a colour number and the line has been discontinued, so this is probably the first gloss Guerlain did in this type, and comes in a 6 ml bottle. I remember I bought it on a plane and it cost a fortune, so I will try to use the hell out of it. Now almost half of it is gone.

Aerie sheer roll on eau de toilette in Sheer - this used to be a staple in my travel toiletry bag, but on my last holiday I could sense it will soon go bad, so now it is in daily use to finish up.

Lancome le crayon khol noir - this my friend gifted to me for x-mas some years ago, as a part of a eye-makeup remover, and mascara kit. It has dried out a bit, even though it was never super soft. And that is probably why it is taking so long time to finish, as I have been using it consistently to finish it for a year.

Depotted Clinique chubby stick in whole lotta honey - this is what still remains of what I dug out of my chubby stick, now on a mission to use up.

Boots no 7 eyeshadow (depotted from a trio - a pinky purple shade) - this actually broke when I depotted it to put into my Uni-palette and just a little bit of the corner that broke remained salvable, but as this is my only eyeshadow showing pan, and it is making a mess of my uni palette, it needs to be used up.

Garnier roll-on anti-dark circles in 02 - just a tiny bit of this remains, and I remain torn between if I should use it up or save it as it has been discontinued and it is my absolute favorite under eye concealer. Most of the time I skip foundation, and just use this under my eyes - and it looks great.

elf mineral eyeshadow primer in sheer - I have already removed the stopper from this product, I totally love this primer, but it needs to go for the other that is waiting in my stash. 

Remember less is more,

thanks for reading and happy holidays!

Last years purchases

Maybe I should start the year with a summarization about the beauty buys of 2012, well all the things I bought or were given to me last year!

So this is what the pile looks like:

The Pile

And this is what the pile includes (not in an alphabetical, preference or time of purchase order):

-Lumene vitamin c anti-puffiness roll-on eye serum
-Lumene vitamin c illuminating anti-age bb cream - 01 light
-Youngblood mineral rice setting powder
-Maybelline dream fresh bb cream - universal glow
-Maybelline eyestudio gel eyeliner - brown
-Maybelline eyestudio natural impact eyeshadow - 05 glamour browns
-Body shop vitamine e face mist
-Clinique chubby stick - 02 whole lotta honey
-Clinique lipstick - 13 flamenco
-Benefit watt's up
-Kiko eye shadow - shade 122
-Kiko angled blus brush - face 103
-Kanebo lip brush
-Collistar eye pencil - shade 4 - dark blue
-Garnier roll on anti-dark circles - 02 light
-Loréal eye designer (eyepencil) - 413 ebony
-Loréal color riche le smokey (eyepencil) -211 purple dream
-Makeup store microshadow - ghetto
-Estée Lauder blush - 20 sweet nectar
-Mac eyeshadow - contrast
-elf complexion brush
-elf blush brush
-elf stipple brush
-elf professional eye shadow brush
-elf professional eye crease brush
-elf mineral eye shadow primer - sheer
-Nip + fab eye fix - light
-Viva la juicy by juicy couture (missing in the picture)

I have actually not started using the last two of the purchases of the year - as I'm trying to finish a couple of my perfumes before I open this one, and the Nip + fab eye fix is a backup for my sensai/kanebo eye concealer.

So what is the most loved purchase of the year? My elf eye shadow brushes as I use them a lot, the maybelline and Makeup store eyeshadows I also get a lot of use out of. I also LOVE my Kiko angled blush brush, the Estée Lauder blush - it's such a beautiful colour and the Benefit what's up - it'g gorgeous on the face!

Disappointment of the all of the products? My Clinique chubby stick, as the colour pay-off is almost none.

Products that contain parabens; Maybelline eye shadow, Makeup store eye shadow, Kiko eye shadow and the Body shop vitamin e face mist. I'm not sure if the eye pencils contain parabens, but all the other products are paraben free (to the best of my knowledge) - and thus very to my liking!

Untill next time,

Ella