January - March Haul 2026

So even though I am on a serious cut back regarding beauty purchases for 2026 I still have managed to accumulate, both purchases and gifts for the first three months of the year 2026

Creams, hair oil from Japan and birthday perks

Birthday gifts, gua sha, brush cleanser and a gloss

Gold bond - Healing hand cream aloe (85 g): I came across this in Walmart in Baltimore, and as my hand get super dry at work, this was an easy temptation.

Gold bond - Age renew neck and chest firming cream (56 g): I have for a long time contemplated to purchase a neck and chest cream, and as this was a few bottles away from the hand cream it came along to the register.

& Honey - Deep moist hair oil step 3.0 (100 ml): This my sister gave me for my birthday, along with a few other items to be mentioned. She went to Japan last year, so I assume this was purchased on that trip. All the instructions are in Japanese though, but google search gives the result that this is for the scalp and entire hair, so somewhat of a hair mask? I am dealing with a dry scalp at the moment so this will come to good use soon. 

Rhode - Barrier butter - Intensive moisture balm (40 ml): A friend of mine gave this cream her highest recommendation, she also works as cabin crew on the dry air in the cabin, and she said this was an amazing moisturizer that endures the dry air on board so I decided to buy the small tube to give it a try.

Milk - Lip + Cheek cream blush - Werk (3 g): I chose this item from the selection I had from Ulta for my birthday. I was in Raleigh at the time, for work for two nights and there was an Ulta close by, so I jumped in store to take a look at the options I had, and there were a few let me tell you. I had checked online and saw that this blush was amongst the thing offered, and as I am sure the old full size Werk color I have from Milk is expired (which was the smaller size at the time, and I had gotten as a part of a birthday gift from Sephora a few years ago). Have I since bitten the bullet and thrown the old one away (which I suspect to be expired as it smells waxy - in one word: no.

Benamor - Virum verbena - Extraordinary hand cream (75 ml): This was one of the very few purchases I made in Lisbon - this I came across at the airport so decided to pull the trigger and buy yet another hand cream.

Tower 28 - Shine on lip jelly - Pistachio (1.36 ml): This and the following Tower 28 SOS spray I chose as my birthday gift from Sephora. There were a few to choose from, and I ended up going with this one as these items I would be able to finish up fairly easily. 

Tower 28 - SOS daily rescue facial spray (60 ml): This bottle is even bigger than the tiny one I purchased a few months back. I have yet not tried it though. But it does come highly recommended. 

Guinot - Depil logic serum - anti-hair regrowth serum for face and body (2 x 8 ml): I went for a wax in a spa and the beauty esthetician managed to sell me this serum, which I am fairly sure has a very limited results. So either I will have to commit to a wax to use this up, or use it on my legs when I get the annual below the knee wax before my summer holiday. 

Real Techniques - Expert face brush 200: Another item my sister gifted to me for my birthday. I do believe I have this brush already in a different version. 

Luminance Milano - Under eye brightener - Pink peach (5 g): Yet another birthday gift from my sister. This my friend had seen on social media (same with my sister) they were somehow really excited about this product. I imagine it to be quite similar to my Becca under eye corrector. So I am not sure if I will keep it or gift it to a friend.

Neutral - Bar soap (2 x 100 g): I purchased two of these in a two pack, as a friend of mine had highly recommended this to clean makeup brushes. I have already started to use the other bar, and I can confirm it works like a charm.

Mario Badescu Skin care - Stainless steel Gua sha: I came across this item in a TJ Maxx in the states, and for 10 usd it was an instant purchase. I already have a rose quartz one, but I am very aware it can break if I drop it on the floor, so I purchased a stainless steel one. Do I use either one on a regular base? No. 

Kiko Milano - 3D Hydra lipgloss in shade 35 (6.5 ml): I got a Barcelona afternoon stop this January, I had not intended to purchase anything, but when I saw you could get it engraved, so I decided to get it engraved with my crew letters (hence the engraving is blurred). 

Walgreens - Smoothing shea butter lip mask - Moisturizes and softens lips (1 mask): A passenger gifted this to the crew on one of our flights this year. Very sweet gesture. 

Project pan 2026

Happy new year - welcome 2026. As in the few last years, I have a few items I would like to move out of my collection in 2026, or get some use out of. I have plans to finish several of the products, and then get a partial use, or make a dent into others.

Full sizes and a few deluxe sizes in my project pan 2026

Testers and deluxe samples in my project pan 2026

This year I have a mix of full size products, deluxe samples, and small samples in my project pan. Ten full size products, where I plan to use up nine of them, and use about half of one of them. A few deluxe samples that will be quick and easy to use in the course of a few months and give me a boost into the year.  

Neutrogena - Rapid wrinkle repair regenerating cream (48 g):

Weight at the start of 2026: 185 grams

Goal: Finish it

Why: I should only use this once or two times per week (and layered with another moisturizer), it has already expired, so I want to get some use out of it

Macadamia - Oil extract hair mask (250 ml):

Weight at the start of 2026: 130 grams

Goal: Finish it

Why: I bought it a few years ago now, my hair is quite dry at the ends, so this is the perfect time to use it up

Clarins - Radiance-plus golden glow booster (15 ml):

Remaining amount at the start of 2026: Maybe 1/3 of the product remains - as it sits on the upper part of the text; "Radiance-plus"

Goal: Finish it

Why: This has been in my project pan before - and I want to move it out of my stash this time

Dove - Summer glow nourishing lotion with subtle gradual self-tanner (250 ml):

Weight at the start of 2026: 233 grams

Goal: Finish it

Why: It is getting older in my stash

Kiko Milano - Intensive hand cream (60 ml):

Weight at the start of 2026: 55 grams

Goal: Finish it

Why: It is getting older in my stash, and time to use it up

BioEffect - Egf body serum (120 ml):

Weight at the start of 2026: 143 grams

Goal: Finish it

Why: It is a roll over product from my project pan 2025

Lancome - L'absolu lacquer in 323 shine manifesto (3 ml):

Remaining amount at the start of 2026: About half

Goal: Finish it

Why: It is small and should be easy to use up and I like the color. I also tend to switch my lip products during the season, and this being a small one, there is a higher chance for me to be able to finish a small one over the course of the year.

Mac - Strobe cream in Pinklite (50 ml):

Remaining amount at the start of 2026: The product sits perhaps 4 millimeters below the Mac logo on the packaging

Goal: Use up about half of the remaining primer - so the product will reach (when standing upright) just below the pink label on the front of the packaging. 

Why: I have a few primers waiting on the sideline, yet to be opened and I really do not want them to go bad (as I think happened to one primer in 2025). And also I really like this primer so I want to get some use out of it. From the results of my project pans in 2024 and 2025, I seem to be able to use up about half of a 30 ml primer, or about 15 ml in a year. This one has 50 ml of product, but I already have used a bit of it, as well as I finished the primer for my project pan in 2025 a few months before the end of 2025 - and then I started on this one. 

HarKlinikken - Balancing shampoo cleansing & neutralizing (250 ml):

Remaining amount at the start of 2026: The shampoo sits just below the text shampoo. 

Goal: Finish it

Why: It is getting older in my stash and would be nice to just get rid of some items from my bathroom cabinet. I already have a backup, and I don't even like it in perticular.

Clarins - Lip comfort oil in 04 pitaya (7 ml): 

Remaining amount at the start of 2026: About 60% of the product remains.

Goal: Finish it

Why: I was gifted this for Crristmas in 2022, so for an oil product, this is getting up there in age. I want to get my use out of it, and it will (at least for this season live in my work handbag).  

Spectro Sensitive skin care - Cleanser blemish-prone skin (200 ml):

Remaining amount at the start of 2026: 216 grams

Goal: Use it up

Why: My nephew bought it in the states for me years ago, and I have only used it a handful of times. It is supposed to be good for perioral dermatitis, and not irritate the skin. I still prefer my African black soap from Shea moisture, but it is about time for me to use this up. The sad part is I do not in particular like it, it does not foam and almost feels like cleaning your face with nothing. So realistically I would only use this for my morning routine, not not after makeup as I feel it would not clean any residue of makeup off.

Lancome - Rose sugar scrub gentle exfoliating scrub (15 ml): 

Weight at the start of 2026: 22 grams

Goal: Finish it

Why: It is small and should be easy to use up

Vieve - Super skin nova (1 ml):

Why use this tester: I have a tendency not to use testers, I just got this one, and I have this primer in a small size (12 ml) and I have not opened it yet - but still curious how it feels and if it is nice, so now I get a chance to use this new sample and test my new primer (still without opening the bigger one).  

Laura Mercier - Caviar stick eye color in Strapless (1 g): 

Remaining amount at the start of 2026: 1.7 cm of product when it is fully screwed up 

Goal: Use 0.5 cm of the product

Why: This was a part of the Sephora birthday gift from 2022, I have not used it often, and when I was about to use it the other day I felt the stick had become loose from the base, so I took the product in stuck it back into the base. This surely means the product has started to dry, and would be nice to get some use out of it. The color is described by Laura Mercier as a soft nude shimmer - I would also say it has a pink hue to it, so it should be an easy color to use throughout the year

Nature Republic - Snail solution emulsion brightening and wrinkle improvement:

Remaining amount at the start of 2025: About half 

Why use it up: It is small and maybe quick to use up 

BioSelect - Cretan remedy dictamelia ointment (1 ml) : 

Why use this sample: I got this in Greece on holiday a few years ago, and I could for sure use this on the scar I have on my knee or on my super dry hands. 

Erborian - BB Creme au gingseng (1.5 ml):

Why use this sample: I have two sachets of this product, it has been very popular, or viral even, so it would be ideal to use.  

Summer Fridays - Rich cushion cream ultra plumping moisturizer (2 ml): 

Why use this sample : This also is a relatively new sample, as I got it with my Sephora birthday gift in 2025 and would be nice to use some of these samples while they are still new and "fresh" 

So all in all, I have plans to use up nine full size items, use 50% of the remaining amount of one full size primer, finish two deluxe size samples, make a dent into one deluxe size eye color, and finish four samples.

Other goals for 2026: After failing in a major way for all my other goals in my project pan 2025, I think I will not make some grand no-buy goals for 2026 - I know I have too much makeup and beauty products in general. But perhaps it would not be a bad idea to buy fewer color products in 2026 vs 2025 - which would mean fewer than 11 - so on average it means I can buy less color cosmetics than one a month. We will see what 2026 will bring. 

Beauty goals for 2021 - final results

So did I hit my beauty goals for 2021..?

Final results of beauty goals 2021

Lumene - Instant glow beauty serum (30 ml): 

Weight at the start of 2021 (with packaging - as for all of the products): 78 g 

Weight at the end of 2021: 70 g

Goal: was to finish it up - I ended up using only 8 g

Kiko - Stick eyeshadow - 05 (1,64 g): 

Weight at the start of 2021: 11 g

Weight at the end of 2021: 10 g 

Goal: was to use 0,6 g of it - according to the weight I did reach the goal - but I am not so sure, as the scale I use is just a standard kitchen scale 

Garnier - 5 sec perfect blur, soothing perfecting primer (30 ml): 

Weight at the start of 2021: 34 g

Weight at the end of 2021: 32 g.Goal: use 10 g - I used 2 g 

Goal: was to use 10 - I used 2 g - as I used this product probably around 4 times this year I should just stop buying primers

Jergens BB Body perfecting skin cream -all medium to deep skin tones (221 ml): 

Weight at the start of 2021: 95 g

Weight at the end of 2021: 41 g 

Goal: was to finish it up, well I did not reach it

One direction - Our moment eau de parfum (100 ml): 

Weight at the start of 2021: 324 g

Weight at the end of 2021: 304 g 

Goal: was to finish it up, but I did use 20 g in the course of 2021

Lumene - Vitamin C+ anti-puffiness roll-on eye serum (10 ml) - (missing on photo):

Weight at the start of 2021: 10 g

Weight at the end of 2021: 8 g (empty packaging) 

Goal: was to finish it up, which I did

Clarins - Radiance-Plus golden glow booster (15 ml): 

Weight at the start of 2021: 27 g

Weight at the end of 2021: 26 g 

Goal was to use half of the remaining product, or get the product line down to the area where "radiance-plus" is written on the packaging. I did use this in the year of 2021, but I did not reach my goal

Essence - Stay all day concealer - 10 natural beige (7 ml): 

Weight at the start of 2021: 9 g

Weight at the end of 2021: 7 g (empty packaging without stopper)

Goal: was to use it up, I did reach that goal

Victoria's Secret - lip gloss (13 g): 

Weight at the start of 2021: 11 g

Wight at the end of 2021: 9 g

Goal: was to finish it up, ended up using only 2 g

Gina Tricot Beauty - eye-shadow - 42 caramel (1,8 g): 

Weight at the start of 2021: 13 g

Weight at the end of 2021: 11 g (I am sure a lot of the product went down the drain though as the shadow kept crumbling).

Goal: was to hit pan, and that goal I did reach.

So all over I only hit 2 of my goals, finished the Lumene C+ vitamine eye cream and hit pan on the Gina Tricot eye-shadow

Other goals:

1. No impulse buys just because there is a discount - 90% successful - as I was only tempted to buy one gift box in Copenhagen on discount, but still I had had my eye on that gloss for some time. So the other items came as a bonus with the purchase, and at a cheaper price than if I had bought that lip gloss in Iceland by itself
2. Only one eye-palette purchase in 2021 - Yes I did reach this goal as I did not even buy a single eye shadow palette in 2021
3. No body lotion purchase in 2021- Yes did not buy a body lotion in 2021
4. No bronzer purchase in 2021 - Yes did not buy a bronzer in 2021
5. Keep an ongoing wish-list - Yes I did keep an ongoing wish list
6. Use nail-polish at least once a month - Did not reach that goal - maybe used nail polish 3 times during 2021! 

Beauty goals for 2021

 As per usual, I have chosen ten items to focus on in the year of 2021.

My 10 chosen items for 2021

Lumene - Instant glow beauty serum (30 ml): 

Current weight (with packaging - as for all of the products): 78 g. 

Goal: finish up. 

Why: this is one of my oldest complexion products

Kiko - Stick eyeshadow - 05 (1,64 g): 

Current weight: 11 g

Goal: use 0,6 g of it (about a third of the entire eyeshadow)

Why: For the last 2 years I have focused on one cream eyeshadow each year, and I have hardly used this one at all, so I would like to give it some love before it dries out.

Garnier - 5 sec perfect blur, soothing perfecting primer (30 ml): 

Current weight: 34 g

Goal: use 10 g

Why: this is my oldest primer and I want to start to wear primers more.

Jergens BB Body perfecting skin cream -all medium to deep skin tones (221 ml): 

Current weight: 95 g. 

Goal: to finish up. 

Why: roll over from Beauty goals of 2020.

One direction - Our moment eau de parfum (100 ml): 

Current weight: 324 g

Goal: finish up

Why: roll over from Beauty goals of 2020.

Lumene - Vitamin C+ anti-puffiness roll-on eye serum (10 ml): 

Current weight: 10 g

Goal: finish it.

Why: this is getting older and is almost finished.

Clarins - Radiance-Plus golden glow booster (15 ml): 

Current weight: 27 g

Goal: to use half of the remaining product, or to get the product line down to the area where "radiance-plus" is written on the packaging.

Why: I never remember to use tanning product like this one, and it is getting older and would like to use more of it.

Essence - Stay all day concealer - 10 natural beige (7 ml): 

Current weight: 9 g

Goal: to use up

Why: I bought this product in Crete in 2016. So it is amongst my oldest concealers and needs to go.

Victoria's Secret - lip gloss (13 g): 

Current weight: 11 g. 

Goal: to finish up. 

Why: roll over from Beauty goals of 2020

Gina Tricot Beauty - eyeshadow - 42 caramel (1,8 g): 

Current weight: 13 g

Goal: to hit pan

Why: this is a repressed shadow, and the texture was amazing before I repressed it, now it is not so amazing, so I want to hit pan again. 

Other goals:

1. No impulse buys just because there is a discount
2. Only one eye-palette purchase in 2021
3. No body lotion purchase in 2021
4. No bronzer purchase in 2021
5. Keep an ongoing wish-list
6. Use nail-polish at least once a month

USA haul continues

So here are come a few more items I picked up in the last few stop-overs in the States

Sigma brushes and nail polishes

Strengthening nail polish, hand creams and a makeup remover

Face mask

Sigma - Eye shading E55: This is exactly what I was looking for when I bought the Elf eye shadow brush, which turned out to be very different from the one I had previously from Elf. But the Sigma brush is beautiful, picks up eye shadow beautifully and deposits it on they eye perfectly.

Sigma - Blending E25: I was also on the hunt for a blending brush, as I wanted to have the most essential brushes in my makeup bag ready to go, and another set in my bathroom where I always do my makeup. And this brush was do disappointment either, blends product beautifully in the crease.

Sally Hansen Color therapy - 200 Powder room (14,7 ml): I was looking for a dupe for the Wet and Wild polish in 442A, that I decided to finish up this year and is a part of my beauty goals for 2018. This is a bit lighter than the Wet and Wild but pretty close.

Essie - Tea and crumpets (13,5 ml): I got this one first thinking it was a dupe for my Wet and Wild in 442A, but this is more pink than the Wet and Wild one, which is more of a peach nude.

Nailtiques - Formula 2 (7 ml) (12,99 $ + tax @CVS): One of the senior stewardesses on one of my flights recommended this polish for peeling nails, and said this was the only thing that worked for her nails which had the same peeling problem. And as The opi nail envy does not seem to be doing any miracles on my nails I decided to pick this one up and give it a try.

Kiko - intensive hand cream (60 ml): I thought I was running out of hand creams at home so I decided to pick this one up as it has a pleasant and a nice scent and seemed very soothing on my hands when I tried it out in store.

Lancome - Bi-Facil double action eye makeup remover (200 ml) (40 $ + tax @Sephora): I am running out of a good eye makeup remover, and as Lancome Bi-Facil has never failed me before I decided to pick it up in Sephora.

Nature Republic - Lime hand cream (30 ml) (8,90 $ + tax for 2 @Nature Republic): I ran into this cute little store in NYC where they were selling these Korean cosmetics, and body products. And did the hand creams just suck me in as there were scented with very different scents from the average hand cream.

Nature Republic - Avacado hand cream (30 ml): as there was an offer 2 for 8,9 $ this was the second one I chose.

Nature Republic - Real nature hydrogel mask with aloe vera (22 g): There were several different masks to choose from, but I decided to pick this one up as many of the cabin crew tend to burn in Boston, and as that is my next stop I decided to pick this one up, just in case.


So now less than one month after my latest "haul" I have managed to buy three more items from my quota for the year of 2018, three more nail polishes. So now I have gotten up to 15 out of 18 of the quota for 2018. But given that nail-polish is something I have to wear for work, it is not the absolute worst spending of my quota.

Holiday Haul

During my holiday in Turkey I picked up a few things, and on the way, in the duty free and in Berlin as I had a few hours in the city in between my connecting flights.

Holiday haul

Mistic perfumum in Z21 and Z20- copies of fragrances from high street brands, I do not consider myself to support the knock-off industry but as these were gifted to me and smell quite nice I use them from time to time.

Sin Kov - the best anti mosquito spray I have ever used, so I bought a back-up to use on holiday next time.

EVY technology sunscreen mousse spf 30 - this is a re-launch of Proderm, and has never failed me before, but I have actually started to think my skin is getting more sensitive, and I might need spf 50 as I managed to get red after sunbathing. 

Golden Rose maxim eyes and city style mascaras. I have bought the city style before and loved it.

Clinique mineral sunscreen fluid for face. I loved this sunscreen, it did not irritate my perioral dermatitis at all, probably as it is not a chemical sunscreen, but a mineral one. 

Kiko stick eyeshadow in 05 rosy brown - this I bought in Berlin, am still testing it out.

Flormar Flashe baked eyeshadow in 04 peachy dazzles. This brand is Turkish and I just had to pick one up, it is pink to me, and higly pigmennted. (So now I have actually broken the low buy by buying 2 eyeshadow products after finishing 5 items from my finish 10 beauty goals for 2016).

Kiko stick eyeshadow in 05 rosy brown and Flormar Flash baked eye shadow in 04 peachy dazzles

Yet another nude eye-shadow palette

I'm such a sucker for palettes, even though I never buy them, but I'm always very tempted to cave in and buy a the hottest new palette at the time. This palette is yet another one I'm seriously tempted to buy, beautiful neutral browns by Bobby Brown, a brand that I have yet to try out.

Bobbi Brown eye palette in Rich choccolate

You can see swatches here, complimentary of reallyree.com

For a few minutes I really thought about getting this palette, it would be so versatile and good for everyday use. All beautiful brown and neutral shades, then when I really thought about it - I really have all these shades in one form or another from different brands.

So here is what I have:

My neutral collection

Swatched:

 Swatched in sunlight

1. Make up store - microshadow ghetto -  beautiful brown in the crease, outer v or lightly all over lid

2. Clinique stay matte sheer pressed powder for combination oily skin, this is a bit too dark for me - but now works as eyeshadow on me - come to think of it, was this the one that broke me out? I'd better throw this one out.

3. Kiko - 122 - a beutiful light taupe that works great all over the lid

4 - 6. Maybelline - Eyestudio natural impact - 05 glamour browns - a beautiful trio with light shimmer (used to be 4 shadows - but it shattered on me and this is left - the darkest brown is missing)

7. The body shop - 13 - a lightly yellow white - a good highligher on the brow or on inner corner

8. The body shop - 39 - not a very pigmented black - appears grey

9-10. Christian dior - juste duo symbole 741 - lightly shimmering highlighter and a beautiful brown

So as you can see I really don't need this palette, and I really do hate to have too much stuff, and as eye shadows go, it almost pisses me off to have more than one shadow in the same colour, or in a very close colour to each other - so you can hardly see the difference between the two.

Thank you for reading,

Ella

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