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!

July - September haul 2024

As per usual some items keep rolling into my possession, let's not even talk about the stuff you see and grab whilst you are on holiday, or the items you purchase for your upcoming trip. 

Mix of Sephora, Target, Amazon and Denmark purchases

Wrinkles schminkles giftbag

Haul mostly from Helsinki and Greece

Biossance - Squalane + marine algae eye cream (3 ml) and Squalane + omega repair cream (15 ml): This I decided to use some of my Sephora points on, moistly as I forgot my moisturizer on a work trip to the US, and also as I was going on holiday and this was a perfect travel size moisturizer for the trip, and I had previously gotten a sample of the cream, and I really did like it.

Miild - Skin glow tinted beauty balm in 02 Soft coral (7.9 ml): This was a recent launch from Miild, and I simply could not resist. The hardest thing was actually to choose the color as all of their options were super cute.

Numbuzin - 2 Cica repair cream (60 ml): This I ordered on Amazon, as it is supposed to be similar to Dr. Jart ceramidin skin barrier cream.  

Miild - Cleansing cream, mild and light for dry and sensitive skin (100 ml): I decided to pick this up on a short holiday in Copenhagen. As this is a brand I am very interested in.

Derma - 30 Sun lotion high spf (150 ml): I picked this up in Fotex in Copenhagen, I was running low on my spf 30 and this grabbed my attention with the "bedst i test" label and being fragrance free.

Herbal Essences - Rose hips shampoo (100 ml): This I picked up in Target specially for holiday 

Herbal Essences - Rose hips conditioner (100 ml): The same for this as the shampoo, perfect size for travelling 

GIVE Beauty - Eye see in sparkle multidimensional eye pigment in the color Dazzle (5.5 g): So much for not falling for a discount! I had been keeping an eye on this product ever since I saw it featured in one of Erin Nicole's videos and had been wondering if I should pull the trigger on it or not. Then when I saw it was on offer, I did indeed pull the trigger.  

CeraVe - Hydrating facial cleanser for normal to dry skin (87 ml): This I also picked up in Target, as I managed to forget my mini Drunk Elephant deluxe sample size at the pool. So I needed a new facial cleanser to take with me to the gym or to the pool. 

Farmacy - Green clean makeup meltaway cleansing balm (20 ml): This I got as a gift with purchase with the Give eye sparkle. I have wanted to try this makeup cleanser, so now is the perfect time to try a mini one. 

Dior - Diorshow maximizer 4D (10 ml): I had an older version of this product (then called 3D) but I had to change it out as I got an eye infection and had to take out the mascara and the Dior 3D maximizer I was using at the time. I have yet not tried this one out, but if it is any good as the 3D I am sure it will be amazing.

Wrinkles Scminkles giftbag - Wrinkles schminkles morning after glow serum (60 ml), Forehead wrinkle patches (2 patches), Neck wrinkle patch, Chest wrinkle patch, mouth & lip wrinkle patches (2 patches), Eye wrinkle patches (6 patches), Self dissolving microneedle patches (4 patches), Silicone patch cleanser (6 x 1.5 ml), 2 scrunchies and a spa headband: This I won in a online Facebook giveaway, I have been curious about this brand for some time, now I can try these multi use patches.

Lumene - Nordic berry length & volume - mascara with cranberry and lash lengthening complex in brown (8 ml): I easily broke my "no buy" on mascaras as I came across the Lumene brand at Helsinki airport. I used to love their blueberry mascara, but as that type did not come in a brown color, so I decided to pick this one up. And I found out the price difference between this product in the supermarket in Helsinki vs. the HEL airport is 2 Euro cheaper at the airport.

Biafin - Skin emulsion (100 ml): Finally I ran into the OG Biafin cream, it is supposed to be good for sensitive skin, minor burns and rashes. 

Olivolio - Deep hydration foot care cream (150 ml): I have bought this before for my mom, and she absolutely loves it, so as I was recommended to use a foot cream, it made perfect sense to pick this up whilst on holiday in Greece.

Donkey milk treasures - Lip balm organic olive oil & beeswax natural spf 15+ (3.2 g): I seem to have managed to loose my spf lip balm, so I grabbed this one in the supermarket in Greece. The packaging is a little bit rinky dink, but the product inside is ok. 

Pharmacy skincare - L300 Normal to combination skin face cream light sensitive (60 ml): The skincare aisle in the supermarket in Helsinki was amazing, so it became the ultimate temptation to buy some skincare there, I was originally going to buy a cream from a Finnish brand that my friend uses, but that turned out to contain parabens, so I opted for this Norwegian brand instead.

Lumene - CC all over concealer in 0.5 light (8.5 ml): This concealer had a massive stand in the supermarket in Helskinki. Did I need a concealer? Definitely not, but somehow it ended in my basket anyway! 

Skinfix - Triple lipid-peptide cream (2 ml): This I got as a sample from Sephora by the entrance when I went in there one day. 

Pff.. now it is seriously time to pull the breaks on this shopping addiction.

Empties January - April 2019

So here is a small summary of the items I have used up in the first four months of the year + one declutter.

Empties + declutter Jan-April 2019

The body shop - Aloe calming toner (250 ml): an amazing toner, that did not irritate my skin, or my perioral dermatitis in the slightest. Love love love.

Pantene Pro-V - Radiant color shine shampoo (375 ml): an average shampoo, at a good price for the size of the bottle, have nothing to complain about it. But I am no shampoo snob, so I have no idea what is a good or a bad shampoo.

Jean Paul Gaultier - Scandal eau de parfum (tester): A nice sample of the Scandal perfume, not in love enough though to purchase. To strong for every day use in my opinion, plus I have too many perfumes

Herbal essences - Hydralicious reconditioning conditioner for dry/damaged hair (300 ml): my favorite conditioner, makes my hair so soft and nice, too bad it has been discontinued, but I do hope I find another shampoo and conditioner in their range I will love as much as this one.

The body shop - Vitamin E overnight serum-in-oil (28 ml): Another love from The body shop, really love this serum-in-oil, as it seems to calm my perioral dermatitis, will 100% buy again.

L'Occitane en provence - Verveine body lotion (250 ml): A light average body lotion, that was a part of my beauty goals for 2019. I will not go out of my way to repurchase.

Rimmel - Scandaleyes waterproof kohl kajal in 005 nude (1,2 g): This item is the one I decided to declutter from my collection as it basically fell apart on me, as the kohl itself fell out of the pencil, and as it was very dried out and loose in the pencil, I decided to declutter it. In theory I would like to get a nude eye-pencil, but I tend not to use one on a daily basis, plus I have found out that the pencils that come in a wood pencil, tend to last longer, over the ones that are packed in plastic. Or they tend to keep their moisture for a longer time.

Inglot - Bright amber - solid perfume (2,3 g): Another item I used up that was a part of  my beauty goals for this year. I did like the smell, but am not so into solid perfumes.

Dr. Hauschka - regenerating day cream - sample (1,5 ml): A tester I got of this very nice day cream, a light and easily absorbed texture. And would I in deed consider buying it in full size, well when I have made some dent in my stash of day-creams.

Have you finished anything up recently?