Empties September - December 2015

I did not finish a lot of products during this time, one of the reasons might be that I have developed a skin condition called perioral dermatitis, which describes itself with a rash around the mouth (and can appear around eyes also). Thus I have been very hesitant to use new facial products, as it started in the beginning of September, when I started using a new facial wash, a new moisturizer and a toner I had not used in over 2 months. It is really hard to cover up, as makeup can make it worse. I have now been on a 2 month antibiotic tablet course, which has made it disappear. But it might come again, so I need to be super careful of what I use on my skin, and have become very skeptical regarding different products, I have not dared to use the moisturizer or the facial wash I had just started when the PD (perioral dermatitis) appeared. So I might do a another post soon on products that I am afraid to use, as they might have been the PD trigger, either due to ingredients or the fact the products I have are turning old.

But here are my empties for Septemer - December 2015:

Empties September-December 2015

John Freida full repair full body conditioner - a good and softening conditioner, but nothing spectacular. Over priced, might buy again when on discount

Lumene bright touch refreshing cleansing foam - super nice facial foam wash

Golden Rose mega volume and length city style mascara - I think this mascara has tiny black fibers in it, it did not bother my eyes, and was super nice and the price in Turkey was great (wish I had bought this type again)

Nivea pure and natural regenerating night care - very nice night cream, my first night cream in fact. Now the bottle comes in plastic which makes me not want to buy it, as it is cheap looking.

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!

Empties July - August 2015

So here are my empties for July and August 2015 - a lot of them are holiday related as I was on a long holiday this summer,

Lavera sunscreen sensitive kids

Sunscreens, mosquito repellent, creams, nail polish and facial wash

Duru perfume shower gel in exotic bamboo

Verdicts:
Lavera sunscreen: will never buy again, it was awful, had to scrubb it off my skin as it made a white layer on top of my skin
Nivea sunscreen spf 30 pocket size: perfect to carry around in your purse when you need to reapply sunscreen on the go - and not too heavy to carry around either.
Off aqua anti mosquito spray: awful, I sprayed it all over my legs and arms and still was bitten many times over by mosquitos - will never buy again
Wet and Wild base coat: a very old one, managed to use a lot of it even though it was thick - perfect as a base coat for toes.
Proderm sunscreen spf 30: a very good moose sunscree (and paraben free)
Body farm pommengranate 24 hour cream: very good - bought a different cream from same company now in Greece.
Summertime anti mosquito spray: not a good one - sprayed all over, still got bitten.
Lumene BB serum
Korres yougurt face mask: an ok facial mask - love the size that it's so small.
Yes to cucumbers after sun shimmering serum; beautiful after sun watery after sun treatment, not too shimmery either.
Clinique facial wash: love it, very gentle and perfect travel size.
Sin Kov anti mosquito spray: the BEST anti mosquito spray I have ever tried, just a few sprits and you get no bites at all - will 100% buy again, when in Turkey (where I bought it)
Duru perfume exotic bamboo shower gel: this was so cheap in the supermarket in Turkey, came in very handy as a hand soap and a shower gel during my travels, and not too strong of a scent either.

Untill next time,
Elin

Greece haul - what made it home

So these are the items I bought in Greece and made it home to Iceland, well except for the body shop serum, that was bought at Arlanda airport Sweden.

Greece beauty haul

Essence stay all day concealer 16 h long lasting in 10 natural beige: paraben free
Korres white tea cleansing foam: had to buy something from Korres while in Greece - and the other cleansing foam I have will soon be finished.
The body shop tea tree oil: I heard that this would be a good thing to put on mosquito bites, as it would calm the skin and disinfect the area - gave it a go, but not sure it worked as I was using so many creams for mosquito bites - and I tend to get really bad ones, and have to take allergy tablets for the worst ones.
The body shop Vitamin C skin boost: I bought this one as I had forgotten I had the Lumene serum on stand-by.
H&M colour essence eye cream eyeshadow in dauphine truffle: not sure if I will keep it or gift it.
Body farm olive oil 24 hour moisturizing cream for all skin types; loved the pommengranate cream from the same company so I got an olive oil cream this time.
Korres eyeshadow in 47 olive green - a beautiful golden green colour - LOVE it
Nails Inc vvb in bamboo white: splurged this one on myself - love the colour.
Essence all about matt fixing compact powder: bought this one on a recomendation from Miss budget Beauty

Thank you for dropping by,

Turkey Haul - what made it home

Bioderma; I picked up the legendary Bioderma micellar water - and I'm testing it out as we speak - but truth be told I can not spot the difference between this and the Garnier micellar water.
Nivea sun bronze and protect sunscreen spf 30: picked this up in Turkey as I imagined it would be a lot cheaper in Turkey compared to Greece - which turned out to be the case as i paid about 1200 ISK for it in Migros supermarket in Marmaris, compared to INKA supermarket in Greece where it was about 2100 ISK. Like it a lot, only downside: it contains parabens.
Golden rose maxim eyes mascara
Favorite sun - after sun aloe vera gel: the cheapest I could find in Side and was 15 turkish liras. It works fine
Golden rose miracle lash mascara
Elidor shampoo and conditiones (this bottle represents both) - pretty good for the price
Sephora glass file
Sephora pink tweezers

Helsinki airport haul

So these are the products I bought at the Helsinki airport in June:

Lumene haul from Helsinki

Lumene blueberry wild volume mascara in rich black
Lumene bright now visible repair tone corrector serum
Lumene cloudberry lenght serum mascara in 01 rich black

Have not tried any of them

Sorry for the delay

Empties April - June 2015

So here are the items I have used up in these last few months and my thoughts on them


Nivea gentle eye makeup remover: will not buy again as it works reallt poorly, but the bottle is small and convenient to travel with, or put in your gym bag.

Crabtree & Evelyn jojoba bath and shower gel: pff this smells like a hotel shower gel, glad it is finished and the smell did not linger (I hope).

The body shop lemon scrub: this small jar came with a set of lemon stuff from The body shop and is this the first thing I use. Liked it very mutch, but will buy one in a squeze tube next as it is easier to use.

Olivelia body butter from Macrovita with olive oil and white tea scent: really nice, and the scent really lingers. Might buy again when in Greece.

Maybelline Falsies volum' express flared mascara: loved it, will buy again.

Garnier eye-makeup remover 2 in 1: it was ok, but the micelar water from Gaenier is so mutch better.

Empties April  - June 20155