February is over! March is here. Which is great because I’m so over winter and I’m so ready for spring.
Here’s what I bought in February: I repurchased La Roche-Posay Toleriane Hydrating Cleanser. I also bought some Kneipp on sale (they’re holiday gift sets were marked down). I bought LUSH Godiva Shampoo Bar. OMG, that stuff smells amazing. It’s a skanky jasmine. Honestly, I thought I’d use it as a bar soap because I have had rotten experiences with bar shampoos in the past. Well, this stuff was awesome. It cleaned out all the build-up without drying my hair or messing up my scalp. Plus, the smell.
Continuing with haircare, I bought a R + Co Flexible Hairspray which I’m sure is too expensive for what it is but I liked the packaging. I’m a bit disappointed with the product since the aroma isn’t like the other stuff I own. It’s like a pineapple/tangerine which sort of comes across like marijuana. I also bought a physical scrub because I didn’t have one, Valmont Revitalizing Scrub, after I had a great Valmont facial.
I only spoiled my Low-Buy by one item. Not bad.
February was a slow month of empties for me. I’m so close to emptying some things and would have if the month was just a few days longer…
SKINCARE
There wasn’t really anything too exciting here. I went through some old favorites and used up a few samples. I wasn’t really into sheet masks in February; I preferred wash-off masks.
La Roche Posay Toleriane Hydrating Gentle Cleanser – My HG cleanser.
- Repurchase? Yes, I already have.
Mamonde Petal Water Rose Toner – I only use this because it smells like cottage roses. The rest is rather basic but at least it doesn’t have alcohol.
- Repurchase? Probably. I can do better but I like the smell.
Yes to Blueberries Age Refresh Intensive Skin Repair Serum – It smells weird and is super sticky. Doesn’t play nicely with other skincare products. Was demoted to a hand cream about halfway through.
- Repurchase? No way.
Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix Night Pads Extreme – One of my favorite cheap exfoliants.
- Repurchas? Yes.
Vichy Masque Peel (deluxe sample) – This is an exfoliating wash-off mask with a soft, rose-y floral fragrance. It was gentle and made my skin feel smooth.
- Purchase? I may once I get through all the masks that I have.
Algenist Recharging Night Pressed Serum (deluxe sample) – It’s a weird product because it’s essentially a lightweight cream that you layer under another cream. Smells like toasted sugar. No pros. No cons.
- Purchase? No.
Nooni Root Energy Cleansing Water (travel size) – I don’t understand micellar products. This has a strong generic floral scent so too much for my eyes and it just smeared some sort of oily liquid all over my skin.
- Repurchase? No. It’s been discontinued.
Shiseido White Lucent Softener (travel size) – Super basic.
- Purchase? No. It’s been reformulated…which it needed.
Darphin Ideal Resourcee Smoothign Retexturing Radiance Cream (sample) – I have an unexplained love for Darphin products even though they are loaded with potentially irritating plant ingredients. Great texture and light floral scent.
- Purchase? No.
Laura Mercier Flawless Skin Infusion de Rose Nourishing Oil (sample) – Faint rose scent and lightweight oil that gives a glow. Loved it mixed in foundation too.
- Purchase? I’m considering it.
Laura Mercier Flawless Skin Infusion de Rose Nourishing Cream (sample) – Same faint rose as above. I really liked the weight and feel.
- Purchase? I’m stocked on moisturizer right now but would consider it in the future.
Shiseido Future Solution LX Eye & Lip Contour Regenerating Cream (sample) – Didn’t notice anything positive or negative from it.
- Purchase? Nope.
Bobbi Brown Hydrating Eye Cream (sample) – Not bad. Good texture for day-time (assuming you have dry skin).
- Purchase? No. I can find similiar for cheaper.
Sheet Masks:
Leaders Amino AC-Free Mask (x 2) – One of my HG sheet masks.
- Repurchase? Yes.
Too Cool For School Egg Cream Mask Hydration – I was surprised by how soft, like butter, my skin felt afterwards. Faint floral fragrance like the rest of the egg cream line.
- Purchase? Yes.
FRAGRANCE
I beat my goal of emptying a sample a week! As you can tell, I was in a rose mood. Rose Week wore off on me!
Aura Candle in Muse * – It’s a soft vanilla/tobacco with florals.
- Purchase? I like it but don’t love. That’s a “no”.
Samples I would purchase/repurchase:
Tauer Tauerville Rose Flash – Review
Samples I wouldn’t purchase:
Maison Martin Margiela REPLICA Beach Walk – Review
Viktoria Minya Hedonist Rose * – Review
Dolce & Gabbana Dolce EDP – Review
Estee Lauder Pure White Linen – Review
DS & Durga Rose Atlantic – Review
Parfums de Rosine Vive la Mariée * – Review
Haus of Gloi Tonic #4 – Limited edition. Sharp, minty lemongrass. Would make a great home fragrance.
BATH/BODY
I am so close to emptying some shower gels and lotions. If only February were just a few days longer!
Sappo Hill Oatmeal Fragrance-Free Soap (not pictured) – I always pick up a bar of this soap if I see it. It’s gentle and an old favorite. (I also love their Almond).
- Repurchase? Yes.
Thesis Body Scrub in Rose Vanilla Sorbet * – Smells like rose baked goods but since it’s so coconut-oil heavy it does make the shower a bit treacherous. Full review.
- Purchase? No, but I love the body oil in the same scent.
Shea Moisture Daily Defense Body Butter – First off, there is no way in heck this is scented with essential oils like the label claims. It smells like those musky-fruity incense sticks sold at headshops that imply “doing the grown and sexy” on the beach. Or those that are like “Butt Naked” with a lady’s backside on the label (please tell me I’m not the only person in the world that has seen these). The scent lingers FOREVER. Anyway, I sort of like the headshop-y smell and the formula is moisturizing.
- Repurchase? Nah. The scent is a bit overpowering for me. It will compete with any fragrance.
Sol de Janeiro Brazilian Bum Bum Cream (travel size) – My bum bum was still just ho-hum after I used this cream. But, it smelled like a dessert, so there was that.
- Repurchase? Nope. Maybe it was $5 and not $45!
Kneipp Bath Oil in Devil’s Claw Back Comfort (travel size) – Ya’ll I overdid the deadlifts and couldn’t move for days. I was happy to have this blood red bath oil that smells like minty toothpaste around.
- Repurchase? Maybe.
Kneipp Everything’s Gonna Be Alright Mineral Bath Salt (travel size) – It’s a soft, sweet honey and vanilla fragrance that is like a comforting hug. Turns the bath water a gross shade of yellow though. That is not comforting.
- Repurchase? Yes but probably in the winter.
Skin & Co Umbrian Truffle Hand Cream (travel size) – Smells like coconut-fig, decent formula.
- Repurchase? Probably not.
HAIR
I started all new hair stuff so you probably won’t see any full-size empties in this category for a few months.
Swiss O-Par Kasmír Treatment (sample) – Decent deep treatment with a soft amber fragrance. Bought in Hungary.
- Repurchase? Nah.
MAKEUP
Nothing exciting here. And too much fake coconut. Too much.
Im Aguacate Liquid Eyeliner in Black – I bought this in Mexico and now it’s dried up. The formula is too thick and I can feel it on my lid, like it’s heavy.
- Repurchase? No.
Urban Decay Hydra-Charged Complexion Prep Priming Spray (travel-size) – OMG, when did it become trendy to have setting sprays that smell like cheap coconut conditioner. The smell of this one is sooo strong and irritated the heck out of my eyes.
- Purchase? Nope. Never.
Too Faced Hangover 3-in-1 Replenishing Primer Setting Spray (sample) – Smells like cheap coconut conditioner and left my makeup looking like I had measles.
- Purchase? No way.
Total: 36. 12 full-size. 9 travel size/deluxe samples. 15 samples.
This sounds like a lot but most of it was samples/deluxe samples. I don’t feel like I emptied that many full-sizes (for me).
What about you? Which products did you empty in February? Did you buy anything new?
Disclaimer – If there is a /*/ next to an item, it was provided by PR/the brand. All other items were purchased by me or are samples/gifts with purchase/subscription box products.
*Sephora, Nordstrom, Beautyhabit and Amazon contain affiliate links. Thanks!
I used up a bottle of Andalou Coconut Water firming toner. It was ok. I much prefer and have repurchased many times their Blossom + Leaf toning refresher. I used up a bottle of that too. I threw out an almost full bottle of Coty Vanilla Musk because it had turned. I used up a bottle of The Ordinary Niacinamide Zinc serum which is HG for me (cured the cystic acne on my cheeks). I hope that it never gets discontinued due to all of the crazy crap going on with the company. I’m really wondering if I can make my own though. It’s just zinc and B3 in a suspension. Would have to figure out the concentrations and ratios though. Tried to reuse the Herbivore Phoenix oil, breaks me out every time I use it. I use and love their Lapis oil. I’m starting to think that I’m going to have to use the Phoenix as a very expensive body moisturizer. Using and still loving the Origins Mega Mushroom face serum, Chivas calming goat milk facial cream (has the same ingredients that the Kate Somerville goat milk cream had before they reformulated with cheaper ingredients) and the Andalou Acai + Kombucha moisturizer for when it’s too hot to wear anything else.
Thanks for the Chivas tip! I like the Kate Somerville but it is pricey. I like Andalou products but they went and reformulated a lot and now I don’t know what to buy. I hear the eye serum isn’t good now. I don’t know but it used to be my favorite.
I use the Niacinamide/Zinc when my skin is oilier (like the summer) and it’s magic despite being simple. Right now my skin is being a big jerk (mix of extremely dry AND extremely oily). I have been using the zinc on my cystic cheeks and it’s magic. I don’t know if it is good advice but despite my Low-Buy, I’m going to buy some old favorites from The Ordinary. It’s cheap and I know now what works for me the best. I’m a little concerned about their business model/future. I know if I *had* to, I could find alternatives but the stuff is available right now, so I’m going to buy the things I like since I’ll use them anyway. I guess I’d rather have them than not but I do wonder what the heck is going to happen to them.
I just want you to know that I almost did some damage at the Kneipp holiday gift set sale, but I talked myself down. I’m still goi g to buy just the body wash set from Amazon because I have an Amazon gift card and because I get all twitchy if I only have 5 backup shower gels in my closet. I definitely don’t need any bath products at the moment because it’s been too cold in my bathroom to want to take a bath plus I recently bought a huge amount of bath salts. Also, I must try that Lush shampoo bar sometime. I miss their Jasmine products in my shower (looking at you Flying Fox).
I feel like my buying was pretty good this month at a glance. I bought some decants from the NST splitmeet. I also bought a partial bottle of Anubis from a FB perfume group, but USPS misdelivered it, and I doubt I’ll ever see it. Oh well. It was a really good deal, and the seller is a lovely person who wanted to reimburse me the full amount, but we’re splitting it.
My empties:
Leaders Anti-Aging Treatment Sheet Mask
Dermal Seaweed Collagen Essence Sheet Mask
Dermal Acai Berry Collagen Essence Sheet Mask
Peter Thomas Roth Rose Stem Cell Bio-Repair Gel Mask travel size
Peter Thomas Roth Blue Marine Algae Intense Hydrating Mask travel size
Peter Thomas Roth 24K Gold Mask travel size
Peter Thomas Roth Irish Moor Mud Purifying Black Mask travel size
Eucerin Q10 Anti-Wrinkle Face Creme
Kerosene Perfumes R’oud Elements decant
Montale Aoud Damascus decant
Ormonde Jayne Orris Noir decant
Neil Morris Cafe decant
Parfums de Empire Cuir Ottoman decant
Ann Gerard Cuir de Nacre decant
Parfumerie Generale L’Oiseau de Nuit sample
Serge Lutens Iris Silver Mist sample
Root Candles Oakmoss Votive
DW Home Warm Tobacco Pipe candle
Wavertree & London Sandalwood and Patchouli Luxury Soap
The Body Shop Pink Grapefruit Shower Gel
Matrix Oil Wonders Micro-Oil Shampoo
The best thing was finally being done with the 25oz Body Shop shower gel. My coworker accidentally bought it when she thought she was ordering her usual Satsuma. So she gave it to me, and even though it took me 8 months to use it all up, I kept using it. Luckily the scent was inoffensive, but I was so ready to move on.
It was the month to use a lot of masks because I’ve had such dry skin. Perfume wise, the only thing I may purchase is Cuir Ottoman. I still have a bunch of OJ Orris Noir samples that I’m glad about.
I absolutely do not need any more shower gels or soaps. I have an embarrassing amount right now. BUT, I couldn’t resist the gift set of mini oils that was 50% off, making them about a $1 a piece. My bathroom is also obscenely cold right now but I’ve started working out hard again and my body hurts most of the time so I make myself bathe. Anyway, I really think you’d like the LUSH shampoo bar, even as a soap. It smells like Flying Fox (RIP).
So many empties! I was going to say you must have been on a masking rampage, lol. That’s impressive. My skin was dry too and I found myself going for those hydrating wash-off masks too.
ALSO, I was just thinking about Kerosene perfumes recently and how good I thought they were. He had a lot of potential and then BAM, I never tried anything else from the line for no good reason. It’s so easy to get distracted by so many new launches and brands.
That DW candle is the only thing that will make me go into Home Goods. It’s one of my favorite home scents ever.
I really don’t need any shower gel that is in a bottle bigger than like 10 oz. I get bored so easily! I know a lot of people don’t care and stick to what works for their skin. Shower/bath stuff is the one thing I feel totally OK flirting with and not being loyal to (unlike face stuff or hair stuff). I just love having new stuff in that department. Currently, I have 2 shower gels in my shower right now that I’m so sick of despite loving them (like LUSH Rose Jam).I’m sooo ready to move on to something else.
Yeah, there’s nothing better after a hard workout than a soak in the tub. (Hint to self) Next time I place a lush order I’ll try that shampoo bar. I actually did end up ordering from Kneipp because Amazon raised the price of the gift set when I was ready to buy it. I did the 5 for $10 minis, which is an amazing deal. Got a hand cream, pack of bath salts, and three shower gels. It was an even cheaper way to get 3 small shower gels, and I got to sub the lavender for one I was more interested in, Passionfruit & Grapefruit. So it all worked out. And their shipping is only $3!
Heh my masking seems more extreme because I ran out of my PTR masks at the same time. I always use one of his masks Monday morning and another on Friday and then often a sheet mask on Saturday.
I know, I love the tobacco candle. I just keep rebuying it.
We share the same philosophy on shower gel. I love trying new ones and having a variety of scents. I’m sure this is due to being perfume people.
I’m trying to get back into the routine! And I overdid it after being lazy for a month.
I hope you like the shampoo bar. I am so into Kneipp. They make some of my favorite bath/body products. There’s a store in NJ that I go to but I usually just order online. That Passionfruit smells delicious! If you like fruity stuff, there’s really nothing better when it comes to fruity shower gels. They always manage to smell real. Like I love that Mint/Lime/Mojito one because it’s not just cool/minty. It smells so real. That’s how their fruity ones are too. I love all the classic ones too like Lavender. Oh, I tried their foot cream for the first time. It really does smell like ginger and cardamom, warms slightly. It’s great.
I haven’t been masking that much with sheet masks (too cold!). That’s why I’ve been using more of the wash-offs.
I noticed that the brand is on Amazon so now I can avoid Home Goods (where I go and buy 5 things I don’t need just for one discount candle).
I’m glad you can recommend the Passionfruit. I do love a well done fruity scent, especially in the shower. I passed on the Lavendar because I already have that bath oil and wanted to try a new-to-me scent.
Ok, I have a ridiculous reason I don’t use foot cream. Like 6 years ago, I went to step in the shower (porcelain tub) after having used foot cream the night before. I slipped and couldn’t grab on to anything and ended up banging my head on the tub and got a concussion! What an embarrassing reason to have to call in sick to work that day.
Hehe yes Home Goods/Marshall’s/TJ Maxx is good for that. At least lately when I go I’ve been finding on each visit a plain black t shirt that fits me well, both short and long sleeved. So candles, hand soap, and dark clothing it is.
Oh, no! That is terrible! And no lie, it’s one of my fears. I’m so sorry that happened to you. I have an embarrassing story too. When we moved here, I slid as soon as I got into the tub. It’s an old antique one (no handles and I didn’t have a mat down). I ended up busting my entire face and taking down the shower curtain. Since I was slippery and had nothing, I was unable to stop my fall at all. I managed to give myself a black eye, busted lip, lump on the head, nose bleed. The funny part was that this place is rather small and my husband was working from home and was on a video conference call at that exact same time. They heard my screams and rattling/fall. I was like why can’t you just let me be clumsy in peace? Apparently, I was (maybe still am) a long-running joke of *scream loudly in Southern “HALP HALP*”. Anyway, my face healed and I locked myself inside in embarrassment for a week. The other good news is that my top lip could look good with some lip injections, lol. I’m so grateful I wasn’t badly hurt or broke anything, but geez, my face was bruised and swollen for like 2 weeks.
I have to stay away from those because I always find a deal. These days I’m trying so hard to live by what’s on my list and stick to it. It’s hard when you go into one of those stores and they have stuff you want that you didn’t even know you wanted!
Oh my, that story! It sounds completely awful but what an amazing story given that your husband was on video conference call when it happened. It sounds like our falls were similar except you fell front facing and I hit the back of my head. I was by myself at home, and my boyfriend was either on his way to work or at work and unreachable at the moment. I was so traumatized and dizzy, I started hyperventilating bordering on a panic attack. I called my mom, who was in a different city, and she talked to me for a while until we were sure I was ok. Even more annoying is that I worked from home at the time, and that was my one day that month to go into the office. Normally, I wouldn’t even have been showering that early! I hope nothing terrible and crazy like that happens to either of us again!
Woow Lovely Post really. very helpful. Thanks for so much.