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Hey y'all!
My bag was overflowing with so many good things & some products I wanted to warn y'all about, too.
There are so many favorites in this post & so many samples from my Sephora Play! box that actually led me to purchasing the full size that I'm using now.
Scroll on down to check out what I've used up in the past few months. . .
Before I tell you how much the full size of this costs, I want to tell you how much I really loved this product. I mean, it made a measurable difference in my skin just using a little bit each day. This small sample last me almost a month!
It does cost over $100 and I have yet to repurchase it, but I do know that it works & I really, really want to purchase it. I have two Sephora gift cards that I'm saving up to pick it up!
I'm a big fan of collagen, I drink collagen peptides in my coffee each morning and I know that they work wonders on my skin, hair, and nails. But this liquid collagen directly applied to my skin each night made my skin so clear, bright, and honestly as close to perfect as it's ever been.
I wish I could tell you that this wasn't worth $115 but I can't-it's SO good, y'all!
This water cream was so, so nice to use in the warmer months. It felt so hydrating and refreshing on my skin. I am really considering picking this up again for the Summer because of how nice it felt on my skin. It says coconut, but don't be afraid if you don't like the coconut scent because it doesn't smell like that at all to me! Just very clean & refreshing.
This is a similar moisturizer to the water cream by First Aid Beauty, but this one has a delicate floral scent. I wasn't a huge fan of the scent, but the product was really nice.
If you're choosing between the two the FAB one is a little more cost-effective, but the Hydra Zen does have benefits of helping with environmental skin stressors.
I love ALL of the Water Bank line & this serum was no different.
If you want something to add extra hydration and plumping to your skin, then this serum really helps out with that.
This is the sample that started my love affair with this eye cream!
I had never tried this cult-favorite cream, but after using just this small sample I picked up the full size from Nordstrom and use it each morning religiously.
It really does brighten my under eye circles & keeps my under eye area hydrated. I can't tell you how much I like this product and recommend it. I would wait until they're doing a Clinique gift with purchase though, because they offer those all the time!
This is a cream for dry skin and I actually really liked it.
The scent is really pleasant and it felt really good on my skin, but the price tag for the amount that you get is kind of hard to swallow.
If I really needed a pick-me-up for my skin I would go straight to this one though!
This was such a nice cleanser & the scent of it brings me back to a trip Chris & I took to Nashville a while back because that's the first time I ever used it.
It really made my skin feel clean without stripping it, but if you know me then you know I don't like to spend a lot on cleansers since you just wash them away and they don't sit on your skin for long.
I typically like skincare by this brand & not to say this was a bad eye cream, I just didn't feel like it gave me the results I was really searching for.
I do think that it kept my eye area very hydrated, so if that's all your looking for then this could definitely fit the bill & the price is pretty nice as well, it's also available at Target, Wal-Mart, Ulta, etc.
Acure Day Cream
This cream did feel pretty good on my skin, but it didn't feel like it sank in as well as some of the gels that I had used up in this same empties post.
I think if you had combo skin or it just wasn't as dry as mine has been since having Charlie, this would probably be a good option for you that can be found at Target.
Neutrogena Deep Clean Cream Cleanser
This wasn't my favorite cleanser that I tried during this Empties roundup. It's a cream cleanser & while I do love a cleansing balm or oil, I don't love a cleansing cream. Either give me a balm, oil, or gel but I just didn't love the texture. It also didn't seem to spread well on my skin and left almost a residue. I wouldn't purchase or recommend.
Dermalogica Rapid Reveal Peel
Seeing this empty reminds me that I need to pull this out and make a habit of applying this peel again for a few nights to give my skin a boost!
It's made to brighten and boost your skin and help reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, dark spots, etc. I feel like these chemical peel type of treatments do a good job if you're consistent with them & now that Summer is coming and I really want my skin to shine I want to get back into doing these.
This primer was cheap, that was the biggest draw for me to test it out.
But when I take the time to put on a primer, I want it to do something positive for my face and this just didn't do anything. It didn't mess with my makeup, but it didn't help it go on much more smoothly and it didn't really help it last any longer...so don't waste your money, even if it is cheap!
Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Invisible Cover Foundation in R230
This is another sample from my Sephora Play! box that I really, really enjoyed.
It was really great for all the times when I needed a good foundation to take on trips where we would be photographed, as it doesn't have a lot of flashback.
It felt really smooth and natural on my skin, I actually will definitely buy this up when I go through some of my current foundations.
Bobbi Brown Extra Illuminating Moisture Balm
First of all, this doesn't really matter but I LOVED how this product smells. So clean and fresh, it just has a good scent that I really like.
Also, this is the product that introduced me to using a glowy lotion-type product alone or under makeup for a bonus glow.
I could wear this alone on a no-makeup day and it would give me such a nice subtle and healthy glow or under my makeup to make it look even more effortless.
Make Up Forever Ultra HD Perfector in 06
This is another awesome foundation from Make Up Forever. It's got a little SPF (25) and goes on so smoothly.
It wears beautifully and I love how long it lasts on my face. I will consider this one for my next foundation purchase as well!
Too Faced Hangover RX Replenishing Face Primer
I really, really like this primer!
It has a soft coconut water scent which is really refreshing. It smooths onto your skin really easily and makes you feel hydrated and soothed.
I loved how my skin felt like it got a moisture boost which leads to a pretty, natural glow under makeup. I feel like the added moisture helps my face makeup last longer too because my skin doesn't get dried out.
This used to be my holy grail concealer-I used it over and over again (& I actually still have one in my makeup bag that I'm trying to go through). I do think it's pretty good, but I found an even better concealer for either around the same price or a little cheaper that I'm planning on sharing soon.
If you need one from Target in a pinch, this one is really good-get the neutralizer shade!
But there are better ones out there, if you hunt.
I love the EOS lip balm so much that I keep them in my bathroom vanity as well as by my seat in the living room. They're just so soothing for your lips!
This scent was really nice and I loved the purple sphere. They have so many good scents to choose from.
Burt's Bees Pomegranate Lip Balm
This is another one of my all-time favorite balms, because it's so moisturizing and it smells amazing.
Burt's Bees is a more natural company, so that makes me feel better about what I'm putting on my lips too. My husband even likes their lip balms!
Chicken Poop Lip Junk
If you need a good gag gift, look no further than Chicken Poop Lip Junk!
In all seriousness, this lip balm is really good and all natural ingredients are used when making it.
It's got avocado oil, beeswax, jojoba oil, lavender essential oil, sweet orange oil, and Vitamin E and that's all. It's really nice feeling on your lips too and doesn't make them feel stripped.
I have a confession to make, I've never tried the actual Beauty Blender!
I'm a slave to trying to save a few bucks by purchasing knock offs like these from Target.
This was pretty good at makeup application, but I did feel like it needed to be replaced pretty quickly, both because it started staying pretty dirty and not applying makeup as well as it did in the beginning and then it started developing spots like it wasn't drying out well between uses.
I have one more of these that I'm using and then I'm going to swap to a different brand to try that!
Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara
I LOVED this mascara and was so sad to see it go, but it finally just dried out past where it looked good anymore.
It made my lashes fluffy and full and I just really enjoyed it. I do love the L'Oreal Lash Paradise as a drugstore alternative, and I may stick with that. But if I could get this one on sale I would probably pick it up again sometime.
Maybelline Brow Precise Micro Pencil
This brow pencil is pretty on par with the Billion Dollar Brow pencil below, it's very nice and thin with a good spoolie on the end which is nice.
This color is a little too red/brown for me, so I would need to search for another color shade match if I repurchased. I would also like it to not be quite as thin, but it is precise and micro just like the name says.
I used to really love this brow pencil & if you love a thin pointed pencil then this is for you.
I haven't found the perfect brow pencil yet, so I'm still on the hunt...this one is nice though.
I would need a slightly lighter color, but I do love the spoolie on the end-that's a nice touch.
I have tried several of these Tony Moly sheet masks and these are all so good and pretty affordable!
The I'm Orange is supposed to be refreshing and hydrating and I found it to be just that, they're great for applying before you put on makeup too.
Definitely recommend picking up any mask from this brand!
I love a good sheet mask & I love it even more when they're free!
If you watch your B&BW coupons, then you know that sometimes you can score these masks for free and they're really good!
I wore this one during a the day of a conference in between sessions and it was so, so good.
It's hydrating and really perks your skin up in the best way.
I picked this mask up on a whim because it was so deeply discounted at Target & I really liked it.
It was a gel mask, not your average sheet mask. It fit my face really well and I don't know if it actually brightened my face but it did offer a lot of hydration which made it feel really nice.
This body wash was just okay. I wasn't a huge fan of the scent, it's almost a coconut-y yet musky scent that I just didn't really like.
It is very affordable, so if you liked the scent it could be a winner!
As a new mom, I don't have a ton of time to smooth lotion all over my skin after a bath. It's just a fact of life.
So using this in-shower moisturizer has reallllly helped speed up my routine because I can just do it still in the shower. The scent is really nice and I love how soft and hydrated it leaves my dry skin feeling. I don't always keep this in my shower, but every now & again when I want to treat myself I do.
If I had to choose between in-shower body lotions, I would love to be able to choose the Nivea one.
I feel like it does a better job keeping my skin moisturized and the scent is incredible, but it's so thick and that makes it so hard to get out of the bottle once it gets down to about a third left, which means a lot gets wasted or either you spend a lot of time digging it out.
If they could figure out a better formula or packaging I'd be all in here.
Bath & Body Works Georgia Peach Sweet Tea Body Lotion
I loved this whole Southern line from B&BW!
This was the lotion that lived by my seat in the living room and I used it whenever I needed a little extra hydration.
The scent was really sweet and peachy.
I honestly don't love B&BW body lotions because I don't find that their hydration lasts very long & I think their scents linger and tend to give me a headache.
I won't buy anymore of these, but I will use up the ones I have.
I have a ton of these little anti-bacterial gels in my cabinet and especially when Charlie was first born, I kept them everywhere!
I still keep one in his diaper bag for after on-the-go diaper changes and one by my seat in the living room, just in case I need a quick hand cleanse.
This scent is okay, I do find a lot of the B&BW gels to be really strong with an alcohol scent, this one was also strongly coconut. But not too bad.
Harvey Prince Hello Rollerball
I have the hardest time using up rollerball perfumes!
This one has been in my stash forever and I finally committed myself to using it up.
It's a great musky, almost masculine scent that I loved using for the Fall & Winter months.
It has pretty good staying power as well which I find rare for rollerballs sometimes.
This size is currently available on Amazon & it makes the best purse or travel perfume size.
This is another strongly alcohol scented B&BW hand sanitizer, but it also has a fresh apple scent. I do love the little dog on this label, though!
This was a very soothing mask that is also said to brighten and restore suppleness.
I really did like this mask, it felt really nice & cool on my skin and didn't have a strong scent.
I have found that the older I get, these are the kind of masks that I need-something that just hydrates and calms my skin so I would definitely pick this up again.
I did see this recently at my local TJ Maxx, so maybe check there if you want to save a few bucks!
All of these came in my Sephora Play! box, and I love being able to try out these higher end brands to see if they live up to the hype.
This is another mask made to brighten and smooth your skin.
I wasn't a fan of the texture of this product or the scent.
It didn't do anything crazy for my skin, so I couldn't recommend purchasing, but it wasn't bad either.
This also came in a Sephora Play! box and I was surprised at how much I actually liked this, considering when I first got it I was bummed it wasn't a GG mask.
You apply it to your dry face by squeezing some into your hands and mixing it with water there and then applying to your face. Mine didn't exactly foam, but I did feel like it left my face very clean.
It's a little pricey for a cleanser though & I am in the camp of spending more money on eye creams, serums, etc. that linger on your face instead of something you're just washing away.
I love a good micellar water for days when I don't wear any or much makeup, it's awesome for just taking off the dirt and oil of the day. I wouldn't use it as my only cleanse, but it's also great for following up a face wash, just to make sure all the makeup is gone.
I am trying to finish up another brands micellar water, but when that is done I'm going back to the Simple brand one!
Ponds Cold Cream Cleanser
Cleansing balms are so hyped up right now & when I got the opportunity to try out an Ole Henrickson one, I wanted to buy this one from Ponds to compare the two.
This one works just as well as the high end one (I do wish it wasn't in a pot because it gets underneath my fingernails when I scoop it out which grosses me out) and I really like it for makeup removal.
I will probably repurchase this in the future when I work my way through some of the cleansing oils, etc that I have in my stash.
I picked up this spray deodorant on sale at Target & fell in love, I haven't went back to another type of deodorant since trying out the spray variety.
The smell is great and it dries quickly. Definitely recommend!
This lived in my shower until I used it up & it was an awesome, quick facial to add to my routine.
It's made with really quality, clean ingredients and is pretty gentle so even with daily use it doesn't irritate.
This hair spray really, really needed to go, y'all!
My husband sort of inherited it from me because I just didn't love it as much as some of my other hairsprays.
It was a really good basic hairspray and my husband actually really liked it.
This has been my go-to shampoo for the past few years, whenever I don't have one that has been sent to me or just a new one that I want to test out, I go back to this one.
I love the scent and I feel like it does get my hair pretty clean too.
It's a good stand by.
This is said to be a gentle clarifying shampoo...but I couldn't stand this one, y'all!
It built up on my hair so much, it was so thin so I felt like I had to use so much to be able to actually get it clean.
It does smell incredible just like all the Kristin Ess products, but I can't recommend that y'all purchase this because it was just not good at all!
DryBar Detox Dry Shampoo
If there is one thing that you purchase from this Empties blog post, make it this dry shampoo!
It's honestly the best one I have ever tried, and I have tried many, many of them.
It actually makes my hair feel clean, it gives it nice volume, and I love the scent of it as well.
I'm currently using the brunette version of this one and it's not my favorite, so I'm going to go and purchase another one of these ASAP!
Dove Regenerative Nourishment Conditioner
This is another good stand-by hair product.
I used up the shampoo faster than I went through this trail conditioner, so I just finished it up in my shower at home.
It provides good hydration without overwhelming it and weighing it down, plus the scent is really nice.
Y'all-do not buy these wipes!
My sister tried them out on the advice of our eye doctor, he told her that he recommended using micellar water for removing eye makeup so she wanted to try the micellar wipes.
But these honestly burned my skin a little, I did manage to use the entire container but I didn't like it.
Also the scent was really gross and I felt like the wipes were almost rough, or maybe just not saturated with enough product.
Either way, these are a no from me. Just buy a micellar water and cotton pads.
These are my old stand-by wipes and honestly, I still haven't found anything that holds a candle to them. I will continue to always buy these when I don't have any others on hand because they're just that good. They aren't too expensive, they're just wet enough, and they do a good job removing makeup. I wouldn't use them as my only form of cleansing my face, but they are a great second cleanse!
These are the Target dupes of the Neutrogena Night Calm wipes and I've never tried those, but I wasn't a huge fan of these wipes.
I was given these in a little care package after having Charlie and I thought it was genius to give a new mom makeup wipes-definitely keeping that on my to-do list for expecting Mama friends!
The scent was so nice, it was almost a baby scent, kind of lavender and clean. But the wipes themselves didn't really do much for me and they dried out quickly.
I would like to try the Neutrogena brand of these though.
I didn't save any foil packets this time around, I just didn't feel strongly one way or another about any I tried out...but I did save this one because it was another facial towelette option that I wanted to discuss with y'all!
This comes as a dry cloth & you wet it. Then you massage it in your hands to get a lather & use it to cleanse your face. Then you're supposed to reuse the cloth for the final rinse.
I did use it to wash my face, but wasn't a fan of using it to rinse my face so I just rinsed with water after tossing the cloth.
The pro is that it starts as a dry cloth, so you don't have to worry about them drying out. The con is that it does get really soapy which isn't something I'm crazy about-that's why I like my other facial wipes because they aren't soapy like a cleanser.
This is one I will definitely test out again and have to think about. If you have tried these or similar ones, let me know your thoughts!
We have gone through SO much soap since Charlie has been born...so much hand washing is happening over here!
I typically don't go for the exfoliating soap, but when I shopped for Fall scents that's about all they had left at my B&BW store so I grabbed a few.
This scent is one of my favorites for Fall, it's so fresh and clean with a light apple scent and maybe a little bit of a musky-manly scent in the background.
Bath & Body Works Crisp Morning Air Gentle Foaming Hand Soap
This is my all-time favorite Fall scent!
It's so fresh and clean; a mix of pine, juniper, and pear...it's so refreshing and reminds me of the first really cool and nice Fall day when the repressive heat of the Summer is finally gone.
I will always repurchase this scent and honestly would use it year 'round!
Bath & Body Works Crisp Morning Air Gentle Exfoliating Hand Soap
This is just the exact same hand soap I love above, just in the exfoliating form.
I would've just bought two of the foaming ones, but they didn't have them in my store so I got the next best thing!
As much as I love the Fall soaps from B&BW, I also really, really like the Winter scents too (not necessarily the Christmas ones-but the late Fall/early Winter ones!)
Frozen Lake in particular is so, so yummy. It's cypress, eucalyptus, and juniper berry-basically a really attractively smelling lumberjack is what I get from that.
It's a scent that really encourages you to wash your hands.
I wish I had known that this existed in a wallflower because I would've bought that too!
As much as I loved the Frozen Lake soap, this one was just meh.
I wanted to like this scent from B&BW because I bought both the soap and the candle.
I love a good chai latte but this is just too sweetly scented to really be the spicy chai that I love.
If you like a sweet soap, then try this one. If you like a clean, fresh soap don't buy this one.
I bought a lot of these soaps online simply because after having Charlie, it was a lot of work to get him out to the mall to pick up soaps so I tried a lot of them first time at home and didn't have the energy to return ones I didn't love.
But while the label of this one is beautiful, it's another one that was just slightly too sweet for me.
I did love the smokey part in it that made it almost smell like marshmallow fireside, but could've used a little less sweetness.
This is a yummy apple-scented take on the holiday scents that B&BW put out during the winter months. I loved the pretty red packaging and the scent with the apples and spices were SO good!
Leaves is a cult-classic Fall scent for a reason, it's a bright & bold blend of apple and spice and it's just quintessential Fall.
I liked how this one wasn't too overpowering and it made me feel like Fall was really here when I plugged it in.
I will always want one of these candles & wallflowers on hand for the beginning of Fall!
This was a good Fall scent, a spicy/pumpkin scent that was pretty strong but not too overwhelming.
I was hoping it wouldn't be quite as strong, but it did fill up our bathroom/bedroom area and lingered.
If you love Fall scents then you definitely should try White Pumpkin.
Bath & Body Works Snow Mountain Lodge Wallflower
This is your quintessential pine Winter scent from B&BW.
It was lovely for the month of December especially, when you want to have that Christmas tree scent flood your home. It's a very comforting scent as well & one that I will always choose during the Winter from B&BW.
This is one of my favorite Winter scents, for when it's not Christmas anymore.
It's a mix of pine, spice, and orange and they blend beautifully to just be a clean, cheerful blend that keeps you optimistic through January and February since those can tend to be dreary times of the year.
I'll always want this in a candle and wallflower for those two months of the year!
This was a really good mix of the classic marshmallow fireside and pumpkin candles from B&BW for the Fall-time.
It had a nice strong scent that was a little overwhelming at first, but slowed down a bit over the time it was going in our bathroom.
I would get this again when the Fall rolled around, as I'm a big fan of the smokey flavor of fireside.
I've already shared my love of this scent when I talked about the hand soaps but the wallflower was just as good, just as fresh, and just as clean smelling.
It's perfect in any form, I wish it could be a candle!
I love Twisted Peppermint for Winter! It's the best blend of sweetness and peppermint, it's almost a creamy minty scent, if that makes sense?
I wasn't a huge fan of this packaging (from two years ago) because I like something maybe a little more classic and timeless but the scent was so very good.
I will say, I usually use my candles up on a candle warmer once the wicks have burned down and this one just didn't smell the same when used on the candle warmer-it almost smelled burnt, but that was my only complaint.
I normally do not like these chocolate scented candles from B&BW because usually they're just too heavy and too sweet.
This candle is a pretty good balance because it actually smells like hot chocolate made with milk and marshmallows-not just plain chocolate or mocha.
I don't know if I would buy it again, but it was a nice spin for the Winter season.
White Picket Scents Sweet Serendipity Candle
I did some googling and I am so sad to find out that this candle company doesn't seem to exist anymore!
This was a brand local to Hoover, Alabama and I "won" it at a dirty santa party a few Christmases ago.
It's a 100% soy candle and burned so cleanly and perfectly-right down to the bottom, which gives me such satisfaction.
I loved the fresh and clean scent too, very much like fresh Spring and cotton and floral.
I would love a suggestion for brands that are 100% soy with scents like this if you have them!
This is another one of my favorite candles from B&BW-I love the salty/sweet element of it and that it's usually so creamy when burning. The only gripe I have about this candle is that B&BW claims that it smells like candy apple and I just don't get that when I smell it cold or burning. That's my only complaint though & I do hope I see it again this summer!
This candle is always a classic favorite for any time of year, but I think my favorite times of year to burn it are at the beginning of Fall and the beginning of Spring.
It's so fresh and bright and sweet, I just love the packaging of this one too with the pretty pink marble, the classic label (which comes off super easily so I can reuse the jar!) and the gold lid.
Bakery type scents are always a toss up with me, either they're perfect or too sweet and this one was a little too sweet for my tastes. I did like the honey and spice, but it just came across as a little too overly sweet when it was burning. It also didn't work well on the candle warmer and smelled burnt when I used it there.
Well, that was my overwhelmingly long empties post that I really hope y'all enjoyed!
Until next time. . .
xoxo,
