February '23 Empties
February was definitely on the slower side for me in terms of emptying products, but I made some good progress with my hair products! One of the empties from February that I finished and already repurchased because it’s just so good is the Doux Mousse Def Texture Foam for textured hair. I go into detail in the post as to why I enjoy it so much!
Face care Empties
Tatcha The Camellia Oil 2-in-1 Makeup Remover & Cleanser
Price: $50
This may just be on the most expensive cleansing oils that I’ve tried, but it truly lives up to it’s claims. It’s an oil cleanser that claims to gently melt away dirt, oil, waterproof makeup, sunscreen while keeping the skin feeling moisturized. I typically would apply 2-3 pumps to cover my entire face. The cleansing oil did such a great job to breakdown stubborn eye makeup so quickly! When mixed with water it transforms into a milky solution and washes away very easily. After using this as my first step cleanser my skin feels soft and clean. With using The Camellia Oil Cleanser several times a week it lasted me for several months! I would love to repurchase, but the price point is out of my range for a cleanser.
Price: $25 for 5oz
The Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cleanser is a foaming cleanser that claims to remove excess oil, dirt and debris from the skin that is aimed for those with dry and normal skin types. A little bit of product mixed with water goes a long way. I think it did a decent job as a second step cleanser. It cleansed my skin well and never left my skin feeling dry. The scent itself almost smells like chlorine water. I felt the cleanser was fine. I didn’t love nor did I hate it.
La Roche Posay Toleriane Purifying Foaming Face Wash for Oily Skin
Price: $18.99 for 13.52oz
The LRP Toleriane Purifying Foaming Face Wash has a gel based texture and its formulated for those with oily skin types. This face wash is formulated with ceramides, niacinamide, glycerin and thermal spring water.
This cleanser did such a great job at cleansing without stripping and drying out my skin! I actually used this on my face and body. I loved using this on my body after workouts. This is a nice alternative that’s to use in between medicated body washes if you suffer from body acne! The fact that the cleanser is housed in a plastic bottle with a pump applicator made it so ideal just to keep and use in my shower! I think this is well worth the price and I would definitely repurchase in the future!
Farmacy 10% Waterless Vitamin C Serum
Price: $50 for 1oz
I recently reviewed the Farmacy 10% Waterless Vitamin C Serum and if you’re interested in checking out the full review, it can be found here in my VITAMIN C GUIDE: EVERY VITAMIN C SERUM THAT I'VE TRIED post Overall, I enjoyed this serum and I think it worked well, but I just don’t think it was best suited for my skin type and needs.
La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5 Soothing Therapeutic Multi Purpose Cream
Price: $17.99 for 1.3oz
The LRP Cicaplast Baume is such a raved and talked about product within the skincare community. It’s an all purpose cream that can literally be used from head to toe for various reasons.
The balm is formulated with panthenol (vitamin B5), shea butter, glycerin and many other great beneficial ingredients for the skin. This is often used and recommended for irritated skin, post skincare procedures and as a barrier support product. The product goes on like a cream but feels more like a balm when it’s being worked into the skin. I actually didn’t like this as an all over face cream as I felt it took much time to work into the skin. I used the Cicaplast balm in targeted areas like around my mouth, my feet and other areas that I found to be super drying. I think it served its purpose, but overall it didn’t wow me. I’m actually interested in the other products from the Cicaplast line like their hand cream and facial mist.
Farmacy HYDRATING COCONUT GEL SHEET MASK
Price: $7 each
Use code Beautyetcblog20 to save 20% on your farmacybeauty.com orders!
The Farmacy Beauty Coconut Gel sheet mask is formulated with hyaluronic acid and cucumber extract. The gel texture contours to the face well and really helps to lock in moisture. This is my go to when my skin is dry or if I feel like my skin just needs an extra pick me up. At this time it appears that they’re only available on the Farmacy site, but it’s good to see that they can be purchased individually or in packs of 4! I can’t recommend these enough.
Makeup Empties
Thrive Cosmetics Liquid Lash Extensions™ Mascara
Price: $25
The Thrive Cosmetics Lash Extensions mascara is said to help create the look of lash extensions with their tubing effect mascara. The formula is water resistant and works by wrapping and building “tubes” on to the lashes to help extend beyond the lash length. What I really love about this mascara is the wand. It has one of those common plastic comb/teeth like wands. I find that wands like this really help to provide length to the lashes and make them appear to look fuller without the clumpy effect.
The formula itself remained pretty wet in the tube and the only reason why I’m throwing this out is because I’ve had it open for way too long. But this one that I really enjoyed using even though its on the pricier side for a mascara. This is definitely one I would like to repurchase in the future!
NYX The Brow Glue Laminating Setting Gel in Clear
Price: $9.00
The NYX Brow Glue is a brow gel that is supposed to provide up to 16 hours of hold for the brows. As someone with natural brows that are sparse and not particularly long, I feel like the brow glue did a really good job of setting my brows and keeping them in place for the majority of the day. I would typically apply this after filling in my brows with a pencil or pen and a few swipes of this brow gel goes a long way! Being that I was applying this over a tinted brow pencil, it quickly turned the clear color of the brow product into an off color brown shade. This wasn’t fun to see, but it didn’t impact the way the it performed, so I overlooked this. That really may be the only minor con I have about this brow gel. I definitely think it’s worth the price! Now that more shades are available I definitely plan on picking it up the Dark Brown Shade.
Charlotte Tilbury Legendary Brows Tinted Eyebrow Gel
Price: $26
The CT Brow Gel has very fine spoolie brush that helps to provide a natural shade and shape. The formula itself does a decent job of holding my brows in place, but I wouldn’t say this is the long wearing formula for me. I have the Dark Brown shade and I found the color to work well in terms of matching my brow hair. I do think the price of this tinted brow gel is on the higher side. If I’m going to spend $20+, I would rather just purchase the Charlotte Tilbury Brow Cheat Brow Pencil that I already love so much!
Haircare Empties
Oyin Handmade Burnt Sugar Pomade Humectant Pomade
Price: $17.98 for 4oz
– previously reviewed June ’21-
At this point I can’t say how many jars of this hair pomade that I’ve gone through over the years. But I can say I have no plan to stop purchasing. The Oyin Handmade Humectant Pomade is something that I use every single time I wash my hair. Instead of using the old school method of grease, which can sometimes be too heavy and clog hair pores, I’ve opted for this hair pomade. This keeps my hair looking and feeling moisturized for days at a time without it feeling greasy and it smells so good!
The Doux Mousse Def Texture Foam
Price: $14.99 for 7oz
This is a hair mousse that’s great for curly hair types-especially those with tighter curls. The Mousse helps to define curls and provide a lasting hold without a crunchy feeling to hair. The Doux mousse feels so light in my hair and I never experienced any flaking when using it. This mousse is designed to be a one and done type of product. I can definitely seeing this working for many in this way, but I typically use this in a cocktail with 2 other products. I use this in conjunction with other products for my twist outs to ensure that my hair will be moisturized, defined and set for multiple days at time. Since finishing this bottle I’ve already repurchased another bottle!
The next product that I want to try from The Doux line is the Bee-Girl Curl Foam. It looks like it would be similar to the Texture Foam but with honey included in the formula.
Necessaire The Scalp Serum - With 5% Biomimetic Peptide Blend For Hair Growth
Price: $58 for 2oz
The Necessaire Scalp Serum is a daily scalp treatment that it formulated with Peptides, Hyaluronic Acid and Niacinamide to help support thicker hair, provide hydration and strength the scalp’s barrier. This is a water based serum and it has a watery consistency. Being that the serum is so watery it’s easy to use it daily without having an issue like product build up. I used this both during times that my hair was worn in its natural curly state and the times that I decided to blow it out straight. Being that this is water based consistency that is very runny, when I used it on my hair straight hair, it of course made it convert back curly.
As for the results, it’s hard to say. I really can’t say that I noticed a drastic change in my hair after finishing the bottle, but I feel like this did an excellent job of keeping my scalp moisturized and balanced. Being that I personally didn’t notice a drastic change with the state of my hair, this is not something I would repurchase as it’s a pretty pricey bottle.
Pattern Travel Size Leave-In Conditioner
Price: $9 for 3oz
Compared to other Leave-in formulas that I’ve tried, I found this one to be more on the thinner side consistency wise. I think it did an okay job as a leave-in. It provided moisture and helped with the detangling of my hair. I usually enjoy my haircare products to be scented and scents usually don’t bother me, but the scent of this one was something that I didn’t enjoy. In my opinion the scent smelled heavily fragranced like a mature woman’s perfume. I honestly couldn’t get past the scent of it. This was the only thing I’ve tried from Pattern and if the other products in the line smell like this one, I will definitely be skipping on trying those out as well.
Bodycare & Etc. Empties
Bath and Body Works Champagne Toast Moisturizing Shower Gel
Price: $15 for 10oz
Fragrance notes: bubbly champagne, sparkling berries and juicy tangerine.
This is very much a sweet scent and I love it. It’s one I looked forward to using all the time. The scent was a great pick me up type of scent. This particular version of the shower gel really lives up to the name. The consistency is more of lotion. Nonetheless, it still foamed well. Out of the Bath and Body Works Shower Gels, this is definitely my favorite and really left my skin feeling soft.
Skinfix Resurface+ Glycolic and Lactic Acid Renewing Body Scrub
Price: $32 for 8oz
I did a detail review on my Instagram comparing my favorite body scrubs for KP (Keratosis Pilaris) and I really enjoyed this one. Unlike other body scrubs, the Skinfix scrub is meant to be applied prior to getting in to the shower. This is definitely a scrub I would repurchase and I think it worked well for my skin.
If you’re interested in seeing how this one ranks in terms of my other scrubs, be sure to check out the post here
Maison Francis Kurkdjian A La Rose Travel Perfume
Price: $75 euros for 2 travel sizes (before VAT refund) | retails for $86 here in the States
Top notes are Calabrian bergamot and California Orange; Middle notes are Bulgarian Rose, Grasse Rose, Violet and Magnolia; Base notes are Musk and Cedar
As a rose fragrance lover that also happens to really enjoy many of the Maison Francis Kurkdjian scents, I decided to do a blind buy and purchase A La Rose in a travel size. It’s described as musky rose scent, but I think it leans more fresh. I really picked up more of powdery floral, which is a blend I do not particularly enjoy. I also didn’t find the scent to be long lasting- maybe 2-3 hours tops! I typically wore this layered over top of other scents and I always felt the need spray this multiple times because I always had a hard time smelling this on myself.
After purchasing A La Rose I was able to smell the men’s version, l'Homme À la rose. I actually really enjoyed this version of the rose scent as it’s more on the woodsy side.
Byredo Mojave Ghost Perfume Travel Size
Price: $78 for travel size
Mojave Ghost has been one of my favorite scents for the past few years. It’s a scent that I feel like I can wear yearlong and for any type of occasion. I thankfully still have a full sized bottle, but I always like to have minis for travel. Being that the Byredo minis are so pricey, I don’t think it would be worth it for me to purchase another mini while still using my full size bottle.
If you’re interested in hearing more about the Mojave Ghost, the full review post can be found here
Bath and Body Works Sweater Weather 3 wick Candle
Price:$25
Described as what it smells like: a cool fall day in your favorite knit.
Fragrance notes: fresh sage, juniper berries, aromatic eucalyptus and fresh woods.
This is one of those candles that I always pick up each year from Bath and Body Works during the fall season. I actually try my best to buy it discounted when they have their candle day sale. It’s such a perfect candle to burn during the fall and to me it smells almost like cologne. I feel like Sweater Weather provides such a nice throw when being burned. I don’t find the smell to be over or under whelming either. I’ll definitely be repurchasing another jar this fall season.
Empties Total: $516.46
Blog Giveaway
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Blog Giveaway ◡̈ 💞
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Rules:
The Giveaway is open from now until Friday 3/17/2023
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This Month’s Giveaway Prize is a few products from Glow Recipe:
+ Watermelon Glow PHA + BHA Pore Tight Toner
+ Avocado Ceramide Recovery Serum
+ Plum Plump Water Bottle (13oz size)
+ and of course I’ll be throwing in some extras