The March 2021Empties

All right. All last night we had large machines moving through the neighborhood all accompanied by the random beeping. They are gone now and the power is on, the internet is connected and my work day can proceed as normal. Thank you ladies and gentlemen of the power and internet companies.

I salute your efforts.

And am thrilled the contents of my freezer are still frozen.

But now we move on to the Empties of March. it was an interesting mix of products this month.

In case you are wondering about the Empties bin looking a little different, I ended up getting a new empties bin. While my old plastic bin was great for smaller skin care item empties, it tended to overflow when I added shampoo containers and both washes to it and as a consequence I ended up throwing them away and forgetting to mention them because they were simply too much for the bin.

This bin is canvas and can go in the washing machine if needed. It comes from target. It was one of their end cap items so I have no idea who the brand actually is. I have no idea how long it will last but at the moment it seems quite sturdy.

So, let’s start off with some of the larger items. This month I finished the Color Wow Color Security Shampoo and conditioner. I love the fact that they are sulfate free, phthalate free and designed to help keep my hair color from fading.

My hair liked them and I would recommend them to anyone with color treated hair. In fact I would recommend nearly every Color Wow product to people with Color treated hair. if your color treated hair has an issue, they have a product. And Color treated hair is kind of their thing. They do it well.

This shampoo and conditioner also helped me out with the tangling of hair so I had to use less detangler. They have different types, the set I used was for Normal to thick hair. I believe they also have one for fine to normal hair. For me this was a definite win and I will certainly be using them again.

Also being ordered again will be the Klorane dry shampoo. This was the last of my Klorane dry shampoo with Oat milk. It was a long time favorite but I have recently been loving the Nettle infused Klorane dry shampoo for dark hair. They are both fantastic. Because I have dark hair I tend to lean more towards the Nettle infused version but I really just love the Klorane dry shampoo formula.

It never feels heavy and even though dark hair always gets a white cast to it from dry shampoo it brushes out easily and leaves my hair glossy and fabulous. Klorane is always a winner. At the moment I am trying out the eco friendly packaged dry shampoo from Klorane so a review of that along with a little something special will be up soon. But yes, this is a product I would order again.

I am not so certain I would order the Essano Rosehip Micellar Water again though. I think this was a TJ Maxx purchase. It does an okay job removing most makeup. It leaves a lot of foundation behind and is not good at all with mascara. It is good to use after a cleansing balm, especially if my skin is breaking out or irritated. I like Micellar waters for that in general, however this one was a bit too floral for me. It was an okay product but the scent turned me off and I’ve had better micellar waters.

This month I have an empty Re-nu contact lens solution in my empties bin It is from Bausch and Lomb. It is a great contact lens solution and I have used many bottles of it. I would order it again.

At the moment I am trying out the Bio True also from Bausch and Lomb and I think I might like it a little bit better. It feels a little better in the eyes. I would still repurchase the Re-Nu though as it is a great product

I am not going to repurchase the Luscious Hand cream in Citrus spritz from Ipsy’s Refreshments line. It smelled okay and was a decent enough hand cream but it wasn’t a stand out. In fact I have had the same issue with all of the Refreshments products I’ve tried thus far. They are generally okay, but not the best. I will use them while they are there but not reorder. They seem to be mediocre right across the board.

I have tried many much better hand creams and I will be ordering them in the future. This is the sort of product that you use because it’s there, not because it is special. I used it, and used it up and now it is going away.

The three shave products that came with my first Dollar Shave club order when I was testing out the subscription also fall into the good enough to use if they are there, but not something I would re order. They are the Dr. Carvers Prep Scrub, Shave Butter and Post Shave Dew.

I like the thought of a prep scrub and have since started using a sugar scrub on my legs before I shave. It has made a world of difference. I like the concept, but the this prep scrub is easily out performed by other products. he same applies to the shave butter and post shave dew. There is nothing wrong with them, I just have many other products I like better. The razor was top notch though and I am thinking about reordering from them. I have a couple of other subscriptions I want to try out first though.

I was actually quite sad when I had to add my Milk Makeup Kush Lip Scrub and Lip Glaze to the empties bin this month. Both are fantastic products that I really enjoyed using and would definitely order again. I loved the convenience and formula of having the Kush lip scrub in a tube and I liked the formula and herbal scent to the Lip scrub. I also liked the easy to keep clean metal tip of the lip glaze. It wiped off clean after use and never got gunky. Both are products I would happily order repeatedly.

While we are on lips, I also enjoyed using the Teadora Wild Superfood Lip Drops. These are little golden capsules that you twist open and apply to your lips. While it is recommended that you use them morning and evening,

I found I really liked them at night. They are just a little too much for day time wear for me. However at night on dry chapped lips they were wonderful. They coated the lips in soothing oil and were super hydration bombs for my lips. If you are looking for a night time lip mask, I would highly recommend them. I will be picking up another jar to keep around for the summer when I spend too much time in the sun.

I will not be repurchasing either of the Youth To The People Products in my empties bin this month.The first is the Kombucha 11% AHA Exfoliating Power toner. To me it smelled like rubbing alcohol and to be honest I didn’t see much change in my skin when I used it.

The Adaptogen Deep Moisture cream was too moisturizing for y skin. If I had much drier skin it might have suited me better, but I don’t so it didn’t. That is nothing against the product or brand. I’ve tried a couple of things from YTTP that I liked, these just weren’t on the list as they didn’t suit my skin. And that is one of the best things about these sample sized products. They are large enough to give you a chance to see how your skin will react but small enough so that if you don’t like them you don’t waste a lot of product or money on purchasing a full size. While I have liked other things from the brand, I did not like either of these two products enough to use a full size.

I will more than likely be picking up a full sized bottle of the NeoGen Dermatology Real Ferment Micro essence. It is the first essence I’ve really tried in my skin care routine and I really liked the effect it had on my skin. I want to try out other products so I can get more of a feel for the essence category, but this worked so nicely on my skin that I am certain I will be circling back to it.

There will also be a definite full sized purchase of the Skyn Iceland Icelandic Youth Serum in the future. The sample was really small and I only managed to get just under two weeks with it, but in that time my skin felt fantastic.

A full size and a full trial is definitely on my list of upcoming product trials. I was very impressed with the brand. Prior to this I had only tried a mask or two from them. While I always liked their masks I never tried their serums. It was so worth trying out in any size. At least this one was and it is what will draw me to a full sized bottle.

I am not so certain I will purchase a full sized version of the Illamasqua Beyond the veil Primer. I like Illamasqua as a brand and routinely use several of their products. In fact I was really excited to receive a sample of this in a subscription box because I love the regular Hydra veil primer from Illa masque.

It is one of my favorite summertime primers. This is supposed to be the Hydra Veil primer blended with the Beyond the veil powder. Both products are good and in theory this product should be really good. For me it ended up being just okay. Personally I prefer the Hydra Primer. That primer I will purchase from Illamasqua repeatedly. I think this one however I will pass by.

I just finished using the Pearl Brightening Sleeping mask and although I had high hopes for it, I think I will have to admit that it is not for me. It is too wet for me and ended up staining my pillow more than it ended up hydrating my skin. I wanted to like it, I just didn’t. I think you just really need very dry skin to use this sleeping mask.

I had better luck with the Dr Botanicals Pomegranate Sleeping Mask. It was just enough hydration for me and even though I was still shiny when I went to bed, the mask mostly stayed on my face and absorbed in. I felt hydrated in the morning after I used it (whereas I didn’t with the Pearl mask).I really like that this was a nice affordable sleeping mask and I am sure it will be making a return to my skin care line up.

Not making a return is the Avant Propanediol Mica Hyaluronic Maris Aqua Collagen Age Radiance Eye Cream. I know with all of those terms you would think that it would be right up my alley.

After all I like Hyaluronic acid and Collagen in my eye creams. This one however clogged my pores something fierce. I had enough bumpy texture to look like I was starting to turn into a Star Trek Character. And that I can do without.

This eye cream will not be returning to my skincare line any time soon. In general Avant is very hit or miss for me. I have tried a couple of things I liked but mostly it is misses for me or so so products that I can easily walk away from. I was not sad to see it go.

I was sad to finish the Amore Pacific Treatment Enzyme Peel Cleansing Powder. It is one of the brand’s best sellers for a reason. Oh my darlings I am in love. I used every grain of this and even contemplated writing poetry to it.. I loved the mixing with water, the foaming texture, the scent and the fantastic clean it gave my skin. While I like a lot of cleansers and would repurchase them, this goes on my list of absolute loves. This is a product I will stalk and stockpile.

Also in the list of satalk and stockpile are the Elemis Papaya Enzyme Peel. I went through two of the, They are masks. They smell good enough to eat Although please don’t and my skin felt fantastic after I used them.

I went through two travel sized tubes of them I have a third one but I am holding off on using it while I use other products.

I know that this is a product I will order in the full size and keep on hand. I really enjoyed using it. While I like Elemis products in general, this is right there at the top of the list for me.

This month I also have a sample size of the La Roch Posay Retinol B3 Serum. I liked the sample and I will be picking up a full sized version to try out.

My skin reacted really well to the serum. At the moment I am using the Versed Press Restart Gentle Retinol (which I also like but purchased because the store was out of the La Roche Posay) but I will be picking up a full sized soon.

And finally we have a sample size of the MAC Cleanse Off Oil. I know it is a very tiny sample. I am not certain where I ended up getting it actually. Maybe it was at the MAC Counter. I do know that I had several of them and they were in the back of my skincare drawer.

I’ve been using them up periodically just to use them up. I wasn’t doing that because I wanted them gone but because they were small glass vials of oil that were rolling around in the bottom of the drawer which didn’t seem like the smartest of options. it actually seemed like a good way to break glass, loose product and potentially cut myself reaching into the drawer. So I used them up.

I liked it, the oil worked well and I would definitely repurchase it. It is actually one of the oil products I liked the best out of the ones I’ve used. It did a great job removing makeup and didn’t cloud my contacts or sting my eyes if it happened to get into them. It is a really good makeup removing oil. While I am glad that there was no glass breakage I am sad that this is my last vial of this oil. I have one other oil in my collection that I have been trying to work through for a while now. It isn’t my favorite but it works (its the scent) so I won’t be purchasing the Mac Oil for a while, but I think as incentive for using up that oil, I will be promising myself that once it is used up, I can purchase the Mac Cleanse off Oil in a full size. Sometimes bribery works.

And that my darlings is the Empties bin for March. It had the good the bad and the only so so this month. But now the bin can be emptied and new products can be used and judged. I hope you enjoyed this review as much as I did.

The Empties: November and December 2020

Last month I completely spaced on doing a review of the empties in my bin so there is a lot to go through this month. Most of these items had full posts listed on my site so if you want more fulsome details I hope you check them out. This is just a rundown of the products I used up, along with a few notes about what I think of them now that they are gone.

Item number one is the Marc Jacobs Youthquake. I had high hopes for this one. It smelled nice and in general I like Marc Jacobs’ products. This however felt very heavy on the skin and was far too moisturizing for me to take.

I could use it as a night cream but not during the day. To use it up I ended up using it at night (and to be honest, also on my elbows which tend to get really dry in the winter). It was fine at night (and my elbows loved it) but it was too heavy during the day. I will not be repurchasing it. I will be reusing the very pretty jar somewhere though.

The PureHeals Pore Clear Black Charcoal peel off mask is also not going to make it to my repurchase list. While I like the mud masks that PureHeals makes (and will order those repeatedly) this mask was not for me. It never did anything for my skin that I could tell and it hurt to peel it off. If a peel off mask is going to hurt then I want to see some results. After all the Hey Honey Take off The Drama mask hurt like the dickens but my skin was fabulous afterwards. This just hurt and offered no return. I kept trying and it never got better. So it is good by to the empty and I will not be picking it up again.

the A+ high dose retinoid (L) and ICE Moisturizer (R)

Next up there is a trial size of the Sunday Riley A+ High Dose Retnoid Serum. I enjoyed using this very much and will be picking up a full sized bottle sometime in the near future to try out in my retinol trials. It was very nice and gone far too soon.

I will not miss the Marcelle CC Cream. I finished this small tube up last week and happily added it to the empties bin. While it is a wonderful color corrector, over the course of the day it seeped into the fine lines around my eyes and made me look super tired.

Marcelle Golden Glow CC Cream and Tarte Shape Tape Concealer

Plus, it lives up to the name Golden Glow and made my face very glowy, which is not my thing. And so this too will sadly not be repurchased. I was disappointed as every other Marcelle product I’ve tried has been top notch.

Also disappointing was the Dove Nutritive Solutions for Volume and fullness. While I love Dove products in general and usually have no problems with them, this shampoo and conditioner set just didn’t work for me.

While I don’t normally have a problem with tangles, while using this shampoo and conditioner, I ended up having more tangle problems than usual. I also felt like my hair was slightly dull and getting some build up.

The first few washes were fantastic. But then it just went downhill fast. While I love the brand Dove and will continue to buy other products, this shampoo and conditioner set won’t be one I will repurchase.

I have to say, I am slightly on the fence about the feel renewed Pumpkin Walnut facial cleanser. I never actually thought I’d say that. Because this is not my first tube. It is the scent that always gets me, and if I’m honest, it is the reason I purchase it. I adore the scent and it was a good clean, but it was a rather rough exfoliate when it comes down to it. I believe I used it early in November, maybe even late October. The scent was suitable for the time frame and utterly delicious.

I have tried a couple of other exfoliating scrubs that perform better, even if they don’t smell as yummy. The Olay Regenerist scrub in particular smelled nice and clean and was a much gentler product on the skin. I think this may fall into the category of I’d use it if it ended up coming into my possession but I wouldn’t seek it out. It is a good exfoliator for once or twice a week, I just don’t think I would want to keep it stocked. I just need to find something better with the same scent.

I will be stocking the pixi skintreats Clarity Tonic though. It was a fantastic toner and I had wonderfully clear skin while using it. While I like other pixi toners, I have to say this one thus far is at the top of the list. This doesn’t mean I won’t try other Pixi products, but this one is a definite repurchase.

I cannot say the same thing for the Whish Botanical Primer, the Derma E radiance toner or the Balance me Bakuchiol soothing Serum. Although I do think I will be looking into bakuchiol more closely as an ingredient.

The Balance me and the Derma E products both worked well, enough but the scent of them both was not one I appreciated nor wanted to face every day. I find it kind of a shame as they were good products. However I know myself and the scents just meant that if I repurchased them in a full size I would slowly stop using them because I couldn’t take the scent.

The Derma E was floral and somewhat cloying while the Balance me smelled a bit like floor cleaner. I just know the product would go to waste if I purchased them. The Whish primer, however, was something altogether different.

Derma E toner and Georgette Klinger Collagen and Elastin Mask

The Whish botanical Primer was a failure as a primer. An Absolute Failure. It did nothing a primer really should be expected to do. It was however pretty good skin care. While this primer won’t be returning any time soon, it worked well enough as skin care that I am going to be looking into the other products from this Whish line that are specifically designed for skin care use. I will not use this as a primer. So it will not be returning, but some of its brand compatriots will. I can’t be upset about trying it though as it did bring Whish to my attention.

Sulwhasoo serum, Whsh Botanical Primer and Goldfaden Needleless Serum

The Tatcha Deep Cleanse will hopefully soon make a return in a full size. I really enjoyed this cleanser. It was one of the few exfoliating cleansers that I have tried that I found I could use on a daily basis with no skin damage.

My skin looked and felt wonderful while using it and I really enjoyed the scent of the cleanser as well. It is lightly floral but with enough of a fruit back note to keep it from being cloying. I was somewhat surprised as I didn’t particularly care for Tatcha’s moisturizers when I tried them. However I can see why this cleanser is one of the brand’s best sellers. It is definitely something I want to repurchase.

Elemis Pro-collagen marine Cream and Tatcha Deep Cleanse

There were four sample sized moisturizers in my bin this time around and I have to say all five of them made my list of products that I would want to reorder in a full sized version.

The Sunday Riley Ice moisturizer is not the most appealingly scented cream. It smells vaguely medicinal. However, it is a thick cream that disappears into the skin and hydrates well. I think as a night cream it would work well for me. It is also one of those products where the product worked well enough that I found I could live with the scent. As I am very scent oriented (in case you hadn’t guessed), that is saying something.

The second sample was the Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine cream. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that I enjoyed it as there are very few products from Elemis that I don’t enjoy. This sample came to me through a Look Fantastic Box and I was happy to get the chance to try it before adding a full size to my try out list.

The third sample was from Skin Ceuticals and it it is the Triple Lipid Restore 2:4:2 moisturizer. The sample worked well as both a day and a night cream and It is one I would certainly want to try out for longer.

Surprisingly the fourth is the 111Skin Y Theorem Day Cream. With 111 Skin I am sometimes on the fence with them I like a lot of their products but there are few I fall in love with. Especially after seeing the price. They usually strike me as good, but not quite good enough to justify the price. I don’t mind paying more for a product I think is worth the price. Especially where skincare is concerned.

This is one moisturizer I could easily see myself falling in love with. It claims to be a day cream and that is exactly what it is. I really like a product that stakes a claim on one thing and does it well. I liked it enough that when I looked at the price of the full size I actually found myself thinking it sounded like it was priced correctly.

That was how much I enjoyed the sample. I was very sad when the sample ran out and you can bet that anytime I see a sample of this up for grabs I will be snapping it up. This is one of the few things from 111 Skin that I believe actually earns its price tag.

Another product that earns it’s price, although it is substantially lower in price is the Timeless SkinCare Hyaluronic Acid Serum. I believe a full sized bottle is around $9.95, but trust me, this serum is something I would actually pay twice that for, maybe even three times. During my use of it, I actually saw a reduction in the Great Stress Crack of Mimsy, which is what I call the ever deepening line across my forehead.

While using this, it not only didn’t deepen, but it appeared to be getting shallower. I was sad when it ran out. I have two hyaluronic acid serums to test out from other brands and now that I’ve had a few weeks without this serum, I am going to start a trial of the next sot see how it performs. But right now, Timeless SkinCare has set the standard and it is a pretty high mark to reach. Regardless of future trials, this was an excellent serum offered at an excellent price and it is one that I foresee making several repeated trips to my skin care shelf.

A few products that won’t return? The Sulwhasoo first care Activating serum. Its herbal scent I could get used to if it was an amazing product, but it left my skin sticky and not feeling improved. The Goldfaden, MD Needle-less line corrector will not be returning either. It felt like it was stinging, but beyond the stinging it didn’t do much. In general Goldfaden, MD and I have not had the best history. I have a serum to try from the brand, but thus far everything I have used from the brand has left me saying ‘Thanks, but no thanks. ‘

Sadly the Pa’akai cleansing cream also falls into that category. It cleanses well enough, but the scent is just far too perfume-y for me to take on a twice daily basis. Incidentally, I did use the product up, but there was just enough remaining to coat the back of the bottle where it lay in the empties bin so it looks full. It fooled me too but I opened it and looked inside thinking I might not have finished it out. But oh yeah, it is empty and the perfume scented remains remind me why I am not using it.

I found myself trying to avoid washing my face while using it, and that is not a good thing. There are many steps I could probably skip in a skin care routine should I want to pair it down. Washing my face isn’t one of them. So, it is a good cleanser, but sadly the scent just made it not for me.

Also not for me is the Tarte Shape tape Concealer. It works well as a spot concealer, blending beautifully into my skin and hiding red spots and blemishes. But it settled into the fine lines under my eyes and just made me look haggard. Which is not what I want in a concealer. So I used the last of this little sample size up as a spot corrector. And now it is empty and will not be repurchased. Sadly I used to love the Shape Tape Concealer. I think that as I get a little older, my skin’s needs just change. I have changed not the product. If fine lines aren’t a problem for you then you will still love it. (if you like it now). This was an excellent concealer for me once upon a time, but no more.

Benefit They’re Real Mascara, Wander Beauty Mile High Mascara, Maybelline Color Strike Shadow, wet ‘n wild liquid liner and Revolution’s Fast Base Concealer.

I do have a second concealer in my empties bin this go around and it is the Fast Base Concealer from Revolution. I love this concealer, never had any problems with it settling in my fine lines and will be repurchasing it very soon.

The fact that is it a $3 concealer, if I remember correctly, doesn’t hurt the wallet either. I don’t mind paying a lot for products that work, but good products come in all sorts of price ranges, and this one certainly proves it. The Fast Base will be repurchased.

There are two empty mascaras in my empties bin. One is the Mile High Lashes from Wander Beauty and the other is a sample sized tube of They’re Real from Benefit Cosmetics. While each performed well, to be honest, neither are the products I prefer from the brands. With Wander Beauty I would purchase the Unlashed Volume and Curl Mascara before I would purchase the Mile High Club mascara. With Benefit, I would purchase Bad Gal Bang before I would pick up They’re Real. That isn’t to say that they are not both quality products, but I doubt I would purchase either of them specifically. If going onto their brand pages, other products would draw my attention. So I did like them, and wouldn’t mind using them again, I just know that if shopping, they aren’t the ones I would repurchase.

Also not making my repurchase list was the First Aid Beauty Primer. It is a mattifying yet hydrating primer but my skin isn’t dry enough for the product. If I had skin that was a great deal drier, this would be a different conversation. But alas I don’t. So the First Aid Beauty primer I would not repurchase. If you have really dry skin and are looking for a mattifying primer, you might have better luck than I did with this product.

One primer I will consistently repurchase is the Yensa tone up primer. This is either the second or third tube of this that I have gone through and I absolutely adore it. It mattifies and fills pores really well and my skin reacts really well to it. It makes my top ten favorites list. In fact everything I’ve tried form the Super 8 line from Yensa has been really good in general. I’m actually finishing out a BB cream sample size from the brand this week that I know I am going to have to order in a full size once I’ve whittled down my foundation products.

L to R: Hey Honey Gold Mask, Yensa Primer, Hey Honey CC Cream

The Hey Honey Trick and Treat CC cream is also on my reorder list. It fairly melted into the skin and left me with a beautiful no makeup look that worked really well for daily wear. I adored the formula and will be purchasing a full size in the future.

As far as Hey Honey goes I will also be reordering the Show Your Glow Colloidal Gold and Honey Beauty Mask. I really like how soft and lovely it made my skin feel. The fact that I wandered around the house for fifteen minutes looking like I’d been gilded by a wandering art restorer was kind of fun as well. But the mask was fabulous.

I also want to order a full sized version of the Georgette Klinger Collagen and Elastin Mask (pictured above with Derma E). The sample I tried worked really well on my skin and it is one I would not mind keeping a full size of around. It plumped up my skin and diminished my fine lines after one use. The tube had enough for three uses and I was happy to use it for an entire week of masking. I was however very sad when it was empty. So to the repurchase in a full size list the product goes.

As much as I like Native Deodorant, I have to say the sample size of the holiday scent Sugar Cookie was enough for me. The sample size lasted a little over a month and quite frankly as much as I liked it, I was happy to end the trial. I am still using my Native Deodorant, but it is the Cucumber and Mint.

Like the holidays, it was nice while it lasted, but I was happy to resume the standard once it was done. I could not have taken a full size of this. I am still upset I didn’t pick up the fill size of the Candy Cane Scent, but they didn’t have it at Target (apparently it sold out extremely fast) and I didn’t get around to ordering it in time. That one I probably could have used longer than the Sugar Cookie. Mostly because I adore peppermint.

I still don’t know why spearmint (an inferior to peppermint in my opinion) gets to live on throughout the year, but peppermint, fabulous peppermint is banished to the holidays. Because of this I stock pile products and end up using products decorated for Christmas in June. It isn’t right. Do you know how many bars of Dr. Squatch’s Peppermint soap I have squirrelled away in my linen closet? I don’t either and I’m not counting because it would make me feel bad, but I do now have an absolutely deliciously scented linen closet. But that isn’t the point so I will end my pro-peppermint rant and get back to the empties.

I know this is a behemoth of a post, but there are only two more items and then, my darlings, we are through. The Color Strike Shadow from Maybelline was really hard to work with and had the added effect of not staying long on the lid once I got it to work. While I generally like Maybelline Products, this was not my favorite. I am getting rid of it because trying to make it work nearly drove me bonkers. I’m sure there is product remaining in the tube, but it was so hard to ge out onto the little brush that I couldn’t prove it. It will not be repurchased. I’ll still use Maybelline products, just not this particular product.

And to end on a good note. The wet ‘n wild liquid megaliner eyeliner. It reminded me of how much I really liked liquid eyeliners. It performed magnificently and I was so sad when the product reached the end of its productive life. It went on smoothly and after letting it dry a moment, it stayed put all day without fading. (If you don’t give it a moment to dry it will transfer when you blink because it is a wet liquid. So just give it a second and you are good).

I will repurchase this product and I will continue repurchasing this product. I will also be picking up more liquid eyeliners from different brands in the future. As a side note, the wet ‘n wild liquid eyeliner was the very first eyeliner I learned to apply way back in Junior High. I loved it then and I find it amusing all these years later to find that it is still a great product. So many of the products i used to absolutely adore when I I was first introduced to makeup have either sadly gone away or are kind of amusing to look back on. I find it fun to find one product that still works as good as I thought it did when I first started with makeup.

And with that my darlings we are finally through with two months’ worth of empties. If nothing else this reminds me that I need to remember to do these once a month or suffer the wrath of an overflowing bin and an extraordinarily long post. I nearly forgot about some of the items towards the bottom.

If you stuck with me, thanks for making it to the very end. If you didn’t’, don’t worry, it was a really long haul and I almost gave up midway through myself. I will see you at the end of January with next month’s empties in a much more manageable sized post. I have put it on my nice new calendar so that I will not forget it. I will also be back this afternoon with a perfume review as well, but I am definitely remembering the empties bin each month instead of letting it carry over.

In the Garden: Using the Empties for more than just review and trash

In the past year or so, I’ve seen a lot of YouTube videos regarding ’empties’. For those unfamiliar with this, an empties video is essentially a person keeping all of the empty containers from the products (skincare, bath, makeup, and so forth) that they use and then once they have collected enough, they make a video going back over the containers to talk over their experience with the product and if they would buy it again.

For some it seems to be a final review of the product because they only made a first impressions video and for others it seems to be a way for them to commit to emptying a container rather than allowing product to go bad.

I like both of these ideas actually as at the end of a product’s use a person can really get a sense of if that product is worth repurchasing and I hate letting products go to waste. Incidentally, that is why I haven’t posted a moisturizer review in a little while. I had a couple of open products I liked and wanted to use up before I opened any more. There will be more skin care reviews coming soon as my last open jar is almost empty.

So I started collecting my empties thinking that I would challenge myself to finish some products before greedily opening new ones and thus give myself a more in depth feeling for many of them.

The problem is that I am a gardener.

And at this time of year, my thoughts start to slide in that direction automatically as I order seeds and begin to grow them into plants capable of surviving outside after the last frost.

I don’t know what people typically do with their empties once their video is uploaded. I suspect the trash or recycling bin. I put my empties in a small bin under my sink while collecting them. Well, technically to the side of my sink as it is a pedestal. So I see it every day. And I kept looking at them and various ideas started to circle in my head. As I get ready to start my early seeds in my green house a couple of ideas solidified.

And so today you get more of a DIY project than anything else. While I pulled both the Dermelect and the Farmacy containers from my empties bin, both products I would happily repurchase bu the way, my project concentrated on the Farmacy jar.

The jar is plastic and has a double walled bottom and a screw on lid. Simply put, I peeled off the label and washed the container really well so that no product remained inside and no glue remained from the label. Then I turned it upside down and used a dremel to drill a few holes in the bottom of the jar.

As a warning if you are doing this, the double bottom means there is a slight jerk in the drill between the first and second layers of bottom. There is just enough space between the two layers that you feel the drill bit drop. It isn’t a big deal just something to keep in mind so you don’t drop the drill.

Once I had drainage holes in the bottom I took the lid and drilled a hole in either side of the jar lid so that excess moisture could drain instead of sitting and becoming stagnant.

I then glued the lid to the bottom of the jar, open side facing the bottom of the container so the flat surface is against the wood of the window sill when I set the small planter out in the sun. The holes in the bottom of the jar allow for drainage and the lid on the bottom makes sure that any over watering doesn’t hit the window sill. It is like one of those plastic shields that you put under house plants.

The lid glued to the bottom of the jar. It is perfect because the lid is smaller than the bottom of the container and so makes a pleasing shape when glued together.

Then as I had a can of gold spray paint in the shed, I spray painted the whole thing gold and let it dry. Once dry, I planted a slow growing succulent inside. When it flowers, the flowers are a bright almost fuschia pink with yellow gold centers so I think it will look good in the gold painted pot.

I’m fairly certain this isn’t where most empties videos lead and I’m pretty sure this isn’t what Farmacy intended for their containers, but it did turn out fairly well. The product inside was excellent and one I will definitely repurchase. I will probably also empty that container and turn it into another planter. Maybe black next time to contrast with the gold. And possibly with something long and slender growing in it rather than a short and wide variety of succulent.

While the container served its original purpose well, it is sturdy enough to have a new life and I personally feel better about not just chucking it in the recycling bin when it is empty. And yes, I have a plan for the empty tubes as well. I just need to wait until there are enough of them to pull it off.

But that is a project for somewhere down the road.

Quick reminder, the Annual Smashwords Read an E-book Week Sale is still going on (March 1-7). My books are 50% off with some even being free. You can find them buy clicking this link or go to the main page to look for other new authors here.