Empties - V2

[scott1201]

Seeing product empties is so satisfying 🙂

Post your weekly, monthly, quarterly, whenever-ly empties and let us know how you felt about them!

Previous Empties thread:

Spoiler

https://community.sephora.com/t5/Insiders/Empties/m-p/589003

[Samtian]

@Mellmars1185 If it did it wasn't a very strong scent I noticed. @CynthieLu 

[CynthieLu]

Good question @Mellmars1185 , @Samtian I bet it did! 😉

[peculiarzmakeup]

Beautiful empties! Wonderful job! The the Cheerios I can smell through the screen fantastic!!! 🫶 @Samtian 

[Samtian]

@peculiarzmakeup I was really surprised by that one. It went fast haha.

[itsfi]

August 2024 Empties

Month-to-Date = 49 

Year-to-Date = 248

Spoiler

😘  The rich leaning whipped consistency of the amika Mini Soulfood Nourishing Mask 3.3 oz / 100 ml (gratis) adds moisture to my length and ends without being heavy on my hair. 

❤️  I really enjoy the scent on the Kosasport Juicy Clean Body Wash and the consistency is a Goldilocks' “just right” for me - not too watery, not too thick. It applies well, emulsifies nicely, and rinses off easily without leaving a film or residue. I will repurchase, but want to finish at least one, if not two, other body washes first.

👍🏼  Trader Joe’s Vitamin C Firming Body Butter has a nice consistency and smells good. I'm not sure I would repurchase, in large part because I have other body creams to work through as well as others I enjoy more.

👍🏼Tata Harper Superkind Brightening Refining Cleanser for Skin Barrier Support 4.1 oz / 125 mL is a great exfoliating and hydrating cleanser. I was surprised how well the finely milled granules imbedded in the light gel-cream sloughed away dead skin without irritating my skin or causing it to feel tight or dry. This was part of a Tata Harper 5 Minute Facial for Sensitive Skin which I highly recommend as a gift to someone or to yourself.

👍🏼  Drybar Agua Fresca Leave-In Conditioning Milk 5 oz / 147 mL did a good job of detangling and leaving my hair feeling soft and moisturized. If I didn’t have a few leave-ins that I like more, I might pick up a full size - it smells delicious!

👍🏼  diane Cotton Squares are soft and lovely. I learned about them from @heartsmyface and if I didn’t have the Shiseido cottons on auto-replenish, these would be up for consideration as far as repurchases go. 

Spoiler

👍🏼  Not a replacement for getting in my fruits and veggies, but The Bloom Greens & Superfoods Tropical Pack is a quick and easy way to get in some extra greens, which I like to use especially when I’m traveling. The pineapple is my favorite flavor - it’s the least sweet of the ones I’ve tried thus far. 🍍

👍🏼Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare All-Physical Ultimate Defense Broad Spectrum Sunscreen SPF 50 PA++++ 1.7 oz / 50 ml - the mini I tried of this SPF was very liquidy and I expected the same with this full size. I was pleasantly surprised that wa not the case. It’s a little thicker than my go-to sunblocks and does leave an initial white cast on my fair-to-light complected skin (that does dissipate). That said, it’s made for a great (albeit expensive) body SPF! 😀 

🫤  To my surprise, something about this Atelier Cologne Oolong Wuyi Candle did not sit well with my nose - the smokiness I liked but the musk was too much. I wnded up burning this with other candles to help mute the muskiness.

👍🏼RANAVAT Mighty Majesty- Fortifying Repair & Shine Hair Serum 1.7 oz/ 50 mL is lightweight and one of the few pre-wash products that has performed well on my hair.

❤️innisfree Super Volcanic Pore Detoxing Clay Mask with AHAs + Oil Control ​ 3.38 oz / 100 ml is a tried-and-true kaolin clay mask that gently and effectively decongests clogged pores and helps to flatten zits

🐐 Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Find Comfort Stop & Soothe Aromatherapy Pen 0.16 oz / 5 mL is something I plan to keep on hand at all times. The scent is calming and uplifting at the same time.

🪦 Sadly, the plant 🪴 is no longer with us. 😢 I think I overwatered it before I left for vacation and it never recovered. 😔 I’ll stick to orchids and really hearty plants that can handle my black thumb.

Spoiler

👍🏼  Aroma Resort Body Milk Happy Sweet Peach is a repeated repurchase. I love a peach scent and I always seem to pick up one of these when I’m in the grocery store on Japantown. 

👍🏼  PanOxyl Acne Creamy Wash isn't fancy but it does a nice job of cleansing my skin without stripping it or making it feel tight or dry. I had this in my stash when my skin was oilier in the summer months, but as my skin has started leaning more normal-to-dry, I don't reach for this as much. I have some backups and similar products and will likely use as a body wash to help with using it up. 

🫤  Heimish All Clean Balm Mandarin - the original balm is nice but there’s something about the scent on this one that I didn’t care for, especially on my face. I ended up using it as a body wash .

Spoiler

👍🏼 365 Refreshing Wipes Hand Sanitizer Lavender does a good job of keeping my hands clean when I can’t get to a sink right away. The lavender scent on this is nice - not too heavy or overpowering.

❤️ Wow, these Peace Out 2% Salicylic Acid Early Stage Acne Dot 8 Patches Peace Out Early Stage Acne Dot really do work! �

👍🏼 8 Greens Effervescent Tablets - Peach Tea - I didn’t discover these 8 Greens tablets until the tail end of their time at Sephora. I pick up a couple tubes every so often direct from the site. Not a replacement for getting in my daily servings of greens but these do come in handy when I’m traveling and/or when I want to up my veggie intake. 

❤️  VOLUSPA Tahitian Coconut Vanilla Glass Jar Candle makes whatever room I’ve placed this in smell incredible! It's got that polynesian vacation vibe to it. 

🐐 Rhode Skin Lip Peptide Treatment is my favorite lip balm. In full disclosure I have a lot of favorites but this is at the top. I surprisingly prefer the non-tinted versions (that’s not to mean I don’t like the tinted balms). 

Spoiler

🐐OUAI Detox Clarifying Shampoo with Apple Cider Vinegar has seen its fair share of competition along the way but it’s one I continue to stock and reach for more than the others. This is the 2nd or 3rd empty bottle that I’ve gone through and there have been numerous deluxe and foil samples as well.

😘 I love several sunscreens so it’s hard to name one GOAT - this one is a contender Summer Fridays ShadeDrops Mineral Milk Sunscreen SPF 30 1.7 oz / 50 mL and consistently among my top 5. It’s thin, but not too thin; and gives me the sun protection and slight dew I come to rely on. No idea what bottle this is - at some point I just stopped counting.

👍🏼VOLUSPA Forbidden Fig Decorative Tin Candle 12 oz/ 340 g has a stronger throw (cold and when lit) than most Voluspa candles. The mix of fruity, earthy and floral notes make for a wonderful blend.

👍🏼 NARS make some magnificent complexion products and the NARS Light Reflecting Skin Improving Medium Coverage Foundation with Cacao Peptides is one of them. This shade is passable but not quite perfect, but I'd be interested in picking up a full size of this foundation, provided I found a better shade match. If only my stash warranted picking up another foundation …😛

(Mostly) Foils: my foil usage this month was more than in months past thanks to the samples theme earlier this month for theCapsule Makeup Collection Challenge. I posted more detailed thoughts about each product on the Foil Challenge Thread 

Emoji Key:

Spoiler

🐐 = GOAT = Greatest Of All Time (have gone through at least two of the particular product and other comparable items)

😘 = Chef’s Kiss = Outstanding 

❤️ = Love 

👍🏼= Like 
🫤= Okay; “It’s fine.”; “meh”

🔬 = Undecided = “Still looking into it”

🙊 = Not for me / my skin type

🙅🏻‍♀️ = ❌ = “No, non, nein, nyet, …” 

[Cissy63]

@itsfi  Hats off to you!  Wonderful job on working through all of these products!  Your pictures make them look so beautiful 😃

[Mellmars1185]

@itsfi You did amazing job with empties this past month! RIP to the plant. I will miss seeing it, but I know it will be replaced! I tend to overwater my indoor plants. I loved reading all of your feeback and seeing your photos. What stands out to you about the Rhode lip balm vs others?

[lmaster]

You did a phenomenal job @itsfi 

[peculiarzmakeup]

Beautiful empties the way you photograph is so amazing it really makes the products easy to see and stand out I love how you know and assess throughly what works for you and your emoji key is so useful. Total side note how is bloom I’ve seen it but don’t know much about it. Wonderful job! @itsfi 

[itsfi]

@peculiarzmakeup, thank you; that’s very good of you to say. I really like to see how a product works over time; it helps me to know how to maximize a product. 

About the Bloom powder, pros and cons, always , right? I like that I can buy a box with individually wrapped packets - it makes it easy to travel with, whether for a trip or just to keep in my purse to have with my lunch at work. I like that there are variety packs offered to, to mix it up a bit. 

This brand offers some of the better tasting powders but personally, they all run too sweet for me, but some flavors are not as sweet as other. That said, I still prefer this brand to the others I’ve tried so far - while those were not sweet they tasted too bland, dry, cardboard-y to me, if that makes sense. I’m still in my Goldilocks phase of trying to find the one that is “just right” for my taste buds (and that has what I’m looking for nutritionally).

I know others who like the Bloom powders because it is so sweet tasting. I’m someone who prefers no fruit, just greens in her green juice so that’ll shed some light into why I find these to be on the extra sweet side. Adding more water helps as does finding other things to mix this into - a green smoothie if I don’t have a lot of fruit in the house to add to it. 

[peculiarzmakeup]

Thank you so much for letting me know about it, I appreciate it a lot! I love sweets and greens so I might have to give it a try, individual packets sound nice too I wish they could do that with makeup like make individual “serving sizes” of foundation or blush so it can be spaced out that would be neat I wonder if something like that would ever happen 🙂 @itsfi 

[Samtian]

@itsfi Amazing job, rip plant. Stunning photos!

[itsfi]

Thank you @Samtian! I was happy to have more chances to pick up some good lighting - having the sun out longer helps. That’ll change soon enough so I’ll have to try to be more deliberate about when I take the photos, and where in the house too. 🤔 

[greeneyedgirl107]

@itsfi I've never seen empties photos so beautiful!  Great job!

[itsfi]

@greeneyedgirl107, thank you; that’s very nice of you to say. I was home more last month at times when the sun was out and coming through at a good angle for where I take most, if not all, of my empties shots. 

[CynthieLu]

Love to see a nice amount of 🐐's in your empties @itsfi and hearing about them too. 😉 Fantastic work this month!

[itsfi]

@CynthieLu, thank you. I am rotating through my repeated repurchases more frequently since I’ve been on more no and low buys.

[CynthieLu]

I'm so impressed by your willpower with the low buy/no buy. Truly. @itsfi I should be on a low/no buy but it's the season of fun releases. And I have poor strength for them, but I'm trying to master more thoughtful choices and that's been much more successful for me. I guess it's kind of a low buy mentality 😜

[itsfi]

@CynthieLu, thank you. It took me a long time to get consistent with keeping to my low / no buys, with a lot of trial and error for how to go about it, especially during the seasons or with products where I’m much more inclined to want a new release. 

I had many a lower buy period, even more of them coming about after a failed no buy or unsuccessful low buy time. 😆 True. I just reset and try again, looking at what caused the slip and trying to account for it the next low/no buy season. It’s a work in progress and some efforts are more fruitful than others. 

[CynthieLu]

I think I get better with practice and time as well, at least I hope I am. Everything does seem to be a work in progress and that's ok I think. As long as we keep learning and trying 🩷 @itsfi Your approach to these are sooo admirable.  Very thoughtful and mindful, that's where I want to be with my purchases too. 

[makeitup305]

Nicely done @itsfi ! You used up so much! Thanks for all you thoughts 😊