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

[CookieGirl1]

@Mellmars1185 no, do you like it pretty well?

[Mellmars1185]

@CookieGirl1 I like it a lot! I can't count how many bottles I have picker up over the years. It is what my hair needs. My hair is quite thin but textured. I find I don't need much hairspray to make my hair stay put. This one offers enough hold and flexibility. It is quite scented and I am fond of the fragrance.

[faeriegirl]

February empties

 ⬆️ Loves

 ⬆️ Good but won’t repurchase 

[lmaster]

Great job! @faeriegirl 

[ather]

@faeriegirl  Great job! Your hands must be so moisturized! So many masks!! 

[Mellmars1185]

@faeriegirl Wonderful work !

[itsfi]

February 2025 Empties

Month-To-Date = 19

Year-To-Date = 36

👍  VOLUSPA Goji & Tarocco Orange Glass Jar Candle  has a very fresh, bright fruity scent; a great pick me up scent

👍  Crown Affair The Leave-In Conditioner Cream for Hydrated Hair 5.1 oz/150 mL   has a pleasant citrusy-floral scent and does a nice job of detangling and making my hair feel soft and smooth. It's something I would be happy to use but not necessarily one I consider a must-have.

🐐  Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin™ Skin Barrier Moisturizing Cream  is becoming a year-round moisturizer for me, in the evening for some seasons and the morning in others. 

😘  There are a small handful of B&BW scents that I continue to pick up over the years and Bath & Body Works Winter Candy Apple is one of them. My most recent purchase of it came in the candle form and it did not disappoint. 

🐐  A bottle of Bioderma Sensibio H2O Micellar Water makes my empties post every year, usually more than once, especially since it's played a more significant role in my evening cleansing routine.

👍  I pick up one or two candles from Hudson | Grace every year and sometimes a supersized version, like this Hudson Grace Winter Candle, which is one of my favorites - it's a classic Christmas scent with its notes of balsam, cedar and firewood. 

👍  Dr. Jart Ceramidin Serum is another winning part of the brand's Ceramiding line. I'm not sure though that I necessarily need it given that the cream is one I can use on my skin year-round. That said, I can see this being a nice one for those who find the cream more rich than they prefer.

👍  Biossance Vitamin C Rose Brightening Moisturizer + Squalane 1.69 oz / 50 mL  is nice enough, but it's not my favorite moisturizer for my face. It works well though as a hand cream or body lotion.

🐐  Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Find Comfort Stop & Soothe Aromatherapy Pen 0.16 oz / 5 mL  has a mix of lavender and peppermint that I find calming and uplifting. I have less need for it but it's still one I appreciate having within my reach. 

🐐  Touchland Power Mist Hydrating Hand Sanitizer  are my go-to's and this limited edition, seaonal Salted Caramel scent is wonderful - smells just like you'd expect.

👍  alo Vitamin C Glow Shots are handy to have on hand when traveling or tucked in a drawer at the work desk or purse. 

😘  ONE/SIZE by Patrick Starrr Mini On 'Til Dawn Mattifying Waterproof Setting Spray  keeps makeup in place; with my skin being dehydrated and dry, I don't reach for this every day and when I do use it, it's best that I layer it with a hydrating mist to keep my skin happy.

😐  I have mixed feelings about the Moroccanoil Shower Gel Cleanser Spa du Maroc  - oddly, it smells better to my nose and on me from spring to early fall, but the patchouli and cloves in this one for some reason overwhelf the fruity notes here in the winter. 

👍  I like this Givenchy foundation, but alas, it's been discontinued; fortunately, I picked up a full size.

😐  I'm not sure about Prada Paradoxe Virtual Flower Eau de Parfum with Musk & Jasmine , with my uncertainty rooted in the divergent way the initial burst of fragrance comes through - love it when it's a bright, fresh, citrus scent but I can only take so much of it when the sharp metallic undertone comes through and lingers.

👍  #SEPHORA COLLECTION Gentle Exfoliating Peeling Serum with Niacinamide + Lactic Acid 1 oz / 30 mL (gratis) is, indeed, gentle. It's effective, too. It's one I would repurchase, and have. 

❤️  The INKEY List Hydrocolloid Invisible Patches 22 patches / pack  do a superb job at sucking the gunk out of a zit when the head surfaces. These patches are thin and have good sticking power. It's comparable to the Peace Out Acne Day Dots, but these come in two different sizes. These, for me, have actually surpassed the Peace Out dots in terms of their effectiveness and my preference.

Emoji Key:

Spoiler

🐐= product is a GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) in its category [I have a personal requirement that before a product receive this designation, I have to have finished a minimum of two of the product (with at least one being a full size).]

❤️ = Love

😘 = Like and would repurchase

👍 = Like but would not repurchase (at least not immediately), usually because I like another similar product more or because I have other similar products to work through before making a purchase

😐 = Lackluster = it's okay / meh, includes products that are fine enough but are not suitable for my particular skin / hair type or concerns

✖️ = No [This is usually given to a product that irritates my skin]

[ather]

@itsfi  How did I miss this post!!! Wow you got through so many candles! You are such an inspiration!! That Crown hair mask sounds amazing! 

How cool are those vitamin c packs! I can see how you would love to keep those in every bag or drawer! Someone sneezes near me and I’m sick so I bet those are so handy! 

[itsfi]

I had a bunch of candles in various states of use @ather - some with just a teensy amount left, others 1/3 - 1/2 - 1/4 left to use, and some brand new ones. I made a game out of it at the beginning of the year - grabbed a brand new candle, the large one, and then gathered most of the ones that were partially used and every week would burn at least one old one and the new one, seeing how many partially used ones I could go through before I burned through the larger new one. I've been trying to do a very thorough job of burning every bit of wax in the candles, even using a coffee mug warmer near the end of the candle's life. A little overkill but it has made cleaning the wax out of  component a lot easier. 

It's a long cold and flu season this year, and an earlier allergy season, too - I'm actually not sure what I am fighting at the moment - allergies or a cold, or a combination of both. 

[ather]

@itsfi  That sounds like a great game! I totally need to play this game!!!

Oh nooo. Not again. I hope you feel better soon. 

[Mellmars1185]

@itsfi You finished a lot of products in February! Very impressive for a short month. When you are not sure about a perfume scent, how do you push through wearing it? I appreciate your feedback on The Inkey List patches. I purchased the same ones a while ago and I am looking forward to trying them even more now after reading this (well not necessarily looking forward to the reason for using them 😆).

[itsfi]

@Mellmars1185, there were a couple of products where I said to myself "finally!!" when I finished them - they seemed like they were bottomless. 🤣 And a couple I've just had for a long time. Ha! 

If there's a scent that on its own is not something I find works well with my body chemistry, I will try a few things before giving it to someone else or donating it - (i) try it again in a different season (cooler vs. warmer months) or (ii) use it as a room fragrance - some scents aren't bad on their own, they just smell bad when mixed with my body chemistry 😔 or (iii) try layering or combining it with another fragrance. I have a bin with perfume bottles (sample and full size) that for one reason or another do not wear well on me on their own and that I have donated/given to someone else - your post is inspiring me to call it my "push through perfume" bin - I try not to keep too many perfumes in there at any given time because who wants to be spending all their time on fragrances that are meh or worse, don't smell good at all, when there are perfumes we have that we like?! 

I put on a post-it on the bottle or on an index card or a piece of paper the fragrance and season I wore it and what puts me off of it - too musky, can't smell anything, too smoky, too sweet, too powdery, not ___ (strong/fruity/florally) enough, etc. If there's something I do like about it, like the notes after it wears on my skin for few minutes, I'll note that as well. The notes aren't lengthy at all, just a quick word or two to help me know what I didn't like (or possibly what I like/can tolerate) about it.

If the fragrance on its own doesn't work as a room scent, then I'll either try it in a different season or try layering it with another scent - I don't have an order or priority for which I choose; it depends on the scent, I guess? If I'm going to try it in a different season, I put that in a separate mini Sephora bag or makeup bag that stays in the bin, with a note on the bag about when to try it again - fall/winter or spring/summer. 

For layering, I then pull out scents to try it with - usually in the evenings or on the weekends when I'm not around people all day long - if I find a scent off-putting to my nose, I don't want to put off people with it either. Hahaha! When it comes to layering, (1) I decide which perfumes I'll try pairing; (2) apply unscented lotion / body moisturizer / hand cream to the area where I'm going to wear the scent, a pulse point - the first time, it's usually my wrist. This will help the scent last longer / be more prominent which, I know, has its pros and cons, 😅; (3) spritz on the heavier of the two scents and let that sit for a little bit and then (4) apply the lighter of the two scents over the first one. This will hopefully keep the more heavy scent from overpowering the lighter one.

In terms of what scents I personally try combining, if a scent is too musky or smoky, I will usually try to combine it with a heavier vanilla scent as the vanilla can compete against heavier musky or smoky notes. At least for me. Or, if it's a smoky scent, I may also reach for something with a rose notes. You can also try pairing scents in the same family - vanilla scents, rose scents, or floral scents, fruity scents. 

[Mellmars1185]

@itsfi Thank you so much for the helpful information! I have one big shoe box of perfume samples. I find it overwhelming. I tend to reach for fresh scents and I have a few travel/full size bottles that I reach for often. I recently started layering two scents together. I never thought to layer the lighter scent over the heavier one. For some reason, I wad doing it the other way around. Thanks for the inspiration. I will try this method out soon when I not going to be around too many people. This sounds lik a fun experiment. 

[itsfi]

lol, I just get self-conscious @Mellmars1185 and I don't want to offend someone's sense of smell with something I was combining. 😬 So I just do it when there are not a lot of people around. I have this fear that I'm going to be that person who exits an elevator but an overly strong perfume lingers ... and lingers .. and ... 🤣

It makes sense how you were doing it - we're used to layering lightest to strongest, like with skincare products  or when painting. I think with fragrance though, layering from heaviest to lightest for most perfumes also has the benefit of being able to add additional spritzes of the lighter scent, if needed, without it being too much.

You'll have to let me know if you find a fragrance pairing that you like more together than the individual perfumes by themselves. There's a perfume store with a scent that on its own is just not for me, like it's truly a hard pass whenever I spritz it on wrist. BUT, literally, almost every other scent from that brand that II have tried layering it with? The combination is marvelous. 😂 It's a running joke among the sales associates. To the point where if a perfume is just meh to my nose, I'll spritz the hard pass one and then the meh scent over it and 9-1/2 out of 10 times the combination of the two scents smells great. 

[Mellmars1185]

@itsfi I feel the same way about scents. I can be self conscious about scents being overwhelming. It depends where I am also. 

I will let you know how the laying goes. Right now I am currently using DedCool Xtra Milk Eau de Parfum Travel Spray 0.5 oz / 15 ml eau de parfum spray  topped with #PHLUR Missing Person Eau de Parfum Travel Spray 0.32 oz / 9.5 mL . I like both scents on their own but also like them together. I think the Dedcool will be a great lighter scent to layer over the heavier ones that I want to start to test this technique out with.

I love that you have a running joke with the sales associates. They must know you well 🥰

[itsfi]

@Mellmars1185, Dedcool Milk is meant to be layered with other scents (but can certainly be worn on its own too); it's been called an "enhancer fragrance". Your post actually got me thinking - when I spray Dedcool Milk on myself, I don't really pick up any scent, much like when I apply Phlur Missing Person. However, when I layer DM with certain scents, it enhances certain notes within that other scent. I'm now wondering if MP would act the same way. Definitely going to give that a try - thanks so much for sharing your experiences with both. 😀  I'm going to look for my fragrance sample of MP. 

[lmaster]

@itsfi you did a fabulous job

[itsfi]

@lmaster, thank you! It's always nice to use up products I have. Slowly chipping away at the stash. 

[Samtian]

@itsfi Wow great job! Winter candy apple is such a good scent! I'm going to have to try those acne dots next. 

[itsfi]

@Samtian, after all these years, I've finally gotten to a place where there are just a small few B&BW scents that I restock or consider restocking (as opposed to restocking practically all the scents, lol) - Winter Candy Apple is one of them. I just picked up another box of TIL dots the other day, as a backup - I would love to never need these type of products again, but alas, since that is not likely to happen anytime soon 😣 these dots are good to have on hand. 

[CookieGirl1]

@itsfi great job on the Empties!  It sounds like you had some winners there :).