Happy New Year everybody! I wish you all the best, lots of health and happiness! I wish you only good skin and good hair days every single day:)
Here I am again after a long hiatus I took from my blog. This is definitely not how I had imagined my stash decrease blogs would look like in 2021. But then again, it never turns out as we planned, right? So without further ado, here are my empties collected since end of July when I posted my last update. As you see, the pile is huge and that’s why this post will not be like the updates with reviews I usually publish. It would probably turn into the novel like Joyce’s Ulysses or Tolstoy’s War and Peace if I wrote about each and every product I emptied during past months.
Since this post is not like the others, I will also start differently than I use to do. It means that I will begin with the purchases I made during last months.
As you might have expected and suspected, I bought myself few things. Since I’m writing this post in January, this pile contains inevitably some Black Friday hauls and I splurged a lot this year (despite of my no-buy). I must admit, I feel very silly each time I mention no-buy or low-buy when my shopping habits demonstrate the opposite.
This is what I bought:
- Cleansers – Then I met you Living cleansing balm, Glow Recipe Papaya Sorbet Enzyme cleansing balm and the newest Youth To The People Superberry dream cleansing balm, Farmacy Green clean cleansing balm, Vanicream Gentle cleanser for sensitive skin, Summer Fridays Super amino cleanser from SF kit, The Ordinary squalane cleanser 50ml,
- MisshaTime Revolution Artemisia Treatment essence mist,
- Eye creams: Shiseido Benefiance Anti-wrinkle smoothing eye cream, ROC Retinol correxion line smoothing eye cream 15ml , The Ordinary Caffeine solution 5% + EGCG
- Acid and active treatments: The Inkey List Succinic acid blemish treatment, Geek & Gorgeous C Glow and B-Bomb serums, The Ordinary Azelaic acid 10% suspension, Summer Fridays CC me vitamin C serum 15ml, Paula’s Choice Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid exfoliation 118ml
- Moisturizers and sunscreens: ELTA MD UV daily broad spectrum spf40 facial sunscreen, Youth to the People Adaptogen Deep moisture cream in travel size, SVR Cicavit+ Creme spf50+ Soin apaisant reparateur, Ultra Violette mini set that contains Supreme Screen Hydrating Facial Skinscreen SPF 50+ (15ml) and Queen Screen Lightweight Skinscreen SPF50+ (10ml), Summer Fridays Cloud Dew Oil-free gel cream 15ml, and last but not least, one Croatian product, Skintegra Cica-Cera.
And now, here are my empties starting with cleansers:
Since I do the double cleansing every single day and I wash my face in morning with the gel cleanser, I tend to empty lots of cleansers. So, since the end of July, I emptied: Make P:rem Low-irritant and mild acid foam 20ml which I honestly didn’t like a lot since it burned my eyes terribly on the first use, Indie Lee Brightening cleanser 20ml which I liked and would purchase a full size definitely, 2 jars of Farmacy Green clean cleansing balm (100 ml and 50ml) which is not here in my empties for the first time, Tosowoong Enzyme powder which lasted for years and is now discontinued, Fresh Soy face cleanser, The Vegan Glow Mild foam cleanser that I got in Iherb discovery kit and which didn’t leave an impression on me, The Body Shop Camomille Sumptuous cleansing butter which checks all the boxes when it comes to an excellent cleansing balm, but unfortunately is no longer available at local TBS, Physician’s Formula The Perfect matcha 3 in 1 Melting cleansing balm which was fine.
Cleansers – 9 empties
When it comes to toners, I have radically decreased the use of those, so since August I have only emptied 2 toners and both in travel or luxury sample size bottles: Rovectin Skin Essentials Activating Treatment lotion which was part of my 3-months empties post and is very hydrating, makes my skin fuller and plumper and can stand by my favourite hyaluronic lotion, Hada Labo and Laneige Cream skin refiner 30ml which is great hybrid of toner/moisturizer, rich and nourishing and can replace a moisturizer for some skin types.
Toners and mists – 2 empties
Although I do have a lot of products in this category, with consistent use, I get to empty quite few of them, especially niacinamide serums and vitamin C serums. So I emptied: Melano CC serum which I use every now and then since the beginning of my Kbeauty skincare journey, Tiam Vita B3 source which was one of my favourite niacinamide serums, but for some reason, I didn’t enjoy this bottle as usual, as it turned to be somewhat sticky and greasy which wasn’t the case with previous bottles, Trilogy Vitamin C booster treatment 5ml which I used during a week away from home and it lasted exactly a week, Tiam My signature red serum with which I had an accident while opening it, it foamed out of bottle like it passed through quick fermentation so I lost a half of bottle, it stung my skin from time to time, but had an amazing brightening effect, Good Molecules niacinamide serum which one of my new favourite niacinamide serums and I’m currently using the 2nd bottle, Summer Fridays CC me vitamin C serum 15ml which I quite liked and would like to buy a full size, Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA liquid exfoliant 30ml which does great job in clearing complexion and removing blackheads and which I have already purchased in full size, The Inkey List Bakuchiol which is a repeater in my empties and which I use as a serum/moisturizer in my morning routine under sunscreen, Dr Dennis Gross Alpha Beta peel Extra strength 5pcs pack which are awesome peeling pads and contrary to the their scary extra strength part in the name are mild, but yet extremely effective and will definitely be part of my routine again, Sweet Chef Kale + Vitamin B serum mini size which has terrible packaging a.k.a dropper that cannot pick up the product at all since it is thick serum.
Acids and active treatments – 10 empties
Together with active and acid treatments, the category of essences is the category where I do not do much of significant change in stash quantity. Since last update I emptied: Benton Snail Bee high content essence 15ml which is decent snail essence, but still not excellent enough to replace my favourite snail essence (Cosrx 92 snail essence), Huxley Secrets of Sahara Essence: Grab water 5ml, part of Huxley kit that contains 4 essences, Missha Time Revolution The first treatment essence RX 30ml which I quite like and which is perfect beginning of every routine, Claires Guerisson 9 complex essence 65ml which is one of my favourite essences for winter time and Primera Miracle seed essence 30ml which I love for its deep moisturising effect and would repurchase any time if I wasn’t working on stash decrease. I gifted Celimax Real sedum essence to my sister.
Essences – 6 empties
I know I have a big stash of moisturizers and sunscreens, but I use both on a daily basis few times a day, so I go quite fast through my stash. Here are the moisturizers and sunscreens I emptied since end of July: The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA which is ok, but it does not provide enough care for my 40-something year old skin, Eyenlip Hyaluronic Acid water drop which is perfect light moisturizer for summer which turns into water when in contact with the skin and whose name suits it perfectly since it is really a huge hydration drop to the skin (the only bad thing is terrible, lingering scent it has), Sunday Riley Ice Cream 5ml which I got in an Asos box, it is a thick nourishing moisturizer perfect for winter and for drier skins, Biossance Squalane + Omega repair cream 15ml which is just perfect for my skin providing enough moisture and nourishment, leaving the skin soft and smooth and happy, First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream 28ml which has a perfect whipped cream texture, but still nourishes nicely the skin. I used up lots of sunscreens: Garnier Ambre Solaire Anti-dark spots & anti-pollution super UV spf50+ which I really liked in general and would repurchase again, Ultra Violette Supreme screen hydrating facial skinscreen spf50 which is one of the best performing sunscreens I have ever tried (with the nice texture, absorption, finish and feeling on the skin, the way it performs under the make up, protection); I have bought a mini set which contains it, but will definitely repurchase full size, Elta MD UV Daily broad spectrum spf40 facial sunscreen which is 2nd best I tried this year, but being only sold in USA it is very difficult for me to get my hands on it, SVR Blur sun secure spf50 which I didn’t like and which was too mattifying and not enough moisturizing for my skin,
Moisturizers and sunscreens – 9 empties
During last months, I have been masking rarely (except wearing the face masks that became our routine), so I only emptied Make P:rem Wonderful me in-shower face pack which I actually decluttered due to the fact that I kept it for far too long in my shower.
Wash-off masks – 1 empty
Since I use regularly an eye-cream, both in morning and night routine, I ended up emptying Bobbi Brown Extra Repair eye cream which is one of my all-time favourite eye creams and Berrisom The prestige Balancing eye serum which I was using in my morning routine and which was great for plumping, depuffing and smoothing my eye area while working great under make up.
Eye creams and eye masks – 2 empties
And here is a recap of my empties since my last blog: 9 cleansers / 2 toners / 10 acid and active treatments / 6 essences / 1 serum / 9 moisturizers and sunscreens / 1 wash-off mask / 2 eye-creams /
Empties (August – December 2021): 40 empties + 2 sheets masks
YTD Total: 70 empties + 9 sheets masks
So, at the end of December 2021, here is the summary of my cosmetic stash:
- 15 cleansers (7 in, 9 out)
- 11 toners and mists (1 in, 2 out)
- 26 acid & active treatments (6 in, 10 out)
- 13 essences (6 out)
- 5 serums / ampoules (1 out)
- 2 emulsions
- 26 moisturizers and sunscreens (7 in, 9 out)
- 4 sleeping packs
- 10 facial oils
- 19 wash-off masks (1 out)
- 4 eye creams and eye masks (3 in, 2 out)
- 72 sheet masks (2 out)
So, in the period from August till December 2021, I used up skincare products in value of 470,99 USD or 427,03 EUR
YTD total: 1.040,77 USD or 936,32 EUR
Till next time, stay healthy and beautiful!