I'm Feeling Empty - Part 3

I lied. Before 2011 comes to an end, I want to pump out one last empties post for 2011 so that next year will start on a fresh slate. Plus, neither part 1 or 2 features any makeup (excluding mascaras) but part 3 will!

Up first are the skincare empties:


Avène Thermal Spring Water - I finished a much larger size early in the year which made an appearance in Pt. 1 but this travel sized lasted much longer (say what?!). It's a staple, much better than the Evian spray but I'm going to branch out next year.

St. Ives Naturally Clear Green Tea Cleanser - Too drying and strongly scented. In the end, I used it as a brush and wash cloth cleanser. This happens to all bleh facial cleansers.

MAC Volcanic Ash Thermal Mask - When did the Volcanic Ash collection last come out? Well whenever it was that's how long I've had it for. The tube is actually 50% full but I'm tossing it. Never EVER listening to the certain Youtube guru that raved so highly about this mask ever again. It's expensive and.. IT DOES NOTHING AT ALL.

Fresh Soy Face Cleanser - Technically, this was the SO's and it was about 1/5th full when he left it with me to finish. Absolutely hate the smell which is very much like an ebi sunomono. The consistency kind of grosses me out too; reminds me of boogers and slime.

Etude House AC Clinic Acne Foam Cleanser - Almost as good as my beloved HadaLabo Tamagohada Face Wash but this one stings my eyes. Strangely enough, I enjoy the Glysomed-like scent.

The Body Shop Vitamin E Moisture Cream - Nooooo! This is my last travel sized tub of this cream. At first I didn't think it was worth it is. It has saved me from a lot of scarring. Must repurchase this ASAP in case of emergencies!

Murad Sensitive Skin Soothing Serum - Seems like all the Murad products I've tried finish off extra quickly. If you haven't already read my full review, don't bother. In short - I don't recommend this serum.

Hair Care:


Earlier this year I made a P5P for shampoo's & conditioners. Well, I broke that project but I finished everything but the humongous Shiseido Tsubaki conditioner. Since I also finished a few other hair products this year, I'll say the P5P was successful. Hurray!

Essential Nuance Air Shampoo and Treatment - A year after I bought this pair, Kao reformulated the line. Not sure how the new formula compares but the shampoo was very meh. The SO loved how the shampoo smelled but all it reminds me of is the $12 Cut & Wash salons. Read: cheap hairspray.

John Freida Frizz Ease Serum - I'm trying to cut out silicone's from my hair products so after I finish my back up of this serum, I'll be leaving John Freida behind. Can't believe I used to call this stuff HG - it did nothing for me this fall!

Body Care:

Vaseline Intensive Rescue Extra Strength - Be gone! Finally finished off the LAST bottle of the Intensive Rescue. The first bottle made an appearance in Pt. 1 and the last bottle makes an appearance in Pt. 3. Good riddance, I hate this lotion but the SO loves it. Must convert him to something animal friendly next year!

The Body Shop Raspberry Ripple Bath & Shower Gel - The scent, oh the scent! If you like raspberry and cotton candy, this is a sweet mix. I want to gulp this shower gel down - it smells that good but burping out bubbles isn't lady like. Plus, I hate the taste of soap. How people willingly eat soap candies baffles me...

Makeup Removers:

There was a P7P made earlier this year on all make up removers in my stash. Well, I broke that project too... I know, I'm horrible BUT I finished all but one remover which was the humongous bottle of Shu Uemura's cleansing oil. I'll also claim this as a successful run because I finished a few new makeup removers.

Kracie Naive Cleansing Oil - This is a good cleansing oil and far better than the cult favourite  Shu Uemura cleansing oils. For no more than $15, I'd buy this again but it's hard to get a hold of. I bought this of YesAsia.com almost two years ago!

Marcelle Essentials Purity Soothing Cleansing Water - Read Rae's review on the Marcelle cleansing water and I jumped aboard the cleansing water train. Best enabled purchase of 2011!!

Yes To Cucumbers Hypoallergenic Facial Towelettes - The pack probably has about 20 left but into the trash they go. This year I have learnt a lot about myself like how I despise cucumber scented products. Aside from the awful vegetable scent these towelettes strung my face red. That's no good!

Miscellaneous:

OPI Matte Nail Envy - MUST review this nail strengthener! Forget about Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle Salon Strengthening Treatment, Nail Envy is 100x better. It's slightly more expensive but ooooooh so much better. Yeah, I seriously need to review this soon.

eos Medicated Lip Balm in Tangerine - Where is the tangerine scent in this lip balm? WHERE? eos has some of the best smelling drugstore lip balms around but Tangerine is not it. None of the eos

Masks:


A stack of empty My Beauty Diary mask packs. This collection started back in August (or September?) and up until today there are 17 masks here. That is nearly one used each week up until today! They all smell amazing and hydrate well but my favourite is the new My Beauty Diary mask in Royal Jelly. 

Samples:

Who else is swimming in samples? I still have a drawer full of samples but these were the first ones I decided to clear out. None of them were impressive enough to warrant future purchases but that's all good because I clearly do not need anything for a long, long time.

And what everyone has been waiting for.... the makeup!

Too Faced Eyeshadow (depotted) - This eyeshadow is from the Too Faced Naughty or Nice palette which came out in 2009(?). It's a beige eyeshadow that I used as an all over colour. After 2 years, it's FINALLY finished. This is the first eyeshadow I have ever finished but truth be told, I don't think the pan it was held in was all that big... *hangs head*

Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer - Not bad but the Sonia Kashuk Radiant Tinted Moisturizer is better and cheaper. Good thing I never splurged on the full size!

Baviphat Magic Girls Plus BB Cream - I won this on an eBay auction earlier this year. Funny how I finished this one first but not the other dozen BB cream samples I've had since 2010. Then again, Magic Girls Plus is the only BB cream that matched my skin tone!

Skin79 Diamond The Prestige BB Cream - Grey. Grey. Grey. Next!

Too Faced Shadow Insurance - So... this eyeshadow primer is still 50% full but I've had it since December... of 2009. Now to go through the two back ups. In my defense, the back ups came with two Too Faced palettes I have. - I don't hoard that badly, really!

Shiseido Eyeliner - Tossing this. It's from 5 years ago, need I say more?

Clinique Quickliner For Eyes - There is no way I could ever finish up a full sized eyeliner which is why I'll admit the Quickliner is a sample. The sample lasted three uses but each time it would smudge.

Wait! There's more! 


Mascaras galore! These are all of the mascaras I have used this year; nearly one tube per month. It seems kind of wasteful but I had to toss half of it due to a) flaking b) smudging c) curl killing.

My favourite mascaras out of the bunch:
Kiss Me Heroine Make Long & Curl -  Long & Curl is a waterproof mascara that volumizes, lengthens, and holds a curl. It will flake later in the day but there is virtually no smudging. Two words: HOLY GRAIL.

Imju Dejavu Fiberwig - Fiberwig will forever be my favourite lengthening mascara and it's so fun to remove too!

Prestige My Longest Lashes - My Longest Lashes deserves an honorable mention. While it isn't waterproof and it smudges (only a little), it thickened my lashes and held a curl better than any other Western mascara I've tried all year.

Pheeeewf, all done! After all of this emptying and tossing I realized the tallying system needs to be revised but only slightly. From now on, every two travel/deluxe sample sized items will equal to one full size and every ten sample packets will equal to a full sized product. 
In total, there is 20 sample packets, 10 deluxe samples, and 11 full size which equals to... *drum roll* ... 20 empties (37 if you including the sheet masks!) and 9 tossed! 

Sweet relief! Now I feel a whole lot less guilty about the never-ending shopping & splurges since November. Until next year (for serious this time)!

I've Got Mail - December 2011

December has been an unbelievably amazing month, even more so than November!
The month kicked off with my one year anniversary with the SO and the following day I had the greatest pleasure of meeting Dani and Tracy (two very cool Lipstick Bandits).
The amazing-ness didn't stop there of course. I also received a bunch of packages!

From Beauty Crazed:

Ummmmmmm.... So I won the Beauty Crazed Fall contest winner... The SO mentioned with all these "wins" this year, people would start to think I'm hacking the contests in some way. I AM NOT, I SWEAR! But er, enough about this prize. Staring at it makes me feel guilty!

From Sigma:


 Sigma was offering free worldwide shipping for Cyber Monday so I ordered the F80. The reviews aren't wrong - this brush is good. It gives my $46 Sephora brush a run for it's money.

From Sasa:


Sasa had free shipping again so I ordered two back ups and a new facial wash. It took two visits to the post office to finally get my package. The first time I went the worker said I came a day too early but the delivery notice clearly stated that my package would be available on that day. What a waste of my time but better my time wasted than having my package lost or stolen!

Lastly, the last package of the year from the awesome SO:








This is by far the best package from the SO this year. The Urban Decay Naked2 palette is an anniversary gift and a great one at that. Then we've got miscellaneous online steals, Sephora orders, Cyber Monday orders - the usual.

It's been a crazy month year, no? Words can not describe the happiness I feel. I am so grateful for everyone I've "met" through blogging this year. Hopefully I meet many more of my beauty blogger friends in 2012! Thank you all for continuously supporting Make Up Kismet, see you next year!

Dear Not-So-Secret Santa,

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

We were finally allowed to open our gifts this week and Jamilla, my Secret Santa, gifted me the Nars Yorokobi Super Orgasm Set!




Technically, Jamilla got me my first ever Nars makeup because her package came before the SO's (more on that in I've Got Mail - December). Can you tell everything is miniature sized? The blush, lip gloss, and nail polish fit in my tiny hand with room to spare. I absolutely love this set, it's too cute for words!

Thank you (again and again), Jamilla. You have made Christmas extra sparkly for me!

If you want to see what Jamilla got from her Secret Santa or what I got for my Secret Santa-receiver(??), check out the rest of us:
D (my Secret Santa-receiver/gift getterer...)
Evie
Jamilla
Jian
Kat
Lulu
Rosalia
Vicky
Yinnie
Vonnie

It's Mine and I'm Never Letting Go!

Do you have that one amazing, limited edition (or not), beautiful makeup treasure you have always wanted? The one that has been on your wishlist since forever? Of course you do and so do I!

When I found out of the Urban Decay Book of Shadows - early in my makeup collecting years - the Alice in Wonderland (Vol. II) was the first limited edition palette I had ever wanted.
By the time I had hopped onto the Urban Decay train, I was too late and missed my chance on the palette. Until now that is!


The palette goes for $90, brand new and in box, on e(vil)Bay but I paid $40 for mine through Sheila's blog sale. It's not new but it's in fantastic condition. Look at it!


*sigh* So, so, so, so beautiful. After years of lusting for it, it's finally mine. All mine! If there was ever a fire, I'd grab this palette before running to safety. I love it that much.

Do you have a special treasure you could only dream of owning one day? What ever it is, I hope you two find each other and live happily ever after!

Review: Soulstice Spa Vegan Nail Polish in Montreal

The sponsored swag bag at the VBB meet up covered all my bases - nails, makeup, and skincare. Stephen from Nail Polish Canada provided two nail polishes by Soulstice Spa; a vegan, cruelty-free, Big 3-free nail polish brand. In my bag was Odessa and Montreal but today I'll only be featuring Montreal.

Soulstice Spa names each polish after a city or place across the world. Montreal is a rich deep purple that is absolutely fitting for the colder seasons. Whether or not the colour matches the city, I think it's a cute idea and the fact that Montreal is a one coater (two if I'm sloppy) melts my heart even more.


Montreal; 2 coats
The downside is the drying time (a full hour) and signs of tip wear show by the second day. A quick-drying top coat fixes the problem easily but it's something to think about.

Overall, Soulstice Spa is a good brand to look into if you're interested in vegan polishes. At $8.50 a pop, it's not the greatest pricing but obviously not the worst. It's worth the investment especially if you're sensitive to certain ingredients.

* Product in this post was provided in the Vancouver Beauty Bloggers Swag Bag. I am not obligated to write a review nor compensated. All opinions are my own. 

Dear (Secret) Santa,

I found your present under the Christmas tree in the mail box a week ago and now I'm itching to know who you are and what's inside this lovely package....

It's a daily struggle trying not to rip open my present but I can do this! Only 18 more days to go...

Thank you Secret Santa!

Hoarders: Lipsticks Edition

If there's one makeup product I don't own much of, it has to be lipsticks. They aren't my favorite makeup to play with but of course that doesn't stop me from hoarding them...

The Stash:


Count: 14.

In my defense, most of my lipsticks were free! But maybe 14 is a lot for a gal who doesn't wear lipstick often. And no thanks to the Lipstick Bandits, I now want to expand the stash. Thankfully I've got willpower... No really, I do! I'll be sticking to tinted lip balms and stains from now on. They're just so much more easy going!

Now it's your turn, tell me your lipstick count. No judgement here, promise!

Review: Marcelle Hydra-C 24H Energizing Hydrating Gel

My love for gel moisturizers will never die. I believe everyone should have at least one favorite/holy grail-status gel moisturizer that works all year round. My holy grail was the Clinique Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief but that's all changed because of Marcelle's Hydra-C 24H Energizing Hydrating Gel.

F.Y.I. Marcelle is a Canadian brand garnering a lot of attention lately. I'll admit the brand hasn't been high on my "to try" list but their hydrating gel has converted me. They'll also be the first Canadian brand to launch their own BB cream!

But first, let me draw you in with the Hydra-C 24H Energizing Hydrating Gel (what a mouthful!). Marcelle's hydrating gel contains cucumber, green tea extracts, Vitamin C and E; all good ingredients you should find in any moisturizer. The formula is refreshing and lightweight but the texture isn't a runny which I prefer. I find firm jelly-like moisturizers plump up my skin better. The bonus(es)? The gel is non-sticky, non-greasy, and unscented. This makes it the perfect 5 minute moisture mask and I can use it to top up on make up on drier days without ruining it.

Price wise - $23.95 - it's not great but more affordable than my previous holy grail and it works just the same. Thus, I won't be going back to Clinique Moisture Surge, ever.

Bottom Line:
Marcelle is always going on sale at Shoppers Drug Mart and London Drugs but don't hesitate trying this jar of gel-love at full price. I promise you won't find anything better, highly recommend this one!

Ingredients

* Product in this post was provided in the Vancouver Beauty Bloggers Swag Bag. I am not obligated to write a review nor compensated. All opinions are my own.