100 empties challenge part 3 – all about regret purchases

If you are like me who like to venture out and try different beauty products, you are bound to run into things that might work great for someone else but simply become an disappointing dud for you. In today’s post I will share 7 recent empties that did not work for me and I can probably only count these as 4 empties given that I didn’t really use up all (yep that tells you how much I dislike some of these) and some ae deluxe samples. 

• 100 empties challenge update: so far 11 are gone, 88 to go! 

About the challenge: in order to motivate myself to prioritize using up beauty products that I already have instead of purchasing new things to try out, I need to be on a low-buy/(no-buy already failed…) mode until I finish up 100 empties. 

Caveat: travel size products count as either half or 1/3 depending on the size. 

• Hair 

Schwarzkopf dry shampoo – oh my the smell is so overwhelmingly strong and artificial that I had to simply get rid of it after 2 uses and I’m not even extremely sensitive to smell. Definitely a regret buy.

John Frieda 7 day volume treatment 

This is not a bad product. I just have issues with its too-good-to-be-true claim to give your hair volume 7 days in a row. Please can you not treat us as believe-it-all stupid consumers? Plus I am too lazy to always reach for an additional hair treatment product when showering. I can see some results from using this so for those who doesn’t mind some extra work, I think you can get some use out of it. Simply a regret purchase for myself. 

• Skin treatment 

Liz Earle brightening treatment mask It’s a UK brand that’s on the affordable size that has great reviews in general. However this mask simply doesn’t agree with my skin type. It irritated my skin and even caused some breakouts yikes and it also smelled so artificial! Please no cheap fragrance smell in skincare products! Definitely a dud for me.

First aid beauty radiance pads

I liked this at first but then maybe because there are travel packs and are not fully sealed, the pads are drier and feel a bit harsh on the skin and I didn’t really see an obvious result from using these. Do not like them. 

• Cleansers

Second Sunday Riley cleansing type of product I’ve tried and I am disappointed by both (the other being the blue moon cleansing balm).  The texture is a bit odd and yes I did shake it before using as instructed. I started to fall in love with gel cleansers in the summer time and had high hopes for this cleanser. But it’s not a pleasant experience using it and the smell is overwhelming (this time not fragrance just some artificial herbal smell). I also don’t feel this cleansed my face well at night as a second cleanse.

Caudalie micellar water

I think I have less of an issue with the water itself but more with the packaging. Due to the big opening, I used up half of a bottle at one use as I was used to thoughtful packaging opening from my favorite micellar water brand Bioderma. So I only used half of a bottle and it’s just okay anyways. 

Grande primer Eyelash primer 

White eyelash primers are just a hassle for me. I don’t wear too dramatic of a look and a good volumizing and lengthening mascara is usually good enough for me. This also dried out quite fast.  

Hope you enjoyed reading this post and I had helped you dodge a few duds 🙂

100 empties part 2 – travel skincare & makeup empties

I think I’m probably the last person on earth to know that the 100 ml restriction with travel liquid is applicable to a SINGLE item, not the total volume of all one’s items. For the longest time, I only dared bringing foil packet samples when I travel as I just couldn’t get everything adding up to below 100 ml!….

This is the first international trip I had after I learned about the actual truth with travel liquid and I was beyond excited to bring so many travel size products. I wanted to share with you what I brought on my trip and my reviews on these.

This is also my part 2 of 100 empties post series. I am on low/no buy of beauty products until I hit 100 empties. For travel size products, 3-5 count as 1 depending on size. I’ve used up 3 more items. Total as of 8/19: 8 done, 92 to go!

Serums:

• Bareminerals vital power infusion

I was pleasantly surprised by this serum as BareMinerals has only recently launched its skincare line. This serum comes out very watery and lightweight. But somehow it provides intense hydration that you can feel immediately upon application. I used it at night after the Shiseido serum below and I don’t need to use a cream afterwards.

Repurchase? Not in the near future as this is probably better suited in colder weather for my combination skin.

• Shiseido power infusion concentrate

I’ve heard a lot of good reviews on this concentrate and I was very impressed. This is an extremely lightweight concentrate that is recommended to use prior to other treatment as more of a base serum. It gets instantly absorbed into the skin that I tend to overuse it a lot! It has a pleasant GreenTea like refreshing smell that I miss after using mostly scent free skincare products. It helped keep my sometime problematic skin at bay.

Repurchase? Yes! I will definitely be buying the full size bottle. It’s good to use as the only serum in the morning and layer with other serums at night for my combination skin.

Cleanser:

• Peter Thomas Roth anti-aging gel cleanser

Let’s forget about the anti-aging claim. I don’t buy it for a second that any cleanser that stays on your skin for the shortest amount of time can help with your aging concern (beauty brands can we just not try that gimmicky name again?). However, ingredients do matter so you don’t irritate your skin and the cleansing experience matters as well as it’s the first and probably one of the most enjoyable steps in one’s skincare routine. This cleanser has good ingredients, a very pleasant non-overwhelming fruity smell, is of medium weight and turns into liquid nicely upon mixing with water, so it sort of hits all the good points with a cleanser. However, I find it just a tiny bit too thick for my combination skin in summer time. I think those with normal to dry skin will like it a lot.

Repurchase? No. It’s a good product but just not the best for my skin type.

Body:

• The Body Shop almond milk & honey shower cream

I bought this during my trip and I don’t like it. If you read my reviews above and think that I just have a low bar for scent as I like both the scent of the Shiseido serum and the PTR cleanser, you’re wrong. This scent seems to be popular judging from people’s reviews. However, this is too sweet and overwhelming for my taste. It almost feels artificial to me. As a shower cream, it’s hydrating enough, but I also don’t feel as if it helps clean my body thoroughly.

Repurchase? No and I don’t think I will buy any Body Shop shower products based on this experience.

Lips:

• Supergoop lip balm with SPF 35
• Akar lip tint

I used the Supergoop lip balm during the day as it has SPF (yes your lips need SPF too) and the Akar lip tint at night. I like both. The Supergoop lip balm has a sunscreen like note of scent, which is sort of inevitable if you want the protection. It is a thicker gel, so it provides a decent level of hydration while it wears nicely under a liquid lipstick.

The Akar lip tint has a nice fruity scent and is insanely hydrating that lasts a few hours on your lips. It also adds a subtle healthy tint to your lips.

Repurchase? They are both good products but I don’t think I will buy any new lip products before I use up my current stash of products.

Eyes

• Olay pro retinol eye treatment

Based on my recent experience, Olay has quickly become probably the only drugstore skincare brands that doesn’t disappoint. I’ve used so many eye products including those with hefty price tags. While I still love and use these in my collection, I was very happy with adding this Olay eye cream to my morning skincare routine. This is not too heavy and layers nicely with eye makeup, and does help with treating dry, fine lines under the eyes.

Repurchase? Maybe in the future. I still need to go through my other eye creams first.

Makeup

• Nars creamy concealer in Vanilla

This is the travel size tube and I was surprised how dry this has become as I probably opened this about 5 months ago. I guess that means the shelf life of this concealer is only around 6 months as I used to like it when I first tried it.

Repurchase? No. I have other concealers and if I have to try another one from Nars, it will be the round jar matte one that everyone was raving about.

Sunscreens

• Shiseido urban environment sun protection cream SPF 40 for face & body

Shiseido is one of my favorites brands and it makes reliable sunscreens. This one is relatively new and is not my favorite sunsccreens from the brand. It has an overwhleming typical sunscreen scent and it will leave a white cast over your face. I use this on my arms and it offers solid sun protection.

Repurchase? No.

• Coola classic sunscreen white tea moisturizer SPF 50

Unlike the Shiseido sunscreen, this one has a much nicer scent and feels light weight and non-greasy on the face despite its claim of SPF 50. It leaves a quite unnoticeable white cast over the face, and is one of the better sunscreens I’ve tried this year. The coola brand also uses organic ingredients that are mostly extracted from plants, which is another plus.

Repurchase? Not in the near future as I have a lot of suncreens to go through in my collection and I also have found a holy grail sunscreen from Elta MD that I plan to repurchase again and again 🙂

Thanks for stopping by! Let me know what’s your favorite beauty item you usually bring with you when you travel.