It's that time of the month where I share what items I finished up. April was particularly slow for me but I went through 15 items! A lot of them are even full sized #proud. We'll start with makeup since this is a makeup blog after all ;) May is probably going to be a slower month since I'm currently focused on finals and such but we'll see.
{MAKEUP}
I had a stye earlier last month so I had to toss all the mascaras I was using. The Heroine Make Long & Curl Mascara is a great one for short, thin and sparse lashes. It holds my curl, lengthens and separates my lashes. On my lashes, I didn't notice any extra volumizing; adding mascara does make my lashes look thicker just by the nature of the product so it didn't do much in that department. Best of all, it didn't smudge on me unless I was hardcore sweating or crying in the heat so a big thumbs up--will repurchase once I go through a few more mascaras. The Tarte Gifted Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara (unboxing) wasn't my favorite when I started using it. I needed way more coats than my usual to get to my desired look that my arm started to get tired. It was a bit finicky; some days, it would smudge more and other days, it wouldn't smudge at all. It ticks all my boxes: lengthening and separating, and it also does a great job of volumizing my lashes. Glad that I already have the full size in storage! Mascara is personal so what works for me, might not work for you and vice versa. Having given that disclaimer, the Revlon Grow Luscious Plumping Waterproof Mascara (review) was a disaster on me. I picked it up hoping it would thicken my lashes over time but there's a tiny disclaimer on the box that says it cannot grow lashes. The wand is larger than what I'm used to so I ended up getting mascara on my top lid if I wasn't careful. When I first got it, the formula was so wet and it smudged like crazy on me, despite the waterproof claim. Since the formula was so wet, it clumped my teeny lashes together, making it seem like I had triangle clumps for lashes. Once it had time to dry out, the mascara smudged and clumped less but was not what I had in mind. Won't be repurchasing this!
I wanted a pencil to fill in my brows and a gel to hold all my work together so the Revlon Brow Fantasy was the perfect 2-in-1 product for me. As a starter product, it functions properly. The pencil is softer than I would like so if I wasn't careful, I would get Sharpie brows. The gel on the other hand, didn't seem to hold my brows down but did add a nice tint on days where I was too lazy to do the whole routine. The color Dark Brown is strikes a good balance between warmth and depth of color. It's not red but isn't ashy on me, matching my hair color perfectly. My complaint is that the pencil went faster than the gel and that after a while, it gets hard to pick up the gel. Mine looks full but it's completely gone in the center; what you see is what's stuck on the tube but can't be picked up by the brush. Instead of wrestling with it every morning, I've moved onto the Benefit Gimme Brow.
Who remembers using Lip Smackers as a young child?? That was all my mom let me use and since it had a slight red tint, I felt so grown up. I've had this same tube since freshman year of high school so it was definitely time to let go of this. This one is Strawberry and the taste is just like it! It was great as a thick lip moisturizer for nighttime but the smell is off so it's sayonara. Would I repurchase? Maybe for sentimental reasons but I have tons of lip balms to go through at the moment. Speaking of lip balms, I'm devastated to say goodbye to my Maybelline Baby Lips in Quenched. I only got a few uses before I washed and dried my jeans--with this in it! It's unsalvageable because the balm has melted everywhere but in the twist up mechanism--d'oh. My lips get so chapped throughout the day so I like to add this clear balm over the top to prevent that from happening. Since it is so lightweight, it doesn't move the product underneath and adds a nice shine without the gloopy feeling of lipgloss. I don't want to buy another but I will repurchase as summer rolls around; this contains SPF 20 which is rare for lip balms these days.
{BODY, HAIR, SCENTS & NAILS}
It's taken me a year and a half to use up the Jergens Soothing Aloe Refreshing Moisturizer but I did it! When my grandmother was healing after a bad fall, I applied this for her after her showers. When I had to return to school, I bought this for sentimental reasons. The scent is refreshing without being overpowering. Doesn't remind me of aloe whatsoever but the feeling of it on my skin does. The slight green tint didn't transfer onto skin that way and the formula absorbed quickly so I can put my clothes on right after. It did help my itchy area on my thigh but didn't keep the itch away all day. The only lotion that did that is the Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion and the Gold Bond Ultimate Skin Healing Therapy Lotion so I'd probably repurchase the Gold Bond once I go through my current stash of body butters, lotions, etc. Continuing with the body products, I used up another Simple Pleasure Shower Gel in Lily & Hyacinth. I pretty much use up one or two every month since I need a lot of the gel to get a decent lather and cleanse. This scent is my favorite one yet. I'm not fond of the smell of lilies and I have no recollection of what hyacinths are supposed to smell like but I am fond of the gardenia scent. Gardenias remind me of my mom so I love it in everything. I wouldn't repurchase because I go through it so quickly but if you have gardenia-scented products to recommend, send them to me!
I don't like to fuss with my hair. Most days, it's a wash-and-go kind of styling. I bought the TRESemmé Heat Tamer Spray during my senior year of high school to style my own hair for prom. I still have some left but I dispensed it into a different bottle since the nozzle on the original bottle malfunctions. I like how it has a locking mechanism to prevent accidental sprays when I travel but TSA always opens the bottle to check the contents and forgets to close it properly, causing most of the contents to spill into the rest of my suitcase. I'm all for protecting my hair as much as possible and since I don't heat style my hair often, I don't know if it makes a difference or not. I don't get split ends after heat styling so it might be doing something, right? I would repurchase because I like the smell and it doesn't do anything weird to my hair.
These mini samples of perfume are handy for a person like me. I tend to get bored of scents quickly so I can't commit to just one or two full sized scents #commitmentphobe. Most scents smell the same to me due to my weaker sense of smell so I either like or dislike things. Both the Marc Jacobs Dot EDP and the Justin Bieber Girlfriend EDP smelled good to me. Instead of trying to describe their scents, I'll link to the scent description instead. Dot is fruity and floral whereas Girlfriend is fruity and sweet. They're not memorable scents for me so not going to repurchase but the bottles are cute!
I've gone through at least 3 bottles each of the Sally Hansen Double Duty Strengthening Base & Top Coat and the Insta-Dri Anti-Chip Top Coat. I keep repurchasing because they do the job well and I have no need to find something better. The Double Duty has the multi-purpose angle but after switching to a fast-dry top coat, I use it exclusively as a base coat to prevent staining and yellowing of the nails. Certain colors, like red, will stain and yellow my nails considerably but this prevents major yellowing. The Insta-Dri is a cheaper alternative to the industry-standard Seche Vite but I prefer the longer lasting, glossy finish of SV. I find that I can wear my nails for a week or more with minor chips using SV whereas the SH would barely make it to one week with chipping on most nails. I have already repurchased the Double Duty but will not repurchase the Insta-Dri. I used up two packs of the Up & Up Cotton Rounds. I used them for eye makeup removal, toner application, and nail polish removal so I go through these fairly quickly. Both sides are textured so it removes product better in my opinion. They stretched a bit when I used it but didn't fall apart like the Rite Aid Cotton Squares (empties). I'm not particular about these things so I will probably repurchase if I find them on sale.
Last thing I finished is the e.l.f. Studio Brush Shampoo. There's no point in buying a dedicated brush soap unless you have expensive natural hair brushes. Since I use synthetic bristle brushes exclusively, anything too harsh for my face gets repurposed into brush cleanser for me. This one did any okay job with powder makeup removal but when it came to liquid foundation, I had to use a lot and even then, I would have to go in with olive oil to get the rest out. The bottle is a rigid plastic so when I got the to bottom, it was hard to squeeze out the remaining product. Will not repurchase.
Sorry to end on a negative note, but I have several posts I'm excited to be working on for y'all!
Prom and graduation are around the corner for many of us so I have a few FOTDs planned out.
If you have any specific requests, please let me know!
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