December's farewelled products and the final 2014 empties tallies by category!

Are you ready for my final 2014 empties post? Seeing as I was in the mood for summing up the year I've included yearly tallies at the end of the post too - I wanted to know what things I got through the most and see if there were any surprises...

 

Skin care

 

132) Renew You Q10 & Hyaluronic Acid Intense Hydration Hydrogel Masque (1 treatment) - This is the most unusual sheet mask I've tried because it's a 2-piece mask, and rather than tissue or cloth it's a slippery, rubbery gel-like mask which I actually found a little claustrophobic on my face.  I could feel the slight tingle of acids working their magic on my skin and my skin definitely felt smoother after one treatment. Truth be told though - because I found the experience more claustrophobic than relaxing I won't be buying this particular sheet mask again.

 

133) Kirkland Daily Facial Cleansing Towelettes (30 towelettes) - Forgive me but I still have two more packs of these to finish.  Not bad but nowhere near the HG of cleansing clothes. I'm actually starting to wean myself off the habit so it's probably going to be a while before I finish them.

 

 

134) Chu Lip Balm (Tokyo Mode Night) - You probably think I ate this because I got through it so quickly! This Japanese lip balm wins on cute packaging alone but the honey, lemon tea and bergamot scent was very appealing to me also.  This balm was not at all waxy and melted onto the lips so it wasn't a surprise I finished it in under two months.  Still, I wish I'd bought more of the six scents/flavours to try and I wouldn't need my arm twisted too hard to order some online from the Japan Trend Shop! (Sorry Liz I forgot to draw on the eyes and nose for this shot :p)

 

135)  Face of Australia Gentle Make-up Remover (125ml/4.23 fl.oz) - I'm onto another backup of this gentle remover which takes off waterproof eye makeup and more recently it's passed the test on long-lasting lip colours too.

 



Hand and body care

 

136) Bath & BodyWorks Warm Vanilla Sugar Shea & Vitamin E Shower Gel (3 fl.oz/88 ml) -  I am literally KICKING myself for not loading up my luggage (or at least buying the full size) of this cosy scented shower gel when I was in Hawaii. This shower gel foams up so well it's like taking a standing up bubble bath and leaves my skin delicately scented and moisturised - Gimme more! Thanks again Liz for introducing me to this delicious scent!

 

137) Natio Wellness Body Scrub (450g/15.8oz) - I enjoy this scrub in a tub. See a more detailed review here.

 

 

138) Natio Meditate Body Butter (Yoga Scent Narcissus Attar 100g/3.5oz) - Scented with Narcissus Jonquilla Flower oil, this body butter smelt heavenly but is unfortunately discontinued.

 

139) Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Concentrated Cream (30g/1.1oz) - I'd actually packed this for my overseas trip a few months ago but a little goes a long way so it made its way back home again.  A little squeeze of the tube is all that's needed to get enough of this rich cream to deeply moisturise my elbows or feet and it absorbs in seconds.

 

140) Palmer's Anti-Aging Smoothing Lotion 250ml/8.5 fl.oz)* - This is one of my favourite body lotions because it exfoliates and smooths the keratosis on my skin in addition to moisturising.  I have quite a stash of body moisturisers to get through at the moment but this will be at the top of my repurchase list.

 

 

140) OPI Expert Touch Lacquer Remover (120ml/4 fl.oz) - Surprise! Surprise! NOT! Another empty bottle of OPI remover to add to the tally.

 

Cosmetics

 

141) Models Prefer BB Pressed Powder (Light/Medium) - One of the disappointments for the year.  Despite its claims this BB powder offered very minimal coverage when worn alone and I resorted to using it as a finishing powder although it wasn't great at mattifying either.  Will. Not. Repurchase.

 



Fragrance

 

142) Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire EDT (1 ml/.03 oz. sample) - This sweet fragrance does smell PRETTY and youthful, perfect for the wearer of a cute little black dress like that illustrated on the vial. I did enjoy it though and remain hopeful that it's not too young for me just yet! Top notes are black cherry, bergamot, red berries and almond. Mid notes are Bulgarian and Turkish roses, licorice and smoked black tea. Aniseed, tonka bean, vanilla, iris and patchouli form the base.

 

143) Witchery Fresh Blossom rollerball (12ml/0.4 fl.oz) - Australian fashion brand Witchery describe this as "sensuous and uncomplicated" and l liked the slightly syrupy citrusy scent for everyday wear - don't laugh but it reminds me of orange syrup cake!  Still it's very subtle and soft, and unlikely to offend anyone. I bought this fragrance from a warehouse store and can't find anything online about it so I'm sure it's been discontinued.  

 

 

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So THAT comes to a grand total of 143 products emptied for the year comprising of the following sorted by category.  Keep reading if you're into the numbers...

 

 

 

Skin care:

• 10 packs of cleansing wipes (this will not continue on the same scale!)
• 7 full sized (and 1 travel size) makeup removers
• 4 sheet masks
• 3 full sized (and 1 travel size) day creams
• 3 lip treatments/balms
• 2 full sized (and 4 travel sized) facial cleansers
• 2 full sized (and 1 travel size) serums
• 2 peel off mask sachets
• 1 full size (and 2 travel sized) night cream
• 1 facial scrub
• 1 cleansing (micellar) water
• 1 face mask tube
• 1 papaw ointment tube
• 2 sample tubes eye cream  

 

 

Hand and body care:

• 11 nail polish removers
• 9 hand creams
• 6 body butters
• 5 body scrubs
• 4 full sized (and 1 travel sized) body washes
• 3 full sized (and 2 travel sized) body lotions
• 3 hand washes
• 1 foot cream
• 1 nail polish top coat
• 1 body exfoliating towelette

 

 

Cosmetics:

• 6 lipsticks
• 6 tubes of mascara
• 5 lip glosses
• 3 concealers
• 2 BB powders
• 1 full sized (and 2 travel sized) eye primers
• 1 eye shadow palette
• 1 eye shadow single
• 1 eyeliner pencil
• 1 mineral foundation
• 1 powder blush
• 1 pressed powder
• 1 primer

(I also culled 6 additional lipsticks, an eye shadow palette, mascara and tinted sunscreen although these did not count towards the empties tally. I hope for much more culling this year!)

 

 

Haircare: 

• 1 full sized (and 1 travel sized) shampoo
• 1 full sized (and 1 travel sized) conditioner
• 1 volumizing spray

(Haircare was the least accurate category of all as I only counted shampoos and conditioners I reviewed last year. I don't know if you guys are interested in my usual shampooing routine in 2015??)

 

 

Fragrance:

• 5 full sized bottles
• 9 sample vials

 

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And OMG that was the FULL story for 2014! 





 

 

 (Products marked * were provided for my consideration.  All comments and opinions are my own.)

Guerlain Meteorites - Light Revealing Pearls of Powder (Beauty Wishlist buy)

 I can't tell you exactly how long I've been wanting my own little pot of Guerlain Meteorites.  It must be just about all of my adult life?! It turns out not to be an exaggeration at all either as Meteorites have been around since 1987 so - yes - I've been dreaming about these for a very, very long time. It was largely about the dressing table appeal, and significantly less about the need for them because I'd gone perfectly well for all that time without using colour correcting products or finishing powders.  It was all about the French allure perhaps?  It shouldn't come as any surprise that these were going to be on my luxury wishlist this year! 

Meteorites are so covetable that they sell out almost as quickly as they're stocked so I literally bought the last pot of shade 2 Clair available at the counter.  Clair is the second lightest of the four shades in the current range and is a cooler toned mix of coloured powder pearls with a "...blend of matte, rosy and radiant blue-toned white pearls, combined with corrective coloured pearls – yellow to counter redness, pink for freshness and mauve to catch the light".

Knowing very little about these I was surprised by the heavy violet scent when I first opened the tin - it's quite powerful actually - but the scent very quickly disappears once on the skin.  It's something which only adds to the sense of luxury I think, along with the delicate pastel floral embossed tin.  Everything about this speaks to the chic lady I aspire to be (I'm laughing at myself here)... 

A swirl of the Meteorites brush (separate purchase) in the pearls very easily picks up a mix of the powder. The brush I bought is the new version and apparently more 'scratchy' than the previous version - I can't compare but can only say that if it's coarser it would be to more effectively 'scratch' the powder off the pearls and it definitely still feels perfectly soft enough on my skin.  No complaints from me there!

I'm also aware my Meteorites themselves are the newly released formulation and there's been a lot of chatter around about their more powdery texture (more crumbly etc.) but as I can't compare I'm not going to engage in any debates about new versus original here.  I did notice a lot of loose powder at the bottom of the tin when I spilled them out for my shot above but all of the pearls are still intact and haven't disintegrated - I think I will be careful about storage though and not even think about travelling with them because I couldn't bear the tragedy of an expensive spill!
 

So, what do Meteorites do for me?  As I said, I'd never really thought about colour correcting or finishing powders until recently - Hourglass Ambient Light was my first ever finishing powder purchase and that was only last year - but they do make that subtle difference.  I'm sure that no one else would be able to put a finger on what exactly it is but I can see how Meteorites seem to blur the imperfections in my skin and add a subtle radiance to it.  As long as I can see it, no one else needs to know but I can definitely tell the difference.  I started off using Meteorites for special occasions - isn't that always the way when something's new? - but now it's become the last step of my daily makeup, because it adds just that little bit of light to my face.  I don't regret buying these at all.

The heavy swatch on the inside of my poor parched arm is pretty hopeless although I think you can see the centre of my arm is slightly more illuminated than the rest.  

 

Is there a beauty item you've been coveting for a long time?



My 2014 luxe beauty wishlist!

Hi again!

 

As you'll very likely know by now I'm on a self-imposed beauty diet this year, and the reward for every two makeup items I finish will be the purchase of one luxury or high end makeup item from my wishlist.  The purpose is to stop my makeup collection from increasing further, largely by preventing impulse buying by sticking to my wishlist. 

 

Now for the fun part:  the wishlist! I took my time poring over 'best of beauty' posts, watching high end makeup YouTube videos, and going back over my own mental wishlist of things I've been curious to try or favourites I simply want more of, trying to cover every possible type of makeup item I could possibly (and impossibly?) want to buy over the next 9 months or so (until I head overseas again).  As you can see from my collage above, the list is long, but that's because it covers everything and even offers multiple choices in products such as lipsticks and blush - I'm trying to anticipate here!  I've listed them below by category:

 

Base products

• By Terry - Touche Veloutee Enlightening Concealer Brush
• Dior - Diorskin Nude BB cream 
• Guerlain - Meteorites 
• Hourglass - Veil Mineral Primer SPF 15 
• Kevyn Aucoin - The Sensual Skin Enhancer 
• Kevyn Aucoin - The Celestial Powder 
• Laura Mercier - Loose Setting Powder

Cheeks

• By Terry - Blush Terrybly
• Dior - Rosy Glow Healthy Glow Awakening Blush
• Guerlain - Terracotta Bronzing Powder
• Hourglass - Ambient Lighting Blush
• Kevyn Aucoin - The Sculpting Powder
• NARS - Powder blush
• YSL - Rosy Blush Collector Face Palette (Spring 2014 collection)

Eyes

• Chanel - Illusion D'Ombre Long Wear Luminous Eyeshadow
• Chanel - Le Volume De Chanel Mascara
• Lancôme - Artliner Sapphire or Amethyst
• YSL - Pivoine Crush Ombrés 5 Lumières Eye Palette (Spring 2014 collection)  

Lips

• Chanel - Glossimer
• Ellis Faas - Hot Lips Lipstick
• NARS - Schiap Semi Matte Lipstick
• Tom Ford - Pink Dusk Lip Color

Now it's time to get my act together and focus on using up my first two products! Just in case you're interested in those, the products on my must finish hit list are (in no specific order):

 

MAC Lipglass - Viva Glam VI

MAC Lipglass - Sizzlepeach

MAC Lipglass - Zazoom

Models Prefer Ultra Lip Gloss Pencil - Perfectly Polished

MAC mono eyeshadows - Vex and Shale

Maybelline - Age Rewind Concealer

L'Oreal Bare Naturale Blush

MAC Powerpoint Eye Pencil - Bordeauxline

Bloom - Eyeshadow Base

Estee Lauder - Crystal Cherry Lipstick

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick - Temptation

Tom Ford Lip Color - True Coral

Wet n Wild Eyeshadow trio - Walking on Eggshells

Bourjois - Volume Glamour Ultra Curl Mascara

Lancôme - Hypnose Doll Eyes Waterproof Mascara

 

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What's on your beauty wishlist this year?