empties #1 | a lot of mini review and what i'm gonna restock lol

Here laid some of the empty packages of products I used up recently. To be honest I already discarded about half of the empty stuffs already while I was cleaning up my stash earlier this month, but I think this is a good enough amount to start with the "empties" talk that everyone has been doing since the dawn of beauty blogging. I feel like post is gonna be kind of long though.

Let me just start with some actual makeup stuffs that I finished. I have this Nars light reflecting pressed powder for years now. At first I tried not to use a lot of this powder because it is so expensive, but also because a little goes a long way. You can never see the powder particle on your brush when you try to pick it up, but when you apply it on your face you can definitely tell that it gives a soft blurring effect. It also helps mattified my T-zone for a bit longer than when I didn't use this powder.

I quite like this Laneige pore control BB cushion because it's very quick to apply and lasts pretty long on my face. I just feel like it's just mediocre. Also runs out pretty fast, even though they basically give you 2 of the BB cushions refill in the package but because the products are soaked in the cushion, you just can't really use them up to their full potential.

The Bourjois CC cream is something I had for a very long time now, and I used to wear it a lot. I liked it. It's CC cream, but the coverage is even better than majority of the BB cream that I tried. It's also very moisturising, which I enjoy for the first couple of hours wearing it. Eventually it worn off around my T-zone during midday because I have grease factory on my face.

My very first high end makeup product is this Make Up For Ever full cover concealer. This is very high coverage, waterproof, budge proof, and I only need to use a little dot for the imperfect skin condition on my face. I don't think this supposed to be under eye concealer because it's super thick, but I don't suffer from dark circles (yay for the only good gene I have) so I never tried it anyway. But I'm sure it will crease lol. It used to be cheaper than how much they retailed it for now though :(

One mascara that's long lasting for my oily eye area is definitely Heroine Make long & curl waterproof. It holds the curl well and never clumps up no matter how many times I layer it on. The only catch is, even though I like having smudge-free under eye from my mascara, this bitch is tough to get off. I know oil cleanser can do the trick, but it hurts my eyelashes and eyelid whenever I tried to take it off. After endless amount of ripped eyelashes, I finally used it up and I couldn't be more pleased with myself for not wasting products away. 

One of the products I recently used up that make me feel quite sad is this Kiehl's original musk perfume. I really love the scent, and I've come to realization I can't live without this scent. It lasts pretty long on me when I spray it at my nape, hair, and belly button.

The Body Shop tea tree oil is a classic treatment for me. I always had it in my skincare collection. I don't only use it directly on my pimple, but I do sometimes steam my face with this oil infused in it. A very good product, even though I prefer to have a 100% natural tea tree oil.

When it comes to wash-off mask, I sometimes don't even bother because I'm a lazy bum. This Lush mask of magnaminty however, has totally changed my point of view of wash-off face masks. I really love the tingly sensation and how it softens my skin after I used it. It's not a miracle worker, I still have plenty of hyper pigmentation and acne, but it definitely helps to soothe my inflamed skin for a while.

I feel like everyone has tried micellar water eventually because there are so many great selections of cheaper drugstore version of the french cult favorites, Bioderma. I must say I really enjoy using micellar water to take my make up off at the end of the day. So far, Bioderma has been a winner for me, and this is probably my second empty bottle already.

I bought The Body Shop tea tree anti-imperfection daily solution on a whim when I paid a visit to their store last October. The BA said that this is good if I wanna treat the acne scars and it helps to improve skin texture. To be honest I don't even know if it's working or not. However, I have been using this serum religiously every night since I bought it, and after about 4 or so months, I'm at the very end of this stuff. It does feel like a nice serum to put after toner, and I feel like it does calm some of the hot new pimples on my face. Not sure about the evidence that this actually helped with my hyper pigmentation though.

I think I'm gonna miss having Mario Badescu facial spray with aloe, herbs, and rosewater, even though it's literally just rose scented water. I just really like seeing the rose colored liquid in the bottle. Doesn't really do anything though I do like to spray generous amount of cotton pads and put it on my cheeks on a very very hot day.

Now this SkinLife cleansing foam is a gem. I really enjoy using this as double cleansing after I use micellar water to clean my face. It's so soft and foamy, and leaves my skin feeling so clean without drying. I used to think all face washes are the same, but I can tell the difference with this one. Very good for acne prone skin too.

Finally onto some tiny lil' samples that I tried and tested! I enjoyed using this Avène emulsion spf 50+ on days when I don't wear any base makeup, only a little concealers because it does feel a little oily during the day. It's a nice sunscreen, but there are so many other cheaper sunscreen that does even a better job. Another CC cream, this one is YSL forever youth light creator. I don't think it does anything on my skin, I just like to use it under my actual makeup as a base. But I can totally live without it. Benefit porefessional is a great primer to fill in my pores. Very silicone-y though, but I like how it smooths out my skin texture. And finally, Shu Uemura porefinist cleansing oil. To be honest it is so good that a little goes a long way. This tiny sample bottle last for at least 7 times uses. I really like the way it leaves a moisturising feeling after I washed it off too.

Now onto the last part of this post: which ones would I restock?

• Kiehl's original musk perfume (because I just can't live without it!!! my signature scent also it's very cheap)
• The Body Shop tea tree oil
• Bioderma micellar water
• SkinLife cleansing foam

And that's it. I don't think I will repurchase any of the base makeup and mascara for a while now, only because there are so many new products I wanna try in this category, and I will put off buying more of the Lush mask because I wanna try other brands first. Eventually I'll go back to it. Just like the facial spray and the cleansing oil.

The rest of of the items are pretty mediocre to me. I prefer to try more products than buying things that doesn't really live up to their claims just for the sake of having them.