July Empties

I finished a lot of products this month! I hope to finish up at least one body wash or body lotion each month and this month I made my goal. I have a linen closet full of bath and body products. I keep buying them and now I am working to actually use some of them up. I have a lot of old Bath and Body Works products that I have had for a long time. They still look fine and smell fine so I am trying to get them used. Let’s talk about what I used up in July.

BATH AND BODY PRODUCTS

Softsoap Clean Splash Hand Soap – wash away dirt & bacteria for good hand hygiene. Although it says that it washes away bacteria it is not an anti-bacterial soap. I try to avoid those as I feel like they contribute to the formation of super bacteria. This has a fresh, citrus scent and lathers nicely. I like it as a kitchen soap because it smells so fresh.

Bodycology Sweet Love Exfoliating Sugar Scrub – exfoliating sugar crystals refresh skin’s appearance while nourishing shea butter moisturizes and hydrates. The scent is described as whipped cream and sweet rose. It is a very nice scent that is delicate. I really like this scrub. It has a wonderful texture that exfoliates without being rough on the skin. It helps keep my skin super soft and I use a scrub once a week. You can purchase this scrub at Target or Walmart for less than $5 so it is also a bargain.

Mary Kay terme d’isola Moisturizing Body Wash – moisturizing body wash, with the exclusive Mediterranean Complex leaves your body awash with a moisturizing, silky afterfeel. Mary Kay no longer sells this and it is a bottle that had been in the linen closet forever. It was still a good consistency and smelled fine. The scent was a fresh, marine scent. It smelled crisp and clean without being heavy. It made a rich lather that rinsed away easily.

Avon Skin So Soft Replenishing Hand Cream – give your hands a renewed, healthy radiance. This fresh-scented hand cream with jojoba oil provides 24+ hours of moisturization and leaves skin looking and feeling nourished, conditioned, and sensually soft. This is my holy grail hand cream. I am something of a hand cream junkie and this is, quite simply, the best. It leaves my hands feeling amazing! It dries to a powder-like finish and is not excessively greasy. I try to catch it on sale at Avon for less than $2 for a 3.4 fl. oz. tube. Try it. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

SKINCARE

Freeze 24/7 Anti-Aging Eye Serum – helps reduce puffiness, fine lines, dark circles, and other signs of aging around the eye area. This came in 1 of my subscription boxes. It was a lightweight serum that absorbed fairly easily into the skin. I did not see any significant improvement in my fine lines. There was maybe less puffiness. It was just an average eye product.

Clinique Pep-Start Eye Cream – A pep rush for eyes. Just 3 seconds to look wide awake, refreshed. Hydrates, brightens, perks you up. Its cool touch and de-puffing tip help keep eyes looking fresh. Smooths the way for makeup, too. Have it on hand. Ophthalmologist Tested. This came in a Sephora Play box. Under eye cream is another item I am not terribly picky about. I’m not sure that anyone really needs a separate eye product anyway. I don’t know why I use one morning and night. I did not see anything special enough about this eye cream to pay $26 for it.

Clinique City Block Oil-Free Daily Face Protector 13 SPF – physical shield for all skins, even most sensitive. Helps protect skin from sun’s UVA/UVB rays and environmental irritants. For over a year this was my go to sunscreen. I started Retin A a few months back and realized I needed a higher level of protection. I like this sunscreen. It is tinted and does not go on greasy. It has a matte finish and protects the skin from the sun. Now I use this when I am using a foundation that has SPF. The combination of that with the City Block should provide adequate protection. I like this product and will likely repurchase.

TonyMoly I’m Real Skin Purifying Seaweeds Mask Sheet – I am a huge fan of face masks and use one 3 times a week. I ordered 11 of these sheet masks from Amazon for $9.46 so they are inexpensive. Seaweeds mask makes skin look bright and radiant with freshness of the sea. This is a Korean skin care product. The mask itself is good quality material that is fairly thick. It is saturated with serum and is soft to the touch. It smells clean and fresh. It does leave my face soft and it always feels soft and smooth the next morning. I won’t say that it does amazing things to my skin but it does hydrate it.

TonyMoly I’m Real Radiance Tomato Mask Sheet – tomato mask makes skin look smooth and radiant. This is another mask I got in the pack mentioned above. They all do pretty much the same thing although they all feature different ingredients. I use the excess serum on my throat and chest.

Spa Life Red Clay Facial Mask – purifying, mineral rich benefits 20 minute facial therapy. If I am remembering correctly this sheet mask is red. It smells fresh and light. The mask is decent quality and saturated with serum. I use the excess serum in the package on my neck and chest. I bought a box of these for about $5 at TJMaxx. Two good places to buy masks are TJMaxx and Ross. They both sell boxes of 5 sheet masks for less than $7.

5th Avenue Fashionista Green Tea Peel-off Mask – gently draws out dirt and impurities from your clogged pores and peels away dead skin cells. The anti-oxidant rich Green Tea extract delivers more moisture and improves skin elasticity, to leave your skin feeling smooth and silky. Your face will feel clean, refreshed, and revitalized! Again I cannot say that it does everything it says it will do. It does dry tight to your skin though. I mean really tight and it is a touch uncomfortable to peel it off. I am pretty certain that it has to peel away dead skin cells. My face feels smooth and soft after using it. I don’t know that I will buy it again because of how it adheres to the skin. I bought a box of these for about $5 at TJMaxx.

7th Heaven Black Seaweed Peel-Off Mask – our black lavar seaweed from the Welsh seaside and crushed sea buckthorn berries are pressed together to make our black peel off mask. A seaside detox to cleanse deeply and peel off dirt and grease weekly. This mask was black and dried to a saran wrap-like consistency. It was easy to peel off but left a black residue behind. I used my toner after my mask and a ton of black residue was on the cotton ball. The next morning I had faint black residue on my pillow. I won’t use this again. I purchased it at Walmart for $1.37 in a single use packet. Walmart has a good variety of single use wash or peel off masks for that price. It is a great way to try different types of masks.

HAIR CARE

John Frieda Brilliant Brunette Subtle Lightening Shampoo – gradually creates naturally glowing colour. This was a sample that I got in either a Target or Walmart beauty box. I didn’t use it consistently enough to see if it lightened my hair or not. It was just a shampoo, nothing special. I am not picky about shampoos.

Davines Love Shampoo – lovely smoothing shampoo for coarse or frizzy hair. This was a sample that I got in a Target beauty box. I loved the smell of this. It smelled like flowers and grass. Again nothing special. It worked fine and smelled really good.

MISCELLANEOUS

Nature’s Blend Elemental Magnesium 300 mg. – I know that this is not a beauty or skin care product. I am mentioning it to share some information on why I use it. A few months ago I was having leg and foot cramps all the time. I would get them in bed and have to jump out of bed to work them out. During my annual physical I asked my doctor what might be causing it. He told me that I might be low in magnesium and to try a supplement. I did and I have had almost no leg or foot cramps since. If you are having the same problem this might be the answer for you too.

That is it for July. See you at the end of August to chat about what I used up this month.