Hello my loves! I have a different post for you today that I’m excited about because I think in the world of blogging + social media, it’s hard to tell if people are only posting about products because they are being paid to or because they were sent to them. I know that sometimes reading blogs or seeing Instagram posts can feel like commercials. You know how I feel about ads on here and making sure I am always totally transparent and 100% honest with you guys about whether or not I truly like and use something. That said, I thought it would be fun to hold onto some empty products as I use them up and let you know whether or not I would repurchase them. To me, that is the true indicator of whether or not it was an effective, good product I value enough to spend my money on it again.
The reason going through empties versus any other products in my bathroom is so fun is because I can give you the most thorough, full review and all of my opinions because it’s not like I just used these things once or twice. I used the all the way up in a variety of situations and gave them plenty of time to provide results, so there is no rock left unturned.
As a disclaimer – yes, I do get sent a lot of makeup and beauty products from lots of different brands. I really appreciate this because it gives me chance to try a lot of things I may not otherwise, which I can then share with you guys on my blog or social channels (I do a lot of unboxings on Insta story, so if you want to see those make sure you are following!) However, I purchased ALL of the products in this post myself, and hope you know that even if a product is sent to me, if it sucks, I will tell you so. That’s just how my blog is.
SO, without further adieu, let’s get into this!
Fresh Brown Sugar Body Polish: This one is easy because it was already a repurchase. This was actually my third one and I freakin’ love this stuff. I will say, if you don’t like oily scrubs that leave a bit of a residue, this is not your girl. This is definitely an oil based sugar scrub, but the way I use it, the oily-ness is actually the main reason I like it. Since we’re all friends here, I’ll share that I only save my legs 3ish times per week. I wash my body per usual, and then I scrub my legs really well with this to remove dead skin and get them really soft. Because the oil leaves behind a slick residue, I don’t even use shaving cream anymore. Then I go in with my razor and shave. I am telling you, that combo of exfoliating dead skin off with this scrub + moisturizing with the oils in it that really sink into my skin while my pores are open in the shower + a good, fresh shave has never made my legs feel any softer or more silky in my life. My fiancé doesn’t know or care about this whole ritual scrub + shave situation, but every time I get in bed after doing this he is like overly gushy about how good my legs feel. It also smells SOOOOOO good, like brown sugar and citrus.
The one con I have is that it is expensive AF, and it runs out very very fast. I notice I get 7-10 uses out of it and it’s donezo. Are there other less expensive sugar scrubs out there? Yes. And I’m sure they work just as well. So this is more of a preference thing. If you want to splurge, and your bath/shower routine is a special thing for you, then I think this is a great purchase because the scent, packaging, and scrub itself are luxurious and fantastic. But is this the only sugar scrub in the world that does what it does and smell good? Definitely not. So, that’s my 2 cents, but I have already repurchased 2 backups because it’s the Sephora VIB sale and I got 15% off. Holla!
Kiehl’s Creme de Corps Soy Milk & Honey Whipped Body Butter: I LOVE THIS!!! DEFINITE REPURCHASE!!!!! I am a moisturizing freak. At night I slather body cream all over no matter what. Even when we travel I bring some big tub of something and constantly coat myself with it. I just love having soft, hydrated skin and I think having luminous, dewy skin looks beautiful when I wear strapless tops or skirts and shorts. I picked this up at Nordstrom, and at first I was like, oh no this texture is weird. Like it says on the packaging (hello Annie, read the label), it is whipped. When I dug into it, I felt how mousse-y it was, and the thick, thick cream lover in me was concerned. Well, I was super wrong because despite it’s airlike texture, it is thick and moisturizing as fuuuuh. This is so incredibly creamy, the scent is utterly delish…although, it says soy milk and honey, but I think it smells more like almond than either of those things? I’m not mad at it one bit though. It absorbs into the skin nicely, has shea butter, which, if you haven’t ready my post on oils I’ll link it HERE so you can learn why I luuuurve shea butter, and is just all around a phenomenal body butter. Obsessed.
Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery Botanical Cleansing Oil: Another Kiehl’s product! I have posted in my skincare routine that I always pre-cleanse and break down my makeup with an oil, and then I go in with a different cleanser to remove all of the makeup and oil residue. Kiehl’s actually did send me this, and I used the whole thing up. I really really enjoyed it because of the scent (lavender) and it broke down my mascara, foundation, etc fabulously. I thoroughly enjoyed it! When it was finished, I started using the Tatcha Camellia Cleansing Oil because I had a new bottle of that and went on my merry way. Fast forward two weeks. I was up in LA and forgot to bring any sort of makeup dissolving oil (as well as underwear…does anyone else do this?? they’re so tiny and not part of an outfit, so I save them for last and then 50% of the time they don’t make it in my bag), so I had to run to pick up some essentials. I could have picked up any cleansing oil, but this was the one I repurchased. So, that tells ya something.
So here’s my final verdict…this oil does nothing special that other oils don’t do. I love the pump because it is easy to use and get the product out without an oil spill everywhere. I repurchased it because I really enjoyed my experience with the one they sent me, and I really loved the clean, relaxing lavender scent. Is it worth the $32 when you could just buy an organic oil from Whole Foods for less than $10? That’s up to you. I think you can definitely find products that do the same thing, but this has some bells and whistles in the spa-like scent and great packaging. It is also a nice blend with some skincare benefits like squalene (the closest plant-derived lipid to our natural skin oils) and evening primrose oil that you don’t get with simple oils like pure almond or argan. I personally will repurchase it, but I wouldn’t say it’s an absolute must.
Benefit Precisely, My Brow Pencil (shade 2): If any of you are die hard for the Anastasia Beverly Hills (ABH) Brow Wiz, this is very very similar. I purchased this at Sephora because they were out of the Brow Wiz in my shade (Taupe) and I was desperate. I like the ultra fine brow pencils that draw really tiny hair like strokes versus the thicker ones that I just suck with and take me forever to get my brows even. This seemed very comparable, so I picked it up, and it is! It is the exact same concept to the ABH Brow Wiz.
I really enjoyed this, but when it was finished last week, I went to Sephora and picked up the ABH Brow Wiz in Taupe instead of this again. The reason why is the color. The ABH Brow Wiz in Taupe is just the perfect shade for me. It works with my blonde hair, it lightens my dark brows a bit, but it isn’t so light that you can see a delineation between my natural brows and where I filled in with the pencil. With the Benefit pencil, 2 is the closest to ABH Taupe (3 is too dark and makes my brows look way too severe, 1 is way way too light), but it’s warmer than ABH Taupe, and almost too gold. I like how ABH Taupe is more cool toned because my natural brows are an ashy cool tone and it vibes with my coloring. That said, this is a great brow pencil and I highly recommend it, the formula is fantastic. I personally just have a better color match with the ABH Brow Wiz and that is why I will not repurchase this.
Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer in Vanilla: If you have been here for a while, you know this is my holy grail ride or die concealer and I will 100,000% be repurchasing this! I featured it in my Holy Grail products video as well as my July Favorites. I LOOOOVE this for so many reasons, but the main thing is that it gives me the full coverage I want, while being so unbelievably lightweight, bendable, and non-drying, especially in the delicate under eye area where anything drying just emphasizes all of those fine little lines. I have used this for years an it is easily my favorite concealer I have ever used. This shade in particular is what I use for my under eye only because it has a pinkish undertone to it that helps counteract any blue or purple dark circle discoloration. For the rest of my face, I use Custard when I’m not tan and Ginger when I am. I can’t say enough great things about this stuff and I highly recommend it!
Herbivore Hydrate Facial Toning Mist: This was just meh. It smelled nice and did the job of toning my face before serums, but I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t more hydrating. I have lots of facial mists and sprays, and I purchased this specifically because it said “Hydrate”. I was expecting it to bring a little more moisture to my skin than all of my other standard rose water sprays. I can’t say I noticed anything special nor was I blown away, but I obviously did use the whole thing because it wasn’t a bad spray and was pleasant to use while I had it. But would I go out of my way to buy it again? No.
Sunday Riley Good Genes: This is another one true love of mine that I recently mentioned in my exfoliation post. This is one of the only serums I use that makes me see actual visible differences in my skin the morning after I use it. It is strong, but something about it agrees with my skin and doesn’t irritate it in the slightest. I absolutely love how soft it makes my skin because it exfoliates it on a deep, cellular level and has really evened out my skin tone. I can’t sing its praises enough and it is absolutely a repurchase for me. It is quite pricey, but I did just pick up 2 because of the Sephora VIB sale and 15% takes a little of the sting out of its price tag. I always think this is a great time to buy the things I love and know I will need to buy at some point anyway.
Ok guys! Now that we’ve rummaged through my trash, I hope you enjoyed seeing what I used up and how I felt about each of them. I would love to know if found this morning or if you want to see more of these posts!
Also let me know what products you have used up recently + whether or not you would repurchase them!!
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