I’ve been on such a roll with finishing products up, when I took a gander at my last use up list from only early April, it was pleasantly surprising to see that I’d managed to finish seven out of eleven products! I’d already found myself moving over to new items to concentrate on so I thought I’d share those with you today.
It’s worth noting that for the most part, I don’t dislike any products, I just make a concious effort to finish products off to ensure that I remain relatively clutter free, to make sure I’m getting my monies worth out of things – and that I don’t give products a chance to go bad! This edition has a few more items than my last, mainly as some are so close already to being finished off as I’ve already been working on them for a month or so.
Haircare
Percy and Reed Shine and Fragrance Mist
Only one haircare item this time, a lot of my other items I seem to have really cleared down my haircare drawer. This is a pretty good shine mist, but I’m not particularly keen on the fragrance – it’s more like a candle fragrance than a perfume I’d opt for on my hair, so I’d be happy to see this finished off and gone!
Skincare
The Ordinary Glycolic Acid
This product has featured on these lists on the past year more than it should have done, I always end up picking up my Pixi over this as I prefer it, but I am determined to see it gone. I can see from my last photos I’ve made some progress since April, the line of product nearly lined up with the top of Glycolic, so I need to start using it a bit more often.
Ark Age Prepare Moisturiser
I’ve had this for too long too – I think I may have picked this up as part of the now defunct Love Me Beauty box where you picked items on a credit based system. I’m currently using another moisturiser from Pixi which is my current fave, but I like to reach for this a few times a week to give myself something different (so I get to enjoy the Pixi for more weeks!). I like this, it’s a good moisturiser and I like the packaging with a clean wipe pump lid – but it’s chunky and not so good for travel.
Michael Todd Pumpkin Face Mask / review
I’ve had this longer than I should admit – it smells foul, looks foul but is a fairly decent brightening and exfoliating mask. I got this for free as part of a Michael Todd order YEARS ago when Michael Todd was a popular skincare brand on Youtube and I should probably finish this off. I’ve probably got 2-3 uses left in here.
Fragrance
The Body Shop White Musk Libertine EDT
I’ve had this on my use up list a few times too – it’s a discontinued perfume from TBS which I absolutely love. I do have another bottle in waiting, so finishing up won’t mean that I will be without – but it’s got a lovely floral scent with rosey notes that’s perfect for this time of year and a good option for work as it’s inexpensive.
Jeffree Star Velour Lip Scrub in Mojito / review
I really neglected using this last year but so far this year I’ve been doing a damn good job, if I do say so myself! I’ve been using this every few days and I’ve noticed a big difference in the texture of my lips and how well lipstick lasts and better it looks. I don’t want to finish this necessarily – but I want to make sure I keep using it frequently so my lips stay in tip top condition!
Carmex Lip Balm
I’ve got so many lip balms but I always come back to Carmex as I find it provides such instant soothing when lips can feel a bit dry and sore. I would still like to see it finished to try and give me some motivation for trying to finish others off, so I can recommit myself to this afterwards!
Makeup
Collection HD Blur Setting Powder
I think I’ve now pretty much finished this but I had to give it a mention as it’s been a real labour of hatred finishing this one off. This is probably the worst powder I’ve ever tried, it’s not blurring at all, it almost has a sparkly texture and not only that it feels dry and almost scratchy on the skin. It clings onto random dry patches I don’t actually have and often looks awful until the foundation adopts it after about 30 minutes and rehydrates it. Horrid product, avoid, avoid, avoid.
Urban Decay Shapeshifter Palette / gifted / review
After the biggest labour trying to finish off the ABH Contour powder pans which took me pretty much an entire year I’m really glad I feel like I can properly enjoy this again. This is such a clever product from UD that doesn’t get spoken about enough – it has cream side and a power side. I don’t envisage I’ll actually get close to finishing this any time soon, but I really want to make sure I’m enjoying it to it’s full extent!
Makeup Geek Heartthrob Blush / review
This featured in my last edition too and this is going to be very difficult to finish off, I’ve used this every time I’ve worn blush since January and it’s not showing really any signs of use, let alone pan! Pigmented, pretty colour and a good formula, I find this pairs really well for a warmed up bronzey look and will continue to use it atleast through to the Autumn I imagine. Again, I can’t imagine that it’s going to be a product I imagine I’ll finish soon, but I’ll continue working on it!
Maybelline Master Ink Liner
I’ve really enjoyed the formula of this liner and it’s flexible nib, I can tell it’s starting to turn past it’s best performance now so want to make sure I give it as much love as possible before I move onto something different!
Tarte Glow Light Luminising Wand
This is a glowy YSL like highlighter that can be used as a highlighter but I’ve found it works better as a base underneath areas you may highlight to add an extra glowy lit from within look. A pretty product, but one I’d like to see finished off as it’s not something I really need in my collection as glowy primers do the same job.
Stila Stay All Day Brow Pencil
I don’t want to finish this, but I’ve been holding onto my last little bit of this over the past few weeks. I think Stila is discontinuing this as I’ve been struggling to find my shade anywhere I’d normally pick it up. So I’ll be moving on to searching out a suitable replacement.
Studio 8 Brow Pencil
I’ve been lazy in attempting to finish this off, it’s a dual ended liner with a brow pencil end which I have already finished, against a creamy end for precisely lining and cleaning up the edges of the brow. I’d like to see this finished as it’s not a step in my routine I do often, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see it properly finished!
Covergirl TruBlend Foundation
I’m mainly including this as the next foundation is really close to being finished now. This is a foundation I’ve not gotten around to reviewing and I don’t think I’ll bother since it’s not easily available in the UK, this is quite a thick creamy foundation that has a medium, buildable coverage – it’s pretty pale in the bottle but oxidizes quite badly and is a good match for me at the moment, so I’m working on this for daily wear in between also finishing off the Ordinary one.
The Ordinary Serum Foundation / review
This has been my target to finish off since the end of April and I’m finally getting close. I’m getting on better with this now I’ve been using it with the Illamasqua Primer, as previously I couldn’t get it to last my my face at all, this still isn’t great for oily skin as I look very very dewy by the end of the day with this on, but I’ll be ecstatic to actually see this finished off!
Stila Perfecting Concealer
This is a difficult concealer to work with, it’s thick and sticky but highly pigmented. It does look nice when it’s blended out, but does require effort. It was too dark for me over winter, but is a great match for me now, so I’m working on it as often as I have time for to get it finished off and out of my collection. Not bad, but too high maintenance for me!
And there we have it, a lot of product which will hopefully start to filter through to Empties some time soon! Have you tried any of these before and let me know what you’re trying to finish up at the moment in the comments below!
Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr
Email: helplesswhilstdrying@gmail.com
I’m getting close to finishing a couple of moisturisers and fragrances, will need to find a new day moisturiser shortly.
Author
Ooh well done, fragrances can be a hard one to finish off! Do you have any moisturisers in your stash or will you need to pick something new?
I won’t have any moisturisers. I’m torn between repurchasing one I’ve recently finished or trying the day moisturiser from the same brand as my night cream. I’ve used the night cream before and think the two could pair well together!
Im doing a mini project pan running until Summer starts. I’ve finished off the perfume and primer spray. I’m still working on my cream eye shadow, gel blush, and lip gloss. The lip gloss I had to get the stopper out and Im so close to finishing it. The gel blush I probably wont finish by the end of the project and its a toss up for the cream eye shadow. I have finished a ton of products in May though that weren’t in my project, so I dont feel that bad. I use project pans to rotate through my small collection and attemtp to use products up. Next year, I think Ill keep the seasonal 5 project pans and a yearly rotating 5 project pan to keep things interesting. I really enjoy following your seasonal project pans.
Author
Well done – I love getting to the stage where you cut products open/pull stoppers out to get every last drop. These are like mini project pans, I like reviewing them more seasonally as I can switch up depending on my style/skin condition etc at the time – rather than committing to something for the whole year, but I do try and pick products that I think I’ll have a good chance of finishing! Last week I finished a product every day, sometimes you just seem to end up on a roll of things finishing which is the most satisfying feeling!
I’m glad I’m not the only one that loves cutting into tubes and taking out stoppers! I also love being able to curate my collection better afterwards with what to buy and what not to buy. I am trying to use up $500 USD worth of product this year and I’m close to 1/2 way there. With the stress of the move, I lost out on a few months to do my 1K use up this year. I love your blog and I look forward to all of your uploads. One of my OG favorites.
Author
Aww thank you so much, I really appreciate it!
I’m not sure how much I’ll finish in terms
Of value this year, I’m thinking maybe around the £1500 mark – I hit just over £2k last year but I finished a lot of perfumes which can easily tot up the value – I’ve got a lot less pricey items to attempt to finish this time!
I’ve been wanting to try The Ordinary and Percy and Reese!!
Jennifer
Effortlessly Sophisticated
I am curious to try the ordinary foundation, I love anything dewy tbh! the glycolic acid by the ordinary is actually my favorite, but when I have dry skin, I use the glow tonic by pixi, it’s more gentle!!
Author
I used to prefer them the other way round and preferred the ordinary over pixi but find pixi way more nourishing now a days and as effective as the ordinary when I use it daily x
I would love to try more the ordinary products! Seriously blown away by the products I have tried from them.
Candice x
Author
That’s good what have been your favourites?
I just knew that the Ordinary Glycolic Toner would be in this list! Actually, I need to touch mine – I haven’t touched it in months and months yet I’m purchasing and using other toners! I’m also conducting a Project Pan too (though not entirely sure if I will blog or just do an instagram story/highlight) and I realise I have a good amount on the list.
I think it’s a wonderful time to declutter actually.
I love glycolic acid right now im using the Dr Dennis Gross Peel Pads and holy shit they are the bomb haha!
Andrew James – theskincaresaviour.com
I’m so far behind on blog posts so forgive me for commenting on an older post!
I need to try Jeffree Star’s lip scrubs, there are so many yummy looking flavors available, it’s almost overwhelming! And you have reminded me I need to use up the one I’m currently using, scrubs really do improve lips, not sure why I’ve been so lazy about it recently.
Author
I’m exactly the same it feels like a luxury of time to actually make use of a lip scrub! Silly really as it only takes a minute! I’m also really behind on reading posts at the moment, I’m looking forward to finding a day to having a major catch up!.
Author
I’m exactly the same it feels like a luxury of time to actually make use of a lip scrub! Silly really as it only takes a minute!