Project Pan empties: -1

Hi all, I was originally going to continue my project X pan posts but it took me 2 days to upload my second video and when it finally did, I found out the freaking video got cut in half, and this was at 2am! *blood pressure rising* So now I have to redo this video, but I only have the time to do it on the weekend, so there's a change in schedule for my blog posts :)

I actually have a lot of skincare products lying about, so I've been on a no-buy since 20 Dec 2011 and I want to continue it for as long as I can, unless I run out of something like eye-cream. These are the empties that I finished in December so I won't include them in the count for 2012, where my dream is to finish 100 empties! (fat hope of that happening)



Makeup removers

1. L'oreal Gentle Eye Makeup remover: Usual bi-phase eye remover, with the usual problems of removing Japanese mascara.

2. Clarins Cleansing Milk: My mom passed it to me, and it does work to remove makeup, but don't ever use it on your eyes! They stung so badly even after washing them out :(

3. Maybelline Eye Makeup remover: See above.



Moisturizers

4. Complex 15 Therapeutic Moisturizing Face Cream: Bought this because of all the rave reviews on Amazon. Absorbs quickly on your face, so much so that I sometimes wonder if I need to apply more moisturizer. Had a weird smell towards the end though.

5. The Body Shop Tea Tree Skin Clearing Lotion: This was so old that there was dust on it. Hesitated to apply this on my face, so instead I applied to my chest and my back where zits occasionally popped up. Didn't feel any difference really.

6. Unkown moisturizer: Found this when I cleaned my bathroom cabinet. I have totally no idea when or where I bought this moisturizer, so I just used it on my body. Smelled like chemically constructed aloe vera, like what you would think aloe vera should smell like, and it actually felt quite greasy on my skin. Glad that it's gone.


Randoms

7. The Body Shop Olive Body Scrub: The second tub I ever bought, and I quite enjoy it but I have a few body bars that have scrubby bits so I'll just use those for my exfoliating needs.

8. Shokobutsu Green Tea Facial foam: I used this for a short while but then I started on my dermatologist recommended cleanser so I delegated this to body. Lathers up to a nice slip but it's almost too smooth for me *shrugs*
9. DHC Deep Cleansing Oil: Finally finished this after leaving it at home and only using it on the weekends for 8 months! I kept trying to determine if this was breaking me out the entire time I was using it. Up to now I still have not figured it out so I might rebuy this after a while thanks to all the hype online about this.

10. Silk Naturals Fire-Cinnamon Lip Balm: Hated the taste and smell of it, a very spicy taste, not of the chili variety but of herbs. Moreover, it got really soft and gross after a while so when I apply it, I occasionally get a headache from the smell and thick feel of it on my lips. It was used only at night and I jumped for joy when it finally finished!



What I redeemed

Since I used up 10 products, I got to redeem $50 worth of skincare products that I had bought but not used (i.e anything I bought from November 2011 onwards) My chosen products are the Pond's Cleansing Cream, Ecotools retractable brush and the Cleansing express eye makeup remover. Hope to finish another 10 products soon!

Love,
Tabby

Review: Silk Naturals Cream Eyeliner in Amethyst

My first review ever but that doesn't mean I'm going to give it a free ride.
Silk Naturals is a mineral makeup company and besides their star products, the face and lip products, they also offer skincare and haircare items.

Today's review is on their cream eyeliner in Amethyst.

Amethyst is billed as a deep purple shimmer cream liner that can last for 2 years. First off, the packaging looks pretty cheap, housed in this plastic container. However, since it's a small mineral company, i suppose you can't expect too much.

I originally wanted a purple liner as I've heard that they make brown eyes pop.

This is with one stroke of the liner. No shimmers spotted but very creamy.

After lightly brushing my hand over the line. Look at it bleed!

After vigourous rubbing.

This eyeliner transfer really easily which is the biggest no-no for me since I have:

a) oily skin

b) tapered eyelid on one eye and a hooded monolid on the other

So essentially my monolid rubs against the fold covering it when I blink and then I have a racoon eye on one side, so it looks like I have serious dark circle on one eye. Definitely not pretty. Tightlining alsoseem to lead to smudging on the lower lid so I'm giving up on this eyeliner.

Bottom line: Transfers easily which is not suitable for me.

Verdict: Toss 1/5 [I know I don't really have much to say but I just really dislike this eyeliner, that's all]

Clearing out the graveyard of doom (i.e my bathroom cabinet)

I can't believe it's been 17 days since I last posted. I was on an adventurous trip: diving, trekking, jet-skiing, etc. Of course I was willing to miss school just to make myself available! My resolution led to humoungous pile of to-do-lists since there was work to be done for all the time that I was missing...which I only realized in November.

In times of great stress I like to take a time-out and de-clutter my room. Usually I tidy up my table before the start of focused studying, but this time around I decided to clear out the area that I only dare to take a small glimpse at before I hurridly throw more things inside. Yes it is the graveyard where beauty products are chucked in and left to grow cobwebs (oh how I wish this was rhetorical).

After 4(!) years of moving into my current abode, I finally decided to check what I have and do a clear out. I resolutely prepared a big black trashbag that could hide a body and started cleaning.

I found moisturizers that I can't even remember where or when I bought, big tubes of conditioners and small travel size products that I've never used that promptly went into the bin. Then I discovered a small white box, what could be inside?

You have got to be kidding me. 12 lipbalms of the same kind. I have yet to even finish 1 lipbalm in my life. At least the lipbalms feel pretty good and are supposed to be fantastic in cold weather *grumbles at my past self that bought this*

It can't be any worse right? Then I came across this

What on earth, I don't use body sprays or perfume, how did these things get in my cabinet?! The Biotherm body spray was so old that the plastic wrapped around the bottle had turned a nasty shade of yellow/brown and the silver rim of the bottle is flaking off. At least these scented water should still be usable...I think. I can count the number of times that I have used a fragrance simply because:

1) most of them are so overpowering to my nose

 2) I can't stand smelling perfume on myself.

BUT

I am such a cheapskate that I will make myself use these things *cries*

Then came the cherry on the topping

A lifting cream by Estee Lauder, a Silk Naturals Vitamin C serum that is to be used within 3 months of purchase which I bought 7 months ago, and 2 Clarins cream (do they even make them in this packaging anymore?!)

My Silk Naturals Green Tea and Oatmeal serum was smelling a bit sour so I trashed it and replaced it with the Estee Laude lifting cream, that I am using exclusively for my neck. My rule is when in doubt of a product, never use it on my face. The Estee Lauder bottle states that it can be used 24 months after opening, so it might still be good.

I persisted with the SN Vitamin C serum for a while, convincing myself that the serum is yellow, not brown and still usable. Alas, my face broke out during my diving trip and I decided to ditch this serum when I concluded that it's not worth risking the condition of my face. Oh the pain I felt at throwing money away. That truly made me resolute to finish as much of my products as possible.

The Clarins creams turned out to be a joke. The day cream smelled like vomit after squeezing it out, and the night one, while smelling fine intially, coagulated with oil in the joints of my body so I removed it with cleansing wipes. Thankfully, I never paid any money for these items. My mom had some extra Clarins product so she just passed them onto me...years ago.

Cleaning my cabinet has been eye-opening and depressing at the same time. I have so many hair products for long hair, many moisturizers and toners and it seems like it will take forever to get through any of it. In faith and hope, I shall turn to Project $50 10 pan, which will be discussed tomorrow.

P.S. The graveyard is also where I store all my BB creams. There isn't much space for them in an orderly cabinet, so I placed them into a shoe box.

Yep, it's all BB creams and related products. It's filled to the brim, I'm missing 2 other BB creams that are not at home with me and I gave my big bottle of BRTC Jasmine Water to a friend. I'm not kidding when I say I have a lot of something.

Project 10 Pan Skincare edition

A short introduction to project 10 pan: a scheme for hoarders of makeup/skincare like myself to use up the products on our list before we can buy new ones. A skincare/makeup diet of sorts. In its original form, it only applies to makeup, but it can be adapted for skincare as well. The goal is to save money, explore your stash and play around with makeup by limiting choices (how ironic). Most of my money is drained by makeup but I do have occasional skincare crazes so I decided to do use up some of them before I invest into even more skincare!  I'm not including sunscreen or makeup removers since these are essentials but I need to slim down my skincare collection from those crazy moments where I believed the marketing schtick of slimming/clear skin/whitening/wrinkle free.

I was supposed to update a few days ago but my laptop died and I forgot to bring my charger from home. So here's the overdue skincare 10 pan!

                              (sorry for the messy table and poor Iphone 3G pics, trying to get a camera soon!)

(L-R, Burt's Bees Honey Lipbalm, Silk Naturals Fire- Cinnamon Lip Balm, L'oreal Youth Code Eye cream, Clarins Advanced Extra-Firming Eye contour serum)

My lips and eyes products! The Silk Naturals lipbalm is finishing soon, but I have a long long way to go for the Burt's Bees Lipbalm. I can't really comment on the Clarins or Lóreal eye cream since I don't have fine lines near my eyes, but this could be due to age or my use of differin. Either way, the cream are more for preventive care, so reviews will probably focus on whether they are too thick and give milia or pimples around the area.

(L-R, Silk Naturals Green Tea & Aloe serum, Physiogel Cream, St. Ives Collagen Elastin Facial Moisturizer, Missha Cool Fitting Body Gel, Clarins Hand and Nail Treatment Cream and Missha Time Revolution White Cure Dark Control Cream)

I bought the Silk Naturals serum when I was trying to combat my oily skin, and the Physiogel when my skin was peeling! My skin crazy, I know. The St Ives Facial moisturizer is a hard one for me, I bought it because of all the reviews on Amazon.com but I was a little freaked out by the high mineral oil content in the jar. So instead I'm using this moisturizer as a part time makeup remover, I'll double cleanse with it, followed by my cleanser in the shower. Since mineral oil is used for makeup removal and moisturizers are meant to be used and left on the face, it can't be too bad right?

The Missha items were bought in South Korea when I was shopping at Incheon airport. It was before the duty free section, outside the departure gate that I saw Etude House and Missha having a 50% sale! Barely saw any tourists or locals there but spotted many air stewardess in their airline's trademark uniforms :D Most of the items were gone, especially from the White Cure line so I grabbed what was left. Some people buy 'holiday clothes', clothes that you think are nice overseas, but when you go back to your native country, you can't figure out when or where to wear them. I buy 'holiday skincare', I'm really not into whitening (I'm yellowish tone by nature) and I find most slimming products to be a bit of a hoax. The Clarins handcream was a gift but my (fussy/picky) mom loves this product. All of them are definitely interesting items that I'll be reviewing in the future! Thinking about it 4 of the above items are 'holiday skincare' and 2 others are online buys. Oh the ways that I've been spending my money...

Total cost of this project 10 pan = ~SGD$200? Can't remember most of the prices since I bought them a long time ago and I need to finish up before they expire!

Tomorrow is my makeup 10 pan post! (or is it?)