December Empties

Some months I finish up a ton of interesting products, other months are like the last where I use mostly staples and beauty basics. As always, let's go over the products I finished, some that I'm decluttering, and then I want to try to describe how my Empties posts will change in 2018!

White Cloud Cotton Squares 160 Count
These are basic cotton squares that I use with micellar water to take off my makeup. They're pretty soft and a good value, this pack lasted me a long time and I repurchased it.

Accelebrite Bee Venom Serum* (review)
I received this several months ago to review and ended up really liking it! You only get 15 ml in this and it's quite expensive, so I don't think that I would repurchase it, but I did use it almost everyday. Before my skin was used to it the product gave me a slight tingling feeling, but it went away as my skin acclimated and instead left my skin feeling plump and hydrated.

Blistex Medicated Berry and Medicated Mint lip balms (Maybe cruelty-free)
The Medicated Berry Blistex used to be my favorite, but the ingredients include an irritant which dries the lips out over time so I don't know if I want to use either of these products anymore. I won't repurchase them for now.

Dove Original Clean Deodorant (not CF)
What can I say about a deodorant? It smells okay, nothing overpowering, but it can leave white streaks on darker clothing. I had an issue with a deodorant a few years ago that gave me a rash but this one did not do that! I have one more tube of it and then I'm switching to a cruelty-free option.

The Ordinary Natural Moisturizing Factors + HA
Since using this product (in combination with a few serums) I have not had any dry patches, even in this harsh winter weather! I absolutely love this moisturizer and I use it every day. I bought two backups the last time I purchased from the Ordinary, but I gave one to my sister and just opened the next. Luckily they are now available at Sephora! It's a thicker moisturizer than I expected, but my skin absorbs it really quickly and it doesn't feel greasy at all. It also has no scent. This moisturizer became available in a larger size, which I will absolutely be purchasing.

Butter London Oh My, How High mascara sample
I got this in an Ipsy bag a few months ago. I didn't mind it at first, but it started getting very clumpy after a month or so. If you like a bit of clump, you may like this mascara, but I hate it so I wouldn't purchase the full size of this.

Decluttered:

Maybelline Crown Jewels Eyeshadow trio
I've had this purple trio for ages and I haven't reached for it for years. It's time to get rid of it, I don't like the formula and if I want to wear this shade I would reach for one of my palettes.

Vera Wang Embrace perfume sample*
Usually I love perfume samples, even if it isn't one that I'm a huge fan of, but I hated this perfume. If you like rosy scents you might want to check it out, but rose scents give me a headache so I couldn't wear this fragrance. I received this from an Influenster box but obviously that didn't influence my opinion on it, since I'm passing it on!

Starting in my next empties post for January, I will be doing things a little bit differently. I really need to cut down on my makeup spending and focus on using up the products that I already own.

Kat from Beauty News (KitschSnitch is her solo channel) did her 2017 Project Pan in an interesting way that focused on using up a certain dollar amount of product in one year. She ended up using more than $1000 worth of product in her Project Pan alone! I found that really inspiring, so I want to do the same in both my 2018 Empties and my Project Pan. $1000 is a bit much for me, especially because I use a lot of drugstore products in my Project Pans, so I want to use up $200 worth of product in my Project Pan and about $500 worth throughout my Empties posts. If after a few months these values seem too easy or difficult to reach I might adjust them, but for now I think it's a good goal. 

I also might have the philosophy of not spending more on makeup than what I can use. If, for example, in January I finish $50 worth of products, then in February my beauty spending has a $50 limit. Again, if this is too difficult I might adjust it but I think that would help me control my spending and only buy what I need.

Let me know what you think of this idea and if you have finished up any products lately!

Xx Katie

An * denotes a product I was sent in exchange for an honest review