Betablinx85: Trash Talk: July Empties

First up is the Clinique Repairwear Laser Focus serum. It's meant to help smooth, repair and fight signs of aging and sun damage. If I'm honest, I never used this much since I didn't notice a difference right away. Back when I got it I wasn't aware of how it worked and it just confused me, which is a shame. I'm afraid I can't say it worked out for me for that reason, but it has great reviews for long term users. I still have quite a bit of product left in the sample, but it's more than likely past its prime.

Next is the Physicians Formula Gentle Cover Concealer Stick in Yellow. As you may be able to tell from the packaging, it's quite old and past due. I purchased this concealer for years for it's corrective yellow tone under the eyes, but was never really 100% pleased with its wear. It has a thin, buildable coverage that feels slick and slippy. If you have under eyes that crease easily, this formula is not for you.

I've since tried better alternatives and most likely won't be re-purchasing this, but I'd love to find a drugstore concealer with the same coloring, just a different formula. Any suggestions?

Mario Badescu is one of my favorite skincare brands at the moment and all thanks to queen beauty YouTuber Jaclyn Hill for suggesting their products in her videos. When she professed her love for the MB Drying Lotion on spots, I just had to try it. At the time, I was seriously struggling with acne and was desperate to try something new.

The first time I tried it out I absolutely loved it! It worked wonders and though it didn't prevent my acne flare ups, it did contain their severity. However, after repurchasing the product, my skin somehow didn't take it on as well as the first time around. It began to really aggressively aggravate my blemishes and made them painfully worse. I thought maybe it was a bad batch and so I purchased it again a third time. Curiously, my skin continued to be irritated by the product. I stopped using it altogether and have since tried other more effective products for my particular skin type.

Oh man…where to start on this one?…Another brand that I love dearly is Elf Cosmetics for their affordable products that more often than not surprise me with their quality and ease of use. Pictured here is one of their Essential Lipsticks. I hurts me to say this, but unfortunately this is quite possibly one of the worst products I've tried from the brand…which is strange considering I've seen well-known YouTubers rave about them and the product has amazing reviews!

I ordered about 4 of these guys in different shades because of their top scoring reviews and price of only $1.00 a piece! The color selection is really nice and they smell agreeable, but the packaging is incredibly ineffective and is so hard to twist up. It keeps sticking and is really frustrating to work with. I think I could get over that if the formula made up for it. Though they are moisturizing, I found that they wear off in the center of the mouth really easily and dry/pill at the edges of lips. Not to mention incredibly easy to transfer on your teeth! I think that was the greatest and most unforgivable sin of all for me. I couldn't wear these without having it all over my grill. Not cute.

(Back to top) The NYC Sky Rise Lengthening Mascara is AMAZING. It's a drugstore holy grail mascara that not only lengthens, but works incredibly by itself and layered with other mascaras. Get this: it's only $1.99! It has a classic wand and the formula is on the dryer side after a few uses (which I typically prefer). I have no complaints as to the coloring either. It's not the blackest mascara I've tried, but it's to par with most black mascaras on the market.

The only con I can come up with for this product is that you'll run out faster than other larger drugstore mascaras. Not ridiculously faster, but fast enough to notice.

If you're in a penny pinch or just want to try something new from the drugstore, I highly recommend this mascara. I will most definitely repurchase it after finishing the hoard that is my mascara drawer.

Another disappointing Elf product with great reviews was the Lash Extending Mascara. Is there something wrong with me? haha that makes 2 products with great reviews that I simply didn't get on with.

The formula is what put me off. It's very wet and added too much weight to my naturally straight, limp lashes. Please note that I tend to struggle with mascaras for this reason. No matter how much I curl them or how much I push them up while drying, some mascaras just don't work out for me for this very reason.

The wand is thin with rubber bristles and though I later experimented with this mascara for my bottom lashes, I found it to transfer throughout the day. Just keep that in mind if you have watery eyes or oily lids.

Another one of my current favorite brands is Soap & Glory. Now you know I love a great deal, so when I saw that ACW had these Off Your Face Cleansing Cloths for $2.00 bucks a pack I jumped on that real quick!

*The thing with ACW is that they offer (authentic) products at great deals for various reasons. It could be because companies are phasing out merchandise, packaging has changed, products are limited edition, out of season, and sometimes they come from other countries. You'll notice that I went ahead and linked the cleansing cloths, but it will lead you to the S&G UK site.

I can't say that this product ranks top scores in my opinion. They're by no means bad, but they just don't do very much as far as removing makeup as effectively as other wipes I've used. I'd compare these to the Yes to Cucumbers wipes for their refreshing and skin softening properties that can be used to lightly cleanse and freshen up throughout the day.

The Soap & Glory wipes have a slight texture to them and can be used as an exfoliating cloth with light pressure. They contain skin softening glycerin and the scent is a nice peppermint smell and I think that adds to the experience.

I'm not sure I'd eagerly repurchase these if they came back on the market and were accessible in the US, but I also don't think I'd pass them up if I were in a pinch either. Let's face it…I'm a sucker for Soap & Glory packaging anyway ;) Who's with me?

Lastly, but most certainly not least is my all-time favorite face cleanser, Philosophy's Purity Made Simple. I kept buying the small travel sized bottles in the beginning and fell in love with it. I purchased this size bottle along with a set from the Philosophy 40% off sale from earlier in the year that I had mentioned in my June Favorites post.

It gets rid of every trace of makeup and thoroughly cleanses without stripping the face. However, I do have to say that some people have claimed to find it drying on them, so I encourage those interested to try out the travel size bottle first.

On really heavy makeup days I like to use the Philosophy Purity Cleansing Oil as a pre-cleanse. Together, they make a really great team to gently remove makeup and impurities while being even more hydrating.

I won't be repurchasing the cleanser anytime soon since I've since invested in their mega bottle that no doubt will take me a year to finish, but I most certainly encourage you to try it out if you have sensitive/acne prone skin like I do.

And that's that! As always, thanks so much for reading and if you have some Empties posts that I can take a peek through, link me! I'd love to read what you have to say about products you're sharing. xoxo