Beauty Empties in September

I'm still very busy and don't have much spare time for blogging due to my thesis. I am very sorry guys. :-( However, as I still keep a journal on what I empty beauty wise for myself as a reference (besides of being a lot of fun, journaling such kinds of things also helps me a lot to discover what's best for me), I think it's not so much additional work for me to share my beauty empties with you. Some of you might also be interested in and benefit from my experiences with and my thoughts about the beauty products I try. 

Hence, I'll now show you my beauty empties of September: in September, I got rid of 52 products. It's crazy, I know. But I also decluttered a lot of stuff that I didn't want to empty anymore. At the moment, I try to shrink the amount of beauty stuff occupying my bathroom and to just keep those products I really like and enjoy using. I also used up a couple of samples that don't fit to my sex (i.e. some were for men) or my skin type (i.e. some were for combination skin) just in order to get rid of them but to not throw them away.

I also read a lot about color categories and skin color seasons in September and I also (re)discovered that I belong to the summer skin colour category. Actually, I stumbled upon the fact that I am a summer type in the skin color seasons system one or two years ago, but I somehow forgot about it. I personally found it very difficult to find out more about my skin undertone and my color type in the skin color seasons systems. I still don't know what kind of flow I belong to within the summer color category. A webpage that helped me a lot to find out that I am a summer type is the Beautyjunkies Farbtypen F.A.Q. I highly recommend to read this in case you speak german as, unfortunately, it is written in German. For english speakers, however, I recommend to read the book Colour me beautiful by Carole Jackson. As I rediscovered that I belong to the summer skin colour category and also observed that I didn't wear the colours that don't suit me anyway, I decided to declutter a couple of makeup colours that don't suit me at all and haven't been worn often anyway.

I also started to journal my teeth products again because I want to find out how fast I use these products up as well. It's just a journaling issue and shall help me to get more organized and to get a feeling for when something needs to be repurchased because it soon will be empty. In the future, I want to repurchase stuff at the right time and stop hoarding it. ;-) 

22 of these 52 products have been decluttered by me. Among those 30 products which I really emptied only 12 products were full size. The others were samples, each with a different amount of content.

Here is a picture of all products, I emptied or decluttered in September: 

A short summary and my thoughts about the products, I emptied in August:

• Shower Gels and Body Scrubs 
• Nivea Sunny Melon & Oil Shower gel: I own this shower gel for a year now. It helped me to relax during a tough working time last year, hence I have a special relationship to this shower gel, its scent and how it feels to apply it. It reminds me of this time and I therefore like it. I like melon scents in general, this is why I bought it in the first place. But this shower gel does not have a pure melon scent. The scent is rather fresh, tangy and smells only a bit like melons. I like the scent. It also is a shower gel that provides a bit of skin care due to the oil included. It's a great shower gel for the whole year. I think that I might repurchase it some day. First I have to use up the huge amount of shower gels that I hoard, however.
• Weleda Baby & Kind Waschlotion & Shampoo Calendula: This is a shower gel and shampoo for babies and kids. It is by Weleda and organic and doesn't foam and this why I didn't like it that much. For me, shower gels somehow have to foam. It was good nevertheless as it took away all sweat smells (of sweat after biking for example). As a shampoo it was kind of okayish, too. I had it for a couple of years now and I really struggled a lot with it and used mostly with my exfoliation glove. But in the end I somehow started to like it. However, I don't know whether I'll repurchase it. At the moment, I anyway have a ton of other shower gels to use up.
• Balea Young Duschschaum Erdbeertraum: This is a shower foam which I bought in September. You have to shake it like shaving foam and it also looks like shaving foam when it comes out of the bottle. I am not used to such a kind of consistency and this is why I didn't like it that much. I missed the usual look and feel of shower gels. The scent of this shower foam is fuity and reminds of strawberries. I liked it but I can imagine that persons who don't like artificial fruity scents would not like it. Over all it was a nice and interesting experience and I somehow like this shower foam but still - as I prefer normal shower gels - I will not repurchase it.  
• Clarins Gommage Exfoliant Peau Neuve Sample: This was a body scrub sample by Clarins. It was nothing special. I actually found it to be a bit agressive. The scent was not really special either and I don't remember anything about it. I think was not bad because Clarins  usually enhances their products with a nice scent. However, as I didn't like that product (and anyway have great exfoliation glove which I prefer above body scrub products), I won't repurchase it.

•  Body Lotions and Body Butters
• Olivenöl Pflegecreme: I got this in August from my mum. It is a very greasy body lotion, but also very nurturing. I didn't like the smell though. Hence, I didn't like to use it but as the nurturing effect was really great, it was not that bad either. I wouldn't repurchase it though and can understand that my mum doesn't like to use it either. 
• Farfalla Silhouette Miracle Toning Body Gel (20ml sample): I got this body gel with my twist.bag July. This is a nice body gel. Usually, I don't like body gels but this one was kind of okayish. The scent is fresh and spicey but no specific spice dominates the scent. It is difficult to describe. The application is smooth and the gel feels refreshing. It's perfect for summer. The nurturing effect was not the best but this cannot be expected with gels anyway. I might repurchase it but to be hones, the price is a bit deterrent (a full size tube costs around 30 Euro). 
• Farfalla Silhouette Miracle Body Lotion (20ml sample): This is a body lotion of the same series like the Body Gel. I got it with my twist.bag July as well. The scent is similar to the one of the body gel but not so strong. What I like most about this body lotion is that it is strengthening the skin from within and provides a lot of moisture. My skin feels great after applying this body lotion and I like the body lotion more than the body gel. I might repurchase it. But still: it is pretty expensive (like the body gel) and this shrinks the appealing effect. 
• Logona Bio Aloe+Verveine daily care Bodylotion: I bought this body lotion in June. It is a fresh and light body lotion and it's lemon/verveine scent is not too intrusive. Nevertheless, the scent was not nice fresh but rather disgusting fresh. But it was bearable and alltogether it was not as terrible as it sounds. The nurturing effect was great for summer. In winter, it might be too light. I might repurchase another body lotion by Logona - I don't think that I'll repurchase this one, however.
• Sweet Lemon Body Butter by The Body Shop (5ml Sample): This was a nice body butter. I used it as a foot cream and also used for the legs. At first I found that it smelled a bit like a lemon cleaning agent, but then as a sample, I liked the scent. I liked the nurturing effect too. Maybe I'll repurchase it some day. Let's see ... 

• Hair Care products (and Hair bleaching)
• Balea Volume Shampoo Kirsche + Jasmin (50ml Sample): This Shampoo is really a nice product. It is not very nurturing, but it does what it says: it provides some volume. Did like it. Might repurchase it but probably rather not because it was not that moisturizing. Let's see ...
• Sante Hair Care Conditioner Brilliant Care: This is my favourite conditioner. I love it. My hair is super soft after having used it and they shine like crazy. I don't love this product, I adore it. It is a holy grail product. The picture below shows the product in it's old packaging. Early 2011, they changed the packaging and I just repurchased it in the new packaging. I hope, they didn't change the product.
• XYO Rapid hair bleaching cream: This is a bleaching cream for facial hair. I tried it for the hair on my upper lip and it works. Nevertheless, I didn't like me with blonde hair on the upper lip and prefer to go waxing. Hence, as I don't use this product I gave it away. 

• Face Care Products 
• Biotherm Purefect Skin gelee hydratante effet peau pure (tiny sample): This is a gel for combination skin. I don't have combination skin, but rather normal to dry skin in summer/early autumn. It was not only not enough nurturing for my skin, I also suspect it that it caused my first spot in ages. So, no, I'll never ever repurchase it!
• Melvita for men Youthful Skin Serum (tiny sample): This would have been good for my boyfriend, but he didn't want to use it and this is why I used it up. ;-) I didn't like it. After applying it dried on the skin and I was able to "roll it off" when rubbed my face later in the day. The scent wasn't as great either. And it is a product for men, I won't repurchase it anyway of course. :-D
• Dermalogica Active Moist (2 tiny samples): This is a moisturizing skin care for combination skin again. The scent is very strong and disturbing because it is not good at all. But it seems to be the typical scent of Dermalogical products for combination skin. Unfortunately, I got a couple of them with a purchase and I wanted to use them up as soon as possible and this scent is really terrible. I don't have any combination skin anyway but rather normal to dry skin in summer and early autumn, so the nurturing effect was not enough. The skin care is very light and of course I won't repurchase it. 
• FlorAyer Rosee du Matin day cream (7ml sample): Wonderful and lovely face cream! Love it! The scent is a dream and the nurturing effect is incredibly great. I'll repurchase it for sure some day. Here, you can find a more detailled review.
• Clarins Multi-Active Nuit (sample): this a nice night cream for summer. I liked it. The scent was great as usual with Clarins products. The nurturing effect was nice as well!  I don't know whether I'll repurchase it. I don't need a night cream for summer. I found a lot of great summer creams and therefore might not repurchase it. But maybe I will. 
• Melvita for men, anit-ageing fluid de-stressing (tiny sample): Again a cream for men and my boyfriend didn't want to use, hence I had to use it up. I liked it. The scent is a really nice mallow scent. It's a bit strong but goes away quickly. Somehow, I liked it nevertheless. Good face cream with a good nurturing effect, too, I would repurchase it if I was a man. But I am not a man and hence won't repurchase it. ;-)
• Phyto Balance 24 hours Cream by i+m Naturkosmetik (tiny sample): This is a face cream for combination skin. I once got it with an order. I really don't understand why I always get so many samples for combination skin when I order stuff. I cannot use them, they are too light. This one was even additionally drying my skin. Hence, I won't repurchase it of course. It's also a bit sad to get introduced to a brand with skin care that does not fit your skin. Because of the first experience being not good, I don't feel like trying something else from this brand. 

•  Face Cleaning Products 
• Ebelin Cotton Pads: There's nothing to say about these cotton pads. They are normal cotton pads. I think I like them, but I think all other cotton pads are great, too. In the future, I want to experiment with other brands as well. However, I haven't observed anythying negative or positive about these cotton pads. 
• Cadea Vera Lotionhaltige Augenmakeupentfernerpads (eye remover pads for non-waterproof eye makeup): These are terrible, I was not able to get rid of any eye make up - they were only smearing the makeup around my eyes, but nearly nothing came off. And I only use non-waterproof eye makeup products at the moment. Hence, I decided to throw them away. These are joke and I won't repurchase them.
• 2 samples of skin refining mask by Dermalogica: This is a very aggressive face mask for combination skin (which I don't have - my skin is normal to dry in summer/early autumn). It has the same strong scent like the Dermalogica face cream for combination skin I discuss above. However, in cleaning products this is not so disturbing. I won't repurchase it.
• 2 samples of dermal clay cleanser by Dermalogica: Again a very aggressive face cleaning product for combination skin. But somehow I liked it because my skin felt really clean afterwards. Unfortunately, it was a bit burning while it was on my skin. This is why it felt very aggressive. I won't repurchase it as I didn't have the feeling that it suited my skin type.
• Rival de Loop Hydro 3-in-1 cleaning wipe for dehydrated skin: I liked the product, it was not as drying as the one by Alverde. I also liked the scent. I might repurchase it. I haven't used it for eye makeup, only for face makeup. However, it can also be used for eyes as I've read on the empty package. I'll try this when I repurchase this product which is pretty likely. 
• Weleda Mandel Cleansing Milk: I liked this product a lot. It was not drying at all - on the contrary. The scent was great too: like almonds. Unfortunately, I only like such kinds of products when I shower and I don't shower in the evening when I have to really clean my skin. This is why I don't use such kind of product that often. But I really liked it and maybe I can get used to use this also when I don't shower. I liked it a lot and might repurchase it.

• Hand and Foot Care Products 
• Scholl moisturizing cream for feet and nails: This is a great foot cream for summer because it nurtures the skin for the whole day (and even the next day). Then, blisters won't have a chance anymore. However, the ingredients weren't that great. So, I am not sure whether I'll repurchase it. But maybe I will as I really liked how great my feet felt while using it. 
• Ebelin nail polish remover without acetone: I like the packaging a lot. It is not a bad nail polish remover. Maybe a bit aggressive, however. My nails don't look that great after having removed nail polish with this nail polish remover. This is why I want to experiment more with other nail polish removers. Currently I am using up another bottle but afterwards, I'll be trying other nail polish removers. 
• Weleda Sanddorn/Seabuckthorn hand cream: Unfortunately, this hand cream is not useable anymore as it's expiration date has long passed. It was May 2007. This is why I decided to throw it away without having used it. But there was a time when I really loved this hand cream and I will repurchase it some day again. Currently, I have to use up other hand creams anyway. 

• Tooth products
• Donto Dent Intensive Clean tooth paste: This is my favourite tooth paste and I mentioned it already in another empties post. I repurchase it regularly.
• Listerine Zero mouth wash: This is a new mouth wash by Listerine that was released only recently. I didn't like it. It doesn't taste that aweful like the other ones by Listerine but I got used to the terrible taste and this is why I didn't like it. I won't repurchase it.

• Antiperspirants and Perfume and body sprays: 
• Tautropfen Fluidum Bretagne: This is a body spray and I love it. At the beginning I didn't like the scent and had to force me to use it up. But after a couple of uses, I fell in love with the scent and the product. It's a great refreshing summer body spray. It's also a bit nurturing, not much, but a bit - enough for summer anyway. It smells like summer and a sea breeze. It is very expensive (30 Euro for the bottle) but I love so much that I might repurchase it next summer. I enjoyed using it a lot. 
• Guerlain "La petit Robe noire" Perfume sample: I don't like this scent. It is very heavy and concentrated sweet scent. I cannot describe it but as I didn't like it, I gave it away. 
• Farfalla "Pleasure" Perfume sample: This perfume sample was in my twist.bag July. It is a very spicey scent that I don't like at all. Gave it away.
• Jimmy Choo Perfume Sample: I didn't like this one either and gave it away! 
• Guerlain "Shalimar" Perfume Sample: Didn't like it and gave it away.

• Sun Products 
• 2 samples of Lavera Sun Sensitiv Après Sun Gel: The scent of this after sun lotion is very intensive and I don't like it. I'm not able to say something about how good it fulfills its purpose as after sun lotion because I was not sunbathing at all in September. I used it as an after shave product and for this purpose it was good. However, as I don't like the scent, I won't repurchase it and rather use other after sun lotions as after shave lotion. ;-)
• Nivea Sun Light Feeling Sun Fliud for the face with SPF 20: I bough this product in summer 2011 and used it in my holidays. I liked it a lot. It wasn't greasy and it wasn't sticky. It didn't go into my eyes - at least much less than other sun products - and hence I was able to use it around the eyes as well. I liked it and I will repurchase it next summer. I threw this bottle away although it was only half empty because the SPF decreases each year and next year it will be even less than SPF 20 and this is why I prefer to throw it away now and buy a new one next year.

• Makeup Products: I got rid of a lot of makeup products in September and I will go through the different product categories below. At first I want to show you all the makeup products I got rid of in September:

• Complexion Products and Blushes:
• Alverde Blush Pearls: I bought these Blush Pearls in June and also mentioned them in my Beauty Favourites July. I enjoyed using them in summer. They have a lovely and light colour but unfortunately, I don't like the shimmer. I don't like any shimmery blushes and this is why I decided to declutter it. The colour was also very light and this is why I had to apply a lot of product (and hence a lot of shimmer) and this didn't look natural anymore on my cheeks. I rediscovered other great blushes and in comparison, this one wasn't worth keeping.
• Illamasqua Cream Blusher in Zygomatic: I bought this blush in June as well. I tried really hard to love this product. It has a nice colour and it is a really nice product. I can be blended out easily. BUT: again, the shimmer really disturbed me. When I used it, I had to use a lot of powder over it in order to get rid of this incredible shimmer. Hence, I decided heavy hearted to get rid of it and gave it away.
• Clarins Skin illusion Mineral & Plant Extracts Makeup in 110 Honey (Sample): I was surprised that the colour matched my skin tone. I think I am indeed a bit tanned although I haven't been lying a lot in the sun. Very surprising. :-) The makeup is not moisturizing but quite ok. I enjoyed using it up. I don't whether I'd repurchase it - the colour and the moisturizing effect rather fit into summer anyway. 
• Art Deco 11 blush: When I bought this blush I loved how bright it was. However, I have never worn it, unfortunately, because I own a lot of other blushes I like more on me. I just loved this blush on my hand or in the pan. And as I started to read more about skin color categories in September and rediscovered that I belong to the summer colour category that should not wear bright orange and peach, I made a couple of experiments and decided that orange is not my colour. This is why I decluttered bright orange makeup colours in September. I haven't worn these orangey and peachy colours anyway because they indeed don't suit me. 
  

• Lip sticks and lip glosses:
• Loreal Caresse Lipstick in 03 Lovely Rose: This was a mispurchase in June. The colour does not suit me (maybe because it is too bright as my colour category is summer - see above my discussion of the ar deco 11 blush). This is why I got rid of it and gave it away.
• Lavera Lips in Golden Kiss: This is a lip stick I found in one of my beauty boxes. The colour is terrible. It is bright gold - who would ever wear this on their lips?!? I tried to use it as an eyeshadow and as a highlighter but for this it is too sticky and greasy. It is a lip stick after all and a nurturing as well (I also own another Lavera Lips lipstick and like its nurturing effect a lot - too bad that the colours are not that great).
• UMA Permanent Lip Duo: This lip gloss duo was in my Pink Box August. I actually like this lip gloss. The colour is every day color and very wearable and suits me. And I like the company as discussed in my Pink Box August post. Unfortunately, the product does not stay on the lips. It disappears too quickly. This is why I never use it and this why I decided to get rid of it.
• Douglas Watergloss in Orange: This is a bright orange lip gloss that does not suit my skin undertone (I belong to the summer colour category). This is why I got rid of it and gave it away.

• Nail Polishes:
• Essence Colour & Go in 136 love's recipe: This is a beige nail polish with coarse-grained glitter. In principle a nice color and it's not that I don't like it at all on me. But one the one hand it is not easy to remove the polish due to the glitter. And on the other hand, I own many much nicer nail polished that suit my skin undertone much better (as mentioned, I am a summer ;-)). Furthermore, I don't wear it anyway and decided to get rid of it. Here are a couple of additional pictures of this polish on me (picture 1, picture 2 - you see: it's not completely aweful on me but I certainly can live without this nail polish ;-)) 
• P2 last forever Nail Polish in 130 lovely moment: This nail polish is bright baby pink. I bought it beginning of September because I thought I could use it as a base for my lovely polish by Lex in Tuileries. But I don't like this color. It is a beigy baby pinkt and does not suit my skin undertone and also does not look good with Tuileries by Lex. Luckily it was not expensive.

• Eye makeup products:
• Dr. Hauschka Solo 09 eye shadow: This is a nude beige eye shadow with a muddy silvery shimmer. I actually wanted to use it up but the shimmer is really strong and somehow not nice. It's muddy silvery and looks a bit strange and therefore, I decided to get rid of it.  
• Bobbi Brown eye shadow "Pink Chandelier": This is a metallic shimmery eye shadow from the Bobbi Brown palette of the Neons & Nudes limited edition. I depotted this palette and put it into my MAC system. This eye shadow contains coarse grained glitter and doesn't have any colour - just glitter and shimmer. As it crumbled a lot and I also own a lot of better shimmery eye shadows (and I don't like coarse-grained glitter in eye shadows anyway), I decided to get rid of this eye shadow.
• Alverde Pumpkin Orange eye shadow: This eye shadow was in some Alverde limited edition. I didn't like as an eye shadow at all on me. This is why I kept it as a blush but I actually never wore it. And since I now keep my color catergorie (summer) in focus, I decided to get rid of it. My skin undertone won't change and bright orange and peach does not suit me.
• NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in 601 Black Bean: This is a smudgy eye pencil and I didn't like it. Some like it as a base for eye shadow - I was not able to use it properly and on my lids it moved around all the time. Hence, I decided to get rid of it. 
• NYX Glitter Cream Palette: This is incredibly terrible. It is some cream with coarse-grained glitter. I think I have mentioned often enough that I hate coarse grained glitter. So, of course I had to get rid of this thing as soon as I got it (it was in my douglas of beauty box September - I didn't buy it myself ;-)).