Monday, August 29, 2011

Yes! I will use up 200 things in a year!

So maybe I'm reaching and using up sample packets and other easy-to-use things. But so what? If I finish off 3 more things by Friday, I'll have dispatched 200 things in a year. And that would be amazing.

*Nuance Salma Hayek cocoa coffee body firming cream sample (x2). This smells like a mocha latte! I have to acquire a full size or two of this at some point, because it really is like rubbing the best part of morning on my skin.

*John Frieda Root Awakening smoothing cream sample. Eh. This may have even made the hair by the nape of my neck tangle more than usual.

*Barielle intensive hand cream. I wasn't impressed by this, it's an unnatural light blue color, and contains a lot of petrochemicals. I also didn't care for the fragrance. But it was free from Meg's, and I couldn't seem to swap it away, so I used it.

*GOW/Camellia Rose sample - Perfect My Eye-ris gel. If your main (only) problem is lines, this'll probably plump them up real well. This had a bit of a "tightening" effect, and almost seemed uncomfortable at times.

(Since Sept. 2, 2010)
197 items gone
72 full size items gone

Sunday, August 28, 2011

200th post!

And kind of a random one, at that. I used up some more stuff. And I'm gonna see if I can go until October 15th before buying anything new (including makeup, skincare, haircare, nail polish). I need to shrink my collection some. Or a lot. It's time for some major detox - I had a stressful summer and compensated by buying things.

Using things up feels good, but it's also a methodical process that keeps me away from a lot of my collection.

And, it's 5 days away from when Project Use It hits the yearlong mark. I wonder if I can get to 200 products by then? After the year, I don't know what I'm going to do about keeping track of stuff - maybe a monthly or biweekly post?

Things that are gone now:
*SN Bubbly GWP eye shadow - can't buy it again, but it was lovely. I even got a compliment on it from the lady at Ulta! I'm kind of looking forward to moving onto something else now, though. It was a tan champagne shade with lots of sparkles.

*Meow Pampered Puss foundation sample - Sleek Persian. I did like this enough to get a huge tub of it at their recent sale. Probably could have waited some more, as I still have an Aromaleigh full size and a tub of adorned with Grace. Oh well.

*Nuance Salma Hayek Tinted Moisturizer samples - Light. I took three of these, because they're really only good for testing the color if you only have one. Turns out three of these are also not enough to test out coverage. I ended up piling my normal stuff on top of it, because it was like it didn't do anything.

*Neutrogena Instant Nail Enhancer. This claimed to be a way to make your nails look better without polish. I say it's basically a very thin, very fast drying clear nail polish. I also say it's not worth the effort, which is why I had it sitting around for years and had to make a conscious effort to use it up so I could harvest the silver balls for a Frankenpolish.

(Since Sept. 2, 2010)
192 items gone
71 full size items gone

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Frankenlippies!

Last weekend, I turned this...
Into this:

Top left - orangey gloss made out of a mixture of a bunch of stuff (SN gold lipgloss, clear lipgloss, Morgana Gilded Tangerine sample, HiFi cosmetics lip glaze sample, and some leftovers from the other products). This is way too glossy for the tube I put it in, so I have to transfer it to a jar soon.

Top middle - Pink shade made out of some ELF mineral lipstick, an NYC lipcolor compact, various micas (mostly TKB interferences), and the leftovers from the Top Right shade.

Top right - red shade made with a Pink Quartz minerals stick, some avocado butter, red glitter, and a squirt of meadowfoam seed oil.

Bottom - gloss pots made out of clear gloss I got at the dollar store, avocado butter, meadowfoam seed oil, Morgana Gilded Lime sample, green Sparks and Hilite micas from TKB. Then, I took the green gloss, divided it in half, and added some red blush samples and red lipstick to that.
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These are my first two attempts at frankenlippies. The red one is a couple slimline tubes (one from SN and one from Crazy Rumors, and Morgana Fire in the Sky sample. The pink one is a couple pink ELF Minerals lipsticks and a bunch of purple, green, and gold hilite micas.




Out of all the progress photos, the making of the green gloss turned out the best. I'll save that for another post! Between the three project sessions, I ended up with seven new products, and disposed of a greater number of full size containers and 8 or so sample pods.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Friday mind dump

Hello, all.

Just dumping a few things from my mind before I forget them! Survived the first two weeks of my new job!!! Now, I'm enjoying a can of beer at 5 p.m. on a Friday, because I'm a grownup and I can. :D In other news, I will probably be asleep soon, because with me it doesn't take much.

1. My collection is overflowing. I'm gonna go for a 50-day detox. Today is Day 3.

2. I made a bunch of lip frankens over the weekend. I took pictures. I'll post sometime soonish.

3. I used up more stuff.
- EDM lavender everyday everywhere. This is something they don't make anymore. Too bad. It's almond oil, hydrogenated vegetable oil, and a botanical agent. This one was lavender. It was good for my lips and for really dry skin. It was also really old, like I'd had it for over 3 years, so using it up seemed wise.

- Epically Epic Soap fragrance sample - Tropical Peach. I don't use perfumes, so I added this to some plain body wash. It made showertime very aromatic for a few weeks. I think I liked it, but it was a bit too "ripe" for my taste.

- Frankenfoundation, Jr. (envelope SN original ivory, medium ivory, 12ish scoops Warm Gold, plus a 10g jar of some zinc oxide and mica blend I had laying around). This actually ended up being ok! Who knew? Unfortunately, I have no concrete idea on the proportions, so I won't be making it again... Not that I need to, I have three more loose powder foundations, two liquids, a pressed powder, and a mousse. I'm good for a bit, I'd say.

(Since Sept. 2, 2010)
188 items gone
69 full size items gone

Saturday, August 20, 2011

another used it! (And I liked over half the stuff!)

Hey everyone! I got a job! I'm working with elementary school kids and teaching them Spanish. So, I've been pretty busy this week.

Anyway, I've used up some more stuff.

*Silk Naturals Vitamin C Peptide serum - Good stuff, though I'm going to be trying out the new Awesome Sauce as a replacement. I used this in the morning under my sunblock.

*Meow Flawless Feline foundation sample - frisky chartreux. I wanted to try the Flawless Feline formula, and was able to get this as an extra in a swap. I think Pampered Puss is still better for me, as this was a bit thick and cakey on me. My skin's improved since I started reviewing foundations, so now I don't need them to have as much coverage.

*adorned with Grace Minerals Animated blush sample - This is a good shade for fair ladies to add a natural-looking flush. Strangely, on me, it actually worked like a cross between bronzer and blush. There's no brown in it at all, but the peachy shade worked to give me a just-been-outside look. I might order this next time I order from there.

*Bliss Steep Clean mask sample. I got this at Sephora. There are two packets, one with blue gel and one with a yellow cream. You mix the two to make a slimy green paste, which you then apply to your face, let sit for five minutes, and rinse off. I'm really not sure this did more than stink and burn my eyes with the fumes. Bleh.

*Kiss My Face Face Factor SPF 30 sunblock. I would consider buying this again, too. It wasn't my Holy Grail of sunblocks, but it met most of my specifications (zinc oxide, nothing I'm allergic to, no noticeable fragrance). Even if I used a lot, it seemed to sink in within a few minutes.

(Since Sept. 2, 2010)
185 items gone
67 full size items gone

Saturday, August 6, 2011

used it! (skincare, conditioner)

*Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Conditioner. This is either the third or fourth of these that I've gone through. It seems to be my go-to drugstore conditioner. Cheap and works - who can complain?

*100% Pure foaming cucumber face wash. I got this in a swap, and it was nice and gentle for morning, but not nearly strong enough to get makeup off.

*Supergoop everyday spf 30 sample. This came in the Sephora Suncare kit. It was ok. Nothing special. It had some strange white chunks in it that I didn't like.

*Supergoop sunblock swipe. This is also from the Sephora Suncare kit. It was also ok, nothing special, and kind of annoying to use because I had to go into the packet to squeeze/scrape out the rest of the product so I could actually get both arms. Just the liquid by itself would be better.

(Since Sept. 2, 2010)
180 items gone
65 full size items gone