July Used It!

I can't believe it's August already! Where I live, back to school is Monday (I grew up going back the first Wednesday after Labor Day). It's also been really hot for weeks. So I'm having some serious cognitive dissonance here.

What did I use up in July? Any winners? Losers? Let's see!


365 Fragrance Free Body Lotion*  - not pictured. This was the 32 oz size, and hard to use up!
Buy again? No way. It doesn't absorb well. I used it up primarily as shaving cream, and I have other things I find more effective.

Caudalie Eye Cream sample 
Buy again? No. I mostly rely on samples for eye creams because I haven't found any that really make a significant difference. This one was nice, though. And I liked that it came in a tube instead of a packet.

CVS Biodegradable Nail Polish Remover*
Do not buy this. The idea of a non-acetone, more environmentally friendly product to remove nail polish is very appealing. However; in order to remove a manicure, I need to use a new cotton pad every other nail, put fresh remover on the pad after every nail, and practically scrub at my polish to get it off. That's five cotton pads, ten douses of remover, and way more time than I'd like to spend removing my polish. In contrast, I used the butter LONDON remover recently and used three pads and five douses - and was done sooner.

First Aid Beauty eye cream sample
Buy again? No, for same reasons as stated above.

Garnier shampoo and conditioner samples (3 packets total)
Buy again? No. These were all freebies, and I didn't find anything great about any of them. The color treated hair ones were fine, and the "pure" one was also merely fine. That one was billed as a 2-in-1and as being "silicone free." Well, it didn't seem to condition, and had dimethicone in it. Last I checked, dimethicone was a silicone. Liars.

Hugo Naturals Vanilla Orange body wash*
Smells delicious, dries out my skin. 'Nuff said.

Inglot Face Primer Sample
I have to say, I haven't really noticed any significant difference between all the siliconey primers I've tried. But I like samples!

Jurlique Herbal Recovery Gel sample
Buy again? No, and its biggest drawback is the somewhat flowery scent. You might like that, but it reminds me of my seasonal allergies.

LaVanila The Healthy Sun Block - Body*

Milani Total Lash Cover mascara*
I did not so much use this up as give up on it. It was difficult to apply, even after I chopped off the extraneous end of the brush. It flaked onto my undereye area and gave me even darker dark circles. I have very little good to say about this product, which is sad because I wanted to like it. Alas, mascara is a very tricky beast. 


Organix Macadamia Dry Styling Oil*
I'm really undecided on this. Like really undecided. I like it better than a lot of siliconey serums I've tried, and it has the advantage of "disappearing" into dry hair more than others. After I run out of the other leave-ins I have, I'm trying out mineral oil, because I hear a drop or two of it on wet hair works absolute magic.

Peter Thomas Roth Retinol Fusion PM .4 oz. "sample."
This is a large sample. I liked the way it felt on my face. I keep hearing good things about retinol. I like a lot of things about this product. I do not like its $65 price tag. Maybe I will buy this when I am older and richer. Or maybe I'll find another retinol product that doesn't take several hours of work to buy.

Philosophy On a Clear Day spot treatment*
More and more, I'm thinking that spot treatments in general are just not for me, because of the "underground" way my worst zits happen. Moisturizing and exfoliating the heck out of them has been working better for me. Not a knock on this product in particular, just the entire category.

Philosophy Purity Made Simple sample (not shown)
I may buy this again as a "splurge," but I'm not convinced that it's significantly better than other, less expensive cleansers. So while my budget is limited, I'll continue to spend my skincare dollars on treatments instead.

Revlon PhotoReady Compact Foundation*
I got this at the CVS clearance sale. It looks great in photos, but I really didn't like putting it on - the "liquefying screen" is really gimmicky, and putting enough pressure on the screen to get the product to squeeze out forces it to the edge, where it becomes unusable. This experiment will probably not going to be repeated by me.

Simple eye makeup remover*
This does get makeup off relatively easily. It's the biggest winner this month.

Tresemme Split Remedy Shampoo and Conditioner samples
Sadly, there is only one remedy for split ends, and it involves sharp scissors you never, ever use for anything else. But I got these for free, so why not? They were worth ever so slightly more than I paid for them.

July Summary:
Winner - Simple eye make up remover (and even here, I'm not totally in love. Bummer of a month!)
Possible winners in an imaginary universe wherein I have more money - Philosophy Purity Made Simple, Peter Thomas Roth Retinol Fusion PM
Losers - CVS Biodegradable Nail Polish "Remover," Milani

Products used up: 20
Full size products used up: 8

April 2012 Used it! Part I (Sorry so late!)

C.O. Bigelow My Favorite Lip Balm* - Your favorite, maybe. Not mine.

CVS brand tooth whitening strips* (not pictured) - These did seem to work a little bit, but they do not dissolve like the box said they would. Instead, they turned into a snotty, mushy, sticky goop. Also, some of them wouldn't come off of the paper backing very easily. Overall, not impressed.



CVS brand nail polish remover minis - regular and the one you dip your finger in.
The normal one is ok, but nothing earth-shatteringly awesome. The one you dip your finger in has some serious limitations, like being useless for toenails. Also, on this one, the hole for the finger wasn't wide enough. And the formula didn't seem to do anything.

Desert Essence Lemon Tea Tree Shampoo* I very well might buy this again. It smells amazing, just like lemons, works pretty well, and did I mention that it smells like lemons?

DivaWash* (not pictured) - Works fine for its intended purpose, but (TMI alert!) due to my "method" of choice, I haven't needed a cup or anything for years. It works nicely as a face wash or body wash, too, but not nicely enough to justify the price.

Evil Shades Opal eye primer sample - Decent stuff, but didn't keep things in place as long as I wanted. If your skin's drier than mine, go for it!


Kiss My Face Whenever conditioner* - This might be my Holy Grail of conditioners. I also think that this should count as two or three products, because it was the 32oz size with the pump. It's at least the third, if not the fourth, of these that I've gone through. It smells amazing (lime, cut with green tea), conditions my hair without coating it, and provides some slip but not so much I can't do anything with my hair.


Nivea moisturizer sample - Not bad, not great, don't put it on broken skin unless you like stinging.

Nuance Salma Hayek Macadamia Body Scrub* - Impulse buy at CVS. Mistake. This seemed slightly drying, despite the high moisturizer content, and I did not like the way it smelled.




I already reviewed these as part of my Sunblock Sunday series:
Devita Solar Body Block SPF 30+ sample
Devita Solar Protective Moisturizer SPF 30+ sample
Lavanila The Healthy Face Cream SPF 40 sample

Sunblock Sunday: Lavanila The Healthy Sun Screen SPF 30 Body Cream

This week, I am reviewing this product:

 Here is what it looks like straight out of the container and applied to my hand below the blob:

Here is my face, with sunblock on one side and nothing on the other. Note that the sunblocked side is both lighter and shinier than the bare side. This stuff does leave a white cast on the face, which subsides mostly after about fifteen minutes (or can be covered with makeup). On the body and neck, it feels a bit tacky, and the zinc oxide can settle into lines and creases, like where your arm bends. I have not burned with this on, and it's been sunny and hot here. Don't swim in this and then not reapply - it's not designed for that. I think that this is an ok product. I bought it instead of the face cream because, at the store, this one seemed to have a better texture. I wish I'd have bought the face cream instead. I'm not going to repurchase the body cream, but it will get used.

The deets:

Size - 4 oz.
Price - $38
Availability - Sephora
Dollars per ounce - $9.50

SPF - 30

Active Ingredient: Zinc oxide 20%
Inactive Ingredients: Aloe barbadensis leaf juice* (aloe, water), Capric caprylic triglycerides (coconut oil), Sorbitan stearate (vegetable), Glyceryl stearate, Polyglyceryl-4 isostearate (vegetable glycerin/palm oil), Jojoba oil*, Salt, Sunflower oil*, Cucumber extract*, Green tea extract*, Morinda citrifolia (noni juice), Butyrospermum parkii* (shea butter), Hyaluronic acid, Phenethyl alcohol and Ethyl hexyl glycerin (plant-based preservatives), Vanilla planifolia extract*. *Certified Organic.

Thoughts? Input? Anything you'd like me/my readers to know?

Sunblock Sunday: Lavanila The Healthy Sun Screen SPF 40 Face Cream

Phyrra raves about this, so the (second-to-last) time I went to Sephora, I asked for a sample. Have I mentioned how much I love Sephora's generous sample policy?

Let's talk about sun protection - I didn't burn with this (but I didn't really test it, either), and it seems suited for everyday face use. If you're around sun for more than incidental exposure, this is something you'd want to reapply. I like how it has both UVA and UVB protection in there (zinc's good for both, titanium for all but the shortest UVA rays).

Now, let's talk texture. This is a white-colored cream that rubs in somewhat shiny, but doesn't feel greasy. I like it. One of the pictures shows a blob on my hand, and underneath that blob is an area where I've rubbed it in. Then, there's a part of my face. I've applied this to the right side but not the left. I feel like the right side is shinier and somewhat lighter than the left.

It wears well under makeup, but it's slightly too emollient for me. I swatched this next to Lavanila's body sunblock in the store, and liked the texture of the body product better, so I bought that on my last trip to Sephora. I would wear this to work, but not on field day, and I'd think about reapplying something if I was going outside with the kids at the after school program. If your skin's on the dryer side and you need something with sun protection, don't like silicones, and do like physical blockers, then I'd try this.

The deets:

Size - 1.8 oz.
Price - $28 (available at Sephora)
Dollars per ounce - $15.56
SPF - 40
Active Ingredients - Zinc Oxide 5.0%, Titanium Dioxide 7.5%

Inactive ingredients - Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice* (Aloe, Water), Capric Caprylic Triglycerides (Coconut Oil), Butyrospermum Parkii* (Shea Butter), Glyceryl Stearate, Glycerin, Cetyl Alcohol (Coconut Oil), Jojoba Oil*, Ethyl Hexyl Palmitate (Palm Oil), Morinda Citrifolia (Noni Juice), Calendula Officinalis (Calendula) Flower Extract*, Panthenol (Provitamin B5), Polyglyceryl-3 Stearate (Vegetable Glycerin/Palm Oil), Alpha Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Allantoin (Vegetable), Sodium PCA (Amino Acid), Hyaluronic Acid, Phenethyl Alcohol & Ethyl Hexyl Glycerin (Plant-Based Preservatives), Vanilla Planifolia (Vanilla) Extract*, Green Tea Extract. *Certified Organic

Will you be trying this out? Have you tried it? What did you think?