February Empties.. The Moisturizing Month

Not only is February the shortest month of the year, but it's usually the coldest here as well. Because of that, the only products I managed to get through were ones that I thought would provide me with some heavy duty moisture.

Kiehl's Superbly Smoothing Argan Hair Pak: Winter plus heat styling have turned my hair into a hot, brittle mess this year. I went on a hunt for the perfect hair mask to combat whatever the heck is happening up there. Unfortunately, most of my hair 'miracle' workers from Memebox turned out to be duds, aside from the ones I went through last month. I was so desperate that I went to Kiehl's and paid the $35 for an 8oz. jar of this stuff. I blame all the positive reviewers at MakeupAlley. Aside from all of the raves on performance, the one downside everyone listed, and I will confirm, is that it stinks. It's not going to make your hair smell nice and pretty like a lot of other argan/coconut based oil treatments. To be honest, I used to wash my hair with apple cider vinegar and condition it with olive oil so, to me, anything beats coming out of the shower smelling like a salad.

enesti Apple & Honey Shea Butter Hand Cream: Memebox Special #53: My Honey Box had some real gems; however, this hand cream wasn't one of them. So what if it smelled spectacular and I wanted to eat my hands every time I put it on? It didn't really do anything else for me. After the smell wore off, it appeared as if the moisturizing effects did as well. To be honest, I considered tossing this hand cream a few times before I had finished it, but the scent kept sucking me back in. Perhaps Julep has spoiled me for all other hand care, because I probably would have loved this had I not tried my Maven products first. I mean, it didn't feel greasy, but it didn't automatically give my hands a healthy look or make them baby soft as soon as it absorbed either. Often Korean drugstore and low-end skincare outperform their much higher priced Western competitors, but in this case, the $5 value given by Memebox for the cream seems pretty accurate.

The Face Shop Lovely Me:Ex BeBe Lip Essence: As I've mentioned before in my November Empties post, this is my holy grail lip product. The only reason I haven't used more of them this winter is because I've been trying to use up the million or so other balms, treatments, glosses, and butters that came in some of my monthly subscriptions. So far, this one has them all beat. I can't get through more than half of something else before returning to my Bebe Lip Essence. If The Face Shop ever discontinued it, I'm convinced my lips would just shrivel up and die.

insobeau Super Yellow Intense Renew Essence: Now that I'm a bit more familiar with the Korean skincare regime, I can confidently say, this product is not an essence in the traditional sense. Most of the essences I've tried have been much thinner. The consistency of the insobeau product is more like a lotion or an emulsion. I'm not complaining. I've never had dry skin, but for some reason, my face decided this winter it would throw me a curve ball. I had to cut out a lot of products, like most of my toners and serums since they dried me out. If I didn't have this 'essence' on hand I would have had to go out and emergency buy even more Western skincare than I did. It still functioned well amid my Bioderma cleansers and toners, while providing sufficient moisture to the greasier parts of my face. While using it I was able to only spot treat my dry patches, so I wouldn't break out the areas that were retaining their moisture. I wish I had a backup because I'm really going to miss it. I can't find it anywhere online. I'm hoping someone is hoarding it and will put it up for trade soon so I can make it through the rest of the season!

Julep Hand and Cuticle Stick: I have a confession to make. I bite my nails. That's not the horrid part. You know that skin around your nails that usually gets dry and hard during the frigid winters because you refuse to wear gloves? I used to bite that too. Notice I said 'used to'. I consider Julep's Hand and Cuticle Stick my little saviour. Not only is it super moisturizing without being greasy, so the skin stays soft and supple, but in the event it does get a little chapped, the balm tastes NASTY. That's incentive not to bite right there. It also makes my hands look less shriveled and worked in after a long day of steering wheel gripping, snow shoveling, and driveway salting (all done without gloves). Thank you, Julep, for you peptide, shea butter, and vitamin infused wonder! Even after all the praise though, I would never pay the $22USD that Julep 'charges' for the product. I've always waited until they put one of their hand care kits on sale to get more bang for my buck. I usually pay about $20 for 5 products versus full price for 1. In desperate times I've also been known to check out every coupon site on the web (retailmenot.com is my fave!), since Julep always seems to have a few out at a time.

Disclaimer: My camera is still on the fritz, so I had to use stock images from manufacturer and retailer websites. Also, some of the links are affiliate links.

The Empties of January 2015

Aside from two products, January has been the month of K-beauty item testing. I went on a huge Memebox binge in October and November, and because of the sloooow shipping from Korea, I didn't get most of them until December. The result is that I am now drowning in Korean cosmetics, and have been using them exclusively in order to test out what works best for my skin.

Julep Oxygen Smoothing Base Coat: I discovered the Julep Maven subscription last summer and have loved everything I've received from them since then. This base coat is no exception. I learned early on that this base coat shouldn't be used with just any polish. It's quite thick and opaque, and works best under glitters. For those who adore glitter nail polish, this base coat is a miracle worker. I used to use white glue before applying anything with sparkles so that I could just peel it off in one coat, and not sit there fussing with each nail for ten minutes. This Julep product works almost the same way, except you can use regular polish remover. It has the added benefit of allowing oxygen to permeate the nails, so that they don't turn yellow. It retails on their website for $18 (nuts), but there is always a way to get Julep products cheaper. I usually wait for the items to appear in their Savvy Deals section, Secret Store, or as an add-on option to my monthly box. A ton of coupon codes are also floating around the internet on blogs and coupon websites like RetailMeNot. There is no reason anyone should be paying retail prices for Julep.

Make Up Forever HD Primer: I have a confession to make. When I want to wear a full face of makeup, I use two primers. Underneath Benefit's POREfessional, I like to use Make Up Forever's HD Primer in Neutral. Up until a few months ago, I was obsessed with it and would have probably refused to use anything else to prime my face. Then I woke up and realized I was using $70 worth of makeup before applying my actual makeup. But that's a story for another day. If I'm spending $40 on a product, it better perform exceptionally well, and this does. I find that the MUF primer does a better job than the POREfessional at blurring fine lines and wrinkles, and doesn't leave my face feeling greasy or cake-y. It settles in nicely, and creates the perfect canvas for applying makeup. I'm hoping to find a hidden gem in my k-beauty pile or great drugstore dupe before I break down and just buy this again.

Purederm Tea-Tree Pore Freshener: This did nothing for me. I think it may have actually made me break out, even though tea tree is supposed to be good at controlling oil and reducing 'troubles' (read: acne). It left a weird film on my face, like it never got fully absorbed by my skin. Most k-beauty aficionados are Purederm fangirls, but this toner was enough to turn me off the brand completely.

Skinfood Egg White Pore Meringue Foam: I hated this foaming cleanser until I learned how to use it properly. It actually made it into the trash can a month ago, until my niece came to visit and saw it and wanted to try it out. Gross, I know. I'm glad she fished it out though, because it ended up being a really great working face wash. The trick is to use it after an oil cleanser (it's called double cleansing) and to not leave it on the face for too long, because it is way too harsh on its own. Even the oiliest face would be at risk of drying out and flaking if this was used improperly on a regular basis. Once I wash off my facial oil, I do a quick cleanse with the foam to get rid of the residue, and it ends up leaving my face feeling the perfect kind of clean.

Innisfree Jeju Volcanic Liquid Nose Pack: I purchased this product on its own from TesterKorea because it was on sale. I need to use something to unclog my pores and this seemed like a good bet. It's liquid, so you can apply it to any part of your face with large pores. My issue was that I could never get the correct coverage. If I spread it too thick, it would never dry, and washing it off was a huge mess. Plus, my pores were still clogged. If I spread it too thin, it didn't grip on to the gunk properly, and peeling it off was a huge mess. Again, the pores were still clogged. I gave it five good tries until I gave up and tossed it. Goodbye $4.

Solucion 9 Aztec Therapy Shampoo: I need more of this shampoo, stat! I'm so sad I only received the tester in my Hair Salon Memebox and not the full size that they had sent out previously. It's a tiny tube, but lasted me a week because it cleansed my hair so well. I only needed to lather and rinse once. Forget the repeat. My scalp is also perpetually dry in the winter and the shampoo didn't exacerbate the issue like most of the others I've used before and after it. If anyone knows where I can get a bottle, please let me know!

La'dor Perfect Hair Filler: I also really liked the La'dor hair mask I received in the Hair Salon Memebox.  It left my hair shiny and feeling super soft, but also strong. I noticed I didn't suffer as much hair breakage during the styling process as I usually do. My hair still looked healthy after basically frying it with a flat iron. Yay for Korean hair care! The biggest downside of this hair treatment is that you need to mix it, 1 part solution to 1 part water, so you need to remember to have something on hand in the shower or bath to do that in.


Note: Memebox has notified it's international customers that they will no longer be shipping to countries outside of Korea, China, and the USA. For anyone who is k-beauty curious, I recommend heading over to the blog Fanserviced-b for reviews on a lot of great products and information on where to buy them.

December Empties (only a week late!)

HAIR+ Velvet Nutri-Injection: My niece got this in her Memebox #70 Thumb's Up! Bloggers' Picks box a while back. She has no interested in anything Memebox sends her besides cutesy makeup and therefore, it ended up in my stash. Memebox claims the value of this little tube is somewhere around $5. I'm pretty wary about trying new things in my hair because I haven't had much luck in the treatment/leave-in department in a while. This little baby changed all that. I applied the treatment after towel drying and then blasted my hair with a blow-dryer. It felt baby soft, but not weighed down or greasy, even after being subjected to about 10 minutes of hot air on the highest setting. I got about three uses out of the tiny tube, even though Memebox claims it's one time use. My hair is also pretty long, so if I can stretch it that far, this could possibly last someone with shorter hair about 2 weeks. A+ HAIR+.

 HolikaHolika Baby Silky Foot Mask Sheet: Another Memebox item, this time from #77 Foot Therapy. I love foot peeling masks and prefer to use those, so this sat around for a while. I'm not sure if I left it alone for too long, but the essence was almost completely dried up when I actually decided to put my feet inside the mask booties. Because of that, the treatment basically did nothing for my feet. Even if it the product was all there, I feel like I could have gotten a better result by using foot cream, putting on some socks, and then going about my regular business. They're not worth the discomfort of keeping them on, even if the cost is only $3.

Tonymoly Panda's Dream Eye Patch: I used about 8 of these last month. They came in really handy when I was running out of eye cream. There is so much essence in these packages, that even if the eye masks are one time use, the remainder can be stored and used at another time. They also work way better on my fine lines and brightening up my dark circles than any eye cream or treatment I used before them and better than the one I'm currently using. I really need to invest in another economy pack from BeautynetKorea. You get 10 sets for $7, which is a pretty sweet deal. I'm pretty sure they're $2 a pair at Pacific Mall.

SecretKey Color Recipe The PINK Cream: Hands down, this is the best cream for fine lines and wrinkles that Memebox has sent so far. I wouldn't have even known about this beauty if my niece hadn't tossed me her extra Thumb's Up! Bloggers' Picks products. At first, I wasn't really happy with the texture of the cream because it felt like the gel and cream capsules were leaving a sticky film on my face. That did go away after a little bit though, and it ended up plumping up the lines in my forehead, while leaving my face looking matte and fresh. That's no small feat considering I suffer from a constantly shiny t-zone and resting b*tch face (those anger lines are always there!). I've got about 6 or 7 more face creams to use up before I can justify purchasing another tub, but when I do get around to buying it, it won't be from Memebox. They feel that they can charge $34 for this. BeautynetKorea will sell it and ship it to me for $11.

Harvey Prince Hello Body Cream: Ugh. Just thinking about this cream makes me nauseous. I received the sample size in my first Birchbox and I was pretty pleased. It's winter. One can never have enough body/hand cream during Canadian winter. Then I opened it. This cream REEKS. It's supposed to be infused with the 'best selling' Harvey Prince Hello perfume, but they added way way way too much. I wasn't even able to discern whether the product did a good job at moisturizing because as soon as I applied it after my shower, I had to jump back in and wash it off. I have nothing against fragranced creams, but this is more of a cream-style perfume, and the scent was not appealing to me at all.

  

amika Perk Up Dry Shampoo: Obsessed!!! When I got this in my Birchbox I actually jumped for joy, because I had just finished another sample package of this that my hairdresser had given me. I've tried so many different kinds of dry shampoo, and none of them have worked this well for me. Batiste looked like it was stripping the colour from my hair, LUSH No Drought made my scalp itchy, and TRESemme was just all-around caca. I have black hair, and the amika blends well, adds volume, and smells pretty. As soon as I finished this, I bought the full size from the Birchbox website. All of the items they feature in their boxes have free shipping for the month, plus they give you points for product reviews, which can be applied to purchases from their store. I had 200 points, so the 5.3 oz can cost me a total of $6.50 CDN. YAY Birchbox!