Monthly Empties: October 2018

I always feel like I need to give my series of my monthly empties a clever name—but I can’t really think of anything particularly catchy. Plus, isn’t it just better sometimes to call a spade a spade? Here’s everything I used this month—no song and dance, just the basics.

October felt like a very long month. While I had fun doing Blogtober, it took a lot out of me and I felt very burnt out by the last day. In fact, I never wrote the post for Halloween; I figured I’d done 30 days, what was missing one? I was tired.

I’m even more tired now. I hate Daylight Savings anyway, but this past weekend, we fell back—usually, that’s an easier one to manage, but this past week has been pretty awful. Forrest has woken up every day around 3 or 4am, I’ve had stressful days at work, and I feel like I’ve fallen behind just about every single task in my life. (I have at least 5 loads of laundry I need to do.) But, I did also buy a couch over the weekend (which is big for us!) and I’ve been able to kind of turn my week around thankfully in a few small ways.

That’s just a very long-winded way to say: November has been a month so far, I’m excited for Forrest to start sleeping well again, and I really needed to put my Christmas stuff up this week so at least I had one good thing.

Now, here are my empties for this month:

1. The Body Shop Tea Tree Facial Wash

This is one of my favorite cleansers; I got this big bottle at Marshall’s for $9 (it’s normally around $17, I think). I also reviewed the matching mask here. This bottle lasted about 6 months, which is really good!

2. L’Oreal Pure-Clay Cleanser (sample)

I was surprised by how much I loved this cleanser. I actually bought a full size bottle this past weekend to replace this little sample. It’s absolutely a dream face wash: very cleansing, but not too drying; no overpowering scent. I highly recommend.

3. SOO AE Donkey Milk Overnight Masks

If you read my Ipsy review, you know that I liked these masks, but was disappointed that they are cheap, $1 masks you can get at Wal-Mart. I did like them, but they aren’t anything to write home about, really.

4. Sephora Green Tea Overnight Mask

I finally finished up this overnight face mask and goodness, I really loved it! I need to get to Sephora and buy some replacements. One mask lasted me about 9 nights, which is really good for $4.

5. Tarte Shape Tape

Tarte Shape Tape is one of those very divisive things in the beauty world: some people love it and some people hate it. I feel somewhere in the middle; it is a solid ok. Nothing to write home about, but it does in a pinch. I finally finished up the tube I bought in February or March, and I probably won’t repurchase.

6. Makeup Revolution Conceal & Define Concealer

This is another hyped up product that I feel very “meh” on. It’s not a horrible concealer, it’s not the best, it’s just… a concealer. I feel like all of MR’s colors are grey-tinted (or green-tinted) and they don’t look very flattering on my skin, at least. I used this tube very fast as well—maybe 2 months worth of use?

Beauty Review: Sephora Overnight Gel Masks

I have always been a little bit suspicious of sleep or overnight masks. I sleep primarily with my hands touching my face, or blankets touching my face, or on my stomach, so the idea of a mask scared me. Because I knew it would get all over my pillow, hands, and blankets throughout the night and really, I thought, what’s the benefit of that?

However, the slew of overnight masks I’ve tried recently have been ones that essentially dry down—like a heavy moisturizer or a gel. This has made me totally change my mind on overnight masks. So much so that I actually have worn one every single night for… two or three weeks. And my skin has absolutely thanked me for it!

On my birthday, I “treated myself” to two Sephora Collection sleeping masks. I picked the green tea (mattifying & anti-blemish) and pearl (brightening & perfecting) varieties. They are only $4 a piece and even though they are quite small, I have found that each mask technically has 4-5, perhaps 6 uses. So one mask can reasonably last a week if you wear it every night, longer if you skip nights.

I used the green tea mask first and I’m so glad I did. This mask left my skin feel super soft, hydrated, and poreless the next day; some blemishes I had had pop up were gone and the clogged pores I get on my jawline were gone. It felt amazing! At first, I thought perhaps it was just a fluke; but every time I use this mask overnight, my skin looks better and better.

I used the pearl mask after about a week straight of using the green tea mask and, while it did make my skin feel very soft and smooth, it did make me break out a little bit. It is always hard to tell what exactly makes me break out: it could be stress, hormonal, or something I’ve tried. It’s just so hard to know! However, I used it a second night and, again, woke up with several new whiteheads, something I rarely get, on my chin and forehead.

So the pearl mask isn’t for me—but the green tea mask? I’m going back to Sephora to buy a few more of it. It’s absolutely worth the $4!