December Binned Things!

Whew! Does anyone else find the start of the year to be rather anti-climatic? There's a lot of partying, general cheer and then... deafening slience! At least Summer steps in to take over - trips to the beach, time in the sun and moscato waiting on ice... ahh!

Here's what I got through during the silly season - hang on tight, there's quite a bit! Please note that due to my previous post about cutting back on products from companies that test on animals, the repurchase part of this will point to if I would repurchase it, regardless of the animal testing - due to quality of the product - (except that I will not be buying it if it's tested on animals - a little confusing I know). Let me know if it'd be easier if I made a notation next to it for known cruelty free products.

1) Etude House I Need You! Heart Mask - read the full review here.

Repurchase? Yes

2) Lonvitalite Red Wine Mask - read the full review here.

Repurchase? Yes

3) Ginseng Mask Pack - read the full review here. In summary, good results, dreadful smell.

Repurchase? No

4) Missha Green Tea Face Mask - read the full review here.

Repurchase? Yes

5) Evo Shampoo - not a bad shampoo, but the worst container! This made my hair feel clean without being stripped of normal oils.

Repurchase? Maybe

6) Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb - beautiful scent, and better as a night perfume on my skin, but this doesn't bowl me over quite like some of my collection, such as Narciso. On my friend, Miss SV (have you seen her gorgeous hair? Pop over here if not!), it smells divine!

Repurchase? Maybe

7) Hello Kitty EDP Roller - this sweet, lovely scent is extremely pretty on me, and it's absolutely gorgeous on a warm day! I actually received a full sized bottle of it, which unfortunately spilled in the box and totally evaporated! Argh... And I believe that this is already discontinued at Sephora, so bye, bye kitty! The major downside to this is the rollerball - it got a little grotty in the bottle after a while!

Repurchase? Would love to!

8) Dermalogica Skin Hydrating Masque - I did think this made my skin a little softer, but not much beyond that. Perhaps it was because this was a small sample?

Repurchase? No

9) Marc Jacobs Dot EDP - I do like MJ scents, and this certainly delivers! A small one-off sample, I did find that this faded quite quickly on me.

Repurchase? Would love to try a vial first!

10) B. Kamins Day Moisturiser - I didn't really enjoy the smell of this lotion, and it also left a bit of a residue behind on my face.

Repurchase? No

11) PureTAN Pure Moisture Coconut Creme Body Scrub - Loved the smell of this! It's very summery, with small granules to ensure a nice, clean scrub. 

Repurchase? Maybe

12) Pure Fiji Orange Blossom Body Lotion - I liked the smell of this - it reminded me of Summer! It was also quite smooth and absorbed well into the skin.

Repurchase? Yes.

13) St Ives Oatmeal and Shea Butter Body Lotion - I quite liked this at first as a very moisturising lotion, particularly in the Winter. However, as the weather started getting warmer, I found this to be too thick for normal daily use, and I'm now, sadly, not as into it.

Repurchase? No

14) Lush Shangri La - this generous little tub from one of my beauty boxes last year and it travelled to the States with me and on a couple of planes. Smooth, and well absorbed, I thought this would do well as a day moisturiser, but not rich enough for night.

Repurchase? Yes

15) Somme Institute Eye Cream - a pretty good eye cream - I found this to be rich and nourishing. My sister handed this one to me. Lucky me!

Repurchase? Yes

16) Dermanew Lotion - I found this to be a rather ordinary lotion. I have a pack of Dermanew items from my sister, so you'd probably be seeing more in the months to come!

Repurchase? No

17) Garnier Nutritioniste Ultra Lift Wrinkle Treatment - this was a pretty run of the mill type moisturiser. Not bad, but not overwhelming.

Repurchase? No

18) Manicare Eyeshadow Brush - I bought this before I seriously got into makeup. Not a bad brush, but definitely not the best. Soft enough bristles, but didn't stand up to constant washing.

Repurchase? No

19) Lush Dream Steam Tab - this was given to me by a lovely friend. I filled the sink with hot water and plopped this in before standing over the evaporating fumes. Fun, but a little too much effort for me generally.

Repurchase? No

20) Australis Finishing Spray - I bought this as while back, and through steady use, finished it in about 3 - 4 months? Pretty good value! As far as finishing sprays go, it's no Skindanavia, but it's certainly better than not using a finishing spray. Also, it's rose scented, so quite a lovely note to end on when you're getting ready. This bottle, however, is not very misting - I had to decant bits of it.

Repurchase? Yes

21) Savvy by DB Makeup Remover Wipes - a little too rough  for my liking. I found this quite abrasive and not fantastic at removing makeup.
Repurchase? No

22) Wotnot Wipes - these babies need no introduction! Moisturising and excellent at removing makeup, it's my favourite set of wipes!
Repurchase? Already have a few times!

23) Stila Smokey Eye Makeup Sample - an interesting way to let people sample the eyeshadows, but because it's just a small sample, I had to scrap it rather hard, which meant that it also kinda went everywhere. 

Repurchase? I would like to see if the full sized version is any good!

24) FOA Lip Crayon in Macaron - you can read about the KK swap and which lovely blogger I got this from here. Sadly, while I thought this was pretty smooth on the lips, the packaging was a little dodgy, and when I tipped it upside down the other day, the crayon smushed straight into the cap! :( Sad! Ah well...

Repurchase? No

25) L'Oreal Base Magique Primer - I found this to be similar to Benefit's Porefessional, but harder to blend. I know that the full size version comes in a tub, which kinda puts me off buying it. That, and L'Oreal does also do animal testing.

Repurchase? No

26) Etude House Go Back Face Lotion - I do like Etude House items, but I don't think this did much for my face, and might have caused a bit of irritation. I have another lot of this, and will give it a go and see how my skin fares.

Repurchase? Don't think so

27) Sephora Foundation - I didn't like this foundation. Obtained from my sister as a little sample, I thought it gave me a bit of a plasticky sheen.

Repurchase? No

28) La Roche Posay BB Cream in Medium - I wasn't bowled over by this. I found it a little streaky and didn't blend quite as well as some of the other brands.

Repurchase? No

29) Miracle Skin Transformer in Tan - this was AMAZING! I got this little sample from Sephora when I was in New York in November (why, Australia, why don't you offer this service?) and it's like a cross between a BB cream and Benefit's Porefessional - smooth with medium coverage, absolutely gorgeous!

Repurchase? Would love to!

30) Fresh EDP in Fig - received from my sister, I quite liked this on my wrists. It reminded me of honey and fig. 

Repurchase? Worth considering!

31) Fresh Therapies Eden Natural Nail Polish Remove -  I was a little skeptical about this initially, but it was actually pretty good! I used this to get rid of really glittery nail polish, and used up the whole tiny bottle. It left a nice, citrusy scent on my fingers.

Repurchase? Maybe

32) Sephora Creamy Body Wash Cap in Strawberry - this little cap lasted me 3 washes! It was creamy, but the scent didn't last for long.

Repurchase? For convenience, yes.

33) Sephora Creamy Body Wash Cap in Blueberry - as above, but not quite as nice a smell as the strawberry one was.

Repurchase? Maybe

34) Grants Herbal and Mineral Toothpaste in Mild Mint with Aloe Vera - I found the taste of this... interesting, almost with a metallic aftertaste. It was also quite firm, consistency wise, and did not spread on the toothbrush quite as well.

Repurchase? Don't know - they don't test on animals, but the taste and texture weren't my favourite.

35) Clinique Clarifying Lotion - this BURNED my face! It was stinging quite badly - I didn't enjoy this at all!

Repurchase? No

36) Etude House Moistfull Eye Cream - this was quite rich without it leaving too much of a residue behind. I also felt that this made a difference to my face while I was travelling.

Repurchase? Yes

37) L'Oreal Elvive Mythic Extraordinary Oil - I actually really enjoyed this. Light and it left my hair shiny without weighing it down.

Repurchase? Yes

Here are the items I had in Singapore with me at the start of December. There was anything overwhelmingly amazing, but I did quite enjoy the Neutrogena Grapefruit scrub.

Did you finish a lot of stuff this December too? What was your favourite of the lot?