April/May Empties 2013

With planning my wedding and finishing up my degree, I wasn't able to do my monthly empties. Because of that, I have a ridiculous amount of products that I have gone through.

I have a ton of samples that I have gone through, so get a comfortable seat.

Estee Lauder Idealist Even Skintone illuminator- this is supposed to be a correcting serum- I only use serums at night time, so nothing was noticed- but perhaps under makeup this could have been nice?
Origins Starting Over Age erasing moisturizer- While I am not a huge fan of the way that Origins promotes themselves as a natural brand, but their ingredients are not. I did really enjoy this moisturizer!!! loved the smell, texture, effect, and would definitely consider purchasing the full size of this!
Algenist Multi-Perfecting Pore-Corrector Concentrate- noticed nothing in this sample- will not purchase
First Aid Beauty face cleanser- this was a pretty basic cleanser- didn't really take off makeup well but for regular cleansing it was pretty nice.
Caudalie vinexpert serum- this was OK, love the Caudalie smell, but didn't notice anything spectacular. I prefer my SOS serum to this one.
Clarins Double serum- it took me a while to get up to use this product after I found out that one of the "double" sides was mineral oil. So it has great properties, but uses mineral oil as its carrier oil. No thanks.
Clinique Moisture sure intense- really nice basic moisturizer, leaves the skin plump and soft. Love this line of clinique moisturizers.
bareMinerals purifying facial cleanser- basic, not memorable- did nothing special.
Lancome youth acitivating concentrate- another expensive serum that I tried and noticed no results. I am not saying that with regular use of these that you wouldn't notice results- but definitely not in this small of a sample. 
Lancer dermatology 3 step cleansing system- the natural sea polish is awesome- love it! the extremely pure cleanser was really nice as well. The nourish AM/PM moisturizer I can do without- not sure why they would have a moisturizer for AM and PM because my skin requires different things throughout the day.

Kate Somerville Exfolikate- I am constantly getting samples of this, and I know everyone loves this, and that it is a physical and chemical exfoliant- but I have used up atleast 3 large samples of this and haven't been blown away (only at the price).
Clinique uneven skin tone solutions- another serum with no results
Jouer luminizing moisture tint- for a tinted moisturizer this stuff is AMAZING! the luminizing was a bit too glowy for me, but I did purchase the matte tint which is amazing. The coverage of these is the best I have ever tried in a tinted moisturizer and leaves the prettiest effect on your skin. Love it!
L'Occitaine precious serum- this was one of the better serums that I tried, but still not as good as the one I am currently using.
Bumble and Bumble thickening shampoo and conditioner- I got about 2-3 uses out of these samples and I LOVE what it did to my hair. They were super moisturizing and left my hair feeling soft and silky without weighing it down. I would definitely consider buying the full size of these.
Smashbox camera ready BB cream- I know there is a crazy amount of BB creams flooding the market right now and this was one of the first american BB creams that was released. It got pretty good reviews, but I wasn't blown away. The coverage was light/medium, but left the skin looking greasy.
Peter Thomas Roth laser-free retexturizer scrub- this was a really nice scrub, another physical and chemical exfoliant- I actually preferred this one to the Exfolikate
Ole Henriksen sheer transformation moisturizer- this was a really great moisturizer, but it is perfect for daytime- light, weightless, but nourishing- however it has no SPF. If they were to put SPF into this moisturizer, I would pick it up in a second.
Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Glow Pad- as an exfoliating pad I thought this was really nice, and left my skin feeling really nice and smooth- and let my makeup go on beautifully. However, this has self tanner in it, which left my skin a little orange. I am going to see if they make these with no self tanner, because if so, I would buy them.
Shisedo White Lucent- another serum with color correcting- maybe I just don't have much need for spot correction. I noticed nothing.
Algenist Overnight restorative cream- I had really high hopes for this, but really didn't notice much of anything. It was a nice thick overnight moisturizer, but it didn't blow me away with results, a bit of a let down.
Living Proof Restore- OMG LOVED THIS! this little tube was a single use as a leave in conditioning treatment. It left my hair feeling the softest it had been since before my ombre'ing last summer. I will definitely be buying this at some point!

Giovanni unscented facial cleansing towelettes- I had tried these in cucumber, and decided to go with the unscented this time. BIG MISTAKE! the non-smell, smell was terrible. These dried up much faster than the cucumber, and did nothing to cleanse my face. Terrible.
Ardell Natural 110 lashes- These were easy to apply, light, and looked extremely natural. Loved these! will definitely use these again!
L'Occitane hand cream- this was light, and the smell was nice, but I really didn't find it very nourishing. Still was not as good as the Caudalie hand cream.
Koh Gen Do emollient cream- nothing special about this moisturizer. No results, not nourishing, no smell, would not buy this.
Clinique moisture surge intense- LOVED this moisturizer. This sample lasted me forever- a little bit of this goes a long way! Has the typical Clinique smell, this was incredibly light, but nourishing at the same time- and didn't break me out at all. I will be buying this product!
Sensodyne whitening- finally got through this- and I prefer the Pronamel versions to this
Shiseido facial cotton- I know everyone goes crazy for these. Organic cotton face pads that don't leave any cotton on your face. Honestly, I felt like this didn't have enough grit in it to use with my eye make up remover and would just smear around the product. And for toners, I feel like it soaked up a ton of product without putting it on my face. I think these are overhyped and not worth the money. Will not be repurchasing.

Batiste dark brown dry shampoo- as a dry shampoo, it worked OK. I don't think it was great- and I hated the tinted color of this. This still left my hair feeling and looking dry and gritty. Was not impressed.
Loreal EverCreme nourishing shampoo- This worked fairly well, and for the price for a sulfate free shampoo, it was good.
Say yes to Grapefruit Body Wash- I am obsessed with the smell of grapefruit, so when this new range came out I had to buy it. I was looking for a harsher scrub, but this is more of a body wash that has a very small amount of scrubbing particles. The smell was great, scrub was bad.
Revlon Grow Luscious mascara- My first ever drugstore mascara purchase- I wasn't completely blown away, but it wasn't terrible either. I would consider buying this again as a daytime mascara.
Makeup Forever Smoky Lash Mascara- this was a really great mascara for about 6 weeks, after that it begins to dry out, and since the formula is already pretty dry- it just clumps up and gives you spikey, spider lashes. If I had this in a sample size, it would be perfect, but this big size- I feel like it was just wasted.
Josie Maran Argan Oil- at first I loved this product, but it was definitely breaking me out on my face. I stopped using it as a facial moisturizer. I tried using it in my hair, but it left my hair greasy. So eventually just started putting this on my dry patches (knees, elbows, etc) on my body. So, I will not buy this again- just didn't work for me.