I know that this has been rehashed and talked about ad nauseam by many beauty bloggers and YouTubers, but the idea of keeping my garbage around so I can discuss it all with you sounds so millennial that I CAN’T EVEN. I hope archaeologists dig into the wires of the internet a thousand years from now and the twenty first century becomes a discussion of how our generation glorified trashed skincare bottles and empty makeup palettes. Can you imagine? It would be the best college class EVER.
Okay, on with it then!
Paula’s Choice Smooth Finish Conditioner – I loved the product, truly I did, but the packaging sucks. The conditioner is thick and tends to congeal at about two thirds of the way through the bottle, at which point you’ll have to dilute it with water to get the rest of the good stuff. This was actually a repurchase but since going blonde I’ve bought conditioners to cater more to my “color-treated” tresses.
Paula’s Choice All Over Hair and Body Shampoo – Once again, loved the product, hated the packaging. If you’ll notice the lid is missing. That’s because it’s freaking hard to open. I had a Hulk moment in the shower and ripped it off because the water was getting cold and nobody has time for crappy packaging. Once again, this was a repurchase but dying my hair has given me a good excuse to change products.
DryBar On the Rocks Clarifying Charcoal Shampoo and On the Rocks Lightweight Replenishing Conditioner – I used these sample packets up after I got back from vacation and felt like I had all the gunk of lake water and sweat accumulation living in my hair. My scalp felt so clean in the best way possible!
Youth to the People Kale + Green Tea Spinach Vitamins Superfood Cleanser – This smells like outside. Not the good old flowers and grass smell but more like they shoveled some dirt and vegetable roots into the cleanser to give you a sense of herbaliciousness. The green theme didn’t save this though. Washing with it was pretty horrendous if you ask me. I’d put it on and it felt slimy. I’d wash and towel off and it felt like I still had a layer of sticky grease on my face. This then required me to wash my face again so I could wash the remains of this oil slick off of my face. Not. A. Fan.
DHC Pure Cleansing Oil – Now *this* cleansing oil was pretty sweet and did a nice job of leaving my face feeling clean and hydrated. I’m sad that I had only a wee sample pack but I’ll have to see about maybe buying a full size in future.
Paula’s Choice Moisture Boost Essential Hydrating Toner – This is the toner that I swore up and down was actually an essence. Turns out that it didn’t really matter since I ended up enjoying it regardless of its title. Now I have to decide if I should repurchase or be the consummate product junkie and try more toner/essence hybrids. Decisions, decisions.
Paula’s Choice Resist Triple-Action Dark Spot Eraser 2% BHA Gel – My blackheads were heinous before using this. This basically saved my nose from being a sinkhole of debris and germs. I have repurchased this and am almost through the second one. Horror of horrors running out of a product you enjoy!
Cargo One Base Foundation + Concealer – I bought a second one that I’m currently using and I kinda wish I hadn’t. I squeezed some out on the back of my hand and the foundation dried my skin out amazingly fast. No joke or over exaggeration, my skin actually cracked and bled from how dried out the foundation made my skin. Granted, this never happened when applying it to my face but the experience left a bad taste in my mouth. I’m still trying to use the second one up because waste not, want not… but definitely not a repurchase.
Bobbi Brown Natural Brow Shaper – Repurchased. This gives my brows some extra fluff without pulling it into the cartoon arena. Love.
Green Tea Milk One Pack (Soothing) – This is an Asian skincare brand that I unfortunately don’t know the name of as I cannot read the language. It’s a shame because I’d really like to share it with you since it was the perfect mask to use after spending the summer traveling and exposing my poor face to sun, water, and New York City. It’s a sheet mask that instantly soothed my skin and made it feel revitalized.
Paula’s Choice Resist Intensive Wrinkle Repair Retinol Serum – Probably my favorite Paula’s Choice product. This goes on like butter and makes my skin feel and look its best. This is another product I’ve repurchased and am happily going through that bottle as well!
Herbivore Lapis Balancing Facial Oil – I hated this. Not only did it smell rank but it broke me out and my face has yet to recover. When people asked what happened to my chin I like to sarcastically respond with “I cut myself shaving”. To be fair, I only got about 3-4 weeks use and people will argue that you need at least 6 weeks before you can judge but my god, my face hated this stuff. And did I tell you this stuff reeks?!
That’s it for my empties, time to throw them away and restock the not-garbage garbage pile.
So many people love Paulas choice. Im going to have to try it once I run out of everything I have to use up!
I really have been enjoying her line, most of her products seem to agree with my skin!