Things I finished in July
My monthly beauty empties report, plus a No-Buy July recap on the blog.
I’ve been sharing my makeup, skin, and hair empties on Instagram for awhile, and as I get going on Substack (this is my first official post, yay!), this series seemed like a good one to transition over to a new platform. First of all, Instagram has a character-count limit, so I could never go into as much detail about each product as I wanted to, and for another, I hate typing on my phone. So here we are, and here’s what I finished last month.
Left to right:
Mdaire Regenerative ECM Eye Complex $122 (c/o)
Mdaire is one of the many new clinical-clean brands out there, with a key proprietary ingredient and yadda yadda. I was sent this product for a collaboration, and in case you’re wondering, yes, I always try everything I feature and I also put an escape clause in my contracts if I think the product sucks. I don’t always finish everything down to the last drop, but I did with this one. It’s a very nice, light texture that absorbs quickly—it’s more lotion than cream—and it made my under-eye circles appear not as dark and deep. The pump packing is really nice and airtight too, however it conceals the fact that there’s much less product in there than you’d expect. This is a very good formula, but there are better eye creams out there for a lot less, and you get way more product.
Caudalie Vinoperfect Moisturizing Vegan Body Butter $38
I bought this in a panic at Sephora, thinking it was Vinosculpt, which it…is not. I will preface this by saying that Caudalie is a great line and I really like a lot of their products, especially the Premier Cru cream. As an avid wine drinker, I also appreciate the grape polyphenol-based science around it. But this cream was not my favorite. The scent is VERY almond-heavy, the texture is a bit on the greasy side even for a body butter, and the cream pills on your skin if you rub it in too much (which you want to do because like I said, it’s THICC AF). I finished it, but would not repurchase.
The Inkey List Salicylic Acid Cleanser $13 (c/o)
I have very big, deep pores on my nose that always look all gunked up, and I read on Reddit that massaging for at least a minute with salicylic acid will help clear them up. I can’t say that it has eradicated the problem, but my pores do look a lot cleaner. I’ve been using this every other morning in the shower, and only on my nose (salicylic acid on the rest of my face would be a disaster) and this bottle lasted me close to six months. I’m a huge fan of The Inkey List—their products are so accessible yet effective. I’m currently using another cleanser on my pores in the name of investigative journalism, but would definitely go back to this.
Christophe Robin Color Fixator Wheat Germ Mask (discontinued)
I take an embarrassingly long time to get through hair masks, as evidenced by the fact that I finally finished this one, which has been discontinued for awhile, it appears. To be fair, I only do a mask once a week, and I alternate with several others (my favorite being this one from Davines, which btw is now available at Sephora!). I feel like people either love or hate Christophe Robin products; some of them turn my hair into straw, and others are just divine, like the volumizing paste. I can’t say I loved this mask, which is maybe why it too me so long to get through it. Alas, since it’s now discontinued, that’s a moot point.
Paula’s Choice Pro-Collagen Multi-Peptide Booster $58 (c/o)
My skin had been freaking out from another serum which shall remain nameless for the time being, and I reached for this on a whim. By the next morning, my redness had greatly calmed down, and within a few days, my skin looked plumper, glowier, just better. And I felt like the results were amplified the more I used it. I will say, this stuff does not smell great and the bottle does not last long (I got through mine in about 6 weeks with daily use), but when Paula’s Choice hits, they hit it out of the park. I have another bottle waiting for me already, and I can’t wait to use it.
This week on the blog
If you’ve been subscribing to my former newsletter, you likely know that I just wrapped my first-ever No-Buy July. This week on the blog, I’m sharing 7 big takeaways, as well as an eye-opening look at my finances 👀.
Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter! I’m so glad to have you here!