Stuff I've Used Up: Skincare, Nails, Makeup Empties!

Hooray! I've used up more stuff, since my last "I actually use up my beauty products" post. I don't know what it is about being a beauty junkie and a beauty blogger, but it's safe to say that over my more than 5 years of beauty-junkie-ness, I've accumulated more beauty product than I can ever use up in a lifetime. But every now and then I hit pan on things, and I just have to crow about it - because, you know, I actually use things up! (First world problems, I know. It's a little embarrassing, to be honest.) This round, I've accumulated quite a few empties, so I thought it's time I do a collective post for all of them!

Look at all these empties!

Yup, that's quite a few empties right there! So without further ado, let me walk you through them, as well as give you my quick one-liner reviews on each item!

First, let's start off with some of my use-every-day items. First, we have sunscreen, which is the Avene Very High Protection Spray with SPF 50+, and then we have Kiehl's Skin Rescuer, which is a moisturizer, and Bhaesaj Teen Powder.


Empties: Avene Very High Protection Spray with SPF 50+, Kiehl's Skin Rescuer, and Bhaesaj Teen Powder
So let's start with the Avene Very High Protection Spray with SPF 50+. I've been using this faithfully for maybe about 5 years now (in a previous Reader Questions post I mentioned it being part of my daily use arsenal, and that's bak in 2012), and is probably my third or fourth bottle I'm using up now. I love, love, love this sunscreen. If you've read my sunscreen tips blogpost, you'll know that you really need to apply a LOT of sunscreen to get the protection stated on the bottle. If you were paying attention, you'll know it's 2mg/cm2 of surface area, which is roughly a teaspoon for the face and neck. So as a result, I tend to use up my sunscreens very fast. Which is why I love the Avene sunscreen - it comes in a huge 200ml bottle (as opposed to stingy 50mls of other companies), so I don't have to worry about using up my bottle too fast, and the cost-per-use is pretty good, too. While I'm all for splurging to care for yourself (if you have the dough), for something like sunscreen, whatever works, works. I also like the Avene sunscreen as it doesn't break me out, in addition to being cost-effective. It's also got a high enough SPF value and decent UVA protection, so yay!

The second one is the Kiehl's Skin Rescuer. I've already reviewed Kiehl's Skin Rescuer before, and I don't think I need to add on to that review. I liked the product then, and I like it now, and I used it up! So not much to say about this, because I think all I said was in my review.

Bhaesaj Teen Powder hasn't been featured on my blog yet, but its close cousin, the Johnson's Powder Pure Essentials All Day Pink, on my blog before. Both are similar powders, and I use both in the same way. I mix it with a bit of silica powder for oil control, and use it all over my face. I don't often wear foundation on a day-to-day basis (acneic skin, ugh), so I tend to use a lot more loose powders and pressed powders.

The next set of empties consists of eye cream, and pimple cream. For eye creams, I have the Apivita Aqua Vita 24 Hour Moisturizing & Revitalizing Eye Cream, The Body Shop Vitamin E Eye Cream, and DHC Pimple Spot.


Apivita Aqua Vita 24 Hour Moisturizing & Revitalizing Eye Cream, The Body Shop Vitamin E Eye Cream, and DHC Pimple Spot
For the Apivita Aqua Vita 24 Hour Moisturizing & Revitalizing Eye Cream, I've been using this for awhile and really enjoying it. I thought I had blogged about it before, but to my horror, I checked my Apivita blog posts and realized that I hadn't actually blogged about it yet! Shock, horror. Okay, I should get around to it pronto! But this is a great eye cream - very hydrating, yet feels light. I used up the entire pump, and I think that if I had to buy another eye cream again, I might just consider this. The ingredients list for this product would also appeal to those who prefer more plant-based ingredients (or those who like "natural" products).

The Body Shop's Vitamin E Eye Cream was also one I used up, and this one, I found just so-so. I actually used up two tubes of this, and found it to be a nice, basic eye cream, but not that much more than that. But it works well under makeup, so that's a bonus. Don't know if I'd buy this again, perhaps if I come across a good sale.

The DHC Pimple Spot was something I bought when I visited Japan sometime back, and I've finally used up that Pimple Spot. It's actually quite watery in texture (it really comes out clear and liquid-y like water), so you use it up quite fast, as compared to thicker pimple creams. I found this to be nice, and I think it helped, but of course as one might expect, no miracles.

Lastly, nail empties! These are both topcoats from Nails Inc (one of my favourite nail brands). One is the Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Topcoat, the other is the Miss Nailbar Topcoat.


Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Topcoat and Miss Nailbar Topcoat
I actually found both to be very different in performance. You'd think that since both products come from the same brand, they'd function pretty similarly, but that was not the case at all. The Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Topcoat is one of my favourite topcoats of all time - it dries fast, perhaps not as fast as Seche, but quite decently. The ads for the Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Topcoat claim that it dries in 45 seconds, and while this is true, it's dry on the surface and dry to the touch, but still dentable. What I like about this though, is that it dries fast without shrinkage, unlike Seche Vite or Sally Hansen Insta-Dri. So all around, this is probably one of my favourite topcoats. The only gripe is that it has this pale pink tint, which, if you are wearing a pale polish colour (e.g. an off-white shade), changes the polish colour a bit.

The Nails Inc Miss Nailbar Topcoat, on the other hand, is a slow-drying topcoat. Really slow-drying. But it is clear, there is no shrinkage, and when it finally dries it looks nice. I use this if I'm applying more than one coat of topcoat (say if I'm wearing a particularly bumpy glitter) - I'll use this first, and then I will apply Seche Vite on top. The combination works well for me, so it has its uses. After I used up my bottle of Miss Nailbar Topcoat, I actually found myself wishing I had another one, so I suppose it must be doing something right!

So these are my empties I've collected over the past few months! There are 8 product in here, and I actually feel like using up all this is an accomplishment, haha. Any products that you have recently used up that you loved or hated?