Stuff I Actually Use Up! More Empties of Skincare, Makeup, and Nail Products!

Ooh, what do we have here? More empties! And boy, am I excited to show you these - since my last empties post some months back, I've been a good beauty blogger and have actually used up stuff in my stash! And of course this means I have to tell you guys all about it, and do a quick summary of how the products have worked for me! As you might be able to guess, though, chances are, if I used it up, it probably did a pretty good job. So here's what I've used up!

Look ma, so many empties! These include skincare, makeup, and nail products. Yay!

Yes, look at that - it's a whole bunch of products covering makeup, skincare, and nails! Without further ado, let's dive straight into them, shall we?

Apivita 24 Hour Moisturizing Cream for Normal/Dry Skin Review and Ingredients Analysis

I got Apivita's 24 Hour Moisturizing Cream for Normal/Dry Skin sometime back, and I realized that although I've had it for awhile, and I've really enjoyed using it, but I've never actually reviewed it! So I thought I would fix this ASAP, like now because something I like so much really should be featured on my blog!

Apivita 24 Hour Moisturizing Cream for Normal/Dry Skin: Another product in a line of Apivita products I love so far.

Apivita is a Greek brand with a natural slant, and a lot of their products are often touted as natural. Now, I'm not particularly fixated on whether my skincare is natural or lot, because whether a skincare product is effective or not is not really correlated to how "natural" (however you define it) it is, and also because oftentimes the word "natural" is just another form of branding, and "natural" products may not really be formulated all that differently from non-natural ones. But Apivita products generally impress me because of their efficacy - I've felt that every product I've tried from them thus far has worked, and I've liked every product I've tried so far.


Apivita 24 Hour Moisturizing Cream for Normal/Dry Skin: Despite the jar packaging, I do like this product.
The Apivita 24 Hour Moisturizing Cream for Normal/Dry Skin is no exception to this rule. It comes in a rather heavy glass jar, and although this isn't my favourite mode of packaging, I let it slide because I do like the product. It is indeed hydrating, as we can see from the ingredients list.

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!

Travel-Friendly Makeup and Skincare: What I Brought for my Holiday

If you've been following me on Instagram or on Twitter, you'll know that I recently went to the north part of Vietnam for a holiday! And I figure that perhaps some of you may want to know what beauty items did I pack along with me for my week-long holiday?

Travel-Friendly Makeup and Skincare: Here's what I packed!

The weather in Vietnam was good, ranging from just above 10 degrees Celsius in the mountainous areas at night, to a good mid-20s degrees Celsius in the city areas during the day. We expected it to rain when we were in the hilly paddy areas of Sa Pa at some point, but it didn't, so that was great! The next thing you know, though, it started snowing (a rare occurrence for that area) once we left the area, so there you go, the weather can be unpredicatable. But for the most part I brought along my usual staples when it came to skincare. And for makeup, it was a mix of usual staples, as well a "cheap stuff that I won't cry over if it gets lost/gets broken/get banged up and that does not suck". So without further ado, here you go!

Apivita Natural Serum Radiance: Natural Skincare That Works!

Let me introduce you to my newfound skincare BFF - the Apivita Natural Serum Radiance with Bilberry & Vitamin C. I've been trying this out, and now that I'm almost halfway through the bottle, and have has too results, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the product with you guys!

Apivita is a Greek brand emphasizing the use of natural ingredients, and holistic body care - while I'm most interested in skincare products, Apivita has a whole range of products, including haircare and body care, which is really impressive. Apivita has also consistently used natural ingredients that actually work in their products - and although I'm not a particularly big follower o the "natural" trend, I'm still really keen on their products as they perform really well based on standalone evaluation. This makes them, to my mind, far better than those "natural" brands with crappy products that offer only scaremongering as a selling point. In contrast, Apivita's products stand up to scrutiny, whether or not you are a proponent of natural skincare. My previous experiences with Apivita products has been very good, so the efficacy of their ingredients is well borne out by my own personal experience.

Apivita Pink Clay Mask: Gentle Cleaning For Your Face

Apivita is a Greek skincare brand, with a focus on natural and holistic skincare. Although personally I'm not really a suscriber of the "all natural skincare is better" theory (after all, not all synthetic ingredients are bad for your skin, and not all natural ingredients are good for your skin), but I've been trying out some of their products, and I generally think that the brand's products hold up to a pretty good standard. I don't think it's the "natural" branding as much as the fact that the products are easy and pleasing to use and effective.

This next product is one case in point. The Apivita Pink Clay Mask is the most recent product I've tried from the brand, and I like it. It's billed as a "gentle cleansing mask with pink clay", which piqued my interest significantly. Pink clay? Sign me up!

The mask is actually pink, and rather thick in texture, like most clay masks. It's thickness really makes it luxurious to use, and very substantial feeling. I rather like clay masks for my oily skin as I find they help to absorb some of the oil out of my pores. For the Apivita Pink Clay Mask, I had rather good results. The mask helped to make my skin less oily, while at the same time softening my skin. For me, the mask really worked.


Although I'm not always the biggest believer in all-natural products, I do appreciate it when a company lives up to its natural branding. You can see that Apivita has made an effort to adhere as much to natural ingredients as possible - other than the usual ingredients one would expect to find in a clay mask (Kaolin, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Talc), there are also a number of other ingredients that gave the skin-softening effect I saw when using the mask, in particular the sunflower seed oil and the caprylic/capric triglyceride (derived from coconut oil). I liked that the company made an effort to balance the oil-absorbing and moisturizing properties of the mask - it really made the mask do as it says - clean gently, without stripping the skin.


If you want a face mask that does what it says it does, which is 1) clean gently, 2) keep your skin moisturized, and 3) lives up to its natural skincare branding, this is definitely something for you to consider. You get two sachets, but there's a lot of product in one sachet, so you could use each sachet twice.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Apivita Lip Care Blackcurrant: Tinted Lipbalm Never Was This Good

I'm quite prone to dry lips from time to time, a legacy of ye olde days a few years back when I was taking medication to alleviate my chronic acne. Anyway, this means that I'm always on the search for my perfect lip balm. And my perfect lip balm would be moisturizing and feel good on the lips without being too waxy, and better still if it has a hint of colour to it too. And it should be in stick or tube form - I hate digging my fingers into a pot.

The Apivita Lip Care with Blackcurrant just happens to fit the bill nicely. Apivita is a natural skincare brand from Greece, and their product offerings are pretty impressive. Apivita is a brand that focuses on natural products, and while I tend to be rather skeptical about companies that that brand themselves as "natural" too liberally, I do feel like Apivita is one of the more genuinely natural brands around, based on the products I've tried so far.

The first thing I like about the Apivita Lip Care is the packaging - it's in a sturdy stick form that makes it easy to carry around (I've had it in my bag for a few weeks and no mishaps yet). And the tube colour matches the colour of the lipbalm inside! How cute is that?



Also, for a makeup junkie like me, the colour is important too. The Apivita Lip Care looks really dark in the tube, but because the colour is so sheer, you get the barest hint of colour. So don't worry if the colour doesn't look like your cup of tea at first glance - pigmentation is qutie light, so even the colour-shy can wear this, as you can see in the swatch below.



Okay, great. So the packaging is great and sturdy, and the colour is very wearable. Now of course, comes the most important part - the actual performance of the lipbalm on my lips. Its got a bunch of plant oils, including castor seed oil, cocoa butter, and olive oil, so although there are some waxes in there, it feels great on my lips too. Not too waxy or anything. The oils in the Apivita Lip Care also give the product a good slip, so you don't get any feelings of stickiness either. Here's a swatch of the Apivita Lip Care on my lips - you can see the colour translates into just the barest hint of colour and shine on my lips. Very natural looking.



All in all, I really like the Apivita Lip Care, and it's now a staple in my bag. It helps to alleviate dry lips, and is cosmetically very elegant too. If you're looking for a natural lip balm that is emollient and effective, with just a hint of colour, this is a good bet. Apivita is available at the Apivita website.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Apivita Cleansing Milk for Face and Eyes: Truly Gentle Makeup Remover

Apivita is a Greek-based skincare brand, with a focus on natural and holistic skincare. They're sort of like Greece's answer to Liz Earle. I've tried a few products from Apivita so far, and I have to say, they have all been very impressive indeed.

One of the products I like a lot is the Cleansing Milk for Face and Eyes. It functions as both a makeup remover and a cleanser. The product is packaged in a squeeze tube with a screw cap. I like this form of packaging, a lot less likely for contamination to happen.

The Cleansing Milk itself is a very liquid-like, milky fluid. Although it contains some plant-derived oils (almond oil and olive oil being chief among them), it doesn't feel particularly oily, like most oil cleansers are. It has a pleasant scent that isn't overpowering. The one I tried was the 3 in 1 Cleansing Milk for Face and Eyes with Chamomile and Honey.

I've been using this both as a cleanser and as a makeup remover. Both ways, it works well. I've actually been very impresses by how it removes light makeup and cleanses my skin well while still being very gentle. I'd definitely recommend this if you have sensitive skin.



I decided to show you guys a little demonstration of how the product works. Here on my arm, I've lined up a few products that would really test the ability of a makeup remover - my Laura Mercier concealer, MUFE eyeliner, Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner (yes, so you have two kinds of eyeliner), GOSH lipstick, and waterproof mascara.



I used a bit of the Cleansing Milk, and first rubbed it into the skin. After rubbing for awhile, I rinsed with water. And here are the results!

I know, it's not a perfect removal, but it's still pretty darn impressive. When I first tried this out, I was thinking, "This cleanser is so gentle, it's surely going to suck at removing makeup," but it did surprisingly well. The waterproof mascara and concealer were gone, and almost all the eyeliners were gone too. The only thing that remained behind a little more was the lipstick. I think that to improve performance, I could have massaged the Cleansing Milk in a little longer to really let it break down the makeup. But if you're wearing light makeup, this would be more than adequate.



A last thing I'd like to note about the ingredients list is that while the product does indeed have essential oils, which may irritate some sensitive skin (including mine), fortunately most of these oils (sweet almond, olive, etc) seemed to be just fine on my skin. I guess the selection of oils was well-chosen.

All in all, I can say that I am indeed impressed with the Apivita Cleansing Milk. I think it's really good at cleaning while remaining gentle on the skin. If you are looking for a gentle makeup remover with good removal power, or looking for a natural alternative to skincare, this is a brand you can go for. And it's pretty affordable too, at €14.60 for 250ml (that's a good amount of face wash). Anyway, Apivita website has a list of prices and other products, should you feel like checking them out.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)