Stuff I've Used Up! Super Mega Empties Post: Skincare and Makeup

This is a pretty major empties post, because the last time I blogged about my empties was half a year ago in December last year (it was also a pretty large post, that I split into two parts, part 1 and part 2). This time around, I have even more stuff!

The nice thing about empties is that, for me, using a product up comes with a sense of accomplishment (as in, hey, I actually stuck to something long enough to use it up!) and also a sense of permission (as in, hey, I've used up a lipstick, now I can buy another lipstick)! So for a beauty junkie like me, it's both gratifying and enabling!



Obviously, there's a lot to go through, so without further ado, let's jump right in!

The Body Shop Vitamin E Eyes Cube Review and Ingredients Analysis

The Body Shop's Vitamin E collection has launched, and one of the items in the collection is the Vitamin E Eyes Cube. When I posted about this product on Instagram, I got a lot of questions and curious comments about it on Instagram and Facebook, so I figured that a review on it was in good order! After all, it's not everyday that you encounter a solid eye product!

The Body Shop Vitamin E Eyes Cube: Part of the Vitamin E collection

The Body Shop's Vitamin E Eyes Cube, is, as the product name suggests, an "eyes cube" - basically an eye cream, but instead of cream form, it's in stick form, like lipbalm. The Body Shop, on its website, claims that "the Vitamin E Eyes Cube is our new ingenious anti-fatigue eye stick. In one gentle sweep, it instantly revives and refreshes the eye area to fight signs of tiredness caused by dryness". The site also claims, "Enriched with wheatgerm oil, one of the highest natural sources of vitamin E, the Eyes Cube protects the eye area with moisture". So yes - moisture for your eyes, in a stick!


The Body Shop Vitamin E Eyes Cube: Probably the first eye cream I've seen in a stick form
First, let's take a look at whether the Vitamin E Eyes Cube really does live up to its claims, and how it works, when it's in a stick form, before we move on to the aesthetics of the product. And of course, our first stop would be none other than the ingredients list!

Benefit Puff Off Eye Gel Review and Ingredients Analysis

Benefit Puff Off Eye Gel is Benefit's latest eyecare product - an "instant eye gel to help smooth the look of undereye puffies", according to Benefit Cosmetics' website. The website also says that "the custom “ironing” tip instantly helps smooth the look of undereye puffies & fine lines", and you can literally "iron away for a smoother day!" Their adds are also pretty interesting and quite quirky and memorable in this respect - they reinforce the "ironing" concept, featuring a girl and a guy, with the girl telling the guy to "puff off" when he asks her to press his shirt! One of the things I've always enjoyed about Benefit's products is their really fun, quirky sense of humour, and gorgeous packaging. Who doesn't love a person (or a brand) with a sense of fun?

Benefit Puff Off Eye Gel: An "instant eye gel to help smooth the look of undereye puffies"

This definitely made me sit up and take notice. I mean, while I'm not particularly picky about eye creams, I'm always looking for a way to help alleviate my pesky undereye circles and bags. And the tip certainly looks interesting too - a little cooling metal tip like an iron? That's definitely worth checking out in my book!


Benefit Puff Off Eye Gel: Claims to smooth out skin and minimize fine lines
For this review, as always I'll start off with a look at what's inside the Puff Off Eye Gel, and how it works, and of course, the first stop for this analysis will be the ingredients list as always!

Kiehl's Clearly Corrective Dark Circle Perfector SPF30 Review, Swatches and Ingredients Analysis

Kiehl's recently launched their Clearly Corrective Dark Circle Perfector SPF30, and it's billed as a multi-use product. The Kiehl's website says that it is both a "brightening eye cream" and a "primer for the upper eye lid", so a hybrid "both a makeup and skincare product" kind of product. So yes, this is a pretty exciting-sounding product, because now, you don't need to apply a separate eye cream and concealer, because it does it all, and has SPF to boot! I've even heard some people tell me that with its multi-tasking benefit, it's basically "like a BB cream for eyes". Eye cream, concealer, primer, sun protection - looks like the product does it all!

Kiehl's Clearly Corrective Dark Circle Perfector SPF30: A multi-tasking eye cream, concealer, primer, and sunscreen for eyes!

Now, of course you guys know how I feel about the hype BB creams get - and I've also actually reviewed Kiehl's BB cream as well. So I thought it would be great to, as is my fashion, start by deconstructing the hype around the product, to analyse the product and see whether it really does confer both skincare as well as makeup benefits.


Kiehl's Clearly Corrective Dark Circle Perfector SPF30: Billed as a "BB cream for eyes", this promises to help you skip a few steps in your routine.
And, because you know how much of a skincare nerd I am, you'll know that this analysis begins at nowhere else other than the ingredients list! Don't worry, I promise it gets much more interesting after that, with swatches and a full review!

Kiehl's Super Multi-Corrective Eye-Opening Serum Review and Ingredients Analysis

Kiehl's latest skincare product is the Super Multi-Corrective Eye-Opening Serum, part of the "Super Multi-Corrective" range. Kiehl's claims that this product is "formulated with botanically-derived Rhamnose and Sodium Hyaluronate to lift, firm, smooth, hydrate, and restore youthful shape of the eye", so I guess that's what Kiehl's is referring to when they call this an "eye-opening" product.

Kiehl's Super Multi-Corrective Eye-Opening Serum: It claims to open your eyes and give you a youthful-looking eye

Kiehl's Super Multi-Corrective Eye-Opening Serum is an accompaniment to its Super Multi-Corrective Cream, and both are packaged in little purple-and-silver packaging. Kiehl's also recommends that you can use the two together, if you want. For some reason I thought I had a review of the Kiehl's Multi-Corrective Cream up on my blog (I mean, I do have quite a few Kiehl's skincare reviews up), but it turns out I don't, much to my chagrin, so I'll definitely be reviewing that further down the road. But in any case, first things first, and I'll just look at the Super Multi-Corrective Eye-Opening Serum for this post.


Kiehl's Super Multi-Corrective Eye-Opening Serum: The two key ingredients advertised are Rhamnose and Sodium Hyaluronate
And as you might know, first things first with a skincare review always means going straight to the ingredients list! Let's take a look at the ingredients list, and see what it tells us about the formulation (with all the fancy Rhamnose and Sodium Hyaluronate in it).

Elizabeth Arden Flawless Future Review: Caplet Serum and Eye Gel

Elizabeth Arden has launched its new Flawless Future Powered by Ceramide skincare line, and this line is actually geared towards younger women in their 20s and 30s looking to treat the first few signs of aging, as well as to keep the skin in top condition for future years (hence the "Flawless Future" tagline, I suppose!). This certainly is something a little different from what Elizabeth Arden is known for, since the brand is probably best known for its anti-aging products geared towards more mature ladies.

But don't let that deter you from checking out this range, because this range is actually quite pleasant to use. Elizabeth Arden has taken care to keep the range lightweight and easy to use (which people our age will probably want in their skincare), but at the same time, they've managed to keep in the Flawless Future range some of the ingredients from iconic products that made Elizabeth Arden's brand so famous, such as the the Elizabeth Arden Ceramide Capsules (which I've reviewed before). In fact, Elizabeth Arden explicitly makes this link to their mature-market Ceramide range, labelling the Flawless Future range "Powered by Ceramide".



Let's take a closer look at the two products I have - the Flawless Future Caplet Serum, and the Flawless Future Eye Gel, and see if their ingredients really live up to the brand's much-vaunted reputation for skincare!

Origins Dr Weil Mega-Mushroom Skin Relief Review and Ingredients Analysis, and My Top 3 Picks

Origins is famous for its plant-based skincare products, and indeed the brand was one of the first mainstream brands to heavily market itself as a natural skincare brand. Chances are, you've probably heard of any of their skincare ranges, with really cute names like Plantidote, A Perfect World, or GinZing. Despite being around since 1990, the brand is fairly new to me. I've never tried anything from the brand, so it was some interest that I started testing out their Dr. Andrew Weil for Origins Mega-Mushroom Skin Relief Collection.

Origins Mega-Mushroom Skin Relief: Mushrooms and lots of other plants to the rescue!

The Mega-Mushroom Skin Relief range is a plant-based range and advertises itself as such, so I thought a quick summary of the science on 1)the oils in skincare in general, and 2) the oils in the product range, may help to set the stage.


The Origins Mega-Mushroom Skin Relief range has a grand total of eight products to suit all preferences.

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?

L'Oreal Revitalift Review: Anti-Wrinkle Essence, Eye Cream, Night Cream

L'Oreal has reformulated its Revitalift Anti-Wrinkle line, which is one of the most recognizable and reknown brands of anti-aging products on the market. Now, with new packaging and a new formula, I thought it was worth paying this range a visit again! According to L'Oreal, the newer formulation of the Revitalift range includes Centella Asiatica extract, which is renowned for its repairing properties.

L'Oreal Revitalift Anti-Wrinkle range: Essence, Eye Cream, and Night Cream

There is indeed some evidence that Centella Asiatica extract, when used topically, has the potential to heal wounds by stimulating collagen synthesis and angiogenesis. So, I was intrigued and definitely keen to know more. For this review, I'm looking at three products - the Revitalift Intensive Repair Essence, Revitalift Anti-Wrinkle + Firming Eye Cream, and Revitalift Anti-Wrinkle + Firming Night Cream. Let's go through these products, take a look at their ingredients, and see how I fared with them!

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!