Empties Galore Part 2: Makeup I've Used Up!

Alright, you've seen my skincare empties in the previous post, and now, we're moving on to the makeup items that I've used up in the past 6 months or so! (There's also a skincare item that I forgot about for the previous post - oops - but otherwise, all the other items are makeup!) I'm pretty excited to talk about some of the items here, because some of these items are really my makeup staples, and although I don't often talk about them on my blog, they are some of the day-to-day backbone-of-my-routine type products.

Makeup and skincare empties that I can finally say I've used up in 2015!

On reflection, it's pretty appropriate that this post is going live on the last day of the year, because it really has that "out with the old, in with the new" vibe. And while I'm excited for the new products that I will be buying this upcoming year, it's also weirdly satisfying to see that I managed to use up some of my older products, too.

All the skincare and makeup empties I've accumulated over the past half a year or so

So, without further ado, let's get started!

Empties Galore Part 1: Skincare I've Used Up!

It's been awhile since my last empties post, and since this is the end of the year, it seemed appropriate to have an "in with the new, out with the old" empties post! And since my last post, I have accumulated a good number of empties, if I do say so myself! I think I've even accumulated more empties this time round, as compared to the last post, so I consider this to be a "massive empties" acheivement unlocked!

All the skincare and makeup empties I've accumulated over the past half a year or so

While empties posts might seem puzzling to most people, as a beauty junkie with a fairly considerable stash accumulated over time, actually using up products can be a tad of a struggle sometimes. So when I do use up things, I always feel pretty happy - it's like I've successfully cleared space in my stash for more beauty products! And empties posts are always a great opportunity for me to reflect on which are the products I've liked, and kept using, and why.


Acheivement unlocked: lots of skincare and makeup empties from a variety of brands
And I do have quite a lot of empties this time round, from makeup to skincare and more, so I'm pretty excited to share my thoughts with you! At first, I tried to cram all my thoughts into one single post, but then I realized that it would be a pretty long post. So, I've decided to split this post into 2 parts! We'll take a look at the skincare I've used up first, since it's the foundation of any beauty routine, and then in the next post we'll look at makeup!

Kiehl's Daily Reviving Concentrate Review and Ingredients Analysis

Kiehl's Daily Reviving Concentrate is Kiehl's latest face oil, and is the day counterpart to their iconic product, the Midnight Recovery Concentrate (which I've made mentioned of on my blog before). The idea behind the Daily Reviving Concentrate is that you use it during the day to protect your skin, and you use the Midnight Recovery Concentrate during the night to help your skin repair itself. For facial oil lovers, this is pretty great!

Kiehl's Daily Reviving Concentrate: A companion to the iconic Midnight Recovery Concentrate

The Kiehl's website calls this a face oil that "strengthens skin’s defenses against daily aggressors to keep skin youthful and radiant-looking all day", and "provides antioxidant protection with a powerful blend of naturally-derived oils, including Ginger Root, Sunflower and Tamanu". It also claims to be "Paraben free, 100% natural origin, Mineral oil free, Non-comedogenic, Non-acnegenic". I guess that's going to appeal to a lot of people!


Kiehl's Daily Reviving Concentrate: The latest facial oil product from the brand
Of course, I'm sure there will be questions - for one, what is in the Kiehl's Daily Reviving Concentrate that's so special? And can a facial oil really be non-comedogenic and non-acnegenic? We shall see!

Kiehl's Iris Extract Activating Essence Review, Ingredients Analysis and Q&A

Kiehl's Iris Extract Activating Essence is one of the brand's major launches for the year - it's a brand new product, rather than an extension of an existing line, so that's pretty cool. According to the Kiehl's websites, the Kiehl's Iris Extract Activating Essence is an "essential 'first step' anti-aging treatment to maintain skin’s youthful texture, reduce fine lines, and activate radiance", and a "multi-action treatment essence for youthful, radiant skin".

If you're familiar with the concept of lotions (which have been very popular in Asia and beyond over the past few years), then the Kiehl's Iris Extract Activating Essence is essentially a similar product - basically, a light, watery lotion that you can apply on your face before heavier creams and treatments, like face creams and so on. Kiehl's claims that applying this lotion first "optimizes penetration of subsequent skin treatments", and I've seen similar claims made by other brands which sell lotion of their own.



As with all my other skincare reviews, this review starts off with the ingredients list, only this time, I've also managed to get answers from Kiehl's too, which is pretty exciting! Since not every brand is as open to answering questions about their products (especially questions like mine, which are more about the ingredients and formulation, rather than things like "is this better for oily skin or dry skin", which can be tougher to answer), I'm really happy and thankful that Kiehl's didn't shy away from answering my questions. In fact, I think they've got some pretty good responses, as we shall soon see!

Kiehl's Ultra Light Daily UV Defense Review and Ingredients Analysis (Reformulated Version)

Kiehl's Ultra Light Daily UV Defense Sunscreen with SPF50 PA++++ protection is new from Kiehl's this summer! I know I've already done a previous post on the Kiehl's Ultra Light Daily UV Defense Sunscreen, but this time round, the brand has reformulated its much-loved sunscreen, and so here is a "re-review" of the sunscreen. After all, summer is the time when people start paying attention to sunscreens, and since I gave the previous iteration of the Ultra Light Daily Defense a pretty good review, I thought it's good to check in again, to see if it's still deserving of the nice things I said about it the last time round.

Kiehl's Ultra Light Daily UV Defense Sunscreen: Still with SPF50, but now with PA++++

As you can tell, the packaging is pretty much still the same. Kiehl's claims that the new formulation of the sunscreen now offers better anti-aging protection, and in particular UVA protection (the type of sun exposure that causes long term aging - if you haven't yet, you can learn more in my post about sunscreen tips). This reformulation of the Ultra Light Daily UV Defense keeps the SPF value at SPF50, but the PA is now PA++++ rather than PA+++ as in the old formula.


Kiehl's Ultra Light Daily UV Defense: With PA++++ instead of PA+++ for better anti-aging benefit
On a side note, I wish I had used the same bright orange paper background that I used the last time I reviewed the old formulation of the sunscreen, instead of this off-white cloth background. The off-white shade, combined with the various shades of white the sunscreen tube and box were, really messed up the white balance on the camera, and there's only so much GIMP can do to correct it. Oh well, the review is still written with the same set of brains, even if the photos are a little washed out this time round. So let's get started!