Empties: In With the Old, In With the New! Part 2

And this is the official last empties post from 2017! After the previous empties post part 1, which focused on cleansers, we're going to look at all the other various leave-on products! There's quite a lot to go through here, including masks, lotions, moisturizers, sunscreens, and more!

Aaaand, this is the last of the 2017 empties!

Truth be told, I'm always surprised by how much skincare I use up whenever I do one of these empties posts, especially because I don't think of myself as the kind of person who religiously masks her face every week or even slaps on serum every night! Believe it or not, when I'm really tired after a long day of work, I go to bed with no skincare on! The very horror! But sometimes you just gotta sleep, you know? In any case, I attribute my ability to use up my skincare to my large face, haha. I guess a larger surface area does use up more product!


There's a lot of empties here to round off 2017 - I'm surprised I used up all this!
So, let's get started, and finally wrap up 2017 in beauty on this blog!

Kiehl’s Calendula & Aloe Soothing Hydration Masque Review and Ingredients Analysis

Kiehl's Calendula and Aloe Soothing Hydration Masque was just launched earlier in April, and I fully expect this mask to be popular for one big reason - calendula. If you're familiar with the Kiehl's brand, then you'll know that one of the bestselling flagship products is the Kiehl's Calendula Toner, as a gentle and hydrating toner (which I'm also using right now - I need to get around to reviewing this one day!). Of course, the product line also includes a Calendula Foaming Face Wash. Now, the Calendula line of products has been extended further with the introduction of the Calendula & Aloe Masque, which is a pretty smart move given the popularity of the Calendula range.

Kiehl’s Calendula & Aloe Soothing Hydration Masque: The latest addition to the calendula range of products

According to Kiehl's, the Calendula & Aloe Soothing Hydration Masque has "hand-picked Calendula flower petals and Aloe Vera, [and] bursts into a refreshing surge of cooling hydration upon application to instantly achieve hydrated and soothed skin". Kiehl's also claims that you only need to leave this mask on for 5 minutes to get the hydrating and soothing effects, although you can leave it on longer if you wish. The product is suitable for both day and night use, but night use is preferable.


Kiehl’s Calendula & Aloe Soothing Hydration Masque: Kiehl's claims a 5 minute application is sufficient
So, does the Calendula & Aloe Masque live up to its claims? Can it really soothe the skin? Well, we'll find out by looking at the ingredients inside the mask!

Skincare Empties Part 2: Essences, Serums, Acne Products, Masks, and Eye Creams

After the last empties post part 1, here's part 2, where we look at the rest of the skincare products that I've managed to use up over the past few months!

All my skincare empties accumulated over the past few months!

In the last post, we looked at makeup removers, cleansers, sunscreens, lotions, toners, and moisturizers. In this post we'll be looking at essences, serums, eye creams, acne products, and a Vitamin C powder, which is very interesting.


What we'll be looking at today! Serums, essences, acne products, masks, eye creams and the like
Some of these empties were products that I really liked, and some were products that were kind of eh-okay, but ended up getting used up for whatever reasons. As we run through the list, you'll figure out which is which. So, let's get started!

Kiehl's Nightly Refining Micro-Peel Concentrate Review and Ingredients Analysis

Kiehl's Nightly Refining Micro-Peel Concentrate has launched earlier this month, and this is probably Kiehl's largest launch for the year! The Nightly Refining Micro-Peel Concentrate claims to utilize quinoa seed extract to exfoliate the skin, and it claims to be effective at exfoliating, but at a lower risk than a typical at-home peel product. Obviously, the quinoa is pretty intriguing at first glance - it's been a pretty popular health food as of late, and now it looks like the fad has made its way into our beauty products too!

Kiehl's Nightly Refining Micro-Peel Concentrate: Kiehl's largest launch of the year

Kiehl's Nightly Refining Micro-Peel Concentrate is supposed to be a gentle exfoliant that can be used everyday, and is safe for sensitive skin. It's meant as a night treatment, rather than a day product. Kiehl's also recommends that the product be used after toner, but before serum. And for those who are familiar with the old Kiehl's Overnight Biological Peel, I was also told that the Nightly Refining Micro-Peel Concentrate would be replacing this product, and the Overnight Biological Peel will be discontinued.


Kiehl's Nightly Refining Micro-Peel Concentrate: A gentle but effective peel you can use everyday
Of course, since this is a peel product, we'll have to answer lots of questions: What's the exfoliating agent? Is it really quinoa seed extract? And is this really a gentle but effective peel? And how does it compare to the old Overnight Biological Peel? We'll be answering those questions, and of course, to do that, we'll start at the ingredients list. Of course, this is going to be a pretty long review, so make yourself comfortable while you read this, and off we go!

Kiehl's Masques Review: Tumeric & Cranberry Seed Energizing Radiance, Cilantro & Orange Extract Pollutant Defending

Kiehl's Tumeric & Cranberry Seed Energizing Radiance Masque and Cilantro & Orange Extract Pollutant Defending Masque are two new face masks that the brand has launched for the new year. As you probably know, I've reviewed quite a few Kiehl's products over the years and am a fairly huge Kiehl's fan, so I was pretty excited about these. I've actually recently used up a (pretty large) tube of their Rare Earth Masque, which was featuerd in my latest empties post, so I'm pretty excited to see how these masks (is it masques or masks? I'm just going to use them interchangeably, because other than the more French-looking spelling of "masques" I can't really discern any difference in meaning between the two) fare.

Kiehl's Tumeric & Cranberry Seed Energizing Radiance Masque and Cilantro & Orange Extract Pollutant Defending Masque

The two masques each come with different claims: the Tumeric and Cranberry Seed Energizing Radiance Masque claims to "recharge your skin's youthful glow" and "brightens dull, fatigued skin", while the Cilanro and Orange Extract Pollutant Defending Masque claims to "replenish essential nutrients to depleted cells" so that "lines are minimized, rough texture is smoothed and dullness is diminished". So depending on your skin type, you might prefer one or the other - or you could even be happy with both masks!

In line with the new trend of multi-masking, I was also told that you can use more than one mask at a time. so for example, if your T-zone is oily but the rest of your face is dry, you can use one mask on your cheeks, another on your forehead and T-zone area, and so on. You can either layer masks on top of each other, or apply different masks to different parts of the face. The possibilities are endless!


The Tumeric & Cranberry Seed Energizing Radiance Masque and Cilantro & Orange Extract Pollutant Defending Masque are the first launches of 2016
So, let's take a closer look at both masques, and we'll start right at the ingredients lists! From there, we'll be able to see what's in the masques, and how they work, and better help us decide whether these are the right masques for your skin.