September 2012 Favorites!

bareMinerals Prime Time Eyelid Primer

Make Up For Ever HD Primer

MAC Briar Rose Beauty Powder (limited edition - sorry guys!)

EOS Lemon Drop Lip Balm

The Body Shop Brow and Lash Gel

Tarana Tarantino Broken Doll Eye Dream Highlight Hyperliner

Clinique Shy Honey Almost Lipstick

Bath and Body Works Moonlight Path Eau de Toilette

Some of the products here are quite old, such as the BBW Moonlight Path and the brow gel from TBS. Rest assured, they haven't gone bad and are still working as well as ever. I love Moonlight Path for fall/winter because it's one of the few muskier scents that I really enjoy, especially because it's quite light which makes it perfect for day or night. I used to hate the brow gel from the Body Shop because I thought it didn't really help to keep my brows in place at all but I realized at the beginning of the month that that was because I wasn't using it right (whoops). 

I love the Tarana Tarantino liner for my lower waterline because it really helps to open up my eyes and as a high school junior I need all the help I can get to look more awake! The Clinique lipstick is really more like a tinted lip balm, it has less color than the Revlon Lip Butters but is more moisturizing and wears really comfortably. When I'm not wearing that I've been just using my EOS lip balm, an old favorite of mine, to keep my lips hydrated as we move into the colder months. 

I bought the Prime Time eyelid primer a few months ago when bareMinerals first opened a counter here in Hong Kong and I didn't really use it much until last month, but since then I've loved it! It goes on colorless and feels very smooth and velvety on my lids in addition to keeping my shadows in place all day. I don't think it helps as much as other primers in the way of making the shadows pop, though. I've been using my HD primer recently as it gets colder because it gives my skin a little boost of hydration which is much needed in the fall/winter months. I've photographed just a small sample bottle I got when I purchased my Aqua Rouges (reviewed here). Finally, my Briar Rose beauty powder is one of my favorite blushers for fall because it's a bit of a deeper rose color but isn't too dark for my skin tone, so it's a great transition color into the cooler months. 

What were some of your favorite products in September?

September 2012 Empties

I've decided to make this type of post a regular monthly feature on my blog. So every month, in addition to my favorite products of the month, I'll also show you guys what I've used up as a way for you guys to know that I really do use my makeup and also for my own personal record.

I used up more products than I expected to during the month of September, which was a really pleasant surprise for me. I feel like I buy so much, my products just kind of accumulate and then it becomes difficult for me to use things up. This month, however, I managed to use up:

Philip B Scent of Sante Fe Balancing Shampoo

LUSH Yummy Yummy Yummy Shower Cream Wash

Dr. Wu AcneCur Pore Refining Serum with Evermat

Moroccanoil Moisture Repair Shampoo

Neutrogena Makeup Remover Cleansing Towelettes

Jill Stuart Sugar Lip Scrub

Agnes b. Volum'Up Curl Mascara

Crazylibellule and the Poppies Vanilla Fruit Sorbet & Shanghaijava Ananas Imperial Perfume Sticks

The reason I was able to use up two shampoos is that I've been using them in conjunction with one another for a while. I use them alternatively, the Moroccanoil shampoo helps my hair feel less dry and I think also prevents it from getting split ends, especially when used with the accompanying conditioner from the same line. The Philip B shampoo gives my hair a lot of volume, on the other hand, and flat hair does not suit me, so this really helps me maintain volume without having to use like twenty products on my hair. 

As for the serum, I don't think it really did much for me. I did notice my pores were less noticeable after using it but it didn't do much to help my acne. I suppose it helped fade some of the hyperpigmentation, actually, but since I break out so much the hyperpigmentation isn't as much of an issue for me right now because more pimples pop up in their space. The LUSH body wash was used up extremely quickly because I feel like I needed so much to wash my entire body, so I kind of regret buying this. I've loved the Neutrogena towelettes for a while, I first tried them over the summer when I was at summer school and they were a much more convenient option than using my cleansing oil. 

The lip scrub wasn't very effective, the sugar granules were very large but dissolved really quickly, so the scrub didn't really have time to do anything for me. The mascara was a sample I received with my purchases of Agnes b. items (which I have reviewed) and I'm glad I didn't buy the full size because it was really clumpy on me, but I used it up anyway so it wouldn't be wasted. The perfume sticks are ones I've had for a while and finally used up this month! While I like the conveniency of these sticks (they're so portable and easy to use for touching up) I don't like the way they apply because I feel like they leave a sticky residue and don't last that long on me because they rub off. They smelled really yummy and I got so many compliments when I wore them, but I wish they were in a different type of packaging because I didn't really enjoy them in stick form. 

Those are all the products I used up during the month of September! Have you done a similar post to this? If so, leave the link below! If not, I'd still love to hear in a comment what you've used up this month!