May Empties!

Hi, everyone! Welcome to my first ever Empties post! I've read through so many Empties entries over the months, marvelling at how good other bloggers are about using things up. "I never finish anything up!", I thought. "My empties posts would be so boring!" I was determined, though, and made a point during May to pay attention to items that were near-finished and to save every last container that had been depleted.

So here's the result! I actually emptied more products that I thought I would, which was a nice feeling. I've included a brief review of each below. Hope you find it helpful!

Shu Uemura High Performance Balancing Cleansing Oil Fresh
I had previously loved and finished up a large bottle of the High Performance Balancing Cleansing Oil Advanced Formula from Shu Uemura (in the yellow bottle) and thought I'd give their combination/oily skin offering a go. The lighter texture and fruity scent made it a pleasure to use (in addition to the cute pink bottle!), but I think the Advanced Formula was a bit more effective at removing my long-wearing foundation, so I re-purchased a yellow bottle when I finished the pink. 

Lush Ponche Shower Gel
This was a limited edition Holiday offering from Lush that I totally fell in love with. Its zingy, spicy, citrus scent was great at perking me up in the morning! I used this on my hair occasionally and it left my tresses smelling lovely. Really hope this makes a return this coming Christmas. To see it among the rest of my wintertime shower goodies, see here!

Lush Whoosh Shower Jelly
This is the ultimate wake-me-up shower scent! The fragrance is super invigorating, with a zesty combination of lemon, lime, grapefruit, and rosemary. Plus, the texture is super fun to play with! I just pinch off a little bit of the jelly and smoosh it in my shower puff. It never failed to freshen me up! I bought a different Shower Jelly to replace it (Sweetie Pie) for variety, but I'll definitely be re-purchasing Whoosh down the line! To have a peek at it in my shower, see here.

Revlon ColourStay Whipped Creme Makeup in Buff
This is one of my all-time favourite foundations! I've been using the liquid version of Revlon ColourStay Foundation (the combo/oily formula) for years, so I was delighted to win the Whipped Creme version in a blog giveaway. This formula smoothed over skin like a dream and was incredibly long-lasting. It's slightly more dewy than the liquid version, so it has become my go-to winter foundation! To read a full review, see here. 

Organix Nourishing Coconut Milk Conditioner
Although this isn't as natural a formula as the brand would have you think, it's still full of lovely ingredients and has the most scrumptious coconut scent! It has a rich, creamy texture that does a great job at moisturizing my hair without weighing it down. Have already re-purchased it! To peek at it in my shower, see here!

Fresh Supernova Mascara in Black (mini)
I received a brand new mini tube of this in a recent makeup swap and was excited to try it! While Fresh is known for their luxurious skin care products, I hadn't heard much about the quality of  their cosmetics. My expectations were pretty neutral and I was pleasantly surprised! This did an excellent job at adding length and volume to my lashes without getting cakey or clumping. No complaints, really! To see it in action, see here!

Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original (mini)
This has been my go-to eye shadow primer for years. About a decade, probably! It's worked so well for me that I haven't been tempted to try another. That's saying a lot, because I can so easily get swept up in the "grass is greener" mentality. I pick up minis of this in sets and swaps when I can. They're perfect for my travel and gym bags! 

Anastasia Brow Powder Duo in Ash Blonde/Taupe
As with my Primer Potion mentioned above, this brow powder has been a holy grail product for me for nearly a decade. The shade suits me perfectly, which I found has been a difficult feat in the realm of brow colour. A lot of blonde shades are either too brown, orange, or grey. But Ash Blonde is a winner! It looks incredibly natural and truly lasts all day. Because who wants melting eyebrows?! To see  it in action, check out a recent Look of the Day, here.

Shu Uemura UV Underbase Mousse SPF 30 PA+++ in Beige
This was the second can of this that I've used up. The uber lightweight formula with a high SPF was so appealing to me! It really did an excellent job at evening out my skin tone and acting as a smoothing base for foundation. It is quite pricey, however, and I was concerned that the SPF in it wasn't as  potent as I'd like. So I haven't re-purchased this one immediately, but I very well may return to it in the future!

Tealish Oh Canada Maple Tea 
So the last two goodies on my list are non-beauty empties, but they are lovely items and I was happy to finish them up. I'm a huge fan of loose-leaf tea and Tealish is my favourite tea shop in Toronto. Their offerings are unique and delectable and their selection is amazing! I love teas that are rich and sweet, and Oh Canada Maple fit that bill perfectly! It's a black tea flavoured with Ontario maple sugar and highlighted with orange pops of safflower. Pretty and tasty!

Tealish Dreidels & Donuts Tea
Dreidels & Donuts is one of Tealish's regular holiday offerings. It's a black tea with pieces of strawberry and real chocolate chips (!) to pay tribute to the chocolate coins and jelly donuts that make Hanukkah a bit tastier. Sweet and fruity, this one really is amazing! Will definitely re-purchase next holiday season :)

And one final, jumbo-sized shot of the empties:

Overall, it was a great exercise to make a concerted effort to finish up more products this month and to revel at the result afterwards. Will definitely continue to produce a significant stash of empties each month (clutter, be gone!) and bring them to you here. So definitely look out for one next month!

Have you tried any of the products that I featured here? What did you finish up in May?