Out With The Old, In With The New (empties and new purchases)

It's been a while since I shopped at Iherb.com, but I ran out of some of my favorite products, and needed replacement for them. I also finally got few items that I was postponing to purchase. If it's your first time shopping on this website, use code PIL356, and you will get $5 off your order ($10 if your total is $40 or more).

-Organix South nail & cuticle pen: while buying bottled nail oils is cheaper than buying pen type oils, I specifically wanted a pen so I could carry in my purse and use on the go. I already tried this pen, and I like that the oil is not runny and is not greasy making it very convenient to use (I tried it at work, and I had no problem working with papers after applying the oil on my cuticles).
-Alba Botanica 'acnedote' scrub: I'm getting predictable and boring with this one. It's my must-have product, and once I finish one, the next one is in my bathroom.
-Radius travel toothbrush: I wanted it for a while, so I was super happy to purchase the last one in stock. I use the regular Radius toothbrush, but this one seemed like a better option for traveling or just keeping in my purse in order to be able to brush my teeth while I'm on the go or at work. Besides, I don't need to carry an additional toothbrush case when I have this one. A big pro is that the head is changeable.
-Body Benefits massager sponge: I haven't tried it yet, but I'm very excited to.
-Nature's Way "hair & skin" supplement: I always try to use something extra to my regular multivitamins, fish oil, and calcium. This time I decided to work on my beauty.  


I love my Kide y-highlighter in "gold", so I was tempted to try few more items from the brand. While waiting for some discount on The Detox Market, I came across some Kide products on ebay. Usually I avoid buying cosmetics from ebay, but since this is such a rare brand, and the products were brand new, I took the risk. I admit that the ad sounded a bit too good to be true ($29 per item, free shipping), but I wanted them sooo badly. Well, when I received my package I was unpleasantly surprised ad the items were tested for sure (the was no texture on the top of the product, and it was clear that they were swatched). Long story short, my money was refunded, and the products stayed with me, so I was wondering if I should just throw them away, or if I should scratch the top layer and use them. I stick with the latter one.

-NE Correcting Powder: when trying out on my hand, it looked like it would give a pretty coverage, but on the face it wasn't that great in making the skin tone even. I need to test it more, but I don't think I would repurchase it.
-KA Shading Powder in color "Sunshine": The color is not exactly what I was looking for, so I need to play more with this bronzer, and see if I can find a good use for it.
-KU Mineral Foundation in color "Natural": This is a quite sheer foundation, but I don't have much to cover up, and I think I will enjoy using it everyday day to work. Just as the products above, this foundation is soft, and natural looking, and doesn't give cake-iness to the skin.


I also received some products from In Love With, but I will share my opinion on these in a separate post.

To balance out my purchases, I emptied out a bunch of products.

-Shikai "platinum" shampoo: not sure if it's the greatest purple shampoo out there, but I use it quite regularly, and always come back to it.
-Nubian Heritage heat protect keratin spray: It does have a strong sweet smell, so if you are sensitive to that, you might not like it. I was ok with it, and I enjoyed using this spray. I used as a leave-in conditioner. While I like the product, I'm not sure if I would repurchase as I like Aubrey Organic "jasmine" conditioning spray more (besides, it's more travel friendly).
-Garnier hair color in "white chocolate": Yes, it's far from natural, but this is an exception I will make. This is my summer hair color, and I only keep the dye for 10 mins on my hair (I wonder how succesful I am at justifying my actions),...
-Giovanni "50:50" shampoo: Some years ago Giovanni shampoos and conditioners were one of my favorites, but not anymore. I did like using this one, but I'm not so crazy that I would go back to buying another one.

-Aubrey Organics conditioner spray: It's light, but conditions well enough, and it gives nice shine to the hair. I also love how this spray smells. I have a new one on my bathroom shelf, and it's the product I will be repurchasing over and over again.
-Thesis "raspberry mint" toner: I'm not big on toners in general, but I was looking at this brand for a while, and when I saw it at Whole Foods, I couldn't resist. I'm obsessed with raspberries, so chose this one. Though in reality it's more minty, and I don't smell raspberries at all. I used it up, but would not repurchase.
-Giovanni "tangerine & papaya butter" body lotion: The texture was quite nice and light, it absorbed well, and gave enough moisture, but the fragrance is a bit too sweet, too strong, and too unnatural for what I prefer. I would recommend it to someone looking for a light body lotion, but I would not buy it myself again.
-Bath Petals "california rose garden" sea salt souffle: When buying this body scrub I was imagining a different texture, something more creamy/souffle-like. This is just basic sea salt scrub that is on the dryer side (damp salt basically, no oils). It was really sharp and I didn't like using it unless I missed with a whole lot of shower gel or some oils. If I used the scrub by itself, it would scratch my body.  
-Red Apple Lipstick lipstick samples: I was super excited about this brand, and I got one full size lipstick, and a couple of samples to try out different colors. The packaging and amount of those samples disappointed me as once opened, they cannot be closed, so you can't keep them around for longer period of time (and you cannot keep them in your purse). There is a tiny amount of the product in a sample, so I think they should either be free or shouldn't cost what they cost now. However, I love my full size lipstick and I use it quite often. I guess the company has few different textures, but the one I have is very pigmented, creamy, and tastes nice.

-BabySpa baby wipes: Originally bought these to use for cleaning my handbags, but I ended up using for cosmetic purposes too. They were ok, not too dry, not too moist, so probably I would buy them again.
-Evan Healy whipped shea butter: That smell! It is on the more expensive side, but worth every penny. I've used a couple of the jars in the past, and will repurchase in the future.
-Tatcha rice enzyme powder: I'm sure you're wondering what I'm talking about as you don't see the product in the picture. Actually, I poured it into that white bottle to have a more convenient access. I'm not a big fan of powdered products that need to be mixed with liquid before use, so this one spent time in my bathroom cabinet without being used. When I finally decided it was time to use it up, the smell was weird, and I ended up throwing it out. I did use it a couple times when I first got it, and the result was nice - the polish gave soft skin.
-Andalou Naturals face polish: In my mind face polish has to have tinier and more abrasive particles than the face scrub, so this Andalou polish wasn't what I was hoping for. I love most of Andalou Naturals products, but this was just a scrub, which means I wouldn't repurchase it.
-Alba Botanica "acnedote" scrub: Do I even need to say anything about it when it's the second time you see it in the same post? It's probably my most used/photographed/mentioned product in this blog. It's magic in a tube!

-Living Nature luminous pressed powder in color "Light": I was hoping to use this powder for setting my concealer in the undereye area, but I didn't like it for the job as it would crease, you could see the powder, and it wasn't giving flawless result. I did try to use it for the whole face to give some healthy glow, but it didn't work that way too. Finally I gave up, and the powder was buried deep in my makeup drawer. After a while I decided to try it instead of my Everyday Minerals mineral foundation, and to my surprise, I liked the result. The coverage wasn't great, but my face looked fresh, and natural. I used it for my "no makeup" days when I wanted something on my skin, or I would use it every day for workdays. While I think I liked it more than I didn't like it, I had days when I thought this powder didn't match my skin color (I think it's a bit pink toned, and I need neutral/yellow toned products), or that it wasn't giving any coverage. Overall I'm happy with the powder, but I will not repurchase it due to color.
-The All Natural Face vegan edible love dust in "Cocoa Sparkle": I tried a couple different products from the brand, and I wasn't impressed with any. I got this dust thinking how cute it would be to put some sparkle on my body when going out, but dreams were so different from reality. The product had tiny and huge chunks of glitter that just wouldn't stay on the skin, which means messiness all around. Besides, it didn't look right even on my pale skin, so I tried to find another way to use it up. I tried this as a dry shampoo-hair sparkle, but again I was disappointed as in my hair it looked darker than it should have.
-The All Natural Face food cleansers: I've had the majority of them, and they all smell divine (except for the avocado & cucumber one), but that's about all that's good about these cleansers. They are powder type, so you have to mix them with liquid before applying to the face. I always find it hard to find the perfect amount of dry and liquid to get the ideal combination. Another con for me is that these keep sticking together and dry up into a rock hard piece even when not handled with wet hands and kept tightly sealed. While using they give a super soft skin, but the effect is not lasting, and for me it's too messy of the process to use them.