After several great Project Pan months, April is a little sparse. I’m not surprised because I used up so many products in February and March. Plus the week we were away didn’t help. Well, enough with the excuses. Let’s see what I used up and whether they’re worth recommending.
I Bought This, PR Samples, Affiliate Links, Informational Link
Health & Beauty
PopMask Starry Eyes Self-Warming Eye Mask: As I’ve said many a time, I love Starry Eyes Self-Warming Eye Masks (reviewed here) for travel because they don’t contain gel that is definitely not TSA-friendly nor do they need to be plugged in (ever crawl around on hands and knees looking for a plug by the bed in a hotel?). But they are too expensive and non-planet-friendly because they end up in a landfill to use them regularly. Repurchase? I found this box of 5 masks on sale at Nordstrom Rack or TJs, so next time I see them on sale, I will pick up a couple of boxes.
Just CBD Gummy Bears 1000mg: I eat two yummy fruit-flavored Just CBD gummies, each with 10 mg of CBD, before bed, and they help me relax. I also take on when I’m feeling stressed. Repurchase? Yes. This is my third jar of Just CBD Gummies. I usually buy them at a local shop that sells tie-dye clothes and CBD products. But this time, I bought two jars directly from Just CBD because I scored a “first time buy’s” discount and free shipping. As much as I like to support local stores, the shop near me is only open on weekends, and they mark up the regular price.
Woods of Windsor Lavender Soap: My cousin’s significant other gave me a bar of U.K.-brand Woods of Windsor Lavender Soap in a pretty floral soap holder several years ago. Woods of Windsor makes long-lasting French-milled soap that doesn’t disappear in the shower. I love it. Repurchase? I know that Audrey bought my soap at HomeGoods, and I know I probably won’t find this particular one there now, but WoW Lavender Soap is still available on the WoW website in a box of three or through Amazon. I probably won’t repurchase now because I have stockpiled a lot of bar soap, but I wouldn’t hesitate to buy it in the future. Plus it makes a great gift for bar soap lovers. It’s top quality.
Fragrance
Spongelle Private Reserve Flower Diffuser, scent Morning Bloom: I recently reviewed the rather innovative Spongelle Flower Diffuser in my Scent Lover’s Mother’s Day Gift Guide. As I explained, you pour the fragrant liquid into the diffuser “vase”, put the “tail” or wick of the flower into the liquid, and the liquid is drawn up via capillary action (I think) into the flower, turning the flower from white to green (or whatever color the liquid is that you receive). My Spongelle Flower Diffuser is the Morning Bloom scented liquid with the following fragrance notes: Top: Green Citrus, Tangerine, Grapefruit Tonic; Middle: Lotus Flower, Jasmine, Dewy Lavender; Base: Sheer Moss, Musk, Cashmere Woods. Although the liquid smelled very strong in the bottle, it is actually a soft, subtle scent, not overpowering at all. After about a month, all the liquid has been absorbed into the flower. Although it is essentially “used up”, the flower is still fragrant. Repurchase? Both the flower and the liquid are sold separately, so no need to toss the vase. After it loses its scent, I may buy replacements.
Frederic Malle Musc Ravageur, sample: A few years ago, when I purchased the last bottle of my signature scent, gender-neutral oriental Musc Ravageur, at Barneys NY, the sales associate loaded me up with goodies including this sample. I have made it last, taking it with me when I travel. Alas, it’s come to an end. Repurchase? I have a couple of Travalos, portable fragrance sprays one of which Marcia gave me not long ago, so I will carry that with me instead. I believe that Barneys NY used to “sell” those samples for about $25 each or maybe more. You can get a decant online for less than $10. I still have some left in my 50 ml bottle. I just saw that the 50 ml bottle is priced over $210 in the US now. It’s at Harrod’s for $149.
Skincare
Sur.Medic+ Super Hyaluronic 100 Amino-Acid Cleanser: I got this full size tube of Super Hyaluronic 100 Amino-Acid Cleanser from the Korean brand NeogenLab in one of my Ipsy Plus bags this past winter. It’s is rich, white and creamy as well as extremely gentle on dry or mature skin. It was perfect for winter. It reminds me of First Aid Beauty Cleanser. Repurchase? Although I liked this cleanser, I have a ton of cleansers to use up before buying more. But I do recommend it before it disappears completely. It’s $5.99 marked down from $20 on Akoco.com where it says “expiration date 4.15.22”. I don’t know if their sale expired or if the product expired on that date. Nevertheless, it reinforces the feeling that I have that Ipsy gives out closeouts. I just went to the Sur.Medic website, and all the product categories are “empty”.
DefenAge Fly Kit travel size 8-in-1 BioSerum and 24/7 Barrier Balance Cream: A while back, DefenAge sent me their travel set, and it has been a terrific gift and a great introduction to this luxury, high efficacy skincare brand. I put it in my travel kit, so I used it up slowly since I haven’t been traveling much. In fact, I made a two-week travel set last for more than two years, lol. Repurchase? I still have one more of the travel size trio, and I would love to repurchase it, but sadly, it is out of my price range.
Decleor Aromessence Neroli Oil, mini: I got this mini bottle of Decleor Aromessence Neroli Oil several years ago as a sample at the Neiman Marcus Boston Decleor counter. It was my first experience with neroli oil, a fragrance ingredient that is called orange blossom oil – a floral with honeyed, citrusy overtones that is also called Bitter Orange or Seville Orange. In skincare, neroli oil is anti-bacterial, moisturizing, brightening, and filled with antioxidants. Good stuff. Decleor positions its Neroli Bigarade Aromessence Oil as being for dehydrated skin. Oddly enough, I am not a big fan of the neroli scent. Repurchase? In spite of neroli’s skin benefits, it’s not for me.
Skincare Sample Packets
To be honest, I really need to start taking notes after I use a single or double use packet. I really can’t remember them unless they are real stand-outs. Here’s what I tried:
- Prescription Youth Skinlabs Instant Erase Eye Serum
- Skinceuticals Discoloration Defense: I actively dislike Skinceuticals Vitamin C-Ferulic Acid cream, but I liked the Discoloration Defense. But not enough to buy it.
- Bobbi Brown Face Base: I was never sure what Face Base is, but I assumed it was a moisturizer with primer built-in, and that’s exactly what it is. From trying the packet, it is a very nice product. At this stage of the game, I like to use a separate, anti-aging primer to help minimize foundation settling into my lines and I don’t think this would do it.
- Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream Instant Turnaround Moisturizer: I have always wanted to try this cream to find out if it is indeed “magic”. It’s a lovely moisturizer, not too thick and not too thin, not greasy at all. I think most people especially women who are younger than I would love it. It’s not quite hydrating enough for my dry skin.
- Korres Nourishing Probiotic Gel-Cream: Of all the samples I tried in the past month, this one is my favorites. Korres is a very good “clean beauty” brand with origins in Greece. The Nourishing Probiotic Gel-Cream contains pre- and probiotics from Greek yogurt, yum. 😉 It’s a time-released moisturizer that keeps dry skin feeling comfortable and hydrated all day. It has an ever-so-slightly-sweet scent that fades in seconds. I really like this one, so much so that I bought a jar during the Mother’s Day sale that is still going on. Plus, Rakuten is offering 15% cash back on Korres right now. Nevertheless after these sales end, the $36 jar seems well-priced to me, and you can get 15% off if you sign up for emails.
Tosses and Expired Products
ColourPop Metamorphosis SuperShock Shadow Quad: Boy, it ticks me off that I forgot all about these 4 CP SuperShock shadows. They dried out, so I am tossing them. I have pretty much stopped buying SuperShock because they don’t last long enough for my usage patterns.
Project Pan Status
I guess I will go along with the rules that I set up for myself some time ago: I don’t count packets as empties, but I do count travel sizes that take longer to use up (especially with the way I use them). So I used up 8 beauty products: 5 full size and 3 travel size. I started the month with 46 empties so far in 2022. If I add the 8 from this month, I’m at 55 empties after 4 months. If I continue at this rate, I may just make my goal of 125 for 2022. Fortunately, I have some near empties that I hope to finish in May, yet nothing like the 19 empties I had in March.
So what did you use up in April? Anything you plan to repurchase?
Impressive empties, Allison! I feel your frustration about having to toss out makeup that got bad, and formulas that notoriously dry out or turn rancid faster than they should have definitely become deal breakers for me as well. As you recall, this month I tossed 3 rancid Tom Ford Lipsticks and 2 Surratt Lipslicks, and it was frustrating having to throw them out!
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I cried for you having to toss those 3 Tom Ford & 2 Surratt lipsticks!! At least mine was inexpensive shadows from ColourPop
I’ve been so disappointed in Colourpop lately. I’m giving up on them.
CP Super Shock aren’t worth the money. You’d have to be able to use them quickly to get any value from them IMO. Yet they remain very popular.
I enjoy those sample packs to get an idea of what a product is like and to have the chance to test the fragrance.
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