Project Pan: July 2020 Update on My Beauty Empties

I started the month of July, the halfway point of 2020, at 46 beauty empties, still quite a ways from my Project Pan goal of 130 empties for the year. This month, however, I made some good progress at emptying a number of big full sized products. What a feeling of accomplishment as I recycle them!

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Here’s what I used up and my topline thoughts on each.

Bath & Body

• Nature Island Botanicals Citrus Sunrise Vitamin C Body Butter: I have talked about NIB body butters and body lotions about a million times, and you know I love them. Both the Citrus Sunrise and the Caribbean Escape scents are captivating, and the body butter and body lotions are lovely to wear. Repurchase? Of course! This year, because all of the craft festivals are cancelled, I will call Daphne at NIB and order more.

• City Beauty InvisiCrepe Body Balm: I am planning to do a full review on this product soon, so I will not comment on it now.

• live clean Coconut Milk Moisturizing Body Wash: If you are looking for a gentle clean beauty moisturizing body wash with a mild coconut scent at a very reasonable price, this might just be it. It’s an excellent choice as an all-family product, too. It makes a lot of mild lather on a pouf and leaves skin feeling soft and smooth. The huge bottle of product lasted me two years. Repurchase? Although I liked live clean Coconut Milk Body Wash (reviewed here), I prefer stronger scented shower products. Otherwise, it’s a terrific body wash.

• Zum Bar Goat’s Milk Soap Sliver Bag: This was a very cool product: a little bag of about 8 different slices of clean beauty Zum Bar Goat’s Milk Soap. I really like this gentle, hydrating but clean rinsing, fragrant soap that creates lots of creamy lather (reviewed here). My only wish is that there would be some way to identify each of the samples to make it easier to order full size versions of favorites within the bag. Repurchase? Right now, I am using the full size bars. But to try out the brand, get this sampler!

• RITUALS The Ritual of Sakura Flowering Kitchen Hand Balm Rice Milk & Cherry Blossom: As you may recall, this is one of my absolute favorite hand creams. This is my third bottle of this “kitchen size pump”, and I have used a couple of the hand cream in a tube. Love this hydrating, light but lovely cherry blossom hand cream. Repurchase? Yes, I did.

Facial Skincare

• Theraderm Clinical Skincare OPC Reparative Serum: I was so sad to use up this serum (reviewed here). I think it really did help fade my dark spots more. I have a million serums, but I needed to use this one from Theraderm till it was completely finished. Repurchase? Unfortunately, I just missed the 15% off sale at Theraderm. Boo. So I will wait till there’s another sale before I repurchase this terrific dermatologist-created facial serum.

• Theraderm Peptide Repair Eye Cream: Honestly, I am very impressed by Theraderm Clinical Skincare. I have not wanted to move on to other skincare products I am supposed to be trying out for review because I have wanted to finish up my Theraderm products first. Peptide Repair Eye Cream (reviewed here) is one of those products. In spite of the fact that Belif Moisturizing Eye Balm has long been a favorite of mine, I still haven’t opened up the jar because I was enjoying the lightweight but hydrating and firming Peptide Repair Eye Cream from Theraderm. Repurchase? See the above comment. But I strongly recommend trying out one of the Travel Size skincare sets from Theraderm for $30 so you can try it out for yourself.

• Gold Mountain Beauty Fresh Rose Moisturizer w Hyaluronic Acid: I received this pretty pink, rich facial moisturizer from a new-to-me Boston brand during this past winter, and it was perfect for winter use. The pink color and the light floral scent made it a joy for me to use. Also, it is amazingly affordable. Repurchase? I plan to repurchase it in the winter since it’s too rich for these hot, humid days.

• City Beauty Multi-Action Sculpting Cream: I am a big fan of some of the City Beauty products, and firming Multi-Action Sculpting Cream (reviewed here) is one of them. I use it along my jawline and my neck to firm my skin. Repurchase? I already have, and it should be arriving today!

• City Beauty City Lips Lip Plumper, Clear: This must be umpteenth tube of City Lips Clear that I have finished up. I love this stuff. It keeps my super dry lips hydrated and comfortable. It does make them look healthier and plumper. I use it everyday and every night, just about. Repurchase? Yes, I bought another tube yesterday during the National Lipstick Day sale!

• Skinceuticals Foaming Cleanser, Lightweight Pore Cleanser for All Skin Types: I was given this cleanser by a friend who didn’t want it. My gain, her loss. This is one of the clear cleansers where foam comes right out of the pump. It felt like applying clouds to my face. I really liked it because my face felt super clean but not dried out. Repurchase? Skinceuticals, though often on sale on Lovelyskin.com and other online retailers, is a pricey product. I had been using a much more affordable dupe from The Body Shop’s Drops of Youth collection that seems to have been discontinued. Because I have a ton of facial cleansers, I am not planning to repurchase this now. Skinceuticals Foaming Cleansing has since been reformulated to remove the parabens and it is now called Skinceuticals Soothing Cleanser, so now I think it would be even better.

So in July, I used up 11 full size products, bringing my Project Pan total to 57. I still don’t think I will get to 130 empties for the year, but I feel good about using up so many products most of which I really enjoyed.

Here are a few more that don’t count toward my total.

Sample Packets

• Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer: Although I liked this little sample of primer, I probably wouldn’t purchase it for my dry, mature skin. It is a matte primer, and dewy is more my style.

• Korres Nourishing Probiotic Gel-Cream: I would definitely considering purchasing Korres Nourishing Probiotic Gel-Cream because it has everything I like in an anti-aging moisturizer: it’s a protective gel-cream!

Expired Products

These are two products that I feel bad about tossing because I liked them both. But I forgot about them, and they are old, old, old.

• Tarina Tarantino Lipgloss: A former reader sent me this adorable lipgloss as a gift at least 4 years ago. It is a pretty, peachy pink sparkly gloss, and I enjoyed wearing it when I received it. But I put it somewhere and forgot about it. It now smells like chemicals. Tarina Tarantino jewelry still exists and is sold on her website, but her makeup line is no more.

• • Temptu Highlighter Pink Pearl: I got this little vial of Temptu Highlighter in Pink Pearl several years ago in one of my Ipsy bags, and I loved the Pink Pearl shade. Temptu is a spray makeup brand, but I applied this highlighter straight from the vial. I put the tiny tube someplace, and forgot about it. Now the Pink Pearl shade has faded and it’s gotten quite greasy. Time to go! But I am glad to know it is still available if I want to buy it some day.

So I am recycling and throwing away quite a bit this month. How about you?

Today's Author

Allison Cohen

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