combing through eight months' worth of empties
This post just keeps going. I'm sorry in advance.
Boy oh boy do I have some trash to dissect with you. It’s been so long and my empties basket overfloweth.
There are some products from this batch that I’ve reviewed before, so I’ll list them here with links to the relevant empties posts if you’d like to read what I thought:
So now we can jump straight into the new new. And there’s a lot of new new, since I haven’t done an empties post since September. Eight months ago. Gulp.
Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Moisture Airyfit Daily Sunscreen SPF50+
I previously declared K-beauty sunscreens to be interchangeable but you know what? I take that back, because this is quite unique among them. It has a soft, velvety finish that I really liked under makeup, and you might too if you find most K-beauty sunscreens to be way too dewy. I think… and I don’t want to be too definitive, but… I think this might be my favourite SPF moisturiser that I’ve tried. I’m using the Beauty of Joseon Aqua Fresh one again but for the first time ever, I want to go back specifically to this one. My days of ping-ponging through Styevana’s sunscreen offerings may be over. Heavy on the “may.”
Byoma Ultralight Face Fluid SPF50
This just did not hit, but I have been so spoiled by K-beauty that I did not really expect much from it. It’s too thin and sticky – yes, it has “fluid” in its name, but I guess I didn’t take that seriously enough. I didn’t feel like I was getting enough moisture, and had to buttress it with more toners and serums. I try to keep morning skincare to as few steps as possible, so I need an SPF that can convincingly double as a moisturiser. Not 4 me.
Futurewise Slug Cream Barrier Repair Moisturiser
This brand wasn’t available over here to begin with and is now seemingly gone under, so I’ll keep this brief: I liked this as a richer moisturiser on cold winter nights – not mad heavy, but nicely cocooning.
Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Hyaluronic Toner
I wanted this to feel thicker. I think I actually meant to buy the Haruharu Wonder milky toner, but got bamboozled and ended up with this instead. It’s very watery, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it just didn’t give me that juicy hydrated feeling that I look for in a toner. There has to be a middle ground between the thicc-ness of the Rhode Glazing Milk and this. There just has to be!
Ella & Jo Hydrating Hyaluronic Serum
This is a very lovely hyaluronic acid serum! My mum is a huge fan of Ella & Jo, which was founded by two women from our area, but I hadn’t tried anything from them before this. I’m not loyal to any particular serum, so I will flit on to the next one that catches my eye, but I would like to try their cleansing balm. If you’re also a fan of the brand, let me know if I’m missing out on any product in particular.
Caudalie Vinoperfect Brightening Dark Spot Serum
I bought this when I was pregnant and so sure, absolutely certain, that I was getting melasma on my cheeks that needed to be dealt with STAT. This is supposed to reduce the appearance of dark spots and hyperpigmentation – Caudalie claims that the key ingredient is more effective than Vitamin C. You can imagine how this intrigued me. But it’s also €53, so I was expecting to be wowed. I was not wowed. I picked out one area of mild hyperpigmentation to keep an eye on as I used it, and I can’t say it made any sort of difference at all. This serum has rave reviews! People are obsessed with it! Alas, I will be sticking to my silly boring Vitamin C.
Arthur was about two months old before I remembered I could use retinol again (it’s okay while breastfeeding, I checked with a professional, please let me have this one thing). I fled back to the warm embrace of the one I was using before I was preg, which was this French pharmacy staple. The Reddit skincare nerds (I say this lovingly) like to debate its efficacy – it apparently contains the least active form of retinol – but I believe everyone’s skin reacts to products differently and not everyone can tolerate paint stripper levels of retinol. My main quibble with this is that it’s an ointment, so it leaves your face kind of greasy. It’s just not the nicest on an experiential level. Otherwise, I found that it was a good route back into retinol. I’ve moved on to the Medik8 Crystal Retinal 10 which is spenny but nice – more on that in a future empties post.
Tocobo Collagen Brightening Eye Gel Cream
Not fully empty, I just didn’t finish it because it was giving me absolutely nothing. I got it in a Boots skincare box (I needed SPF and cleanser and the box had both for the same price as they would be on their own, a steal) so I don’t feel too bad about abandoning it. It was too thin and watery for me, and my undereyes didn’t look plumped or brightened or anything you want an eye cream to do. I got the Bubble one instead and it was a good decision. Another one for a future empties post.
COSRX Low pH Good Morning Gel Cleanser
A decent foaming cleanser, designed to keep your skin at “its optimal pH level.” I was not using litmus paper to test my skin before and after using it (hello Junior Cert Science) so I can’t attest to the accuracy of this statement. It smells really strongly of tea tree oil which I didn’t love, so I ended up just wanting to be done with it. I went back to the Naturium one, which is just as lovely the second time around.
Anua Heartleaf Quercetinol Pore Deep Cleansing Foam
This was a shower cleanser and I can’t remember too much about it, other than it was perfectly fine? I had to Google what “quercetinol” was – it’s an anti-inflammatory ingredient derived from the heartleaf plant, which is Anua’s whole thing. It cleaned my face, and that’s all I needed it to do.
Beauty of Joseon Radiance Cleansing Balm
“It cleaned my face, and that’s all I needed it to do” could also be my review of this Beauty of Joseon cleansing balm. There are zero bells and whistles – no scent, no colour, barely a whisper of copy on the packaging – but it removed my makeup so I guess I can’t complain.
Maybelline Superlock Brow Glue
In my 2025 favourites post, I said this was the only brow gel that didn’t go crusty on me, and I stand by this! It did get a bit gunky towards the end and lost some of its effectiveness, but we had a good time while it lasted. I replaced it with the L’Oreal Brow Lamination Gel, which is same same but different.
Clio Kill Lash Superproof Mascara in Volume Curling
I held on to this for way too long because I needed to remind myself to get another. This is SUCH a great mascara – the brush is so skinny and precise, and the formula locks in a curl all day. I wouldn’t say it gives major volume, despite the name, but I like it for a more fluttery, subtle look. The only thing is it’s an absolute bitch to remove, but a good eye makeup remover (like the Nivea one I mentioned at the top of this post) will do the trick.
Revolution Wrap Lash Tubing Mascara
I hated this, lol. It was so heavy that my lashes felt weighed down. I also do not think it’s actually a tubing mascara, because removing it was so difficult. It came off all right, though not in neat little tubes but clumps that ended up all over my face. Isn’t the whole point of tubing mascaras that you just need a wee bit of water to take them off? This was so much work. I was not a fan.
NYX Micro Brow Pencil in Ash Brown
I could not believe how long this lasted. I had it for what felt like years, twisting up that tiny little pencil, certain every time I used it that the end was nigh. But it just kept going! This is NYX’s Anastasia dupe and it’s spot on and I intend to repurchase it and have it for years again. I won’t mess with this particular good thing.
Laneige Lip Glowy Balm in Berry
I try to keep things minimal in the lip balm department, because I know if I let myself I’d have a tube of every single trendy one going. This was my handbag balm for ages, to match my bedside balm (the Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask). I really liked it! It’s more glossy than the OG Lip Sleeping Mask, but they share the same cushiony, slippery texture. It looked equally nice on bare lips as it did with a bit of lip liner. Ideal.
Vaseline Cocoa Radiant Body Oil
Another product I just wanted to be over. I do not enjoy the texture of this – it comes out like a jelly then transforms to oil on the skin. However, it didn’t seem to want to be applied to wet skin, which I think is the entire point of a body oil? I would rub it in and it would just move around rather than sink in. I also found the scent cloying. Just bad all around and yet I didn’t give up because some part of me must like the misery. I’ve moved on to the Saltair Saltwater Vanilla Body Oil, which has finally answered my prayer for a nice smelling body oil that doesn’t cost the earth (I also want the body butter maybe I shall get it As A Treat).
This was on the Stylevana bestsellers page and I threw it into an order because why the hell not? But it could be literally any hair mask you get in Boots (though judging by how Boots are going with Asian beauty brands, they probably already stock it). It’s very silicone-forward which I don’t mind because my hair be tangly as fook, but nothing special overall.
Thanks for reading Vanity Project! God, that felt like a marathon. If you’re still here, well done. I’ll see you soon for the next newsletter!
Loved this! I’ve also tried a lot of Korean skincare bits and found quite a of few of the super hyped ones a bit meh- just watched Lisa Eldridge’s (very long) video on it and thought it was quite revealing! That said, I do love the textures, so good for such good prices.