Happy New Year, my friends! I hope the first week of January was gentle on you and that you were gentle on yourself too — January is hard enough without piling pressure on yourself to start blitzing smoothies and walking 10km every day and manifesting your goals, etc. I’m starting a new job soon so I have a bit of a longer break… but that just gives me time to fling another newsletter at you before things really start kicking off for me this year.
What better way to ring in 2023 than with a few empties? I can’t think of one. Watching the ball drop at Times Square, you say? Psssh. You’ll get empties (as well as a few products I’m decluttering) and you’ll be happy about it.
A CeraVe cleanser? In MY empties? It’s more likely than you think. You already know — this is a great, gentle cleanser that makes your face feel super clean without stripping it. The knowledge that CeraVe exists is what stops me every time I think about buying a fancier cleanser. It’s simply unnecessary when these are so accessible and so nice!
No7 Protect & Perfect Intense Advanced Eye Cream
A bit of an adjective salad, that name. Intense! Advanced! But I really liked this product, which I bought after trying a mini (a seal of approval if I’ve ever seen one). I hate eye creams that you have to drag across your face — it’s weird how many of them have absolutely no slip to them. This glides right on, and I can feel it hydrating my skin. Plus, you can get it with your Boots points. I’ve gone back to The Inkey List Caffeine Eye Cream for now, but I would definitely use this again.
Another hyaluronic acid serum bites the dust! Like most Skinceuticals products, I ate this one up, which is bittersweet considering the price of them. It’s kind of thick and almost gel-like for a serum (unless I had a weird batch… but please don’t tell me if I did) and seems to get to work almost instantly. You know how some hyaluronic serums just sink in and that’s it? Not this. It feels like a hydrating layer all of its own, perfect for this time of year. I liked this a lot, but I’ve heard that the Skinceuticals Hydrating B5 is even better — so guess what I’ll be trying next.
L’Oreal Elvive Dream Lengths Saviour Mask
Some boring shower bits ahead! I’ll make it quick. This has definitely come up in my empties before — it’s a nice mask that smells lovely and leaves my hair very soft, which is a big win in Hard Water Town (Dublin). Can I just speak for a second about how stunningly my hair dries when I’m down home in Mayo? Beautiful soft waves! And here it’s just slightly bendy frizz. It’s an absolute scandal Joe.
Rituals The Ritual of Ayurveda Body Harmonizing Foaming Shower Gel
This is a very fancy shower gel for me! And the first Rituals product I’ve tried. Unsurprisingly, it smells divine, but one pump dispensed way too much and as a result, the bottle lasted about five minutes. Perhaps a faulty pump? Anyway, 10/10 for fragrance, 5/10 for longevity.
Nuxe Reve de Miel Hand and Nail Cream
The Nuxe Reve de Miel range is often raved about as a dry skin saviour, so I was ready for this to soothe my winter-bitten hands. However, it didn’t blow me away. It’s just a nice hand cream? It didn’t feel as rich and restorative as I wanted it to, nor was the scent particularly inviting (which is the other thing I like in a hand cream). I recall feeling the same way about the Reve de Miel lip balm. Perhaps I am just not a Nuxe Girl.
Becca Sunrise Waves Gradient Sunlit Bronzer
This old thing has been in my life for quite some time. I don’t think I’d really used bronzer before I bought it in 2018 — the beauty world was more concerned with contouring then, so I was using various shades of sludge grey to create cheekbones for myself (this did not work and only served to make me look dirty). To me, bronzer automatically meant fake tan, orange, overkill.
I can’t remember what attracted me to this one (probably YouTube?) but I was extremely surprised to find it made me look sunkissed, not sun-slapped. It originally had little strips of highlighter running through it, which added a soft glow to everything. I used it and used it and then this summer, the little of it that was left smashed on the journey to London and I realised it was time to give up the ghost. Becca no longer exists, of course, so there’s no way to replace it. I’m sad! But ready to discover a new bronzer that makes me feel the same way. Any and all recommendations welcome.
Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Contour Wand
Allow me to add this to the exclusive list of Charlotte Tilbury products I rate. Yes, it’s getting hyped by TikTok teens right now, but it was good before they found it and it’ll be good after they’ve moved on. The shade is just right — not too warm, not too grey. The sponge-tip applicator is useful in this instance, as it allows you to control where you place the product. It blends out seamlessly, and as I generally prefer my bronzers/contours to whisper rather than shout, that’s ideal for me. HOWEVER. I was recently getting ready to apply this when it started emitting GREEN SLUDGE upon squeezing. My tube has clearly RIP’d. I think I will be repurchasing, though — it’s the only liquid/cream bronzer I enjoy right now.
I’ve gone through a few tubes of this. It’s a very specific kind of mascara for a specific kind of mascara wearer. It’s not going to give you any significant volume, length, or curl, which I know is what most seek from a mascara. What it does offer is a very natural, lash lift-y sort of effect, which to me is nice for less glamorous days. I also like it for my bottom lashes too, as it defines them a little without smudging or sending me into Twiggy or panda territory (I have weirdly long bottom lashes idk. Sometimes it’s nice and sometimes it’s annoying). It’s just a handy one to have in my mascara repertoire, I think.
And here are a few bits I decluttered from my makeup stash. I go through my products regularly enough, and these were all items that made it through the last audit by the skin of their teeth (I can get sentimental about these things). Since these were liquid/cream products and a few years old, they went into the bin. Usually, with powder products or newer stuff that doesn’t work for me, I try to pass them on to friends and family.
Chanel and Sculpted by Aimee foundations: I singled these out for a binning in my foundation post, and this week I made good on that threat. Both the wrong shade, both a few years old, neither particularly loved. Both now relieved of their duties.
Fenty Stunna Lip Paint in Uncensored: I adored this when it first came out (2017, I believe). I asked Derek for it that Christmas and wore it constantly over the following year. Despite this, I always found it to be a lot of work. It feathered and bled on my lips, transferred at the slightest provocation, and just needed a lot of minding in general. I moved on to less troublesome reds and, left in the drawer, the Fenty lip paint started to separate. I feel very sentimental about it for some reason but there was no point in hanging on.
Milk Makeup Mini Lip + Cheek Stick in Werk: This is actually a really nice blush shade, but the twist-up mechanism for the tube broke and I didn’t fancy digging around in the product to “save” it (I did however decant my two Lisa Eldridge blushes that finally burst… the sooner she fixes that packaging, the better).
Pat McGrath Labs EYEDOLS Eye Shadow in Purple Reign: These single shadows were a bit of a dud, weren’t they? They don’t seem to exist any more, probably for good reason. I have many thoughts on the direction of PMG Labs (what’s going on over there at all?) but this was never good — the colour was so rich in the pan yet dull on the eyes — and when I opened it the other night, it had dried up, which is weird for a powder shadow. Bin!
Stila Shimmer & Glow Liquid Eyeshadow in La Douce: I was shaken to my core by these eyeshadows. I had a glitter one first (I think Gold Goddess?) that is long departed and wore this metallic one to death circa 2018. It’s an olive green with gold reflect — the kind of colour I still go a bit crazy for, but not crazy enough to apply this years-old liquid to my eyes. I still have plenty of olive eyeshadows in my life, though. Never fear.
Thank you for reading Vanity Project! I got rid of loads of stuff, sure, but then I bought stuff in the sales, undoing all my good work. I never learn. See you soon for the next one!