September Skin Care Empties 😎

It’s the end of September! Here’s what I finished! September’s empties was quite satisfying. I knocked out a ton of products this month! I’ve been meaning to finish up some of these products, such as the Benton Aloe Propolis Soothing Gel (finally!) and Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV SPF 50+ PA++++ (White)! And some others. 😁 Now here are my thoughts on my September empties! Enjoy! 😊

iUNIK Propolis Vitamin Synergy Serum:

Here goes my last bottle of iUNIK Propolis Vitamin Synergy Serum! I purchased this serum to help moisturize and brighten my skin. That’s what this serum claims to do. It says right on the packaging that it’s powerful calming, nourishing and brightening, and is for wrinkle care. Some beneficial ingredients in this serum are Propolis Extract, Hippophae Rhamnoides Fruit Extract, Niacinamide, and Sodium Hyaluronate. I went through a few bottles of this serum. It’s a serum that feels nourishing and soothing on the skin, but it does feel sticky and takes a while to absorb into the skin. I didn’t like the texture of the product. After finishing a few bottles of this serum, I didn’t notice much of a difference in my skin. It helps to hydrate, but it didn’t help with wrinkles and didn’t brighten my skin. All it was is a hydrating serum. I’ve decided that I’m not going to purchase it again.

Benton Aloe Propolis Soothing Gel:

Benton Aloe Propolis Soothing Gel was one of those products that I couldn’t let go, which is weird because the ingredients aren’t too exciting. It contains Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Water, Glycerin, Propolis Extract, Betaine, Cucumber Fruit Extract, to name a few. The product was lightweight, somewhat hydrating, and soothes the skin. It also didn’t break my skin out. I loved it for a while. But, I haven’t been using on my face lately, and I don’t miss it at all. Thinking about it now, I don’t think it did much for my skin. I just kept it around because it didn’t clog my pores, and I needed a product that moisturizes my skin just a little bit. I had a hard time finding a moisturizer that works on my skin. This was the closest to a product that moisturizes my skin. It worked for a while, but I’ve found something better.

Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV SPF 50+ PA++++ (White):

I finally finished the last Canmake Mermaid Skin Gel UV SPF 50+ PA++++ (white version!). It took me so long to reach the last bottle. Finally, I have! So the white version is the unlikable version of the ‘Clear’. The white version didn’t break me out, but it leaves the skin with a noticeable white cast and dries out the skin tremendously. Well, on my skin it did. It didn’t look good on my skin. It accentuated every fine line and wrinkle, pore, and flake. There’s no way I’m going to purchase the white one again. It’s terrible. I don’t recommend it at all. Stay away from it unless you like having a white cast and dry skin. The cooler weather is coming up, so it’s best to stay away from this sunscreen.

Gold Bond Ultimate Neck & Chest Firming Body Treatment Cream:

I’ve been using Gold Bond Ultimate Neck & Chest Firming Body Treatment Cream at the beginning of this year. I’m on my second tube. The product is pretty tiny. It’s only 2 oz. The cream is supposed to help improve skin elasticity, texture, firmness, boost hydration, and repair dry, depleted skin. It contains salicylic acid to exfoliate to help reveal younger-looking skin. After finishing the cream, I feel that this cream is just another body cream. I didn’t notice an improvement in skin elasticity or texture. It’s just another product that’s making claims and under-delivering. It’s not a bad product when it comes to moisturizing, but there’s more affordable options out there that moisturizes the skin. I couldn’t tell the difference between this cream and my other moisturizing creams. I’m glad I’m done with it. I won’t repurchase again.

Differin Oil-Absorbing Moisturizer SPF 30:

Another sunscreen I finally finished before the winter season! It’s the Differin Oil-Absorbing Moisturizer SPF 30! I’ve been trying to finish this sunscreen up too. I don’t use it on my face anymore. I stopped after it started to make my skin oily while causing breakouts. Also, it burns my eyes too. It’s just not the type of sunscreen for my sensitive facial skin. My skin is very picky with sunscreens. This one failed the test. So I used this sunscreen mainly on my hands. It’s moisturizing, lightweight, and feels just like a non-greasy moisturizer. When I finished it, I never looked back. Out it goes!

Up & Up All In One Micellar Cleansing Water:

I stopped using micellar cleansing water on my face. I had half a bottle left, but I couldn’t finish the rest. The product does help to remove residue and makeup from the facial skin, but I just don’t like the way micellar water feels on the skin. It’s just one of those products that I can live without. So with the rest of the micellar water, I ended up using it to remove my eye makeup. I had to use it for something. I didn’t want to waste it. Once I finished the whole bottle, I tossed it out and didn’t repurchase. It’s not just this micellar water that I don’t care for. It’s micellar water in general. I haven’t found one that I liked. It feels like an extra step in my skin care routine that I don’t need. A cleansing oil alone removes my sunscreen and makeup just fine. I’ve had no issues just using a cleansing oil followed by a face wash. It works, and I don’t have to use another product like this one to aid in the product removal process. I prefer to keep my skin care to a minimum as much as possible, lol.

CeraVe Eye Repair Cream:

I’ve tried a ton of eye creams and this one just sucked. lol. There’s no other way I can put it. The ingredients look nice. It contains Niacinamide, Ceramides, Hyaluronic Acid, Almond Oil, Aloe, Vitamin E, and much more. But it doesn’t live up to its claims. The eye cream is supposed to reduce the appearance of dark circles and puffiness. Ceramides help to repair and restore. Nope, none of that happened. It didn’t help with dark circles or puffiness. I love ceramides, but it didn’t do anything for my skin in this eye cream. My skin still felt dry using this eye cream. It just didn’t do anything. I wouldn’t recommend this eye cream. It just wasn’t a good pick.

RoC Line Smoothing Daily Cleansing Pads:

I finished two containers of the RoC Line Smoothing Daily Cleansing Pads. The product claims to visibly reduce fine lines and improve tone and texture in 1 week. Diminishes signs of photo-aging and uneven skin tone, dark spots in 4 weeks. Visibly diminishes wrinkles and pores in 12 weeks. There are 28 pads per container. After finishing this product, I didn’t notice many changes in my skin besides softer and smoother skin. It didn’t help to reduce fine lines or wrinkles. Tone and texture, not so much either. Signs of photo-aging and even skin tone? Nope. Diminishes wrinkles and pores? Not at all. Just softer and smoother skin, lol. It’s a good physical exfoliant (pads with tiny little bumps on it) that cleanses the skin very well. My skin always feels squeaky clean afterwards, which is nice on this oily skin of mine. I liked this product, but I don’t really need it in my routine. I feel like it’s one of those products that’s just fun to use. I won’t purchase again.

Neutrogena Sport Face Oil-Free Lotion Sunscreen SPF 70+:

I tried Neutrogena Sport Face Oil-Free Lotion Sunscreen SPF 70+ on my face, but that didn’t work out. It felt really greasy and oily on the skin. It has a chemical smell to it too that I didn’t like. It also broke me out. I wanted it to work out due to the price and that it’s SPF 70+. I finally finished my last tube of this product, and I’m happy that it’s gone. It worked well on my body but not my face. I won’t repurchase it again for the body because it’s only 2.5 fl. oz.

For my August Empties go here 👈🏻

How to use Micellar Cleansing Water

I’ve been using micellar water for 4 weeks. I really like it. It leaves my skin feeling clean. I’ve used it three different ways — as a leave-on, washing it off, and as a makeup remover.

As a leave-on:

The first 2 weeks, I left micellar water on my skin. What I would do is go through my cleansing routine then apply the cleansing water to my skin. The instructions states that the product can be left on the skin without rinsing. That’s exactly what I did for 2 weeks straight. I didn’t think much about it until I noticed that my skin looked somewhat irritated and dry. It was like, what is going on with my skin? I used it day and night. I decided to quit this method and follow the ‘wash off’ method.

Washing it off:

The next 1.5 weeks, I would take a cotton pad, dispense micellar water onto the cotton pad, and swipe it all over my face. After doing this, I would see debris on the cotton pad. I think that’s pretty normal. Next, I would follow up with my cleansing routine. So the micellar water is rinsed off. It’s not left on the skin. This method worked much better for me. My skin stopped feeling dry and irritated. But is it necessary to use micellar water like this anyways?? That’s why I started to use it as a makeup remover instead.

Makeup Remover:

The last couple of days of the 4th week, I used micellar water as a makeup remover. I used it as the last step of my makeup removal routine. It helps to remove the last traces of makeup, debris, oils, and dirt. Micellar water worked very well at removing my mascara. I’ve been having a hard time removing mascara with oils and balms. THIS worked!

I’m currently using Derma E Vitamin C Micellar Cleansing Water (as shown in the photo above). In my honest opinion, this micellar water makes my skin feel more dry than I expected. I’ll search for something less harsh next time. I think Derma E Vitamin C Micellar Cleansing Water is good only in the summer. I think it would dry my skin out even more during the winter.

From my experience, micellar water as a makeup remover was the best method. Do you use micellar water in your skin care routine?

Love, Jen