Toss or Trash: May 2012

There is so much to blog about that I'm overwhelmed and backlogged. It's not a bad thing as I know many bloggers get writer's block or get uninspired. So, I'm looking at this as a very positive situation. And, maybe a reason to bump up to more than 6 posts a week. That is mostly dictated by how much time I have, however.


There is one downside of doing a monthly 'Toss or Trash' post; it makes the year feel like it is going by a lot faster. So, are we really halfway done with this year!?

It doesn't seem like I had a lot of products for May's edition. Nevertheless, here we go...

These two are trash, but I'd get them again! Especially the Dove Shea Butter Cream Oil Body Wash. This was nice! It made my skin feel soft and moisturized, just what I'd expect from anything with shea butter. The fragrance of this one is warm vanilla and brown sugar scent. Love!!!

This Details Bath & Body spray is something I've used off and on for several years. I don't even know if they make this fragrance anymore. And, that's why I was hoarding it. This is Sparkling Champagne; 2 Phase Body Mist; Tuscan Sunset. It smelled yummy. Again, something with a bit of vanilla in it. The mist had two different liquids in it so one floated above the other, like oil and vinegar. I liked that there was oil in this as my skin needs loves moisturizers.

Not a whole lot of makeup this time around...

I figured with Cover Girl's Lash Blast Fusion mascara being in this huge-ass tube that it would last at least 3 years. Well, it didn't last that long. Not even close. I think the only time I've had a mascara dry up this fast was in one of those no-name Christmas makeup sets. This has a huge-ass brush to it too and I did like it while it was fresh. This is a toss. (OK, I had it less than a year however, I didn't use it daily.)

Next are some doozy tosses...

Starting on the left is elf's liquid eyeliner in 'Pearl'. Should be called putty because it wasn't liquid, per se. The tip of this eyeliner is hard like a pencil and not a flexible brush. There was no 'line' in this 'eyeliner'. It was globby.

Next is another Walgreen's clearance disaster. This is Maybelline's 'Pink of Me' lipstick. I'm sorry I don't know what collection or type this lipstick is. But I can tell you where it's going: to the trash. Granted, it was $1.75 in the clearance bit AND, I had a $1 off coupon. But jiminy, Walgreens, don't put the spoiled crap on clearance! In last month's Toss or Trash edition, I had the same experience with the Yes To Carrots lip balm. Let me say that this lipstick was stinky like 'falling behind the vanity and forgotten for 7 years' stinky. It is such a pretty color too. 

I am really picky about purchasing nail treatments. At least I thought I was. I thought this one was going to be good just on looks alone. This is Sally Hansen's VitaSurge cuticle gel. Sounds effective but, it sucked. It didn't moisturize my cuticles. It just left them with a gooey, sticky feeling. That was with rubbing it in well too.

Well, I did try another cuticle oil and even though I liked this one, it wasn't worth the money. But I only have myself to blame. I let one of those mall kiosk people talk me into not only getting one set of a hand and nail care kit but TWO because I was getting a GREAT DEAL!

Don't judge. Just let me be an example that most of those kiosks that sell beauty items are totally overpriced. I had buyer's remorse and this kiosk had the nerve to call security on me when I wanted a refund. This brand is Seacrest and is supposed to be from the Dead Sea. Whatever. It was a good cuticle oil, as I mentioned. But I could have picked it up for peanuts on ebay. This is trash but I will not be purchasing again.

When I was subscribing to Birchbox, I did get a lot of samples that I liked trying. And this one was a nice size to sample. It's Redken's Shine Flash 02 glistening mist. When I think of a 'mist', I think of a pump and not a spray but, this is a spray like hairspray. Anyway, I wasn't seeing a significant difference in shine when I used this. So it isn't something I'll buy a full-size one.

I read a lot of beauty blogs that also love candles. Me too!...

My candles get sooty because I burn them in a room with a ceiling fan. Hey, it's Florida here and you bet your candle flame I'm going to keep my fans on!
From the left: Winter Cabin (loved and a favorite), S'mores (was OK, just not a favorite), Kitchen Spice (nice to have in the living room) and Wild Strawberry (I liked it but don't feel the need to get it again). 

I used the Details spray every day. I rarely, before doing this series, would use a fragrance two days in a row. I, truly, have so much perfume and bath lotions and potions I can rotate them all year and not have the same smell. And, I found I get kind of bored using the same fragrance almost all month. 

How about you...do you like to rotate with different fragrances or, do you have a signature perfume?

Toss Or Trash: April 2012

This post will be about April's Toss or Trash. I don't think I was as tossy or trashy as March!

Here we go...

First, I have the skin care items:

Bath and Body Works: True Blue Monoi Oil Nourishing Body Lotion
Trash: I used this up and loved it. This was the hand lotion I kept on the end table where I watch TV. I love the smell of this and it was very silky. This lotion has a lot of seed oils in it so that has to make it super soft. I only got this mini to try out before I invested in a full size. I don't know how soon I'll get that, as I'm trying to use all these lotions up, but it is certainly one that I would repurchase.

CeraVe PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion
Trash: I got this as a sample, along with the AM version, at the Women's Home Show last year. I was delightfully surprised that I actually liked this. It has more 'medicinal' type of ingredients rather than natural ones. This is heavy enough for my tastes but may be too much for anyone with oily skin. There isn't much of a smell. Again, I would repurchase if I already didn't have a lot of stuff on hand.

Garnier Moisture Rescue
Trash: This bottle lasted me so long. After washing my face in the morning, I would put this on before I went out to run. This has an SPF 15. I have, since, bumped it up my SPF level with CeraVe AM lotion because it has SPF 40. But, I just love the smell of this Garnier lotion. It is light enough that my face doesn't feel slick but has enough moisture that I do feel my skin is hydrated. Most definitely will repurchase.

Crabtree & Evelyn's Hand Therapy Collection: Rosewater
Trash: This smelled so sophisticated that I found myself hoarding it instead of using it. This isn't a hand cream that I would normally get. But I fell in love with the light rose fragrance and the lotion smoothed over my dry knuckles making them kissable. I think of this as a 'mature' product because I wouldn't have gone for this in my 20's or 30's. I still recommend it to anyone that likes a rose fragrance. I would purchase this again.

Bath and Body Works: True Blue Exhilarating & Exfoliating Face Scrub-Citrus
Trash: I can't tell anyone this but, my hubs likes this one a lot. He liked the fine grit to this and the non-girly citrus fragrance. I like it too. However, I'll repurchase it for him as well. Since my favorite exfoliating scrub by St. Ives has been discontinued, I have been looking for something like it. This is very close.

Avon's Anew Clinical: Line and Wrinkle Corrector
Trash: Gosh, this is my favorite eye cream. I use it in the morning and at night. Well, I did until this ran out. Now I have so many samples and other products to try that my endeared eye cream no longer has me as its faithful lover. When I'm asked how do I not look my age, I say I owe it to Avon's Anew line. I recommend it for anyone. If I wasn't a beauty blogger, I would be using only this one.

Zoya's Remove+ Nail Polish Remover
Trash: This is a staple at the vanity's nail bar. Nail bloggers have influenced me on trying this and now I'm in love with it. This is only like my 3rd bottle, not counting the huge one I got to refill. But this one came this way; what's that purple stuff at the top? I didn't open it to find out. Totally recommend this, especially if you change your nail polish often.

Southern Magnolia Minerals Hair & Skin Tonic; Skin Revival Night Creme
Trash: I used these babies up in a flash. Not because they were very small samples, but because I love the products. I already purchased, and reviewed, the full-size version of the Hair & Skin Tonic. Love it!!! I really liked the Night Creme too. It is on my list to repurchase as well. I just have so many other creams I'm using up. However, I like this one as it isn't overly heavy and it has a light fragrance. 

Next are the makeup products...

Unknown Lip Crayon
Toss: It's history because I have so many other crayons like this one, but with better longevity on staying on my lips. I'm crazy about the color. Yet, the pigment didn't stay long enough. I'm finding myself weakening as I look at it while I review it. I really like the color! Sigh, I must move on. Also, the color part didn't want to stay in the barrel when I tried to sharpen it.

Styli-Style Lip Liner: Bare
Trash: This is my all-time, very favorite, can't live without it lip liner. This color is PERFECT for me. It is just a couple of shades darker than my own lips. Styli-Style stays on all day. I love it. I have already replaced it. I wasn't going to give up this one until I got a replacement either. But it was having that same issue of the colored center coming out when I tried to sharpen it.

Say Yes To Carrots: C Me Smile Lip Butter
Toss: This balm was on the shelf way too long. It has turned. Nasty smell and weird taste. I got this last month, so it isn't old to me. But I did get it on clearance at Walgreen's and I have a feeling I know why: move out the old stuff! 

 LA Splash Waterproof Mascara: Impermeable
Toss: Gosh, I really love the way this mascara looks in the tube. But it did not translate onto my lashes. It didn't do anything for my lashes. And this dried up like a neglected houseplant. I had to really scratch to get this...

Just pretend you don't see that lipstick swatch, OK? Thank you.

 

Avon's False Lash Effect: Black
Toss: I gave this a good go. But it didn't make my lashes thicker or even close to a false eye lash look. And if you have ever wondered about mascara contamination, this end was a white cream when it was new...

I have way too many fab mascaras right now to even put up with this one.

 

L'Oreal's HIP Color Cream Crayon: Perfectionist (Black)
Toss: Yes, this is very pigmented. No, it wouldn't stay put. Sit. Stay! Nope. Didn't happen. I tried like hell to get this one to work. I even took a liner brush and tried to use it with a very thin line. But this eye crayon had wonderlust!
Don't let this swatch fool you; it has a seriously bad roving eye...

I'm so on a roll with tossing and trashing! 
This is a very old Benefit product. The label fell off it so I can't tell you the name of it. I got it off ebay too. Hence, the $8.80 price. This was a liquid that sealed down eyeliner or lipstick. I used it to hold down eyeliner. It was good too. Then I just got away from using it. As I'm destashing, I found it and poof! it had all evaporated. I thought I had seen it on Benefit's site but I just looked and didn't see it. Well, it's a Trash.

And at the end of the line is a used up Bath and Body Works candle...

 

Trash: This mini candle is Lavender Macaroon. Yes, this is an 'OMG' fragrance. And those stinkers at B&BW, they only made this scent in minis! Oh, well. I only bought about 10 to tide me over til the next 'OMG!'

If you forgot how this works, I TRASH it because it is used up. I TOSS it if it doesn't work for me or live up to my expectations. All the opinions are my own.

Toss or Trash: March 2012 Part 3

OK...let's wrap this segment up and put a cherry one top!

This third, and final, part finishes up with the body products...

Starting at the left: Bath and Body Work's Apple Blossom Citrus body lotion; CeraVe PM Facial Lotion; Proclaim Natural 7 Oil; Southern Magnolia Minerals Hair and Skin Tonic; The Healing Garden Organics Pomegranate and Vanilla body spray.

These are all keepers!

Let me start with the Bath and Body Works lotion. I get the small sample bottles when they release them prior to the full size. I liked this one so I got the 'main three' that I get from B&BW; shower gel, body lotion and body spray. I liked this fragrance because it smells very fresh and clean.

The Proclaim 7 Oil I got at Sally's. Now I have used this for a long time because the Sally's I visit does not carry the Ginseng Miracle Oil that is sort of the same. The difference, to me, is the smell. Ginseng is more delightful. Anyhoo, the main oil in Proclaim is olive oil. I have been using this at night, along with cotton gloves, to help soften my cuticles. I found the Ginseng Oil just recently, so I'm using that now.

Ooohhh, let me tell you my love for the Healing Gardens body mist! I LOVE the smell of this. In a nutshell, I have only found this one time at Walgreens, some time back. It was a display sitting behind another, different one on the new product shelf. You know my snoopy self, I found it and wanted it. It didn't ring up at the register. They called the store manager back and she said that it wasn't suppose to be out and couldn't sell it to me. As you can see from the photo, I won.

The CeraVe is a free sample I got at the Southern Women's Home Show last year. I'll save this for a Sample Sunday review.

Now, the best for last. If you read my blog often, you may have come across my posts for the best mineral foundation in the world: Southern Magnolia Minerals. This is an indy company that I have been purchasing my minerals from for well over 5 years, if not more. I got this Hair and Skin Tonic as a sample in my last order.

Is this something that I can use on my skin AND my hair? Yep! And I do. I just placed my order for the full size this weekend. Southern Magnolia Minerals had a weekend special where everything was 50%!!! I'll do a full review on this tonic at a later date. I'll leave with saying it smells great and works!!!

Do you see anything of interest? Have you tried any of these and would like to comment?

Toss or Trash: March 2012 Part 2

As I had mentioned in the previous post, Toss or Trash for March, I am finding it very gratifying to finish up products or letting them go because they are not giving me the benefit I thought they would. I'm also cleaning out my car garage. It's high time that at least one car fit into a two-car garage. Now that's gratifying!

Part 2 I will run through my toss or trash makeup products for March. Here are the items...

Starting at the top: Sally Hansen's Prep & Perfect Lipcare: Avon's Brilliant Moisture Lipcolor in Biqou; Sally Hansen's eyeliner and mascara duo; Wet 'n Wild's Idol Eyes in Distress; Jane's Colorsticks Eye Color & Liner in a shade I will call Lavender.

Item I have replaced: Sally Hansen's Prep & Perfect Lipcare, it's a primer and works. Towards the end, however, it started to get clumpy but would smooth out with my finger.

The item I want to replace: Sally Hansen's eyeliner and mascara duo. The exact name of the product has worn off. I would replace this for the eyeliner color. The shade is a bronzed brown. The mascara wasn't that good. Even though the mascara looks like the same color as the liner, it is black when I swatched it. And it dried up way before the pencil was done. I'm going to hang onto the pencil to see if I can run across a duplicate.

Everything else is getting tossed. The Idol Eyes was such a disappointment. I got all the colors and I think this is the issue with them all; they crease like mad. I tried everything I could think of to save it. The blue is vibrant and sultry. Same with the Jane eyestick. I couldn't salvage that from creasing either.

The Avon lipstick is old and smells weird now. I easily have a dupe for it.

More stuff...

Top to bottom: Cargo's Lash Activator in black; Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips: Custom Eyeliner, Eye Shadow and Highlighter for Brown Eyes; Revlon's Colorstay Liquid Eye Pen in blackened brown; Anastasia's Lash Lifting Mascara in black; High Impact's Shadow Fix.

Only keeper is Cargo's mascara. I got this as a sample in my Birchbox. I have never used a Cargo product before, but I liked how this mascara lengthened my lashes. It has a flexible brush and that made a difference too.

The Shimmer Strips was too weak and cumbersome to use. The Revlon eye pen was cool, until it dried up, in the tube, on me. I feel it should have lasted longer. Anastasia's mascara, I believe came in a Birchbox, but for a company that claims to be all that, this was sucky.

Last is the Shadow Fix. I couldn't get this to behave. It's supposed to be a shadow primer but it didn't work for me.

I have one more blog on this subject and it will be on body products.

Any of these items work for you?

Toss or Trash: March 2012 Part 1

When I type my post, the font seems larger than when I actually publish it. So, I'm going to test out using the next size up. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

It is actually fun seeing how many beauty products I use up and how many I'm OK with letting go. In fact, it is getting me to look for opportunities to toss or trash.

So that I don't write a huge book (just a small one!), I'm going to break this segment down into parts like I did for February. At this rate, I may have to toss out tossed stuff to keep it down to an interesting level. I don't know if I'd follow a blog that just talked about the crap someone was throwing away. :)

I'm going to start off with the hair products...

 
At the end of 2010, CVS had a huge clearance on Pantene. I mean HUGE! I stocked up on it like I was at Costco. I'm very fickle about shampoos and conditioners. Loyal only for as long as it takes to finish the product. And, I use several different ones at the same time...

 Back row: Pantene Repair and Protect Shampoo; Pantene Fragile to Strong Conditioner; Pantene Beautiful Lengths Conditioner. Front row: L'Oreal's EverStrong Overnight Repair Treatment; Creme of Nature's Argan Oil: Gloss and Shine Polisher; Amika Oil Treatment; Beyond The Zone's The Scruncher.


All of these are trash except for The Scruncher. I'm done with crispy, scrunched hair. No sense in hanging on to this. 


The Pantene collection is just about 1/3 of what I purchased during the clearance. Pantene was redoing their packaging and they were clearing out the old. Pantene is a decent haircare line. I like it. However, I don't see or feel a difference between the different formulas. 


The two oils were very different. Creme of Nature is truly a polisher and not a product that added moisture. But Amika, which I got from my Birchbox, was rather nice. It had a great fragrance and my hair did feel softer while using it. However, it's not my Macadamia Oil! That is my oil treatment standard.


The winner of the lot is the L'Oreal Overnight Repair Treatment. I actually got a small sample of this somewhere and loved it so much I did buy it. I'm on my second one now.


First, I love the fragrance of this...OMG! It's a creme rather than a serum or lotion. It makes my hair feel soft and, of course, smell awesome. It isn't oily but do remember, I color my hair and it is dry. One caveat, when I purchased a replacement, I found it at Walgreens as clearance. I'm hoping they are just changing the packaging, like Pantene did. I'll be sad if I'm on the last treatment. I have noticed that I don't see it at the Walmart or Target stores I shop in. 


Are you using any of these products? Are you faithful to a haircare system or fickle, like me?

Toss or Trash: February 2012 Part 3

I've talked enough trash in the last 2 posts, it's time to wrap this up! I will admit that doing this series does help me focus on using up products or deciding that a product isn't going to work the way I want it to. That's my reasoning on having so much to post about.

Last round-up of trash:

Starting from the left: Secret antiperspirant/deodorant; Ulta's Passionberry Vanilla body wash; Moroccanoil; Gud Vanilla Flame body wash; Rimmel's Volume Flash Mousse mascara.

Secret is one of my favorite deodorants. But here is were I am super fickle. When I need to buy deodorant, I'll get what is on sale from an array of popular brands. I have two different ones that I use, at any time, so my body doesn't become accustomed to just one. Secret seems to go on sale a lot because it does end up on the vanity often.

Ulta's Passionberry Vanilla was OK as a wash. But the fragrance was too weak to consider more purchases of this brand.

Moroccanoil is awesome. If you haven't tried an argan or moroccan oil, you should try this one. It's the best of the best. I got this as a sample from the Orlando Premiere show last year. I love using this. I do have an oil I love better. However, this is a very close second. That little bottle lasted me a long time. The sense is scrumptious and my dry hair drinks this in. I have the regular type in a larger bottle. But I wanted to see how this 'light' one worked out. With my hair type, I can use the regular consistency. The vanity approves of this product highly.

gud is not good, in my opinion. I did a post on my disappointment and you can read it here. I used this up fast. I will not be replacing it.

Last and finally, I tried Rimmel's Volume Flash Mousse mascara. I did like this but again, it was another product that dried up fast. I think because this was of a fluffy consistency that it had more air in it. Thus, it dried out before I could use it all up. I did like the way it smoothed on. I won't replace this mascara because I just have too many already. There wasn't anything that special about this one.

Tell me which products you have tried that I've listed. What's your take on them?

Toss or Trash: February 2012 Part 2

These next two parts are going to talk trash. Yep, MY trash too. But this is trash you can even share with your Grandma...

Ta Da...My first photoshopped photo! The top one was the only one in focus so I had to attempt to correct. Can't complain because I did this without any instructions.

Let me list the products, from left to right, starting in the back: Lendan Infinitime; Zoya Remove+; Garnier Moisture Rescue; Silk Elements Shea Butter with Olive Oil; WT??? That stinky-ass body butter!; Avon Moisture Therapy lip balm; Olan Laboratories Nail Optimizer; Avon High Definition mascara.

Starting with the age delay perfection skin serum; Infinitime. That's a hard name to say! I won this in a giveaway from Australia. It's expensive and the packaging is pretty. If I could get it again, I don't think I would. I liked it but it wasn't anything special. My skin was moisturized and soft. But that's about it and I have plenty of other moisturizers that match up.

Next is Zoya's Remove+. If you are reading nail blogs and haven't read about this, I'm going to take your temperature because you must be feverish! This polish remover is famous and loved by many. I'm in that group. I bought a huge bottle and use this pump at the vanity. Well, this one is thrown away; I have a second one. My dried, crackled, whacked cuticles love this product. Totally recommend!

Next is Garnier Moisture Rescue. I love this cleanser. It is my favorite skin care item on the vanity at the moment. When I wash my face, it will dried out in a matter of minutes. I get a few more minutes with Moisture Rescue. This stuff is creamy, gentle, removes my makeup and doesn't turn my face into a desert. Love it...lots!

Now we are on to Silk Elements Shea Butter with Olive Oil. That's a lot of moisturizing properties in there. My hands cheer every night when I use this. I slather on a healthy amount and into the cotton gloves they go. And this hand cream smells GOOD!! I got this at Sally's before Christmas. I got two because I was going to save one back for part of a giveaway package. This one is done and I took the prize.

Front row and I'm not EVEN going to talk about that icky-stinky butter. Go here if you have to know about it. Blech! (I did fail to mention I purchased it at Sally's.)

The next two are favorites. The lip balm is Avon's Moisture Therapy and I keep one of these on my nightstand. I use this right before turning in. To make it short, I have dry lips but I never let them get dry. I like Moisture Therapy lip balm because it has no taste, no smell. During the day, I like a nice smelling gloss or balm, but not at bedtime.

And next to the balm is Olan Laboratories Nail Optimizer. I was turned onto this nail treatment by a nail tech I went to when I lived in Virginia Beach, VA. My nails are on the weak side so she recommended this as a base coat to help strengthen my nails and to hold the polish on. It works. When I moved her to Orlando, I found that Ulta sold this. But, sadly, they had it in the clearance bin. I went to 3 different Ulta's to buy up what was left. I'm set for a while. Luckily. That will give me time to see where else I can find it or a replacement product.

And next, down in front, is Avon's High Definition Mascara in black. It was OK. But I have a lot, tons of mascara. High Definition doesn't stand out so I won't seek out to replace it. In fact, it may be discontinued. No worries.

Our trash days are Tuesday and Friday. All these got sent to the curb last night. Those items that I liked, I have already replaced. Others are replaced by something I already have.

But wait...there's more! I was so trashy in February. I will continue on with Part 3 next.

Let me know if you have tried any of these and what your opinion is.

Toss or Trash: February 2012 Part 1

February was a good month for tossing and trashing. In fact, so much so, I'm doing this post in 2 parts. First, let's talk about the toss. The toss items are products that are a 'no go'. For some reason, that I'll explain, this product isn't making the cut.

These are the products that are getting tossed...

 From the top, going clockwise: L'Occitane Honey & Lemon Delightful Cream; Wet 'n Wild Gel Eyeliner in purple; L'Oreal HIP Color Rich Cream Crayon in Authentic; Styli-Style Lip Liner, color name unknown; Veria Vanilla Organic Lip Balm; Ulta Eye Shadow Base.

None of these products got used up. There is no sense in these taken up room on the vanity when I can toss them out and get something else that I do like.

First up: L'Occitane Honey & Lemon Delightful Cream. Delightful, really? This has a weird, chemically, cesspool smell to it. Sometimes I can apply a lotion that will smell sort of funky in the container but be a uhm...delight on the skin. No go here.

Next: Wet 'n Wild Gel Eyeliner. This is a purple color and, maybe because I don't use purple as much as black, it just went dry. And it went dry fast. I may have used it ten times. Not only is it dry, but also, it is hard. I couldn't even dent it with my nail.

Next: L'Oreal HIP Color Rich Cream Crayon in Authentic. Authentic is a deep, forest green. I really like this color. However, where the gel liner was a chunk of cement, this crayon was grease. It didn't want to stay on my eyelids one bit. I tried it with and without a primer, with a brush application and with my finger to smooth it out. Hot, green mess. I actually tried to give it another job as an eyeliner, using an eyeliner brush. It still creased. I fired it.

Next: Styli-Style Lip Liner, color name unknown. I LOVE this liner and the shade is my very, very favorite. It is just a couple of shades darker than my lips. So, you may ask why would I throw away my favorite lip liner. Actually, I'd use this until it was a nubben, but the liner, itself, came loose in the pencil. Now it doesn't want to slide smoothly around my lips. Let me back up. I like my liner pencils to be sharp. After this liner got down to where I needed to sharpen, it just stuck in the sharpener when I tried to use it. I'm not going to fight with a lip liner. I have 100 others I can pick from. I think I will hold onto this one only to go match it up with a new one, since the name has worn off mine.

Next: Veria Vanilla Organic Lip Balm. This was sent to me as a sample last year. I think because it is organic there is no preservatives in it. Maybe. But this balm has a weird smell and it was gritty. The smell wasn't a chemical-type smell, it was just an odd vanilla fragrance. And I might have been able to get past that. However, eewww...it was like chewing gum right after eating potato chips...crunchy where it shouldn't have been. Blech!

And last: Ulta Eye Shadow Base. Wow, I so had hopes for this one. And I feel I gave this base a fair shake. In fact, I used it today. My shadow, a mineral one today, creased before I could leave the house. I liked how smooth it applied and the shade too. But it just wouldn't stay put.

This one gets its own toss award...

Beyond Belief Cocoa & Shea Body Butter. I agree with the Beyond Belief. This smelled like ass. It wasn't buttery either. It was rather like a lotion consistency. And I'm OK with that misnomer. But the smell...gag. I was using this at night and putting on cotton gloves to moisturize my cuticles. But even after I washed my hands, my face and then showered, my hands still smelled like something shitty and moldy. TEE-AUSE!

Of course, these opinions are solely mine and my experience with them. Maybe you have some of these products and they are the bomb for you. Leave me a comment and let me know. Or, maybe you even agree with me. Feel free to leave a comment, either way.

Toss or Trash: January 2012

Today's post is one that I have been planning for several weeks. This is the inaugural post for 'Toss or Trash'. This series will be a collection of beauty-related products that I have used up or, one that I am over with. Read on and you'll see what I'm talking about.

The following are items from January that I finished up and am pitching away. Sometimes there will be items that have tried my patience and there are way too many other products waiting for me to use to waste my time on these dogs.

This is what I used up in January: Equate's Fresh Scent Shower & Bath Powder; Ion's Color Solutions Firm Hold Shaping Spray; One 'n Only Argan Oil Moisture Repair Conditioner; CVS Premium Cotton Ovals; Ulta's Passionberry Vanilla Moisturizing Body Lotion; Avon's Anew Advanced All-in-One Max Self-Adjusting Perfecting Cream; Avon's Liquid Eyeliner in Brown.

 Let's start in the back...

Walmart's brand is called Equate. These brands are near dupes of brand name items. Notice I said 'near'. Some items, I don't mess around with and will get the name brand; like Cascade, Fancy Feasts, Scope, etc. But some things, I think Equate comes close enough. Talcum powder is one of them. This is my life-line in the summer time. Florida is hot in the summer and if you forget it, don't worry, I'm going to remind you...a lot. This should be enough for you to praise Fresh Scent as it helps keep my skin cool. And I love the scent...it's fresh! I have already replaced this one.

Next to the powder is Sally Beauty Supply's house brand of hair care; Ion Firm Hold Shaping Spray. I have gone from 'frozen in time' spray to this lighter and more malleable spray. And, it was the first time in uhm....IONS....that I bought an aerosol. I have replaced this can with the same. However, I am probably going to purchase another type or, go back to the spray pump firm hold by Ion. I don't want to fuss with my hair after I leave the door in the morning. Again, thanks to Florida's humidity, I get frizzies and flyaways. Sometimes the aerosol works, sometimes it doesn't.

 

Next is a travel size body lotion from Ulta's line. I could have used this for Sample Saturday, however, I went ahead and just added to the trash. This line is very similar to Bath & Body Works fragrant lotion, sprays and body washes. That's about all that is similar, to me. I like to stink to high heaven; a term my family uses when someone uses too much perfume. OK, I don't stink but I do like my lotions and potions to have a fragrance that I can at least smell. I have a pretty good sniffer and this product didn't cut it. No restock on this one.

I tried One 'n Only's Moroccan Argan Trees Moisture Repair Conditioner and this was because I have the Argan Oil and the curling lotion and love it. Back story: I got One 'n Only's hair spray and it didn't have any hold at all for me. I took it back to Sally's were I purchased it. I traded it for this conditioner. Strike two on the disappointment list. I was expecting lots and lots of moisture for my parched hair. If I wanted to have that soft feel after rinsing it out, I had to use a lot more than I normally do for my long hair. Not worth it. It smells great, just like the other One 'n Only products. It just didn't deliver for me.

Ah, a favorite! I love CVS' Cotton Ovals that I buy 2 or 3 packages at a time, depending on what the sale is. These ovals are perfect, and I'm totally serious when I use that word here, for removing nail polish. Depending on what type of polish I have one, of course, I can usually use just 3 of these to remove everything. These pads don't shred or fall apart. I already have purchased 2 more for my stock.

Ask me what skincare line I endorse and I'll tell you Avon's Anew. I have used Anew since it came out in the '90's, I believe. The All-In-One was part of my regimen for a long time. It was a product I'd use at night and for day. Even though I have Anew's specific products for day and for night, I'd work this one in occasionally. So, I have had this one for quite some time. With blogging, I stray, on occasion, and use other stuff. In that time, it looks like Avon has discontinued this particular item. It's nothing I'll cry about, as I love the other specifics very much. And, even though I won't be replacing All-In-One, I really liked it. It gave me plenty of moisture without feeling weighed down and greasy.

Last is Avon's Liquid Eyeliner in brown. I've had this a while; all the print has been rubbed off the barrel! Not only can I not tell you the specific name, I can't tell you if this dried up or is used up. When I first got it, it gave me a bold, pigmented line. However, just like a felt tip gets used up, so did this one. I love liquid liners that are in a felt tip delivery system. I love that clean, crisp line it makes. And it is very easy for me to do a cat eye with this style. Easily said, I have other felt liners like this and surely, always will.  I just don't know if I will get Avon's. I'm really fickle when it comes to eyeliners. Suffice to say, I like this one.

How about that? I just did a review on my trash! Maybe you liked it and you'll let me know in the comments. If it's sort of gross, look for my headline of 'Toss or Trash' and you'll know to skip over. Last month I didn't have any Toss items. I do have some for February. And, I do want to mention, it is weird for me to hold onto my trash and collect it til the end of the month for a photo. That's something I didn't expect when I conceived this idea. Maybe I won't save it all for a group shot. But, I hope you enjoyed the information.