February Empties

February Empties! During the month of February, these were all the products that I was able to finish using. Some were hits that I will continue to buy and some were misses that I won’t be buying again. Read on to find out which products were which!

The Ordinary - “Buffet”

The Ordinary is one of my favorite skincare brands! One thing I really like about them is that they make simple affordable serums. The “Buffet” serum was one that I decided to try because it’s supposed to help with “visible signs of aging, reduces the look of wrinkles, and improves the look of skin firmness”. However, I didn’t notice a major difference in using this product. It felt nice on my skin, but I was never super eager to use it because I didn’t see any results from using it. It took me 9 months to fully use up this product! While it was a decent enough product, it’s not something I would purchase again.

Pacifica - Vegan Collagen Every Day Lotion

I’ve used this product in the past, and I really like this product. Like a lot. I use it daily in my morning skincare routine. It’s marketed as a lightweight daily moisturizer, but I actually use it with a traditional moisturizer. It can look a little greasy on my face (most things do), so I put a mattifying moisturizer on top of it. It works well under my makeup too. It doesn’t affect the look of my makeup either which is great because I’m a daily makeup user. 

Another great benefit of this product is that it has SPF 30 in it. I live in WA State, and while we don’t get the most sun on a regular basis, I want to make sure that I’m still getting my UVA/UVB protection even when it’s rainy and overcast. I will continue to keep this product as a regular in my skincare lineup. 

IT Cosmetics - Confidence in a Gel Lotion Oil-Free Moisturizer

I wanted to see what all the hype was about IT Cosmetics skincare line, but since IT Cosmetics is on the higher price point, I decided to try a travel-size version of this product. I could have bought the full-size product and then returned it to Ulta if I didn’t like it, but something in my gut said to get the travel-size option and I’m so glad that I did. Wanna know how much the travel-size was? $15. $15 for a 0.5 oz bottle. That’s a lot of money for a small ass bottle if you ask me.

This product was a mediocre one too. Not terrible that I tossed it right away, but it was something that I forced myself to use up quickly so I could be done with it. It was that kind of product you know? It’s supposed to be good for oily skin, which is the slick mess for skin that I have. While I did find it worked in hydrating my oily skin, it just didn’t wow me. I didn’t see myself spending $43 on the full size version for a product that was mediocre to me. Especially since I only use a more gel-like moisturizer in the morning. This wasn’t a bad product, but I won’t be buying it again.

e.l.f - H2O Proof Eyeliner Pen 

This eyeliner pen is good. It’s the right consistency that I like in an eyeliner pen. I’m a fan of doing a little bit thicker eyeliner, so those small thin liquid eyeliner brushes are the worst! I can never get my eyeliner to look right with those. I like to use a thicker pen style for my eyeliner application and this bad boy is a winner! The only con with this product is that it did leak a bit from time to time which was annoying. I was able to wipe off the excess product, but it was a pain to have to do that. Overall, I really like this eyeliner pen and I would buy it again.

KVD Beauty - Translucent Setting Powder

Setting powder is always going to be a staple in my makeup routine. Like I mentioned already, I’m an oily skin girl so I need to use setting powder to help keep foundation on my face. I’m a fan of translucent powder as long as it’s not white. The pure white color isn’t as flattering on me as a light beige/ivory color is. Even though this KVD Beauty is a translucent one, it’s not white. It’s more like light beige/ivory coloring which is exactly what I like. This powder lasted for so long. I don’t know how long it took to actually use it since I didn’t put the start date on the product, but I know it lasted like a year or so. It took forever to pan! 

I like how it set my foundation and concealer and it did a good job of controlling my excess oil throughout the day. I would buy this product again, but I also want to try other setting powders. I might come back to this one if I can’t find another one to replace it, but in the meantime I’m going to try some other brands setting powders and see how they compare.

The Ordinary - Hyaluronic Acid 2% + B5

I bought this at the beginning of Winter. I had heard that Hyaluronic Acid is great for keeping your skin hydrated so I decided to try it. My skin can get a little dry in winter if it’s really cold and windy, but in reality I hardly ever get dry skin. My skin type is like 95% oily + 5% combination, and I rarely use products that promote hydration. I need hydration, but not extra hydration.

I liked the consistency of this product, but it didn’t do much for me. I think if I had drier skin I would have loved this product. My skin isn’t dry enough to warrant me buying a product that is all about hyaluronic acid. I do have other skin care products that have hyaluronic acid in it, but they have other ingredients in them as well. Unfortunately, I will not be buying this product again.

e.l.f - Matte Putty Primer

I’ve used this product before and it’s a solid foundation primer for my oily skin. It’s not the best foundation primer, but for $9 it’s pretty damn good. You can apply it with your hands or you can use the e.l.f. Putty Primer Applicator. I’ve used both before and I like both ways, however I like the brush a bit more because then my hands don’t get dirty.

I would purchase this foundation primer again, but I’m currently using a few other primers to see which one is my holy grail. The new e.l.f Power Grip Primer might replace this one as a favorite though. I’ll give you my thoughts on that one when I finish it up!

So there you have it! A review of my February Empties. While most were hits, I’m always looking to try new products as well. We’ll see what my March Empties bring me :) Have you tried any of these products? Do you agree with my conclusions? Connect with me on Instagram so we can talk about it!