Final Farewells: My Fall 2016 Empties

Friends, it's time yet again to go through my beauty trash. I love filming empties videos, but I also totally can see how strange the whole concept probably is to someone who isn't as immersed in the beauty world as my crazy self. Because really, who else hoards expired makeup and empty bottles?

In all seriousness, the reason I think empties posts are so awesome is that when you've used a product to the very last drop, you really know how you feel about it. It's like a relationship. In the beginning its all excitement and newness, and you're probably willing to overlook the little flaws and annoyances. But time goes on, and when the honeymoon phase is over you've either found yourself a beautiful partnership, or end up realizing that that product...er...person...isn't as awesome as you originally thought.

It's been a couple of months since my last empties round up, so I've got A TON of products to share with you guys. Did I find true love? Or was I already checked out of our relationship? If you want to know, grab yourself a snack, cozy up, and get ready for some real talk (beauty style).

March 2016 Empties

Holy empties Batman! I don't think I realized I had accumulated so much beauty trash until I did a thorough clean out of my room today and added a few more things to the bin. Needless to say, it became very apparent that today's video was going to be an empties one. Speaking of which, I think I'm going to try and get into a regular routine of filming and uploading a video every Sunday. I'd love to make it more frequent, but I think that'll be an ambitious enough goal for right now. If you've got any specific requests for videos you'd like to see, definitely post a comment or tweet me and let me know what they are!

But anyway, let's not get derailed here people. We've got a lot of beauty products to chat about!

September 2015 Empties

September was apparently a majorly productive month for me, because I've got a TON of empties to share. I've got a little bit of everything - from makeup, to skincare, to hair, even to tea and candles. There were definitely some hits, and also some misses, and I've got no shortage of opinions on either. Since I had SO many things to talk about, I thought it might be fun to film another video for you guys instead of writing up an epic-ly long post. So get cozy, grab yourself a snack, and get ready for some serious beauty ramblings!

Walmart Beauty Box Summer 2015

I'm writing this to you with a half numb face and a blurry eye. I had to get a filling put in one of my lower molars, and the novocaine apparently went a little overboard. I'd never had the inside of my ear go numb before, but let me tell you...it's a strange feeling. And then of course, I get home and try to make myself feel better by going through my evening skincare routine and end up with something in my eye that I STILL can't manage to get out. So yeah, that's about where I'm at right now.

Anyway, I'm going to distract myself with something happy and chat beauty with all of you. A new season is well underway, and another Walmart Beauty Box is here for me to review. Drugstore beauty has really grown on me in the last year and a half or so, and discovery boxes like this one definitely are a great resource. Let's take a peek inside, shall we?

Walmart Beauty Box Spring 2015

A new season is here and so is my latest Walmart Beauty Box! This ridiculously affordable subscription is an excellent way to sample some of the newest launches from the drugstore, and is often well worth the $5 investment. Here's a closer look at the goodies I get to try out this time around.

March 2015 Favorites

I can't believe March is already coming to a close! 2015 is seriously flying by, although I think my desire for warm weather has probably been responsible for some of it. I tried to keep my round up a little more manageable than last month's, although there are a ton of products that I've been testing and enjoying lately that I hope to be able to talk about soon. In the meantime, let's get down to business and take a closer look at some of the stand out products I've been using in the past month!

March 2015 Empties

I don't know what it is about looking at other people's trash, but empties videos and posts are some of my absolute favorites in the blogging world. I find it incredibly interesting to see what products people are loving enough to use to the very last drop and hear their sort of final thoughts. I'd never been very good at hoarding my own empties, but since the beginning of the year I've been determined to make some headway through my stash and document my progress along the way. It's been a few months since my last post, and with a lot of mostly empty products in use, I thought it'd be a good time to clear out the bag and start fresh.

You may notice the significant lack of makeup in the picture above. I don't know about you, but I find it incredibly difficult to actually finish most makeup products before they go bad. I recently did a small purge of my eyeliners and cream shadows which I unfortunately didn't photograph. However, I do have a few mascaras that are starting to turn funky that will probably appear in my next empties post along with hopefully some more makeup goodies.

Anyway, let's say a final farewell to some of the stuff I've been using lately!

Fall 2014 Drugstore Beauty Haul

Retail therapy. It's most certainly my favorite form.

It seems I've done quite a bit of it in the past month. Arguably I needed it (or at least that's what I'm telling myself). After several doctor's appointments and a round of allergy testing (57 needle pokes…was not pleasant) I treated myself to a few new goodies. On a related side note, I was able to score all of this stuff for ridiculous prices, thanks to some shopping know-how. I've had plans to write a post about all of my money saving secrets for what seems like a good six months now. This is my public promise to all of you that it will happen.

ANYWAY. Fall. Beauty products. Back to that! I've hit up a little bit of everything in my rounds at Target and CVS, from haircare, to skincare, and makeup. Let me show you a closer look.

Fall 2014 Walmart Beauty Box

There's a new beauty box in town, being delivered by none other than your neighborhood Walmart. As much as I love my usual subscription boxes (and the prestige products they often introduce me to), it's definitely a nice change to see what's new and interesting in the drugstore. You also can't beat the price tag (which is $5 for shipping, the box itself is free). Once you sign up, the Walmart Beauty Box will appear on your doorstep at the beginning of each season, giving you an opportunity to refresh your beauty stash every couple of months. My fall beauty box just arrived this weekend, and I was definitely pleasantly surprised with all the goodies I got.

2014 Birchbox for CEW Limited Edition Boxes

There are lots of things that I've learned about the beauty world since becoming a Birchbox subscriber. From handy tips and tricks, to discovering Holy Grail products, to meeting new and awesome bloggers, I owe them a lot of credit for expanding my beauty brain. And when it comes to the Cosmetic Executive Women Insider's Beauty Choice awards they were the ones who lifted the rock I'd been living under.

Every year the CEW Insider's Beauty Choice Awards award the best products in an array of categories, with separate competitions for prestige and drugstore beauty. Each year Birchbox teams up with the CEW to create two amazing Limited Edition Birchboxes filled with the products that were finalists and winners in their respective categories, giving us a little taste of the best of the best in beauty that year. One box is full of affordable drugstore finds, while the other samples luxury and high end beauty. I reviewed these boxes last year, and they were pretty amazing, which of course meant I couldn't pass up this year's boxes. Here's a closer look at what you get.

Spring 2014 CVS Haul

So...I've been a bit naughty.

I mostly blame CVS for having such ridiculous sales and an amazing customer loyalty program. You could say it would have been more naughty for me to pass up the opportunity to get some of these products at the prices I did.

Whichever way you want to look at it, I've amassed a little collection of new beauty products since my last drugstore haul post. Here's a rundown of these new goodies I'm putting to the test.