Laneige Skincare

Hey There!

It all began with a search in an Asian food mart and ended with a love for the Laneige brand skincare line. It wasn't supposed to happen and I certainly wasn't looking for it but BAM! There it was. 

I walked in looking for a toner. Yep, a toner. I remember when my mom use to go to the mall to pick up her cleanser, toner, moisturizer trio from Fashion Fair. I'd look at all the pretty makeup colors and wait for her to finish her transaction. Besides all the pretty colors, the one thing I remember is that toner matters. I think the name is a misnomer because I don't know that it tones anything. In my research I learned that it's supposed to shrink your pores and rejuvenate your skin. I'm not sure that it does that for me but I know that it does remove those last remnants of makeup and preps my skin for moisturizer. Well, a good one does.

So, my initial search was for a toner. I walked out with a skin refresher and a sample pack of Laneige Water Bank products. The skin refresher was the Brightening Sparkling Water Pop Essence ($33). This is a weird product that has been very interesting to try. It's a fizzy product (carbon air bubbles and sparkling water) that you use after your cleanser. I'm honestly not sure what it does. It feels good going on your skin because it is cool going on your face. But, I don't know that it really does anything. I'll finish this container but I won't purchase it again.

With this purchase, I ended up getting a free travel sized packet of all things water bank essence. Two of the items were pretty thick and didn't make the cut but three of the items did. The two that didn't were the Water Bank Moisture Cream ($32 Target) and the Water Bank Eye Gel ($32.49 Target). The Water Bank Moisture Cream was waaaaay to heavy for my skin and I don't let anything touch my eyes except aquaphor and Clinique Eye Gel so the Water Bank Eye Gel didn't stand a chance anyway.

One of the things that I fell in love with was the Power Essential Skin Refiner ($25 Target). It is an amazing toner and I want to marry it. It is the next item on my "Must Buy" list. Another thing that I fell in love with was the Water Bank Serum ($32). I use it as a daily moisturizer. Not sure if that's what it's real purpose is but I like it this way. I don't like the way heavy moisturizers feel. This is perfect for me. And yes, I bought the full size!

My impulse buy was the Water Sleeping Pack ($23). I've heard fantastic things about this. You are supposed to wear it at night and then wipe off in the morning for moisturized, fresh skin. It's true. This was the case. The only problem is that after doing this for three days straight I realized my makeup began to slide off my face during warm days. I got all misty and had to blot my makeup. I never really have to do that. I've begun to only use it every third night and that seems to work better.

So Laneige has become my beauty line. I really like my new additions. I didn't mean for it to happen but they seem to be good quality products. They are on the higher end but I don't hesitate to spend a bit more on my skin care line. I'll keep trying new things and I'll tell you all about them! 

Empties!

Hey there!

It's time to go through my trash! Well, not my kitchen trash can. This is my HBA trash can. No smelly leftover food.

I finished a travel toothpaste and a deodorant. To all the people that see me, pass me, speak to me in a day...you are welcome. I also finished a trial size Laneige Water Bank Essence EX. I love it! Today, yes today, I am running to the store to pick up a full size. I won't go into too much detail because I plan on spending an entire post detailing my love for the Laneige products that I've been using.

You will always see face wipes in my HBA trash can. I tried to go without them, thinking that face oils and cleansers would become my BFF. I just like wipes as my first line of defense! So, you will keep seeing them in my empties. I finishes a Dickinson's face wipe that I got free in my Influenster Sunshine Vox Box. They were nice. They smell a bit medicinal (witch hazel does that!) but I can get over that. Even so, I'm not sure that I'll buy them. Just because I already have a fave.

I also finished a pack of Simple Oil Balancing Cleansing Wipes. It's fine but that's it. It's not amazing or exciting or even super good. I find that I'm not moved by any of the products that Simple makes. They are fine but that's it. The price point is ok but other products in the same price point work better.

As always, I moisturized my hands this month. I mentioned a while back that I have a ton of lotions (link to that post here!). Well, I am whittling them down. I finished a Pink Chiffon Moisturizing Hand Cream from Bath & Body Works. It smells really good! It's another candy scent and you know I love my candy scents! The OPI Avojuice lotion in Ginger Lily is from Ulta. It smells really nice but it's pretty watery. I liked the fact that it fit in my little purse. I don't like the fact that it did not moisturize at all.

I used a Lush Rose Jam bubbleroon ($6.25). It was very sweet, it smelled good and it "bubbled up" the water really well. Worth buying it again. I also threw my Sugar Berry Shortcake foaming hand soap from Bath & Body Works into the mix. It smelled good, very sweet, very spring/summery. And I finished a lavender scented bag of Epsom Salt from Dollar Tree.  I will always have this in my bathroom. It is good for a nice soak after a hard day or a hard work out. I normally add a drop or two of lavender oil into the water to punch it up.

And last are my bath products. I have whittled down the overstock of bath products that I owned. I finally feel like I can buy a bath wash and not feel guilty. I finished a Caress Fine Fragrance Elixir Bath Wash in Scarlet Blossom. It was nice but really fragrant. I know many people like that but it was a bit too much for me. It lathered nicely but the color scared me (and my white towels). I also finished an April Bath & Shower gel in Blackberry & Lilac scent from Dollar Tree. I really liked the scent. It was fresh and light. It didn't lather worth crap though. I hate that cause I wanted it to but, oh well!

Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin from Bath & Body Works was a super sweet, cinnamon pumpkin scent (as the name suggests). It's nice and warm and perfect for the fall. But, I was using this in summer. I was kinda over it. I would buy it again but maybe in a mini.

I can't remember when I got this Lemon Pomegranate Shower Gel from Bath & Body Works but I want more! This smelled soooo good. It lathered well and I just wanted to eat it! I'm on the hunt people. I'd pay full price for this one. Yaaaaas! The Ulta brand Beauty Smoothy in Lollipop Twist, noooooo. It didn't have a great smell and it didn't lather well at all. It was a 3 for $10 "deal" that I will never take advantage of again. Bath gel fail. Oahu Coconut Sunset mini shower gel was yummy. It smelled lightly tropical and was nice for spring and summer. My Avon Naturals Vibrant Orchid & Blueberry hydrating shower gel smelled good for spring and summer as well. It lathers well too.

And now the green empties bucket is empty! What did you empty this month? Will you purchase it again?