Cosmetics sample inferno


I think the above is a familiar image to anyone who's a big fan of buying Korean cosmetics online (or shopping at Sephora's webstore). Korean companies seem to be very generous when it comes to doling out samples, and I think I've received some with every purchase I've made. I always hold on to the ones I find interesting and squirrel them away to try them out later... but then I never do. I have a little drawer that, until recently, was filled to the brim with all kind of little sachets.

Alternative uses to unwanted skin care samples: Floor collages? A match up game?
I decided to finally do something about it, starting with actually looking at what I have stored up. I'm pretty sure I could have done several variations of a full 10-step Korean skin care routine with everything I had piled up. 


Unfortunately for me, a lot of the sample packages didn't have the ingredients printed on them. I had to suck it up, sit down and check each product on CosDNA. I eliminated everything that contains alcohol, which turned out to be quite a lot. It's kind of weird to see how many products contain it. I also decided to chuck everything that I thought might not work for dry skin, regardless of their ingredients.


I'm not sure if my curation efforts were entirely successful. But it's a start! Now I'll just have to talk myself into actually using them. Don't be surprised if you start seeing some of these guys making appearances on this blog.

Do you end up stock-piling your cosmetics samples, or do you just use them or throw them out? 

Empties from August and September


My last empties post also covered two months. I kind of like the idea of making this a bimonthly thing! Anyway, here's my most recent report of all the stuff I've managed to use up.


Lumene's Waterproof Eye-Makeup Remover makes yet another appearance. They changed the packaging earlier this year. Here you can see the old and the new bottle side by side. I like the new version a lot. I think it looks a lot sleeker and more current than the old, slightly tapered one. The old packaging on the right appears a bit bigger, but they actually hold the same amount of product.


These three make up my usual cleansing routine! I've talked about The Saem's Healing Tea Garden Green Tea Cleansing Water in my previous empties post. It's one of my favorite skin care discoveries this year. I usually get Nivea's Moisturizing Cleansing Milk for removing whatever makeup and grime remain after using micellar water, but last time I picked up the Gentle Cleansing Milk in stead. I don't notice much of a difference between them. This one is maybe slightly creamier, if that's possible? My last cleansing step is Nivea's Soothing Toner, as always. 


When I die, I want my body to be preserved in a 90 percent snail mucin filtrate. In the mean time I slather my face with Mizon''s Snail Recovery Gel Cream. It's another one of my staples! I wrote more about it here.

I regret purchasing Missha's Super Aqua Ice Tear Essence. I got it last winter when my skin was really drying up from the cold air. It seemed like a nice light moisturizing essence based on its description. Unfortunately, it contains alcohol, and I didn't notice it when I was reading the INCI. In the end, I used it up as a foot cream, haha. At least the experience taught me to always Ctrl+F for ingredients I want to avoid.


Benton's Snail Bee High Content Masks are my favorite sheet masks. I feel like I can actually see the difference before and after using one. My skin looks so plump and refreshed afterwards! I like to get the 10 mask pack.

Pore strips are kind of a controversial beauty product. Some people swear by them, others worry they might cause skin damage and permanently widen pores. I tend to use Nivea's Refining Clear-up Strips once a month or so, because I find it helps to keep me from otherwise attacking the sebaceous filaments on my nose. It's not something I'd recommend, though.

I got a few strips of A'Pieus NonCo Tea Tree Spot Patches some time ago, but they didn't really work for me. In fact, I think the tea tree oil in them just irritated my skin further. This was my packet of them, and I won't be purchasing them again. I'll just stick to CosRX's Pimple Master Patches, because I've had much better luck with them.


You can tell it was the end of the summer from these next items. I don't usually purchase Calypso's SPF 30 Sun Lotion or LV's SPF 30 Sun Screen for sensitive skin. My current preferred product is the Satin Protection Sun Lotion SPF 50+ by Hawaiian Tropic, but I didn't have access to it or it was out of stock when I got these two. They were fine, I guess. Both felt kind of sticky and a bit heavy, so they're not something I'd jump to buy again. Plus I prefer a higher SPF.

You know when you dislike a product so much you make it your mission to use it up completely to show it who's boss? I hated The Saem's Eco Earth Power Tone Up Sun Cream by the time I was done with the tube. I ended up just applying it on my hands and the tops of my feet, because it just was not right for my face. I made sure to squeeze up every drop of the sun cream, just out of spite. A'Pieu's Pure Block Natural Sun Cream is much nicer to my skin and so far my favorite sun care item. I have a full review of them both here.

I also went through another batch of Erioil's Aisti moiturizing emulsion and Batiste dry shampoo, but I forgot to take a photo of them. They're such staples that I almost take them for granted, haha. And on that note, it's time to wrap up this post. 

Cosmetics sample inferno

I think the above is a familiar image to anyone who's a big fan of buying Korean cosmetics online (or shopping at Sephora's webs...