February Empties & Reverse Rouge Check In

February is over, meaning I get to purge last month's trash! I used up a bunch of products this month, I'm pretty proud of myself. I still have a huge backlog, but every little bit helps! There's a good mix of makeup, skincare, and haircare this month. I've also got my totals towards the Reverse Rouge Challenge further on in this post!

Lots of trash!

Skincare Empties!

I'm still writing up mini reviews on my empties from January through the end of April...which has convinced me that four month periods are too long for racking up empties! However, it does let me see that I actually use up a lot of products! Here is all the skincare that I finished up in those four months, along with my thoughts!

Recent Repurchases

I love picking out and buying new stuff. Hauling is SO much fun! However, I also like having products that I can turn to and keep buying over and over because they're so dependable. I wanted to highlight my recent repurchases - they're all skincare! Skincare is something I use daily and go through much more quickly than makeup, but still have fun shopping for and using. 

Rose Rose Shop Skincare Haul!

Remember when I posted my last big Rose Rose Shop haul and said that was the only large skincare haul I'd need this year? Well, I lied. I recently have gotten super into my new multi-step skincare routine, and wanted to add to it. I hopped on to Asian Beauty subreddit and scoured their Holy Grail thread for the summer and picked out what I thought sounded like a good fit for me. I'm hoping to incorporate these new items with the products I've always used (Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing Gel, I love you so!) along with the newer products I mentioned last month.

I ordered the Too Cool For School Pumpkin Sleeping Pack samples, which includes a set of ten. I heard this product mentioned all the time, so I wanted to give it a shot in sample form. Rose Rose Shop also included some other foil samples - I got two of each of these pictured.

I'm almost out of the Vitamin C serum I'm using (Ole Henriksen Truth Serum) so I decided to pick up the OST C20 Vitamin C Serum. It's gotten plenty of good reviews, although there are concerns about it being unstable. I figured I'd give it a shot to see if i like it. 

The Skinfood Strawberry Black Sugar Wash Off Mask supposedly smells amazing and is a great exfoliating mask. I also picked up the Skinfood Peach Sake Pore Serum as it's been described as good for oily skin.

I wanted to try a new BB cream, so I selected the Mizon Snail Recovery BB Cream based off of favorable reviews. I'm currently using a Skin79 BB cream, and I hope I like this just as much!

The Benton Snail Bee High Content Essence is something I hope to use to reduce redness in my face. There are concerns about preservatives, but I'll be storing this one in the fridge once I open it. I also hope to use the Tosowoong Propolis Sparkle Ampoule to calm my skin when it needs it. 

The COSRX AHA 7 Whitehead Power Liquid was bought because I'm really loving the COSRX BHA that I have right now. Hopefully, it'll help me get a jump start on any fine lines, as well as keep my skin in check come hormonal acne time. 

I got the Innisfree Green Tea Mineral Mist because why not, maybe I just want to spray my face with stuff and feel fresh.

Now on to the super fun portion of the haul - sheet masks! Each of the pictures will show one, but I bought these in multiples. Etude House sheet masks were the first ones I ever tried, and I really like them. I picked up Tea Tree, Snail, Pomegranate, and Vita Complex. The only one I haven't tried is the Vita Complex, and I'm excited to see if my face likes it!

Innisfree It's Real Squeeze Mask Sheets in both Tea Tree and Pomegranate. I really like the Etude House masks in Tea Tree and Pomegranate, so I wanted to try these. I also picked up Nature Republic Real Nature Mask Sheets in Green Tea and Royal Jelly. I read about these on an AsianBeauty thread about favorite sheet masks, and wanted to give them a try.

I struggle with large pores, so the TonyMoly I'm Real Red Wine sheet mask sounded like a perfect fit! I also got a TonyMoly Intense Care Snail Hydrogel Mask since i have yet to dive into hydrogel masks, and who doesn't love snail? Last but not least, I picked up Tosowoong Pure Sheet Masks in Propolis and Green Tea, off another suggestion thread in AsianBeauty.

I am SO excited to open all these and use them! Unfortunately it'll be a slow process, testing each one and seeing how my skin reacts. But just receiving the box and opening it was fantastic! I chose the cheaper shipping option that Rose Rose Shop offered and it was overnighted via DHL to me - the long wait for Korean orders is so agonizing, I'm glad I got to skip it! Let me know what you think, which products you want to hear more about, and if you have any suggestions for next time!

Korean Skincare Haul from RoseRoseShop

I'm trying to cut down on my beauty spending for the year (hahaha I'm funny...) so I decided to kick off the year with the only large skincare haul I should need. I fell down the rabbit hole of Korean skincare last year, so I placed my order with RoseRoseShop. RRS has a huge selection of skincare to cosmetics to cute phone cases, and the prices are suuuuper cheap. Shipping is a bit steep, but they charge by weight - so don't order too many heavy items! (Unlike me.)

I've gotten to use a couple items from my order so far, but not many. I ordered a ton of toners, but I'm currently using the toner I got with my Beautylish  lucky bag last month. I'm almost done with my bottle of face wash, and I'm excited to crack open the new face wash I got with this order. Let's show off my haul, shall we?

Haul - Korean Skincare from RoseRoseShop

A few of my friends online (namely Anna and Pigmented Lips) turned me on to the world of Asian skincare. although there is some emphasis on skincare in the Western world of cosmetics, skincare is an entirely different, huge, overwhelming animal in countries such as Korea and Japan. I had been sent a few sheet masks to try (if they do not fit your face it is ok, I don't think they really fit ANYONE'S face) and decided to place my own order. I went pretty tame this time, I didn't order anything with snail or placenta or royal jelly. Perhaps my next order...

Etude House I Need You Hyaluronic Acid!
Sheet Mask

Etude House I Need You, Green Tea!
Sheet Mask

Etude House I Need You, Honey!
Sheet Mask

TonyMoly Sleek Mist and
Skinfood Black Raspberry
Eye Cream packets

Skinfood Avocado Rich Toner and
Emulsion samples

Initial Thoughts:

Skinfood Avocado Rich Toner & Emulsion  - The toner was recommended to me by a friend, and the sample size came paired with the Emulsion of the same line. I really like these, they smell pleasant and really moisturize the skin. I have been using the toner after cleansing and removing makeup, and following up with the emulsion at night, in lieu of my usual Clinique gel moisturizer mixed with some facial oil.

TonyMoly Sleek Mist - I am not going to lie to you, I bought this because it is shaped like a bunny. That being said, I picked up the one formulated for oily skin. I have yet to use it to test my makeup longevity or anything like that, but a few spritzes didn't send my skin into a crazy rage, and it did not have any scent that was easily detected.

Skinfood Black Raspberry Eye Cream - I picked up a ten pack of samples of these. The formula is super creamy and rich, but the scent...I can't really deal with it. It smells like rich earth, with a tiny maybe hint of raspberry that is so fleeting I think I imagined it. I am going to use my samples but probably not repurchase these, or the full size.

Etude House I Need You, Hyaluronic Acid! Sheet Mask - This is the sheet mask I fell in love with that a friend sent me. After using it, my skin feels super moisturized and firmer, with more 'plumpyness' as I  described it. I bought a three pack of these, and will probably re buy.

Etude House I Need You, Green Tea! Sheet Mask - This is another sheet mask, this time with green tea, and the packet says it is for "moisture and relief." I used this the other day, and it was definitely moisturizing, and calmed down some of the redness from some blemishes in my face. Overall, it was a very nice mask, it felt calming to my skin while it was on.

Etude House I Need You, Honey! Sheet Mask - I have yet to use this sheet mask, but the packet says it is for moisture. My thought process is that I like honey, so my face will hopefully like honey, too!

The only drawback from ordering skincare from Korea is the WAIT! I waited three weeks for this package, and I had to sign for it and everything, which was irritating. I also had to pay about $13 to ship...but the products themselves were quite inexpensive! I plan on picking up some more Asian skincare items due to the cost, it isn't breaking the bank to try some new (and unusual!) products!