September Empties Reviews

Ah September. I always think of it as the beginning of autumn, but this year it was really more the end of summer — we routinely had 90 degree days, and I had a tropical getaway to Belize for 9 days over the week of my fourth wedding anniversary (so if you were wondering why this post is a week late, well, that’s your answer). I’ve changed up the format a bit this month to also include the month that I opened each product, hoping that that might be illuminating, or at least interesting.

🧼 Heimish All Clean Balm

The Heimish All Clean Balm was one of the original popular cleansing balms, so when I won a gift card through Nudie Glow US earlier this year, I picked this one up. It’s certainly effective — you can feel product pilling up as you massage this first cleanser into the skin. It emulsifies easily with water, though it doesn’t rinse as cleanly as some other cleansing balms and I find that I always have to follow this up with a second cleanse. (I know some people just use cleansing balms rather than a cleansing balm + water-based cleanser — this is not the cleansing balm for that). It does include essential oils, but since it’s a wash-off product that doesn’t bother me. My big beef with this? The sheer quantity of PACKAGING. Oh my goodness, it’s excessive.
Opened: June
Rating: 7/10
Price: $18 USD / 120 mL

🦋 Acure Seriously Soothing Blue Tansy Mask

Because I’m extra, I like to follow up clay or exfoliating masks with a hydrating mask, and lately that’s been the Acure Seriously Soothing Blue Tansy Mask. It’s certainly hydrating, though I wouldn’t say it’s one of the hydrating/moisturizing masks that you can just forget about when it’s on your face (I’m looking at you, I’m From Honey), because it will start to dry and tighten up. While the inci list is a plethora of antioxidants and it’s nice to see more hydrating wash-off masks — especially at the drugstore — I think that there are more impressive ones elsewhere.
Opened: July
Rating: 6/10
Price: $20 USD / 30 mL

🍶 MIZON Skin Power Original First Essence

I love me some galactomyces in a first essence, so I pretty much plowed through the MIZON Skin Power Original First Essence. Used both AM and PM, I definitely noticed a reduction in redness and visible pore size. There is some fragrance to this, but the full-size is the most affordable first essence on the market, so there’s a good chance I’ll be coming back to this in the future — I’m never going without galactomyces ever again.
Opened: August
Rating: 10/10
Price: $22 USD / 210 mL for full-size; pictured in the mini size

🍵 Isntree Green Tea Fresh Toner

The Isntree Green Tea Fresh Toner is a favorite among oily-skinned k-beauty fans, and so while it wouldn’t usually be up my alley, I was really curious about trying it after winning it in a giveaway from Isntree and EuniUnni. This is definitely not a hydrating toner — if anything, I found that it dried my skin out a bit. This makes sense, though, given that green tea and willow bark extracts both control and reduce sebum production. But despite its slightly drying nature (definitely don’t do seven skins with this one), I really liked it through the summer for all of its antioxidant benefits, to the point that I think I’ll probably continue having one more antioxidant toner and one more hydrating toner in rotation.
Opened: June
Rating: 7/10
Price: $20 USD / 200 mL

🐌 Peach Slices Snail Rescue Blemish Busting Toner

This is not my first empty of the Peach Slices Snail Rescue Toner, nor will it be the last, I’m sure. If you’re interested in snail but aren’t sure about the texture, this is a great option — the toner has 95% snail mucin (just 1% less than the cult classic Cosrx Snail Mucin) but has no gloopiness to it. It’s just a lovely, slightly thicker toner that’s great for layering. Snail mucin, of course, has many great skin benefits mostly centered around wound healing, which is why this is marketed towards blemish-prone skin but works really well for those of us fighting other skin-barrier fights as well.
Opened: July
Rating: 10/10
Price: $14 USD / 120 mL

🌸 Hanskin Real Complexion Hyaluron Skin Essence

Living in an arid environment, I don’t typically pick up hyaluronic acid focused ingredients, but when the Hanskin Real Complexion Hyaluron Skin Essence went on sale during Ulta’s 21 Days of Beauty sale this spring, I wanted to give it a try. Unfortunately my gut instinct about hyaluronic acid held true with this essence, and I didn’t see any benefits from it — including hydration benefits. That said, I discovered during my trip to Belize (I also got a mini of this which went with me) I discovered that this is actually great on hair and that hyaluronic acid itself really does work well in tropical climates, so while it doesn’t work for my desired use case, it still might be worth picking up.
Opened: June
Rating: 6/10
Price: $25 USD / 150 mL

🍃 COSRX Cica Cream

COSRX’s cica line is one of my favorites from the brand (tied with the propolis line, really), so I’m so glad that I won the entire line from the brand late last year. The COSRX Cica Cream is, predictably, pretty great. I did a deep dive on it during my Face Off of the Cica Creams so I’m not going to wax too eloquent here beyond to say that while I had originally intended this as a day cream, I found that I really preferred it in the evening as a retinol buffer — I found that it pilled occasionally under sunscreen, but the gel-cream type texture played nicely with my involved PM routine.
Opened: June
Rating: 8/10
Price: $32 USD / 50 mL

👁 Biossance Squalane + Marine Algae Eye Cream

I’m definitely part of the skincare camp that says eye cream is overpriced moisturizer, but I will say that the Biossance Squalane + Marine Algae Eye Cream is a nice one. That said, this small size lasted me ages and I find that I actually enjoy it more on my lips than around my eyes. That’s right. This has a lovely slip to it that I’m sure would be great in the AM under makeup, but given that that’s not really a skin concern, I can’t speak to it. I do, however, have perpetually dry-ish lips, and regularly employ the life hack of putting eye cream on my lips before locking it in with some sort of occlusive.
Opened: May
Rating: 7/10
Price: $54 USD/15 mL for the full-size, shown here in a 3 mL promo size

👄 Aquaphor Lip Repair

I’m truly surprised I managed to empty an Aquaphor Lip Repair before losing it, so even though I’m not sure when I opened this, I had to include it. Aquaphor is a classic for good reason — it’s a no frills product that Just Works, with a good mix of emollience and occlusive that makes it great for lips, cuticles, and other bits of skin that need some TLC.
Opened: Unknown
Rating: 10/10
Price: $4 USD / 10 mL

😎 Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel

While I opened an Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel in August, this is one that I opened and emptied all in the month of September — we took an unopened bottle with us down to Belize. My husband used the entire bottle during my week down there, on both his face and body, and his only sunburn is from when he made the rookie mistake of going snorkeling without a shirt on. This SPF 50+ PA++++ is understandably quickly becoming a cult favorite.
Opened: September
Rating: 10/10
Price: $17 USD / 50 mL

☀️ Krave Beauty The Beet Shield

I’m slowly working through my enormous stash of Krave Beauty The Beet Shield that I picked up last Black Friday, before the brand was forced to discontinue the line. I love the texture of this and how easy it is to reapply, so I actually went through two of these during our trip in Belize. We know that this doesn’t measure up to the SPF 50 it had been advertised as in Korea, but I find that it consistently performs as at least an SPF 30. You’ll see this in a few more empties posts!
Opened: September
Rating: 10/10
Price: NA — discontinued

🛁 Neutrogena Body Oil

The Neutrogena Body Oil is another empty that should come as no surprise — though perhaps the fact that I finished the bottle in a month is surprising. As an avid bather, I find that some oil in the tub really keeps my skin from being stripped, and this is really my long-standing favorite for that purpose. The sesame seed oil is moisturizing but not too thick, and the surfactants in it keep it from just floating on the top of the water.
Opened: August
Rating: 10/10
Price: $13 USD / 250 mL