This is officially the longest I’ve gone without posting empties. Q4 was pretty wild with work, and we also bought a new house (photo taken on the mantle!). So, suffice it to say, my focus has been elsewhere. I probably did skincare maybe 25% of the time I should have, so there aren’t as many empties as you would anticipate for an entire three month period. What I opened will come out separately, and then I hope to get myself back onto a schedule where I post empties and openeds all in one post, once a month. We’ll see how I do.

Toners

😴 UNPA Lacto Cica Locking Serum

Do you hate washing your face? If so, I would like to controversially recommend toner pads, of which the UNPA Lacto Cica Locking Serum are a fabulous specimen. I like using them in the morning to get off the inevitable grime that comes with having dogs in your bed, and in the evenings on days when I am so unmotivated to do my skincare routine that I simply cannot bring myself to wash my face. Yes, it happens, even to skincare fanatics. This one has a lot more skincare benefits to it than a lot of the toner pads on the market. The lacto in the name is because these have a variety of postbiotics, in the form of bifida ferment filtrate and lysate, lactobacillus ferment lystate, lactococcus ferment lysate, and saccharomyces extract. The cica in this comes from centella leaf extract, as well as madecassoside and asiaticoside. The pads themselves are soft, and budget-conscious folks might consider cutting them in half.
Opened: June ’23
Price: $34 USD / 85 pads, or 145g
Rating: 9/10

💦 Indie Lee CoQ-10 Toner

Remember when the Indie Lee CoQ-10 Toner was all over Skincare Internet? I do. Who knows, knowing the TikTok trend cycles, maybe it is again. I wouldn’t know, I’ve drawn the line at TikTok, I’m too old. Anyways, due to its popularity, this mist pretty routinely shows up in Ulta’s 21 Days of Beauty sales, which is how I purchased it and how I would recommend doing so, as otherwise it’s a bit steep, in my opinion, for what you get. The directions say to spray on a cotton pad and then apply, and I would love to know if literally anyone ever has used this product that way. I liked it for a spritz between steps, as my face would dry down too much. This does have a fairly strong scent to it due to the sage extract. In terms of skincare benefits, Coenzyme Q10 is a great antioxidant, but this mist isn’t more hydrating than others I’ve tried.
Opened: May ’23
Price: $38 USD / 125 mL
Rating: 7/10

Lip Products

👄 Aquaphor Lip Repair

Is this the Aquaphor Lip Repair I opened in August of 2022? Possibly. I like to keep one around in case of emergencies, as pretty much nothing else brings chapped lips and skin back from the brink like this. There’s not too much to say here, beyond that I’m extremely proud to have emptied this and not lost it. It’s not sexy, but given how effective and cheap it is, I can’t not recommend it.
Opened: August ’22
Price: $5 USD / 10 mL
Rating: 10/10

💄 I Dew Care Plush Party Buttery Vitamin C Lip Mask

It generally takes me forever to get through pots of lip product, but the I Dew Care Plush Party Buttery Vitamin C Lip Mask put me to shame. In part, this was because I often forgot about this product, as it pretty much immediately disappears on my lips — perhaps because I’m in a dry climate, perhaps because I’m a mouth breather, perhaps because the product itself just doesn’t have staying power. The texture is quite similar to the Laneige sleeping mask that’s so popular, and it does indeed also include ascorbyl glucoside (a Vitamin C derivative). In terms of skincare benefits, though, it’s not delivering anything that pretty much any other lip product doesn’t.
Opened: August ’22
Price: $16 USD / 12 g
Rating: 8/10

Moisturizer Minis

💜 Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream

The Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream makes me feel like an actual princess every time I manage to get my hands on a sample. The aesthetics are top notch — beautiful purple color and a delightful fragrance — but the finish it leaves on the skin, both visually and texturally, is what really makes this to die for. It’s certainly appropriately named, in my opinion, and on the list of “someday when I’m not jumping around from product to product, be bougie and just get this”. This cream uses various forms of algae, known for their anti-aging properties, as well as ferments which I always adore. It winds up being a very nourishing medium weight cream that works well for my dry skin as a morning moisturizer in the winter, or a night cream basically any other time of year.
Opened: September
Price: $72 USD / 50 mL; shown in 10 mL mini
Rating: 10/10

⚡️ Shiseido Essential Energy Hydrating Cream

I had had the Shiseido Essential Energy Hydrating Cream hanging out in my stash for a while, but since I was about to go to Japan and needed a mini, I pulled this out in September. It’s a fragranced, mid-weight cream that is just a bit lighter weight than the Tatcha. Its hero ingredients are various weights of hyaluronic acid, as well as red ginseng extract. At least on my skin, however, it pretty much immediately disappears — in Colorado, anyway. When I was using it in distinctly more humid Japan, it actually made a great night cream. However, I didn’t love it enough to pick up a full-size when I walked by their flagship store in Ginza Tokyo.
Opened: September
Price: $30 USD / 30 mL; shown in 15 mL mini
Rating: 8/10

🍃 Barr Centella Calming Barrier Cream

I had used a full-size tube of the Barr Centella Calming Barrier Cream up in June, but had this mini banging around, and pulled it out to make up for Shiseido’s various deficits while still in Colorado. It’s a heavier weight cream than the Tatcha or Shiseido, though still not being as heavy as some other barrier cream products. It focuses on centella (64% water, with madecassoside and asiaticoside), with other calming ingredients like panthenol, ceramide NP and heartleaf extract. I think for oily acne-prone skin types, this could generally make a really excellent night cream, but for dry or sensitive skin types I think there are better barrier creams out there.
Opened: September
Price: $20 USD / 80 mL; shown in 15 mL mini
Rating: 9/10

Other

💛 Banila Co Clean It Zero Cleansing Balm Nourishing

I loved the original Banila Co Clean It Zero Cleansing Balm so much, I needed to try it in another “flavor” — and the nourishing variant was most appropriate for my skin. This has safflower seed oil, evening primrose oil, sunflower seed oil and squalane, making it feel more moisturizing than the original. It also includes ginseng berry and root extracts, and royal jelly extracts, which is relatively moot in a wash-off product, but still nice to have, especially if you tend have your first cleanse double as a wash-off mask (haven’t tried that? I’d recommend it). This has a vanilla fragrance to it that I found quite pleasant.
Opened: March ’23
Price: $24 USD / 100 mL
Rating: 10/10

☀️ Skin1004 Madagascar Centella Hyalu-Cica Water-Fit Sun Serum SPF50+ PA++++

The Skin1004 Madagascar Centella Hyalu-Cica Water-Fit Sun Serum SPF50+ PA++++ had its moment this summer, so of course I got it. I had heard it was pretty lightweight, so I held onto it until we were headed to Japan, figuring that the humidity would be nice for the hyaluronic acid (that’s what the hyalu- stands for). This is a chemical sunscreen with the newer generation of filters, and in addition to the centella asiatica extract that makes this line so iconic, it has ginkgo, green tea and other extracts for antioxidant support. To me, this has a finish similar to the Isntree Hyaluronic Acid Watery Sun Gel, but with not quite as nice a weight on the skin — it feels more like wearing sunscreen. I also initially struggled with the packaging (why a pump and a tube? Why do brands do this?) and think it would have benefited from simply being a tube.
Opened: September
Price: $19 USD / 50 mL
Rating: 9/10

💛 make p:rem Idebenone Lifting Ampoule

If you also ascribe to the skincare approach of “the more fun ingredients in a formula, the better”, then the make p:rem Idebenone Lifting Ampoule is a serum for you. Idebenone is a synthesized alternative to coenzyme Q10, so you know off the bat it’s an antioxidant serum. I gravitated towards it because it also has ceramides NP, AS, AP, NS and EOP, and an antioxidant ceramide serum is pretty much unheard of. As one might guess based on the ceramides, it is a creamy serum, but given additional hyaluronic acid, beta glucan and cholesterol, it feels nicely hydrating. I used it AM and PM. I didn’t notice a ton of results in the time that I used it, but anticipate that with longer-term use I would have.
Opened: July
Price: $20 USD / 40 mL
Rating: 9/10

🍑 Peach Slices Acne Spot Dots

I don’t get many spots, but when I do I simply cannot not pick them, so pimple patches like Peach Slices Acne Spot Dots are extremely useful. These are pretty simple hydrocolloid patches, without any of the fancy microdarts or “secretly invisible” technology you see on some of them. There are 15 small, 6 normal and 9 large patches in a pack. They stick reasonably well.
Opened: March ’23
Price: $5 USD / 30 patches
Rating: 9/10