I feel like I just blinked and November flew right on by! Mostly that’s probably due to repressing memories of half of the month to block out the trauma of all of the hoopla surrounding the US elections. Thank God all of that’s over now! Unfortunately I think I blocked out too much, I don’t even remember Thanksgiving happening at all. It’s just all one turkey coma blur.

This month I have significantly fewer empties than last month (it really helps if I do one of these posts every month instead of every other month).

I basically plan on using my Christmas tree and Christmas tree skirt for photo backgrounds until February. Consider yourself warned.

Haus of Gloi Pumpkin Butter – Dank Chocolate: I’ve been talking about various scents of Pumpkin Butters for a while now. This particular scent was part of the Spring 2016 collection and smelled a lot like cocoa butter. It was really nice!

Number of times purchased: Only time purchasing this particular scent

Would I repurchase: Maybe if they bring it back again next year.

Clinique Take The Day Off Cleansing Balm: I love this makeup remover more than a person should love such a thing. It feels amazing on the skin, it lasts forever, it removes waterproof mascara, it doesn’t strip my skin, it doesn’t irritate my eyes, there’s really nothing bad to say about this. As a matter of interest, my last jar of this was used up around July so I’m going to say one jar lasts around 3 months.

Number of times purchased: 3

Would I repurchase: Yep!

Banana Boat Kids Sunscreen spf 50: This is exactly the same product as the Banana Boat Baby sunscreen. Same ingredients in the same order, everything. I find that most places only carry one or the other, but the last time I bought this I noticed that the kids version was something like a $1.00 more expensive than the baby version. It’s only a dollar….but that grinds my gears. So if you buy this make sure you check the price per ounce. As far as the actual product goes, this is a pretty greasy sunscreen but in my experience, matte finish sunscreens go on very streaky and leave weird clumps of sunscreen on my face and I only notice them half way through the day and I HATE that. So I’m just going to stick with this one and keep using boat loads of powder. Maybe banana boat loads of powder. Ok so I have no idea what a banana boat actually is.

Number of times purchased: 5

Would I repurchase: Yep!

CeraVe Skin Renewing Cream Serum: I really love this lotion. It is a runnier consistency, like a creamy serum. I like that it is in a pump BUT, you can’t actually get all of the product out, there’s probably another 2-3 weeks worth of product in this tube right now but I would have to cut it open to get to it and then it’s just exposed to the air for the next two weeks. So I don’t love the packaging, it’s really wasteful. As much as I really do love this product, I’m trying out something new at the moment. The CeraVe serum is $15.00 for 1 oz. And I also really love the Clinique Dramatically Different moisturizer which is $38.00 for 6.7 oz. I’ll let you know if I end up liking the Clinique better over a few months or not. This is still a fantastic lotion and I would highly recommend it! I just feel like it’s pretty pricey for drugstore and they need to do something about the waste of the product.

Number of times purchased: We’re going to say 6.

Would I repurchase: Maybe? Probably?

Old Spice Swagger Anti-Perspirant & Deodorant Gel: This deodorant man. It blows. I’ve used the Old Spice regular stick deodorant for years and I love it, but this gel version is horrible. First, it doesn’t smell the same as the regular Swagger scent. Second, the cap creates a suction that pulls the gel out of the container so instead of having “one-two clicks” of product you have 18 bajillion clicks of product. And it will probably fall off of the “applicator” and onto the floor. It’s not good. And it doesn’t even work. I have stinky armpits in an hour or two. Just don’t buy this one. Get the regular Old Spice deodorant.

Number of times purchased: 1

Would I repurchase: NEVER AGAIN

Garnier Nutritioniste Skin Renew Anti Dark-Circle Roller: This is not actually empty, but I don’t even remember when I bought this. 5 years ago? Possibly longer? I actually liked this product. I don’t think the roller applicator is my favorite delivery system, but it feels nice enough. It’s a thin consistency (which I like for undereye concealing) and it doesn’t crease too badly.

Number of times purchased: 3

Would I repurchase: Maybe

Maybelline Mineral Power Finishing Veil Translucent Powder: I originally bought this years ago when Tiffany D recommended it in a favorites video. I think she used it to create a barrier under her eyes to catch fall out. I don’t think I ever actually tried that to be honest. I ended up using this to set my sunscreen on my neck and chest and I liked it for that. It feels nice on my face but it tends to look a little dry on my skin.

Number of times purchased: 1

Would I repurchase: Probably not

What have you used up this last month? Have you tried any of the products in my empties list? I think a lot of my empties posts are starting to get a little bit redundant but I really enjoy writing them and empties are some of my favorites to read on other peoples blogs.

Tidbits:

• I’m a culinary goddess today! I made granola, then spent the rest of the afternoon making split pea soup and winter squash rolls. I haven’t tried making either of those before so I’m hoping it all turns out ok.
• I finished reading A Moveable Feast by Earnest Hemingway and actually kind of liked it! I’m not sure I liked it enough to recommend it, but it was basically like reading a well written gossip magazine. He writes a lot about sitting in cafes in Paris and then he just gossips about other writers. Half of them I didn’t know anything about but he talks about Gertrude Stein (apparently a very weird and mean person), Ezra Pound (apparently a saint) and F. Scott Fitzgerald (he might have modeled some of the characters in The Great Gatsby after himself if Hemingway is to be believed).
• Next month’s book of the month is Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption from Stephen King’s “Different Seasons”.
• I haven’t been to the gym or gone for a run in two weeks now. I’m not really missing the gym oddly enough but I’m missing running so I’ll start that again this next week. I have been doing a lot of yoga and it’s been fantastic! I’m really loving it!