My empties bag is getting heavy and I don’t want to get too far behind! Here’s what I used up in April.
Bath & Body
Korres Renewing Body Cleanser, scent Mediterranean Vanilla Blossom: I bought this natural, scented body wash from Korres to go with my Cashmere Vanilla body butter and perfumes. Like all of Korres’ body wash options, it produces the right amount of suds and cleans well without stripping my skin. Recommend? Yes, it’s a nice but not cloying vanilla.
Alpha Renewal Body Lotion with 12% glycolic acid: One of my favorite everyday body lotions for very dry skin like mine. It contains 12% glycolic acid/AHA so it helps exfoliate while it moisturizes and protects. It’s fragrance-free. Recommend? Yes, I do recommend it. But know that it contains petrolatum to seal in moisture in case you avoid that ingredient.
FarmHouse Fresh Vanilla Bourbon Body Oil: For all of you vanilla lovers, the scent of FHF Vanilla Bourbon is the bomb. Wish they would make a fragrance with this scent because the scent is great while and right after using it, but it doesn’t last. It does provide a good base layer for actual vanilla fragrances, however. The body oil is lightweight and sinks in quickly. However, for very dry skin like mine, it doesn’t provide long enough-lasting hydration. Recommend? Yes, but with reservations for those with very dry skin, e.g. depends what you’re using it for.
Ulta Beauty Coconut Cream Scented Body Butter: I think I bought this body butter when I needed an inexpensive purchase to reach the level of free shipping at Ulta. It has a nice, summery coconut scent that was perfect for this season. It hydrated well enough. I believe that Coconut Cream was a seasonal scent and has been replaced with new fragrances for summer 2025 as well as a new version of this private label body lotion.
Skincare
Theraderm Clinical Skin Care Flawless Neck Creme: Although this fabulous neck cream developed by a plastic surgeon from Georgia is my favorite of all neck creams because it’s exactly the right weight and makes my neck feel comfortable and my neck and chest skin look firmer. It does not contain water, but does contain retinol, niacinamide, peptides, plant extracts, sodium hyaluronate, and hydrators. Recommend? Yes, I highly recommend Theraderm Flawless Neck Creme. Sadly, the price has gone from an expensive $95 to $112. However, the airless pump container lasted me for two years. I’m trying to decide about spending the money to replace it.
#OOTD Peptide Skin Barrier Cream: Love love love this inexpensive brand of Korean skincare products. The fragrance-free Peptide Skin Barrier Cream that comes in an airless pump jar was the right consistency and worked very well for me on my dry skin this past winter. It features peptides, ceramide and panthenol/Vitamin B5. Plus it’s so much more affordable than other barrier creams. Recommend? Yes, I do. It’s truly a bargain! They also made a similar product with ceramide that strengthens the skin’s barrier called Ceramide Moisture Glow that you can buy at Amazon along with the rest of the line (except Peptide Skin Barrier).
Thrive Causemetics Bigger Than Beauty Defying Gravity Eye Lifting Cream: My favorite eye lifting and firming cream of all-time! Works like crazy, is gentle, fragrance-free, and comes in an airless tube. My only complaint is that it’s kind of pricey at $46, but I try to wait for sales on the Thrive website. Recommend? Yes, wholeheartedly if you use lifting/firming eye creams.
Hair
DefenAge 150K Hair Follicle Serum: When I was given DefenAge 150K Hair Follicle Serum: I told the folks at the company that I was using Vegamour. In response, they said I should continue using Vegamour but use DefenAge along with it. I’ve been doing that for a while now, but when I travel I leave the Vegamour at home and just bring the DefenAge. In terms of product attributes, I vastly prefer the DefenAge to Vegamour because the formula is more gelatinous and doesn’t run like the more liquidy Vegamour. It stays where I put it, which is where I need it! I think it’s been working or at least the combo of the two works for me. Recommend? Yes, it’s pricey but it seems to work for me. BTW, DefenAge changed the packaging so the Hair Follicle Serum looks a little bit different as you buy it with a dispenser initially and then replace it with refills.
Health & Beauty
Radius ImmuniMinty Immune Support Toothpaste: I’ve been using Radius toothpastes on and off for over a year. Elderberry plus vitamins C and E are the key ingredients in this toothpaste that’s supposed to boost the immune system. It tastes delicious, my mouth feels clean afterwards, and I haven’t gotten sick while I was using it. Radius toothpastes are fluoride-free and SLS-free. They include the ingredient Hydroxyapatite to remineralize teeth. Your teeth are made from Hydroxyapatite so using a toothpaste with that ingredient helps rebuild your teeth which is great if you don’t want to use fluoride. Fluoride, however, makes your teeth more resistant to acid attack demineralization than HA alone. I pretty much switch back and forth between a fluoride toothpaste and an HA toothpaste. I think Radius makes excellent toothpastes, but you would need to follow your dentist’s recommendations.
City Beauty City Lips Clear: I never know which category to put City Lips Clear into. It’s kind of a skincare product, the colored City Lips can be considered makeup, but I use City Lips Clear to keep my lips healthy and hydrated. So here it is! Recommend? You betcha! You already know I adore City Lips Clear. In my own personal research testing City Lips Clear vs. Laneige at night before bed, City Lips wins hands down. It is still on my lips the next morning whereas Laneige, a very good lip replenisher, is gone.
Makeup
Tower 28 MakeWaves Mascara, travel size: I agree 100% with Tower 28’s description of MakeWaves Mascara: “A safe for sensitive eyes vegan mascara that visibly volumizes, lengthens, and defines for the most amped-up, natural-looking lashes.” My lashes did not stick together at all, and there was no fall-out under my eyes while wearing it. It was easy to apply and was perfect for the way I like my lashes to look: visibly dark, long and not like false lashes. Recommend? Yes. Although the mini only comes in Jet Black, the full size tubes come in brown and navy as well as black.
Perfume
vintage Habanita EDP sample: I learned about Habanita from one of the fragrance groups I belong to on Facebook more than 5 years ago. I sought out a small sample of Habanita that looks like it is dated from at least the 1970s if not earlier. Habanita is a powdery, woody floriental with notes of Mastic, Amber, Nutmeg, Sandalwood, Vetiver, Oakmoss, Heliotrope, Geranium, and Musk. Created in 1921, Habanita was launched as sachets for women to carry with them to mask the smell of tobacco!! Though still made today by their original perfumeur Molinard, the formula has changed over the years because ingredients have become outlawed and/or prohibitively expensive. I adore vintage Habanita, but I haven’t chosen to try today’s version yet. Perfume tastes are so personal. I will most likely try to seek out another vintage sample.
Project Pan Update
Gee, I ended March with a total of 30 empties for 2025. That doesn’t seem like much. Hmmm. In April, I used up 11 (not counting the Habanita sample even though I had it for probably 5 years trying to make it last!), bringing my empties total to 41 so far in 2025. I know I have a lot of empties to review soon for May.
How about you? What did you finish that you especially liked?
April was a huge month for me. It’s a 50/50 divide though on actually finishing these up or having them age out:
Supergoop cream eye shadow which is a great base shade with SPF; Bobbi Brown gel eyeliner; Youngblood Taffeta
cream blush (this was my second one); Bravon foundation; 2 boxes of DHC cotton squares; Virtue Frizz Block Smoothing
Spray; Stila liquid liner in black; Physician Formula brown liquid eyeliner; Essence curl & volume mascara. I’ve already
rebought the Virtue Frizz Block though I have another brand to use up first and I bought several DHC cotton squares when they were on sale at Amazon. I replace the BB gel eyeliner with Jones Road’s gel eyeliner.
Wow, Marcia, brava! Well done! I forgot all about Supergoop cream eye shadow with SPF. I have some somewhere that I forgot about, but I thought it was terrific especially for summer. Thank you for the reminder. And Youngblood cream blush is the absolute best – I have a peachy/coral shade that’s a compact. I just went to their website to look for the cream blush to check out Taffeta and see if they still make the ancient one that I have, but now they make VividLuxe Creme Blush Stick. Will you try the new stick? BTW, I know you have your hands full at home, but if you ever want to write up your empties to post on NSDB, just let me know.
That mascara sounds pretty good!