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The Used Up 2023:1
Time flies and it is already late November. I took the pictures for this post way back in July but never found the time to sit down and write the thing. But better late than never! In this post I will go through all of the makeup and skincare items that were used up by me during the first half of 2023, January through June. In those six months I managed to finish a total of 16 items and out of those only three were makeup products.
Categories not included in this post are body care, nail care, haircare or any type of SPF unless it is a skincare/makeup item that just happens to have SPF in it. I still prefer not to track those categories in any way.
As per usual I want to highlight some things about my skin that can be useful to know before reading my thoughts and opinions on these products. I have combination skin with a tendency towards dehydration. I’m 42 (soon anyway) and naturally I’m noticing my skin changing a lot due to ageing. So I’m slowly adjusting my routine to its ever evolving needs. The occasional breakout happens but it is more and more infrequent these days. But I still get quite shiny during the day and my makeup “melts”. My skin rarely reacts badly to products and I have no allergies.
Let’s begin!
Cleansers
My current routine: I use a cream cleanser or something similar in the morning before skincare/makeup and then I use two cleansers in the evening. One oil/balm as a first step in removing makeup and/or sunscreen and then I go in with a second round with the same cleanser that I used in the morning. I usually have 2-3 cleansers in action at any given moment.
Only recurring favourites this time around. The Golden Amber Probiotic Cleansing Balm (125 ml, 399 SEK) by M Picaut solidly made its way into my heart and I repurchase it again and again. I have nothing bad to say about it and it still feels very luxurious too use. The smooth honey-like texture and warm and comforting scent is a joy to massage onto my face. It does not sting my eyes or leave any residue after removal. I have a tube in rotation at this moment.
The Glow Mud Cleanser by Pixi (135 ml, 279 SEK) was new to me in 2022 but I have continued to buy it regularly since then. I still mainly use it in the shower in the morning and massage it on damp skin and wait 30 seconds, as instructed, and then use a damp cloth to wipe it away. Only a small amount is needed and the tube lasted a nice while. I do not find it drying but I also never use it more than once a day. So I do not have any experience with using it twice a day, even though it does say on the packaging that you can use it morning and evening.
Toner & mists
My current routine: I always have a hydrating spray on hand that I use after cleansing but before serums. Sometimes I use a toner as a complement, either a hydrating one or an exfoliator. In the evenings I also like to use a more nourishing mist (with oils) as a last comforting step.
Nothing new under the sun when it comes to mists either. The Hydrating Water by M Picaut (100 ml, 349 SEK) was what I chose to pick up when I realised I could not get my favourite hydrating mist by Josh Rosebrook anymore since the Swedish reseller at the time never did restock it. I did repurchase the Hydrating Water once more after that, and that is the empty bottle in this post, but then I found the Hydrating Accelerator again at the Swedish webshop Caeleste. I like the M Picaut mist well enough but it is just not my fave. Right now I’m buying from Josh Rosebrook again.
Essence & serums
My current routine: I like to use a hydrating serum 1-2 times a day and it is a core item. I also dabble with more treatment focused serums but I’m more irregular with those.
Let’s start with the new item in this lineup, the Hyper Real Serumizer by MAC Cosmetics (30 ml, 760 SEK). I picked this up quite close to the launch since I was intrigued and I managed to get a nice discount (I also bought the accompanying cream) to ease the pain of this hefty price. MAC is not a skincare brand in my eyes so for me this was a bit too steep a cost. However the product was lovely and the packaging gorgeous. The scent was a bit more than I was used to but I quickly got used to it, I even enjoyed it. I have nothing bad to say about this serum except the big disclaimer – it is too damn expensive for 30 ml. Those 30 ml did not last me as long as I hoped for even though the serum left my skin feeling nicely hydrated it was nothing revolutionary. I would consider buying this again if it was around 450-500 SEK. But not for 760 SEK.
The next product is a recurring favourite. Two bottles of the Hyaluronic Super Serum (30 ml, 279-495 SEK) by Acasia. I used it twice a day and I have only nice things to say about this serum. I am currently using something else, something new that intrigued me, but I’m sure I will buy the Acasia serum again in the future. It’s a nice staple for me to revert back to.
The final serum is a recurring product as well but one that I use more and more infrequently these days. Last time I had an empty bottle of Niacimide 10% + Zinc 1% by the Ordinary (30 ml, 69 SEK) was in the first half of 2021. I still use it whenever my skin is prone to breakouts and I usually apply it over the affected area in the evenings. But since my skin is becoming less prone to breakouts with age, and even though I have another bottle in use right now (because bought two by mistake once), I do not see myself buying another one when the one I’m currently using runs out. I do have another specific spot treatment product that is sufficient for my breakout needs.
Moisturisers & oils
My current routine: I use a variety of creams depending on what my skin needs. In the morning after serums I like to put on a basic moisturiser before adding SPF and/or a primer. I have lighter and heavier creams (I’m using the term heavy lightly here – I have combination skin after all) and adjust the combination according to seasonal variations like the climate outdoors/indoors. For daytime the goal is to have a face base that does not pill or look patchy when I apply makeup on top. In the evening I like to use a more robust and comforting cream since I do not need to worry about the makeup bit. I use an eye cream both morning and evening and the main goal is to hydrate the skin without stinging my eyes or melting my mascara. I use oils sparingly but I like to have one on hand for facial massages or as an extra comforting layer when my skin needs it.
The Rose Quartz Supreme Rich Cream by M Picaut (50 ml, 749 SEK) is a firm favourite at this point. I use it as mainly as a night cream but I also use it in the daytime during the autumn/winter months. I repurchase as soon as I run out or run low if I can catch it in time. My skin really loves it!
Masks
My current routine: I do not have one. I use masks very infrequently but usually I like to have a lineup of a hydrating one, an exfoliating one and a deep cleansing one. I like to use an overnight mask when I have one.
The Hydra Lagoon Overnight Mask by M Picaut (50 ml, 729 SEK) was a product I thought I would adore. I had heard so many good things about it (from people I trust but who have different skin types from me) and it was even designed as an overnight mask which I love as a concept. But it never really worked well for me. I found it to be sitting on top of my skin and not really sinking in, leaving my skin feeling less than hydrated. Because of that it did not work well as an overnight mask for me – it would be a bit messy, almost sticky and dry at the same time. To add insult to injury I did not use it up within its proper shelf-life so it started to smell off. I persisted and used it up anyway but it was not a nice experience. That last bit was totally my fault, but simply put this mask is not for me. It is for someone else with other skincare needs. I’m glad I tried it but I will not be buying this again.
Moving on to the Botanical Collagen Mask by Pixi (45 ml, 299 SEK) or Collagen Plumping Mask as it is also marketed as. This little treat has a nice scent and is designed as a leave-on mask so I gladly wore it overnight. It worked very well as a little hydrating treat and my skin loved it. I can see myself purchasing this again in the future.
The Exfoliating Peel Mask by M Picaut (50 ml, 399 SEK) and I did not have the best relationship. The blame is mine though. I was very infrequent in my use and never really paid attention after using it until the end of its life. Then my opinion was that I liked it, but I am sure that if I had paid more attention earlier I would have enjoyed it a lot more. It was mild yet effective. So the product made no big impression on me but I will consider it in the future when I need to purchase an exfoliator. It deserves a second chance.
Zero Zit by Pixi (10 ml, 339 SEK) was a long-lasting little trooper. That tube lasted me around 2 years. I patted this on top of blemishes and it dried them out nicely or made them develop faster. The gel was transparent and did not leave a film that was noticeable to the eye or pilled when touched. When I ran out I wanted to repurchase but it was nowhere to be found. So I currently have a similar product from another brand but I do not like it as much (it pills). The product has since then become available again and I would absolutely consider buying it in the future.
Base makeup
Lets round this post off with some more recurring items. You can find my thoughts on these two concealers in this The Used Up post, including swatches. It’s the HD Studio Photogenic Concealer (3 g, 109 SEK) by NYX in the shades Alabaster (CW 00) and Green (CW12). I have enjoyed using this formula for a while they were part of my everyday makeup routine. Alabaster was used under the eye as a corrector for my not-very-dark under eyes. Green was and is used as a targeted colour corrector or as a mixer for other base products to make them a shade closer to my skin tone. Both of these have been repurchased many times but nowadays I only buy Green. Alabaster was a tad too dark and peach for me so I’ve stopped buying it. I am currently enjoying trying new concealers and looking for a good replacement to use as a under-eye brightener and/or corrector. The green one is not perfect but it is a proper key item for me. It is a bit difficult to blend if I use it on its own, so I tend to mix it with other base products. I would love to try green correctors from other brands in the future but so far I’m still using the NYX one.
There we have it! Six months worth of empty products. It is very apparent to me that I tend to stick to things (and brands) that I enjoy and play it a bit more safe with my skincare these days. I like what I like and I stray from gambling with new stuff. But here and there I manage to sneak in something new at least.
Thank you for reading!
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Nail polish audit – The Twelve:21
These twelve polishes were worn from the end of May until the end of August. Three by OPI and one each by China Glaze, Essie, Darling Diva Polish, Polish Revolution, YSL, A England, ILNP, H&M Beauty and Nail Pattern Boldness.
Hell yes!
OPI – In My Back Pocket 
YSL – Jade Impérial (34) 
Darling Diva Polish – Dreamy (over Jade Impérial) 
ILNP – Brilliance 
OPI – Red Hot Rio 
A England – Virgin Queen 
Essie – Mojito Madness 
OPI – My Vampire’s Buff 
H&M Beauty – Sunny Side Up 
China Glaze – Budding Romance 
Nail Pattern Boldness – Bigger On The Inside Maybe
No maybes this time around
Hell no!
Polish Revolution – Vegan Zombie I adore this polish in so many ways but I simply do not like wearing it.
So to conclude this round of The Twelve I ended up with eleven keepers and one hell no.
Thank you for reading!
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Thoughts on my makeup audit project: 2019-2023
I started my makeup audit project in October 2019 and by the end of February 2022 I completed using my last monthly arsenal. I was very glad to reach that milestone in the project and ever since then I’ve slowly completed the last phase of the project (except for nail polish) in a very unstructured way. In this post I want to summarise and conclude the project as a whole.
The premise for the project was to whittle down my vast collection a bit and to aid that quest I wanted to wear each item once, potentially one last time. You can find the proper run down of the project in my initial post from October 2019 here.
The audit was divided in categories and each category was handled a bit differently as you will see in my rundown of each below. In the beginning of the project I also did a little inventory of the major categories and just for fun I wanted to compare it to what I’m left with today. So I’m including some numbers and pictures so we can get a feeling of the massiveness of my undertaking. And for fun.
Powder eye products
Eyeshadows were the main part to audit in my monthly arsenals and lasted the full time period. A huge amount of palettes and singles were put away, but an even larger amount were saved. Below you can see the rejected powder eye products from Round 1.
Discards from Round 1 
Discards from Round 1 After my first round of the audit was done in February 2022 I took another hard look at what I had kept. In Round 2 I compared similar items to each other and tried to be realistic on which items I would like to use moving forward and minimizing duplicates. A lot of old stuff was discarded, like all of my gorgeous Extra Dimension Eye Shadows by MAC, and I also decided not to depot my Anastasia Beverly Hills palettes and just let them go.
Work in progress 
Discards from Round 2 
Discards from Round 2 After Round 2 I sorted all of the remaining items, during the last half of 2022, and arranged all of my single pan shadows by colour and gave each palette a matching name. You can see them all below including the unnamed palette with highlighting shades.
Citric Marsh 
Golden Ochre 
Pollinated Peach 
Aquatic Woods 
Taupe Castle 
Dusted Ashes 
Driftwood Sands 
Leaning in Lilacs 
Coral-line 
Rustic Caramel 
Fated Skies 
Mocha Bricks 
Rosy Wood 
Lichen Swamp 
Lavonic Sunset 
Dead Copper Flowers 
Vintage Petal 
Devil May Care 
Popping Peonies 
Highlighters I found them very visually pleasing and thought I would keep them like that for a longer time than I ended up doing. However, after using them a while I noticed I still felt overwhelmed by choice. I was always torn between using my oldest shades and my newer ones and all of those in between. So in January of 2023 I did a Round 3 (thinking it was my last) and I took a hard look at the age of the shadows (and blushes) that I had kept previously and put away anything older than 2016 with the exception of my Meow shadows from 2013. Nostalgia made me keep those Meow shades. Below you can see the shades from Round 3 including most of my MAC, Inglot and MakeupGeek shadows and MAC pigments.
Discards from Round 3 The new plan was to keep those remaining shades for the duration of 2023 and then let go of more old shades. But I still had this nagging feeling that I had too much to choose from. And I was not using my newer items nearly as much as they deserved. So in May of 2023 I went through everything again and decided that 2019 (when I moved to a new city) would be a breaking point for eyeshadows at least. Anything older than that would only be kept if I had a very good reason to spend some more time with it. So I do still use a smaller amount of shadows that are older than 2019 and they can stay for the rest of 2023. Then they are out as well.
Discards from Round 4 
Discards from Round 4 My beloved Meow shadows have now been put in bags and I will not use them on the eye any more (I will however see if I can repurpose loose shadows and pigments as art supplies). Most of my Nabla and Urban Decay shadows are gone. I also let go of a few newish bits like the Swear By It palette by Nyx. I bought that palette in 2019 and have used it a lot since then. But the sheer size of it overwhelms me and I recently started feeling like the shadows were not performing as well as they did when I bought it.
I must admit that putting away most of the items bought before my move from Gothenburg was hard emotionally. I felt like I lost a part of myself when I moved and that was I part I was not keen on letting go of. Putting away these items just solidified this shift in my life. I know they are just things, but I attach memory to things and this was a tough one.
I started the project with 748 single eye shadows/pigments and 64 palettes of various sizes (three were highlighters in palettes that I mainly used on the eye). Right now, in August 2023, I own four fixed palettes and 133 singles for eyes. That includes all of my new additions since the audit started and to be honest those make out the majority of my arsenal now. So what I am left with is not all of my favourite or most worn shades, something one might think would be the case after a big declutter. What I have left is what was last bought when I already had all of those other older shades. So in some shade categories I feel like I’m lacking a bit. But I am in no hurry to replace anything just yet. I have plenty of options to play with until I feel like the time is right to invest in something new.
Lip products
These were audited in two big declutter sessions in 2020. During 2021-mid 2023 I did cull even more items that were older and the final post chronicling that can be found here. None of my current lip products were in my arsenal when the project started. Everything has been replaced. A natural replacement period since all the stuff I started with was older.
Cheek products
I started the audit with 67 shades of blush, 9 contour shades and 22 highlighters. After Round 1 of cheek items was completed in March 2021 I did a blog post displaying and swatching my then current cheek arsenal, which you can find here. I had by then not discarded that many cheek products and you can see the rejects below.
The rejects from Round 1 (a few are not pictured since they were re-homed) After that I wore all of those remaining shades for a while and then did a Round 2 in increments during the last half of 2022. A larger number of items, pictured below, were given the boot during that time period. A lot of lovely items that were simply past their prime or otherwise deemed unnecessary.
Discards from Round 2 In January 2023 I had 14 cheek items left. One duo with a highlight and a sculpt shade. 11 powder blushes and a pale lipstick that had been demoted/promoted (?) to cheek shade. I then completed my last round, Round 3, in the end of January and was left with 6 items (7 shades).
Round 3 – the final blush declutter Those seven shades consists of 4 powder blushes, one cream blush (the aforementioned lipstick), 2 shade/contour colours that doubles as neutral blushes and one highlighter. From 22 to one highlighter! Mad.
To complement those older bits I have some newer bits as well. Several of the shades in my Hindash palettes (Beautopsy and Monochromance) can be used as blush and my other Lisa Eldridge velvet lipsticks are being applied to my cheeks regularly. In addition to that I’ve also acquired three pots of lip/cheek colours by Trinny London and Manasi7. So my options are not limited yet not as abundant as before. I have got my eye on some shades that I feel like I’m lacking but I’m hesitant pull the trigger as of right now.
Nail polish
My nail polish arsenal have been and are being audited twelve items at the time in my still ongoing series The Twelve. I will continue to do that series until I have worn all of my shades. I rarely buy nail polish anymore and I highly enjoy the ones that I have.
Miscellaneous items
These were cream and liquid products like foundation, concealer, primers, brow products, mascara, cream eye shadows and liners. These items have been audited continuously and documented on my Instagram stories (saved as highlights).
The timeline
I purchased quite a lot of new makeup items during the audit period (since the project lasted three and a half years) but not anywhere close to what I was buying in previous years. I’ve bought replacements of foundation, concealer, powder, makeup sponges, colour corrector, eye primer, mascara, eyeliner and brow gel. I have also bought some extra foundations, concealers and powders to try out. I am on a bit of a journey with trying to find base products that really matches my colouring and skin type. I’ve also picked up or been gifted (by family) eyeshadows from Lethal Cosmetics, Terra Moons, Glossgods, H&M Beauty, Glam Shop and Hindash. And I have experimented a bit with cream colours for lips and cheeks (Trinny London and Manasi7). As mentioned these new items make up the majority of my current collection.
The project was fun most of the time and and I did enjoy choosing a new arsenal each month. My makeup creations also became more creative thanks to the monthly arsenals. They helped me become very aware of how much makeup I owned and how long it would take me to do that first round of wearing everything. But I stuck to my original plan, to use all the items before (potentially) discarding them. This approach made the audit a very very long project, but I always felt and still feel that it was the right thing to do for the reasons below;
- I find it difficult to let items go in general. Using each product gave me the opportunity to form a proper opinion based in reality rather than a sentimental memory.
- My monthly posts including swatches was a great way to chronicle what I I used and what I let go of. The pictures and swatches remains.
Addition in hindsight: All of these rounds really helped me in making my final decisions on letting all of the older stuff go. I could never had made that decision from the get-go. The longevity of the project also solidified my feelings of overwhelm with that much abundance. The products were just sitting unused there and going to waste. The long auditing process created this result and I am now grateful for the lessons learned.
What I have learned
It’s been an ongoing conversation with myself about my habits and how I use makeup and what part of the process that makes me happy. A few truths have been revealed;
- I do like variety but there is a limit. Owning too many items is overwhelming for me. At the same time I am no makeup minimalist nor do I aspire to be one.
- Due to excess, many of my items had expired or become ancient without being worn much at all. It just feels so wasteful.
- I’m not a makeup artist anymore and do not need every colour or product category under the sun.
- I hate not being able to repurchase a favourite item. Of course products can be discontinued or brands can go out of business but limited edition releases are exactly that, limited. I also want to be able to recommend product I like to others without a time-limit.
These truths inform something about my purchasing behaviour moving forward;
- I was never a full-on makeup collector to begin with but I did have a bit of a collectors mentality when it came to certain brands. However, I do no longer desire to acquire makeup like that. I do not want to own things for the sake of owning them, I want to have products that I use or can see myself using regularly. I do not need the same shade from five different brands and I do not need shades for other people other than myself. So no more collecting!
- Products have a limited shelf-life. Of course I knew that before but the audit really highlighted the fact in a blunt way. I’ve always seen my powder items as long lasting and that is in a sense true since they last vastly longer compared to their cream or liquid counterparts. But now when I went through eyeshadow after eyeshadow I noticed how old they actually were. Many were more than 10 years old! And I’ve barely used some of them since I had too much stuff to choose from. I have also discarded many shadows during the audit due to smelling off and performing differently than when I first got them. A category where I really have to consider this aspect is lipsticks. I love a variety of shades and finishes but I only have one mouth and seven days a week (and I do not wear makeup every day anyway).
- I miss the days when I had an intense relationship with a specific product or shade, like I did back in the day when I owned fewer items and also had less money that could be used for buying makeup. I do not long for a sparse arsenal but I do long for a used arsenal. I want to get back to the feeling of knowing the names of shadows by heart. Less can be more in that sense.
- I care more about the quality of the packaging than I used to. Aesthetics and function are key points of value along with having favourable feelings about a brand and how it acts in the world. I do not have any set parameters for how I judge that but go on gut instinct.
- I currently prefer owning eyeshadows as single pans in compacts/palettes that I can modify myself. I would like to avoid buying fixed palettes except when there is a specific brand/creator I want to support or if a palette is so damn unique and/or exciting that I just cannot help myself. But I will definitely be mindful of why I want it and have a look at what I own before buying new shades, that is goes for palettes and singles alike.
- I want to avoid limited edition items. I used to chase every limited edition release. Nowadays I am a bit turned off when something is limited. I want to find firm favourites that I can replace when I run out. I want my swatches and opinions on a product to be of use for others and not be irrelevant in six months time.
- Some types of products are simply not for me. I do not need any bronzers or false lashes. A very limited arsenal of liquid liners, eye pencils and highlighters is enough. I do not need to cater to anyone else’s taste and face but my own.
Purchasing behaviour moving forward
I never had the intention to stop buying makeup or have a minimal arsenal. That was not the purpose with the project and I feel the same now that it is over. But I want to be mindful of what newness I bring into my life. I only have one face. Knowing that I still own an abundance of items, even after this audit, I will consider the following points before purchasing something new;
- Do I already own this from another brand? Back in the day, I often bought duplicates of shades from different brands just because I was in a collector mindset. Nothing wrong with that, but I want to avoid it moving forward.
- What is the shelf-life? Will I get much use out of it before it expires?
- Is it a permanent item?
- Can it be substituted with something else that I already own? Two different products do not have to be colour-dupes to be able to perform a similar function.
- And the one one that can trump all of the above – Does the thought of trying and using this product make me really really excited? If the answer is yes, that is something to take note of since it is unusual these days. It might be a launch from Lisa Eldridge or a collab with a creator I want to support. Or maybe it is an intriguing new brand that I want to check out and form an opinion on. I used to get excited for specific brands, collections and makeup looks more often back in the day, but now I rarely get excited for new things. But when this does happen I do not see a problem to act on the urge as long as I choose somewhat wisely when I do.
Makeup for me is a bringer of joy. I love feeling enamoured with an item or a colour but that love only comes into fruition when I actually use the items regularly. I do not want the beautiful shadows to collect dust and go bad. I want to wear them! I want them to be tools to create beauty on my face. I want to be inspired by shapes, shades and the emotion they create together with a great outfit. I want to yet again create inspired by films, art, nature, people I admire and fashion (present and past).
This project was vast but meaningful. I am glad the projects is concluded and the result is a reward that will last for a very long time.
If you made it this far, I applaud you!
Thank you for reading!
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Lip liners – a shade comparison of MAC and Lisa Eldridge
When decluttering my old MAC liners I did a swatch comparison between them and the similar shades from my more recently purchased liners by Lisa Eldridge (LE). I started purchasing LE liners to replace my old MAC ones but discovered that most of them were not colour dupes as I had initially anticipated. But some are functional dupes i.e close enough in colour to provide the same function. In this post I want to share swatch comparisons of the similar shades from the two brands but also share swatches of all of my Lisa Eldridge liners. All with the hope of providing some picture guidance if anyone else is considering purchasing any of these liners and could be helped by seeing them swatched side by side on my skin tone.
Liner comparison – MAC and Lisa Eldridge (LE) Morning did not replace Redd as anticipated. Morning is brighter and more vividly warm. Redd is more subtle overall and I could see myself purchasing it again in the future if I notice a need for it. I’m a sporadic liner wearer but usually use liners specifically with reds and darker shades when I want a more precise or impactful look. They are therefore useful but not a necessary part of my everyday makeup usage. The purpose filled by Cherry and Beet is now occupied by Ribbon, Duchess and even Myth. Burgundy is a shade that nothing really compares to but I included swatches of Decade and Midnight for reference. I do like Burgundy a lot and will consider picking it up again in the near future. It is stunning on its own but it also plays well with many of my more muted lip shades. Brick is also in a league of its own but I’m not sure I currently need a shade like it. I was sure that Midnight would replace Nightmoth but the are more cousins, Nightmoth being more muted and grungy. I have recently repurchased Nightmoth though. It is great for deep and dramatic looks and I wanted it in my life again.
The formula differ between the two as well. The MAC liner in its classic wooden pencil format is drier and harder formula. But not hard to use mind you. It does not glide on the way the LE liners do but I have never found them difficult to apply. Both liners have great longevity on me and if I had to choose I do prefer the sturdier MAC liners. I feel like I have even more control and find it easier to be precise with them on my thinner lips. But since I do not have to choose and gladly enjoy both brands and the shades they offer.
Swatches of the Enhance and Define Lip Pencils by Lisa Eldridge 
Lisa Eldridge Enhance and Define Lip Pencils My most used liner by Lisa Eldridge is Muse and it is because it is my oldest. You can even see that the packaging is shinier than the rest of the pencils. I purchased it as part of a Muse-set and thought it would be a great neutral lip liner for me. In truth it is just ok. Muse as a shade of liner is a tad too light and peachy for my taste. When I compare swatches of the Velvet Muse lipstick side by side with the liner, the liner is visibly warmer in tone and the lipstick is more rosy. I prefer to wear Velvet Muse without a liner anyway so I will not repurchase the Muse liner when it goes off. I hope Lisa creates a neutral to cool mid brown liner in the future that I can use as my base line for ‘my lips but better’ looks but until then I manage just fine without. Affair and Sorcery are also too warm for me. The Velvet Affair lipstick was a poor purchase on my part but I love the Velvet Sorcery lipstick, but the Sorcery liner is not a winner. The same is true for Sorcery as with Muse, the liner is warmer than the lipstick. And for me that is not great. All of the other liner shades works great for me with their respective lipstick and I use them in conjunction with those shades mainly. Blush is a shade that I also enjoy using to push shades that feel too warm in a cooler direction. But alas, I am a sparse liner wearer and I am sure these liners are capable of more than I currently use them for. But they are fairly new and I look forward to flexing their abilities in the coming years.
I hope this post was helpful and that it aided someone in their decision to buy or not to buy any of these liners.
Thanks for reading!
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Nail polish audit – The Twelve:20
When spring arrived it had some effect on my choices of candidates for my ongoing nail polish audit project. These twelve polishes were worn from early March until the end of May. Two by OPI and one each by Chanel, Crows Toes, Formula X, Illamasqua, Barry M, Depend, Mentality, MAC, Pahlish and Zoya.
Hell yes!
MAC – Breezy Blue 
Illamasqua – Milf 
Pahlish – Forest of the Dead 
Chanel – Rouge Radical (530) 
OPI – Don’t Touch My Tutu 
Barry M – Spring Green Maybe
Formula X – Catalyst Hell no!
Depend – 352 Pretty shade but there is not much left in the tiny bottle. It has served its purpose.
OPI – Houston We Have a Purple This is simply not a shade for me. I bought it because it was a jelly polish and those were not easy to come by at that point. But I do not like it on me and therefore will never use it.
Zoya – Dhara This orange is not a great shade for me and the PixieDust finish feels dated and has done so for years.
Mentality – Jody I have other similar shades that suit me better and that I have more feelings for.
Crows Toes – Sweet as Sugar, Cold as Ice… Beautiful but the formula is getting very thick. I do not use glitter toppers often enough to warrant keeping this, however beautiful it is.
So to conclude this round of The Twelve I ended up with six keepers, one maybe, and five hell noes.
Thank you for reading!
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A Makeup Audit Tale: lip products part 3
I did a massive two part clear out of my lip products right when I started my audit project in 2019 (you can find part 1 here and part 2 here). Mainly old items that had expired but also shades I knew I did not love. The collectors mentality that I was affected by before is now replaced with the desire to have a lipstick wardrobe of a size that gives me options to chose from but is small enough so that I can wear them all regularly.
I started the audit with 84 lip colour products in October 2019 and ended up with with a total collection of 34 items a month later. Those 13 lipsticks, five lip crayons, seven liquid lipsticks and nine lip pencils were then worn from November 2019 up until May 2020, a month when I started adding some new shades. Since then I have splurged on oh so many Lisa Eldridge lip products. I’ve bought a large selection of her lipsticks/liners divided on several different launches. I’ve also bought or otherwise acquired some fun lip shades from H&M Beauty, La Bouche Rouge, Illamasqua, Surratt, Byredo, MAC and Chanel. Right now I’m at 13 liners, three lipglosses, two crayons and 54 lipsticks. Those shades, that I have and use today, are mainly made up of the new acquirements. It is an baffling amount and think I am at the limit of what I prefer to own.
This post will be my last instalment of the lip part of my makeup audit project. It includes shades that I stopped using for one reason or another between my latest declutter in 2019 up until the end of 2022. It will also include some lip products bought after I started my audit project since I am not immune to making bad purchases despite being a bit wiser.
I must confess that I normally use a lip product until it goes off. But this time I went mainly on age. Most of these items were very old but still in use since they smelled and looked just fine despite their age. The Revlon matte crayons were from 2014 and the Chanel lipsticks were from 2016 and none of those have shown signs of going off (still to this day) but I was becoming uncomfortable using them any longer. A few of the oldest lip products – some of the liners from MAC – started to smell a bit off and that was my cue to take a hard look on the older items.
In todays post I will go through each item that I’m letting go of accompanied by a little note on our time together.
Pillow Talk, Goldstone, Garden Party, Sultry, L’Exubérante 
Lip Cheat in Pillow Talk by Charlotte Tilbury The Pillow Talk liner was purchased in the Charlotte Tilbury shop in Covent Garden in early 2017. The shade was very hyped at that moment and I was interested partly because of that. I wore it for a while and liked it just fine but as the years passed I felt it was too light for me. I simply did not enjoy wearing it. But I kept it anyway and then it went off last year. This is not a shade I would consider buying again but I have nothing against the formula of the Lip Cheat so another shade might be in my future. Who knows?
Fantastick in Goldstone by LH Cosmetics This product and shade was a favourite for a few years and I used it up. I did repurchase another one in 2020 but that turned out to be a mistake. I did not enjoy the shade as much as I did before and stopped reaching for it over time. A tad too glossy for my taste nowadays.
Lip Colour-to-go in Garden Party by H&M Beauty This pink shade is another well loved item that I have just stopped enjoying wearing. I have nearly used it up but now I find this fruity pink to be a bit too glossy for my liking. I do have a brown shade in this formula that I still adore using called When In Rome.
Colourburst Matte Balm in Sultry by Revlon The matte crayons were picked up abroad in 2014. Sultry was a great shade and I have used it a lot over the years. These are not available anymore or else I might consider repurchasing some shades.
Rouge Allure Velvet in L’Exubérante (37) by Chanel This one is possibly from 2016-2017 but I do not remember. It could be older. I have worn this sparingly and if I want to wear a pink this popping I tend to prefer Skyscraper Rose by Lisa Eldridge. I checked the Chanel website and this specific shade is no longer available.
Redd, Striking, Cherry, Rouge Feu, Besos, 01 
Lip pencil in Redd by MAC Cosmetics Redd is my oldest and therefore most worn lip pencil. It predates 2014 that is for sure. A great pencil in a great shade. I would consider repurchasing in the future. I tried replacing Redd with the Morning liner from Lisa Eldridge, but they are not dupes.
Colorburst Matte Balm in Striking by Revlon This picture does not do this magnificent colour justice. It is a stunning soft and light red shade and the pigmentation was perfection. I believed the product to be discontinued but a quick google showed this shade as available on a few sites. However Revlon does not show the Colorburst Matte Balms on their official website at all anymore so I’m a bit sceptic that it might be older stock still in circulation. If it was a permanent item I would repurchase.
Lip liner in Cherry by MAC Cosmetics Cherry is Redd’s cooler counterpart. It’s old but not as old as Redd. I’ve worn it quite a lot and I have nothing bad to say about this pencil. I do have a few cooler red pencils by Lisa Eldridge now that fills the purpose that Cherry did before, despite not being colour dupes.
Rouge Allure Velvet in Rouge Feu (57) by Chanel This lipstick is from 2016 and I have worn it so much the past few years. I retired it due to old age but it still smelled and looked just fine when I put it away as well as when I put it on for this photo. Ever since I’ve retired it, maybe a year ago, I’ve been thinking about repurchasing this specific shade again. And in the end of June I picked it up when I visited Gothenburg. Ever since I misplaced my Velvet Morning lipstick (Lisa Eldridge) I felt like I was missing a bright warmer red and now I am reunited with Rouge Feu.
Cream lipstick in Besos by H&M Beauty This lipstick was purchased alongside several others from the same brand in November 2021. After wearing it a few times I knew I had made a bad choice. I do not love a red in this creamy pigmented formula. The colour is nice but it is too glossy.
Cream Lip Stain in 01 by Sephora This liquid lipstick is from 2017 and I have gotten a lot of wear out of it over the years. It is a stunning red shade and a good formula that is quite easy to apply. I’m content being without a liquid lipstick at the moment so I do not see myself repurchasing anytime soon. But Lisa Eldridge just released her version called Velveteens and that might be a more fun option to try if I get the urge for a liquid lip in the future.
Rouge Vie, 17, Brick, Curtain Call, Rouge Audace, 27 
Rouge Allure Velvet in Rouge Vie (58) by Chanel I adore Rouge Vie and this is one, like Rouge Feu, that I recently opted to repurchase because I missed it and it was still available. This soft muted red is very versatile either blotted down or worn full on and I have used it a lot over the years, especially since I started my audit project and had a smaller lip arsenal for a while.
Cream Lip Stain in 17 by Sephora I’ve loved wearing this shade of the lip stain and especially as a blotted stain with blurred edges rather than full on as applied in this picture. Great shade over all and I would have loved it as a normal lipstick. However since I repurchased Rouge Vie I think the slot has been filled even though they are not exactly the same.
Lip liner in Brick by MAC Cosmetics Brick is a great colour and I have nothing like it at the moment. But I am unsure if I need a liner in this colour. Only time will tell. If I feel like I am missing a shade like this in the future I would definitely consider repurchasing Brick.
Lip Colour-to-go in Curtain Call by H&M Beauty This one was a really bad performer and I only wore it two times after buying it in November 2021. It was so dry and applied so patchy. Not all of the matte crayons are bad though. I own a orange red one from the same brand called Hot-Blooded that is creamy and applies nicely. But Curtain Call was a dud and formula inconsistencies does make me wary to try more shades in this formula from H&M Beauty.
Rouge Allure Velvet in Rouge Audace (59) by Chanel Rouge Audace, sweet Rouge Audace. How I wish I could replace you! This is the third and final Chanel lipstick from 2016 and this one is sadly not part of the permanent collection. Chanel recently (?) did a shade extension of the Rouge Allure Velvet formula but unfortunately Rouge Audace was not a part of it. This darker brown red was oh so beautiful to create looks with and it will be missed.
Cream Lip Stain in 27 by Sephora 27 is another liquid lipstick that I would love to own in a regular matte lipstick formula. I remember trying to replace it when I bought Worship Her by Byredo in November 2021 but the effect is not the same. But now I feel like I have enough dark lipsticks that I have no need to continue searching for a replacement for this specific shade.
Beet, Fiery, Burgundy, Nightmoth, 103, 104, 29 
Lip liner in Beet by MAC Cosmetics This liner is of unknown age but old for sure. The colour is pretty but I feel like I have enough cool red lip liners (Ribbon and Duchess) from Lisa Eldridge and feel well equipped in that department.
Colorburst Matte Balm in Fiery by Revlon Another lip shade I sort of wish I could replace. Gorgeous and so comfortable on the lips. But I have other berry shades I can wear instead so the urge is not super prominent. As with Striking, this was from 2016 and I am letting it go due to age only.
Lip liner in Burgundy by MAC Cosmetics Burgundy is a liner that I picked up in 2014. Looking at this picture makes me realise what a great colour this is for me. I will most likely repurchase this one in the near future since I have nothing like it at the moment I I think I will get great use out if it if I have it.
Lip liner in Nightmoth by MAC Cosmetics Nightmoth is a liner that I recently have repurchased. I just found it very useful for darker and more dramatic lip looks and missed it when this first one was deemed too old.
Cream Lip Stain in 103 by Sephora 
Cream Lip Stain in 104 by Sephora 
Cream Lip Stain in 29 by Sephora These pictures does not do the shades justice since they were the last ones to be worn after removing all of the other lip swatches. My makeup in the mouth area was pretty beat up at this point and the rest of the face was barely hanging in there as well. With dramatic colours such as these I would also had preferred to wear a base that evened out my skin tone even more, to make the colours stand out in a better way. But alas, here were are. I am going to talk about these together since I bought them at the same time in mid 2018 and they occupy the same place in my mind. These were my ‘fun shades’ and I wore them on and off when I wanted something a bit off key. But these past few years they have been mainly untouched and the last time I wore one of them I just felt like they had played their part but it was time to let them go. I will not miss them but who knows what the future holds?
So these 24 lip products are out and three of them have been repurchased. My oldest lip products still in use at this point are two pink lipsticks from Lisa Eldridge and three Powder Kiss lipsticks by MAC that I picked up in the first half of 2019. I feel very happy that this part of the audit is complete. Removing really old stuff and duds is very satisfying. I’m now going to continue to use the beautiful lip products of varying age that I still own until they too are too old to continue using. I might add a shade here or there but I have a very vast and solid arsenal at this point and I love it.
Thank you for reading!
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Nail polish audit – The Twelve:19
Twelve more shades have been evaluated in my ongoing nail polish audit project. These twelve polishes were worn from the start of January until early March. Two by A England, Crows Toes and China Glaze respectively and one each by IsaDora, Nail Pattern Boldness, OPI, F.U.N Laquer, Pahlish and Zoya.
Hell yes!
China Glaze – Prey Tell 
Crows Toes – Me & This Army 
F.U.N Laquer- Lavender (H) 
Pahlish – Valley of Ashes 
Nail Pattern Boldness – Hello, Sweetie 
A England – Dragon 
A England – Jane Morris 
Zoya – Sansa Maybe
No maybes this time around.
Hell no!
China Glaze- Smoke and Ashes It’s not really anything wrong with the shade but I find it a bit pointless to keep. I prefer wearing other black shades compared to this one so I might as well let it go.
OPI – Get Cherried Away (mini) Nothing wrong with the shade on me in theory, it’s just not to my taste.
Crows Toes – Niflheim Niflheim is a stunning polish but it has sadly dried up too much and I cannot save it. I managed to paint my nails on one hand for these pictures but that is about it.
IsaDora – Forest An ok polish but I have no feelings for it whatsoever so it can go.
So to conclude this round of The Twelve I ended up with eight keepers and four hell noes.
Thank you for reading!
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The Used Up 2022:2
Another year has passed and it is time to do the second and last instalment of the Used Up. In this post I will go through all of the makeup and skincare items that were used up by me during the second half of 2022, July through December. In those six months I managed to finish a total of 12 items and out of those only 4 were makeup products. As per usual I’m not including all beauty consumables in this bi-annual post. Categories not included are body care, nail care, haircare or any type of SPF (unless it is a skincare/makeup item that just happens to have SPF in it). I still prefer not to track those categories in any way.
I want to highlight some things about my skin that can be useful to know before reading my opinions on these products. I have dehydrated combination skin and I am noticing my skin changing a lot because of ageing (I’m 41) so I am slowly adjusting my routine to its evolving needs. I still get the occasional breakout and can get quite shiny during the day. My skin rarely reacts badly to products and I have no allergies.
Let’s dive in!
Cleansers
My current routine: I use a cream cleanser or something similar in the morning before skincare/makeup and then I use two cleansers in the evening. One oil/balm as a first step in removing makeup and/or sunscreen and then I go in with a second round with the same cleanser that I used in the morning. I usually have 2-3 cleansers in action at any given moment.
Let’s start with a recurring favourite. I purchased the Golden Amber Probiotic Cleansing Balm (125 ml, 399 SEK) by M Picaut shortly after it was released and this was my second tube. I love everything about this product I will for sure keep on repurchasing it.
This tube of the Glow Mud Cleanser by Pixi (135 ml, 279 SEK) is the first time I tried it but I do have another one in use now. I enjoy using this specific cleanser in the shower. I massage it in on damp skin and wait 30 seconds, as instructed, and then use a cloth to wipe it away. I find it effective yet never drying. I am really bad at exfoliating my skin as frequent as I could/should (i.e would benefit from) and this cleanser somewhat picks up some slack in that department. The tube lasts me a good while and I see this as a staple product at this point.
Then we have one bottle of Bioderma Sensibio Make-up removing micelle solution (250 ml, around 100 SEK). This was a staple product for a while, last mentioned in The Used Up 2020:2, and it took me two years to use the last bottle up. I practically stopped using it on my face on a regular basis and only used it to remove the odd pigmented lipstick or arm swatches of the more stubborn kind. I might repurchase someday for that purpose but I am not sure at this point.
Toner & mists
My current routine: I always have a hydrating spray that I use after cleansing but before serums. Sometimes I use a toner as a complement, either a hydrating one or an exfoliator. In the evenings I also like to use a more nourishing spray (with oils) as a last comforting step.
The Hydrating Water (100 ml, 349 SEK) by M Picaut was what I chose to pick up when I realised I could not get my favourite hydrating mist by Josh Rosebrook anymore. The Swedish reseller at the time never did restock it. I do like this M Picaut product, it does its job well, but not as much as the Hydrating Accelerator by Josh Rosebrook. The glass bottle does make me a bit nervous as well. It is quite heavy and I’m always a bit wary about dropping it in the bathroom and ruining the sink or the tiled floor. The bottle can be repurposed as a vase though and will save this bottle for that purpose. I have bought another bottle of the Hydrating Water and it is currently in use but when I run out I will pick up the Hydrating Accelerator again since I just found it at a new (to me anyway) Swedish webshop – Caeleste.
The Collagen Tonic by Pixi (100 ml, 179 SEK) was a spontaneous purchase in 2021. But I did enjoy using it a lot more than anticipated and swiftly purchased a new bottle when I ran out. The tonic smells lovely and make my skin feel nicely hydrated. I use it as an essence, applied and patted in with my hands and then I layer serums on top. A hydration sandwich! I have another bottle in use currently. I have continued buying the smaller bottles but the product is available in a 250 ml bottle as well.
Essence & serums
My current routine: I like to use a hydrating serum 1-2 times a day and it is a core item. I also dabble with more treatment focused serums but I’m more irregular with those.
This is no surprise. Another bottle of the Hyaluronic Super Serum (30 ml, 359-495 SEK) by Acasia. This is my third empty bottle this year, see my initial post The Used Up 2022:1, and I nearly finished a fourth one before 2022 was over. I still use it morning and night and I have nothing bad to say about it. I will buy a new one soon.
Moisturisers & oils
My current routine: I use a variety of creams depending on what my skin needs. In the morning after serums I like to put on a basic moisturiser before adding SPF and/or a primer. I have lighter and heavier creams (I’m using the term heavy lightly here – I have combination skin after all) and adjust the combination according to seasonal variations like the climate outdoors/indoors. For daytime the goal is to have a face base that does not pill or look patchy when I apply makeup on top. In the evening I like to use a more robust and comforting cream since I do not need to worry about the makeup bit. I use an eye cream both morning and evening and the main goal is to hydrate the skin without stinging my eyes or melting my mascara. I use oils sparingly but I like to have one on hand for facial massages or as an extra comforting layer when my skin needs it.
Let’s start with a rather new favourite. I initially purchased the Rose Quartz Supreme Rich Cream by M Picaut (50 ml, 749 SEK) to use as a night cream but I also use it in the daytime during the autumn/winter months. You can read a bit more about my thoughts after finishing my first bottle here. I have another one in use right now and I will repurchase when I run out. I really really like it.
The Lait-Crème Concentré (75 ml, 269 SEK) by Embryolisse is a newer acquaintance as well. I say newer since this is my first tube but I did buy it as far back as December 2020. It lasted me two years and during those years I used it in two different ways. Initially I picked it up to be used as a moisturiser during the colder months. So that first winter I did use it for that purpose. Then I started wearing the Rose Quartz cream by M Picaut during the day the following winter and have continued on with that ever since. So I tried using the Embryolisse cream more like a hydrating primer and my skin loved it. I apply it over whatever skincare I am wearing as an extra priming step before makeup. It does contain perfume and it has a distinct scent, but oh how I adore that scent. For anyone interested the product can be found in a perfume-free version as well but in a 100 ml tube.
Base makeup
I wrote at length about these in my last The Used Up post, including swatches. It’s the HD Studio Photogenic Concealer (3 g, 109 SEK) by NYX in the shades Alabaster (CW 00) and Green (CW12). I like working with this formula and use them every time I do my makeup. Alabaster under the eye and Green as a targeted colour corrector or as a mixer for other base products to make them a shade closer to my skin tone. I have repurchased both shades and consider them as staples. But I must say I am a bit keen on trying similar products from other brands during 2023, just for fun. It is always fun to try new things and compare them to old favourites.
Mascara & brows
No one is surprised to see the Relevée Mascara (6 g, 320 SEK) by Surratt Beauty in this post. I switched to this in mid 2020 and have used it ever since. As mentioned in previous posts I do not think it’s the perfect tubing mascara since it does smudge a bit on me. A bit more than I enjoy. But I’m still not overly keen on searching for a new one just yet. I have another tube of Relevée in use at the moment and after that, who knows?
Moving on to another product by Surratt, the Expressioniste Brow Pomade (5 g, 350 SEK) in Clear. I love this brow product. It does exactly what I want it to do, keep my brows in place without leaving them feeling stiff and looking crusty. The pomade is undetectable once it is dry and this is the only brow product that has managed to put my brows in their place so to speak. The packaging was previously the same colour and design, albeit a slight difference in size, as the Relevée mascara. But when I repurchased the brow pomade last time I noticed that Surratt had made the wise decision to differentiate them. The brow pomade is now in an oil spill coloured tube and it is so much easier to tell them apart.
2022 empties wrap-up
As I now wrap up the year of 2022 in numbers I also want to take the opportunity to look even further back and compare those numbers with the previous three years. I did the same thing at the end of 2021. Below you can see the numbers from 2021, 2020 and 2019 in brackets where applicable.
To summarise this year I managed to use up:
- 5 cleansers (9, 11, 8)
- 1 toner (1, 1, 0)
- 1 face mist (3, 3, 5)
- 3 essences/serums (8, 8, 11)
- 0 eye creams (1, 2, 1)
- 4 face creams (2, 5, 4)
- 1 oil (1, 1, 0)
- 0 masks (2, 1, 2)
- 0 spot treatments (1, 0, 0)
- 4 concealers (1, 4, 1)
- 2 colour correctors (1, 0, 0)
- 1 foundation (2, 2, 3)
- 2 powders (1, 2, 3)
- 2 mascaras (3, 4, 2)
- 2 brow tamers (1, 4, 1)
- 2 eye primers (1, 1, 1)
- 1 lipstick (2, 1, 0)
- 1 eye liner (0)
That is a total of 32 skincare and makeup products compared to 40 in 2021, 55 in 2020 and 49 in 2019. The value of these products (if they were to be purchased at full price) is around 10 000 SEK (the same as 2021 and compared to 13 500 SEK in 2020 and 2019). So 2022 consisted of fewer yet more expensive items on a whole. All of these specific items were not purchased in one year and some were gifts from friends/family and many were bought with a discount. Obviously I have loads of items, mainly makeup, that I will never use up and that will never end up in a post like this. I’m not doing these round-ups to track how much I spend but rather to highlight to myself the “worth” of the products I actually use up in one year. It shows how I spend my money on certain consumables and it gives food for thought. The average cost per item is 250 SEK and spread out over 12 months it lands at approximately 835 SEK per month compared to 1100 SEK per month in 2020.
I’m glad that I’ve found so many core favourites over the years. Products from varying price points that do their job so well that I buy them again and again. It is also very satisfying to know that I use up most of the skincare items that I buy before they go bad. The only area where I could improve my usage is masks. I own some lovely masks but I am not in the habit of using them very often. In 2023 we will see an accumulated heap of empty masks I think, several years in the making.
Thanks for reading!
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Nail polish audit – The Twelve:18
These are the latest twelve shades to be evaluated in my ongoing nail polish audit project. These twelve polishes were worn from the middle of October until the end of 2022. Three by Zoya and OPI respectively and one each from A England, Darling Diva Polish, Powder Perfect, China Glaze, Indigo Bananas and Enchanted Polish.
Hell yes!
OPI – German-icure by OPI 
Powder Perfect -Ensorcel 
Indigo Bananas – Anansi 
Zoya – Kelly 
Zoya – Evvie 
Zoya – Natty 
Enchanted Polish – Groovy Ghoul 
China Glaze – Mind the Gap Maybe
Darling Diva Polish – Cast a Spell Cast a Spell is pretty but I’m just unsure of how much I would wear it moving forward. There is somehing that is attractive about it but when i get it on my nails it just feels so so.
OPI – Call Me Gwen-ever Another pretty shade but I’m torn. It’s an interesting muted shade but it is not my favourite to wear. So into the abyss of “Maybe” it goes for now.
A England – The Blessed Damozel I’m not sure about this one. A metellic dark purple just does not float my boat anymore, but I’m hesitant to get rid of A England shades in general. My younger self would have loved this one (the late 90’s version of Sofia). It can stay in the Maybe pile until further notice.
Hell no!
OPI – A Womans Prague-ative I just do not like the way this his gilded orange polish look on me.
So to conclude this round I ended up with eight keepers, three maybes and one single hell no.
Thanks for reading!
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Nail polish audit – The Twelve:17
Today I’m going to present to you the 17th post in my nail polish audit project. The concept of the project is as follows; I’m choosing twelve shades at the time to wear and evaluate. No time limit. Shades are either a clear keeper (Hell yes!), need-to-think-more-about-it-when-I’m-done-with-the-audit (Maybe) or obvious discards for various reasons (Hell no!). When those twelve have been worn and judged I pick twelve new. Easy concept.
These twelve polishes were worn from the beginning of August until the beginning of October. Two from OPI, China Glaze, Darling Diva Polish, Mentality and one each from Barry M, Zoya, H&M Beauty and Essie.
Hell yes!
Darling Diva Polish – BEWBS!! 
OPI – I Just Can’t Cope-acabana 
China Glaze – Tart-y For the Party 
Zoya – Dream 
Barry M – Mint Green Maybe
China Glaze – Fancy Pants This is an ok polish and the colour is unlike anything I have. But I’m just not sure it is a shade that I love wearing enough to warrant keeping it.
OPI – I Don’t Give A Rotterdam! Another ok polish. I am not nuts about it but I do not dislike it either. However I suspect that I have several similar shades that I like more so I want to compare it to them before deciding.
Essie – Shake your $$ maker I’m very torn about this Essie polish. This is a great colour, an amazing green, but the formula is just not up to par. I generally love a good jelly but this needs an unreasonable amount of coats to look good. It dries matte which is not a problem in itself since it can easily be fixed with a shiny top coat. But I’m bothered that it takes forever to put on and frankly I do not think it looks very even in the end anyway. My initial thought was to let it go, but when I saw this picture it felt wrong not to keep it. I am so drawn to the “dream” version of this shade of a jelly that I am not able to let it go just yet.
Hell no!
Mentality – Duality I’m not entirely sure what I was thinking when I bought this polish. I think I wanted to try something new but I have not worn it much over the years.
Mentality – Doublet The same with this other polish from Mentality. I would never choose to wear it nowadays.
H&M Beauty – Sunny Snowdrop I feel that Sunny Snowdrop looks too cutesy on me. The shade is very close in depth and colour to my skin tone and the gold shimmer is too prominent for my liking. This polish will look great on someone else.
Darling Diva Polish – GTO This one is a stunning polish but it has sadly dried out. Otherwise I would have kept it.
So to conclude this round I ended up with five keepers, three maybe and four hell noes. It feels great to get rid of the ones that do not excite me anymore. And hopefully the ones in good shape can find a new life with friends and family.
Thanks for reading!