Well, it’s March already.  Unbelievable!  It feels like we just celebrated New Year’s.

This month, I want to finally finish all my inventory posts and then go through what I’ve bought this year so I can set up clearer parameters for my no-buy.  But first, some motivation in the form of an empties post!

These are the empties from Chicago.  They’re mostly foil packet samples that I got in my last Sephora order (none were for me in that order, though!  They were Christmas presents for Krystal and Jackie).  I also finished the Nivea body lotion I bought last year in NYC because I had forgotten to pack one and my skin is notoriously dry.  I don’t know whether to count the Nivea as a full size even though it’s technically a travel size, but it’s a a big travel size!  (I cut the tube open to get the last bits of lotion out, so it’s half as big as it was before.)

The lines are blurry when it comes to deluxe vs. travel size, so I might need to re-work those rules and definitions. Maybe 2 travel size = 1 full size, and 3 deluxe sample size = 1 full size?  There is a difference between travel and deluxe sample size, right?  Ugh, I don’t know, I’m tired.  I’ll just leave it as it is.

When I decided to be impulsive and stay in Chicago for two extra nights, I ended up finishing this shampoo and conditioner duo.  I had taken the empties picture on Thursday, when I thought I had to pack to go home.  Then I decided to stay, and I had two more empties to add!  Hooray!

These are the rest of the empties from home.  I’ve had that seaweed mattifying day cream for longer than I care to admit.  The VS lotion was a Christmas gift, and I really liked the scent (as did a lot of my co-workers).  The Givenchy lip gloss, I’m going to toss because it’s getting old, and I don’t like the perfume-y rose scent it has.

Not pictured: I gave my mini UD Greed primer potion to Jackie, and my Crown pencil brush to Krystal because I have two ecoTools brushes with a similar shape that I like better.

February’s count:
Full size: 3
Travel size: 5
Sample size: 6

Year-to-date:
Full size: 15
Travel size: 8
Sample size: 7

Not bad for the first 2 months of the year!

** UPDATE: As requested by Keyana (she’s also doing a downsizing project, check out her blog!), a little something about each of these…

Sephora Brand Age Defy Moisture Cream – I didn’t really like this moisturizer.  It was too thick and it felt (and smelt!) too much like sunscreen.  Good thing there was only a little bit to get through.  I also didn’t like it because it squished in my quart-sized carry-on liquids bag, so that’s another bias against it, even though it was my fault for not wrapping it up first because it had already been torn open.

Murad Hydro Dynamic Ultra Moisture – This was nice.  It was such a relief to put this on after washing my face, especially because the apartment in Evanston was so dry.  I wish I had a bigger sample of this so I could have more to say about this, but oh well.

Nivea Soft lotion – Like I already mentioned, I bought this in NYC last year.  Not much to say about it, other than it does what it’s supposed to do.  I also like that it doesn’t smell like much, so it won’t compete or interfere with any perfume.

First Aid Beauty Face Cleanser – I like that this didn’t foam a lot, but it still left my face feeling clean.  It also didn’t dry out my face either, so that’s a plus.

Oscar Blandi Jasmine Smoothing Shampoo and Conditioner – These were nice and they smelled good too.  The only thing I didn’t like was that the conditioner was really thick, and it made it hard to get it out of the bottle.  It’s a hard plastic bottle, so I couldn’t squeeze it out very well.  I ended up turning it upside down and leaving it in the shower so everything could slide to the top.

The Body Shop Seaweed Mattifying Day Cream – I liked to use this on days where I wasn’t going to be out in the sun for a long period of time.  It smells nice, and it does a pretty good job of controlling the oil.  I honestly don’t know if my face is usually oily or not, because it’s so humid here.  In Chicago, it was so dry and flaky, I got annoyed and stopped wearing makeup because I could always see flakes of dry skin everywhere, no matter how much I moisturized.  Sigh.  Winter skin problems that I don’t usually deal with in Hawaii!

Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy is a bit too sweet-smelling for my tastes.  Marc Jabobs Daisy is okay, but I wouldn’t buy a full size.  Chanel Allure is actually the men’s cologne, and I got a sample of it because Albert said he liked it and I wanted to know what it smelled like so I could be reminded of him. :P

Givenchy lip gloss – It’s a really pretty color, but I don’t like the smell of it.  It’s too synthetic for my tastes.  It’s also getting old and I never use it.  It was a GWP or a free sample, so no big loss.

Victoria’s Secret Lost in Fantasy body lotion – I really like this scent, but it’s been discontinued.  Oh well.

I know this post was poorly organized, and I promise to do better next month. :)