Here's Everything I Finished In May

When I decided to add an empties post, at least every other month, I figured I should ask if people even, well, read them. I love reading empties posts when I run across them. In general, the idea of them is good. 

So often, blogging can be only about buying new and consumerism. About collecting and collecting and collecting. It can be really overwhelming. Sometimes I find myself wanting to buy something simply to buy it, because someone else has it and gosh, it looks lovely in photos, doesn't it? But I have so much stuff, especially in the way of beauty products. 

I ran a poll on both Twitter and Instagram. I posted the results on Twitter. It was a pretty close split, honestly, of those who read posts about empties and those who don't. Even though technically "no, I don't read them" won... I decided to still write this post. Because I want you to know that I'm not always buying new beauty products. In fact, the last beauty product I bought was a new foundation (to replace the one I used up featured in this post) and a new lipstick that was at Marshall's. 

Without further ado, let's dive in and talk about everything I finished up in May. 

I set myself the task of finishing up a bunch of small samples I had lying around. Those include: 

1. KORRES Wild Rose 24-Hour Moisturizer 

I got this moisturizer sample about a year ago? If I am remembering correctly. I got it in a Sephora order where I got a whole bundle of around 30 samples, which was exciting but took me forever to work through. This was the last sample I had and I finally set to using it up. It's a pretty decent moisturizer, but it is very heavy... so I only used it at night. I found it made my skin feel quite greasy; plus, it is very, very scented (which I know doesn't work for some people). I'm glad to be done with it! 

2. KORRES Pomegranate AHA Mask

I received this in my Chic VoxBox. You can read my whole review here; my impression there still stands. 

3. Purlisse Blue Lotus Seed Mask

I received this mask in my January Ipsy bag and it's been one of my favorite masks, because it's such a good exfoliator. Like the KORRES mask, I find it is less a mask and more just a face wash--so I mixed it with a more traditional clay mask so that it would actually dry down. 

4. FEEL Restore Warming Clay Mask

I received this in my April Ipsy bag. My review still stands: I love this mask, I love how warm it gets upon application, and I love how it made my skin look. I'll definitely be repurchasing soon! 

5. Pacifica Dreamy Youth Day & Night Cream 

I bought this sample at Target when I needed more moisturizer, but didn't really have the money to buy a full size tube. (Hi, welcome to my thrifty life.) I really love this moisturizer though and even though I recently bought Pacifica's Crystal Youth moisturizer with watermelon & tumeric, I'll probably repurchase in the future. It's a great moisturizer for those who like something a little more moisturizing at night. 

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I also finished up a few sheet face masks and one foot mask: 

1. Get Glowing Face Mask from Bath & Body Works

I can't find this exact mask on their website (I received it in a gift set that I received from my mother-in-law). However, this one looks like it has similar ingredients. This was a lovely, soothing face mask and it smelled fantastic! 

2. Revive Repairing Activated Charcoal Mask

I can't find a link to these masks anywhere. Admittedly, I bought them at Marshall's, so there are most likely a generic Korean brand and/or a repackage. They're some of my favorite sheet masks though. They are $7.99 for 6 at Marshall's, so if you're curious, they're a totally affordable splurge. 

3. Oh K! 3-Step Charcoal Face Mask

I bought this face mask on a whim after working out. I love masks that include cleanser and serum as well as a mask. This mask left my skin feeling quite smooth, moisturized, and rejuvenated. The serum was absolutely lovely and I wish I could buy a bottle of it. 

4. Oh K! Peeling Foot Mask

So, when I did this foot mask, I thought, initially, it didn't work. The way it works is that you have two packets of the "mask" and two booties. I found the booties quite difficult to keep on, so I only wore them for 30 minutes. (I've since seen that if you put socks on over them, it helps a lot. I know for the future.) When my feet didn't start peeling 3-4 days like the package said, I was sure I hadn't worn them long enough... but a week after, I was in the bathtub and I kept feeling something touch my foot. I thought it was a bug... but no, it was just my own foot skin. These foot masks are gross, but a solid 10/10 if you're getting your feet summer weather ready! 

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I also finished up the following. 

1. A La Maison Rosemary Mint Shower Gel 

I love herb-scented body products. I got this shower gel at Marshall's in Idaho at Christmas. It was around $7-8, I think. I used it as both body wash and bubble bath and loved the scent! I am not particularly picky about body washes, so this is pretty basic. But it's the first body wash I've legitimately finished in months. Time to start on the others! 

2. Wet'n'Wild Cushion Foundation with SPF 15 (in the shade Light Ivory)

I love this foundation. I started using it about 2 months ago and I use it probably 2 times a week; it's perfect for days when I still need some coverage, but don't want to go all out. It is hard to get it out of the sponge (I hate the applicator it comes with), so I just use my usual beauty sponge to get product out. At $8.99 a pop, it's not as cheap as the Photo Focus foundation and has less product, but it is an infinitely superior foundation in every single way. No weird smell. Great coverage. Great tone. I have repurchased and will absolutely continue to wear! 

3. LevenRose Jojoba Oil 

I'm a jojoba oil freak. A bottle usually lasts me 2-4 months, depending on how much I use it. I use it to take off my make up at night. I used to use it as a moisturizer, but recently stopped as I noticed it was giving me a bit of texture on my forehead. I now use it to take off my make up and then, once a week, apply over my moisturizer for a bit of a sealant so I can more adequately moisturize if I need it. This is my fourth bottle of jojoba oil and this is my absolute favorite brand. 

My May 2018 Review: Hello Summer!

Remember how I mentioned that April was kind of a doozy? I feel like I've been saying this every month since January and it just keeps... going. How do I stop the dooziness? How can I make each month just, like, 25% more boring? 

May was a good month, though. Not as stressful as March, which truly took the care in terms of "how can all these bad things happen in one month", and at least we had better weather than April. Just like last month, I'm going to do something a bit different and just talk about how my life has been--something I don't do a lot here on my blog in between all the "business", you know! 

1. Enjoying (All My) Work Again

A post shared by Michelle 💐 (@michellelocke6) on May 22, 2018 at 8:11pm PDT

I think like most people, I tend to wax and wane in terms of enthusiasm for basically everything. Or maybe that's just a me thing, but it seems a little universal sometimes. For example, some days, I love this blog. I think about how much I enjoy it, how I've enjoyed improving my photography these last few months, and how good it feels to really be seeing growth in my blog. I've been feeling that way about everything in my life lately. Recently, I've been feeling a major slump with just about everything: at my day job, I felt uninspired and like I wasn't doing a good job (a byproduct of imposter syndrome, probably); at home, I couldn't find the motivation to clean or cook. It was just a bit of a slump. But in May, I felt like everything clicked back into place. Was it the nice weather? All I know is I've been loving working out lately, loving going to work, loving researching blog post topics. 

2. Confronting Our Fears

A post shared by Michelle 💐 (@michellelocke6) on May 20, 2018 at 6:57pm PDT

I am by nature a scaredy-cat. I'm scared of pretty much everything. Heights, flying, bugs of all kinds (yes, even ladybugs), the dark, heavily wooded areas. I went through the car wash recently and nearly had a panic attack. 

After Forrest's almost-broke-his-arm incident last month, I found myself afraid to take him to the park again. I was afraid he would fall. Or that he'd get pushed again and really break his arm this time (and, in the spiral of fear there, I'd take him to the pediatrician and they'd side eye my story of him being pushed again). He loves going to the park. He loves playing outside and exploring. But I found myself very nervous about taking him. What if something happened? 

But one thing I want for Forrest is for him to not have my anxiety. I've been trying hard not to express my anxiety around him, so that he doesn't see it and internalize having those kind of fears. I realized that if I don't want him to be afraid of the park for the rest of his life, we need to replace that memory of being pushed and getting hurt with memories of playing. 

So, we went to the park. He has developed a minor fear of going down slides, but he had fun running around and playing with two other kids his age we met there. He was brave. I was brave. 

3. Embracing Summer

A post shared by Michelle 💐 (@michellelocke6) on May 7, 2018 at 6:49pm PDT

I say this a lot, but I've always really disliked summer. Growing up with body image issues, summer always made me feel like I couldn't enjoy myself; I don't like wearing shorts and I definitely didn't like wearing bikinis. I also grew up 40 miles away from all my friends, so summers were often quite lonely for me. As I got older, I spent most of my summers working and saving money. And then, obviously, once I graduated college, summer meant just about the same thing as the rest of the year--just with hotter weather! 

This year, however, I'm trying to keep myself from being a grump about summer. I have a lot of negative energy surrounding summer (obviously)... but the best part about having a 2-year-old is that everything becomes super fun. I've bought Forrest some new outdoor toys. I have plans to build him a sandbox. And I find myself excitedly waiting for the weather to really stay nice so we can get out our outdoor furniture. 

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What was your favorite part of May?