Hand & Nail Empties: July-December 2020

I haven’t done an empties post for a bit… since this time last year in fact! I did end up tossing all the stuff I saved during January-June of last year, but I still had all the stuff from July-December, so we’re going to just do one massive post! I want to get back to doing quarterly empties so I can do more in-depth reviews on the stuff I used up, but for now we’re going to try to breeze through these or else we will be here for a thousand years (the key word is “try” – you know I’m wordy)! For a lot of the things I have used before, like Bath & Body Works hand soaps or the Baroness X Acetone Antidotes, I’m just going to review the scent and not the formula; I’ve re-purchased these a lot and clearly like them!

MDJ Creations Smooth Finish Fast Dry Top Coat: reviewed previously

a-england The Ridgeway Ridge Filler: This is my favorite ridge-filling base coat hands down. First of all, it’s clear and not that weird nude opaque color that peeks out from the edges of your mani if you don’t cover your nail perfectly. The formula is awesome and stays awesome, I barely had to use any thinner. I already have repurchased it!

Holo Taco Glossy Taco: I really do not like this top coat. Yes, it does dry fast but it gets gloopy super quickly and it just applies weird. It does self-level, but it looks super uneven until that point. I had to use so much thinner to get through this, would never repurchase.

Swisspers Cotton Rounds: reviewed previously

Baroness X Acetone Antidote in Lemon Beignet: This scent was wonderful, I love beignets and the lemon note really helped this scent work with the base scent of my nail polish remover.

ella + mila Soy Polish Remover: This was the first soy polish remover I ever tried and it worked just fine! I did find that using the directions that the Palate Polish soy remover comes with worked better than the directions this one came with (swipe remover over each nail first vs letting remover soak on nail for 20 seconds). The reason I won’t be repurchasing this one is the scent. It says it is lavender scented but it smells awful, nothing like lavender. Should have left it unscented.

OPI Expert Touch Lacquer Remover *gifted*: This was your standard acetone remover, it worked quickly. I was impressed with the skin conditioning ingredients, it didn’t dry my skin out as much as some other acetone based removers. It has a nice gentle smell too. I would repurchase if I couldn’t find any of my other favorites.

Baroness X Acetone Antidote in PSL of Doom: It has a nice, slightly spicy fall scent but it kind of gets a little lost when added to my remover that is already slightly scented.

Palate Polish Soy Nail Polish Remover: This is my favorite, ride-or-die soy based polish remover. It worked super well and is very gentle on the skin. I usually only need to use one cotton pad per mani to get everything removed.

DIY Cuticle Butter based on this formula: It was not my favorite, partly because I went a little overboard with the essential oil blend and it ended up not smelling like lemons. Tagetes essential oil is VERY strong, noted! I have another idea for a DIY cuticle oil based on this formula, but I need to get through my Lush Lemony Flutter before I even THINK about doing so!

Unicorn Magic Skincare Deluxe Cuticle Oil in Sicilian Tangerine: This was a lovely cuticle oil, worked great! I love the pen form best, easy to use at work and on the go… not that that’s much of a consideration at the moment! The Sicilian Tangerine fragrance was delicious and juicy but not so strong that you’ll annoy other people when you use it.

Unicorn Magic Skincare Deluxe Triple Butter Hand Lotion in Avobath: This stuff ROCKS! It’s a hand cream that comes in a tub, so you know it’s going to be thick and it is. So rich and buttery, perfect for my super dry, over-washed hands. If you like lemongrass scents, then Avobath is perfection. I absolutely adore it, I would get everything in this scent! The scent is too strong to use at work, but totally fine at home.

Bath & Body Works Hand Cream in Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte: I have reviewed these little hand creams previously. I do love the Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte scents, but man is this one strong. I did not feel comfortable using it on a day that I was supposed to work in office.

Lilly Anne’s Garden Hand Lotion in the Café Musain: This is from a past PPU, the scent was wonderful and coffee-y and STRONG. I tended to use this before doing a mani. The lotion is super rich, it’s better than some hand creams I have used! I would definitely get these again but I don’t know if Lilly Anne’s Garden is around any more.

Bath & Body Works Creamy Luxe Hand Soap in Peach Bellini: This is such a classic BBW scent, it’s juicy and a little sweet but also a little fresh. Would repurchase, though I usually only buy it if there aren’t enough LE seasonal scents that I want to grab!

Bath & Body Works Gentle Exfoliating Hand Soap in Mango Mai Tai: The only artificial scent I love more than pineapple is mango, if you put anything mango scented in front of me I won’t be able to resist! Mango Mai Tai is a recurring scent in BBW’s lineup and I absolutely love it, will repurchase any time.

Mama Bath + Body Liquid Soap in Lemon Lime: I heard about this brand from the Stuff You Should Know guys – one of their wives runs it! I have wanted to try a real liquid soap as a hand soap, actual saponified oils vs detergents (there is nothing wrong with detergents btw, there are pros and cons to real soap and detergents). I love that they put it in a foaming bottle, real liquid soap has a super thin consistency unless you artificially thicken it with salt or something like that. It worked really well and the scent was so, so good, I will be a repeat customer! I will also be reusing the bottle because I have a ton of Dr. Bronner’s citrus soap and it has the same consistency.

Bath & Body Works Gentle Foaming Hand Soap in Woodland Berries: This was a nice, almost fresh clean berry scent as opposed to a sweet one. I like both kinds, this did definitely seem appropriate for fall, although I used it very early in fall so it didn’t dry out my hands.

Trader Joe’s Foaming Hand Soap in Apple Cider: This was a really nice foaming hand soap, I didn’t find it as drying as the BBW hand soaps. The scent is a very spicy apple cider scent, I loved it and purchased another bottle to have on hand for next year!

Bath & Body Works Nourishing Hand Soap in Marshmallow Pumpkin Latte: This is a classic fall BBW scent, I already reviewed it above for the hand cream!

Bath & Body Works Nourishing Hand Soap in Sparkling Cranberry Cider: I had this one in my kitchen, it’s not an overly juicy or tart cranberry scent. It has a little spice to it, but overall it’s really balanced. I would buy it again!

Mrs. Meyer’s Hand Soap in Apple Cider: The Mrs. Meyer’s hand soaps have a thinner consistency than I am used to (they are detergent based, not saponified oils) but they are also in a much more generous sized bottle so everything evens out! Their apple cider scent is one of my favorites, it’s a very crisp, clean, fresh pressed apple cider scent. There might be a hint of spice, but it’s mostly appley goodness. I really wanted to get the cleaner in this scent this year, but it was sold out every time I went to buy it.

Bath & Body Works PocketBac in Brazil Pineapple Punch: Most favorite scent EVER, it’s such a juicy, delicious pineapple scent, with some other fruits tossed in. They need to bring this one back ASAP. I feel like I can’t comment too much on the formula of these hand sanitizers since I don’t know the effectiveness. They do dry relatively quickly and don’t leave your hands too dry or slimy.

PocketBac in Fresh Picked Watermelon: If you like watermelon candies, this is a great one! It’s sweet and light, I would repurchase.

PocketBac in Fresh Picked Blueberries: I have rarely smelled an authentic blueberry scented product and this is no different. It’s definitely fake, not my favorite.

PocketBac in Fresh Picked Cherries: I really need to stop buying cherry scented things, they just never smell as good as I want them to! This one was not that great, verging on cough syrup.

PocketBac in Sour Candy: This one smelled even more like watermelon candy, but more like if there were a bunch of fruity candies and you could smell watermelon more than the others. I loved it!

WHEW. If you made it this far, you probably deserve the Nobel Peace Prize! That was a lot of trash to sort through, but I am so glad to get it outta here. I am hoping to go back to the much more manageable quarterly empties this year, but am also fully prepared to go dumpster diving with you through my stuff once more. Empties posts are one of my favorite kinds to see, I find they can be quite telling and at the least, I know the person can really review it since they have used it start to finish.

Did you have any favorite hand or nail care products from 2020?

xx, Ashley

Cruelty-free brands: Swisspers, Ella + Mila, Palate Polish, Trader Joe’s, Mrs. Meyers

Containers to Re-Use: 2

Containers to Recycle: 19

Trash: 6

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