It’s the final Trash Stash of 2015! I`ve got quite a bit of stuff this month:

I still remember my first Empties (before it was renamed to Trash Stash) – oh how time flies! 🙂

Cake Beauty Lemon Chiffon Supreme Body Mousse – $13 for 1 litre
This bad boy lasted me FIVE months! The scent is amazing – the perfect blend of tarte lemon with a hint of sweet vanilla cake. I found this at Marshalls and unfortunately it’s discontinued. I highly recommend this if you ever come across it at Marshalls or Winners (TJ Maxx)!
Stash worthiness: 9/10     Repurchase: Maybe (if I can find it again)

Dial Vitamin Boost Oil Infused Body Wash – $7 for 473ml (drugstores)
I got this in the Back to School Teen Pack. It was nice but didn`t wow me. The gel smells like a subtle citrus scent and lathers up decently. My skin felt sufficiently moisturized but I couldn’t tell this product was oil infused.
Stash worthiness: 6/10     Repurchase: No

Bliss Fabulous Foaming Face Wash – $28 for 200ml (Sephora)
I got this during a Black Friday sale so I only paid $12 for it. I first tried this face wash at a hotel and really enjoyed it. It’s a gentle foaming gel cleanser with little exfoliating beads in it (no plastic microbeads!) and makes the skin feel cleansed but not stripped. I use this in the mornings in the shower and this bottle lasted me 4 months.
Stash worthiness: 8/10     Repurchase: Yes

Johnson’s Head-to-toe Baby Wash – $8 for 444ml (drugstores)
I use this to clean my makeup brushes. It’s the best no-fuss gentle cleanser for makeup brushes that I use powder products with.  I don’t find it effective enough to remove foundation or gel liners from brushes though. I love that it deep cleans but doesn’t make my natural haired bristles feel overly dried out and frizzy.
Stash worthiness: 9/10     Repurchase: Yes

Mary Kay TimeWise Replenishing Serum+C – $65 for 44ml (Mary Kay representative or online)
It’s taken me more than a year to finish this because I only use it on my forehead where I find it makes the most difference. Also, I can’t use this nightly because it causes little bumps on my skin if I use it continuously. But, on the nights I do use this, I find my skin looks brightened and fine lines are reduced. It’s a nice lightweight serum that absorbs quickly. I also appreciate the vacuum pump packaging with the see-through indicator to show much is left.
Stash worthiness: 7/10     Repurchase: Maybe

Consonant Skincare Ultra Moisturizing Organic Face Cream – $54 for 50ml (Consonant stores and online)
This product has grown on me. At first I wasn’t sure if I liked it mainly because of the smell – one of the claims of this all natural Canadian brand is that they do not add fragrance to their products – however, the natural scent of the ingredients do come through. This one has an herbal / medicinal smell that I’m told is mainly due to olive oil. It took some getting used to (I used to hold my breath to apply this and the smell would dissipate). But this cream has a fantastic texture that’s not too greasy and absorbs into my skin so well. It also works underneath any foundation I pair it with. Lastly, the ingredient list is amazing, besides natural ingredients, there’s also the inclusion of more ‘sophisticated’ ingredients like Niacinamide and  Panax Ginseng Root Extract. This bottle lasted me 3 months.
Stash worthiness: 9/10     Repurchase: Yes

Saje Rose Hydrating Euphoric Mist – $14.95 for 100ml (Saje stores and online)
This was a really nice refreshing mist but really not as hydrating as others I’ve used since it’s really just water with rose oil added. I could probably DIY this. The awesome glass bottle and spray nozzle (super fine mist!) will be repurposed.
Stash worthiness: 7/10     Repurchase: Maybe

Creation’s Garden pH Water Spray – $10 for 177ml (drugstores)
Who knew that water can expire? I ran out of the Saje Rose water mid-way through the month so I pulled this out to use and it smelled off – like mouldy water. 😮 I checked the bottle and apparently it expired April 2014. No wonder it was in the clearance bin at Rexall! The ingredients are really limited (water and sodium chlorite which is like a bleach!) and I did use it a few times before it went bad – it’s a pretty unremarkable product and I mainly bought it to dampen foundation brushes for blending foundations.
Stash worthiness: 6/10     Repurchase: No

Curl Keeper – $17 for 250ml (salons / online)
Another one bites the dust. They changed the label design of this – I kind of dig the old design better. Whatever, the product inside is liquid GOLD, I tell you!
Stash worthiness: 10/10     Repurchase: Yes

Kiehl’s Superbly Efficient Anti-Perspirant and Deodorant – $18 for 50ml (Kiehl’s stores and online)
In January I’m embarking on a journey to switch from antiperspirants to deodorants. Back in November I attempted to make the switch but I quickly reverted back to my trusty antiperspirants. I found this half-used tube of Kiehl’s from the summer, which I love – it’s an odourless cream that’s very gentle and doesn’t leave a waxy white residue on the skin or clothes. The name also doesn’t lie – it really is very efficient – no smells, no wetness.  But it also contains aluminum. I’ll chronicle my trials with the switch from antiperspirant to deodorant here on the blog!
Stash worthiness: 9/10     Repurchase: Maybe (depending on how my switch goes!)

Lise Watier 24hrs Glam Mascara – $24 for 4g (Rexall and online)
I’m going to call this one of the more disappointing products of 2015! I heard so many positive things about this mascara but it just did not deliver. Yes, it does last very well on the lashes, but it barely added any volume to my lashes. It did add some length but certainly not a “glam” effect. The worst thing about this mascara is that it uncurled my lashes, making them droop.  I’d call this a hybrid tubing / waterproof mascara – it doesn’t soak off with warm water but when using a waterproof eye makeup remover, the mascara flakes off in little bits.  I received this full size tube as a gwp so it wasn’t as bad as if I’d bought it.
Stash worthiness: 3/10     Repurchase: No

Etude House Dr. Mascara Fixer Volume Up – $9 for 6ml (online)
The lash base is freakin amazing! It keeps my lashes curled and my mascaras from smudging. It’s firmly my new HG mascara base and replaced the Shiseido version for me simply due to the fact that it performs the same as the Shiseido but is $16 cheaper! I just love finding cheaper alternatives that perform the same (or sometimes outperform) the higher end versions.
Stash worthiness: 10/10     Repurchase: Yes

Mira Charcoal Konjac Beauty Sponge – $7 (Winners)
No, this isn’t a lump of coal I received in my Christmas stocking! 😛 This konjac sponge was decent, but it wasn’t as spongy as the Face Shop one, and I didn’t find that it lathered my face wash as well. I didn’t notice any difference in performance with the charcoal version vs the regular white ones. Now that Face Shop seems to have theirs back in stock, I don’t have to resort to buying random ones that I find at Winners!
Stash worthiness: 6/10     Repurchase: No

Witchcraft Rock Hard Nail Hardener – $15 for 10ml (drugstores)
This brand and packaging has 1980’s written all over it. I first discovered this in the 90’s when one of my classmates swore by it and how it made her nails grow (back then I was a nail biter!) so I tried it and was hooked. It really did help my nails to peel and break less. But, this bottle is the last of a dying breed. It’s the old formulation that contains formaldehyde (and stinks to high heavens!) I’m all for going 5-free, BUT for a nail hardener, the inclusion of formaldehyde is kind of a must (read this blog entry for the explanation). I’ve started using Orly Nailtrition as my nail strengthener now.
Stash worthiness: 9/10     Repurchase: No (reformulated)

Slatkin & Co. Twisted Peppermint 3-wick candle – $25 for 411g (Bath & Body Works stores)
I finished my first ever 3-wick candle! No exaggeration, I’ve had this candle for at least 5 years! I’d mentioned before that I have a weird fear about burning candles (oxygen depletion) but at the end of November there were some unwelcomed smells from our condo hallways (ahem Mary Jane ahem) that I needed to mask so I resorted to burning this candle. I only burned it about an hour at a time but I came to quite enjoy burning the candle – it smells like peppermint with a hint of vanilla sweetness. All through December I burned this candle an hour each time and it was manageable and I didn’t feel like I was burning up all the oxygen in the room! And thank goodness the hallway odour is also gone!  I believe Twisted Peppermint is a seasonal scent that BBW brings back each holiday season.
Stash worthiness: 9/10     Repurchase: Yes

Samples / travel size

Thann Aromatic Wood Aromatherapy Shower Gel – got this from a hotel and it’s nice. A bit musky but not overwhelming.
Vaseline Total Moisture Lotion – stole this from the B&B we stayed at in Newfoundland. It was really nice! I would consider getting the full size of this
Clarins Men Shampoo & Shower – this was a gwp and smells like men’s cologne. I didn’t use this in my hair because that’s just silly. As a body wash it was fine – I wouldn’t seek this out to purchase in the full size.
The Body Shop Fuji Green Tea Body Butter – the Body Shop store was giving these out before the holidays and I was excited to try this new scent. But it was quite disappointing! It was very artificial smelling and the hydration wasn’t all that intense compared to other body butters I’ve used.

And that’s all for Trash Stash 2015! Tomorrow I’ll be doing a summary of all my empties for the year! 😀