How long does it take?

Today I realized that I have had one of my cleansers for nearly a year now. It has about half an inch of product in the squeeze tube, and I'm hoping to finish it off within the week, but it was a bit of an awakening for me. I mean, I wash my face at least twice a day, but I realized that I buy cleansers at a rather alarming rate. I mean, a year to use up a cleanser?

I'm going to try to force myself to use up two cleansers before I allow myself to buy another one, because I tend to buy new ones far too frequently. I know I should probably make myself do that with my lipsticks as well, but I really love lipstick. And you can never have too many. 

Which leads me to my final point: I said I was going to post my week in lipstick. And I meant to. However, I'm in the process of moving and with the randomly cloudy weather in my area, I was completely incapable of getting a decent photo of any of the colors. So, at some point, you will be inundated with lipstick picks. Today is not that day. 

Garnier "The Brusher" Microbead Cleanser Review

I have a completely mixed review on this. First off, I used this in the evening, after a makeup remover before bed for about a month. I use tretinoin cream, so I was only using this as a basic cleanser/exfoliator, not to remove acne or do anything amazing. 

I really wanted to be able to give it a good review. I LOVE the cleansing gel itself. It smells good, has a nice texture, and is exfoliating without being overly aggressive. Amazing. 

Where everything falls apart is the packaging, the brush to be exact. I think it is the length of the bristles, because I had to use an insane amount of product to actually get any on my face. I followed the directions to the letter, and it just didn't work out. At all. If the bristles were shorter, I would have been able to create a fairly decent lather with them and it would have been pleasant. 

Also: the brush is a bit over-gripping of the skin, especially when you can't get enough product to the tips of the bristles. It would be almost painful afterwards. I wondered if it was just my skin, but I bought one for my mum to try (her skin is like a bomb-proof fortress. Nothing irritates it or makes it dry/break out. Seriously, at 52 she has the best skin.) and she said that it was uncomfortable and her face was a bit red and irritated afterwards. 

I cannot recommend this product, and that makes me sad, because it is a good cleanser in bad packaging. However, if I see this on sale I may end up buying it and putting it in a different container. I really did like the smell and texture of the cleanser — it is just the packaging that is wretched.