Nail Of The Day – Astor Fashion Studio 201 & Stamping with Pueen 73

Astor 201 PLUS Pueen 73Hi there! I tried another new Astor nail polish the other day. I couldn’t warm up to the colour at all, so I decided to do what I did the last time I didn’t like my mani – I spruced it up with a floral pattern.

But let’s start from the beginning. I’m wearing two coats of Astor Fashion Studio 201, a dusty pink which doesn’t suit my skin tone at all. It was 50p only, so it wasn’t much of a financial loss. 🙂

This time I chose another floral stamping plate, Pueen 73 from Pueen’s Stamping Buffet collection. In case you’re wondering, the black polish is Revlon Colorstay.

I’m really enjoying stamping again. I’ve got a lot of stamping plates, so be prepared for more nail posts in the future. 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Bubble Bath Favourites: Palmolive Delicate Care with Almond and Radox Essentials Soft Care Bath Cream with Milk

Palmolive Almond Radox MilkHi there! For the past few days it’s been raining in the South East. I think I’m coming down with a cold, so what could be better than a bubble bath using one of my favourite bath creams…

Palmolive Delicate Care with Almond and Moisturising Milk is a long-time favourite. The milky formula is gentle to the skin and the sweet almond scent is simply divine. I hope Palmolive will never discontinue it.

Radox Essentials Soft Care Bath Cream with Milk is a rather new favourite of mine. I only discovered it recently but I’ve already bought a few backup bottles because I’m in love with its creamy, dreamy, yoghurty scent.

Both bath milks are available as 500 ml  and they’re always on special offer somewhere – usually around £1 or slightly less.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Product of the Month: Carex Fun Edition Bubble Gum Refreshing Hand Gel

Carex Bubble Gum Hand GelHi there! If you follow my blog and read even my most random posts, you know that I am obsessed with Carex Bubble Gum hand wash.

Now imagine my delight when I found a hand gel with the same fragrance last week! 😀

OK, this is only a hand gel. I realise this. But seriously, I love this bubble gum scent so much. And I bought a bottle for my husband too!

So yes, Carex Fun Edition Bubble Gum Refreshing Hand Gel is my product of the month. At the moment it’s 99p only at Asda and Superdrug, so there’s no excuse not to buy it.

And don’t forget to buy the Carex Bubble Gum hand wash! It’s the most delicious hand wash I’ve ever had. I love it that when I wash my hands with it before I go to bed, I can still smell it when I wake up in the morning.

If there is such a thing as The Ultimate Happy Time Hand Wash, then this is it!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Original Source Pink Grapefruit Shower, Blood Orange Daily Scrub and Skin Quench Blackcurrant & Moringa Oil

Hi there! Today’s post is about some of Original Source’s fruitiest shower gels: Original Source Pink Grapefruit, Blood Orange Daily Scrub and Skin Quench Blackcurrant & Moringa Oil. These shower gels are perfect for summer because they’re fruity, juicy and truly refreshing. I think they’re absolutely fantastic and I’ll buy them all again. But let’s take a closer look…
Original Source Shower
I love all things grapefruit, so I was happy to see that Original Source finally did a Pink Grapefruit shower gel. It’s incredibly refreshing and it smells of juicy grapefruits. Yummy!

The new Blood Orange Daily Scrub is absolutely fantastic. It makes my skin feel really soft, and the fresh and zingy scent of this shower scrub is truly delightful. This is definitely going to become a new beauty staple for me.

The Blackcurrant & Moringa Oil shower gel was a very pleasant surprise after the other three skin quench shower gels left me disappointed. This Blackcurrant & Moringa shower gel contains moisturising oil beads that really work, and it smells like sun-drenched blackcurrants.

Original Source shower gels are approved by the Vegan Society. The skin quench shower gels and the scrubs are quite new and they’re £2.69 each, the regular shower gels are £2.20 each. However, if you shop around, you can find half price or BOGOF deals easily. At the moment the big four supermarkets, Wilko and the two big drugstores all have some kind of deal.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Bronnley Lemon & Neroli Bath & Shower Wash

Bronnley Lemon Neroli showerHi there! Ages ago I received a small bag full of sample-sized toiletries as a wedding favour. The bride knew I loved toiletries, so she compiled a small bundle of bath & shower treasures for me.

One of the products from this gift bag was this shower gel: Bronnley Lemon & Neroli Bath & Shower Wash. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by this little gem. It lathers very well and even though it’s not a shower cream, it’s quite gentle to the skin.

However, I’m a bit on the fence about the scent. Lemon & Neroli is a combination that’s often considered to be old-fashioned by today’s standards. Whilst I find the scent pleasant, I don’t think it’s special. Saying this, I really want to try the matching body lotion because I’m sure that Bronnley’s toiletries are of good quality in general.

Bronnley is a traditional brand and a British Royal Warrant holder. This means that the company supplies its products to the Royal Family.

Whilst Bronnley is not a brand that would appeal to teenagers and twenty-somethings, I’ll definitely try more of their products; Bronnley’s fragrances seem to be good value!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Pantene Aqua Light 2 Minutes Light Nourishment Mask

2015 Pantene Aqua Light55Hi there! Today’s post is about a product I found at my local 99p Store: Pantene Aqua Light 2 Minutes Light Nourishment Masque.

I love my local 99p Store. They often have great toiletries – discontinued gems, products from different countries, and readily available toiletries for a reasonable price.

However, before I consider buying imported products, I check where they’re from. This hair treatment is from a EU country which – just like the UK, Germany or France – follows EU regulations; this means I was happy to buy it.

Fast forward to now… I’ve been using the hair masque for about two to three times a week for the past three weeks now and I’m really happy with it. It makes my hair soft and silky without weighing it down. Pantene Aqua Light is definitely a great deep conditioner, and it is very suitable for the warmer summer months. 🙂

I also like this product’s scent which I would describe as fresh and clean, a bit generic, but definitely pleasant. It is my understanding that this product has been discontinued. Whilst Pantene displays other Aqua Light products on its web site, this hair mask seems to be gone. Too bad!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Nail Of The Day – Astor Fashion Studio 242 Aqua Leaf & Stamping with Pueen 72

Astor Aqua Leaf PLUS Pueen 72Hi there! Here’s another quick nail post. My nails have recovered since I filed them down after breaking one a couple of weeks ago – this usually means that disaster is about to strike again…

But in the meantime I can paint and stamp as I like. 🙂 I’m now wearing Astor Fashion Studio 242 Aqua Leaf. This polish is quite thick so it wasn’t as easy to apply as I hoped. So yeah, it didn’t look right.

On top of that I woke up to streaks and sheet marks (I blame the hot weather) so I had to do something.

I thought stamping would be the easiest option, so I chose a random black nail polish and one of my Pueen stamping plates, Pueen 72 from Pueen’s first Stamping Buffet collection, to cover up the sheet marks.

It’s not perfect, but if you don’t stare at my nails for too long, you’ll probably agree that this mani doesn’t look too bad considering how horrible my nails looked when I woke up. Plus: I’ve learnt that all-over stamping is a great idea when you have little time to fix your mani properly.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Olay Anti-Wrinkle 2 in 1 Instant Hydration + Radiant Glow

Hi there! My quest to try as many Olay products as possible led me to this limited edition: Olay Anti-Wrinkle Instant Hydration + Radiant Glow. Let me tell you right away that this daily moisturiser is that good that I’ve already bought two backup bottles. 🙂
Olay Anti-Wrinkle Pink
Honestly, if it wasn’t a limited edition, this moisturiser would become a beauty staple. It has and does everything I could ask for: The formula is silky and non-sticky. It makes my dry skin feel soft all day long and it’s perfect under make-up. It has SPF 15 and its sweet mandarin scent is absolutely divine.

I strongly recommend this product if you look for a no-fuss daily moisturiser. Olay Anti-Wrinkle Instant Hydration + Radiant Glow is exclusive to Superdrug. It’s available as 75 ml and it’s currently on sale for £4.95 only!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Max Factor Pan Stik 12 True Beige, 25 Fair

Hi there! Let’s talk foundation. I’ve been using many different foundations over the years and I’ve always been on the hunt for something better – until I discovered the incredible Max Factor Pan Stik. I’m using two different shades at the moment – 25 Fair and 12 True Beige. (Scroll down for swatches – unblended and blended.)

Max Factor Pan Stik 15

25 Fair is my go-to shade for most of the year. It’s supposed to be the lightest shade, but it can look orange if you apply too much. 12 True Beige is a beautiful soft beige and I use it as my winter foundation.

The Pan Stik has the most incredible coverage. It covers everything – redness, sun spots, acne… you name it. But it’s no surprise since the Pan Stik was originally developed as a stage make-up almost 100 years ago.

Some say ‘it’s a concealer’, but it’s not. You can use it as a concealer if you want to, but the Pan Stik is a foundation.

I apply the product by ‘drawing it on’ my face. A couple of strokes on my cheeks, chin, forehead, under my eyes… and then I blend it with my fingers.

Two minutes later my face looks basically flawless. However, I then use a sponge to give my foundation the perfect finish and to make sure there aren’t any fingerprints on my face.

My skin is very dry, so I don’t need to apply powder. Ever. This foundation simply lasts all day on me.

I would recommend to use powder if you have normal skin, but I wouldn’t really recommend the Pan Stik if you have oily skin.

Still, if you have dry skin (even with several dry patches) and want full coverage, the Pan Stik is for you.

I also don’t think that the Pan Stik looks cakey at all if it’s applied the way it should be (with fingers, then blended out with a sponge) on dry or normal skin.

While it’s obvious that I am wearing make-up, my face looks simply flawless. I don’t look airbrushed, and I don’t look like I ‘towelled it on’. Thanks to the Pan Stik, I look like someone who has great skin and only needs a light foundation – even though my skin is not great at all and the foundation is very rich. 🙂

And I love that my faces looks dewy. Yes, I have dry skin with dry patches. For years I’ve envied other women whose faces looked dewy because I thought my skin could never look like theirs no matter which foundation I’d use. But thanks to the Pan Stik, my dry skin looks dewy!

The incredible Max Factor Pan Stik is available for around £7.99, but there’s usually a 3 for 2 offer at the two big drugstores.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Cute Gift Idea: Enchanted Forest Lip Balms from Poundland

Hi there! Look what I found at Poundland the other day. These super cute Enchanted Forest Lip Balms will make a great little gift for a girl. I bought two balms, Wildberry scented and Strawberry scented, for a young relative (she’s turning 16). I put together a nice beauty box for her (with mainly fruity body care products and body mists) and these cute lip balms fit right in!
Owl Lip Balms
What do you think? Are these cute or what? I might go back to Poundland to check if they have any other flavours. If they do, I can see myself buying more of these little owls – basically one in every colour. 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde