Yves Rocher Elixir 7.9 Luminosity Reactivator

Hi there! Today I’m reviewing another Yves Rocher sample – Yves Rocher Elixir 7.9 Luminosity Reactivator. At first I thought this product was a serum – but after I used it, I realised it wasn’t. Ah well, this kind of thing happens.

OK, so the fluid claims to reactivate skin energy and light. And it’s supposed to be applied every morning – after your regular moisturiser or on its own.

I cannot comment on whether this product has any anti-ageing benefits. That’s because I had a sample only.

Based on my experience using this product once, I can say it doesn’t have any immediate blurring effect on wrinkles or fine lines. But let’s get to the ‘luminosity’. 🙂

This product contains tiny shimmer particles which are supposed to reflect light and make your face appear fresh and luminous. The ‘luminous’ effect is only temporary – until you wash your face.

Since the product is called Luminosity Reactivator, I would expect some kind of skin improvement or an enhanced skin glow (or something…) over time. The product might actually achieve something like that – but Yves Rocher’s product description doesn’t mention anything.

What I liked about this product was the subtle, pleasant fragrance and the easy to apply formula. I think this product would work for most skin types. But if you have dry skin, I’d recommend you use your regular moisturiser as a base for this product. I didn’t find it moisturising enough on its own.

In addition, this product doesn’t contain sunscreen, so you need to make sure you protect your skin from the sun – ideally by applying a moisturiser with SPF before using this product.

I won’t purchase the full size product. It’s quite expensive, and Yves Rocher’s web site didn’t state if this product has any lasting benefits – so my guess is it hasn’t. And if I just want shimmer on my face, I can easily find something else (even with SPF) that’s much cheaper.

If you’d like to try it, Yves Rocher Elixir 7.9 Luminosity Reactivator is available as 30ml for £36. But Yves Rocher does half price and BOGOF deals all the time.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Astor Couture Eye Shadow 760 Matte Grey, 750 Matte Black

Hi there! Today’s post is a short one. And it’s about two single eyeshadows I love: Astor Couture Eye Shadow 760 Matte Grey and 750 Matte Black. I found these eyeshadows for £1 – and they turned out to be amazing!

Each single eyeshadow comes with a small curved sponge applicator. I don’t use those sponge applicators on my eyes. But I always keep them because I can usually use them for nail art, especially gradients. 🙂

But let’s get to the eyeshadows now! I think Astor did a really good job with these two. The matte grey has an amazing colour payoff. The matte black isn’t perfect, but it’s just as good as Sleek’s matte black (Au Naturel palette).

I love these eyeshadows because they stay put and there’s hardly any fallout. Considering these eyeshadows were £1 (Poundland or Poundworld, can’t remember) only, the quality is really good! And yes, I would recommend them. So if you look for neutral, matte eyeshadows for everyday use, these are for you.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Palmolive Naturals Shower Milk Ultra Moisturization, Pampering Touch and Smooth Delight

Hi there! Since I enjoy so many Palmolive products, I thought I’d tell you about three more favourites of mine: Palmolive Ultra Moisturisation with Olive and Moisturising Milk, Palmolive Pampering Touch with Coconut and Moisturising Milk, and Palmolive Smooth Delight with Macadamia Oil, Cocoa and, of course, Moisturising Milk.

The olive shower cream is addictive – in a good way. I love the warm, yet green fragrance, and I think this shower gel is perfect for all seasons. It’s green enough to feel refreshing on a warm summer day, but it’s also rich and comforting on a wintry day. Lovely!

The coconut shower cream smells absolutely divine. I think it doesn’t smell like coconut at all – but that’s a good thing in my book. 🙂 I can’t describe the fragrance but I’d say it’s tropical, warm, sensual and fresh – all at the same time. Perfect!

The macadamia shower cream is a new favourite of mine. It smells warm, sweet and nutty – almost like a cake or a dessert. The fragrance is absolutely delicious!

I will definitely buy all of these shower creams again. The fragrances make me happy, and the moisturising formula of Palmolive’s shower creams is soft and gentle to my skin. Palmolive Ultra Moisturisation, Palmolive Pampering Touch, and Palmolive Smooth Delight are usually about £2 each, but there’s always a half price offer somewhere. 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Nail Of The Day – Underwater Mani – Colourful Nails & Stamping With MoYou London Doodles 07

Hi there! Today’s post is about the mani I did the other day. I got myself a few new stamping plates – with one of them being MoYou London’s Doodles 07 plate. So I thought I’d do a colourful (blue, white, orange) underwater mani!

I used these polishes:
Orly Snow Cone (base colour pinky and thumb, stamped image middle finger).
Revlon Red Bikini (stamped image ring finger).
Ciaté Hopscotch (base colour index finger).
Rimmel I ♥ Lasting Finish 704 Sweet As Sugar (base colour middle and ring fingers).
The amazing Essence Nail Art Stampy Polish in White (stamped image index finger, thumb and pinky).

I really love how this mani turned out. And I have a few more ideas on what to do with this stamping plate. 🙂 A note to myself: Orly Snow Cone and Revlon Red Bikini stamped really well!

If you’d like to order from MoYou, you can get 10% off if you order through this link. In case you’re wondering… yes, I did purchase this stamping plate myself!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Vegan & Cruelty-Free – Superdrug Tea Tree Skin Care Pink Grapefruit Facial Wash

Hi there! Last summer I tried Superdrug’s Tea Tree & Lemon Face Wash. I thought it was a really decent face wash, so it was obvious that I’d have to try its sister product – the grapefruit face wash – too.

Now, several months later I’m using Superdrug’s Tea Tree Skincare Grapefruit Facial Wash with tea tree and grapefruit oils and camomile extract. And I couldn’t be happier with this product.

Just like the lemon face wash, this grapefruit face wash is really effective. It makes my face feel really clean and refreshed. But it’s not drying, so I can use it twice daily without having to worry about dry skin. Awesome stuff!

The grapefruit fragrance isn’t as lovely as I had hoped. Sure, it smells nice, but it’s not the most intense or the purest grapefruit fragrance.

Saying this, I’ll definitely buy this face wash again! And I’d totally recommend this face wash to anyone who wants an effective, but gentle facial cleanser, or anyone who loves cosmetics or toiletries containing tea tree oil and / or grapefruit.

Superdrug’s Tea Tree Skincare Grapefruit Facial Wash (150 ml) is available for £3.29. But keep an eye on Superdrug’s half price or BOGOF offers! There was one BOGOF offer recently – maybe it’s still on? And don’t foget about the best bit: This products is vegan and cruelty-free, and it carries the Leaping Bunny logo!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Flower Pharm Wild Rose Body Butter

Hi there! Today’s post is about a product which, unfortunately, has been discontinued. It’s this lovely Flower Pharm Wild Rose Body Butter. I’ve seen different products from this brand in TK Maxx (about £3) and Home Bargains (99p to £1.99) recently, so if you fancy trying this body butter, you should swing by your local discount stores. But before you rush out, let me tell you what this product’s actually like. 🙂

I think it’s super easy to rub this body butter into my skin. The formula is lovely, the butter melts into my skin and it’s not too sticky. Well done, Flower Pharm! The fragrance is beautiful and charmingly old-fashioned – just like wild roses!

I checked the ingredients and this body butter appears to contain more quality ingredients than other comparable products. So instead of mineral oil and the likes, this body butter contains lots of coconut oil (it’s the second ingredient listed – after water), and it contains real rosa damascena (Damascus rose) flower water!

I’ve only used this body butter for a few days, but it seems to have made a difference already. My skin feels very soft and silky. And my semi-permanent eczema patch on my shin isn’t half as itchy as usual.

I think Flower Pharm’s Wild Rose Butter is absolutely fantastic, so I can’t understand why the entire line has been discontinued. Seriously, what were they thinking? I’ll definitely buy a few more tubs from my local Home Bargains store this weekend!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Yves Rocher Complete Anti-Age Global Serum

Hi there! Not too long ago I got this Complete Anti-Aging Serum sample from Yves Rocher’s Anti-Age Global product line. This serum claims to leave skin “delightfully soft and velvety”, and it’s meant to be used with the Anti-Age Global day cream. I didn’t get a sample of the day cream, though.

I’ve now tried this serum (under my trusted Olay moisturiser) and I’d like to share my findings with you.

The formula of this serum is very thin, almost like water. I massaged it into my skin – very gently – until it had sunk in.

Unfortunately the serum didn’t feel great on my skin. It felt more like a mattifying moisturiser for oily skin. Unsurprisingly, this didn’t feel great on my dry skin at all.

In summary, my skin didn’t feel velvety or soft. My skin actually felt tight and in desperate need of a moisturiser. I left my skin and the serum alone for a few minutes because I had to know if the product would change for the better. But it didn’t.

I also checked my face in the mirror to see whether the serum had any instant smoothing properties. But that’s another no. (So I gave up and put some moisturiser on my skin.) On a positive note, the serum smelled pleasant and it didn’t sting or burn.

Based on my experience with this product, I wouldn’t recommend it. Yes, I used the serum once only. But that was enough for me to be sure I won’t be buying the full size product.

If you want to give this Complete Anti-Aging Serum from Yves Rocher’s Anti-Age Global product line a try, the 30ml bottle is available for £50. Yves Rocher does half price and BOGOF deals all the time, but I’d definitely recommend you ask for a sample before blind-buying this product.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Nail Of The Day – Revlon Colorstay 040 Provence & Stamping

Hi there! Today’s mani is a simple one. As usual, I didn’t have much time so I went with a random boring base colour and an easy all-over stamping pattern.

My base colour is Revlon Colorstay 040 Provence – a greyish pale lavender shade. It came out quite grey in the photo. But in reality it’s the colour of Twilight Sparkle. Well, almost. 🙂

What’s really great about Revlon Provence is that the colour is fully opaque in two easy coats. I’m really impressed!

I used my favourite black, Revlon Colorstay Stiletto, to stamp on images from my QA88 plate. The plate features an all-over floral pattern, so it’s great if you want to do a simple mani.

I think the images could have turned out nicer. But I was in a hurry and I’ve got the feeling my QA88 plate isn’t really the best quality. Anyway, the mani was good enough for a day. And one of my colleagues actually complimented me on my nails!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Garnier Ultimate Blends The Silky Smoother Shampoo & Conditioner

Hi there! Today’s post is about Garnier’s Ultimate Blends The Silky Smoother shampoo and conditioner which I’ve been using for the past few weeks. These products are aimed at people with longer hair and split ends.

I don’t have split ends, so I can’t tell you if these products would help with this problem. But I’ll tell you what I think about this shampoo and conditioner combo in general.

The Silky Smoother shampoo is gentle on my hair and scalp. And I love the vanilla and papaya fragrance. What I don’t like is that this shampoo makes my hair feel knotty and unflexible as soon as I’m lathering it up. So when I rinse out the shampoo my hair is a knotty and unflexible mess.

The Silky Smoother conditioner is not very effective. Again, it smells absolutely lovely, but the product is too thin and not very conditioning at all. I have to double-condition, sometimes even triple-condition (!) just to detangle the knots. And keep in mind, the shampoo is causing the majority of the knots in the first place…

In summary, I don’t think you’d be happy with these products if you have long, thick and curly hair (like me). It might be different if your hair is straight or thin (or both) though.

I’m glad I finished the conditioner. And my husband will use up the shampoo. My husband actually loves this shampoo, and he said he’d definitely want me to buy it again for him – but he has short hair, and he admits he’s totally drawn to the vanilla fragrance.

If you want to give Garnier’s Ultimate Blends The Silky Smoother shampoo and conditioner a try, these products are available as 400 ml each for about £3.99 – but there’s always a half price or BOGOF offer somewhere. These products are also available in a smaller size – 250 ml shampoo and 200 ml conditioner – for about £2.79 each.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Rimmel Glitter Topper Haul

Hi there! Here’s another non-review post. I went to the new B&M Bargains store near my place. They didn’t have many beauty products, but they had Rimmel glitter toppers – in bags of 2 for £1.99 each. That’s a total of £3.98 for four glitter toppers. Not bad!

I picked these glitter toppers: Rimmel Glitter 021 Bedazzle, Rimmel Love Glitter 032 All Glittered Up, 031 Mistletoe Mischief, 030 Queen of Bling. I think All Glittered Up and Mistletoe Mischief look very promising. I can’t wait to play with them!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde