May Beauty Awards

Hi there! Today’s post is about my favourite products from this month. I picked 3 favourites, and I threw in a few honourable mentions as well. Now let me tell you which products I fell in love with this month. 🙂

3rd place – NSPA Grapefruit Shower & Bath Gel
Runner-Up – Montagne Jeunesse Grapefruit Sauna

NSPA’s Grapefruit Shower Gel is the best grapefruit shower gel I’ve ever had. Unfortunately this product has been discontinued. However, I’m glad I have 2 bottles of this fantastic shower gel. 🙂

Montagne Jeunesse’s Grapefruit Sauna is a great face mask. The second time I used this mask, I left it on for over an hour (I sometimes do that…) and it made a huge difference to my skin. Sure, it made my skin feel very dry (although this problem was easy to fix…) but my pores looked considerably smaller than usual. I was blown away! Oh, and this mask smells extremely nice!

WINNER – Manhattan Tasty Lips Lipgloss American Grapefruit

Manhattan’s American Grapefruit flavoured Tasty Lips Lipgloss is my May 2017 favourite. This lipgloss is, without doubt, my favourite lipgloss ever. It feels great on my lips and it tastes like… heaven. 11 stars!

This month’s Top 3 have one thing in common – grapefruit! It’s pure coincidence, and I didn’t even realise it until I started to use the NSPA shower gel earlier this month! 😀

But now onto the honourable mentions! Treacle Moon’s That Vanilla Moment is extremely nice. And I really like L’Oréal’s Skin Perfection Gel-Cream Wash. I also think that 2 of the 3 Eva & Davis fragrances that I reviewed are pretty awesome!

Have you tried any of these products? Which products did you like best this month? Feel free to get in touch via the comments. And thanks for reading!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Nail Of The Day – Essence Aquatix 04 Under The Sea & Stamping With MoYou London Doodles 07 / Nail Art Challenge #13 Animal Print

Hi there! Today’s post is a Nail Of The Day post. And this mani is also my attempt at Animal Print nails which is challenge #13 of the 31 Days Nail Art Challenge.

For this mani I painted my nails with Essence Aquatix 04 Under The Sea. This polish is supposed to be a holographic nail polish, but the holo effect isn’t very strong. And I would describe the actual colour of this polish as steel. Or steel-y. It’s neither grey nor blue.

The cute sea life images are featured on MoYou’s Doodles 07 stamping plate. The black polish I stamped with is NYC In A Minute 001 Evil.

I realise that the person who thought up the original 31 Days Nail Art Challenge thought of Animal Print nails as zebra or leopard nails (or something similar). But I didn’t want to do another animal stripes mani so soon. And sea creatures are animals too, so I think I’m OK. 🙂

I like this mani! The holo polish could be prettier, but the images are just too cute. What do you think? Feel free to comment. And thanks for stopping by!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

100% Cruelty-Free – Montagne Jeunesse Raspberry Smoothie

Hi there! Today’s post is about this “exclusive” Montagne Jeunesse Raspberry Smoothie face mask (Primark, 90p!).

This face mask promises an antioxidant boost for fresher and softer skin. Does it work? I think this mask is OK. It’s like a regular clay mask.

I think this mask cleansed my skin well. However, I didn’t like its fragrance at all. The mango & raspberry fragrance smells like a cheap multi-vitamin juice.

There’s nothing wrong with the quality of this face mask, but I won’t buy it again because of its smell.

Montagne Jeunesse’s Raspberry Smoothie face mask is certified cruelty-free. It carries the Leaping Bunny logo and it’s approved by the Vegetarian Society.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Weekly Recap 22 – 28 May 2017

Hi there! And welcome to my weekly blog recap. If you’ve missed a post that might have interested you, this is your chance to catch up.

Monday 22 May – Eyeshadows!

On Monday I reviewed a few eyeshadows – Astor Pure Colour Eyeshadow 530 Sweet Daisy, Miss Sporty Studio Colour Smoky Eyeshadows 407 Luxury Smoky, and Essence Metal Glam 03 Frosted Apple & 05 Chocolate Jewellery. Click here if you’d like to read the post.

Tuesday 23 May – Eva & Davis Fragrance Mists

Tuesday’s post was about 3 Eva & Davis Fragrance Mists – Berries & Love, Green Inspiration, and Vanilla Seduction. Click here if you’d like to read the post.

Wednesday 24 May – Garnier Moisture + Protect Daily Protective Moisturiser

On Wednesday I reviewed Garnier’s Moisture + Perfect Daily Protective Moisturiser with SPF 20. Click here if you’d like to read the post.

Thursday 25 May – Nail Of The Day
Friday 26 May – NSPA Grapefruit Shower & Bath Gel

Thursday’s post was a Nail Of The Day post. Click here if you’d like to read the post.
And Friday’s post was about NSPA’s Grapefruit Shower & Bath Gel. Click here if you’d like to read the post.

And this is already it for this week. I hope you’ve had a great week so far and you enjoy the rest of the day. 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

NSPA Grapefruit Shower & Bath Gel

Hi there! Today’s post is about NSPA’s The Sunniest Juiciest Tantalising Bright Pink Grapefruit Shower & Bath Gel.

I’ve had this shower gel in my stash for some time. It’s almost summer, so I thought it would be the perfect time to give it a try. And now that I’ve used this shower gel for a few times, I’ve fallen in love with it.

Why is this shower gel so amazing? It makes me feel clean and refreshed, but it’s not drying. And the fragrance is… paradise! The grapefruit scent is juicy, fresh, and just so full of live. It’s not a sugary grapefruit fragrance for teenagers. No! It’s the perfect South Florida pink grapefruit fragrance.

NSPA’s Grapefruit Shower & Bath Gel has been discontinued. However, I hope that NSPA will recycle the formula to give us another limited edition grapefruit shower gel.

Have you tried this shower gel? Have you tried any of the other NSPA shower gels? If so, which ones are your favourites? Feel free to get in touch via the comments. And thanks for reading! 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Nail Of The Day – Revlon 902 Craving Coral & Stamping With Pueen 73

Hi there! I think it’s time for another Nail Of The Day post. So here it is!

For this mani I painted my nails with Revlon 902 Craving Coral. I don’t love the colour, but I bought the polish (years ago), so I have to use it every now and then. And that’s what I’m doing! 🙂

I used Essence’s White Stampy Polish to stamp a remotely floral (?) image onto my nails. Said image is featured on Pueen’s 73 plate (which is part of Pueen’s Stamping Buffet collection).

I didn’t love this mani. The images are far from perfect. This was 100% my fault because I was in a hurry. But in real life the mani didn’t look too bad. 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Garnier Moisture + Protect Daily Protective Moisturiser

Hi there! Today’s post is about Garnier’s Moisture + Protect Daily Protective Moisturiser which I picked up for £1.49 (Home Bargains!). This moisturiser with SPF 20 is aimed at women with normal or uneven skin, and it promises to brighten and to illuminate skin. I’ve been using this moisturiser for just under 3 weeks now, so let me tell you if it’s any good.

I think this moisturiser is quite good. It plays well with all sorts of products (toner, serum, hyaluronic acid face mist, glycolic peel) without balling up and without troubling my skin. This moisturiser feels light, but it hydrates my skin properly. It also sits well under make-up. However, there is one thing I’m not happy with…

… this moisturiser smells more like a hand cream than a face cream. The fragrance is 90% calendula with 5% lemon and 5% honey. I’m pretty sure I once had a hand cream that smelled exactly like this. I appreciate that fragrances are a personal thing, and the next person might love this fragrance – but I don’t. 🙂 I will definitely continue to use this moisturiser but, because of the fragrance, I wouldn’t buy it again.

Garnier’s Moisture + Protect Daily Protective Moisturiser is available as 50ml. I believe the RRP is around £4, but I only paid £1.49. It appears that Garnier has just repackaged the entire collection – so this must be the reason why the “old” stock can be found at Home Bargains!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Eva & Davis Fragrance Mists – Berries & Love, Green Inspiration, Vanilla Seduction

Hi there! Today’s post is about 3 fragrance mists I picked up from TK Maxx – Eva & Davis Berries & Love, Green Inspiration and Vanilla Seduction. These fragrance mists are described as lightweight, refreshing and non-greasy, and they promise hydration and antioxidant benefits.

Let’s start with my favourite! Berries & Love with wild berries and spring flowers smells amazing. It smells like a chilled red fruit jelly (raspberries, redcurrant, pomegranate…) without added sugar. It’s delicious!

Green Inspiration – with notes of green and white tea, bergamot, lime and precious woods – is really nice too. The white tea note is very strong but that’s fine because it’s so nice! By the way, this fragrance mist would be suitable for men too!

Eva & Davis Vanilla Seduction isn’t very enjoyable. It smells cheap. The vanilla and amber mix is too sweet and quite artificial. However, I think that people who love very sweet fragrances would like or love this fragrance.

I think 2 of these 3 fragrance mists are very good – definitely better than certain designer fragrances that you can find in department stores, and they’re much cheaper! I paid £4.99 per fragrance mist (TK Maxx).

I tried to find out more about the brand Eva & Davis, but their social media accounts and their web site have been abandoned, and there are no links to any stores that might sell their products. So I think it’s safe to assume they’re no longer in business which is a shame because I would have been happy to buy Berries & Love and Green Inspiration again!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Reducing My Oldies Stash – Astor Pure Colour Eyeshadow 530 Sweet Daisy, Essence Metal Glam Eyeshadow 03 Frosted Apple & 05 Chocolate Jewellery, Miss Sporty Studio Colour Smoky Eyeshadows 407 Luxury Smoky

Hi there! Today’s episode of Reducing My Oldies Stash is about a few single eyeshadows and eyeshadow compacts that I’ve had for quite some time. The 2 compacts are Astor Pure Colour Eyeshadow 530 Sweet Daisy and Miss Sporty Studio Colour Smoky Eyeshadows 407 Luxury Smoky.

The 2 single eyeshadows are Essence Metal Glam Eyeshadow 03 Frosted Apple & 05 Chocolate Jewellery. Now let me tell you if these products are any good. And let’s start with the Astor compact!

Astor Pure Colour Eyeshadow 530 Sweet Daisy

Astor Pure Colour Eyeshadow 530 Sweet Daisy is a duo eyeshadow compact that comes with a small applicator. The eyeshadows are a bit chalky and they’re not very well pigmented. And the colours turned out much cooler in real life. In the compact the colours look like a pale beige-rose and a brownish purple, but in real life they’re more like lilac and lavender.

I’m OK with lilac and lavender eyeshadows, but I’m not OK with them being chalky and rather poorly pigmented. I will continue to use these eyeshadows, but I don’t know if I can commit to finishing this Astor eyeshadow compact.

Essence Metal Glam Eyeshadow 03 Frosted Apple & 05 Chocolate Jewellery

Essence Metal Glam Eyeshadow 03 Frosted Apple & 05 Chocolate Jewellery are limited edition eyeshadows. I’m not sure if you would still be able to get your hands on them, but I’m sure that, at some point, Essence will ‘recycle’ these two shades – well, that’s if they haven’t already. 🙂

Frosted Apple is a rosey shade, and Chocolate Jewellery is a medium brown. Both eyeshadows have a metallic finish. I think these eyeshadows are really nice. The shades aren’t too out there – they’re actually fairly neutral, and the velvety texture makes these eyeshadows easy to blend. I enjoy using these eyeshadows, so, of course, I will continue to use them! 🙂

Miss Sporty Studio Colour Smoky Eyeshadows 407 Luxury Smoky

Miss Sporty Studio Colour Smoky Eyeshadows 407 Luxury Smoky is a small eyeshadow compact that comes with a tiny applicator. This compact is really small – it’s about 2cm x 2cm. Anyhoo… this compact contains four eyeshadows – a barely-there pale beige, a golden yellow, a medium grey and an almost black / charcoal shade.

The almost black / charcoal eyeshadow is the only well pigmented one. The other 3 eyeshadows aren’t great. They’re lacklustre. They lack… life! I can make these 4 eyeshadows work for me, but I don’t really enjoy using them. I will continue to use them, and I will try to finish them. Well, this compact is really small, so I think finishing it isn’t impossible. 🙂

Have you tried any of these eyeshadows or eyeshadow compacts? If so, feel free to let me know what you think. And thanks for stopping by!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Weekly Recap 15 – 21 May 2017

Hi there! And welcome to my weekly blog recap. Read on if you’d like to know what I’ve been up to on my blog this week. 🙂

Monday 15 May – Nail Of The Day
Tuesday 16 May – L’Oréal Skin Perfection Soothing Gel-Cream Wash

Monday’s post was a Nail Of The Day post. Click here if you’d like to read the post.
Tuesday’s post was about L’Oréal’s Skin Perfection Soothing Gel-Cream Wash. Click here if you’d like to read the post.

Wednesday 17 May – Body Fantasies Kissing In The Rain & Pink Sweet Pea Fantasy

On Wednesday I reviewed 2 Body Fantasies fragrances. Click here if you’d like to read the post.

Thursday – Treacle Moon That Vanilla Moment Bath And Shower Gel
Friday – Nail Of The Day

Thursday’s post was about Treacle Moon’s lovely That Vanilla Moment Shower Gel. Click here if you’d like to read the post.
Friday’s post was another Nail Of The Day post. Click here if you’d like to read the post.

I’ve also noticed that it’s been a while since I’ve told you how I’m getting on with my Sleek Au Naturel palette – that’s the palette I’m trying to finish. Well, here’s the latest update…

7 of the 12 eyeshadows are finished, and I’m working on the remaining 5 eyeshadows…

This is it for this week. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde