October Beauty Awards

Hi there! It’s the last day of the month, and this means that today’s post is about the products I loved the most in October. I picked my TOP 3 as well as a few honourable mentions from all the products I’ve reviewed this past month. Let’s start with the TOP 3!

3rd place – Yves Rocher Nutritive Végétal Velvety Cleansing Milk
Runner-Up – Jennifer Lopez Glow Eau De Toilette

Yves Rocher did an amazing job with this cleansing milk. And J Lo’s Glow fragrance is incredibly lovely.

WINNER – Poundland #6 Anti-Ageing Eye Cream

Poundland’s £1 eye cream turned out to be the surprise hit of the month. I’m very happy with it, and I know I’ll buy it again.

Onto the honourable mentions! Jiinju‘s wonderful Avocado Sheet Mask came in 4th (it was close). I enjoyed By Nature‘s Nourishing & Firming Face Mask. And NSPA‘s Luscious And Juicy Red Cherry Daily Refresh Shower Scrub is the perfect body scrub.

Have you tried any of these products? Would you like to try them? Which products have you been loving lately? Feel free to get in touch via the comments. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Halloween! 😈 👻 🦇

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Jiinju Cucumber Sheet Mask

Hi there! I’ve got a face mask review for you today. And it’s about this Jiinju Cucumber Sheet Mask. This mask promises to calm and soothe skin. The essence contains cucumber juice, sodium hyaluronate and a number of flower, leaf and root extracts.

This mask is supposed to be used on cleansed skin. Simply leave it on for 10-20 minutes. Then massage the leftover essence into your skin. Alrighty, here’s what I think of this mask…

First of all, since the sachet contains A LOT of runny essence, here’s what I’ve done: I enjoyed the sheet mask as recommended. Once it was almost dry, I threw it back into the sachet so it would soak up the remaining essence. Then I enjoyed another sheet mask right away.

But how’s the mask? I think it’s good but not great. I would agree that it’s soothing and calming – but I wouldn’t recommend using it on freshly exfoliated skin because the mask might have the opposite effect. I know because I made this mistake once!

Jiinju Cucumber Sheet Mask is available as a 20ml single use sheet mask. On the back of the sachet it says that the mask was not tested on animals, and that it’s suitable for vegans. I received a number of these masks as a gift with purchase (Superdrug).

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Nail Of The Day – The Ultimate Halloween Mani Feat. Revlon, Rimmel, MoYou London & More

Hi there! I’ve got a Nail Of The Day post for you today.

For this spooky Halloween mani I painted my nails with:
MUA Whitewash (pinkies, index fingers), Revlon Colorstay 090 Sorbet (ring fingers), and Rimmel I  ♥ Lasting Finish 401 Wedge Of Lime (middle fingers, thumbs).

I used Boots No 7 Devils Delight and a small piece of a sponge for the blood effect. The stamping plate I used is MoYou London’s Festive 53 plate. The black polish I stamped with is Revlon Colorstay 270 Stiletto.

For this mani I simply “recycled” a few old mani ideas from the past few years and put them together. And I liked the result!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Balance Active Formula Instant Effect Wrinkle Filler

Hi there! Today’s post is about this non-greasy Balance Active Formula Instant Effect Wrinkle Filler. This product promises to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, to lift and plump up the skin, and to give skin a more rested and radiant look.

This product is aimed at all skin types. You’re supposed to apply it by patting it over lines and wrinkles. However, this product can also be applied to the entire face and neck.

How’s the product? Well, it doesn’t make a difference to the fine lines I’ve got, and it doesn’t lift or plump or my skin. So it doesn’t do most of what it claims to do. However, this stuff is very hydrating, so I’m now using it as a night cream.

I won’t repurchase this product, but if you’re interested, Balance Active Formula Instant Effect Wrinkle Filler is available as 50ml. I paid £2.99 (Home Bargains).

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Weekly Recap 21 – 27 October 2019

Hi there! It’s Sunday, and this means that today’s post is my weekly blog recap. So read on if you’d like to know which products I’ve reviewed this past week.

Monday 21 Oct – Boots Botanics All Bright Hydrating Night Cream

Monday’s post was about a night cream. Click here to read it.

Tuesday 22 Oct – Nail Of The Day
Wednesday 23 Oct – Boots Sheet Mask With Added Collagen

On Tuesday I showed you a mani I did recently. Click here to read the post.
Wednesday’s post was about a face mask. Click here to read it.

Thursday 24 Oct – Poundland #6 Anti-Ageing Eye Cream

On Thursday I reviewed Poundland’s own brand eye cream. Click here to read the post.

Friday 25 Oct – Anovia Replenishing Argan & Marula Shampoo & Conditioner

And on Friday I told you if these Anovia hair products were any good. Click here to read the post.

This is already it for this week. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Anovia Replenishing Argan & Marula Shampoo & Conditioner

Hi there! I’ve got a hair care review for you today. I’ve given Anovia Replenishing Argan & Marula Shampoo & Conditioner a try, and here’s what I think. 🙂

Anovia Replenishing Argan & Marula Shampoo feels super gentle, so I think it would be best suited to people with dry or damaged hair. The fragrance is gorgeous. It’s warm and cuddly which is very nice!

Anovia Replenishing Argan & Marula Conditioner is good but not great. It smells nice, and it detangles my hair well. I also think it makes my hair feel soft, so I shouldn’t complain. However, this conditioner seems to flatten my hair. I think this one would be most suited to people with unruly hair.

All in all, I like these 2 products, but I’m only using them twice a week (that’s because of the unwanted flattening effect). The other 5 days I’m using something else. But I will happily continue to use these products, and I might buy them again.

Anovia Replenishing Argan & Marula Shampoo & Conditioner are available as 500ml each for 99p each (Home Bargains).

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Poundland #6 Anti-Ageing Eye Cream

Hi there! It’s been a little while since Poundland launched its own skin care brand – so I’m a bit late to the party (as usual). However, I started to use Poundland‘s #6 Anti-Ageing Eye Cream about 3 weeks ago, and I’ve formed an opinion. 🙂

OK, let me tell you a little about the product first. This eye cream contains collagen, ceramides, algae extract and flaxseed oil. It pomises to reduce lines gradually. Oh, and this product is cruelty-free (all the products from Poundland’s #6 range are).

I think this eye cream is impressive! It feels light and non-greasy, and it doesn’t mess with my foundation or eye makeup. I’ve noticed that this eye cream is very hydrating. And looking at hydration only, I find it to be more effective than Superdrug’s Vitamin E (£3.49) and Naturally Radiant (£5.99) eye creams.

I have very dry and moody skin, but the skin around my eyes looks amazing. This is particularly surprising this time of year with the change of seasons. And I’m also not getting younger… so I’m wondering… is this what ceramides do?

Regardless of which ingredient does what – I’m blown away by this little eye cream, and I’d recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a hydrating eye cream, especially if you’re on a budget. Poundland‘s #6 Anti-Ageing Eye Cream is available as 15ml for £1.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Boots Sheet Mask With Added Collagen

HI there! I’ve got a face mask review for you today – and it’s about this Boots Sheet Mask With Added Collagen. This ultra-thin sheet mask promises to leave skin looking smoother and more radiant.

The mask is easy to use (once you’ve managed to free it from the mask-shaped piece of plastic it’s wrapped around). So… cleanse your skin, place the mask on your face, leave it on for 10-15 minutes, then massage the remaining essence into your skin. Job done!

I’ve given this mask a try, and I found that it made my skin look smoother. There was no difference in skin radiance (my skin looks quite alright at the moment, so I have no reason to complain right now), but I’ve noticed that this mask plumped up my skin. This was visible on my forehead and around my eyes. Impressive!

Having said this, I won’t repurchase this sheet mask. The piece of plastic that comes with these ultra-thin sheet masks is very annoying, and I don’t like the strong, chemical fragrance. To be fair, the other 2 masks I’ve previously tried and reviewed from this range smelled the same; I haven’t mentioned it before, but now that I’ve used mask number 3, the fragrance registers as unpleasant to me.

Anyhoo, if you’d like to give it a try… Boots Sheet Mask With Added Collagen is available as a 25g single-use sheet mask for £1.50.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Nail Of The Day – Primark PS… Nail Polish Snow White & Stamping With Nicole Diary ND 076

Hi there! I’ve got a short Nail Of The Day post for you today. Since we’re just days away from Halloween, I thought I’d share this mani now – just in case you’re looking for Halloween nail art inspiration.

Alrighty! For this mani I painted my nails with Primark PS… Nail Polish Snow White (2 coats). I have a number of white Primark polishes and most of them are one-coaters, and they’re much better than the considerably more pricey stuff out there!

For the images I used my Nicole Diary ND 076 stamping plate. The red polish I stamped with is Manhattan Quick Dry 46K.

I liked how this mani turned out. No, I loved it! This stamping plate is… 😍 🔥 💖

Will you do a spooky Halloween mani? If you’d like to share your ideas with me, please do so via the comments. And thanks for stopping by!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Boots Botanics All Bright Night Cream

Hi there! Today’s post is about this Boots Botanics All Bright Hydrating Night Cream for people with normal or dry skin. This face cream promises to brighten and to hydrate skin. Here’s what I think about this product…

Unfortunately, I had to bin this face cream. A few weeks ago my eyes started to swell up. It was bad! Fortunately, I have a prescription for steroids, so I was able to take care of my eyes as soon as I noticed what was happening, and yes, I was able to prevent a full-blown angioedema. However, I also thought that a new beauty product might be to blame.

Since I started to use a few new products and new makeup brushes around the same time (silly me), I stopped using all of the new products and I went back to a full Olay skin care regime. Then I re-introduced the new products – 1 product or tool at a time, and no more than 1 new product or tool every 5 days. I also kept track of every single product and tool that I used around my eyes. 👍

5 weeks later I finally had my answer – it was this night cream that caused a terrible skin reaction. Whilst I love Boots’ Botanics All Bright Day Cream and a few more products from their All Bright collection, I won’t go anywhere near this night cream again.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde