May Beauty Awards

Hi there! Today’s post is my Monthly Favourites post. I’ve picked my top 3 from all the products I reviewed in May. And there are a few honourable mentions as well. Let’s take a look at the goodies!

3rd place – Harmony Hair Indulgence Herbal Shampoo & Conditioner With Ginseng Extract

These Harmony Hair Indulgence products with ginseng were lovely! I’m so sad that this line has been discontinued!

Runner-Up – Astor Rouge Couture 301 Nude Silk

OMG, this lipstick is just wow! I love this shade, it’s perfect for me.

WINNER – Mitomo Retinol Facial Essence Mask

This retinol face mask is the bomb! I love it! It’s one of the best sheet masks I’ve ever tried.

Onto the honourable mentions! I enjoyed Sanctuary Spa’s Salt Scrub and I’m still enjoying Sanctuary Spa’s Hand Cream and Heel Balm. Primark’s Pearl Mask and Global Beauty Care’s Collagen Mask were lovely. And Boots’ Glycolic Acid Mask was a surprise find which will now become a regular purchase.

Have you tried any of these products or would you like to try them? Which products have you been loving lately? Feel free to comment, and thanks for reading! x

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Weekly Recap 24 – 30 May 2021

Hi there! Happy Sunday! Today’s post is my weekly blog recap. Read on if you’re wondering what I’ve been up to on my blog this past week.

Monday 24 May – Nail Of The Day
Tuesday 25 May – Boots Ultra Fine Sheet Mask With Added Mixed Berries Extract

Monday’s post was a Nail Of The Day post. Click here to read it.
On Tueday I reviewed a face mask. Click here to read the post.

Wednesday 26 May – Sanctuary Spa Hand Cream, Sanctuary Spa Heel Balm

Wednesday’s post was about 2 Sanctuary Spa products. Click here to take a look.

Thursday 27 May – Garnier Skin Active Soothing Botanical Cleansing Milk & Toner With Rose Water

On Thursday I reviewed 2 Garnier cleansing products. Click here to read the post.

Friday 28 May – Imperial Leather Dreamy Donuts Sweet Treats Soap

And Friday’s post was about a shower soap. Click here to read it.

This is it for this week. Thanks for stopping by! x

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Imperial Leather Dreamy Donuts Sweet Treats Soap

Hi there! Today’s post is about this Imperial Leather Dreamy Donuts Sweet Treats Soap. This shower soap is supposed to smell of sweet vanilla buttercream and a drizzly strawberry icing. The soap claims to be gentle on skin. Since the soap is housed in cardboard, the packaging is 100% recyclable. This is great!

I’ve given this soap a try, and I found it disappointing. Whilst I agree that the soap is gentle and that it left my skin feeling great, I didn’t care for the fragrance at all. I’d describe the fragrance as stale, a bit like old bread. This wasn’t great. So I threw out the soap after the first unpleasant use.

I won’t recommend this product, but if you’re interested, Imperial Leather Dreamy Donuts Sweet Treats Soap is available as a 100g bar soap for 70p (Sainsbury’s).

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Garnier Skin Active Soothing Botanical Cleansing Milk & Toner With Rose Water

Hi there! Today’s post is about 2 facial cleansing products which I’ve been using since the beginning of May – Garnier Skin Active Soothing Botanical Cleansing Milk & Toner With Rose Water, aimed at people with dry and sensitive skin.

Garnier Skin Active Soothing Botanical Cleansing Milk With Rose Water promises to dissolve and remove make-up gently and effectively. I think it removes make-up OK. This cleanser is better than the 2 other cleansers from this collection (aloe, honey), but it’s not nearly as good as Olay’s cleanser, which sets the standards in the lower price range.

Garnier Skin Active Soothing Botanical Toner With Rose Water claims to remove residue from make-up and cleansing products. I think this toner is OK too, but it’s nowhere near perfect. When I go over my face with a different toner afterwards, the other toner will pick up make-up residue which the Garnier products didn’t catch.

I’ve tried double-cleansing with the cleansing milk and double-toning with the toner – but these products aren’t the best. They smell lovely, but I can’t base my beauty decisions solely on how products smell. All in all, I won’t repurchase these products.

If you’re interested, Garnier Skin Active Soothing Botanical Cleansing Milk & Toner With Rose Water, are available as 200ml each for about £3.49 each. I paid £1.99 each (special offer).

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Sanctuary Spa Hand Cream, Sanctuary Spa Heel Balm

Hi there! Today’s post is about 2 products which were in one of the Sanctuary Spa gift sets I picked up for half price on Boxing Day – Sanctuary Spa Hand Cream and Sanctuary Spa Heel Balm.

Let’s start with Sanctuary Spa Hand Cream with shea butter and sweet almond oil. This hand cream promises non-greasy hydration – and it delivers exactly that! My husband and I are enjoying this hand cream so much. It feels amazing, and it has the beautiful Sanctuary Spa fragrance! This hand cream is £3 for the tiny 30ml tube or £6 for the bigger 75ml tube.

Onto Sanctuary Spa Heel Balm with shea butter and wheatgerm oil. I’ve had the heel balm before, but that was the old formula. The new formula is really good too. This product works wonders on dry feet. Priced at £7.50 for a 75ml tube, I won’t buy it, but I’d love to find it again in another half price gift set on Boxing Day!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Boots Ultra Fine Sheet Mask With Added Mixed Berries Extract

Hi there! Today’s post is about this Boots Ultra Fine Sheet Mask With Added Mixed Berries Extract. This face mask with soldium hyaluronate and acai, raspberry, blueberry and black mulberry extracts promises to leave the skin more radiant, revitalised and with tightened pores.

This is a leave-on mask. Start by cleansing your face, then put the mask on. Leave it on for at least 15 minutes, then take it off and massage the essence into the skin. Then continue with your regular skin care.

I’ve given this face mask a try, and I liked it. I would say that it felt both relaxing and revitalising. My pores didn’t look different, and I wouldn’t say that my skin looked any more radiant, but it was still an enjoyable mask. The essence was lightweight and not overly sticky, and the fragrance was very subtle. All in all, this is a good mask!

If you’re interested, Boots Ultra Fine Sheet Mask With Added Mixed Berries Extract is available as a 25g single-use mask for £1.50. I bought it as part of a bundle of different face masks (6 masks for £5).

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Nail Of The Day – Rimmel Lycra Pro 425 My Denim & Stamping With MoYou London & Nicole Diary (Nail Fail)

Hi there! Today’s post is about the mani I did over the weekend.

For this mani I painted my nails with Rimmel Lycra Pro 425 My Denim (2 coats). I like this polish a lot. It’s a beautiful blue!

For the images I used my MoYou London Scandi Sun stamping polish. It doesn’t work very well with every stamping plate – as you can see here.

I used 2 different stamping plates – Nicole Diary 024 and MoYou London Zodiac Collection 03 Aries.

If you don’t look too closely, the mani looks alright, but I do look closely all the time, so… next!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Weekly Recap 17 – 23 May 2021

Hi there! Happy Sunday! Today’s post is my weekly blog recap. Read on if you’re wondering what I’ve been up to on my blog this past week.

Monday 17 May – Nail Of The Day (Nail Fail)
Tuesday 18 May – NSPA Fruit Extracts Luscious And Juicy Red Cherry Shower & Bath Gel

Monday’s post was a Nail Of The Day post. Click here to read it.
On Tuesday I reviewed a shower gel. Click here to read the post.

Wednesday 19 May – Harmony Hair Indulgence Herbal Shampoo & Conditioner With Ginseng Extract

Wednesday’s post was about the hair care products I’m using at the moment. Click here to read the post.

Thursday 20 May – Declutter & Swatches Part 1 – Rimmel, Essence, NYC, Manhattan, Astor, Beauty UK & W7

And on Thursday I did a big swatchfest and declutter post. Click here to take a look.

I didn’t post on Friday, so this is it for this week. Thanks for stopping by!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Declutter & Swatches Part 1 – Rimmel, Essence, NYC, Manhattan, Astor, Beauty UK & W7

Hi there! I’m in the process of going through my almost bottomless stash of cosmetics – and will throw out what I don’t want anymore or what has gone off. A few products will be kept. Lots of swatches too – all swatches were done on a well moisturised forearm! OK, let’s take a look!

1 Manhattan X-Treme Last & Shine Lipstick 94P

What a beautiful lipstick! I wish I tried it sooner! I will keep this one and start using it asap!

2 Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick 330 Sloane’s Plum

This lipstick looks almost black. But when applied, it’s a medium plum shade.

3 Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick 860 Auburn Breeze

A reddish brown in the bullet, but a sheer brownish red on skin.

4 Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick 680 Precious Brown

Precious Brown is a bit too pale and too sheer for me.

5 Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick 840 Burgundy Shine

Not a bad colour, but too vampy for me. I’m very pale, and this shade gives me an unwanted goth look.

6 NYC Cityproof Twistable Intense Lip Color 050 Park Slope Peach

Now this is one ugly colour! Binned right away!

7 Astor Rouge Couture 301 Nude Silk

Nude Silk is a beautiful shade. I will keep this one too.

8 Astor Colour Last VIP 344 Classy Red

I like this one! It’s a nice, wearable red. I will keep this one for now.

9 Beauty UK Eye Shadow Palette No. 4 Earth Child

This is what the eyeshadows look like.

Top row swatches – decent shades and pigmentation!

Bottom row swatches… yikes!

This palette will be binned!

10 Essence All About Nude Eyeshadow

Not sure if this is mould (top right), but this eye palette is not only new and unused – it is still sealed! 🤢

And the last two for today… Essence Silky Touch Blush 20 Babydoll. It was my go-to blush until March 2020. But I haven’t touched it since – because I work from home permanently, and whenever I don’t have to be on camera, I don’t bother with make-up. Anyhoo, I’m now saying goodbye to this pretty blush.

I’m also letting this W7 Silky Eyes Bare It All eye compact go. I haven’t touched in since March 2020. I loved the 2 brown shades so much! But it’s goodbye now!

I’m happy that I started to go through my stash. It’s not always easy to let things go, especially when there are hidden gems which I never even tried… but it has to be done. By the way, I’ve also binned about 20 products which I didn’t find swatch-worthy – not too bad!

Thanks for stopping by! x

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Revisiting Old Favourites – Harmony Hair Indulgence Herbal Shampoo & Conditioner With Ginseng Extract

Hi there! Today’s post is about this Harmony Hair Indulgence Herbal Shampoo & Conditioner With Ginseng Extract combo. These are old favourites from a while ago, and I thought it’s time to revisit them!

Harmony Hair Indulgence Herbal Shampoo is amazing! It’s a clarifying shampoo that smells of ginger (Is ginseng that similar?) and soft musk. It’s amazing!

Harmony Hair Indulgence Herbal Conditioner is simply fabulous. It detangles my hair with ease. And I only need a bit of product. Wow! The conditoner has a clean and soft musk fragrance – I love it!

I’m enjoying these products very much! They make my hair look and feel amazing – and they smell like pretty fragrances (i.e. Narciso Rodriguez or J Lo Glow minus the bubblegum note). What’s not to love? Based on my experience, I’d recommend these hair products! Harmony Hair Indulgence Herbal Shampoo & Conditioner With Ginseng Extract are available as 250ml each for about £1 at discount stores. I found these at Poundland!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde