Essence XXXL Nude Lipgloss 06 Soft Almond, Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care Lip Balm, Malibu Sun Lip Care Vanilla Flavour

Hi there! Today’s post is about 3 lip products I’m using at the moment – Essence XXXL Nude Lipgloss 06 Soft Almond, Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care Lip Balm which is 100% vegan and cruelt-free, and Malibu Sun Lip Care Vanilla Flavour.

Let’s start with Essence XXXL Nude Lipgloss 06 Soft Almond! This is a gorgeous lip gloss. It has a subtle sweet flavour and a sheer brownish tint which is a good match for me (pale ginger with green eyes). I also like that the gloss doesn’t slip. All in all, this is a really good lipgloss! I paid £1 for it (Wilko, sale)

Onto Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care Lip Balm! I’ve been enjoying this lip balm for a few months now, and it’s almost finished. Why is it good? It has a beautiful texture that glides on and provides a real hydration boost. I’ve even used it around my eyes and my nose to heal broken, flaky skin. One word of caution though – this lip balm has a strong ricinus oil scent – if that’s not your cup of tea, you won’t like this lip balm!

If you’re interested, this lip balm is available as a duo pack for £3.49. I paid just over £2 during a Save 1/3 promotion (which Superdrug runs most of the time). Also, this lip balm is vegan and certified cruelty-free as it carries the Leaping Bunny logo!

Malibu Sun Lip Care Vanilla Flavour is a decent lip balm. It has SPF30 – this is great in many ways. However, this also means that the lip balm stings on broken skin. This lip balm is nice for healthy lips, and I would recommend as a summer holiday lip balm. The sweet vanilla flavour is alright too. Malibu Sun Lip Balms are usually available in sets of 3 for about £1.99 (Home Bargains and other bargain stores although the price may be different).

Whilst this post is not a product comparison, let me rate these lip products from best to 3rd best = Essence lipgloss, Superdrug lip balm, Malibu Sun lip balm. But I like them all; there’s not a single stinker amongst these products!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Nail Of The Day – Revlon Top Speed 570 Vintage & Essence Glamaxy Top Coat 34 Glamaxy Far Far Away (Photo Fail)

Hi there! Today’s post is about the mani I wore over the New Year’s weekend.

For this mani I painted my nails with Revlon Top Speed 570 Vintage (2 coats). I like this nail polish a lot. It’s a gorgeous red – it’s dark with a touch of wine and plum – it’s so beautiful!

The flakie top coat I used is Essence Glamaxy Top Coat 34 Glamaxy Far Far Away (1 coat).

This top coat is stunning. It’s a shame it doesn’t look great in the photo. Unfortunately, there was hardly any natural light, and this top coat doesn’t photgraph well under artificial light.

But the mani looked great in real life. I’ll redo it in the spring to show off the beautiful top coat in all its glory.

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

Nail Of The Day – Essence Shine Last & Go 47 Forget The Rules & Stamping With MoYou London Festive 53

Hi there! Happy Monday! Today’s post is a Nail Of The Day post.

For this mani I painted my nails with Essence Shine Last & Go 47 Forget The Rules (2 coats). This is a great slimey green shade. It’s perfect for Halloween-themed manis. 🎃👻

For the images I used my MoYou London Festive 53 stamping plate. The black polish I stamped with is the wonderful Revlon Colorstay 270 Stiletto.

If this mani looks familiar, this is because I’ve done similar manis in the past. 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Nail Of The Day – Manhattan Buffalo 12, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Sonic Bloom, Essence Colour & Go 105 Party Princess & Stamping With MoYou London Suki 01

Hi there! Today’s post is a Nail Of The Day post.

For this mani I painted my nails with Manhattan Buffalo 12 (2 coats, thumbs, index and middle fingers) and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Sonic Bloom (2 coats, ring fingers, pinkies).

The cute glitter top coat I used on the pink nails is Essence Colour & Go 105 Party Princess.

For the images I used my MoYou London Suki Collection 01 stamping plate. The black polish I stamped with is Revlon Nail Art Expressionist 310 Night & Degas.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Essence XXXL Longlasting Lipgloss 1 Baby Doll’s Favourite, Collection Bedazzled Special Glitter Edition Eye Palette

Hi there! Today’s post is about 2 products – Essence XXXL Longlasting Lipgloss 1 Baby Doll’s Favourite and Collection Bedazzled Special Glitter Edition Eye Palette.

Let’s start with this Essence XXXL Longlasting Lipgloss 1 Baby Doll’s Favourite which I picked up when it was on sale for £1 at Wilko’s.

Whilst the pale peachy shade is nothing special, I do like the hydrating formula of this lipgloss. I’m also a fan of the subtle vanilla flavour. I’m happy to continue to use this lipgloss, and I have no doubt that I’ll finish it over the next few months.

Onto this Collection Bedazzled Special Glitter Edition Eye Palette which was £1.99 at Fragrance Direct. I’m not really a fan of the brand Collection, but the palette was cheap, so I wanted to give it a try.

This eye palette contains 9 glittery eyeshadows – a few colours, a few neutral shades, black and white. I did the swatches on a well-moisturised forearm!

The shades in the top row are purple, grey and a light beige. The purple is terribly chalky and not easy to blend. The grey and the light beige are poorly pigmented. It took more than 10 swipes to get the colours to show!

Row 2 has a chalky minty green, an incredibly poorly pigmented black (What were they thinking?) and a surprisingly half-decent gold. It took 10+ swipes for the green and black to show, but just about 2 or 3 swipes for the gold.

And in the bottom row there’s a terribly ugly metallic blue, a poorly pigmented white, and a very nice metallic brown. They did keep the best for last! The blue and white are, again, 10+ swipes, but the brown is just a single swipe!

I’ve made the decision to use the nice brown shade for all my eye looks until the end of the month. But after that I’ll bin the palette as I won’t keep it for just 1 eyeshadow.

Thanks for stopping by today, lovelies! 🥰

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Nail Of The Day – Revlon Nail Art Neon White, Essence Out Of Space Stories 01 Outta Space Is The Place & Stamping With Pict You PY-J034

Hi there! Happy Monday! I have a Nail Of The Day post for you today.

For this mani I painted my nails with my white Revlon Nail Art Neon nail polish (2 coats) and Essence Out Of Space Stories 01 Outta Space Is The Place (1 coat). The Essence polish added a nice pearly shine to the white base.

For the images I used my fairly new Pict You-PY-J034 stamping plate and a random black Rimmel polish.

I liked this mani a lot. And that was because of the amazing images on this particular stamping plate. I can’t wait to use it again!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Essence Plumping Nudes Lipgloss 05 Bold Love, Essence Plumping Nudes Lipgloss 07 So Heavy

Hi there! Today’s post is about 2 lipglosses that I picked up for half price at Wilko’s – Essence Plumping Nudes Lipgloss 05 Bold Love and Essence Plumping Nudes 07 So Heavy. These lipglosses promise plumper lips within seconds. I’ve been using these lipglosses on and off for a few weeks, and here’s what I think.

Essence Plumping Nudes Lipgloss 05 Bold Love is a sheer brownish gloss. The shade looks nice on my lips, but I don’t care for the cooling and plumping effect.

Essence Plumping Nudes 07 So Heavy is very pretty! When I bought this lipgloss, I didn’t notice that it was packed with glitter. And I was actually quite disappointed when I realised it was glittery. But then I tried it, and I fell in love with the shade – which is the perfect plum shade for pale girls). The glitter is hardly visible on my lips, but it adds to the glossy look. Another big plus is that the gloss is pretty much opaque – like a liquid lipstick. Again, I don’t care for the cooling and plumping effect, but this gloss is great in every other way, so I’m very happy to use it!

Essence Plumping Nudes Lipglosses are available in a number of shades for £2.30 each at Wilko’s. I paid £1.15 each for the 2 shades I bought.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Nail Of The Day – Essence Shine Last & Go 27 What Is This Feeling & Stamping with Biutee 02

Hi there! Happy Friday, everyone! 🥳

Alrighty… for this mani I painted my nails with Essence Shine Last & Go 27 What Is This Feeling (2 coats). I like this polish! This is a simple, pretty light grey. A great base for stamping.

I used a holographic top coat – Andrea Fulerton Dancing Queen (1 coat). The pretty holographic micro glitter is hardly visible in the photo, but it looked sparkly and shiny in real life.

For the images I used my Biutee 02 stamping plate and a random black polish.

I really liked this mani. And I can’t wait to use this cute holo top coat again!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Nail Of The Day – Essence Shine Last & Go 47 Forget The Rules & Stamping With Maniology Secret Garden BM 723

Hi there! This is another Nail Of The Day post. 🙂

For this mani I painted my nails with Essence Shine Last & Go 47 Forget The Rules (2 coats). This is a great colour. It will make a great base for Halloween nail art this October!

For the images I used my Maniology (formerly Bundle Monster) Secret Garden BM 723 stamping plate. I’m glad I found the Secret Garden stamping collection. It’s been lost in my stash for a while, but thanks to the house move, these stamping plates made a reappearance! 😍

I used a random black polish to stamp with – this is the reason why the images didn’t come out right and look either pale or blurry. Ah well…

Mrs Strawberry Blonde