2022 Favourites (Skin Care, Hair Care, Eyes, Lips, Fragrances)

Hi there! Today’s post is about my favourite products in 2022. Only the best of the best! Let’s take a look!

Scinic Sparkling Pore Toner

This is one of the best toners I’ve ever used. 😍

Agent Provocateur Fatale Intense Eau De Parfum

Fatale Intense is like a lighter version of Thierry Mugler’s Angel. 😇

Jil Sander Simply Elixir Eau De Parfum & Rich Body Cream

Simply Elixir was a very successful blind buy. It’s like a lady’s version of Dior Fahrenheit! 🌡

Oriflame Mirage Eau De Parfum

Mirage is one of the most beautiful and unique fragrance I’ve ever had the pleasure of smelling. It’s the Moira Rose of fragrances. 😍

Yves Saint Laurent Elle Limited Edition 2011, Yves Saint Laurent Elle Limited Edition 2012

I love YSL’s limited editions of Elle! 🗼

Superdrug Naturally Radiant Moisturising Facial Oil

Superdrug’s Naturally Radiant Facial Oil is a skin care super hero! 💗

Pantene Pro-V Miracles Grow Strong Biotin + Bamboo Shampoo & Conditioner

These Pantene hair care products are some of my all-time favourite shampoo and conditioner combos. 😍

Antonio Banderas Her Secret Temptation Eau De Toilette

Her Secret Temptation is another amazing Antonio Banderas fragrance. Wow! 💗

Boots Live + Be Woodland Whisper Whipped Body Cream

This whipped body cream is one of the best body moisturisers I’ve used over the past year (or more). Insanely beautiful fragrance, perfect formula. 😍

Marks & Spencer Lip Balm
Prada Infusion De Fleur D’Oranger Eau De Parfum

This M&S lip balm is one of the best lip products I’ve ever used. Incredible stuff. 😍
Prada’s orange flower fragrance is my favourite Prada fragrance. I hope they’ll relaunch it so I can repurchase this gem! 💗

Revlon Custom Eyes 020 Naturally Glamorous

I love this eye palette so much! The quality of the eyeshadows is insane! 😍

Lancôme Hypnôse

Hypnôse is a cult classic and an incredibly beautiful fragrance. I love it! 💗

Ekél Natural Clean Peeling Gel Rice Bran

This is Ekél’s best peeling gel. Awesome stuff! 💗

MakeUp Revolution Redemption Palette Romantic Smoked

Wow, what an eye palette! This one was a wonderful surprise! 😍

Marks & Spencer Spiced Bergamot Eau De Toilette

M&S did an amazing job with this budget Light Blue-style fragrance. No, it’s not a dupe for Light Blue, but it’s the same type of fresh and summery citrus fragrance. 😍

Giorgio Armani Armani Code Summer Eau Fraîche
Nip + Fab Renew Retinol Fix Tonic Extreme

Armani Code Summer was a wonderful summer surprise. 🌞
Nip + Fab’s retinol toner is simply magical. 😍

Aussie Mega Shampoo & Conditioner

Aussie Mega is truly mega! An all-time favourite hair care combo. 💗

Yves Rocher Un Matin Au Jardin Cerisier En Fleurs Eau De Toilette
Salvador Dali Dalissime Eau De Toilette

Yves Rocher’s Cerisier En Fleurs fragrance was another lovely summer surprise. 🌞
Dalissime is one of my all-time favourite fragrances. I’ve been buying it since the 90s! 😍

Olay Regenerist 3 Point Super Age-Defying Cream

This Olay moisturiser is simply stellar! I love it! 💗

Botanical Lab Neem Leaf + Salicylic Acid Anti-Blemish Gentle Face Wash
Neutrogena Clear & Soothe Toning Mist With Turmeric

This Botanical Lab face wash is one of the best face washes I’ve ever used. 😍
Neutrogena’s face mist with turmeric is a new skin care favourite. 💗

Ramer Sponges Cleansing Shammy For Sensitive Skin

This Shammy by Ramer Sponges is one of the best things I’ve ever bought. It’s that good that I bought 6 more already. These should last me for a long time – but I would always stock up on these. 💗

Marks & Spencer Water Jasmine Eau De Toilette

This fragrance is one of my favourites. It’similar to Light Blue (no, they’re not the same), and it’s refreshing and has this happy aura… I love it! 😍

Superdrug Revive Hair Care Collagen Shampoo & Conditioner

Superdrug did a fabulous job with these brilliant vegan collagen hair care products. 😍

Nuxe Rêve de Miel Eau Savoureuse Parfumante / Delectable Fragrant Water
Poundland #6 Vit C Toner

Rêve de Miel is one of my new favourite fragrances. I wish I had tried it sooner! 💗
Poundland’s Vit C Toner is an amazing skin care product. I love using it. 😍

Superdrug Extracts Banana 3 In 1 Hair Mask

Another amazing surprise find – I’m still enjoying this banana hair mask from Superdrug. 💗

Olay Anti-Wrinkle Firm & Lift Day Cream With SPF 15

Olay products have served me so well over the years, and this lovely face cream is no exception. I love it! 💗

I Love… Chocolate Truffle Nourishing Body Butter
Kenzo Amour Eau De Parfum

OMG, this Chocolate Truffle Body Butter is out of this world. LOVE! 😍
And what can I say about Kenzo Amour? It’s one of the most beautiful fragrances ever. 11 stars don’t do it justice. 💗

And this is it for the year! I hope you love some of these awesome products too – and if you don’t know them, I hope you’ll give them a try. Thanks for stopping by again today. Have a happy and healthy 2023! 🥳🥳🥳

Mrs Strawberry Blonde 💙💛

Declutter & Swatches Part 3 – Astor, B., MUA, NYC, Rimmel, L’Oréal

Hi there! Today’s post is about a bunch of beauty products I swatched the other day. And here they are!

Astor Color Last VIP 240 Desire

Wow, what a bright and velvety red! Beautiful formula and beautiful colour. This is a good lipstick.

MUA MakeUp Academy Power Pout Intense Tint & Balm Crazy In Love

This is supposed to be a tinted balm. It’s a nightmare to apply. The colour is uneven and you’ll have to go over your lips 10 times to get the colour right. Not good.

MUA MakeUp Academy Power Pout Intense Tint & Balm Rendezvous

Just like the tinted lip balm above, this one wasn’t good (for the same reasons).

MUA MakeUp Academy Power Pout Intense Tint & Balm Broken Hearted

3rds time’s the charm? Nope. Another disappointing tinted lip balm from MUA. Also, this is by far the worst with respect to the uneven colour. It’s very streaky.

MUA Sheer Finish Lipgloss Let’s Meet

This lipgloss is a bit too sheer. You would need a lot of product to get any visible colour on your lips. But good if you don’t really want much colour with your lipgloss.

Superdrug B. Lipstick 054 Eton Mess

This is a light red. Not bad but not really my colour.

NYC City Duet Eyeshadow 799B Vintage Style

This is a small eyeshadow duo. An off-white shade and a brown shade.

These are actually quite nice!

Rimmel Glam Eyes Quad Eyeshadow 018 Romantic Cool

Another small eyeshadow compact. This one’s from Rimmel.

3 shimmery shades, 1 matte shade (3, grey). The shimmers are surprisingly highly pigmented, but the chalky matte shade isn’t.

L’Oréal La Couleur 015 Flashback Silver

This is a great eyeshadow – it’s bursting with pigment. It’s also easy to blend and I haven’t had any fallout!

And this is it for today’s swatchfest. Thanks for stopping by! xx

Mrs Strawberry Blonde 💙💛

NYC City Mono Eyeshadows 915 Broadway Look, 918 Front Raw, 906 Luxury Reborn & Astor Couture Eye Shadow 120 Cocoa, 750 Glam Grey, 800 Pearl

Hi there! Today’s post is about 6 eyeshadows – NYC City Mono Eyeshadows 915 Broadway Look, 918 Front Raw, 906 Luxury Reborn & Astor Couture Eye Shadow 120 Cocoa, 750 Glam Grey, 800 Pearl.

Let’s start with NYC City Mono Eyeshadows 915 Broadway Look. This is a medium to dark grey which has both matte and metallic facets (swatch in photo 4). This is a weird eyeshadow. I won’t keep it.

NYC City Mono Eyeshadows 918 Front Raw is a bright and sparkly piggie pink (swatch in phopto 4). In terms of quality it’s not bad, but I don’t like it at all.

NYC City Mono Eyeshadows 906 Luxury Reborn is a beautiful light brown (swatch below). The eyeshadow has a creamy look to it. It’s so pretty!

I think Front Raw (2) and Luxury Reborn (3) look nice in the swatches, but Broadway Look (1) is just weird. Apologies for the pinkish hue in the first swatch – this is a scar.

Onto Astor Couture Eye Shadow 120 Cocoa which is a medium brown. This shade has a creamy texture and a shimmer-free metallic look (swatch in photo 8). Really nice!

Astor Couture Eye Shadow 750 Glam Grey is a metallic light grey shade (swatch in photo 8). Not bad but not a favourite.

And the last eyeshadow today is Astor Couture Eye Shadow 800 Pearl which is a shimmery white (swatch below). If it wasn’t so poorly pigmented, I could use it to make white stamping polish, but… I really have no use for this eyeshadow.

Cocoa (1) and Glam Grey (2) look nice in the swatches, but you can see that Pearl (3) is not a great product.

I will keep the 2 brownish shades – Luxury Reborn and Cocoa. I will incorportate the 2 grey shades – Broadway Look and Glam Grey – into a few more looks, but I will not keep these eyeshadows for long. And by the time this post is published, the pink and white eyeshadows – Front Raw and Pearl – will have been binned.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde 💙💛

Revlon Custom Eyes 020 Naturally Glamorous

Hi there! Today’s post is about this Revlon Custom Eyes 020 Naturally Glamorous eye shadow compact that I found in the bargain bin – I believe it was £1.99. I liked the neutral colours, and I thought they would suit me. So I gave these eyeshadows a try.

The shades are (from left to right) a matte black-tinted dark brown, a metallic golden topaz shade, a shimmery beige, a metallic teddy brown, and a gold-tinted light brown.

When I did the swatches, I was blown away. These eyeshadows are highly pigmented, buttery and so beautiful! I’ve worn them in all different kinds of combinations already, and I love the looks I can create with this compact.

This little compact was one of the biggest positive surprises of the year so far. Based on my experience, I’d recommend it! Revlon Custom Eyes 020 Naturally Glamorous is discontinued, but you might be able to find it online or in a drugstore bargain bin.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde 💙💛

Ciaté Liquid Velvet Oh Honey, Ciaté Eyeshadow Fierce (12 Days Of Ciaté London Calendar)

Hi there! Today’s post is about 2 products from Ciaté’s 12 Days of Ciaté London Calendar – Ciaté Liquid Velvet Oh Honey and Ciaté Eyeshadow Fierce.

Let’s start with Ciaté Liquid Velvet Oh Honey which would have been “behind door number 1”.  On the front of the pack there’s the number 1 and a star, and on the back of the pack it says “Put on some lipstick and live a little”.

Oh Honey is a matte lip cream in a rich brown shade. It’s definitely not the most suitable shade for pale girls. Also, the name of the shade “Oh Honey” is just… 🙄 I might mix this shade with a lighter one but based on the formula, I’d prefer other lip creams, i.e. the cheap ones from Manhattan Cosmetics.

Onto Ciaté Eyeshadow Fierce! This eyeshadow would have been the 11th item in the calendar. The front of the pack displays the number 11 and the words “Beauty Shop”. On the back of the pack it says “Too glam to give a damn”. OK then!

When I freed the eyeshadow from its sleeve, I was disappointed to find a small eyeshadow tester. Not very glam! I appreciate the entire purpose of the calendar is to give an impression of what the brand has to offer. But the calendar was rather expensive (well, if you paid full price – mine was 50% off), and this kind of plastic tester isn’t really what most women would consider to be glamorous.

Personally, I love cheap stuff and I’m not ashamed of being a bargain hunter. Expensive fashion, beauty and jewellery have no appeal to me. But even I thought this was the cheapest looking eyeshadow sample I’ve ever seen. I must admit I felt some second hand embarrassment for Ciaté! 🤭

Since the packaging isn’t the most important thing about a product, let’s review the actual product. Looking at the eyeshadow in the tester pod, you’d expect a beautiful, velvety deep wine shade – rich and shimmery. Unfortunately, once applied, this shade turned out to be more of a colour-shifting rosey shade. It’s not a terrible shade, but it’s not what I wanted or expected. On a more positive note, the eyeshadow is highly pigmented and I haven’t experienced any fallout when I wore it.

If you’re interested, the photo above is what the calendar looks like. I will continue to test and review the remaining products!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Manhattan Perfect Eyes Eyeshadow Falling For Purple, Manhattan Perfect Eyes Eyeshadow Brown Effects

Hi there! Today’s post is about 2 eyeshadow compacts which I believe I found at Poundland – Manhattan Perfect Eyes Eyeshadow Falling For Purple and Manhattan Perfect Eyes Eyeshadow Brown Effects.

Let’s start with Manhattan Perfect Eyes Eyeshadow Falling For Purple!

Falling For Purple is a small compact which contains 3 shades – white, lilac and purple.

The first 2 eyeshadows are chalky and poorly pigmented. The third one is just about alright.

I’m not impressed with this eyeshadow compact.

Let’s take a look at Manhattan Perfect Eyes Eyeshadow Brown Effects now!

Another small compact with 3 shades – a very light beige, a pale orange and a sandy type of shade.

These eyeshadows follow the same pattern – the first 2 are just bad. There’s hardly any pigment in them and they’re dry AF. The third shade is OK though.

Guess what? This little compact didn’t impress me either. I really hate to throw out stuff but I have no use for these eyeshadows.

In the unlikely event that you’re interested, Manhattan Perfect Eyes Eyeshadow Falling For Purple and Manhattan Perfect Eyes Eyeshadow Brown Effects are available for £1 each.

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

Rimmel Glam Eyes Quad Eyeshadow 019 Sun Safari

Hi there! Today’s post is about a small eyeshadow palette – Rimmel Glam Eyes Quad Eyeshadow 019 Sun Safari. As you can see, these are shimmery neutral eyeshadows.

I think this little eyeshadow quad is quite nice. I always do dark outer corners, so I can’t use this quad on its own. However, I like the pale sand shade (bottom) as an inner corner highlight, and the other 3 shades are great on the lids, and they blend very well. I really like the colours – they go very well with my green eyes!

I’ve done and redone the swatches and took dozens of photos each time. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to catch the eyeshadows in all their glory. The pale sand shade (bottom) hardly shows at all because it’s almost the same shade as my pale forearm – that’s if you ignore the shimmer!

But yeah, these eyeshadows are really good. I’ve previously had Rimmel eyeshadows and small compacts, and some of them were disappointing. Because of this, this quad was a nice surprise!

Based on my experience, I’d recommend this eyeshadow quad! Rimmel Glam Eyes Quad Eyeshadow 019 Sun Safari is available at a number of online outlets. I paid £1 (Poundland).

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Makeup Revolution London Lip Hug Love Can Set You Free, Essence XXXL Longlasting Lipgloss 2 Coral Delight, W7 Silky Eyes Bare It All

Hi there! Today’s post is about a number of products I’m using at the moment. Initially I wanted to do individual reviews, but then I decided to do 1 post. 😎 Alrighty, let’s take a closer look at the goodies…

The first item is one of the most wonderful lipsticks I’ve ever had – Makeup Revolution London Lip Hug Love Can Set You Free. Oh! My! God! This lipstick has the most amazing colour – it’s a nude shade that’s both rosey and brownish. I can’t get enough of this beautiful and timeless lip colour! I also love the formula – I think the name “Lip Hug” fits perfectly. 11 STARS!

Up next is this Essence XXXL Longlasting Lipgloss. The shade is 2 Coral Delight. This lipgloss promises a longlasting mirror shine look – and it delivers! I don’t normally go for coral lip colours, but this gloss was on sale for £1, so I bought it (+another shade). I enjoy using this lipgloss (i’s almost used up) because I like the sweet vanilla flavour, and the shimmery sheer coral shade suits me surprisingly well!

Item number 3 is this W7 Silky Eyes Bare It All eyeshadow palette which I started to use in early August. I’ve used this eye palette almost every day, and I’m very happy with it!

As you can see in the swatch below, the brown shade in the top right corner is shimmery, and the brown shade in the top left corner is matte. I like them both, but the brown shimmer is my favourite. I use it most days, and I apply it all over my lid. It goes very well with my green eyes.

The lighter shades are pretty much highlighter shades, and I use them as inner corner highlights. I love the light sand shade which blends beautifully into the brown eyeshadows, and the pale pink looks nice too. I’m not too keen on the cream shade though – I’ve never liked white-to-cream frosty shimmer shades. I never knew what to do with them because they don’t suit me.

Anyhoo… I do like W7’s Bare It All palette! And I can see myself finishing 3 of the 5 pans (shimmery brown, matte brown, sand). It won’t happen any time soon, though!

Have you tried any of these products? Or would you like to try them? Feel free to comment, and thanks for stopping by!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Max Factor Wild Shadow Pots 20 Golden Amazon, 75 Smouldering Red, 80 Passionate Violet, Essence Blush Up! 10 Heat Wave, NYC New York Color HD Color Trio Eyeshadow 002 Feelin’ Fab, Superdrug B. Vivid Eyeshadow 172 Neptune, 058 Filigree, 139 Regalia

Hi there! Today’s post is about a number of eye and cheek products I’m using at the moment. I don’t want to do a big intro today, so let’s start with the first 3 products – Max Factor Wild Shadow Pots. The shades are 20 Golden Amazon, 75 Smouldering Red and 80 Passionate Violet.

I like these 3 eyeshadows a lot, and I’m glad I was able to pick them up for £1 each (Poundland). I’m very happy with the quality of these eyeshadows!

And here are the swatches! 20 Golden Amazon is a bright shimmery gold, 75 Smouldering Red is a cute rosey shade with a light shimmer, and 80 Passionate Violet is a very sparkly violet shade with wannabe-holographic hues.

Up next is a beautiful blush – Essence Blush Up! 10 Heat Wave! This is a powder blush that I’ve had for a while, but I only started to use it recently.

The blush looks pretty, and the quality is fantastic too. The blush is easy to blend, and it’s highly pigmented, so a little goes a long way.  And I love the coral-to-raspberry shade(s).

I tried to capture the beautiful gradient in my swatch. It wasn’t easy, and I could have done better, but I think I did just well enough. It’s a powder blush after all!

And I started to use one of the cheap NYC compacts I found at Poundland. This one’s NYC New York Color HD Color Trio Eyeshadow 002 Feelin’ Fab.

The trio contains 3 eyeshadows – a glittery silver shade which isn’t for everyday wear, a soft shimmery bronze which is very pretty and lovely to wear, and a blue-to-violet shade which, to be perfectly honest, was disappointing because it’s poorly pigmented. By the time this post is published, this eyeshadow will have been repurposed (mixed with a blue nail polish to make stamping polish).

And there are 3 more single eyeshadows – Superdrug B. Vivid Eyeshadow 172 Neptune, 058 Filigree and 139 Regalia.

I purchased these eyeshadows when they were 10p each (clearance), and I actually bought 3 of each colour – that’s 9 single eyeshadows for 90p in total! 🤪

172 Neptune is a shimmery royal blue shade, 058 Filigree is a beautiful golden olive shimmer and 139 Regalia is a matte purple eyeshadow. Unfortunately, Regalia is quite a stinker. It doesn’t stick to anything, and it cannot be used as an eyeshadow at all. This is another product which, by the time you read this post, will have found a new life as a stamping polish!

And this is it for today! I enjoyed reviewing a number of products in 1 post. I hope you like the format too, because I will continue to do this for products like eyeshadows, blushes, lip balms and the likes.

Have you tried any of these products? Or would you like to try them? Feel free to comment, and thanks for reading!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde