Empties – August 2018

Hi there! Today’s post is about all the products I finished in August. I’ve used a number of single-use face masks, but I didn’t keep the sachets. If you’re interested, click here to read about my latest face mask finds. Now, let me show you the big bottles, tubes and tubs I said goodbye to in August. 🙂

1 Boots Extracts Luscious Vanilla Body Scrub (travel size) – this is an average scrub, but it has Boots’ lovely vanilla fragrance. I’m pretty sure I have 1 or 2 back-up tubes.

2 My Little Pony Body Mist – this is one of the most fleeting “fragrances” ever. However, this body mist turned out to be pretty awesome! It contains glycerin, and it feels hydrating, so I’ve been spraying it down my back. It made my skin super soft! I’d like to buy it again, but I haven’t seen it in a while… 😦

3 Superdrug Calm Skin Refreshing Facial Spritz – this is awesome for dry and moody skin. I’ll repurchase it soon!

4 Herbal Essences Fruit Fusions Moisture Splash Conditioner – this is one of the best conditioners ever! For the past 2+ years I’ve been using it to double condition my hair when random Pantene or Garnier (or whatever) conditioners weren’t good enough. I’m sad this product has been discontinued. But I have one more bottle!

5 NSPA Luscious Fresh Clementine Shower & Bath Gel – this is another nice shower gel from NSPA. I’d repurchase it if it hadn’t been discontinued.

6 Boots Extracts Luscious Vanilla Body Butter (x2, travel size) – this is a lovely body butter. I have a few more tubs in my stash!

7 Olay Anti-Wrinkle Instant Hydration Eye Cream – this is a really nice eye cream. I would buy it again, but I think it’s been discontinued.

8 Boots Botanics Nourishing Body Butter – I’ve had this in my stash for a very long time. Whilst there was no issue with the product, I decided to use it as a foot butter. And it did a great job! Since my husband used this product too, this is a shared empty. I have one more tub in my stash.

9 L’Oréal Elvive Fibrology Air Volumising Thickening Conditioner – this is an awful product. Good riddance!

10 Rimmel Lycra Pro 421 Clearly Clear – one of my favourite clear polishes. I have several of bottles!

11 NYC Expert Last Polish 138 Classy Glassy – this is another great clear polish. Yes, I have several bottles!

12 Montagne Jeunesse Buriti Fruit Body Smoothie – this is a lovely product. It served me well this summer. I would buy it again, but I believe this product has been discontinued.

13 Scinic Aqua All In One Ampoule – this is a disappointing product that did nothing for my skin at all. This ampoule made my skin feel dry. On a positive note, it gave me the chance to use richer (greasy even) face products. This ampoule lasted me for 9 months! I wouldn’t buy it again.

14 Imperial Leather Indulgence Precious Body Wash – this is a wonderful shower gel. It seems to have been discontinued, so I need to check if I can still find it at a bargain store.

15 My Little Pony Fluttershy Bath Bubbles (travel size) – I used this raspberry-scented bath gel as a shower gel. I really enjoyed the fragrance. I can definitely see myself picking up another MLP toiletries set!

I’m pleased I managed to empty 2 more clear polishes, as well as a number of travel-sized products. And I’m glad the terrible Fibrology Air (anti-)conditioner is gone. Have you tried any of these products? Or would you like any of these products? What have you emptied this month? Feel free to comment. And thanks for reading!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Boxing Day Haul – Lots Of New Stuff

Hi there! Today’s post is about all the stuff I bought on Boxing Day + 1 present I received. I won’t be doing a big intro today. So let me just show you the stuff. 🙂

I got this The Body Shop gift set as a present. It contained 3 Almond Milk & Honey products + 1 body puff.

I bought this Boots No 7 Youthful Skincare Collection set. It was £10.

It contained 6 products – facial oil, serum, day & night creams, exfoliator, micellar water.

I only paid £5 for this Boots Extracts Sweet Mango set. Awesome value! The set contained 200ml body wash, 200ml body lotion, 70ml body spray, 50ml sugar scrub.

I bought a Sanctuary Spa toiletries set. It was £12.50.

The set contained 4 full-size products: hand cream, body wash, bath soak, body butter.

I also bought this year’s Boots Extracts limited edition toiletries collection – for £7.

This year’s limited edition is called Tangy Passion Fruit. The big tin contained 200ml body wash, 200ml body lotion, 200ml sugar scrub, and 75ml hand cream.

I also bought this year’s Boots Extracts “4 seasons” set. It was £10. I didn’t take a picture of the packaging because it was kind of bulky. Anyhoo… the set contained 4 body washes…

… 4 body lotions…

… 2 body butters, and 2 sugar scrubs. Awesome stuff!

This is everything I bought on Boxing Day. I managed to restrain myself – I only bought the bare necessities.

Have you been sale shopping? What did you buy? Feel free to get in touch. And thanks for reading!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Reducing My Oldies Stash – Boots Extracts Rosehip Body Butter

Hi there! Welcome to today’s episode of “Reducing My Oldies Stash”. 🙂 It’s been a while since I bought several tubs of Boots’ Extracts Rosehip Body Butter. Whilst I managed to finish the first tub within weeks of purchasing the lot, the remaining tubs have been sitting in my stash for ages – until recently! I’ve been using this body butter on and off for a few weeks now. And if you read on, I’ll tell you how I like it.

I think this rosehip body butter is fantastic. It’s rich but it’s absorbed quickly. It makes my skin feel soft and hydrated – but it doesn’t feel sticky or greasy at all. It’s perfect! I also like the fragrance – it’s subtle and very natural. It’s almost like rosehip tea – but fresher!

Unfortunately Boots’ Extracts Rosehip Body Butter has been discontinued (Idiots!). However, I have a few tubs left, and I’ll be enjoying them for as long as they last.

Feel free to comment. And thanks for reading!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Reducing My Oldies Stash – Boots Mediterranean Grape, Avocado & Lemon Body Butter And Bergamot, Orange & Olive Body Butter

Hi there! Not too long ago I told you that I have lots of old products in my stash. You could say some of these products are ancient! 😉 Now I’m not one who would just throw out a product – unless it’s off. So at the moment I’m making an effort to check out which oldies are still perfectly good to use. Today I’m telling you about Boots’ Mediterranean Grape, Avocado & Lemon Body Butter and Boots Mediterranean Bergamot, Orange & Olive Body Butter.

The Grape, Avocado & Lemon Body Butter doesn’t smell great. It doesn’t smell funky or off, it’s just that the scent isn’t great. The body butter itself looks and feels perfectly fine, so I’ve decided to use it as a foot butter (yes, that’s another one…). In fact I have used it on my feet for a few times now and it does a great job!

The Bergamot, Orange & Olive Body Butter smells absolutely fine. Actually, I really like the fresh citrus fragrance. And just like the other body butter, this one looks and feels perfectly alright. I have used this body butter a few times already, and it moisturises my skin very well. I will continue to use this one as a body butter.

So whilst these products have been discontinued a while ago, I’m quite impressed that they’re still perfectly good to use. So thank you, world of science, for preservatives in cosmetics and toiletries! And just a quick note: I may have more body butters from Boots’ old Mediterranean range… I know I used to buy toiletries in bulk, so I wouldn’t be surprised to find more tubs and tubes…

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Beauty Hoarder Problems – Part 2: Incredibly Old Stuff

Hi there! It’s been a few weeks since I confessed to having too many beauty items and toiletries in general. One problem that comes with stockpiling (well, hoarding) such items is that you end up with lots of older products. Sure, storage is another issue, but I won’t go further into this bit. So let’s have a look at some of the oldies I’ve got in my stash.

1  I’m not sure when I bought The Body Shop’s White Musk Breeze collection – but I reckon it must have been in 2011. I’m generally not a fan of TBS’ White Musk collection, but I know why I bought these limited edition products – because they were dirt cheap. One of the body lotions (I even bought two bottles…) still had its price sticker on – £1.90. Seriously, that’s dirt cheap for a full-size TBS product. However, five years later I haven’t even touched the products. 😦

So what do I need to do? Try the products, and if they’re still good, I need to use them. And I need to finish them. No excuses! Using these White Musk Breeze products is going to be a priority next month.

2 Boots’ Body Butters – I think it would be next to impossible to find any of these body butters anywhere – because they have been discontinued some time ago. The Mango & Babassu butter has been repackaged twice now, the Olive body butter has been discontinued (which is very sad) and Boots’ Mediterranean range is… history.

But what do I need to do? I need to check if these products are still OK to use. If they are, I’ll use them!

3 Now here’s a fragrance that would sell for a lot of money on ebay – Laura Biagiotti Venezia.

I bought this fragrance many years ago but I haven’t worn it much. I used it recently, and it still smells amazing.

It’s a shame that this fragrance has been sitting in my stash all these years – especially because it’s so lovely.

What do I need to do with this fragrance? Use it. Before it turns. I think I’m lucky that this fragrance hasn’t turned, so I’ll make it a priority to wear and enjoy it this autumn and winter.

I’ve got many more items lurking in drawers and boxes (you probably knew that already), and there’s only so much I can use at a time. But I’m making progress on using what I have. 🙂

How about you? Do you have any old beauty items that you’ve forgotten about or that you never got around to use? Feel free to let me know in the comments. And thanks for reading!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Boots Extracts Shea Butter Body Butter

Hi there! Now that it’s getting colder, my skin needs a little extra care and attention to stay healthy and moisturised. Because of this I’m now using the wonderful Boots Extracts Shea Butter Body Butter.

Boots revamped its entire Extracts collection and unfortunately this body butter was discontinued. However, I’ve got two tubs left so I don’t have to say goodbye to this gorgeous beauty staple just yet.

In my opinion, Boots should have kept this product in its Extracts collection; this body butter does a great job moisturising dry skin and its heavenly scent reminds me of Nutella – it’s just a little more chocolatey and nutty and a tad less sweet.

Whilst Boots Extracts Shea Butter Body Butter has been discontinued, I recommend the brazil nut, cocoa and vanilla body butters from Boots’ Extracts collection; if you enjoy sweet and warm scents in body butters, you’ll enjoy them. Boots Extracts body butters are available as 200 ml tubs for £6 each.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Boots Extracts Brazil Nut Body Butter

Hi there! In the past few months I’ve reviewed quite a few Superdrug own brand products and I think that reviews of some of my favourite Boots own brand products are way overdue. One of my favourite body moisturisers is Boots Extratcs Brazil Nut Body Butter.

Whilst Boots has redesigned the packaging of its entire Extracts collection, the quality and the scent of this body butter remained the same. This means that this product is still the ultimate cookie dough body butter! 🙂 I kid you not. This body butter smells just as sweet and delicious as vanilla cookie dough!

Yes, I know that brazil nuts don’t smell or taste like cookie dough at all, but seriously, who would want to smell like bitter and pungent brazil nut oil? Well, not many people. So it’s a good thing that Boots took the moisturising benefits of brazil nut oil, but opted for a fragrance that is sweeter and even more delicious than its vanilla or chocolate body butters.

I really love this body butter; it’s an excellent moisturiser that doesn’t stick to clothes. I also love to use it on my hands, especially in winter, because this butter is so much more moisturising than any regular hand cream. So would I recommend this body butter to a friend? You bet!

Boots Extracts Brazil Nut body butter is available as 200 ml for £6 in Boots stores or online. Boots also does a body wash, a body scrub and a body lotion with the same irresistible fragrance.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde