Empties – January 2020

Hi there! The first month of 2020 is already over (What? How?), and I’ve got quite a few empties to report. Yes, I used a few single use face masks. No, I still don’t keep the empty sachets. But if you’d like to know if the masks I used recently are any good, click here. Now, onto the big empties!

1 Gliss Hair Repair Magnificent Strength Conditoner – this is a great product, and I’ll buy it (+ the matching shampoo) again!

2 Rightguard Shower + Elixir Black Orchid Shower Cream – this is a great shower cream! I already bought a backup! This is a shared empty because my husband enjoyed this shower cream too!

3 Treacle Moon Her Mango Thoughts Shower Gel – a nice enough shower gel, but I won’t repurchase it. The 500ml bottle was plenty!

4 Radox Cherry Blast Shower Gel – this is a nice shower gel. I might buy it again if I find it for cheap.

5 Classics Nail Polish Remover – my go-to nail polish remover. It’s £1 at Poundland!

6 Yves Rocher Nutritive Végétal Velvety Cleansing Milk – this is a lovely product that I’d like to repurchase!

7 Balance Active Formula Instant Effect Wrinkle Filler – this stuff doesn’t fill lines or wrinkles at all, but it’s a decent moisturiser. I won’t buy it again though. There’s better stuff out there.

8 My Little Pony Bath Bubbles (travel size)- this one was nice. I might purchase another MLP toiletries set!

9 + 10 99p Stores Wood & Forest Body Lotion AND The Red Forest Body Lotion (travel size) – I bought these ages ago, and because of this, I used these body lotions as foot moisturisers. These are shared empties because my husband used these too!

11 Yves Rocher Baies Des Merveilles / Marvellous Berries Bath & Shower Gel – a lovely shower gel that I’d buy it again if it hadn’t been a limited edition.

12 Yves Rocher Baies Des Merveilles / Marvellous Berries Perfumed Body Lotion – same thing here – I wish this hadn’t been a limited edition…

13 Boots Botanics All Bright Cleansing Toner – a great toner! I’ll repurchase it for sure!

14 Sanctuary Spa Classic Eau De Toilette – I love this fragrance! I’ve got several bottles from years of picking up half price gift sets on Boxing Day! 😁

15 Rightguard Shower Oils Pink Jasmine Shower Gel – a nice shower gel that I might buy again.

16 Superdrug B. Comforted Camomile Facial Spritz – this is a decent facial mist, but I dislike the fragrance, so I won’t buy it again.

17 Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care All Over Body Cream With Moonstone Extract – an amazing moisturiser. Too bad it was a limited edition. This is the 2nd (and unfortunately the last) tub I had. If Superdrug ever decides to bring this product back, I’ll stock up!

18 Boots Botanics Luxurious Coconut Body Wash (travel size) – a nice enough shower gel. I have more minis from this range!

Wow, I emptied quite a lot in January! But to be fair, I had to get on top of all the half-full bottles and tubs before the move. And I have high hopes for February as well, so I’ll keep going! 💪 Which products have you said goodbye to recently? Please feel free to comment! And thanks for stopping by!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

February Beauty Awards

Hi there! It’s the last day of the month, so it’s time for my Monthly Favourites post – a.k.a. Mrs Strawberry Blonde’s February Beauty Awards. As always, I’ve picked my top 3 from all the products I’ve reviewed this month. And, of course, there are a few honourable mentions as well. 🙂

3rd place – The Crème Shop Rose Oil Depuffing & Anti-Inflammatory Overnight Gel Mask

I’m very impressed with The Crème Shop’s Rose Oil Overnight Gel Mask. This product makes my skin look great, and it’s also fun to use. Recommended!

Runner-Up – The Crème Shop Holiday Cheer And Clear “Naughty” Clarifying Face Mask

This Clarifying Face Mask from The Crème Shop is simply amazing. It reduces redness significantly, it calms down angry skin, it shrinks pores, and it’s deeply hydrating. What’s not to love?!

WINNER – Boots Botanics All Bright Gentle Cleansing Cream & Cleansing Toner

Boots did a fantastic job with these All Bright facial cleansing products. I saw a huge difference after 2 weeks of using the cleanser and the toner. These products are outstanding. 11 stars!

Onto the honourable mentions! I loved The Crème Shop’s Last Christmas “Nice” Forever Young Face Mask and Primark’s PS… Deep Cleansing Bubble Mask With Blueberry.

But I was also impressed with a couple of body care items. Baylis & Harding’s Beauticology Pink Grapefruit & Raspberry products (especially the body butter) are really lovely, Superdrug’s Cherry & Macadamia Body Scrub is fantastic, and Treacle Moon’s Happy Melon Sorbet is one of the best shower gels I’ve ever used. It’s… wow!

Which products have you been loving lately? Have you tried any of these products or would you like to try any of them? Feel free to get in touch via the comments. And thanks for reading!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Boots Botanics All Bright Gentle Cleansing Cream & Cleansing Toner

Hi there! Today’s post is about 2 facial cleansing products – Boots Botanics All Bright Gentle Cleansing Cream & Cleansing Toner for all skin types. These products promise to remove make-up and impurities, and to refresh skin. Both the cleansing cream and the toner contain hibiscus extract which is said to have a brightening effect. I’ve been using these products for a few weeks now, and here’s what I think.

Boots Botanics All Bright Gentle Cleansing Cream is a nice change from Garnier’s unconvincing honey flower cleanser. Boots’ cleansing cream is very effective at dissolving and removing makeup. At the same time, it’s very gentle on the skin. I have very dry and moody skin, and I think this cleansing cream is simply wonderful! One more thing – now that I’m no longer using Garnier’s honey flower cleanser, I ‘ve realised that my skin doesn’t have to look red after I’ve cleansed my face! Thank you Boots for this amazing product!

Boots Botanics All Bright Cleansing Toner is just as great. This toner picks up any product residue with ease, so it’s very effective. Not only does it feel refreshing and purifying, but it also does make my skin look bright, clean and clear. Another fantastic product from Boots!

Based on my experience, I would recommend these products to anyone. I’ve noticed that, after just over 2 weeks, my skin tone looked more even, my skin is a lot clearer, and the yellowish patches I’ve had under my eyes and on my cheekbones are gone. It’s like they’ve never existed! I’m impressed!

Boots Botanics All Bright Gentle Cleansing Cream & Cleansing Toner are available as 250ml each. They’re £5.49 each at Boots. However, I paid £2.50 each (clearance before the products were repackaged).

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Empties – November 2017

Hi there! Today’s post is the penultimate beauty empties post of the year 2017. So let me tell you which products I managed to finish in November. Before we get to the big bottles and tubs, I need to mention that I’ve also used a few single-use face masks. If you’d like to read about my latest face mask finds, click here. Now… onto the big empties! 🙂

1 Montagne Jeunesse Goji Berry Body Smoothie – I really liked this moisturiser. However, I wouldn’t buy it again because I’ll always prefer Montagne Jeunesse’s Buriti Fruit Body Smoothie (same formula, cooler fragrance).

2 Pâtisserie De Bain Crème Pâtissière Body Souffle – a nice enough moisturiser. Not special. I wouldn’t buy it again.

3 Pâtisserie De Bain Crème Pâtissière Shower Gel – this shower gel was alright, but it’s another product I wouldn’t repurchase.

4 L’Oréal Elvive Triple Resist Reinforcing Conditioner – this is one of my favourite conditioners. I’ll buy it (+ the matching shampoo) again.

5 Sukin Moisture Restoring Night Cream – I think this night cream is very good. I’ll buy it again, no doubt!

6 I Love… Raspberry & Blackberry Nourishing Body Butter – we (my husband and I) used this one as a foot butter because this one’s been in my stash for far too long. I have one more super old tub of this body butter which we’ll have to use as a foot butter as well.

7 L’Oréal Skin Perfection Soothing Gel-Cream Wash – this is a great face wash! I believe it’s been discontinued (I haven’t seen it in a little while) which is a shame because I would have liked to repurchase it.

8 Boots Botanics Radiant Youth Microdermabrasion Polish – another awesome Boots Botanics product! I would definitely buy it again. Saying this, I have a few comparable products to go through first.

9 Beauty Formulas Rejuvenating Glorious Mud Facial Mask – I really liked this face mask. I can definitely see myself picking it up again in the future! Oh, and I’m sorry the tube looks so unfortunate in the picture. I just couldn’t be bothered. And I knew that, once the photo would be taken, I’d be cutting up the tube (to get to the last bits of product) anyway…

10 NYC In A Minute 202 Grand Central Station – this is one of my favourite clear polishes. I have a few back-ups (I’ve already been using one of my half-empty back-ups for a few weeks now, and I’m confident that this one will be featured in my December empties), but I’ll continue to buy this polish for as long as I can find it.

11 OM SHE Aromatherapy Skin Lift Hydrating Face Serum – I think this serum was OK. It smelled lovely, but I won’t buy it again because I would expect a hydrating serum to be more hydrating…

12 Boots Botanics Skin Brightening Toner – this product was discontinued years ago and this was the last bottle I had. This toner was packed with AHA, BHA, glycolic acid, lactic acid… it was super effective, yet gentle enough not to cause any issues at all around the eyes. I will miss this toner dearly!

13 Manhattan Pro Care Nail Repair – this base coat was alright. For 99p or £1 I’d pick it up again.

14 Olay Essentials Cleansing Milk – I love this cleansing milk. It’s been repackaged and the formula has been changed, but the ‘new’ version of this product seems to be just as good. I’m happy to continue to buy and use Olay products!

15 Boots Extracts – Cocoa Butter Bath Cream – this is a lovely bath product. It’s been discontinued, otherwise I’d buy it again.

16 NSPA Pineapple Shower & Bath Gel – this is a nice pineapple shower gel. I might buy it again.

This is everything I emptied in November. I’m pleased that I finished lots of skin care products. Have you tried any of these products? Or would you like to try any of these products? What have you emptied last month? Feel free to comment. And thanks for reading! 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Empties – March 2017

Hi there! Today’s post is about all the products I emptied in March 2017. I used a few face masks (what else is new…) but I haven’t kept the empty sachets. So let’s get to the (more or less) big empties right away! 🙂

1 L’Oréal Youth Code Luminizer Serum – this serum is very good! It’s been discontinued, so I don’t think I’d be able to repurchase it at a reasonable price. I have, however, started to use a new L’Oréal serum just a few days ago, and I think the new serum (which I’ll review soon) is very good too!

2 B. Confident Hyaluronic Acid Facial Spritz – fantastic stuff! I only discovered this product in December 2016 – but it became a beauty staple and an all-time favourite in a matter of days. I have four back-up bottles! 🙂

3 Superdrug Clearly Youthful Retexturising Glycolic Peel Off Mask – this mask is the most effective spot-fighting product I’ve ever used. Unfortunately this product has been discontinued. But I still have two back-up tubes.

4 Olay Total Effects CC Cream Complexion Corrector Fair To Medium – I liked the rich and nourishing formula, but the shade fair to medium (which is the lightest shade) was way too dark for me. Because of this I won’t purchase this moisturiser again.

5 Pacifica Vanilla Hibiscus Color Quench Lip Tint – this is a really nice tinted lip balm. I might repurchase it again at some point in the future, but for now I have more than enough lip balms and glosses in my stash…

6 Miss Sporty Dr Balm Gossip Kiss SOS Lip Balm – this is a decent lip balm, but I wouldn’t buy it again. I finished one of these before and I must say that the melon flavour has been annoying me for quite some time…

7 Superdrug Naturally Radiant Brightening Radiance Balm – I’m glad this product is finished. It didn’t do anything for my skin, it wasn’t hydrating at all, and the chunky shimmer particles weren’t great either. I wouldn’t buy this product again.

8 Boots Botanics Quenching Body Lotion – another oldie that’s been sitting in my stash for ages. I found this body lotion very hydrating. However, it was also quite sticky. I wouldn’t repurchase it (but it’s been discontinued anyway…).

9 Boots Botanics Skin Brightening Toner – this toner is fantastic. Too bad it’s been discontinued – otherwise I’d buy it again and again and again… However, I do have another small 75ml bottle of this toner in my stash! 🙂

10 Maybelline Color Sensational Luscious Lipgloss 410 Peach Sorbet – a decent lipgloss! It’s never been a true favourite, but I did enjoy using this lipgloss. I have several of these Maybelline lipglosses – another peach-flavoured one, a cherry-flavoured one, and several pink ones (not sure about those flavours though).

11 Rimmel Pro Super Wear Ultra Shine Topcoat – a nice top coat! I think this one’s been discontinued, but if it pops up in some bargain store at some point in the future, I’d repurchase it!

12 Markwins Orange Shimmer Nail Polish – I’ve had this nail polish in my stash for ages but it seemed to have dried out over the years. This polish has never been a favourite of mine, so I didn’t mind letting it go.

13 Possibility Raspberry Pavlova Shower & Bath Gel – I liked this one in the beginning, but the sweet raspberry fragrance started to annoy me half-way through the huge 500ml bottle. I wouldn’t buy this one again.

14 Boots Marshmallow Peppermint Body Butter – I didn’t like the fragrance, so I’m glad this one is gone. I hope Boots won’t repeat this fragrance for this year’s limited Christmas edition.

15 Essence Nail Art White Stampy Polish – the best white stamping polish you can find for £1.50. I have two back-ups, but I’d like to stock up because this one’s sold out online at the moment. I’ll see if I can still find it in store… Fingers crossed!

16 Superdrug Vitamin C Boost Body Scrub Mango & Papaya – a really nice scrub. I will buy it again! This one’s a shared empty. My husband used this scrub a few times too.

17 Superdrug Raspberry Bubblegum Shower Gel – this is a decent shower gel, but it’s not special. I wouldn’t buy it again. This one’s also a shared empty.

18 Classics Nail Polish Remover – this is one of my nail care staples. As long as Poundland, Poundworld and the likes stock this product, I’ll repurchase it.

19 Radox Passionfruit Splash Shower Gel – this one is very nice. I’ll repurchase it, no doubt.

20 Daily Defense Moisturizing Conditioner With Keratin – I think this conditioner is fantastic. I already bought another bottle. 🙂

I think March was surprisingly good for empties. I’m very proud of how many ‘small’ products I finished! Right now I’m thinking I won’t be able to finish anything this month, but I’m sure I’ll have a few empties. For now… feel free to get in touch via the comments. And thanks for stopping by!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Boots Botanics Skin Brightening Deep Clean Gel & Skin Brightening Toner

Hi there! I’ve previously mentioned that I’ve got drawers full of toiletries with lots of untouched stuff from ages ago. My quest to use up at least some older products before buying new ones led me to these to (g)oldies: Boots Botanic Skin Brightening Deep Clean Gel and Boots Botanics Skin Brightening Toner.

The Skin Brightening Deep Clean Gel is one of the best face washes I’ve ever had. It’s incredibly powerful at removing make-up, grease and grime; at the same time it doesn’t feel harsh at all.

I can also see that this face wash really brightens my skin. I’ve noticed that the yellow patches just above my cheek bones have disappeared within a couple of weeks. This face wash is absolutely brilliant!

The Skin Brightening Toner does a really nice job too. When I use the toner, I can feel that it does something to my face. It doesn’t burn or sting, and it also doesn’t cause redness, but I can feel that it works.

I think that this toner, in addition to the face wash, really helps brightening my skin. I use it about two to three times a week only (it’s too precious), but I can see a big difference. This toner is amazing!

Now here’s the but… Boots discontinued these products when it revamped in Botanics collection. Boots has new products which promise to brighten skin, and I will certainly try them, but no matter how good the new products are, I’ll miss these oldies when they’re gone.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde