Empties – December 2017

Hi there! Happy New Year, everyone! My first post in 2018 is about all the products I emptied in December 2017. If you read my empties posts regularly, you know that, every month, I use a number of single-use face masks and that I don’t keep the empty sachets. If you want to read about my latest face mask finds, click here. Now… onto the tubs, tubes and bottles… the big empties… the real empties!

1 Olay Total Effects 7 In 1 Day Moisturiser – this is a fantastic moisturiser. I will buy it again, no doubt!

2 NYC In A Minute 202 Grand Central Station – this is one of the best clear polishes. I emptied one last month, and I emptied one this month. I’m really getting on top of my part-used clear polishes!

3 Max Factor Pan Stik 25 Fair – my holy grail foundation!

4 The Body Shop Vanilla Eau De Toilette – I loved the original TBS Vanilla, but this stuff is just average. I do have a few more bottles in various states of empty. I hope my teenage relative or someone at work wants them…

5 Palmolive Aroma Moments Feel Good – this shower gel is wonderful. Happy to buy it again!

6 Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care All Over Body Cream – this is a lovely moisturiser. It smells divine and it’s not sticky at all which makes it the perfect moisturiser for whenever you need to get ready in a hurry. Plus: This is a huge 475ml tub which is £2.99 only – and there’s usually a buy 1 get 2nd half price offer on SD Vitamin E products as well! 🙂

7 Gliss Ultimate Colour Conditioner – this is a good conditioner. I’ll buy it (+ the matching shampoo) again.

8 Radox Uplifting – this is a wonderful grapefruit shower gel. I will buy it again!

9 Classics Nail Polish Remover – 400ml for £1. Awesome stuff! I have a few more bottles, and I’ll continue to stock up on this nail polish remover.

10 Garnier Intensive 7 Days Ultra-Replenishing Lotion With Shea Butter – this is a lovely body lotion. It’s nourishing and it smells gorgeous. Happy to buy it again!

11 Manhattan Colour Loop Lipgloss 52S Soft Nude – this lip gloss was awesome. I’ve got a few more of these glosses (different colours), and I’ll review them soon!

12 My Little Pony Rainbow Dash Shower Gel – this travel-sized shower gel was part of a gift set. The shower gel was nice, and I’m sure I’ll buy MLP branded toiletries again soon!

13 Boots Essentials Cucumber Facial Scrub – this scrub was really good. I’ll buy it again!

This is what I emptied in December. I was hoping I’d be finishing a few more products, but it wasn’t meant to be. Ah well, so I have a few more empties this month. 🙂

One more thing… I finished 191 products in 2017. Those 191 products are…
41 shower and bath gels,
31 body and hand moisturisers,
22 fragrances (fragranced body mists included),
16 conditioners and deep conditioners (I don’t count shampoos – I’ve explained this here),
16 nail polishes,
11 face creams and lotions,
6 face serums,
6 face washes and cleansers,
5 Max Factor Pan Stiks
4 body scrubs,
4 face scrubs,
4 toners,
4 foot creams,
4 nail polish removers,
4 lip balms and lip glosses,
4 eyeliner pencils,
3 B. Confident Hyaluronic Acid Facial Spritzes,
2 eye creams,
2 glycolic peels,
2 face mask tubes (I didn’t count single-use face masks).
Not bad, eh?

Anyway… Happy New Year, everyone! 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Weekly Recap 4 – 10 Sep 2017

Hi there! Happy Sunday! And welcome to my weekly blog recap. Read on if you’d like to know what I’ve been up to on my blog this week.

Monday 4 Sep – Nail Of The Day / Nail Art Challenge
Tuesday 5 Sep – J Lo Live Luxe Eau De Parfum

Monday’s post was about a mani I did for the A-Z Nail Art Challenge. Click here to read the post.
And on Tuesday I reviewed J Lo’s Live Luxe fragrance. Click here to read the post.

Wednesday 6 Sep – Boots Essentials Cucumber Facial Scrub, Facial Toner, 3-Minute Clay Mask

Wednesday’s post was about a couple of Boots Essentials products. Click here to read the post.

Thursday 7 Sep – Esprit Styling Color Palette Eyeshadow 204 Australian Bush

On Thursday I reviewed an Esprit eyeshadow palette. Click here to read the post.

Friday 8 Sep – Make Your Own Stamping Polish!

And on Friday I told you how I made my first stamping polish. Click here to read the post.

This is it for this week. I hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend. And thanks for stopping by! 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Boots Essentials Cucumber Facial Scrub, Cucumber Toner & Cucumber 3-Minute Clay Mask

Hi there! Today’s post is about 3 dirt cheap Boots own-brand products – Boots Essentials Cucumber Facial Scrub, Facial Toner, and 3-Minute Clay Mask. These products are £1.50 each, but Boots ran a 3 for £3 promotion, so I paid £1 each. Now let me tell you if these products are any good!

I really like Boots Essentials Cucumber Facial Scrub because it’s effective without being too harsh. And the fragrance – which I’d describe as a clean and feminine fragrance with a hint of cucumber – is nice and pleasant. If I hadn’t known that this is Boots’ cheapest and most basic own-brand scrub, I wouldn’t have believed it. Well done, Boots!

Boots Essentials Cucumber Facial Toner is very good. It feels refreshing, and the cucumber fragrance is really nice. And whilst this toner contains alcohol, it doesn’t feel drying at all. I’m also glad to be able to report that I found this toner perfectly safe to use around my eyes. There was no stinging or burning at all! Outstanding!

Product number 3 is Boots Essentials Cucumber 3-Minute Clay Mask which promises to leave skin deeply cleansed, soothed and toned. Does it work? Oh yes! After a single use of this mask my skin felt cleaner and my pores looked considerably smaller. Yes, I left the mask on for longer than 3 minutes, but I always leave masks on for longer than recommended. In any event, the important thing is that my pores looked smaller. Considerably smaller! Awesome!

Like I said, these Boots Essentials products are £1.50 each. The scrub and the clay mask come in 50ml tubes, and the toner bottle houses 150ml of product. I will continue to use these products, and I will buy them again, no doubt. I will also try other products from Boots’ Essentials collection.

Have you tried any of these products? If so, how do / did you like them? Feel free to get in touch via the comments. And thanks for reading!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Beauty & Cutie Haul – Boots, Superdrug, Asda & Primark

Hi there! Some of you may remember that I used to buy toiletries, skin care and make-up in bulk. But I’ve stopped doing that a few months ago. Since then my approach to shopping has been 3 out / 1 in, which is going surprisingly well, so I’m sticking to this approch until (at least) the end of the year. 🙂 OK, I haven’t done much shopping lately, and because of that I’ve built up some “shopping credit”. So I decided to treat myself to a few new products. Now let me show you what I bought!

I found this Baylis & Harding Beauticology Donut Shop gift set at my local Asda store. It was £6 and it contains the following full size products: Blueberry Glaze Donut Shower Crème, Frosted Sprinkles Bath Soak Crystals, Vanilla Sugar Donut Body Butter. Yummy!

I also found lots of cute trainer socks at Primark. I bought a set of 3 pairs of Pokémon socks…

… and a set of 3 pairs of Care Bears socks. No, clothes and accessories have nothing to do with the 3 out / 1 in policy / approach / thing. However, I still wanted to show you that I bought these super cute trainer socks. 🙂 OK, now let’s get back to the toiletries and the beauty products that I picked up from Boots and Superdrug!

I bought 2 Carex shower gels. Carex used to do hand soaps and hand gels only, but they’ve recently launched shower and bath products too. These Carex shower gels were £1 each (special offer, Boots). I also bought 3 Boots Extracts Body Sprays – 2 mango sprays and 1 vanilla spray. These sprays are £3.50 each, but Boots ran a 3 for 2 promo, so I spent £7 in total for these 3 fantastic body sprays.

I found this super cute Caolion O2 Sparkling Purifying Soap by accident. I wasn’t looking for it. I didn’t need it. But it was £4 (Boots) and it looked cute… I wanted it, and I bought it! I also bought 3 more B. Confident Hyaluronic Acid Facial Spritzes. They’re normally £7.95 each, but they were on special (half price), so they were £3.95 each. However, Superdrug also ran a 3 for 2 promo on selected skin care products, so I paid £7.90 in total for these 3 body spritzes. Fantastic value!

I bought 3 more items from Boots’ Essentials collection – a Cucumber Facial Scrub, a Cucumber Facial Toner and a Cucumber 3-Minute Clay Mask. I’m really looking forward to testing these products!

I also bought several Carex Bubble Gum hand washes (Superdrug, 89p each) and several Carex Bubble Gum hand gels (£1 each, Boots). But these products are essentials, so I always stock up when they’re on special. 🙂

Any comments on my beauty and cutie haul? Feel free to get in touch. And thanks for reading! 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde