Empties – September 2019

Hi there! It’s the 1st day of a new month (Hello October!), and this means that today’s post is about all the products I said goodbye to in September. I have quite a few empties as well as a few old products that I binned.

1 Balance Active Formula Vitamin C Brightening Serum – this is a great serum, and I’d like to repurchase it!

2 Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care All Over Body Cream With Dragon Fruit – I enjoyed this body cream a lot this summer. Unfortunately, this one’s a limited edition, and it really is gone. Otherwise I’d buy it again.

3 Make Up Gallery Top & Base Coat – 100% rubbish. This stuff will make your new mani chip within hours, and it will cause your nails to split – well, that’s what it did to me. I poured this stuff into the bin so I wouldn’t accidentally use it.

4 The Body Shop Polynesian Island Tiaré Shower Gel – of all the TBS products I’ve tried over the years, this is my favourite by far. Unfortunately, it’s been discontinued, and I’m sad to see it go.

5 Imperial Leather Funfair Nostalgia Body Wash – this is a nice shower gel. I’d like to repurchase it, but I think it’s been discontinued as well.

6 Original Source Hydrating Water Infusions Grapefruit & Mint Shower – one of my favourite shower gels this summer. Repurchase? Oh yes!

7 My Little Pony Coconut Lip Balm – I liked this lip balm (fortunately, the coconut flavour wasn’t very strong). I have a few more My Little Pony lip balms (different flavours), so I don’t need to stock up.

8 Essence XXXL Lipgloss 2 Coral Delight – I enjoyed this gloss very much. It’s been discontinued, but I wouldn’t repurchase it (only because I don’t want to buy the same product more than once – unless it’s an all-time favourite).

9 Bourjois 3D Effect Lipgloss 26 Cassis Tropical – this is really old! I won’t use it at this point, so I binned it.

10 UNE Sheer Lips Gloss S05 – another oldie I found by accident – bye bye!

11 Miss Sporty Perfect Colour Lipstick 122 Poem – another old lipstick that I won’t use anymore. On a positive note, back then I used the lipstick quite often… you know… before I “lost” it to the abyss that it my beauty stash…

12 Collection 2000 Volume Boost Lipstick 12 Cocoa – I remember that I didn’t use this lipstick in the first place because it was terrible. I think I have more of these (different shades). Anyhoo… good riddance!

13 Creightons Pink Grapefruit Mattifying Face Mask – this is a good face mask. I enjoyed using it, and I might buy it again.

14 Boots Extracts Olive Body Butter – I love this body butter, and it’s sad that Boots discontinued it. But I do have back-up!

15 Ekél Natural Clean Peeling Gel Apple – I enjoyed using this peeling gel. I have a back-up (different fragrance).

16 TRESemmé Expert Keratin Smooth Conditioner – this conditioner isn’t terrible, but it’s just about average. For the first 10 washes I liked it, but it started to annoy me halfway through the bottle. I wouldn’t repurchase it.

17 Treacle Moon Marshmallow Hearts Shower & Bath Gel – this shower gel smells insanely yummy! I’ll buy it again for sure!

I also used a number of single-use face masks. And if you’d like to read about my latest face mask finds, click here.

Have you tried any of these products? Would you like to try any of them? Which products did you say goodbye to recently? Feel free to get in touch via the comments. And thanks for reading! 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

 

Empties – February 2017

Hi there! It’s the 1st of the month – so it’s time for last month’s empties. In February I threw out a konjac sponge and a nail buffer, and I used several face masks. I didn’t keep the beaten-up beauty tools or the empty face mask sachets – this kind of stuff gets thrown in the bin right away. Now, let’s get to the ‘real’ empties!

1 Laura Biagiotti Venezia – I can’t believe it’s gone! Venezia is one of the most gorgeous fragrances from the 90s. It’s strong, powerful, warm, sensual and multi-dimensional. I’m sad I can’t repurchase it, but I’m glad that it didn’t turn whilst it’s been sitting in my stash for all those years. To sum it up – I’m happy that I had the chance to enjoy this fragrance!

2 Boots Extracts Luscious Vanilla Body Spray – this body spray smells exactly like the one and only Boots Extracts Vanilla Body Butter. So yes, this body spray smells wonderful! I’ll review this one properly – very soon! Oh, and I have two back-up bottles – another small 70ml bottle and a full-size 150ml bottle.

3 Dolly’s Mixtures Peach Melba ‘Just Peachy’ Body Mist – a decent body mist. Nothing special though. I won’t repurchase it, but if you like the scent of peaches and peach skin, give this one a try.

4 Boots Extracts Olive Body Butter – one of my favourite Boots Extracts body butters. Unfortunately this body butter has been discontinued. But I have a few tubs left! 🙂

5 Superdrug Tea Tree Skin Care Pink Grapefruit Facial Wash – a decent face wash. I really liked it in the beginning but I grew tired of it because it took me ages to finish it. I might repurchase this product in the future. However, I’ve got lots of other face washes to go through, so I won’t be repurchasing this one any time soon.

6 Herbal Essences Moisture Balance Conditioner – this conditioner is the best thing ever! If you’ve never used the original Herbal Essences products, you have no idea what you’ve been missing out on. Buy this conditioner – and the matching shampoo. And buy the pink versions (Herbal Essences Classics Silk N’ Shine) as well. The shampoos are clarifying, and the conditioners give your hair tons of moisture without making your hair feel heavy or greasy. 100% Awesome!

7 Radox Relax Bath Gel – I really like this one. The lavender and waterlily fragrance is wonderful. I’ll buy this bath gel again, no doubt.

8 NSPA Caramel Chocolate Shower & Bath Gel – this shower gel has been one of my favourites this winter. It was a limited Christmas edition and I hope that NSPA will relaunch it (together with the one and only NSPA Caramel Fudge shower gel) this autumn. Fingers crossed!

9 Boots Mediterranean Bergamot Olive & Orange Body Butter – this is a nice body butter. Rich and hydrating – but not sticky. Too bad Boots discontinued their Mediterranean collection. Otherwise I’d probably repurchase this body butter!

10 Max Factor Pan Stik (2) – I almost despaired when I realised that I’ve been using 6 Max Factor Pan Stik foundations at the same time. However, I managed to prioritise the near-empty ones – this means that I finished 2 Pan Stiks this month! The Pan Stik is also my Holy Grail foundation and I would recommend it to everyone with dry skin. I will repurchase this product, no doubt. However, in addition to the other 4 Pan Stiks I’m currently using, I think I have at least 6 unused Pan Stiks in my stash. So I don’t need to buy foundation any time soon.

11 Radox Mango Mayhem Shower Gel – this is a fantastic shower gel. The mango fragrance is just lovely – it’s almost as good as the Boots Extracts Mango fragrance! Repurchase? Yes!

12 Imperial Leather Effortless Rich Moisturising Body Wash – this one smells great. One of the best shower gels I’ve ever had. Ever! Repurchase? No doubt!

13 Nivea Q10 Firming Body Lotion – I really liked this body lotion. It’s not the richest formula, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing – especially when you’re in a hurry. I will definitely repurchase this body lotion!

This is it for this month. I think I did quite well! I wasn’t sure whether I’d be able to finish the Imperial Leather shower gel, but I did it! Success! I hope I’ll be able to finish just as many (or more) products next month. Wish me luck! 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Weekly Recap 26 Dec 2016 – 1 Jan 2017

Hi there! And Happy New Year! I haven’t found my new year spirit yet, so I don’t feel like giving a speech. So this post is only going to be a quick recap of what I’ve been up to on my blog this week.

Monday 26 Dec – Nail Of The Day
Tuesday 27 Dec – Superdrug Superfruits Clay Mask

On Monday I showed you my Mrs Santa nails. Nice eh? Click here to read the post. And on Tuesday I reviewed Superdrug’s Superfruits Clay Mask – which is awesome, by the way. If you want to read the review, click here.

Wednesday 28 Dec – I Love Winter Shower Minis

Wednesday’s post was about the second batch of I Love…’s mini shower gels. One was great, one was nice, and one was a stinker – literally! Click here to read the post.

Thursday 29 Dec – Boots Extracts Olive Body Butter

I love my Boots Extracts Olive Body Butter. Why did Boots replace this one with a cheap smelling strawberry body butter? It boggles the mind… If you’d like to read my review, click here.

Friday 30 Dec – December Beauty Awards

Friday’s post was about my December favourites. I liked quite a few products – but I loved Flower Pharm’s Orange Flower Body Butter the most. If you’ve missed the post, you can read it here.

This is it for this week! Again, Happy New Year! 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

December Beauty Awards

Hi there! It’s the end of the month. So it’s time for my monthly favourites. As usual, I only picked products which I’ve reviewed this month. And since I’ve loved quite a few products, it wasn’t easy to pick three favourites and to limit myself to only a few honourable mentions. But I did it! So let’s take a look at the products I loved the most this month.

3rd place – Boots Extracts Cocoa Butter Body Wash

I love the taste and the fragrance of chocolate and cocoa. So it’s hardly surprising that I also love chocolate and cocoa scented shower products. Boots did an excellent job with their Cocoa Butter collection. It mops the floor with the more expensive offerings from a certain high street brand. 😉

Runner-Up – Boots Exracts Olive Body Butter

Boots Extracts Olive Body Butter was one of my favourite products from the Extracts range. And then Boots discontinued it and replaced it with a cheap smelling strawberry body butter… Idiots! I have a few tubs of this wonderful olive body butter left but I know I’ll be sad once they’re finished.

WINNER – Flower Pharm Orange Flower Body Butter

Flower Pharm’s Orange Flower Body Butter is simply fantastic. The formula is perfect, the orange flower fragrance is divine, the product bursts with natural ingredients and the price is very reasonable. If you see this body butter at your local Home Bargains or TK Maxx store (or wherever), you should just buy it.

Now onto the honourable mentions. I loved all the Superdrug face masks that I’ve tried this month:
– Clearly Youthful 3 in 1 Mask / Cleanser / Scrub,
– Vitamin E Leave On Mask,
– Black Seaweed Peel-Off Mask, and
– Superfruits Clay Mask.

And I’m really pleased with my new Olay Anti-Wrinkle cleansing products. I also love Givenchy’s original Ange Ou Démon fragrance. And Alberto Balsam’s Stunning Shine hair products are very nice too!

What do you think of my December favourites? Which products did (or do) you love this month? Feel free to get in touch. And thanks for stopping by!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Reducing My Oldies Stash – Boots Extracts Olive Body Butter

Hi there! And welcome to today’s episode of ‘Reducing My Oldies Stash’. 😉 Today I’m reviewing an old favourite, Boots Extracts Olive Body Butter.

This product promises to moisturise and to soften skin with the help of olive oil, shea butter, cocoa butter and sweet almond oil. In addition, this body butter promises nourished and healthy looking skin. If you read on, I’ll tell you more! 🙂

First of all, this body butter smells amazing. No, it doesn’t smell like olives or olive oil. It smells fresh, green, joyful and feminine. It’s perfect – I love it! And I’ve never come across any other ‘green’ fragrance that smells this lovely.

Now let’s get to this body butter’s actual job – skin care! This body butter is definitely nourishing and moisturising. It makes my skin feel soft and supple. It’s perfect for dry, very dry and flaky skin. However, this body butter isn’t sticky at all because it’s easy to massage into the skin, and it’s absorbed quickly. I think the formula is perfect.

Because of this it is very unfortunate that Boots discotinued this body butter. And it’s even worse hat they replaced it with a cheap smelling strawberry body butter. I’m glad that I still have a few tubs of this olive body butter. I’ll be enjoying them very much, no doubt.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde