Empties – November 2022

Hi there! Today’s post is about the products I emptied in November. I’d usually post on the 1st of a new month, but thanks to a ridiculous workload, I haven’t found the time to do a quick Empties post any sooner… Anyhoo, here’s what I finished in November.

1 Hugo Boss Pure Purple Eau De Parfum – this is a very nice fragrance. I enjoyed it, but it’s not something I’d buy for myself.

2 Maui Moisture Body Care Extra Hydrating + Shea Butter Body Lotion – sadly, this body lotion wasn’t for me. I wouldn’t buy it again.

3 Superdrug Fruity Vanilla Ice Cream Shower Gel – a lovely shower gel! My husband enjoyed it too. This was a limited edition shower gel which has sold out, but I have another bottle.

4 Boots Extracts Luscious Vanilla Body Wash – simply lovely! Too bad the entire line has been discontinued. I have a few random Extracts products left in my stash, and I’ll use them here and there.

5 Boots Glow Pineapple Gel Moisturiser – this was alright while it lasted. Not a bad moisturiser at all, but I didn’t care for its scent.

6 I Love… Chocolate Truffle Nourishing Body Butter – this is one of the best body butters ever. Too bad it was a limited edition. But I have a few more tubs.

7 MakeUp Gallery Time To Shine Completely Clear 1 (no photo as my husband binned the empty product) – this is a decent clear polish from Poundland. I finished a few of these, and I bought 2 more.

8 Dove Purely Pampering Almond Cream With Hibiscus – an oldie from my stash. I fell out of love with this fragrance, so I wouldn’t repurchase this shower gel any time soon.

9 Revisiting Holy Grail Products – Herbal Essences Silk N’ Shine Conditioner – holy grail stuff! I have plenty more (shampoo and conditioner) in my stash.

10 Imperial Leather Indulgence Rich Moisturising Body Wash Irresistible – this was lovely, but unfortunately this shower gel has been discontinued.

And this is everything I finished in November. Another so-so month for empties. I hope I can finish a few more products in December. Let’s see…

Mrs Strawberry Blonde 💙💛

Weekly Recap 9 – 15 Apr 2018

Hi there! Happy Sunday! Today’s post is my weekly blog recap. Read on if you’d like to know what I’ve been up to this week. 🙂

Monday 9 Apr – The A-Z Nail Art Challenge Wrap-Up (all the manis)

On Monday I showed you all the manis I did for the A-Z Nail Art Challenge. Click here to read the post.

Tuesday 10 Apr – Superdrug Naturally Radiant Brightening Day Cream

On Tuesday I reviewed one of Superdrug’s day creams. Click here to read the post.

Wednesday 11 Apr – Boots Extracts Luscious Vanilla Collection

Wednesday’s post was about Boots’ Vanilla body care collection. Click here to read the post.

Thursday 12 Apr – Nail Of The Day
Friday 13 Apr – Garnier Pure Active Fruit Energy Daily Energising Gel Scrub

On Thursday I showed you a mani I did recently. Click here to read the post.
And on Friday I reviewed a Garnier face scrub. Click here to read the post.

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

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Boots Extracts Luscious Vanilla Body Scrub, Body Wash, Body Lotion & Body Butter

Hi there! Today’s post is about a number of vanilla-scented products from Boots’ Extracts collection. I’ve already reviewed Boots’ Extracts Luscious Vanilla Body Spray, so it was time to take a closer look at the matching body care products. 🙂

Let’s start with Boots Extracts Luscious Vanilla Body Scrub! I’ve tried a number of body scrubs from Boots, and this one is quite similar. This means that this scrub is on the gentler side. I’m satisfied that it exfoliates my skin, but I prefer grittier scrubs for my body. Having said that, I think this body scrub smells awesome!

Up next is Boots Extracts Luscious Vanilla Body Wash! I think this is a nice shower gel. It smells lovely and it’s not drying. Boots did a great job with this one.

Onto Boots Extracts Luscious Vanilla Body Lotion! This is a great little body lotion for when you’re in a hurry. It’s absorbed in no time, and it makes skin feel soft and hydrated all day. And the sweet and cuddly fragrance is an added bonus.

And last but not least… Boots Extracts Luscious Vanilla Body Butter. This is, without doubt, one of the best vanilla body butters out there. It feels nourishing, it’s not tacky at all, and, you guessed it, it makes your skin smell delicious! Well done, Boots!

Boots’ Extracts collection seems to be disappearing from the stores. The manager at my local store told me the entire line is getting a makeover. Let’s hope this is true!

Have you tried any Boots Extracts products? Which fragrance do you like best? Feel free to comment. And thanks for stopping by! 🙂

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

Empties – August 2017

Hi there! Today’s post is about all the products I finished last month. Like always, I’ve used a couple of single-use face masks, but I didn’t keep the sachets (I never do). So let’s focus on the big empties – the real empties!

1 Givenchy Ange Ou Démon – a lovely fragrance! I would buy it again, no doubt. However, I think I’d like to try the purple version first (I’m sorry, I can’t be bothered to look up the exact name).

2 Boots Extracts Luscious Vanilla Body Spray – this is such a wonderful all-over body spray. The vanilla fragrance is sweet and dreamy – awesome stuff! This one is a shared empty. Yes, my husband used this body spray too! I have 2 back-up bottles.

3 Boots Extracts Sweet Mango Body Spray – I love it! This is the perfect mango fragrance. I have 2 large back-up bottles!

4 Max Factor Pan Stik 25 Fair – my holy grail foundation. Yes, I have several back-up Pan Stiks. 🙂

5 Superdrug Vitamin C Boost Mango & Papaya Body Butter – this body butter is really nice. It smells natural and authentic. I will buy it again.

6 NYC In A Minute 001 Evil – this is one of the nicer black polishes I had / have (I have several back-up bottles). And this is also one of the black non-stamping polishes that I used for stamping. This polish was only about 1/3 full, so I poured the leftovers into another half full black polish bottle. Tadaa!

7 Montagne Jeunesse Buriti Fruit Body Smoothie – this is a fantastic moisturiser. I already bought a back-up!

8 The Body Shop Moringa Body Butter – my husband and I used this one as a foot butter. It was OK. I have another tub which will also be used as a foot butter…

9 Original Source Skin Quench Cherry & Jojoba Oil Shower – this is a nice shower gel. It has moisturising oil beads that burst on the skin, and I like the fun fragrance. I have a back-up bottle.

10 Radox Revive Mandarin & Lemongrass Shower Gel – this is one of the best summer shower gels ever. It’s so refreshing! I will buy it again, no doubt. My husband also enjoyed this shower gel. So this one’s a shared empty.

11 Superdrug Extracts Aloe Vera & Mango Conditioner – this conditioner is the definition of average. I won’t buy it again. My husband is using up the leftover shampoo – he doesn’t care for it.

12 Original Source Lemon & Tea Tree Shower – this is another shower gel that my husband and I like. I have at least 2 back-up bottles. This one’s another shared empty.

And this is all the stuff I finished last month. It’s not much compared to what I’ve finished over the past few months, but that’s OK. I know that I’ll finish a couple more products very shortly. Anyhoo, have you tried any of these products? Which products did you finish recently? Feel free to comment. 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

Major Boxing Day Haul – 80 New Products (Sanctuary Spa, Boots Extracts, My Little Pony, Pusheen And More)

Hi there! I know I did a haul post only 2 weeks ago. But I also said I’d be doing some serious bargain shopping on Boxing Day. I ordered lots of stuff online, and I also went to a few stores (Boots, M&S, Poundstretcher, B&M). Here’s what I bought!

I found this My Little Pony Lip Balm Trio at B&M Bargains. I don’t know how much it was because…
1. I didn’t care, and 2. I lost the receipt. I guess it was £2.99 – the My Little Pony nail polish set which I bought recently was £2.99, and I just assume these sets would cost the same.

My local Poundstretcher had a few different Daily Defense hair products. I bought the Keratin shampoo and conditioner, and the Argan Oil shampoo and conditioner. These are huge 473ml bottles – and they were £1 each. I’ve never seen these before, and my guess is they were discontinued ages ago. But I sniffed the products before I decided to buy them – and these 4 products smelled excellent! And something else – these products were made in Canada – and they’re cruelty-free!

Boots Extracts Vanilla House Of Treats was on top my Boxing Day wish list – because my husband loves Boots’ vanilla fragrance very much. I ended up buying 2 of these vanilla sets, each of which contains 200ml shower gel, 200ml body lotion, and 150ml body mist. The Vanilla House Of Treats was half price on Boxing Day – so I only spent £5 per set.

Another half price bargain I got my hands on was this cute Pusheen plush cosmetic bag. It was £4 only (Boots). The cosmetic bag is quite big – it’s the biggest cosmetic bag I’ve ever owned. I’ll take measurements… I promise.

The next awesome half price set is I Love…’s The Takeaway Trio. It contains 3 chocolate truffle scented products – 500ml bath & shower cream, 200ml body butter and a big 150g bath fizzer. Priced at £4 (Boots) this set is amazing value!

Then I spent £2.50 on this Garden Collection Mini Indulgence set (Boots). It contains 5 products – a lavender body wash and a lavender body lotion, a rose body wash and a rose body lotion, and a magnolia body wash. The bottles are 100ml.

I found 2 cute Winter Woodland toiletries sets. The first set contains 3 shower gels and 3 body lotions.

And the second Winter Woodland set contains 5 body mists. These sets are from Poundstretcher.

I also bought a Boots Extracts Body Spray trio. For £3 I got Vanilla (My husband’s favourite!), Strawberry (I’ll give it a sniff, but I think I’ll have to pass this one on to my teenage relative), and Mango (Yummy!). The body sprays are 70ml.

My local Marks & Spencer store had a few Pusheen sets for half price too. I bought a nail polish set for £5 and a lip balm duo for £3.

Up next is the My Little Pony Cutie Beauty Bath Set. It was £3.99 at B&M Bargains. It’s that cute that I don’t even care if any of these products are good. 🙂

I also got the big Boots Extracts House Of Treats – which contains several shower gels, shower scrubs and body butters. All of these products are travel-sized. This set was £10.

And here’s what’s in the House Of Treats – 4 shower gels, 4 body scrubs, 4 body butters. The fragrances are Marshmallow & Peppermint (limited Christmas edition), Coconut, Vanilla & Mango.

I was glad that I Love…’s Pamper Me Essentials set wasn’t sold out by Boxing Day. So I got this set for £5.

The Pamper Me Essentials set contains a 200ml Raspberry & Blackberry Shower Gel and the matching hand cream, and it contains 2 chocolate Truffle products – a body butter (which I already had in a different set) and a body mist (which was the reason I bought this set – I really wanted this Chocolate Truffle body mist).

I bought the Sanctury Spa’s Escape And Let Go set which contains an exfoliating mitt, a 100ml body butter, a full size shower gel and a full-size body scrub. All these products have the same fragrance – White Lily & Damask Rose.

I think this Sanctuary set was good value. It was £8! The shower gel and the shower scrub are usually £5.50 each, so I’m really happy with this set.

I Love…’s The Big Tub Of Fun was £7.50 only. Yes, I only bought it for the Chocolate Truffle products… anyhoo, this set contains a 500ml Chocolate Truffle shower cream, a bath fizzer, a body puff and three Raspberry & Blackberry products – body butter, hand cream and body mist. I think this set is fantastic considering the low price!

I also bought the huge Sanctuary Spa Make A Wish And Let Go box. It was £22.50 and it’s packed with awesome products!

What’s in the box? Heel balm, mini shower gel, bath soak, face mask, body butter, shower gel, salt scrub, body scrub and hand cream.

And here are two non-beauty items – I bought a My Little Pony ringbinder. It was £1.99. And I got myself a foam sticker set for 99p. I found these items at B&M Bargains. 🙂

So this is what I got myself on Boxing Day (in store and online). It’s quite a lot, I know. But it’s nothing compared to what I’ve bought in the past. This Boxing Day (well, technically it’s last boxing Day already…) I managed to ignore all those half-price make-up and nail polish sets. Well, I got the Pusheen nail polish set but that doesn’t count because it’s Pusheen!

I also spent just over £106 for all of this. And whilst I don’t know where to store all these sets and products, I don’t think I spent too much. I do think that I’m a reasonable Boxing Day shopper because I’ve never been someone who’d spend hundreds of £ on ‘impulse items’ (aka stuff you’ll regret buying – like those 5 evening dresses, or those 9 pairs of red high heels…). Yeah, I had to get that out of my system because I know people who still pay off their 2012 Christmas shopping…

Feel free to comment if you want to. Oh, and congratulations if you’ve made it to the end of the post. 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde