Weekly Recap 1 – 7 August 2022

Hi there! Happy Sunday! Today’s post is about all the posts I’ve written this past week. Here they are:

Monday 1 Aug – July Empties

Monday’s post was about the products I finished last month. Click here to see them all.

Tuesday 2 Aug – Boots Ingredients Niacinamide Serum

On Tuesday I reviewed a facial serum. Click here to read the post.

Thursday 4 Aug – Superdrug Layering Lab Sweetie Body Mist, Superdrug Layering Lab Oriental Body Mist

I didn’t post on Wednesday, but on Thursday I reviewed 2 fragrances. Click here to read the post.

Friday 5 Aug – Poundland #6 The Mask Collection Aloe Vera Face & Neck Sheet Mask

Friday’s post was about a face mask. Click here to read my review.

This is it for the first week of August. Thanks for stopping by today! xx

Mrs Strawberry Blonde 💙💛

Boots Ingredients Niacinamide Serum

Hi there! Today’s post is about this Boots Ingredients Niacinamide Serum. This serum promises to moisturise the skin, to reduce redness, to make the skin look clearer, and to make the skin feel more balanced and less oily.

Simply use this serum as you would use any other serum – after you’ve cleansed your skin and under your regular day or night moisturiser. Also, according to Boots, this product is vegan and cruelty-free!

I’ve been using this water-based serum for a few weeks now, and I think it’s alright but nothing special. The watery formula is nice for the warmer summer months. It feels comfortable on my skin (after an initial 2 minutes of stickiness). Well, it feels comfortable most of the time. I had a small cut on my face, and of all the products that I’ve used during this time, this serum was the only product that stung around the area of the cut. I have to deduct imaginary points for that.

I’m fairly happy with the level of hydration I get from this serum. Well, water and glycerin are the first 2 ingredients listed on the bottle, so that explains it. And I found that this serum also plays well with my other skin care products. However, I’m not convinced that it does much more. In comparison to the last serum I used (Olay), this Boots serum doesn’t give me an immediate smoother look and silkier feel.

I will finish this serum, but I wouldn’t buy it again. If you’re interested, Boots Ingredients Niacinamide Serum is available as 30ml for £4. I bought this serum when Boots ran a 3 for 2 promotion across their Ingredients and Vitamin C ranges.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde 💙💛

Empties – July 2021

Hi there! Today’s post is about all the products I finished in July. I used a few single-use face masks, and you can click here if you’d like to read my latest face mask reviews. Now let’s look at the big bottles…

1 Herbal Essences Moisture Balance Conditioner – a holy grail product. I have plenty of back-up!

2 Original Source Skin Quench Blackcurrant & Moringa Oil Moisturising Shower – this is a nice one! I’d like to buy it again, but it’s been discontinued. I think I’ve seen one more bottle in my stash.

3 Original Source Pink Grapefruit Shower – a really nice shower gel too. Also discontinued. I do have some back-up though.

4 M&S Fragrance Collection Mimosa & Bergamot Eau De Toilette – this is a decent fragrance, and it was nice while it lasted, but I wouldn’t buy it again.

5 Sanctuary Spa Foaming Bath Soak (travel size) – I liked this bath soak a lot, and I’d like to buy the full size.

6 Revlon Nail Care Base Coat – a decent base coat. I would buy it again.

7 Palmolive Aromatherapy Absolute Relax – one of my holy grail shower products. My husband loves it too. I will buy this one again, no doubt!

8 Imperial Leather Mauritian Spa – one of my old favourites. I have one more bottle in my stash.

9 Imperial Leather Beautiful Indulgence Rich Moisturising Body Wash – I like this one a lot too. Also discontinued. 😦 But I have one more bottle.

10 Boots Ingredients Glycolic Acid Toner – this is a very basic toner. I won’t buy it again.

11 Olay Anti-Wrinkle Face Wash With Exfoliating Particles – this is a nice cream wash. Definitely repurchase-worthy.

12 Poundland #6 Anti-Ageing Retinol Facial Serum With SPF 25 – this is a very good serum which I aim to buy again soon!

This is everything I emptied in July. Have you tried any of these products or would you like to try them? Which products have you said goodbye to recently? Feel free to get in touch, and thanks for reading! x

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Boots Ingredients Glycolic Acid Toner

Hi there! Today’s post is about this Boots Ingredients Glycolic Acid Toner which I started to use just over 3 weeks ago. I finished a powerful AHA fruit toner last month, and then I moved on to this Boots toner right after.

This toner promises brighter, renewed and more radiant looking skin. And for best results, you’re supposed to use this toner twice a day.

I can make a long story short – this toner is very disappointing. There isn’t much glycolic acid in it. Glycolic acid is listed as the 6th ingredient, right after phenoxyethanol – which is a preservative and, and its use in cosmetics is permitted up to a maximum of 1%.

If we were to assume that this toner contains the maximum permitted 1% of phenoxyethanol, the glycolic acid content in this toner is under 1%. It might even be around 0.5%. I don’t know. What I do know is that I got quite a bit of this product in my eyes by accident, and whilst I was expecting the toner to sting and burn, I felt absolutely nothing. Now please don’t do such a stunt at home. Mine was an accident. And your eyes might react differently. However, my experience reaffirmed by initial finding that this toner is very weak.

If you’ve never used glycolic acid before, you might want to start with this one, but if you love glycolic acid products already, this product will disappoint you, and in this case, you’re much better off with Superdrug’s amazing glycolic acid toner.

But if you’re interested, Boots Ingredients Glycolic Acid Toner is available as 100ml for £5, but Boots runs 3 for 2 promotions on their Ingredients collection frequently. I also picked up this toner as part of a 3 for 2 deal.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

HAUL! New Products From No 7, M&S, Boots, Superdrug, Herbal Essences, Radox, Imperial Leather, Garnier & More

Hi there! Today’s post is about the majority of the products I bought before Christmas (or so). I’m saying majority because I didn’t take photos of everything I bought, and there’s some stuff I know I’ll only remember after posting. Without further ado, here’s the stuff:

Boots No7 Skincare Stars The Star Of The Show – this incredible set has products worth £149, but it was £39 for a few days in the run-up to Christmas.

Marks & Spencer Discover Spiced Bergamot, Pink Pepper, Soft Iris – these fragrances are vegan and certified cruelty-free. The set was £6.65 (30% off offer), but even the full price of £9.50 is a total steal for 3 x 30ml. I already reviewed this set.

M&S Discover Water Jasmine, Fresh Lychee, White Coconut – I’ll review this set soon. Same price and amount as above, and all these fragrances are vegan and certified cruelty-free as well!

Radox Perky Peach, Radox Mint To Be – I’m looking forward to trying these shower gels, although I made a mistake with the minty one. I ignored the name and the mint leaves, and I somehow assumed it would be a lime scent… 🤦‍♀️ These 400ml shower gels were about £1.30 each.

Imperial Leather Wild Thing, Imperial Leather Shake Your Bambootay – these 2 cute 250ml shower gels were 99p each. I’ve been using them for almost 2 weeks now, and the review will be up tomorrow!

Herbal Essences Bio Renew Micellar Water & Blue Ginger Shampoo & Blue Ginger Conditioner – these are in use too, and the review will be up on Friday! Oh, and these were £3 each!

I also bought plenty of face masks – but they were too many to list. I’ve already tried and reviewed some of them!

Boots Live + Be Awakening Glow Shower Cream, Boots Live+Be Beautiful Connection Bath Soak – I bought these and lots of other Live+Be products as it looks like the entire range is going to be discontinued. Really sad (and typical because I just discovered these last month). I already reviewed the 2 products above.

Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care All Over Body Cream With Lavender – I bought this when Superdrug ran a Buy 1 Get 2nd Half Price promotion. They’re usually £4.99. I already reviewed this body cream.

Superdrug Vitamin Skin Care All Over Body Cream With Acacia Collagen (also £4.99) was the other product I got with the Buy 1 Get 2nd Half Price deal.

I bought 2 Superdrug Vitamin E Moisturising Shower Creams. I’ve never seen these before but it was time Superdrug finally made a shower gel with their iconic Vitamin E fragrance. These were £1.20 each (Better Than Half Price offer). Garnier Body’s Intensive 7 Days Ultra-Replenishing Lotion With Shea Butter was a repurchase. This is a big 400ml, and it was £2.49 (B&M Bargains).

Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care All Over Body Cream With Hibiscus Extract was on a Save 1/3 offer. It’s usually £4.49 for a 465ml, but I paid £2.99.

And lastly, Boots Ingredients Glycolic Acid Toner, Boots Ingredients Niacinamide Serum and Boots Vitamin C Brightening Cleansing Gel. The first 2 products were £5, the cleanser was £4 but was actually free (3 for 2 offer).

The No 7 set was a bit more expensive (it wasn’t if you consider the actual value of the products in it), everything else was rather cheap! Have you tried any of these items? Would you like to try any of them? What have you bought recently? Feel free to get in touch via the comments. And thanks for stopping by! 😘

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Weekly Recap 30 July – 5 August 2018

Hi there! The first week of August is almost behind us, and it’s time for my weekly blog recap. If you’ve missed a post that might have interested you, read on! 🙂

Monday 30 Jul – Boots Ingredients Sheet Masks – Which One Is Best?

On Monday I compared all of Boots’ Ingredients sheet masks. Click here to find out which ones are worth buying and which ones aren’t.

Tuesday 31 Jul – July Beauty Awards

Tuesday’s post was about my favourite products in July. Click here to read it.

Wednesday 1 Aug – July Empties

On Wednesday I told you which products I emptied in July. Click here to read the post.

Thursday 2 Aug – Nail Of The Day
Friday 3 Aug – Primark PS… Nourishing Leave On Mask With Pistachio

Thursday’s post was a Nail Of The Day post. Click here to read it.
And on Friday I reviewed a face mask. Click here to read the post.

And this is it for this week. I hope you enjoy what’s left of the weekend. Thanks for stopping by!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Boots Ingredients Sheet Masks – Which One Is Best?

Hi there! Today’s post is about ALL the sheet masks Boots offers under its “Ingredients” brand. Since I’ve tried all the masks, here’s what I think. 🙂

Boots Ingredients Super Hyaluronic Sheet Face Mask

Let’s start with my least favourite Ingredients mask! I was expecting Boots’ Super Hyaluronic to provide proper hydration. However, the mask left me disappointed because it didn’t hydrate my skin at all. I wouldn’t say it was dehydrating, but it wasn’t really that far off. I gave this mask a second chance, but I had the same experience. I wouldn’t recommend this mask, and I wouldn’t buy it again.

Boots Ingredients Lotus Flower & Tiger Lily Sheet Face Mask

This is another Ingredients mask that I wouldn’t recommend or buy it again. Whilst this mask didn’t dehydrate my skin, it just didn’t do anything. It didn’t brighten my skin, it didn’t make my skin look more radiant, it didn’t make my skin look or feel different at all. If I hadn’t used this mask, I wouldn’t have missed it.

Boots Ingredients Rooibos Sheet Face Mask

Now we’re moving on to the better Ingredients face masks! I really enjoyed the Rooibos mask because it made my skin look and feel energised and refreshed. This is a great face mask! Well done, Boots!

Boots Ingredients Safflower & Peony Sheet Face Mask

This is another great Ingredients mask. I’d rate it slighter higher than the Rooibos mask because this one delivered on its younger looking skin promise! Thank you, Boots!

Boots Ingredients Charcoal & Willow Bark Sheet Face Mask

And here’s my favourite! This mask has impressive skin cleansing and purifying powers. My skin looked and felt clearer and cleaner, my pores appeared smaller, my skin tone appeared to be more even, and my skin felt calmer overall. This mask is one of the best masks I’ve ever tried, and I would recommend it to everyone with (or without) problem skin.

Have you tried any of the Ingredients masks? Or would you like to try them? Feel free to comment. And thanks for stopping by!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Boots Ingredients Super Hyaluronic Moisturising & Nourishing Sheet Face Mask

Hi there! Today’s post is about Boots’ Ingredients Super Hyaluronic Moisturising & Nourishing Sheet Face Mask. I’ve already tried the other 4 masks from this collection. If you’d like to read the reviews, click here.

OK, what about this mask? Well, it promises to leave skin feeling moisturised and nourished for up to 12 hours. This sounds great! But does it work? Read on…

I’ve tried this mask (I’ve even given it a second chance), and I’m disappointed. I don’t think that the serum they used for this mask is very moisturising or nourishing. I don’t want to say the serum felt drying, but let me put it this way… my skin would have gotten a lot more hydration from any random average face cream!

Based on my experience I wouldn’t recommend this sheet mask. However, if you’d like to try it… Boots’ Ingredients Super Hyaluronic Moisturising & Nourishing Sheet Face Mask is available for £2.50 at Boots. I bought this mask (and a few others) when Boots ran a 4 for £3 promotion.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Boots Ingredients Cleansing & Purifying Sheet Face Mask With Charcoal & Willow Bark

Hi there! And welcome to face mask week! Today’s post is about Boots’ Ingredients Cleansing & Purifying Sheet Face Mask With Charcoal & Willow Bark.

This sheet mask promises cleansed and revitalised skin in 15 minutes. Just cleanse your face, put the mask on, leave it on for 15 minutes (or until the sheet mask is dry), remove the mask, and massage any excess serum into your skin – job done!

So how’s the mask? Well, I think it’s excellent! When I used this mask for the first time, I could feel a tingling sensation on my skin. It wasn’t painful, and it didn’t feel scary. It was just enough for me to know that the product would work. And it did work!

This mask made my skin feel and look clearer than usual. At the same time it made my pores look smaller. It also seemed to have a calming effect because my skin tone looked a lot more even. To sum it up, this mask packed quite a punch! I would definitely recommend this face mask, and I will buy it again, no doubt!

Boots Ingredients Cleansing & Purifying Sheet Face Mask With Charcoal & Willow Bark is available for £2.50 at Boots. I bought this mask (and a few others) when Boots ran a 4 for £3 promotion.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Boots Ingredients Energising & Revitalising Sheet Face Mask With Rooibos

Hi there! It’s been a while since I tried a new sheet mask, so I gave Boots Ingredients Energising & Revitalising Sheet Face Mask with Rooibos a go. This sheet mask promises to leave skin feeling revitalised and energised for a whole day – all in 15 minutes. Does it work?

I’ve previously mentioned that the shape of Boots’ Ingredients sheet masks in incredibly awkward, and this mask is no different. However, despite its funny shape, this mask is actually very nice!

OK, so I left the mask on for much longer than 15 minutes (it was something between 30 and 45 minutes). But I always do that. 🙂

And when I took the mask off, my skin looked… energised! I can’t really describe it because most of the time my skin is rather moody (which is my fault because I always stay up late…). So it was surprising to see my skin looking refreshed and full of energy. It was like my skin was saying “let’s go!”

Since there was plenty of serum left in the sachet, I’ve used said serum instead of my night cream for a few days. And I really love what this serum did for my skin!

To make a long story short – I think this mask is awesome, and I will buy it again. I would recommend it to everyone! Just make sure you use up the serum from the sachet, OK?

Boots Ingredients Energising & Revitalising Sheet Face Mask with Rooibos is available for £2.50 at Boots. I got my Ingredients face masks when Boots ran a 2 for £3 promotion.

Have you tried this face mask? If so, how did you like it? Or would you like to try this mask? Feel free to comment. And thanks for reading!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde