100% Vegan & Cruelty-Free – Marks & Spencer Water Jasmine Eau De Toilette

Hi there! Today’s post is about this Marks & Spencer Water Jasmine Eau De Toilette. I’ve previously given this fragrance a quick review. So I could have written today’s post under the “Revisiting Old Favourites” tag. But the heading just didn’t look right. And this fragrance deserves its own stand-alone review.

Anyhoo, back to this fragrance! The notes for Water Jasmine are citrus (top note), jasmine and rose florals (heart note), and soft musk, cedar and amber (base note). Sounds fresh and summery! 😍

What’s this fragrance like? It’s a burst of citrus freshness. It’s like Light Blue – but Light Green. I am in love with the fresh and unisex citrus aroma and the transparent shades of jasmine. This fragrance is a delight, not just on hot days. I’m glad I bought 2 big 100ml bottles which I know I’ll enjoy!

I cannot recommend this beautiful fragrance enough. If you’re interested, Marks & Spencer Water Jasmine Eau De Toilette is available as 30ml for £5 and 100ml for £9.50. Also, this fragrance is vegan and certified cruelty-free (it carries THE Leaping Bunny logo).

Mrs Strawberry Blonde 💙💛

100% Vegan & Cruelty-Free – Superdrug Layering Lab Sweetie Body Mist, Superdrug Layering Lab Oriental Body Mist

Hi there! Today’s post is about Superdrug Layering Lab Sweetie Body Mist and Superdrug Layering Lab Oriental Body Mist. Most of Superdrug’s Layering Lab body mists happen to smell like expensive fragrances. Their Blossom body mist smells like Alien, and their Paradise body mist is pretty close to Olympéa! Now let’s see if Sweetie and Oriental are just as nice.

Superdrug Layering Lab Sweetie Body Mist is supposed to smell like Jean Paul Gaultier La Belle. I don’t know this fragrance. And, unfortunately, NONE of the local drugstores or perfumeries stock it, so I couldn’t test it. Having said that, I do like Sweetie!

When you spray it, the first few seconds are difficult as Sweetie is too loud and too sweet, but it settles quickly and turns into a gentle, non-descript floral fragrance. It definitely has a “French” touch to it, but it also has an obvious drugstore aura. The fragrance is nice and office-safe – just don’t spray it immediately before you enter the office as it needs a few moments to calm down.

Superdrug Layering Lab Oriental Body Mist (“spice, berries, floral”) smells sickeningly sweet. Good grief, what is this fragrance? Dupe lists have it as Diesel Loverdose (which I dislike). But I think it actually smells like Diesel Loverdose Tattoo (which I also dislike), with Britney Spears Fantasy (which I strongly dislike) mixed in, all rounded off with a giant load of whatever concoction vanilla-scented dolls are scented with.

Next time I go to the office, I will “forget” the bottle in one of the bathrooms. Someone else will take it with them, no doubt. If you love super sweet fragrances, you might want to give this one a try. But please, do test before you buy!

If you’re interested, Superdrug Layering Lab Sweetie Body Mist and Superdrug Layering Lab Oriental Body Mist are available as 100ml for £3.99. Superdrug runs special offers on the Layering Lab products most of the time which might come in handy if you want to try different products or if you want to stock up on your favourite cheap scent. Also, these body mists are suitable for vegans, and they’re certified cruelty-free (they carry the Leaping Bunny logo).

Mrs Strawberry Blonde 💙💛

100% Vegan & Cruelty-Free – Marks & Spencer Spiced Bergamot Eau De Toilette

Hi there! Today’s post is about this Marks & Spencer Spiced Bergamot Eau De Toilette. This post could be filed under “Revisiting Old Favourites”, but the heading would have been clunky. Regardless, this fragrance is an “old” favourite, and here’s why…

Let’s start with the notes! Spiced Bergamot has the following notes: bergamot, lemon and orange flower (top notes), white flowers and cardamom (heart notes), and cedar, amber and musk (base notes).  Sounds good!

Spiced Bergamot is an amazing fragrance. It’s starts very fresh – with lemon and bergamot. I can’t smell any orange flower or white flowers, but I can smell cedar and musk The fragrance lasts for about 3-4 hours (it’s a skin scent after about 1 hour) and I can sniff out some cardamom as the citrus notes disappear.

This fragrance remind me of Light Blue. It’s definitely NOT the same as Light Blue, but with lemon and cedar being such prominent notes, and with its cool, refreshing and unisex feel, Spiced Bergamot makes you think of Light Blue! Having said this, Spiced Bergamot is definitely “pink”, and it also has a more transparent feel. If you think of Light Blue as lemon and water, you could think of Spiced Bergamot as lemon / bergamot and air.

I cannot recommend this beautiful fragrance enough. If you’re interested, Marks & Spencer Spiced Bergamot Eau De Toilette is available as 30ml for £5 and 100ml for £9.50. I bought a special edition 200ml for £6.25 (half price post-Christmas clearance). Also, this fragrance is vegan and certified cruelty-free (it carries THE Leaping Bunny logo).

Mrs Strawberry Blonde 💙💛

100% Vegan & Cruelty-Free – Marks & Spencer Alphabet Personalised Beauty Gift Set

Hi there! Today’s post is about this Marks & Spencer Personalised Beauty Gift Set. They had a few random letters left on sale (half price = £6.25), and I opted for J over X or Q. This gift set contains 3 items – a fragrance, a hand cream and a lip balm. All of these products are vegan and certified cruelty-free – they carry the Leaping Bunny logo!

Let’s start with the fragrance which contains the following notes: red berries, pomegranate and musk. On paper, this doesn’t sound bad. However, this fragrance is the stuff of nightmares. They forgot to list one major ingredient – cloves! I’ve never smelled such a disgusting mess of cloves and overly ripe fruit.

I sprayed it once, smelled it, then I washed my arm and threw my cardie in the washing machine. The stink lingered for hours despite the window being open. I couldn’t and wouldn’t gift this to anyone. This fragrance is rubbish!

Onto the next product, the hand cream! The hand cream smells like an extremely watered-down version of the fragrance. Fortunately, the scent is very weak and fleeting, so it doesn’t stink up the room. The formula is very rich and nourishing. However, after the fragrance nightmare, I wasn’t too keen on the hand cream. So my husband is using it as a foot cream – and it works well.

And here’s item number 3 – the lip balm. This is the surprise of the month! Wow, what a beautiful lip balm! It’s very similar to Boots No 7 Protect & Perfect Lip Care! This beautiful lip balm has a very subtle vanilla scent, it glides on, it’s very lightweight, and it’s incredibly hydrating. I love it! 😍 One of my favourite products this month!

All in all, whilst the lip balm is the absolute bomb, I had to bin the fragrance and I’m also not using the hand cream. I would hope that M&S will bring back the lip balm next Christmas, or that it will be available to buy on its own!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde 💙💛

100% Vegan & Cruelty- Free – Superdrug Layering Lab Paradise Body Mist

Hi there! Happy Tuesday! Today’s post is about this Superdrug Layering Lab Paradise Body Mist.

The fragrances in the Layering Lab collection are meant to be worn “individually or mixed together for a unique scent.”

Although the biggest selling point is that the fragrances in the Layering Lab collection are meant to smell like designer fragrances. I am happy to confirm that the Blossom Body Mist (but not the EdT) is a perfect dupe for Mugler’s Alien.

What about Paradise? Well, the notes shown on the bottle are tangerine, green tea and vanilla, and according to a bunch of reviewers, Paradise is supposed to smell like Paco Rabanne’s Olympéa.

I’ve given this body mist a try, and I agree that it smells similar to Olympéa. It’s a bit sweeter, but at the same time it’s also airier – which makes sense because it’s a body mist concentration. If Paco Rabanne  did a body mist for their Olympéa fragrance, this is exactly what it would smell like, no doubt!

Based on my experience, I would recommend this body mist for sure!

If you’re interested, Superdrug Layering Lab Paradise Body Mist is available as 100ml for £3.99. There’s always some kind of special offer going on, so you can usually buy multiple bottles and still save a little. This body mist is also suitable for vegans, and it’s certified cruelty-free (it carries the Leaping Bunny logo).

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

100% Vegan & Cruelty-Free – Superdrug Layering Lab Exotic Body Mist, Superdrug Layering Lab Gelato Body Mist

Hi there! Today’s post is about Superdrug Layering Lab Exotic Body Mist and Superdrug Layering Lab Gelato Body Mist. I bought these after the successful purchase of the Blossom scent from the same collection as that one’s a dupe for Thierry Mugler’s Alien!

Let’s start with Superdrug Layering Lab Exotic Body Mist with orange blossom and night jasmine, which, according to a bunch of reviews, is a dupe for YSL Black Opium. I would agree that it has similarities to YSL Black Opium – it has that recognisable mix of sugary coffee and flowers. However, Exotic smells like a cheap hairspray version of it – especially in the beginning right after you sprayed it. I will use it here and there as my husband likes the scent once the initial hairspray note is gone, but I won’t repurchase it.

Onto Superdrug Layering Lab Gelato Body Mist with orange, cedarwood and ambergris! I’m not sure what this is supposed to be a dupe for. This is a simple fruity-floral body mist. It smells rather pleasant, but it’s nothing special. A safe (yet not very exciting) blind buy. I will continue to use it (and will probably finish it this month), but I don’t know if I’d repurchase it.

If you’re interested, Superdrug Layering Lab Exotic Body Mist and Superdrug Layering Lab Gelato Body Mist are available as 100ml each for £3.99 each. Superdrug runs promotions on the Layering Lab products frequently, and I bulk-bought about a dozen of these body mists (mainly “Blossom” and a few others to test) when they were on special.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

100% Vegan & Cruelty-Free – M&S Fragrance Collection Mimosa & Bergamot Eau De Toilette

Hi there! Today’s post is about this M&S Fragrance Collection Mimosa & Bergamot Eau De Toilette which I bought as part of a fragrance duo. The other fragrance is Peony & Rhubarb, and I’ve already reviewed it.

But let’s focus on the Mimosa & Bergamot fragrance now. According to M&S, it contains… bergamot, pink grapefruit and coconut water (top notes), ocean breeze (?), fig leaf and violet (heart notes), and sea salt, sandalwood and musk (base notes). M&S doesn’t mention “mimosa” in the notes. 🤷

I think this fragrance is good. But unfortunately, it hasn’t wowed me.

Ler’s start with what it smells like – the bergamot and musk notes are very strong. The bergamot note in particular gives the fragrance a rather masculine feel. This fragrance smells like a summer edition of a “for men” fragrance.

I don’t really mind looking at fragrances as unisex – I love the pink Joop “for men”, and I’ve been obsessed with Midnight in Paris – another “for men” fragrance – until it was discontinued. At the same time, I love it when my husband wears D&G Light Blue “for women” – which, I think, is THE most perfect unisex fragrance ever.

Having said all this, Mimosa & Bergamot is a lot more masculine than any of the fragrances I listed above. I also find it more masculine than CK Be. I do like wearing it, but I actually prefer this fragrance on my husband. Why am I saying all of this? Well, I was hoping for another sweet and cuddly fragrance like M&S Vanilla & Woods. And if you have the same expectations, you’ll be disappoined. However, if you love the sugarfree zest of bergamots, this fragrance might be right up your street.

If you’re interested, M&S Fragrance Collection Mimosa & Bergamot Eau De Toilette is available as 100ml for £12.50. I have a 50ml special edition from a gift set. Also, this fragrance is vegan and certified cruelty-free – it carries THE Leaping Bunny! 😍

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

100% Vegan & Cruelty-Free – Superdrug Layering Lab Fresh Body Mist, Superdrug Layering Lab Sorbet Body Mist

Hi there! Today’s post is about 2 body mists – Superdrug Layering Lab Fresh Body Mist and Superdrug Layering Lab Sorbet Body Mist. I picked these up after the Blossom body mist from the same collection blew me away. And I’ve now given them a try…

Superdrug Layering Lab Fresh Body Mist is supposed to smell of citrus, apple and peony. I’d describe the scent as a cheap apple hairspray scent. Maybe something a young teen would enjoy. But this stuff is not worth my time. I’ll give it away.

Superdrug Layering Lab Sorbet Body Mist is supposed to smell of peach sorbet, plum and raspberries. According to some of the reviewers at Superdrug, this body mist smells like Viktor & Rolf Bon Bon; someone else likened it to a Britney Spears fragrance. I don’t know either of those fragrance, but I’d be shocked if anything above £5 were to smell like this body mist. What does it smell like? Pretty much like a mix of burnt sugar mixed with burnt berries. It’s not pleasant at all. I can definitely see that some young teens might like this, maybe to cover up BO after PE/gym or exercising? But this stuff is more of a smell than a scent. I will give this stuff away too.

If you’re interested, Superdrug Layering Lab Fresh Body Mist and Superdrug Layering Lab Sorbet Body Mist are available as 100ml for £3.99 each. On top of this, Superdrug often runs promotions on these Layering Lab products. I bought them when they were on special. To end this post on a positive note, these products are vegan and certified cruelty-free (they carry the Leaping Bunny logo).

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

100% Vegan & Cruelty-Free – Superdrug Layering Lab Blossom Body Mist, Superdrug Layering Lab Blossom Eau De Toilette

Hi there! Today’s post is about Superdrug Layering Lab Blossom Body Mist and Superdrug Layering Lab Blossom Eau De Toilette. How did I discover these? Well, I remembered that Mugler Alien (now under L’Oréal) smells super weak compared to Thierry Mugler Alien (back then under Clarins). So I googled to see if other Alien fans would agree, and I found dozens of reviews saying that Superdrug Layering Lab Blossom smells like Alien! Since these Superdrug products were super cheap, I picked these up on my next visit to Superdrug, and I’ve given them a try!

And now I can say that Superdrug Layering Lab Blossom Body Mist smells just like Alien. Oh! My! Gawd! It’s “just” a body mist, and I started with 2 sprays on my wrist – so I would be able to take regular sniffs with a “clean” nose. After the initial 30 seconds – when it smells like Alien mixed with hair spray – this body mist turns into “proper” Alien. Just wow! It even has the same slightly dirty drydown. It’s incredible!

Now, please keep in mind, this is just a body mist, so it won’t last all day – but neither does L’Oréal’s Alien. And this body spray is only £3.99 for 100ml (even if there is no special offer, although I bought them for 2 for £6, I believe), so you can afford to spray away! My husband loves this body mist, and he agrees that it smells just like Alien. I’ve been through several bottles of Thierry Mugler’s Alien before the reformulation and through a number of Alien limited editions over the past 15 (or so) years, and you can trust me about this one. But even if you don’t, you can visit Superdrug’s product page where you will find dozens of reviews from women saying the same thing. I love to douse myself in this body mist – and so does my husband – I can’t blame him! Thank you, Superdrug! 11 stars!

Onto Superdrug Layering Lab Blossom Eau De Toilette! Based on the body mist, I had high hopes for the EdT, but the EdT isn’t a carbon copy of Alien. It doesn’t even smell similar to Alien. I do like this fragrance, because it has a sharp jasmine note. But I do recognise it for what it is – a cheap fragrance which would be good for a teenager who’s done with Impulse sprays and wants to “move up” to drustore fragrances. I think this EdT is also nice enough for the office, or if you want a fragrance and either can’t or don’t want to spend a lot of money – the 30ml is £5, and the 100ml (which I have) is £6.99. I actually bought the 100ml for £4.66 on a special offer – so cheap!

Based on my experience I’d recommend the body mist to Alien lovers. If you want to give both products a try, at the moment, Superdrug actually does run a promotion on these (but I have no idea when the promotion ends and what’s next) – the 100ml body mist is £2.65 (go, grab a bottle…), the 30ml EdT is £3.32, and the 100ml EdT is £4.65. Also – these products are vegan and certified cruelty-free – they carry the Leaping Bunny logo! And one more thing… matching body products are also available. I haven’t tried any of them as of now, so I can’t (yet) comment on how good or similar to Alien they are.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

100% Vegan & Cruelty-Free – M&S Discover Water Jasmine, Fresh Lychee, White Coconut

Hi there! Today’s post is about a fragrance set that I picked up about 4 weeks ago – M&S Discover Water Jasmine, Fresh Lychee, White Coconut. On the back of the pack it reads that these fragrances are suitable for vegetarians, but the actual product pages for the individual scents confirm that these fragrances are suitable for vegans even. And they’re also certified-cruelty-free as they carry the Leaping Bunny logo! 😍

M&S Discover Water Jasmine is my favourite of the bunch, and I’ve already bought the big 100ml bottle. The notes for this fragrance are citrus (top note), jasmine and rose florals (heart note), and soft musk, cedar and amber (base note). The fragrance smells like… a green version of D&G Light Blue! This means that, within the Discover collection, M&S has made 2 fragrances which are reminiscent of D&G Light Blue (the other fragrance is M&S Spided Bergamot). Outstanding stuff!

M&S Discover Fresh Lychee lists lychee, pear and jasmine as top notes and amber and musk as base notes. This fragrance is the one that should have been called Water Jasmine! It has a very clean (and watery) and transparent jasmine note with hints of lychee and pear. It’s really nice too, and of all the 6 fragrances from the Discover collection, this is the 3rd best, in my opinion.

M&S Discover White Coconut has sea-salted coconut and exotic white flowers as top notes, sweet blossom and iced citrus nuances as heart notes and vanilla musk, sea moss and amber as base notes. I don’t like coconut scents and flavours, so I was expecting to hate this fragrance, but it’s actually not bad – the coconut note is on the transparent side, and the salt and the citrus notes are strong too, so the coconut note isn’t overpowering. This is actually a wearable fragrance!

Based on my experience, I would recommend this M&S Discover Water Jasmine, Fresh Lychee, White Coconut set. I picked it up when M&S ran a pre-Christmas 30% off promotion on certain gift sets, but even at £9.50, this is a total steal! Even if you end up not loving every single one of these fragrances, I’m sure you have a friend or colleague who will be happy to have it. If you like any of the individual scents, they’re available as 100ml for £9.50, and I’ve now also seen smaller 30ml bottles (same size as in these gift sets) for £5.

And now that I tried all the fragrances from the Discover collection, I’d rank them in this order (3 yays, 3 nays):

Water Jasmine(I already purchased the 100ml)
Spiced Bergamot (I already purchased the 100ml)
Fresh Lychee (I might repurchase it)

Soft Iris (I liked wearing it while the 30ml bottle lasted, but I won’t repurchase as it’s not very special)
White Coconut (I have better fragrances to wear, so I think I’ll give this one away)
Pink Pepper (I absolutely hate it and will give it away)

If you want to read about the other 3 fragrances, click here.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde