Empties – December 2020

Hi there! HAPPY NEW YEAR! Today’s post is about all the products I emptied in December. I’ve done much better again, and I’m happy to report that I’ll be returning to a normal blog schedule soon – and this includes catching up with all of my blogging buddies. 🥰

So what kind of stuff did I finish last month? I used quite a few single use face masks, but let’s look at the big bottles, tubes and tubs.

1 Boots Extracts Sweet Mango Body Wash (travel size) – unfortunately discontinued. 😢 Otherwise I’d buy this amazing body wash again.

2 Alberto Balsam Mandarin & Papaya Conditioner – this is an old favourite, and I have no doubt that I’ll buy it and the matching shampoo again.

3 Garnier Skin Active Refreshing Botanical Cleansing Milk– not bad, but also not a favourite. I won’t buy this cleanser again.

4 Vaseline Intensive Care Aloe Soothe Non-Greasy Lotion – this is a very good body lotion, and I’ll buy it again for sure!

5 Classics Nail Polish Remover – my go-to nail polish remover. Already repurchased.

6 NSPA Green Tea & Aloe Vera Bath & Shower Gel – a lovely shower gel that I can see myself buying again.

7 Max Factor Pan Stilk 12 True Beige – unfortunately, this HOLY GRAIL product has been discontinued, but fortunately I stocked up on original Pan Stiks as soon as I read that the Pan Stik would be relaunched with a “new and improved” 🙄 formula, so I’ll be OK for a long time.

8 Patisserie De Bain Raspberry Roulade Hand Cream – this is a nice hand cream. I would repurchase it.

9 Essence Plumping Nudes 07 So Heavy – what a wonderful lipgloss! Too bad that this shade is no longer available.

10 Rimmel 60 Seconds 740 Clear – a nice clear polish. I’d buy this polish again, but I think I have a few more of these. 😁

11 Yves Rocher Jardin Des Nymphes Eau De Toilette – not my favourite type of fragrance, so I wouldn’t buy it again.

12 I Love… Chocolate Truffle Bath & Shower Crème – this is one of the best shower gels I’ve ever used. Too bad it was a limited edition.

13 Olay Regenerist Daily Regenerating Cream Wash – this is a very good face wash, and I can definitely see myself buying it again.

And this is everything I finished in December 2020! Which products have you used up recently? Feel free to let me know via the comments.

And below is a breakdown of all the products I said goodbye to over the entire year (256 products in total).

Single Use Face Masks 86
Shower + Bath Gels, Bath Salts 54
Body + Hand + Foot Moisturisers 23
Conditioners 14
Fragrances 12
Nail Polish 12
Facial Cleansers, Toners, Pads 10
Lip Products 10
Facial Serums, Oils 8
Facial Moisturisers 7
Face Washes 5
Face Mists 4
Nail Polish Remover 3
Multi Use Face Mask Tubes or Tubs 2
Pan Stiks 2
Eye Creams 2
Eyeliners 2

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Weekly Recap 15 – 21 June 2020

Hi there! Today’s post is about all the posts I’ve written this past week. Read on if you’re wondering what I’ve been up to on my blog. 🙂

Monday 15 Jun – Nail Of The Day
Tuesday 16 Jun – I Love… Raspberry & Blackberry Refreshing Body Spritzer

Monday’s post was a Nail Of The Day post. Click here to read it.
On Tuesday I reviewed a fragrance mist. Click here to read the post.

Thursday 18 Jun – Garnier Skin Active Refreshing Botanical Cleansing Milk & Toner With Aloe Extract

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

I also didn’t post on Friday (busy week), so this is already it for this week. Thanks for stopping by, lovelies! 🥰

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Garnier Skin Active Refreshing Botanical Cleansing Milk & Toner With Aloe Extract

Hi there! Today’s post is about 2 facial cleansing products I’m using at the moment – Garnier Skin Active Refreshing Botanical Cleansing Milk & Toner With Aloe Extract. These products are aimed at normal to combination skin.

Garnier Skin Active Refreshing Botanical Cleansing Milk With Aloe Extract is a disappointment. It feels nice and cleansing, and the aloe scent is alright too. However, as soon as I follow up with a toner, it’s obvious that the cleansing milk doesn’t really remove the make-up. I’ve had the same problem with another Garnier cleansing milk before. And while we’re at it, Nivea’s rose cleanser was similarly disappointing.

Garnier Skin Active Refreshing Botanical Toner With Aloe Extract is not the greatest toner either. I think this one would be good for people who don’t wear make-up and who don’t experiece impurities. I will contiue to use it in the morning after I’ve washed my face in the shower. But I can’t use it after I’ve removed my make-up in the evening, because it’s not very effective, and I don’t want to end up double-toning as this would make my skin angry.

If you’re interested, Garnier Skin Active Refreshing Botanical Cleansing Milk & Toner With Aloe Extract are available as 200ml for £3.49 each. I paid £1.74 (half price offer)

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Empties – June 2016

Hi there! Today’s post is about what I emptied last month. It’s quite a lot (and I’m proud of myself), so let’s get started! 🙂

1 (no photo) I used several face masks from Montagne Jeunesse (Lemon Zest, Mud Pac, Passion Peel Off) and Superdrug (Naturally Radiant Mask, Fruit Sorbet Peel Off, Dead Sea Clay Mask). I didn’t feel like keeping the empty (= dirty & sticky) sachets. The masks that really stood out were the Montagne Jeunesse masks – I can’t believe I’ve never used them before! Anyway, I’ll repurchase all the face masks I’ve used this month.

2 Garnier Intensive 7 Days Hydrating Body Lotion with Aloe Vera – this is a fantastic body lotion. Of all the body lotions and butters I’ve had in the past six month or so, this one is definitely in my top 3. It appears Garnier has now discontinued this product which is stupid a shame!

3 St. Ives Naturally Clear Apricot Scrub – Blemish Fighting – I stopped using harsh scrubs with crushed apricot seeds or walnut shells on my face – I’m using these on my body only. Essentially, I used most of this face scrub as a body scrub. 🙂 I wouldn’t repurchase this product because most body scrubs smell much nicer than this product.

4 Rightguard Shower + Nutrients Shower Cream with Acai Berry – this shower cream is amazing – it’s gentle and creamy and it smells absolutely delicious. Highly recommended! Repurchase? Yes!

5 Dolce & Gabbana 3 L’Impératrice (100ml) – a lovely fruity fragrance for grown-ups. I won’t repurchase it (I have too many fragrances) but I recommend you give this one a sniff if you come across it. L’Impératrice is a really nice fragrance.

6 Harmony Hair Indulgence Herbal Conditioner with Jasmine Extract – I didn’t love the conditioner. It smells really nice but it’s not great for my hair type (thick, long, curly). I won’t repurchase it but I think it would work fine for ladies with short, fine and straight hair. If you’re wondering what happened to the matching shampoo (now that the conditioner is gone), my husband is using it up.

7 Imperial Leather Oriental Calm Shower Cream – I kept this around for a while because I thought it was discontinued. However, this gorgeous vanilla and cherry blossom shower cream has only been renamed and it’s still available as Imperial Leather Mauritian Spa! I’ve already stocked up. 🙂

8 Olay Anti-Wrinkle Instant Hydration + Wrinkle Smoother – this is a really good non-greasy moisturiser which has an instant blur effects on fine lines, and it doubles as a primer. I won’t repurchase it because it’s not the most suitable moisturiser for my skin type (dry, sensitive & moody), but I can totally see that women with normal to oily skin would love it.

9 Pacifica Indian Coconut Nectar Shower Gel – I liked that this shower gel didn’t smell too coconutty and that it was gentle. But I won’t repurchase it. The fragrance isn’t my favourite.

10 Olay Regenerist Luminous Dark Circle Correcting Eye Swirl – this eye cream didn’t do anything for me. I think this is the only Olay product that left me disappointed. I’m glad it’s finally gone and I won’t repurchase it.

11 The Body Shop Lychee Blossom Body Mist (100ml) – a decent body mist with a sweet and fruity fragrance. The product is no longer available (limited edition from ages ago), but I wouldn’t repurchase it if it were still available. Like I said earlier, I have too many fragrances…

12 Imperial Leather Paradise Island Nourishing Bath Cream – this is one of my favourite bath creams at the moment. It smells of peach nectar and vanilla – delicious! I’ve already repurchased it.

13 Palmolive Pampering Touch with Coconut and Moisturising Milk – I really love this shower gel. It feels amazing on my skin and it smells wonderful. I have a few back-up bottles and I’ll always repurchase this one.

14 Original Source Plum & Blackcurrant Shower Gel – a nice and refreshing shower gel. I’m pretty sure I’ve got at least one back-up bottle (probably two). I don’t feel like purchasing more at the moment.

15 Imperial Leather Revitalising Ylang Ylang & Juniper Shower Gel – this is already the second big bottle I’ve used up. I really like this shower gel. The bottle (yellow floral image, I’m looking at you) is quite ugly, but the shower gel smells lovely and quite sophisticated. Repurchase? Yes!

This is everything I managed to use up in June. There aren’t any small items like lipsticks or eyeliner pencils, but I’m really proud of myelf for emptying so many bottles and tubes. Have you used any of these products? Feel free to let me know what you think. 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

The Battle Of The Aloe Vera Lotions: Garnier Intensive 7 Days Hydrating Body Lotion with Aloe Vera vs. Superdrug Soothing Aloe Vera Body Lotion

Hi there! It’s been a while since the last ‘which one is better’ post. However, I just realised that I bought these two body lotions with aloe vera very recently, so I thought I’d look into which one is better.

I’ve got Garnier’s Intensive 7 Days Hydrating Lotion with Aloe Vera and Superdrug’s Soothing Aloe Vera Body Lotion. And now The Battle Of The Aloe Vera Body Lotions is on! 🙂

Garnier’s Aloe Vera Body Lotion for normal skin is a very good moisturiser. It smells subtle, fresh and green. The lotion is fast-absorbing and non-sticky. It makes my skin feel elastic and nicely hydrated.

After using this body lotion once a day for three days my skin felt like silk. I could even get away with not using any body moisturiser at all for the next two days – and my skin still felt and looked great. This body lotion is for normal skin but it made such a difference to my dry and sensitive skin. I’ll definitely buy it again! 10 stars!

Superdrug’s Aloe Vera Body Lotion is a moisturiser for all skin types. It smells absolutely gorgeous. The lotion is fast-absorbing and non-sticky – just like Garnier’s body lotion. However, Superdrug’s body lotion is rather light which, I think, makes it more suitable for summer than for winter.

My skin feels nicely hydrated when I use this body lotion every day. But I really have to use it every day to maintain this effect. In my opinion, Superdrug’s body lotion is decent. But it wouldn’t be my first choice to ‘treat’ dry and sensitive skin in winter.

Verdict: Garnier’s body lotion doesn’t smell as nice as Superdrug’s, and Superdrug’s body lotion gets extra points for being BUAV-approved and cruelty-free (it carries the Leaping Bunny logo). However, because of its skin transforming powers (!) Garnier is the clear winner of The Battle Of The Aloe Vera Body Lotions.

Garnier’s Aloe Vera body lotion is available as 250ml for about £3 to £3.65 and 400ml for £5 to £5.50 – depending on where you shop. I got my 250ml bottle for £1.49 which is definitely good value. If you look for a bargain, the 250 ml bottle is currently £1.50 at Wilko’s.

Superdrug’s Aloe Vera body lotion is available as 375ml for £1.49. I spent 99p for this product and there is usually some kind of deal (usually 1/3 off) at Superdrug.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde