Empties – December 2018

Hi there! Happy New Year, everyone! 🙂 Since it’s the 1st of the month, this post is about everything I finished last month. I’ve used a few single-use face masks. Whilst I don’t keep the empty sachets, you can read about my latest face mask finds if you click here. Onto the empty bottles, tubes and tubs!

1 Boots Extracts Cocoa Butter Body Butter – this is, without doubt, one of the best body butters I’ve ever tried. I have a few back-up tubs in my stash!

2 NYC Expert Last Nail Polish 138 Classy Glassy – this is a lovely clear polish. I love to use it as a top coat when I do foil manis. I have a few more bottles in my stash.

3 Orly Nail Lacquer Clear – this is the best quick-dry polish ever. I have 10+ back-up bottles.

4 Enliven Mango & Papaya Shower Gel – this is a nice shower gel that I can see myself buying again. My husband used this shower gel too, so it’s a shared empty.

5 Yves Rocher 3 Min. Cranberry Cooling Effect Mask – this is, without doubt, one of the most useless “beauty” products I’ve ever come across. It doesn’t do anything at all.

6 Boots Garden Collection Rose Body Wash (travel size) – this is a great little shower gel. I have one more bottle in my stash.

7 Max Factor Pan Stik 12 True Beige – my holy grail foundation!

8 Palmolive Aroma Moments So Vibrant Shower Gel – this is a fantastic shower gel that I would love to repurchase.

9 Herbal Essences Bio Renew Whipped Cocoa Butter Strength Conditioner – I thought this conditioner and the matching shampoo were not bad, but I’ve changed my mind. They were bad! For weeks, I thought my hair needed a trim, but I realised how incredibly flattening these 2 products were just after I had finished this conditioner (which was the day I passed the matching leftover shampoo on to my husband). I started a new shampoo and conditioner combo (Gliss), and those new products made my hair look big from day 1. Thank you Gliss! Goodbye and good riddance Herbal Essences Cocoa Butter products.

10 Boots Extracts Sweet Mango Body Spray – this stuff smells gorgeous! It’s the best mango fragrance out there! I have another bottle – which is already in use!

11 Enliven Pink Grapefruit Shower Gel – another great shower gel that I would like to repurchase. My husband helped with this one, so this one’s a shared empty.

12 Imperial Leather Thai Fusion Bath Moments – if this one hadn’t been discontinued, I’d buy it again.

13 Classics Nail Polish Remover – I will continue to buy this nail polish remover for as long as it’s made.

14 Simple Pleasures Winter Woodland Frosty Delight Body Lotion (travel size) – I found this half-empty bottle in my stash, so I made an effort to finish it. Success! This one was alright, but I wouldn’t buy anything from this brand again.

15 Garnier Pure Active Fruit Energy Daily Energising Gel Scrub – I liked this gentle scrub, but I didn’t love it. I don’t think that I’ll repurchase it.

16 Wonder Woman 2 In 1 Shampoo / Conditioner (travel size) – this is a nice shampoo. Very clarifying! But it doesn’t replace a conditioner. I might pick up another Wonder Woman toiletries set in the future.

17 Elizavecca Milky Piggy Kangsi Pack – this is another product that didn’t do anything for me. I won’t repurchase it.

18 Ciaté Amazing Gracie – another low quality polish from Ciaté that I am happy to say goodbye to.

19 Super Facialist By Una Brennan Vitamin C + Brighten Sleep & Reveal Night Cream  – this night cream isn’t the most suitable product for dry skin. And I think it didn’t do anything for my skin. I won’t buy it again.

20 Superdrug Treat Me Salted Caramel Shower & Bath Soak – this is a nice shower gel that I would repurchase. Since my husband used this shower gel too, this is another shared empty.

I did well again in December, didn’t I? I’m glad I finished all these shower and bath products. Some of them have been sitting by the shower – in various states of empty – for much, much longer than I’d care to admit. But (with a little help from my husband) I finished them – one by one. I’m actually a little proud of myself!

Since this is also the last Empties post for last year, I thought I’d let you know that I emptied 239 products in 2018. This figure includes the single-use face masks I’ve used. Whilst I don’t keep the empty sachets for my Empties posts, I do count them in my overall empties.

Again, Happy New Year! I hope it’s going to be a great year for everyone!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Boots Being By Sanctuary Spa Cloudberry & Lychee Blossom Body Mist, Boots Being By Sanctuary Spa Chilli Mango & Tonka Bean Body Mist

Hi there! Today’s post is about 2 body sprays I picked up a few months ago – Boots Being By Sanctuary Spa Cloudberry & Lychee Blossom Body Mist and Boots Being By Sanctuary Spa Chilli Mango & Tonka Bean Body Mist.

Being By Sanctuary Spa is a relatively new body care collection – there are shower gels, body scrubs, body butters, body mists, cosmetics bags… and so on. I would have liked to try the body butters, but they’re £10 each – and I think that’s just too expensive for a run-of-the-mill moisturiser. But when the body mists were on special, I bought 2! So let me tell you if these body mists are any good. 🙂

Boots Being By Sanctuary Spa Cloudberry & Lychee Blossom Body Mist smells of lychee, berries and water lilies. It smells cheap. It’s the definition of a cheap body mist. I tried to get rid of it, but – surprise, surprise – none of my colleagues wanted it. I’ll pass it on to my teenage relative.

Boots Being By Sanctuary Spa Chilli Mango & Tonka Bean Body Mist is alright, and I think I’ll finish it. This body mist smells of mangoes and fruit punch. There’s nothing even remotely spicy about it. It’s a random fruity body spray. If you’re looking for a lovely mango fragrance, you must try Boots Extracts Sweet Mango Body Spray.

By the way, the Chilli Mango & Tonka Bean Body Mist wasn’t my first choice. I actually picked up the Salted Caramel & Macadamia Nut Body Mist from the same collection because the matching body butter smelled delicious. However, I returned the caramel & macadamia body mist the next day because it smelled of burned bread. It was disgusting.

I don’t think I’ll be picking up any other Being By Sanctuary Spa products. The entire line seems to be way too expensive for what it is. If you’re interested… Being By Sanctuary Spa Body Mists are available as 100ml for £5 each. I picked them up when they were on special (I believe it was a Save 1/3 offer).

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Reducing My Oldies Stash – I Love… Mango & Papaya Exfoliating Shower Smoothie + Refreshing Body Spritzer

Hi there! Today’s post is about I Love… Mango & Papaya Exfoliating Shower Smoothie and I Love… Mango & Papaya Refreshing Body Spritzer. I’m not entirely sure where and when I bought these products. But I’m sure I’ll be able to finish them this summer. Now onto the review!

I Love… Mango & Papaya Exfoliating Shower Smoothie is a true 2 in 1 product. It exfoliates my skin nicely, but it’s also a proper shower product. And it smells fruity and juicy. It’s really nice!

I Love… Mango & Papaya Refreshing Body Spritzer turned out to be just as nice. Initially I thought this body spray was OK, but after a  few days I started to like it. The mango & papaya fragrance is quite well done. It’s fruity and juicy, but it’s not cloyingly sweet. It smells just like… summer!

I Love… Mango & Papaya Exfoliating Shower Smoothie is available as 200ml, I Love… Mango & Papaya Refreshing Body Spritzer is available as 100ml. Superdrug no longer sells I Love…’s Mango & Papaya collection, so I’m not sure where you’d be able to get these products. But there are quite a few bargain stores that seem to stock I Love… products (incl. gift sets) from time to time, so don’t ignore those stores. 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

You Need These In Your Life – Boots Extracts Sweet Mango Body Spray & Boots Extracts Luscious Vanilla Body Spray

Hi there! Today’s post is about Boots’ Extracts Sweet Mango Body Spray & Boots’ Extracts Luscious Vanilla Body Spray. I’ve already emptied one of these vanilla sprays (I have 3!), and I’m almost halfway through the mango spray. So it really is time for a review! 🙂

Boots’ Extracts Sweet Mango Body Spray is gorgeous! It smells exactly like the delicious and divine Boots Extracts Sweet Mango Body Butter. It’s so good that I could kick myself for not trying it sooner!

Boots’ Extracts Luscious Vanilla Body Spray is really lovely too. It’s wonderfully sweet and cuddly – just like Boots’ Extracts Luscious Vanilla Body Butter.

I would recommend these 2 body sprays to anyone! They’re available as 150ml for £3.50, which is good value. But on top of that, Boots runs 3 for 2 promotions quite frequently, so there’s no excuse not to stock up! Now go! Buy! 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

NSPA Mango Fragrance Body Mist, NSPA Vanilla Fragrance Body Mist

Hi there! I’ve been using all sorts of NSPA products for quite some time now – shower gels, body butters, body mists… you name it. And today I’m reviewing NSPA’s Mango Fragrance Body Mist and NSPA’s Vanilla Fragrance Body Mist.

NSPA’s Mango Fragrance Body Mist isn’t great. I was hoping it would smell like Boots’ mango fragrance – but it’s nothing like it. NSPA’s mango fragrance isn’t horrible, but it smells rather cheap and synthetic. I’ll pass this body mist on to someone who isn’t that picky with all-over body sprays. 🙂

NSPA’s Vanilla Fragrance Body Mist is decent. I don’t think the vanilla fragrance is particularly special. However, the vanilla scent is pleasant, sweet and a little ‘boozy’. Sometimes I spray it on my scarf or on my husband’s pillow. 🙂 Yes, my husband likes that! I think that, if you like vanilla fragrances in general, you should give this body mist a try!

NSPA products are exclusive to Asda. The body mists are available as 200ml for £3.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

I Love… Haul – 8 Products for £1 Each!

Hi there! Today’s post is just a little shopping advice. 😉 OK, here it is! If you love I Love… products, swing by your local Poundland! I was really happy when I found a few I Love… Cherry Almond Sparkle body butters the other day – but now I found so much more!

I bought…
– 500 ml I Love… Raspberry & Blackberry Shower/Bath Gel (2 bottles),
– 200 ml I Love… Cherry Almond Sparkle Body Butter,
– 250 ml I Love… Coconut & Cream Body Lotion,

– 100 ml I Love.. Mango & Papaya Fragrance Mist,
– 100 ml I Love… Coconut & Cream Fragrance Mist,
– 100 ml I Love… Raspberry & Blackberry Fragrance Mist, and
– 100 ml I Love… Cherry Almond Sparkle Fragrance Mist!

I won’t touch the Coconut & Cream products because I hate the taste, texture and smell of coconuts. But I know many people who love all things coconut. So the two I Love… Coconut & Cream products I bought will be given to someone who will like and use them. I also have a few (unopened) Cherry Almond Sparkle body butters now. These will also be given away.

So if you’re looking for a few little beauty treats for yourself, keep your eyes peeled the next time you’re at Poundland. Or if you’d like to give someone a really nice beauty hamper – go get a basket and fill it with I Love… products!

I Love… products are £2.99 at drugstores, supermarkets, etc. But Poundland currently stocks the Cherry Almond Sparkle limited edition and a few other lines (which I think are about to be discontinued). I’ll go back to Poundland soon!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Yves Rocher Mango Passionfruit Smoothie Limited Edition Eau de Toilette

Hi there! Today’s post is another fragrance post. I spotted this Yves Rocher Mango Passionfruit Smoothie Limited Edition Eau de Toilette for just under £3 online. Of course, I had to have it.

So this fragrance contains notes of mango and passionfruit – it’s quite simple really. The scent is sunny, yellow, exotic and fruity and it reminds me of generic fruity shampoos and shower gels, and fruity ice lollies. It’s obviously not a ‘serious’ perfume.

I’ve been using this fragrance for the past three days now and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s not for me. A young relative (she just turned 16) will hopefully be happy to take it off my hands. 🙂

I believe that this Yves Rocher Mango Passionfruit Smoothie Limited Edition Eau de Toilette has been discontinued, so you won’t find it easily. However, if you’d like to try it, you should check online.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde