2022 Favourites (Skin Care, Hair Care, Eyes, Lips, Fragrances)

Hi there! Today’s post is about my favourite products in 2022. Only the best of the best! Let’s take a look!

Scinic Sparkling Pore Toner

This is one of the best toners I’ve ever used. 😍

Agent Provocateur Fatale Intense Eau De Parfum

Fatale Intense is like a lighter version of Thierry Mugler’s Angel. 😇

Jil Sander Simply Elixir Eau De Parfum & Rich Body Cream

Simply Elixir was a very successful blind buy. It’s like a lady’s version of Dior Fahrenheit! 🌡

Oriflame Mirage Eau De Parfum

Mirage is one of the most beautiful and unique fragrance I’ve ever had the pleasure of smelling. It’s the Moira Rose of fragrances. 😍

Yves Saint Laurent Elle Limited Edition 2011, Yves Saint Laurent Elle Limited Edition 2012

I love YSL’s limited editions of Elle! 🗼

Superdrug Naturally Radiant Moisturising Facial Oil

Superdrug’s Naturally Radiant Facial Oil is a skin care super hero! 💗

Pantene Pro-V Miracles Grow Strong Biotin + Bamboo Shampoo & Conditioner

These Pantene hair care products are some of my all-time favourite shampoo and conditioner combos. 😍

Antonio Banderas Her Secret Temptation Eau De Toilette

Her Secret Temptation is another amazing Antonio Banderas fragrance. Wow! 💗

Boots Live + Be Woodland Whisper Whipped Body Cream

This whipped body cream is one of the best body moisturisers I’ve used over the past year (or more). Insanely beautiful fragrance, perfect formula. 😍

Marks & Spencer Lip Balm
Prada Infusion De Fleur D’Oranger Eau De Parfum

This M&S lip balm is one of the best lip products I’ve ever used. Incredible stuff. 😍
Prada’s orange flower fragrance is my favourite Prada fragrance. I hope they’ll relaunch it so I can repurchase this gem! 💗

Revlon Custom Eyes 020 Naturally Glamorous

I love this eye palette so much! The quality of the eyeshadows is insane! 😍

Lancôme Hypnôse

Hypnôse is a cult classic and an incredibly beautiful fragrance. I love it! 💗

Ekél Natural Clean Peeling Gel Rice Bran

This is Ekél’s best peeling gel. Awesome stuff! 💗

MakeUp Revolution Redemption Palette Romantic Smoked

Wow, what an eye palette! This one was a wonderful surprise! 😍

Marks & Spencer Spiced Bergamot Eau De Toilette

M&S did an amazing job with this budget Light Blue-style fragrance. No, it’s not a dupe for Light Blue, but it’s the same type of fresh and summery citrus fragrance. 😍

Giorgio Armani Armani Code Summer Eau Fraîche
Nip + Fab Renew Retinol Fix Tonic Extreme

Armani Code Summer was a wonderful summer surprise. 🌞
Nip + Fab’s retinol toner is simply magical. 😍

Aussie Mega Shampoo & Conditioner

Aussie Mega is truly mega! An all-time favourite hair care combo. 💗

Yves Rocher Un Matin Au Jardin Cerisier En Fleurs Eau De Toilette
Salvador Dali Dalissime Eau De Toilette

Yves Rocher’s Cerisier En Fleurs fragrance was another lovely summer surprise. 🌞
Dalissime is one of my all-time favourite fragrances. I’ve been buying it since the 90s! 😍

Olay Regenerist 3 Point Super Age-Defying Cream

This Olay moisturiser is simply stellar! I love it! 💗

Botanical Lab Neem Leaf + Salicylic Acid Anti-Blemish Gentle Face Wash
Neutrogena Clear & Soothe Toning Mist With Turmeric

This Botanical Lab face wash is one of the best face washes I’ve ever used. 😍
Neutrogena’s face mist with turmeric is a new skin care favourite. 💗

Ramer Sponges Cleansing Shammy For Sensitive Skin

This Shammy by Ramer Sponges is one of the best things I’ve ever bought. It’s that good that I bought 6 more already. These should last me for a long time – but I would always stock up on these. 💗

Marks & Spencer Water Jasmine Eau De Toilette

This fragrance is one of my favourites. It’similar to Light Blue (no, they’re not the same), and it’s refreshing and has this happy aura… I love it! 😍

Superdrug Revive Hair Care Collagen Shampoo & Conditioner

Superdrug did a fabulous job with these brilliant vegan collagen hair care products. 😍

Nuxe Rêve de Miel Eau Savoureuse Parfumante / Delectable Fragrant Water
Poundland #6 Vit C Toner

Rêve de Miel is one of my new favourite fragrances. I wish I had tried it sooner! 💗
Poundland’s Vit C Toner is an amazing skin care product. I love using it. 😍

Superdrug Extracts Banana 3 In 1 Hair Mask

Another amazing surprise find – I’m still enjoying this banana hair mask from Superdrug. 💗

Olay Anti-Wrinkle Firm & Lift Day Cream With SPF 15

Olay products have served me so well over the years, and this lovely face cream is no exception. I love it! 💗

I Love… Chocolate Truffle Nourishing Body Butter
Kenzo Amour Eau De Parfum

OMG, this Chocolate Truffle Body Butter is out of this world. LOVE! 😍
And what can I say about Kenzo Amour? It’s one of the most beautiful fragrances ever. 11 stars don’t do it justice. 💗

And this is it for the year! I hope you love some of these awesome products too – and if you don’t know them, I hope you’ll give them a try. Thanks for stopping by again today. Have a happy and healthy 2023! 🥳🥳🥳

Mrs Strawberry Blonde 💙💛

Empties – September 2022

Hi there! Today’s post is about all the products I finished in September. I used a few single-use face masks – as usual. And I didn’t keep the sticky sachets – as usual. So let’s look at the bottles and tubes and what not…

1 Essence XXXL Nude Lipgloss 06 Soft Almond – I love this lipgloss so much! A shame it’s been discontinued.

2 Marks & Spencer Spiced Bergamot Eau De Toilette – one of my favourite summer fragrances. I love fresh, citrusy fragrances which remind me of Light Blue (nope, this is not a dupe for Light Blue), so this one is right up my alley. I already bought 2 backup bottles!

3 Boots Ingredients Niacinamide Serum – this is a basic serum. Too basic for me. I wouldn’t buy it again.

4 Olay Regenerist 3 Point Super Age-Defying Cream – what a wonderful skin treat! I love this moisturiser. I believe I have another one in my stash.

5 Pantene Pro-V Miracles Silky & Glowing Biotin & Hydrolised Silk Protein Shampoo & Conditioner – I didn’t care for this hair mask. I’m glad it’s finished now, and I won’t be buying it again.

6 Astonish Body & Soul Refreshing Golden Glow Bath Soak – this is a lovely bath soak. I’ve already respurchased it.

7 NSPA Grapefruit Shower & Bath Gel – this is such a beautiful shower gel. A shame it’s been discontinued.

8 Palmolive Sauna Retreat Shower Gel – a really lovely shower gel. I would repurchase it.

9 Herbal Essences Moisture Balance Conditioner – HOLY GRAIL stuff. I have plenty of back-up.

10 Classics Nail Polish Remover – my go-to nail polish remover!

And this is already it. September wasn’t the best month for Empties, but I hope I’ll do better for the last 3 months of the year. Thanks for stopping by today! xx

Mrs Strawberry Blonde 💙💛

June Beauty Awards

Hi there! Today’s post is about my favourite products in June. I picked my favourites from all the products I’ve reviewed since the beginning of the month. I’ve got a few honourable mentions further down, but let’s start with the TOP 3!

3rd place – Giorgio Armani Armani Code Summer Eau Fraîche
Runner-Up – Nip + Fab Renew Retinol Fix Tonic Extreme

Armani Code Summer is such a lovely fragrance! I’m enjoying it very much!
Nip + Fab’s retinol toner is one of my all-time favourite facial products!

WINNER – Marks & Spencer Spiced Bergamot Eau De Toilette

Spiced Bergamot is a very special fragrance. I’ll keep buying it for as long as M&S sells it!

Onto the honourable mentions! I Love… Choca Mocha Lala Moisturizing Lip Balm and Vaseline Lip Therpay + SPF 15 are 2 of my favourite lip balms at the moment. Astor Color Last VIP 240 Desire is such a beautiful lipstick, and Nivea Caring Shower Gel Splashy Ocean is a fab unisex shower gel.

Have you tried any of these products or would you like to try them? Which products are your current beauty favourites? Feel free to let me know via the comments, and thank you for stopping by! xx

Mrs Strawberry Blonde 💙💛

Weekly Recap 20 – 26 June 2022

Hi there! Today’s post is my weekly blog recap. And here are the posts I’ve written this past week.

Tuesday 21 Jun – Giorgio Armani Armani Code Summer Eau Fraîche

Tuesday’s post was a fragrance review. Click here to read it.

Thursday 23 Jun – Superdrug Leafy & Lovely Summer Meadow Hand Lotion

Thursday’s post was about this hand cream. Click here to read it.

Saturday 25 Jun – Marks & Spencer Spiced Bergamot Eau De Toilette

Another fragrance review on Saturday. Click here to read the post.

And this is it for this week. Thank you for stopping by! xx

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 💙💛

Small Haul! Boots, Wright’s, Little Soap Company, M&S, Botanical Lab & Nivea

Hi there! Today’s post is about a bunch of products I bought recently. It’s not that many. And here they are:

Boots Glow Banana Toner, 100ml for £5 (plus “points received” for buying this products – I would have bought it anyway, so the points worth £1 were welcome).
Boots Rose Toner, 150ml for £1.75. This rose toner will replace my used-up Garnier rose toner.
Wright’s Traditional Soap With Coal Tar Fragrance, 85p. Finally!
Little Soap Company Sweet Orange Soap, £1.85. I liked the look of this soap!

Boots Botanics Revive & Protect Postbiotic Facial Mist (100ml) and Boots Botanics Refreshing Toning Spritz (150ml) – these were £11.98 together (Buy 1 Get 2nd Half Price deal, usually £7.99 each).
Nivea Refreshing Face Wash, 150ml for £2.10. This face wash has been around forever, but this is the first time I bought it!

Botanical Lab Neem Leaf + Salicylic Acid Gentle Face Wash, 150ml for £2.
Botanical Lab Pumpkin & Papaya Enzymes + AHA Daily Tonic, 200ml for £3. Both of these products were half price with Tesco Clubcard!

M&S The Fragrance Collection Vanilla & Woods Eau De Toilette, 2 x 100ml for £10 each.
M&S Spiced Bergamot Eau De Toilette, 200ml for £6.25 (half price post-Christmas clearance sale).

M&S Alphabet Personalised Gift Set, £6.25 (half price post-Christmas clearance sale).

They had all sorts of different letters in the sale. I picked a random one. The contents of the set would always be the same.

And this is everything. A bunch of cheap and cheerful items that I look forward to giving a try!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Empties – March 2021

Hi there! Today’s post is about all the products I said goodbye to in March. I used a few single-use face masks, and you can read my latest face masks reviews here if you’re interested. But let’s get to the big bottles now!

1 Imperial Leather Wild Thing Funky Fruits & Safari Sunset Icons Shower Gel – I love this shower gel, and I’ll buy it again! I also found the matching hand wash at my local B&M Bargains store. Score!

2 Palmolive Gourmet Chocolate Passion Body Butter Shower Cream – I like this one a lot. And yes, I’d like to buy it again.

3 Alberto Balsam Exotic Mango Shampoo & Conditioner – I enjoyed this conditioner (and the matching shampoo). Repurchase? Yes!

4 Beckham Fragrances Signature For Her (x 2)- I love this fragrance! I’m so sad it’s gone. Unfortunately, all the ladies fragrances under the Beckham brand have been discontinued. 😭

5 Skin Food New Zealand Mud Masque – a very nice mud mask! I’d buy it again!

6 M&S Discover Spiced Bergamot– I love this fragrance! I finished this little 30ml, and I’ve already bought a 100ml bottle!

7 M&S Discover Water Jasmine – as above! Love it, and repurchased a big bottle already.

8 Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care All Over Body Cream With Lavender – this is a really nice body cream. I think I’ll buy it again at some point.

9 Rimmel Stronger Double Duty Base Coat – I love these! I think I have a few more of these – well, I would hope so! I don’t think these can be found in the shops anymore…

10 Soap & Glory Hand Food – not a favourite for hands, but it did a decent job as a foot moisturiser. Overall, too expensive for what it is, so I won’t buy this one again!

11 Beauty UK 73 Blue Moon – a lovely light blue polish. Too bad the brand can’t be found in the shops anymore – their nail polishes were fab!

12 Palmolive Delicate Care with Almond – one of my all-time favourite shower and bath products. I haven’t seen this in a while, and I hope it hasn’t been discontinued. 😬

13 Westlab Cleansing Himalayan Salt – these are awesome, and I have another big bag in my stash.

I think I’ve done well with my empties in March – especially with the fragrances! Which items have you said goodbye to recently? Feel free to let me know via the comments, and thanks for reading!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

HAUL! New Products From Boots, No 7, Sanctuary Spa, Marks & Spencer, Fragonard, Olay, Westlab, Radox, Dead Sea & More

Hi there! Today’s post is about most of the stuff I bought since the post-Christmas sale started. I’m saying most of the stuff because I always forget a lot… OK, let’s take a look at the goodies!

Boots Skincare Treats The Discovery Collection – this was £10 on Boxing Day. I bought 3 of these. The 2 moisturisers are worth £25 alone! The set would have been great value for full price = £20, but it was the most amazing bargain for half price on Boxing Day!

I bought more face masks – but what else is new? Some half price Disney masks, some £1 masks from B&M Bargains.

The Sanctuary Spa Celebration Hamper – this was £20 on Boxing Day and it had the following goodies:

These look amazing!

And these too!

I bought a few more products from Boots’ discontinued Live + Be range. The cheapest item was £1, the most expensive item was £1.75.

A few more Live + Be products.

I also bought fragrances from M&S. The first 2 were £9.50, the third was £12.50. All of them are repurchases.

I bought a number of different Westlab bath salts, the one above was £2.99 at Boots.

I also bought more Radox bath salts. The one above was £2.25 at Sainsburys.

2 more Radox shower gels – these were about £1.30 (or so) each at Superdrug.

Fragonard Belle De Nuit fragrance – £20 at M&S, the Olay Face Wash was £2.09 at Boots, the the Botanics Face Scrub was 33p (£2.33 plus 200 Advantage points for buying a Botanics product).

I also rescued 2 Dead Sea Natural Mineral Soaps from the clearance bin.

And this is it! Quite a bit, eh? Well, what can I say. I’ll always be a bargain hunter! Thanks for stopping by today! 😊

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

100% Vegan & Cruelty-Free – M&S Discover Spiced Bergamot, Pink Pepper, Soft Iris

Hi there! Today’s post is about a fragrance set (3 x 30ml) that I picked up about 2 weeks ago – M&S Discover Spiced Bergamot, Pink Pepper, Soft Iris. I’ve now given these fragrances a try (= I’ve worn each of these fragrances for at least 3 days in a row), and here’s what I think of them.

M&S Discover Spiced Bergamot contains the following notes: bergamot, lemon and orange flower (top notes), white flowers and cardamom (heart notes), and cedar and amber musk (base notes). Spiced Bergamot smells like a pink version of D&G Light Blue. It’s lovely! The fragrance is on the fleeting side, but it’s dirt cheap, so… spray away! This fragrance is my favourite of the bunch and I’ve already purchased the large 100ml bottle. 😍

M&S Discover Pink Pepper contains the following notes: bergamot, grapefruit and mandarin (top notes), iris and jasmine (heart notes), and pink pepper, vetiver, vanilla and musk (base notes). The notes sound promising, but Pink Pepper is a rather unsophisticated scent which smells of candy floss with hints of fruit chew (during the first few minutes) and coffee (towards the end). This is my least favourite fragrance from this set, and I think it would be most suited to a teenager or someone who generally likes sweet and simple fragrances.

M&S Discover Soft Iris contains the following notes: iris, jasmine and bergamot (top notes), orange blossom essence (heart note), and vetiver, amber and patchouli (base notes). This is an inoffensive floral and powdery scent – it’s perfect for the office or for wherever you just want to smell nice without trying to attract attention. This isn’t the most special fragrance, but it’s definitely nice and pleasant.

Based on my experience, I’d recommend the set. M&S Discover Spiced Bergamot, Pink Pepper, Soft Iris is £9.50 (I paid £6.65 thanks to a pre-Christmas 30% off offer), and you get 3 30ml fragrances to try and wear for a short while. Even if you end up not liking one of the fragrances, I’m sure you’ll have a friend or relative who will be happy to have it. For those who end up loving one or more of these fragrances, they’re also available as individual 100ml bottles for £9.50 each.

Also – these fragrances carry the Leaping Bunny logo – this means they’re certified cruelty-free. On the individual product pages on M&S’ website I found “suitable for vegans” under the product description of every single one of these fragrances!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde