Empties – June 2017

Hi there! Today’s post is about all the products I emptied in June. I used several face masks (What else is new?!), but I don’t keep empty face mask sachets, so I can’t show you which masks I used recently. However, if you’re interested, click here to read about my latest face mask finds. Alright! Now onto the bulky empties = the ‘real’ empties. 🙂

1 Wonder Woman Shampoo & Conditioner (100ml travel size) – this is a surprisingly nice shampoo. However, it doesn’t replace a conditioner. I used this shampoo once a week, followed by a deep conditioner (this one or that one). I think I got 8 uses out of this bottle. I have another Wonder Woman shampoo bottle.

2 I Love… Yummy Caramel Body Butter – a great body butter. Smells as yummy as it sounds. I started to use this body butter in April, and I finished it in early June. Unfortunately I cannot repurchase this product because Yummy Caramel was a limited edition.

3 L’Oréal Skin Perfection Serum – this was a nice serum. I started to use it in early April, and I really enjoyed using it. I believe L’Oréal discontinued their entire Skin Perfection collection, so I cannot repurchase this product.

4 Gliss Satin Relax Conditioner – a decent conditioner. I started to use it in May, and I finished it in early June. I got 14+ uses out of this bottle which is actually quite good. I have passed the matching leftover shampoo on to my husband – I am now using a different shampoo and conditioner combo. I am fairly certain that I will repurchase Gliss’ Satin Relax products!

5 Sudocrem Skin Healing Cream – this is great skin healing cream. Helps with cuts and grazes, helps with spots and all sorts of skin impurities. It took me over a year to finish this tube. I will repurchase this cream, no doubt!

6 The Red Forest Moonlight Raspberry Shower Gel (60ml travel size) – this was an OK shower gel to use for a few times. Nothing special. Random fragrance. This was from an old bargain-store gift set, so I doubt I’d ever come across it again. In any event, I wouldn’t buy it again. Saying this… I have a few more random products from this line!

7 Boots Botanics Firming Body Gel (40ml travel size) – this product had no effect at all. However, I just got a few uses out of this small tube, so I don’t think I can actually judge the product. This product has been discontinued, but I don’t think I’d have repurchased it anyway.

8 I Love… Yummy Caramel Bath & Shower Crème – I really liked this shower cream, and so did my husband! So this one is a shared empty. I started to use this shower cream in April, and I finished it in early June, just a few days after I’d finished the matching body butter. Unfortunately I cannot repurchase this product because Yummy Caramel was a limited edition.

9 Baylis & Harding Vanilla Sugar Donut Body Butter – this is a decent body butter. I started to use it in May, and now it’s finished. I don’t think I’d repurchase it because the fragrance is quite faint. In addition, I prefer Boots’ and Superdrug’s own brand vanilla body butters.

10 Moschino Cheap & Chic Toujours Glamour Bath & Shower Gel (50ml travel size) – I liked this shower gel. However, I don’t love the Toujours Glamour fragrance, so I won’t be repurchasing this shower gel.

11 Moschino Cheap & Chic Toujours Glamour Body Lotion (50ml travel size) – this is a decent body lotion. But I wouldn’t buy it again.

12 Wood & Forest Body Lotion (60ml travel size) – this body lotion was alright. I think it lasted for 5 or 6 days. I wouldn’t repurchase it.

13 Ciaté Sugar Plum – a decent polish. But it was never a favourite. Took me ages to finish it. I wouldn’t have bought this polish if it hadn’t been in Ciaté’s advent calendar…

14 NYC Expert Last 138 Classy Glassy – this is a great clear polish. Perfect base + top coat. Dries reasonably quickly, doesn’t shrink colour polish. I have several back-up bottles.

15 The Red Forest Body Lotion (50ml travel size) – this is the exact same product as the Wood & Forest body lotion. This one lasted me for about 5 or 6 days as well.

16 Boots Extracts Luxurious Coconut Body Scrub (75ml travel size)  – this is an okayish scrub. I prefer grittier scrubs, so I wouldn’t purchase this one on its own. However, if this scrub is part of the big 2017 Boots Extracts Christmas gift set (which I intend to buy on Boxing Day), I really won’t mind using this scrub again.

17 The Sanctuary Spa Classic Eau De Toilette – I love this fragrance. I have several bottles in various states of empty. 🙂

18 Treacle Moon That Vanilla Moment Bath And Shower Gel – this shower gel is fantastic. My husband loves it too. And yes, I will repurchase this shower gel, no doubt! Oh, this one is a shared empty.

19 Olay Anti-Wrinkle Cleansing Milk – this is a fantastic cleansing milk. I’ve been using it since November or December last year. I cannot repurchase this product because, unfortunately, it has been discontinued.

I’m quite happy with what I emptied this month. I’m glad I was able to get rid of so many travel-sized products, and I feel a sense of achievement because I finished 2 big 500ml shower gels! I hope I can keep up the good work over the next few months! Feel free to comment if you want to. And thanks for stopping by! 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

December Beauty Awards

Hi there! It’s the end of the month. So it’s time for my monthly favourites. As usual, I only picked products which I’ve reviewed this month. And since I’ve loved quite a few products, it wasn’t easy to pick three favourites and to limit myself to only a few honourable mentions. But I did it! So let’s take a look at the products I loved the most this month.

3rd place – Boots Extracts Cocoa Butter Body Wash

I love the taste and the fragrance of chocolate and cocoa. So it’s hardly surprising that I also love chocolate and cocoa scented shower products. Boots did an excellent job with their Cocoa Butter collection. It mops the floor with the more expensive offerings from a certain high street brand. 😉

Runner-Up – Boots Exracts Olive Body Butter

Boots Extracts Olive Body Butter was one of my favourite products from the Extracts range. And then Boots discontinued it and replaced it with a cheap smelling strawberry body butter… Idiots! I have a few tubs of this wonderful olive body butter left but I know I’ll be sad once they’re finished.

WINNER – Flower Pharm Orange Flower Body Butter

Flower Pharm’s Orange Flower Body Butter is simply fantastic. The formula is perfect, the orange flower fragrance is divine, the product bursts with natural ingredients and the price is very reasonable. If you see this body butter at your local Home Bargains or TK Maxx store (or wherever), you should just buy it.

Now onto the honourable mentions. I loved all the Superdrug face masks that I’ve tried this month:
– Clearly Youthful 3 in 1 Mask / Cleanser / Scrub,
– Vitamin E Leave On Mask,
– Black Seaweed Peel-Off Mask, and
– Superfruits Clay Mask.

And I’m really pleased with my new Olay Anti-Wrinkle cleansing products. I also love Givenchy’s original Ange Ou Démon fragrance. And Alberto Balsam’s Stunning Shine hair products are very nice too!

What do you think of my December favourites? Which products did (or do) you love this month? Feel free to get in touch. And thanks for stopping by!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Weekly Recap 12 – 18 Dec 2016

Hi there! I hope everyone had a good week. I had another busy week. But I’m looking forward to the holidays. I know – who isn’t? 😉 But let me tell you what I’ve been up to this week.

Monday 12 Dec – Givenchy Ange Ou Démon

I bought myself an Ange Ou Démon gift set a while ago. I used the fragrance on and off (it’s a 50ml bottle, and I think I only have about 10ml left) but I haven’t touched the body care products until recently. I posted the review on Monday. Click here if you’d like to read it.

Tuesday 13 Dec – Dolly’s Mixtures Peach Melba “Just Peachy” Body Mist
Wednesday 14 Dec – Nail Of The Day / 31 Days Nail Art Challenge

On Tuesday I reviewed a body mist which I picked up at my local Home Bargains store for 49p. If you’d like to read the review, click here. Wednesday’s post was another Nail Of The Day post. Click here to read this week’s nail post.

Thursday 15 Dec – Olay Anti-Wrinkle Cleansing Products

Thursday’s post was about Olay’s Anti-Wrinkle Cleansing products. I reviewed the face wash, the cleansing milk and the toner. If you’ve missed the post, click here to read it.

Friday 16 Dec – Beauty Hoarder Problems…

Friday’s post was about another beauty hoarder problem – about my inability to finish beauty products. Sure, I empty toiletries and face creams – but I can’t seem to finish any actual make-up. But I’m trying to break the curse – I’m trying to finish an eye palette! If you’ve missed the post, you can find it here.

This is it for this week! I hope everyone had a great week and everyone’s enjoying the last weekend before Christmas. 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Olay Anti-Wrinkle Facial Cleansing Products – Cleansing Milk, Face Wash & Toner

Hi there! A few weeks ago I bought a few new Olay products – they were on a better than half price offer (£2.95 each instead of £5.99 each), so I had to have them. Now meet Olay Anti-Wrinkle Cleansing Milk, Olay Anti-Wrinkle Face Wash and Olay Anti-Wrinkle Toner.

Olay’s Ani-Wrinkle cleansing products promise…
– to help reduce the appearance of fine lines,
– to improve dull skin,
– to make skin look and feel smoother,
– to maintain skin suppleness,
– to promote the renewal of skin cells,
– and to “fight signs of ageing as you cleanse” (that’s what it says on the back of these three products).

I’ve now used these products for three weeks. And if you read on, I’ll tell you what I think of Olay’s Anti-Wrinkle cleansing products.

I think the cleansing milk is quite effective. It removes my make-up very well, and it doesn’t cause any problems when I use it to remove my eye make-up. I think this cleansing milk makes my skin feel and look smooth and supple. Nice!

I really like the face wash. It reminds me very much of Olay’s Total Effects Face Wash – the texture and the fragrance are the same! I think this face wash makes my skin feel great. It’s creamy and it exfoliates my skin gently. It’s perfect for dry skin and for everyday use.

The toner is very nice too. It removes make-up and cleanser residue without problems, and it makes my skin feel clean and refreshed. Whilst I prefer the fragrance of Olay’s blue toner, I can’t find any issue with this toner.

I don’t think that any of these products have made a difference to my fine lines. But I really enjoy using these cleansing products because they make my skin feel great. In addition, I’m 35, so I can accept that the fine lines aren’t going away. 🙂

Olay’s Anti-Wrinkle cleansing products are available for £5.99 each. The toner and the cleansing milk are 200ml, the face wash is 150ml.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde