Empties – December 2022

Hi there! Today’s post is about my December Empties – plus a summary of everything I used up in 2022. Let’s start with December – which has been a very bad month for Empties. I thought I’d be able to finish a bunch of skin care items – but it wasn’t meant to be. And some products seem to be self-replenishing… Onto the Empties now!

1 Jil Sander Simply Elixir Eau De Parfum – a lovely fragrance! I would be happy to buy it again!

2 Palmolive Aroma Therapy Morning Tonic – one of the best shower gels ever! Unfortunately, this one has been discontinued, and this was the last bottle from my stash. 😢

3 Dove Go Fresh Nectarine & White Ginger – my favourite Dove product ever. Another one that’s been discontinued. Very sad! But I have 2 more bottles in my stash.

4 Pantene Pro-V Miracles Lift N’ Volume Thickening Conditioner – I liked the volumising effect of the shampoo and the conditioner in the beginning, but towards the end, these products made my hair unmanageable to the extent that I woke up with what I’d call clown hair every single morning. I wash my hair every morning, so in theory this shouldn’t be a big deal, but the clown hair effect was hard to get rid of. It took me 3 washes with the original Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner to restore my hair back to its normal amazingness. For the first 2 weeks, I thought this Pantene shampoo and conditioner combo was awesome if it weren’t for the annoying scent which I didn’t like at all. However, for the last 2 weeks my hair looked so bad that even the annoying scent faded into the background.

5 Palmolive Delicate Care with Almond – this is my all-time favourite Palmolive fragrance. I haven’t seen the almond bath and shower products for a long time, but I hope Palmolive will bring them back. Please, Palmolive!!!

6 Boots Live + Be Woodland Whisper Shower Cream – this is such an amazing shower gel. I love it! Unfortunately, another discontinued gem, but I have another bottle of this shower cream, a body cream and 2 bottles of body mist with this beautiful scent.

And here’s the total for 2022:

Face Masks 45
Shower Gels, Bath Gels, Body Scrubs 45
Fragrances 22
Conditioners 14
Body, Hand & Foot Moisturisers 13
Facial Moisturisers 6
Nail Polishes 5
Toners 5
Serums 4
Face Washes & Scrubs 4
Nail Polish Removers 2
Lip Products 2
Eye Creams 2
Face Mists 2
Make-up Removers 1
Pan Stiks 1
Face Mask Tubes and Tubs 1

That’s a total of 174 products. I haven’t used as many face masks as usual. In the past, I’d often do 3 masks per week. But 2022… ouch! Well, I can definitely do much better in 2023!

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you had a good start to the new year. Let’s hope it will be the best one yet! xx

Mrs Strawberry Blonde 💙💛

2021 Beauty Awards – Part 2 – Hair, Body & Nails

Hi there! Today’s post is Part 2 of my 2021 beauty favourites. Yesterday, I focused on fragrances and products for the face. And today is all about hair and body products and my favourite manis of the past year. Onto the favourites!

HAIR

Herbal Essences Silk N’ Shine Shampoo & Conditioner

Holy grail stuff!

Herbal Essences Moisture Balance Shampoo & Conditioner

More holy grail stuff!

Revisiting Old Favourites – L’Oréal Elvive Colour Protect Caring Shampoo & Conditioner

Elvive Colour Protect is an all-time favourite combo. Great stuff!

Alberto Balsam Exotic Mango Shampoo & Conditioner

These mango-scented hair products are simply amazing!

Harmony Hair Indulgence Herbal Shampoo & Conditioner With Ginseng Extract

It’s a shame that the Harmony collection has been discontinued. This particular hair care combo was a delight.

Daily Defense Advanced Deep Conditioner With Argan Oil From Morocco

This deep conditioner is simply fantastic!

BODY

Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care Smoothing All Over Body Cream With Acacia Collagen

This body cream with acacia collagen has been my favourite body moisturiser this year. I love it!

Palmolive Aroma Therapy Morning Tonic, Sensual, Absolute Relax

If I could only use 10 different shower gels for the rest of my life, these 3 would be in my top 10!

Radox “Shell Yeah” Sea Mineral Scent Shower Gel, Radox “Donut Mind If I Do” Vanilla Bean & White Chocolate Scent Shower Gel

These Radox shower gels were one of the most delightful beauty surprises this year.

Sanctuary Spa Mestizo Acai Rain Shower
Westlab Himalayan Salt Cleansing Bath & Shower Gel

2 more totally fabulous shower gels!

Sanctuary Spa Foaming Bath Soak
Soap & Glory The Scrub Of Your Life
Palmolive My Fresh Splash Shower Gel

And the final 3 shower and bath favourites from this year.

NAILS

Marble Nails
Purple Nails
Blue & Red Nails

Some of my favourite manis from 2021. In no particular order!

Foil Nails
Gold & Magenta Nails
Lilac Nails

Here’s another 3 manis.

Marble Nails
Purple Nails
Red Nails

The last set of my favourite manis from 2021.

Thanks for stopping by today! And I hope you have a great start into the new year. Happy 2022! 😘🥂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Empties – August 2021

Hi there! Today’s post is about all the products I finished in August. I went through a lot of single-use face masks, and you can click here if you’d like to check out my latest face mask finds. Now let’s take a closer look at the big bottles, tubes and tubs!

1 Pacifica Hawaiian Ruby Guava Body Wash – this is a really nice shower gel. It smells sweet and warm, and the formula is very cleansing but also gentle on the skin. Nice one!

2 Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care Smoothing All Over Body Cream With Acacia Collagen – I love this body cream. A definite repurchase!

3 Maui Moisture Strength & Anti-Breakage Agave Conditioner For Chemically Damaged Hair – not a terrible conditioner, but the not the most suitable one for my hair type. I won’t buy it again.

4 Radox Mineral Therapy Sleep Aromatherapy Bath Salts With Lavender & Ylang Ylang – these are wonderful bath salts! A definite repurchase!

5 Agent Provocateur Fatale Pink Eau De Parfum – a major disappointment. This stuff isn’t worth anyone’s time or money.

6 M&S The Fragrance Collection Vanilla & Woods Eau De Toilette – I LOVE this fragrance. It’s a modern classic. Feminine and cuddly. An ageless beauty. You wouldn’t believe it considering the ridiculously low price, but this fragrance is simply fabulous.

7 Superdrug Calm Skin Skincare De-Stress Refreshing Facial Spritz – I love this face mist. Too bad it has been discontinued, otherwise I’d pick it up again!

8 Palmolive Aroma Therapy Morning Tonic – I love this shower gel. Why did Palmolive discontinue this beauty? Fortunately, I have one more bottle in my stash.

9 Palmolive Aroma Therapy Sensual – same as above! 😢

10 Sanctuary Spa Ultra Rich Wet Skin Moisture Miracle – this is a really nice in-shower moisturiser, and I can see myself buying it again.

11 Poundland #6 Anti-Ageing Eye Cream – this £1 eye cream is much better than its price suggests. A very likely repurchase.

12 Superdrug Layering Lab Blossom Body Mist (x2) – this is the perfect dupe for Thierry Mugler’s Alien – but this body mist is actually better considering that it wraps you in a nice fragrance cloud (which L’Oréal’s watered-down version of Alien can’t do anymore). I have at least 2 more bottles in my stash, and I will continue to buy this body mist.

13 Poundland #6 Anti-Ageing Retinol Night Cream – a very good night cream! I might buy it again!

14 Poundland Anti-Ageing Retinol Day Cream With SPF 25 – same as above! 👌

I’m happy with the amount of products I finished in August. I don’t think September will be a great month for empties since I finished a lot of skin care in August already, but let’s see how it goes. Have you tried any of these products or would you like to try any of them? What have you finished recently? Feel free to comment, and thanks for reading!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

August Beauty Awards

Hi there! It’s the last day of the month – this means that today’s post is about my favourite products from this past month. Let’s start with the TOP 3 – and there’ll be honourable mentions too!

3rd place – Palmolive Aroma Therapy Morning Tonic, Sensual, Absolute Relax

Palmolive knocked it out of the park with these amazing shower gels. 11 stars!

Runner-Up – Global Beauty Care Anti Aging Collection Glycolic Acid Spa Treatment Mask

This glycolic acid sheet mask is the bomb! Brighter skin immediately! Wow!

WINNER – Danielle 2 In 1 Jade Dual Sided Facial Roller

This facial roller is my new favourite beauty tool. I use it daily, and it’s absolutely marvellous. I cannot imagine skin care without it.

Onto the honourable mentions! Farm Skin Mangosteen Balancing Sheet Mask is a wonderful mask – my fourth favourite product this month! I also enjoyed another mask from the same brand – Farm Skin Beet Moisturizing Sheet Mask. Tesco did a great with their Masking Reviving Orange Flower & Ginger Sheet Face Mask too.

Onto some non-mask favourites! Radox Mineral Therapy Sleep Aromatherapy Bath Salts With Lavender & Ylang Ylang are lovely. And Garnier Body Tonic Firming Hydrating Lotion is a very good body lotion for the warmer months!

And this is it for August. I enjoyed so many new products this month that I found it hard to limit myself to these! So yes, August was a great month for new products. Thanks for stopping by today!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Weekly Recap 23 – 29 August 2021

Hi there! Happy Sunday! Today’s post is my weekly blog recap. Read on if you’re wondering what I’ve been up to on my blog this past week.

Monday 23 Aug – Palmolive Aroma Therapy Morning Tonic, Sensual, Absolute Relax 

Monday’s post was about a few of my all-time favourite shower gels. Click here to read my post.

Tuesday 24 Aug – Nail Of The Day
Wednesday 25 Aug – Farm Skin Olive Refining Sheet Mask

Tuesday’s post was a Nail Of The Day post. Click here to read it.
And on Wednesday I reviewed a face mask. Click here to read the post.

I didn’t post on Thursday and Friday, so this is it for the week. Thanks for stopping by! 😘

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Revisiting Old Favourites – Palmolive Aroma Therapy Morning Tonic, Sensual, Absolute Relax

Hi there! Today’s post is about 3 of my all-time favourite shower gels – Palmolive Aroma Therapy Morning Tonic, Sensual and Absolute Relax.

Palmolive Aroma Therapy Morning Tonic with tangerine and lemongrass is one of the most amazing green shower gels ever. It’s refreshing, but also sweet and warm at the same time. It smells like a summer holiday in Italy. 11 stars!

Palmolive Aroma Therapy Sensual with Moroccan rose and ginseng is another incredible shower gel. It has a beautiful, warm, rich – yet transparent – rosey fragrance. I think “Sensual” is the perfect name for this shower gel.

Palmolive Aroma Therapy Absolute Relax with ylang ylang and iris is the ultimate purple shower gel. It smells like the perfect mix of velvety leaves and white tea. It’s simply stunning!

My husband loves all of these shower gels too. So whenever I start using any one of these, he puts his man shower gel aside and “helps me” finish the Palmolive one! 😁

If you’re interested, Palmolive Aroma Therapy Morning Tonic, Sensual and Absolute Relax are available as 250ml each. The first 2 have been discontinued, but can still be found online. The third one is fortunately still available in drugstores and supermarkets. I hope that it’ll be around forever, and that the other ones will be reintroduced at some point so I can stock up!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde