Empties – February 2022

Hi there! Today’s post is about all the products I said goodbye to in February. I used a bunch of single-use face masks, and you can read about my latest face mask finds if you click here. Now let’s take a look at the bigger bottles and tubs!

1 Yves Saint Laurent Elle Limited Edition 2012 – a dreamy fragrance. I wish it was still around!

2 Yves Saint Laurent Elle Limited Edition 2011 – another great YSL fragrance that I wish I could buy again.

3 Herbal Essences Silk N’ Shine Conditioner – my all-time favourite conditioner. I have plenty of these (plus the matching shampoos) in my stash!

4 Superdrug Vitamin E Moisture Boost Facial Serum – what a lovely serum this was! Happy to buy it again!

5 Superdrug Naturally Radiant Refreshing Complete Cleanser – I didn’t like this face wash. It started out okayish, but the smell… I couldn’t stand it anymore. I poured what was left of the face wash down the sink.

6 I Love… Raspberry & Blackberry Refreshing Body Spritzer – what a beautiful body mist! It’s bursting with fresh and fruity raspberries and blackberries! I think I have another bottle (or two) in my stash!

7 Radox Raspberry Scent Bath Bomb (no photo) – this was a nice bath bomb. A possible repurchase.

8 Carex Vitamin Fresh Shower Gel – a really good shower gel! Also repurchase-worthy.

9 Westlab Reviving Epsom Salt – those bath salts were lovely, and I would buy them again.

10 Baylis & Harding Skin Spa Rose, Ylang Ylang & Patchouli Steam Shower Body Cleanser – definitely nice while it lasted but not a favourite. I wouldn’t buy this shower gel again.

11 Rimmel Stronger Base Coat – I liked this one. I might have another bottle or two in my stash.

12 Baylis & Harding Skin Spa Rose, Ylang Ylang & Patchouli Rich Intensive Body Butter – a decent moisturiser. I have one more tub in my stash which I intend to use soon, but I wouldn’t buy this product again.

And this is it for February – not too bad for a short month!

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 – May 2021

Hi there! Today’s post is about all the products I finished in May. I used 12 single-use face masks. Whilst I don’t take photos of those empty face mask sachets, you can read about my latest face mask finds here. Now let’s take a closer look at the big bottles!

1 Elizavecca Milky Piggy Hell-Pore Cleanup AHA Fruit Toner – I love this toner! I hope I can find it again!

2 Cellio It’s True Moisture Skin Pearl Natural Skin Care System – another lovely toner! I’d be happy to get my hands on it again!

3 Simple Purifying Cleansing Lotion – I don’t think I’ll buy this product again. There’s much better stuff out there for a similar price.

4 Herbal Essences Silk N’ Shine Conditoner – my holy grail of hair care!

5 Classics Nail Polish Remover – my go-to nail polish remover. £1 at Poundland for a 400ml bottle.

6 Treacle Moon The Raspberry Kiss – a decent shower gel, but not a favourite. I don’t think I’ll buy it again.

7 My Little Pony Lovely Lipbalm Cutie Kiss – a wonderful lip balm! I hope to find it or a similar one again!

8 NSPA Fruit Extracts Luscious And Juicy Red Cherry Rich Body Butter – this is a nice body butter. I believe this fragrance has been discontinued. Unfortunately, I can’t repurchase it.

9 Manhattan Buffalo 12 – I liked this nail polish a lot. I have 20+ similar ones though.

10 Sanctuary Spa Mestizo Acai Rain Shower – I love this! I’m sad that I can’t buy it again.

11 Nivea Love Adventure Caring Shower Gel – it was nice while it lasted, but I also won’t buy this one again.

12 Nivea Indulgent Moisture Cashmere Shower Cream – I enjoyed the moisturising formula, but not the fragrance, so I won’t buy it again.

13 Superdrug Layering Lab Blossom Shower Jelly (no photo) – OMG, I hate this shower jelly so much! I gave it a second chance, but this stuff is vile, and it’s not worth cleaning the entire shower 360 just to get rid of the green flecks it leaves everywhere. I binned it right after the 2nd try. Good riddance!

14 Superdrug Layering Lab Blossom Body Wash (no photo) – I can’t bring myself to keep using this stuff. Binned.

I think I did well again this month – 4 shower gels finished, 2 unloved shower products binned, some more skin care finished as well. I think June will be good too, as I have a bunch of products in various states of less than half full…

Thanks for reading, lovelies! x

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

April Beauty Awards

Hi there! Happy Friday! It’s the last day of the month, so it’s time for my Monthly Favourites post. Let’s start with the TOP 3 – but there’ll be a few honourable mentions as well. 🙂

3rd place – Primark PS… Vitamin C Revitalizing Bubble Sheet Mask

Primark did an amazing job with this bubble sheet mask. It’s one of the best bubble sheet masks I’ve ever tried.

Runner-Up – Antonio Banderas Her Golden Secret Eau De Toilette

Her Golden Secret was a major surprise. The quality of the fragrance is unbelievable! I’m blown away!

WINNER – Herbal Essences Silk N’ Shine Shampoo & Conditioner

The undisputed winners are Herbal Essences Silk N’ Shine shampoo & conditioner. These are my all-time favourite hair care products, and I rate them above my favourite skin care, my favourite foundation, etc.

Onto the honourable mention! I’m enjoying my Manhattan Colour Loop Lipgloss 45B Red Passion very much. Mitomo Vitamin Facial Essence Mask is great. The cheap Home Bargains Avocado Moisturising Face Mask and Masked Beauty Apple & Green Tea Sheet Mask are very good too! And last but not least, Anna Sui L’Amour Rose Versailles Eau De Parfum is a very beautiful fragrance that I enjoy wearing.

Have you tried any of these products or would you like to try any of them? Feel free to get in touch via the comments. And thanks for stopping by!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Weekly Recap 19 – 25 April 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 19 Apr – Nail Of The Day
Tuesday 20 Apr – Skin Treats Ginger Radiating Sheet Mask

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

Wednesday 21 Apr – Herbal Essences Silk N’ Shine Shampoo & Conditioner

Wednesday’s post was about my all-time favourite hair products. Click here to take a look.

Thursday 22 Apr – Superdrug Layering Lab Fresh Body Mist, Superdrug Layering Lab Sorbet Body Mist

And on Thursday I reviewed 2 body mists from Superdrug’s Layering Lab collection. Click here to read the post.

I didn’t post on Friday, so this is it for this week. Thanks for stopping by! x

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Empties – November 2016

Hi there! After yesterday’s monthly favourites post, today’s post is about last month’s empties. As always, I used several face masks, and I also used up basics like cosmetic pads (which I never thought of mentioning before – and I might not do it again – who knows…). And I threw out one old eyeshadow brush. But now let’s get to the bulky empties, the REAL empties! 🙂
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1 Herbal Essence Silk N’ Shine Conditioner – the BEST conditioner ever. Ladies with thick, long or curly hair will appreciate this conditioner the most! I have lots of back-up bottles, but I’ll continue to buy the (pink and yellow) Herbal Essences Classics hair products. If you’re wondering what happened to the shampoo, my husband is using it up. Whenever I finish a conditioner, I pass the matching shampoo on to my husband.

2 Yardley Invigorating Blue Orchid Hydrating & Enrichting Body Lotion – not great. My husband and I used this one as a foot lotion. So this one is a shared empty. Repurchase? No!

3 Classics Nail Polish Remover – my favourite nail polish remover. 400ml for £1. You can’t find a great nail polish remover for less than that. I’ll repurchase this product – and I’ll always have at least one back-up bottle.
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4 Olay Essentials Complete Care Day Fluid – my favourite moisturiser! I always buy the big 200ml bottles. And yes, I have a back-up bottle! 🙂

5 I Love… Choca Mocha lala Shower – this is the ultimate hot chocolate shower gel. I started to use this shower gel this spring, then ignored it this summer, but I used it again when it got colder. And now I’ve finished it. Too bad it’s been discontinued, so I can’t repurchase it. I need to try I Love…’s current chocolate fudge shower gel – hopefully it’s the same – or at least similar!

6 Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care All Over Body Cream With Manuka Honey – this body cream is simply fantastic. It should be a permanent item in Superdrug’s Vitamin E collection. I can’t repurchase this cream because it was a limited edition, but I have two back-up tubs!
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7 Kenzo Amour Florale Body Lotion – I got this body lotion as part of a gift set. It’s a nice floral fragrance but it’s nothing like the original Kenzo Amour. I did like this body lotion because it hydrated my skin well. It was nice while it lasted but I wouldn’t buy it again.

8 Olay Anti-Wrinkle 2 In 1 Firm & Lift Anti-Wrinkle Booster + Firming Serum – I love this stuff. It’s… perfect. I’ve already repurchased it. 🙂

9 Anna Sui Secret Wish Magic Romance 75ml EdT – a nice and inoffensive office fragrance. It’s not very special, but certainly pleasant. It smells like a floral and less cool version of D&G Light Blue, although this one isn’t as powerful as Light Blue, and it only lasts a few hours on me. I bought this fragrance on a whim a few years ago. It was nice while it lasted, but I wouldn’t buy it again.

10 The Red Forest Moonlight Raspberry Body Lotion – this body lotion was OK but not very memorable. The ‘moonlight raspberry’ fragrance smelled more like a mix of roses and waterlilies. This was a limited edition product (from a gift set). I don’t think I’d buy it again even if I could.

11 The Body Shop Vanilla Body Lotion – this body lotion was OK but it was nothing special. I’ve had better moisturisers from the drugstore. This body lotion has been discontinued. But I wouldn’t buy it again anyway.

12 Superdrug Shea Butter & Bamboo – a nice shower gel. It smells like caramel. I will buy it again, no doubt.

So this is what I emptied last month. I didn’t empty as many products as I hoped I would, but that’s OK. At the moment I have all these big 500ml bottles in the shower, I have a few more fragrances which are near empty, and I’m using different skin care products in a rota – and I know I’ll emtpy at least two of them within one week from now. So I think I’ll have more empties this month! 🙂

Oh, and I’ll be using up lots of foundations over the next few months. I realised I’ve been using six different Max Factor Pan Stiks (2 different shades) for the past six months or so – and I expect to finish them all (one at a time, of course) in the next 2 to 3 months.

Have you used any of these products? Feel free to get in touch. And thanks for reading! 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde