Empties – August 2019

Hi there! It’s the first weekday of a new month, and this means that today’s post is about all the toiletries and beauty products I finished last month. I’ve done very well again (yes, my husband helped), and for the first time in what feels like a million years I managed to use up a mono eyeshadow! YESSS! 🤣💪 Now, onto the empties!

1 Olay Anti-Wrinkle Firm & Lift Eye Renewal Gel – of all the eye creams / gels I’ve tried so far, this is my favourite! Yes, I have a backup.

2 Manhattan Multi Effect Eyeshadow 92W Caramel Fudge – I enjoyed this eyeshadow a lot! Great quality and colour. Repurchase? Nope! I’d never repurchase the same eyeshadow because of how long it takes to finish such a product.

3 Radox Scent Touch Feel Free – this is a good shower gel with a pleasant and long-lasting fragrance, and I might buy it again. This is a shared empty because my husband used this shower gel too.

4 Herbal Essences Bio Renew Rosemary & Herbs Moisture Conditioner – this is a great conditioner, and I will buy it (and the matching shampoo) again, no doubt!

5 Original Source Lemon And Tea Tree Shower – this is a summer favourite and another shared empty. Repurchase? Yes!

6 – 7 Hello Kitty Lipstick & Lipgloss – these products aren’t empty, but they’ve been living in my drawer for far too long. I’m not going to use them at this point, so bye-bye!

8 Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer – another product I’m throwing out because I won’t use it. This is a lip lacquer in an insanely bright neon-raspberry kind of shade. I don’t know why I bought it because I can’t wear such shades.

9 Essence Eyeliner 02 Blue – I tried to get some use out of this light blue eyeliner, but it’s just not me, so I’m binning this one too. I have green eyes, and this shade of eyeliner just doesn’t work for me.

10 Baylis & Harding Beauticology Pink Grapefruit & Raspberry Fragrance Mist – I enjoyed this body mist while it lasted, but I don’t think I’d repurchase it because I’ve grown tired of the fragrance.

11 Good Things Spa Acai Berry Daily Essential Body Wash – I enjoyed this body wash, but it’s been discontinued, so I can’t repurchase it.

12 Carex Moisture Plus Shower Cream – this is another shared empty and another nice shower product that I might buy again!

13 Original Source Hydrating Water Infusions Apple & Melon Shower – this is one of 2 hydrating (!) shower products that helped me stay on top of my dry skin and my eczema when it was almost 40C in July (I just couldn’t bring myself to use body lotion for 3 days). But I don’t think I’ll buy this particular fragrance again; the grapefruit & mint shower gel was nicer!

14 Sleek Au Naturel Eyeshadow Palette – this palette isn’t empty, but it’s as near-empty as it can possibly be. I’ve now decided to throw it away because I haven’t used it in ages, and I’m not going to use it anymore. But I DID empty 9 of the 12 pans! Anyhoo, before I took the photo, I gave the palette a quick wipe – but then I dropped it and the lid broke off.

15 Superdrug B. Vitalised Vitamin Facial Spritz – this is another amazing face mist from Superdrug. I enjoyed it very much, and I will buy it again!

16 Boots Botanics All Bright Gentle Cleansing Cream – one of the best cleansers I’ve ever tried. Repurchase? Yes!

17 Superdrug B. Hydrated Hyaluronic Acid Facial Spritz – I love this face mist! This was the first Superdrug face mist I’ve ever tried, and I loved it from day 1! Superdrug repackaged this one but the ingredients are 100% the same! If you’re wondering why I emptied 2 face mists, this was the one I had in my handbag.

August was a good month for Empties – I said goodbye to small items and big bottles, and I even threw out unloved stuff that I won’t be using and can’t repurpose. I do hope I can say goodbye to just as many products in September. Fingers crossed!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Weekly Recap 20 – 26 Feb 2017

Hi there! I hope everyone had a good week. 🙂 Today’s post is my weekly recap. So let me tell you what I’ve been up to on my blog this week…

Monday 20 Feb – Beauty Hoarder Problems / Countless Back-Ups
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Monday’s post was about another problem that beauty hoarders have to deal with – countless back-ups! Click here if you want to read the post.

Tuesday 21 Feb – Rimmel Exaggerate Full Colour Lip Liner 038 Allure
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On Tuesday I reviewed one of the lipliners that I have several back-ups of – Rimmel’s Allure lipliner. If you’d like to read the post, click here.

Wednesday 22 Feb – John Frieda Frizz Ease Forever Smooth Samples
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Wednesday’s post was about the John Frieda Frizz Ease Forever Smooth hair products (shampoo, conditioner, anti-frizz primer) which I had samples of. Click here if you’d like to read my review.

Thursday 23 Feb – Nail Of The Day
Friday 24 Feb – Superdrug Orange & Black Lava Exfoliating Face Mask
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Thursday’s post was another nail post. I did a colourful foil mani. Click here to read the post. And on Friday I reviewed Superdrug’s (fairly new) Orange & Black Lava Exfoliating Mask. If you’d like to read this post, click here.

Oh, and I’d like to give you an update on the progress I’ve made with my Sleek Au Naturel palette. A little while back I told you that I’m trying to finish this eye palette. If you’d like to read the post, click here. Anyway, I’ve now emptied 5 of the 12 pans, I’ll be emptying 2 more pans soon (pans 3 and 6, top row), and I’m also concentrating on the dark matte shades (pans 3 and 5, bottom row). Not bad, eh? Feel free to let me know what you think! 🙂
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And this is it for this week. I hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend. 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
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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
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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
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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…
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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

Beauty Hoarder Problems – Part 3: Nothing Gets Used Up… EVER

Hi there! If you read my blog regularly, you know I’m a beauty hoarder. I’m talking about drawers filled with nail polish, eye palettes, face creams and lipsticks, and boxes full of toiletries under the bed. Yes, I have amassed quite an impressive stash of beauty products and toiletries. It’s that much that I’d be embarrassed if any of the people in my life found out about it.

However, a few months ago I was confronted with the true extent of my hoarding. And since then I’ve been trying my best to make use of what I already have. And I’ve been trying not to buy too much stuff I don’t need – which is a daily struggle, especially when I spot half price or buy one get one free offers. So let me show you what I call progress. 🙂

Sleek i-Divine Au Naturel Eyeshadow Palette
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This is what Sleek’s Au Naturel palette looked like when I first unpacked it in spring 2015. It’s a beauty, isn’t it? These are the shades:
Nougat, Nubuck, Cappuccino, Honeycomb, Toast, Taupe (top row) and
Conker, Moss, Bark, Mineral Earth, Regal, Noir (bottom row).

Some time this spring I hit pan on one of the eyeshadows (Nougat), and I thought it would be awesome if I actually managed to use up all the eyeshadows in this palette. So I made it a priority to use this palette at least 3 times a week. And now, in December 2016, the palette looks like this:
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I’ve finished Nougat (top left) and Noir (bottom right). I’ll get 1 more application out of Honeycomb (shade 4, top row) – I’ll even ‘mop up’ the loose bits with a fluffy eyeshadow brush. And I think I’ll get 3 or 4 more applications out of Toast (shade 5, top row). As soon as Honeycomb and Toast are history, Nubuck and Capuccino (shades 2 and 3 top row) are my next victims. 😉

Taupe (shade 6, top row) is my go-to inner corner highlight shade. It’s perfect. And I love Conker and Mineral Earth (shades 1 and 4, bottom row). These two shades burst with pigment, they’re easy to blend, and they go well with all of the lighter shades. Even though I use Conker and Mineral Earth almost all the time, I think these two eyeshadows will be last ones that get used up.

Bark and Regal (shades 3 and 5, bottom row) are the matte versions of Conker and Mineral Earth. I use these two fairly often.  I love them! The only eyeshadow I haven’t mentioned yet is Moss (shade 2, bottom row). In the beginning I didn’t like Moss at all, and and I’ve only started to use this shade recently. But I love it now!

I’d really love to know how long it’ll take to finish all these eyeshadows. I’m sure it won’t take another six months. Well, I hope it won’t take this long. But no matter what, I WILL finish this eye palette!

Feel free to get in touch via the comments. And thanks for stopping by!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Sleek i-Divine Au Naturel Palette

Hi there! I finally got myself this pretty eyeshadow palette: Sleek i-Divine Au Naturel (scroll down for swatches). Every time there’s a 3 for 2 offer, this palette is usually sold out on day one, but this time I was lucky!

I wanted this palette for quite some time because the shades – most of which are mattes – are simply stunning, but considering that I’ve got other eye palettes, this one wasn’t a priority. However, with the 3 for 2 offer, I thought I’d treat myself to it (and two more palettes, by the way, but those will be looked at separately)
Sleek Au Naturel 1
This i-Divine palette comes with a mirror and it contains the following shades:
Top: Nougat, Nubuck, Cappuccino, Honeycomb, Toast, Taupe
Bottom: Conker, Moss, Bark, Mineral Earth, Regal, Noir

Taupe, Conker, Moss and Mineral Earth are shimmery shades, everything else is matte. My favourites are Cappuccino, Conker, Bark and Regal – shades 3, 7, 9 and 11 in the swatch below.

Just in case you think I swatched 11 of the 12 eyeshadows only… no, all 12 are shown in the swatch. Nougat, the first shade, simply doesn’t show much on my pale arms.
Sleek Au Naturel
I like this palette very much. The neutral shades are perfect for beautiful everyday looks. But the shimmers are a nice addition to this mainly matte palette because they can add a touch of subtle glamour in an instant.

The shimmery shades are incredibly buttery – they’re a dream to work with. The mattes are not as buttery, but I wouldn’t call them chalky either. They’re actually quite blendable. To sum it up: Yes, I do recommend this eyeshadow palette!

Sleek i-Divine Au Naturel is available for £7.99, but keep your eyes peeled for offers!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde