Never Again – The Ultimate Beauty Duds – Part 4

Hi there! Over the past few months I did a couple of posts about beauty products that I think are useless. Those posts were quite popular, so here’s Part 4 of The Ultimate Beauty Duds. 🙂

MUA MakeUp Academy Matte Lipstick Lilac Belle

MUA’s matte lippies are probably the worst matte lippies out there. I’ve read a few positive reviews (?), but I can only guess the reviewers never had a decent matte lippie to compare MUA’s offerings with. Or they never actually tried the lippie. Or they found it rubbishy too, but didn’t want to be negative because they got the lippie for free. Who knows?

Now why is this lipstick so horrible? Well, this lipstick is very waxy. It’s almost impossible to apply it properly, it’s poorly pigmented and it’s drying. And because it’s so difficult to apply, my lippie broke off the first time I’ve used it. Rubbish!

Pantene Breakage Defence Hair Strength Tonic

This stuff scared me! I tried it, I got scared, then I binned the product! I thought of giving the product away – but I didn’t want anyone else to be scared by this truly binworthy product.

Superdrug Simply Pure Refreshing Toner For Sensitive Skin &
I Love… Cherry Almond Sparkle Refreshing Body Spritzer

Superdrug’s Simply Pure toner for sensitive skin isn’t very effective. As if this weren’t enough, this toner gave me an unpleasant skin reaction. I’m now using it to clean my nail art stampers! 🙂 I Love…’s Cherry Almond Sparkle smells like bread. Not a great fragrance, eh?

John Frieda Forever Smooth Shampoo, Conditioner, Anti-Frizz Primer

I’ve never used John Frieda hair products before – and thanks to these samples I can safely say that I won’t be using John Frieda hair products again. Complete rubbish!

Superdrug Moisturising Cocoa Butter Body Lotion
Yardley Invigorating Blue Orchid Body Lotion &
Pacifica Indian Coconut Nectar Body Butter

I can make this one short – these 3 moisturisers didn’t smell great at all. And Pacifica’s Indian Coconut Body Butter is the worst smell I’ve ever came across in a moisturiser. These 3 products were used as foot lotions.

Superdrug Clearly Youthful SPF 15 Skin Balancing Moisturiser

It’s impossible to apply this cream without causing it to ball up. The only way to use the product at all is to use it as a targeted treatment. But again, you can’t rub it into your skin. Major fail!

Pantene Volume & Body Shampoo & Conditioner

The shampoo wasn’t completely horrible. However, the conditioner was rubbish. It failed to detangle my hair, and it didn’t feel conditioning at all. As if this weren’t enough, the conditioner also flattened my hair. Bye-bye Pantene Volume & Body hair products. You won’t be missed!

Have you tried any of these products? Which products have you hated recently? Feel free to get in touch via the comments. And thanks for stopping by!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Vegan & Cruelty-Free – Superdrug Simply Pure Refreshing Toner

Hi there! I’ve recently tried Superdrug’s Simply Pure face scrub (which is really good). So I ‘ve now tried Superdrug’s Simply Pure Refreshing Toner as well.

First of all, this toner is aimed at people with sensitive skin. It says it’s fragrance-free and hypoallergenic.

OK, we all know that ‘hypoallergenic’ doesn’t really mean anything. That’s because almost everything can cause an allergic reaction. It’s just that products which claim to be hypoallergenic contain ingredients which are unlikely to be problematic for the majority of people.

Now, how do I like this toner? First of all, the toner doesn’t feel refreshing. And when I use the toner after I’ve washed my face or cleansed it with a cleansing milk, it’s not very effective at removing traces of cleanser or make-up. Any other toner used after this toner will pick up grease and grime which this toner didn’t catch. Not great. At all.

And then there’s my ‘favourite’ flaw – this toner causes a tingling sensation on my skin. And it’s not a pleasant one. I’m sure most people who’ve had a bad reaction to a face care product remember the unpleasant feeling they had before their skin broke out. So I won’t continue to use this toner on my face anymore. I’ll now use the leftover toner (= basically a full bottle) to clean my jelly stampers (the ones I use for nail stamping) which I can’t clean with acetone.

So what’s my verdict? If you wear make-up everyday, and if you look for a toner that removes traces of make-up after you’ve cleansed your face, this one won’t bring you much joy. In any event, if you want to try this toner, use it with caution – just in case. If it works for you, that’s great.

Superdrug’s Simply Pure Refreshing Toner is available as 200ml for £2.69. I paid £1.29, so you should keep your eyes peeled for better than half price promotions.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde