2021 Beauty Awards – Part 1 – Face & Fragrances

Hi there! Today’s post is about my favourite beauty products in 2021 – well, this is Part 1, and it’s about fragrances and products for the face. Part 2 will follow tomorrow with hair and body products and my favourite manis of 2021. Alrighty, let’s start with Part 1 now!

FACE

Danielle 2 In 1 Jade Dual Sided Facial Roller

This facial roller is my favourite beauty tool of 2021! It changed my life!

Superdrug Vitamin C Detox Skincare Brightening Vitamin C Tonic
Superdrug Naturally Radiant Glycolic Tonic

These 2 toners are total game changers. I love them both so much, and I cannot imagine my skin care without them!

Max Factor Face Finity All Day Flawless Flexi-Hold 3 In 1 Foundation 30 Porcelain

I’m glad I tried Max Factor’s Face Finity foundation. I love it!

Olay Anti-Wrinkle Firm & Lift Eye Renewal Gel

Olay’s eye gel is one of my all-time favourite eye products.

Olay Regenerist Advanced Anti-Ageing Regenerating Night Cream

Olay’s Regenerist night cream is soooo good!

Cellio It’s True Honey Moisture Cream

I enjoyed Cellio’s honey moisturiser very much!

Poundland #6 Anti-Ageing Retinol Day Cream With SPF 25

Poundland’s £3 retinol day cream is absolutely lovely (just like the matching serum and night cream).

Primark PS… Revitalising Cucumber Peel Off Mask
Montagne Jeunesse Cosmic Rose Quartz Peel-Off

These 2 peel off masks are very effective! I love them!

Global Beauty Care Anti Aging Collection Glycolic Acid Spa Treatment Mask
DearBoo Collagen & Canola Flower Everyday Mask

And these 2 sheet masks made a positive difference to my skin care. Highly recommended!

Jayjun Pollution-Proof Refreshing Mask
100% Cruelty-Free – Primark PS… Vitamin C Revitalizing Bubble Sheet Mask

2 more face masks which worked amazingly well for me!

Mitomo Retinol Facial Essence Mask
Esfolio Hyaluronic Acid With Peach Essence Mask Sheet

And here’s another 2 face masks I’d highly recommend.

Astor Rouge Couture 301 Nude Silk

Astor’s Nude Silk lipstick is so beautiful! I love it!

FRAGRANCES

Nina Ricci L’Extase Eau De Parfum

L’Extase is such a beautiful fragrance. It’s in my all-time top 40 from the past 25+ years.

Antonio Banderas Her Golden Secret Eau De Toilette

Who would have thought that Antonio Banderas fragrances are actually very good? I was surprised (almost shocked) to find such a quality fragrance at a drugstore price. Wow!

Agent Provocateur Fatale Eau De Parfum

Fatale EdP has blown me away! I already bought another bottle – this time I bought a big 100ml!

Superdrug Layering Lab Blossom Body Mist
Superdrug Layering Lab Paradise Body Mist

Superdrug’s fantastic Layering Lab body mists resemble some of the most popular designer fragrances. Blossom is a dupe for Mugler’s Alien, and Paradise is a dupe for Olympéa.

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

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Weekly Recap 20 – 26 December 2021

Hi there! I hope you’ve enjoyed Christmas so far. Today’s post is my weekly blog recap, so read on if you’d like to know what I’ve posted about this past weeek.

Monday 20 Dec – Nail Of The Day
Tuesday 21 Dec – Superdrug Naturally Radiant Glycolic Tonic

Monday’s post was a Nail Of The Day post. Click here to read it.
On Tuesday I re-reviewed a toner with glycolic acid. Click here to read the post.

Wednesday 22 Dec – Baylis & Harding Skin Spa Rose, Ylang Ylang & Patchouli Steam Shower Body Cleanser AND Rich Intensive Body Butter 

Wednesday’s post was about 2 body products. Click here to take a look.

Thursday 23 Dec – Ciaté Liquid Velvet Delight, Ciaté Bamboo Bronzer Palm Island (12 Days Of Ciaté London Calendar)

On Thursday I reviewed 2 products from Ciaté’s advent calendar. Click here to read the post.

Friday 24 Dec – Olay Anti-Wrinkle Firm & Lift Eye Renewal Gel

And on Friday I re-reviewed Olay’s wonderful eye gel. Click here to read the post.

And this is already it for this week! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy what’s left of the holidays! x

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Revisiting Old Favourites – 100% Vegan & Cruelty-Free – Superdrug Naturally Radiant Glycolic Tonic

Hi there! Happy Tuesday! Today’s post is about this Superdrug Naturally Radiant Glycolic Tonic.

This glycolic toner is an old beauty favourite, but I neglected using it for a while because I had so many other toners that I wanted to get to. But I’ve started using in again in September, and I’m over the moon with it. But let’s start with what the product promises…

This toner with 5% glycolic acid, kiwi fruit and mulberry extracts promises to exfoliate and to retexturise the skin, to fade pigment irregularities and to reduce discolouration, to smooth fine lines and wrinkles, and to brighten and even out the skin tone. Wow, that’s quite a few promises!

But guess what – this toner keeps all of its promises! I’m using this toner once a day, in the morning, after I’ve showered. I love to start the day with a squeaky clean face, and this toner really makes it happen.

What does it do? It’s the ultimate post-cleansing product that catches all the dirt and gunk that your other cleansers and toners don’t catch. This toner keeps improving my skin tone – my skin is more even and brighter, and, my skin feels and looks smoother as well.

I’m in love with this toner’s exfoliating and brightening powers. It’s just incredible that this toner manages to keep my melasma in check. I know where the dark patches are (one of them is the size of a coaster), but you wouldn’t notice them unless I told you to look for them.

I love this toner so much, and I would recommend it! Since this toner has glycolic acid, please make sure to do a patch test before you use it, and use it gently, at least for the first few days until you’re satisfied that your skin tolerates it. Also make sure to use sunscreen!

If you’re interested, Superdrug Naturally Radiant Glycolic Tonic is available as 100ml for £6.99 and 300ml for £11.99. Superdrug runs Buy 1 Get 1 Free or Better Than Half Price off promotions almost all the time. The 2 toners I bought were on a Buy 1 Get 1 Free deal.

Also, this toner is 100% vegan and certified cruelty-free. It carries THE Leaping Bunny logo! 😍

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Empties – September 2021

Hi there! Today’s post is about all the products I managed to finish in September. It wasn’t the best month for empties, but hey ho… Onto the products!

1 Antonio Banderas Her Golden Secret Eau De Toilette – this is an incredible fragrance. I can see myself buying it again!

2 Pacifica Tahitian Gardenia Body Wash (travel size) – I enjoyed this body wash very much. Beautiful fragrance and gentle formula. Definitely something I’d consider buying again.

3 Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure 110 Clear’d For Takeoff – a decent clear polish. Yes, I would repurchase it.

4 NYC In A Minute 900 Wonder Purple – one of my favourite purple polishes. I’m sad to see it go, but I have a bunch of similar shades which I love too.

5 L’Oréal Elvive Triple Resist Reinforcing Shampoo & Conditioner – an old favourite. I will buy it (plus the matching shampoo) again!

6 Westlab Sleep Epsom & Dead Sea Salts With Lavender & Jasmine – these bath salts were very good. I will buy them again!

7 Radox “Shell Yeah” Sea Mineral Scent Shower Gel – this is a very nice shower gel. A very likely repurchase!

8 Westlab Pink Gin Epsom & Himalayan Bathing Salts With Juniperberry, Pomegranate & Lime – I loved these bath salts. Another very likely repurchase!

9 Superdrug Vitamin C Detox Skincare Brightening Vitamin C Tonic – one of my favourite products this year. Repurchase? You bet!

10 Soap & Glory Clean On Me – I didn’t care much for this shower gel. It’s not bad, but it’s just not for me. I won’t buy it again.

11 Superdrug Layering Lab Exotic Body Mist – this is an OK body mist. I would agree that it smells similar to YSL Black Opium, but it’s not my favourite fragrance (that goes for both the SD body mist and the YSL fragrance). I won’t buy it again.

I also used a bunch of single-use face masks, and you can click here if you want to check out my latest face mask finds. x

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