Empties – February 2018

Hi there! It’s the 1st of March, so it’s time for my February Empties post! Here’s what I finished last month!

1 Yves Rocher Les Plaisirs Nature Organic Raspberry Shower Gel – I’m sad Yves Rocher discontinued this.

2 Yves Rocher Les Plaisirs Nature Organic Raspberry Silky Lotion – I’ll miss this body lotion dearly!

3 Yves Rocher Secrets d’Essences Vanille Noire – I received this as GWP. I didn’t love this fragrance, and I wouldn’t buy it for myself.

4 Imperial Leather Sea Of Tranquility Bath Cream – I really enjoyed this bath cream, and I’m sure I’ll buy it again.

5 Imperial Leather Enchanting Romance – a lovely shower cream and another Imperial Leather product that I’m happy to repurchase.

6 Daily Defense Moisturizing Conditioner With Macadamia Oil – this is a lovely conditioner! Yes, I’m happy to buy it (+ the matching shampoo) again.

7 Rimmel 60 Seconds 740 Clear – one of my favourite clear polishes. Yes, I have a few back-up bottles.

8 The Body Shop Almond Milk & Honey Body Butter (travel size) – this was an okayish body butter. I received it as a gift, but I wouldn’t buy it for myself.

9 B. First Base Coat – this is a good base coat that also works well as a top coat. I believe I have 2 back-up bottles. By the way, the brush is from an old Rimmel polish (I needed the clean B. brush for another polish bottle…)

10 Pacifica Tuscan Blood Orange Body Wash – I have the review scheduled for tomorrow.

11 Pacifica Tuscan Blood Orange Body Butter – same thing – tomorrow. 🙂

12 Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care Intensive All Over Body Cream – this is a lovely rich body cream that smells very nice. I’m happy to repurchase it!

What else? I’ve used a few single-use face masks. Whilst I didn’t keep the sachets, you can read about my latest face mask finds here! I also threw out a konjac sponge and a glass nail file – yes, I replaced these two essentials right away.

I would have liked to have a few more empties, but I had so many empties in January that I can’t be unhappy with what I finished in February. Now… how about you? What did you finish? Feel free to get in touch. And thanks for stopping by!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Empties – January 2017

Hi there! As it’s the 1st of the month, today’s post is about the products I emptied last month. So let me show you what I’ve used up in January. As always, I’ve used several face masks, and whilst I didn’t keep the empty sachets, you can read about my latest face mask finds here. Now let’s get to the (more or less) bulky stuff – the ‘real’ empties!
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1 Olay Complete Day Cream – this is a wonderful face cream. I started to use this cream last winter, then I neglected it… but over the past few months I’ve made an effort to use up all my part-used skin care products – and now I’ve finished this one! I’ll buy this cream again, no doubt!

2 Rival De Loop Black Eyeliner Pencil – this is the eyeliner pencil I finished in December. I thought I’d lost it, but it turned out that I did keep it safe! I just forgot where it was and I found it by accident the other day. 😀

3 Olay Anti-Wrinkle Instant Hydration Day Serum – this is one of my favourite face serums. I’ll buy it again for sure!

4 Superdrug Naturally Radiant Glycolic Overnight Peel – this is a very effective product that doesn’t trouble my sensitive skin at all. I love it! I’ve already repurchased it.
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5 Boots Extracts Vanilla Body Butter – this body butter is a real treat. It makes my skin feel incredibly soft and it smells… delicious. The vanilla fragrance in this body butter is one of the purest and most authentic vanilla fragrances out there. This body butter has been repackaged but I have several ‘old’ tubs left.

6 I Love… Iced Cookie Bath & Shower Crème – this shower cream was perfect for the time around Christmas. The fragrance is simply delicious. I can’t repurchase this item because it was only available as part of a winter-themed limited edition gift set.
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7 I Love… Mixed Berries Bath & Shower Crème – a decent shower product. I did like it but it was nothing special. I don’t think I’d repurchase it, but if it happened to be in I Love…’s next Christmas set, I wouldn’t be disappointed.

8 Boots Botanics Firming Body Gel – this is an oldie that I found in my stash. I didn’t find this gel particularly moisturising, and I didn’t love the sticky feel, but I liked the fragrance. Very ‘spa’! This product has been discontinued. But I don’t think I’d repurchase it anyway.

9 I Love… Chocolate & Oranges Bath & Shower Crème – this stuff smells like cheap dish soap and I’m glad it’s gone.
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10 Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care Intensive All Over Body Cream – great stuff. I really like this body cream. It’s quite nourishing and it smells lovely. I have another tub.

11 Alberto Balsam Sun Kissed Raspberry Conditioner – a decent conditioner. It detangles my hair with ease and it smells really good. I think most berry-scented toiletries smell a little off – but this one smells great. I will buy this conditioner again, no doubt!

12 Yardley Invigorating Blue Orchid Moisturising Body Wash – not a favourite. I started to use this shower gel in October – and I’ve only managed to finish it now. I wouldn’t buy it again.
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13 Superdrug Naturally Radiant Brightening Micro Polish – this is one of my favourite skin care products ever. Try it! I’ve used this micro polish scrub once a week (every Tuesday) and this tube has lasted me six months. Great stuff! I have two back-up tubes. 🙂

14 L’Oréal Elvive Fibrology Thickening Conditioner – not the most suitable conditioner for long and curly / wavy hair – that’s if you use the matching shampoo too. I think L’Oréal’s Fibrology products are probably great for people with thin hair. However, I don’t see myself repurchasing the shampoo and the conditioner any time soon. Saying this, I still have the matching hair mask which I’ll try as soon as my current deep conditioner is finished.

15 Positively Fruity Smells Like Tropical Showers Body Lotion – cute bottle, so-so contents. Because of this my husband and I used this body lotion as foot lotion. So this one is a shared empty. I wouldn’t repurchase this product.

This is what emptied in January – not bad, eh? If you’re wondering why there are two conditioners and no shampoos – I use more conditioner than shampoo. And every time I finish a conditioner, the matching shampoo is instantly (more or less) ‘useless’ to me, so I’ll pass it on to my husband who’ll use it up. 🙂

February is a short month, but I think it’ll be another good month for empties because I still have lots of part-used toiletries and skin care products that I’m working on.

Oh, by the way, I’ve officially run out of storage – you might remember those boxes under the bed… well, that was so last year! Now I’m talking about boxes next to the bed and next to the sock drawer. Because of this I’ve implemented a 1-in-3-out policy earlier this month. Yes, this means that I can buy one item (make-up, skin care, toiletries – whatever) for every three products I finish.

The only exceptions are essentials such as… toothpaste, hand soap, “special” skin care creams (I’m talking about creams like Savlon, Sudocrem, Daktacort…), beauty basics like cotton buds and cosmetic pads, and the original Herbal Essences hair products when they’re on special (Yeah, I mean it!) because I can’t have these products cut into my rewards. 😉

Oh, and something else happened… some of you may have noticed that I haven’t been the best blogging buddy over the past 2 weeks. That’s because I had to slay the tax demon. And I did it! In the UK you have to submit your tax return by 31 January – otherwise they’ll slap you with a fine – no ifs, no buts. I submitted my tax return just before 19:00 yesterday – just in time! So yeah, I slayed the tax demon! This means I have 11 months and 2 weeks of freedom – until next year’s tax demon rears its ugly head!

Feel free to comment if you want to. And thanks for reading!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

November Beauty Awards

Hi there! It’s the last day of the month, so it’s time for my monthly favourites post. This post is a bit awkward because the top 3 products are all from Superdrug! Well, the reason is that I’ve simply tried lots of Superdrug products recently. But I’ll definitely do a few Boots products reviews next month, I promise! But let’s get to the favourites now!

3rd place – Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care Intensive All Over Body Cream
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Whilst I prefer body creams that are a little less rich, I still think Superdrug’s Vitamin E Intensive All Over Body Cream is really good. It smells extremely nice (you’d think it’s a high-end product!) and it’s very nourishing. I’ll be using it a lot this winter!

Runner-Up – Superdrug Clearly Youthful Resurfacing Night Serum 
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I’ve been using Superdrug’s Clearly Youthful Resurfacing Night Serum for a few months now – and I think it’s great. It’s made quite a difference to my skin, and I’ve already repurchased it.

WINNER – Superdrug Dehydrated Facial Konjac Sponge
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I loooooove my konjac sponge. I never want to be without a konjac sponge again. If you’ve never used a konjac sponge, you really need to change that! Thank you Stashy and Kathy for making me curious about konjac sponges!

Now on to the honourable mentions! I really like Superdrug’s Vitamin E Eye Cream and Superdrug’s Flutter Lip Balm. And I’m impressed with Burt’s Bees Calla Lily Tinted Lip Balm.

This is it for this month! Feel free to let me know what you think of my favourites. Have you tried any of these products? Would you like to try any of them? And which products did you enjoy this month? Get in touch if you want to. And thanks for reading!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Weekly Recap 21 – 27 Nov 2016

Hi there! I hope everyone had a good week. Today’s post is just a summary of what I’ve been up to this week – so let’s get started!

First of all, I did two nail posts this week, so I just lumped them together! 🙂

Monday 21 Nov – Nail Of The Day / Nail Art Challenge
Friday 25 Nov – Nail Of The Day / Nail Art Challenge
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Monday’s nail post was about yellow nails, and Friday’s nail post was about metallic nails. Yes, I’m still working my way through the 31 Days Nail Art Challenge. And you can read this week’s nail posts here and here.

Tuesday 22 Nov – Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care Intensive All-Over Body Cream
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I really like Superdrug’s body cream. I prefer my moisturisers to be a little less rich, but this cream is going to be a skin care staple this winter. Click here to read the full review.

Wednesday 23 Nov – Haul!
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Wednesday’s post was about stuff I picked up recently. The majority of said stuff was beauty-related, but I also bought My Little Pony merchandise. 🙂 If you want to find out what else I bought, click here.

Thurday 24 Nov – Possibility Raspberry Pavlova & Vanilla Crème Brûlée
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On Thursday I reviewed these two Possibility shower gels. They’re very moisturising (!) and they smell very authentic (more expensive high street brands should take note). Click here to read the review.

This was is for this week. I hope you liked this little recap. Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of the weekend! 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

30+ New Products – Superdrug, Asda & Bargain Store Haul!

Hi there! I tried my best not to buy more stuff, but I caved. And then I caved again. I bought a lot of stuff in the past three or four weeks… So let’s take a look at the new products that moved in with me.
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Item number 1 is this Flutter Hand Cream – Flutter is a Superdrug brand that always makes an appearance around Christmas. This hand cream was £1. Then there’s this Sweet Snuggles Hand Lotion Set – this set consists of a small hand cream and a nail file. I think it’s cute. And it was £1 only.

I also bought 3 Superdrug Facial Konjac Sponges. There was a 3 for 2 offer, each sponge was £1.99, and thanks to the offer I paid £3.98 in total. Nivea’s Firming Body Lotion was on a better than half price promotion so I paid £2.55 instead of £5.25. And I’m looking forward to trying my new B. Refine Exfoliating Cleanser which was half price as well – it was £2.69 instead of £5.49.
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I also bought new hair care – L’Oréal Nutri-Gloss Crystal Shampoo & Conditioner. These were on a half price offer – £1.99 each instead of £3.99. I also bought two more eyeshadow brushes. These are Superdrug own-brand, they were 99p each.
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I couldn’t resist when I saw this exclusive edition Olay Refreshing Face Wash. It was £1.45 instead of £2.99. And I found this incredibly cute My Little Pony Nail Polish Trio for £2.99 at B&M Bargains. This set contains 2 toe separators and three nail polishes (pink – Pinkie Pie, lilac – Rarity, glitter – Rainbow Dash). Awesome stuff!
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I liked Superdrug’s cocoa butter & vanilla body butter, so I wanted to give Superdrug’s Cocoa Butter & Vanilla Body Scub a try too. This scrub was £2.45 (half price offer). I also bought two more Superdrug Clearly Youthful Glycolic Peel-Off Mask tubes. They’re £4.89 each, but there was a 2 for £5 offer. By the way, this mask is absolutely brilliant. Please check out my review of it!

The Patisserie de Bain set was a freebie. Superdrug gave these sets away as a gift with purchase – all you had to do was buy two skin care products (yes, they included lots of cheap basics – like face wash for £1.50 and the likes – in this offer), and you’d get this Patisserie de Bain set for free.
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Up next is a lipstick – Models Own Miami Heat£1.24 (clearance). And I couldn’t resist this cute Flutter Lip Balm. It’s strawberry-flavoured and it was £1. The Models Own Nail Polish was £2.49 (clearance) and the shade is called Eggshell Goose. The Max Factor nail polish is from Poundworld, so it was £1. I had to have it because the colour really pops!
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I was really happy when my local Asda restocked Alberto Balsam products whilst they were still on a £1 promotion. So I got Alberto Balsam Volume Boost Shampoo & Conditioner for £1 each. The Pantene Breakage Defence Hair Strengthening Tonic was £1 at Poundland.
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Finally I bought a few face masks again. They’re all Montagne Jeunesse masks. I got two Mud Pac and Amore Rose duos for £1 each at Poundland. The Black Seaweed Peel-Off Mask and the Charcoal Masque were 85p each at Asda.
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As I love Superdrug’s Naturally Radiant collection, I bought another product – a serum & moisturiser. This product was on a half price promotion, so I paid £2.94 only. Superdrug also had a new version of the Leafy & Lovely hand cream. It’s probably the same as before – but it was £1 only, so I thought I should have it. Superdrug’s Vitamin E Toning Facial Mist cost me £2.24 only. Superdrug’s Sweet Snuggles gift set was £3.50.
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I also bought 2 Garnier Moisture Bomb Tissue Masks. They were on special for 99p each. And I got 2 tubs of Superdrug’s Vitamin E Intensive All Over Body Cream for £2.61 each. Superdrug’s Vitamin E Leave-On Moisture Mask was £2.24. And Superdrug’s Naturally Radiant Night Cream was also on special for £2.95. I love this night cream. This one’s a back-up! And the last item is a Sweet Snuggles lip balm set which I got for £1. I loved last year’s lip balms, and I’m sure this year’s lip balms are just as excellent.

So this is what I bought over the last few weeks. I know it’s more stuff that I didn’t really need, but I’m still happy that I stocked up on products that were on a promotion. 🙂 Have you tried any of these products – or would you like to try any of them? Feel free to let me know what you think. 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde