Empties – September 2019

Hi there! It’s the 1st day of a new month (Hello October!), and this means that today’s post is about all the products I said goodbye to in September. I have quite a few empties as well as a few old products that I binned.

1 Balance Active Formula Vitamin C Brightening Serum – this is a great serum, and I’d like to repurchase it!

2 Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care All Over Body Cream With Dragon Fruit – I enjoyed this body cream a lot this summer. Unfortunately, this one’s a limited edition, and it really is gone. Otherwise I’d buy it again.

3 Make Up Gallery Top & Base Coat – 100% rubbish. This stuff will make your new mani chip within hours, and it will cause your nails to split – well, that’s what it did to me. I poured this stuff into the bin so I wouldn’t accidentally use it.

4 The Body Shop Polynesian Island Tiaré Shower Gel – of all the TBS products I’ve tried over the years, this is my favourite by far. Unfortunately, it’s been discontinued, and I’m sad to see it go.

5 Imperial Leather Funfair Nostalgia Body Wash – this is a nice shower gel. I’d like to repurchase it, but I think it’s been discontinued as well.

6 Original Source Hydrating Water Infusions Grapefruit & Mint Shower – one of my favourite shower gels this summer. Repurchase? Oh yes!

7 My Little Pony Coconut Lip Balm – I liked this lip balm (fortunately, the coconut flavour wasn’t very strong). I have a few more My Little Pony lip balms (different flavours), so I don’t need to stock up.

8 Essence XXXL Lipgloss 2 Coral Delight – I enjoyed this gloss very much. It’s been discontinued, but I wouldn’t repurchase it (only because I don’t want to buy the same product more than once – unless it’s an all-time favourite).

9 Bourjois 3D Effect Lipgloss 26 Cassis Tropical – this is really old! I won’t use it at this point, so I binned it.

10 UNE Sheer Lips Gloss S05 – another oldie I found by accident – bye bye!

11 Miss Sporty Perfect Colour Lipstick 122 Poem – another old lipstick that I won’t use anymore. On a positive note, back then I used the lipstick quite often… you know… before I “lost” it to the abyss that it my beauty stash…

12 Collection 2000 Volume Boost Lipstick 12 Cocoa – I remember that I didn’t use this lipstick in the first place because it was terrible. I think I have more of these (different shades). Anyhoo… good riddance!

13 Creightons Pink Grapefruit Mattifying Face Mask – this is a good face mask. I enjoyed using it, and I might buy it again.

14 Boots Extracts Olive Body Butter – I love this body butter, and it’s sad that Boots discontinued it. But I do have back-up!

15 Ekél Natural Clean Peeling Gel Apple – I enjoyed using this peeling gel. I have a back-up (different fragrance).

16 TRESemmé Expert Keratin Smooth Conditioner – this conditioner isn’t terrible, but it’s just about average. For the first 10 washes I liked it, but it started to annoy me halfway through the bottle. I wouldn’t repurchase it.

17 Treacle Moon Marshmallow Hearts Shower & Bath Gel – this shower gel smells insanely yummy! I’ll buy it again for sure!

I also used a number of single-use face masks. And if you’d like to read about my latest face mask finds, click here.

Have you tried any of these products? Would you like to try any of them? Which products did you say goodbye to recently? Feel free to get in touch via the comments. And thanks for reading! 🙂

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

 

Weekly Recap 19 – 25 August 2019

Hi there! Happy Sunday! It’s the end of the week, so today’s post is my weekly blog recap. If you’ve missed a post that you might have liked, this is your chance to catch up. 😉

Monday 19 Aug – Tresemmé Expert Keratin Smooth Shampoo & Conditioner With Marula Oil

Monday’s post was about 2 hair products. Click here to read the post.

Tuesday 20 Aug – Boots Botanics All Bright Hydrating Day Cream SPF 15

On Tuesday I reviewed the day cream I’m using at the moment. Click here to read the post.

Wednesday 21 Aug – Original Source Hydrating Water Infusions Apple & Melon Shower, Grapefruit & Mint Shower

Wednesday’s post was about 2 shower gels. Click here to read the post.

Thursday 22 Aug – Nail Of The Day
Friday 23 Aug – Superdrug Pink Clay Purifying Mask

On Thursday I showed you a mani I did recently. Click here to read the post.
And Friday’s post was a face mask review. Click here to read it.

And this is it for this week! Thanks for stopping by! 😊

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

TRESemmé Expert Keratin Smooth Shampoo & Conditioner

Hi there! Today’s post is about a hair care combo I picked up for half price – TRESemmé Expert Keratin Smooth Shampoo & Conditioner. These 2 products promise frizz control as well as a healthy shine and a soft feel. I’ve been using these products on and off (I have a few shampoo and conditioner combos in a rota) for well over 4 weeks now, and here’s what I think.

TRESemmé Expert Keratin Smooth Shampoo is a creamy white shampoo with an unremarkable yet pleasant fragrance. It lathers up well, and I’m satisfied with its cleansing powers. I have no doubt that this shampoo helps me maintain soft and shiny hair.

TRESemmé Expert Keratin Smooth Conditioner is a good-but-not-great conditioner. It does what it’s supposed to do, but I need to use quite a bit of product.

All in all, I think these 2 products are good. However, I still prefer Daily Defense’s keratin hair products because they’re better in every aspect (feel, scent, result, price).

TRESemmé Expert Keratin Smooth Shampoo & Conditioner are available as 400ml each for £4.99 each. I paid £2.69 each (half price offer on the old 500ml bottles).

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Never Again – The Ultimate Beauty Duds – Part 5

Hi there! I’ve already done a few posts to tell you about some of the beauty products I didn’t like at all. But let me tell you about a few more products that I hated! 🙂

Elizavecca Gold CF-Nest Collagen Jella Pack Mask
elizavecca-collagen-jella-pack
This mask is simply awful. It makes your skin feel like it’s covered in lard. In addition, the only way to remove the mask is to rub it off. This causes the mask to flake big time (but there’s nothing else you can do) which means that you have to wash your hair after you’ve used this mask. A truly awful product!

TRESemmè Colour Revitalise Vibrant Colour Protection Conditioner – I didn’t like this conditioner at all because it made my hair go greasy quickly. And the “fragrance” was borderline unpleasant. The shampoo was OK, though.

Montagne Jeunesse 7th Heaven Charcoal Masque – this mask contains crushed walnut shells which are unsuitable for the face. Awful!

L’Oréal Elvive Fibrology Thickening Masque

L'Oreal Fibrology Masque
I could write an essay about why I didn’t like this hair masque, but I won’t. In summary, it took 24 hours for the thickening effect to kick in, and the product made my hair feel crunchy. 😠

The Body Shop Fijian Water Lotus Body Lotion – this body lotion smells really bad. I have to admit I’m not the biggest fan of lotus or water lily scents, but this is the worst lotus “fragrance” I’ve ever smelled in a product.

L’Oréal Elvive Smooth & Polish Thermo Detangling Spray – it doesn’t detangle hair, but it seems to straighten and flatten it, so if you have wavy or curly hair, this spray just ruins your hairdo…

Boots Being By The Sanctuary Spa Cloudberry & Lychee Blossom Body Mist – one of the cheapest fragrances I’ve ever smelled. I tried to give it away, but none of my colleagues wanted it…

Superdrug Red Colour Conditioner – this stuff was anti-conditioning! Truly awful! Guess what, it’s been discontinued!

Superdrug Optimum Phyto Brighter Triple Action Illuminating Black Moisturiser

This moisturiser left a grey residue on the skin. I can’t believe I actually finished it…

Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid Foundation

One of the worst foundations I’ve ever tried. Poor coverage, but cakey look, feels super silky, but impossible to blend. Rubbish!

This was part 5 of The Ultimate Beauty Duds! Whilst I’m not saying that no one could ever like any of these products (some of them are still around), I found these products to be rubbish. But if you do like any of these products, that’s good for you. Feel free to get in touch if you want to. And thanks for reading!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

Empties – May 2018

Hi there! Happy Friday! It’s the 1st of June, so it’s time for my May Empties post. As always, I’ve used a number of single-use face masks. Whilst I don’t keep the empty sachets, you can read about my latest face mask finds if you click here. Now onto the ‘real’ empties!

1 Pacifica Island Vanilla Perfume – this was nice while it lasted, but I don’t think I’ll buy it again. Having said that, I believe I have 2 Island Vanilla scented perfume roll-ons in my stash…

2 Superdrug Optimum Skin Illuminating Glycolic Overnight Peel – I really liked this one. However, Superdrug sells another glycolic overnight peel that gives me the same results and that’s half the price, so I’ll stick with the cheaper product.

3 The Body Shop Early Harvest Raspberry Eau De Toilette – I’m glad this one’s finished. I wouldn’t buy it again. I have another bottle in my stash, but I’ll pass it on to my teenage relative who I hope will enjoy it more.

4 B. Confident Hyaluronic Acid Facial Spritz – this is one of my holy grail products! 🙂

5 Olay Hydration & Cleansing 2 In 1 Cleanser & Moisturiser Duo – this is a nice cleansing milk. I will buy it again, no doubt!

6 Christina Aguilera Eau De Parfum – this is a really nice fragrance. I might buy it again.

7 Palmolive So Tempting Shower Gel – this is a lovely shower gel that reminds me of Flower by Kenzo. I am happy to buy it (the shower gel, not the perfume) again. 🙂

8 TRESemmé Colour Revitalise Vibrant Colour Protection Conditioner – this conditioner is the epitome of “average”. I am glad it’s gone.

9 Treacle Moon Warm Cookie Dough Bath & Shower Gel – this shower gel is awesome. My husband enjoyed it too, so this one’s a shared empty. I’ll buy it again, no doubt!

10 Dr. Organic Aloe Vera Shampoo (travel size) – this is a decent shampoo. I might buy it again.

11 Boots Essentials Cucumber Facial Toner – this toner is excellent. I’m happy to repurchase it.

12 Boots Extracts Sweet Mango Body Spray – Boots’ mango fragrance is simply the best. I’m glad a have a few bottles of this awesome body spray in my stash.

13 Radox Feel Exotic Shower Gel – I didn’t love this shower gel, and I won’t buy it again.

14 Classics Nail Polish Remover – this is the best nail polish remover there is for £1. I’ve gone through several bottles over the years, and I’m sure I’ll buy many more.

15 Garnier Body Intensive 7 Days Smoothing Nourishing Lotion With Cocoa Butter – this body lotion is awesome! I’ll buy it again, no doubt!

This is everything I finished in May. I’m happy I managed to finish a few fragrances and skin care products – and that 900ml conditioner. 🙂 Have you tried any of these products? Which products have you emptied recently? Feel free to get in touch. And thanks for reading!

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

TRESemmé Colour Revitalise Vibrant Colour Protection Shampoo & Conditioner

Hi there! I’ve never (!) used TRESemmé hair care products until I tried their Nourish & Renew Deep Conditioning Masque last year. I really liked the mask (I finished it last month), so I thought I should try a few more products from this brand. And today I’m reviewing TRESemmé’s Colour Revitalise Vibrant Colour Protection Shampoo & Conditioner.

TRESemmé’s Colour Revitalise Vibrant Colour Protection Shampoo is a creamy white shampoo. It’s not the most clarifying shampoo – I guess that’s why it’s so gentle on coloured hair. But I do like the shampoo’s soapy-floral fragrance!

TRESemmé’s Colour Revitalise Vibrant Colour Protection Conditioner is alright. It detangles my hair with ease, and it makes it feel soft. However, the conditioner doesn’t smell as good as the shampoo (it smells like a mix of the matching shampoo + dirt).

I’ve noticed that, when I use these 2 products for more than 3 days in a row, my hair ends up being greasy after 24 hours. I wash my hair every morning, no matter what. So in theory I shouldn’t have to worry about what my hair’s like immediately before I wash it. However, I’m not used to having greasy hair because I wash my hair daily. And I wash my hair daily because I don’t want to have greasy hair…

Anyhoo, because of the grease issue I’ve made changes to my hair care routine. I’m now using these TRESemmé products for 2 consecutive days, then I switch to another shampoo & conditioner combo for 2 days. This seems to work (but it’s not perfect).

I won’t buy these 2 products again, but if you have dry hair, these products might be just what you need. TRESemmé’s Colour Revitalise Vibrant Colour Protection Shampoo & Conditioner are available as 900ml each. I paid £2.69 each (half price offer).

Mrs Strawberry Blonde

TRESemmé Renewal Hair & Scalp Nourish & Renew Deep Conditioning Masque

Hi there! Today’s post is about TRESemmé’s Renewal Hair & Scalp Nourish & Renew Deep Conditioning Masque which I found at one of the bargain stores.

This “professional quality” deep conditioning masque with tea tree extract and sunflower seed oil promises to help repair hair to make it soft and manageable.

You’re supposed to use this product like a regular conditioner. However, you need to leave this product on for 2-3 minutes before you rinse it out.

Alright! So is this product any good? I think this deep conditioning masque is quite alright. It’s not ground-breaking, and it’s not as good as my favourite regular conditioners.

However, I enjoy using it on a weekly basis because it does make my hair feel soft without greasing it up.

All in all, I think this is a reasonable hair mask. I paid £1 for the 180ml tube which is, without doubt, good value.

Mrs Strawberry Blonde