Late as Always! November Glossybox Review

So, naturally, after the disaster that was the October Glossybox, I was intrigued to see if it would get worse in November. It was definitely better, but still not very impressive on the whole. Well, let's have a quick nosy at the treats in the box.

 

Now, we all know I love me a good nail polish. But I am definitely snobby when it comes to the brand of the polish. Apparently this Quartz polish from B Cosmetics is worth £12, but there's better brands out there for less. It is a nice colour, a kind of grey/silver with silver flecks, and the brush is quite wide, making it easy to apply, but it's just not for me. This is available for sale on my blog sale section if you fancy it at all. Perhaps that says it all!

 

 

A selection of serums from Vichy, plus a moisturiser. Nothing exciting here really in all honesty. They all have quite a strong fragrance, so avoid if you are sensitive to this. I do appreciate these more than the sample sachets, but it's still only 3ml to try and decide if I'd want to use the product more. I think I'll skip it.

 

 

A perfectly nice eye shadow, with a nice texture. From a brand I've never heard of. (Emite Make Up) In the most boring colour ever and it's meant to cost £17? Again, not for me. Let's move on.

 

 

Another nail related item here. Again, you'd think I'd appreciate. But again, not. I am in love with my fast dry top coat, the HK Girl one right now and nothing could ever come close. I might use this on clients, but I could guarantee it would never dry as quick as my super duper top coat.

 

 

This time we've got a hand cream. It's mostly cocoa butter so it smells nice. This will definitely get used. Probably the best product in the box. Now, looking at what everyone got in their November box it does look like Decembers might continue on this same iffy level. Here's hoping not. I'll get into that next.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tara's Talons Polish Club

 

Well, finally! A UK Indie Polish maker is onto a winner! Let me introduce you to the Polish Club from the lovely Tara of Tara's Talons. The basic idea is for only £10 a month, Tara will send you 2 limited edition polishes, one 5ml size and one 10ml size. This was my first time using polish from this brand and I was really impressed! It's great value as well! and nice to get something different every month that's just nail polish related.

 

 

The 5ml bottle I got was called Autumnal. It's a blue tinged kind of silver colour. A wee bit hard to describe! It looks really classy and shiny and with 3 coats it's opaque.

 

 

Secondly, I got a very very glittery polish called Oktoberfest! This has stars, bar glitters, hexes in all sorts of colours - red, black, great, silver. Naturally, I paired it with Autumnal and made a funky mani! I popped this on instagram and Tara noticed it and it's not my entry to her lovely Blog competition! Please go and vote for it at www.tarastalons.co.uk (shameless plug over!) here's the finished mani - look at the shine! I was really impressed with these two and I like the fact that the two polishes work well together as well.

 

 

 

If you guys fancy getting your polished paws on one of these pop on over Tara's site.

 

 

 

 

 

Birchbox October 2013 - Beauty Buzz

well, hellooooo Birchbox. You are winning. This month's box was immense. This has to be one of the best beauty boxes I've received since the beginning of me signing up. I am honestly so impressed. It obviously helps that October's glossybox was such a disappointment - but there is a visible gap of wonderfulness between it and Birchbox. The last few boxes have been pretty on the money, and October's really stood out. So, the theme was Beauty Buzz  - showing us celeb beauty favourites and samples with buzz. On with the show...of products.

 

 

The nipple balm is making a show in all the boxes right now, but I am more than happy to have 2 of these, they will get used! Great lip balm that's amazing to apply before bed and inject your lips with some much needed moisture. Great stuff.

 

 

Slightly random, but hey a gal can always use more toothpaste. Especially one in a handy travel size. This is getting saved for holidays but according to the info it kills bacteria, lifts stains, whitens teeth and freshens breath. Win win.

 

 

The multi-purpose cream that is Egyptian magic. You apply this between your hands until it turns to more like an oil, then spread over the skin or the ends of your hair. I've not tried it on my hair (too loyal to mythic oil!) but I did use it on my knees and elbows after a bath and it absorbed easily and felt loverly. Try and let it soak in overnight, it does wonders.

 

 

This ickle pot is an overnight face mask by Akane. It smells amazing. Apples, lots of apples. You put this on before bed and leave overnight and wash off in the morning. It really does feel like a face mask, you get that tightness in your skin as it starts to work, but I happily left it on overnight and it washed off easily and gave my skin a boost. Will keep using it anyways!

 

 

Lip and Cheek tint from The Balm Cosmetics, this is called Stainiac. It's a great wee product for using as a blush or as a lip stain. It's not at all sticky and just gives a subtle pink tone for blush. Another winner.

 

 

I do love me some kms. I've had this brand in a few boxes and have come to really like it. And this must have been chosen for me according to my beauty profile - so I was impressed with that alone! This moussy foam is used to help encourage curls and waves and since I have curly hair - it was right up my street. I learned the hard way though, that despite what the card says, putting it on towel dried hair - this must be done after you comb out your hair! otherwise you cannot get a brush through it! Second time lucky though, it worked well, but I felt it left me with more waves than curls, so I found that a tad strange look, I'm used to the curls making themselves known!

 

 

Finally, wowza. Some Laura Mercier. Now here is a brand I have always wanted to try but could never afford. Bloggers all over love this product, so I was always tempted but there's no chance I could cough up the £34 odd to get it. But, it is indeed lovely. I got the shade Nude and it suits my skin perfectly. It applies easily and blends well. I would love to invest at some stage, but the month before Christmas is perhaps too difficult a time! This makes me look forward to the November box - apparently we are getting more Laura Mercier. Whoop!

 

So, in summary. Immense October box Birchbox. Well done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossybox October 2013 - Dark Romance

 

So. Glossybox October 2013. The theme was Dark Romance meant to get you in the mood for Halloween and bring out your inner 'vixen'. To be brutally honest, it brought out my inner hater. This has to be one of the worst Glossyboxes I've ever received. Let me show you why. We'll start with the sort of decent stuff. As in, the best of a bad bunch...

 

 

Firstly, a serum from Premae. It's allergen-free and is a skin saviour apparently. I've been using this since I got it, handy since I just ran out of serum, and it does the job. It does make my skin feel quite dry though, so it's a good thing it goes on before your moisturiser.

 

 

So, another item of make up from Mememe. Popular brand of glossybox, but not one I've ever paid for separately myself. This is basically a much cheaper version of Benefit's Benetint. Certainly, it does create a blushed look but to me it looks more unnatural than powder blush, so I'll use it up, but definitely not buy it again.

 

 

Ok, a skin primer. Useful, yup. But more Monu? I think I've now used ever product they do in a mini version all from glossybox pretty much. Give us some change glossybox!

 

 

And here we begin with the absolutely shocking bits. We are back to what used to be classic glossybox. Perfume samples. This is Katie Perry's Killer Queen. It's actually a nice perfume, but I really don't feel it's worth paying for samples at all. I could have picked this up for free in Boots.

 

 

And here we go again. This time, sachets of body cream from Liberata. 2 sachets no less. Apparently it's like a BB Cream for your body. Whoop. Sorry, but yet more disappointment here. I really hope other people got better items in their boxes because this is just awful! Let me know if you guys got anything better. But if you can, I would avoid paying for this Glossybox in general! Really unimpressed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bondi New York Monthly Box - The Original August Box

 

Well, this has taken me a long time to post about! I couldn't decide if I should blog about it, as it took me a long time to actually get my box, but decided I should share the wonderus polish anyhoo! So! Bondi launched a monthly subscription box back in August which is $19.99 plus free shipping (even international!) so I jumped at the chance to see what their polish was like! Unfortunately, I had a bit of a bad experience with my first box. Basically, I never received it. Luckily, I contacted their lovely customer service and I managed to get another box sent out, which came so hooray! Their September box has been delayed and won't be dispatched until mid October so I'm hanging on for that one still too, but after that I think it might well be the end of the subscription - trying to save money means a bad experience leads to cancellations with me! But long story aside, onto the 3 polishes I received in my August box.

 

 

First up we have a super limey green called The Limelight. All the polishes have a excellent shiny finish and are really long wearing so this green looks really good. It was an excellent summer colour to get, and stamping over it looked really good so I'll be breaking this out every summer I think!

 

 

 

Next is the classic blue of NYPD. Again,  really lovely shiny finish, and this time a much more all round kind of colour that I could wear with any outfit at any time of year.

 

 

 

Finally, the wee cute polish of Botanical Beauty. Lovely slight purple toned pink it's a much more girly colour than I would normally chose, but I like it. Guess that's the fun of a polish monthly box, you'll get polishes you might not normally try! I like the concept, so I'll let you know how the September box is! I got to chose my colours for this one, so that's exciting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blog Sale Update

 

Time for an updated clear out! Few more polishes up so please feel free to check them all out!

 

http://boredatthenailbar.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-sales.html

The Liebster Award

So, I've discovered I was nominated for this award. How loverly! The lovely Abbie Lou from A Beautiful Delight was kind enough to nominate me for this, so thank you so much dearie! This awards seems to recognise newer or smaller bloggers and helps us get noticed, so it can only be a good thing really I think!

There's a set of rules to go alongside this so here goes:

• link back to the blogger who nominated you
• give 11 random facts about yourself
• ask 11 questions decided by the nominator
• nominate 11 others bloggers to received the award (they must have less than 200 followers)
• create 11 questions for your nominees to answer
• letting your nominees know on their blog that you have nominated them

Ok, firstly let's get my random facts out the way:

1. I'm sure you all might know this already. But I have an addiction. Nail Polish. I think I'm at about 400 bottles right now, possibly more.
2. I am currently 29. The next birthday is getting closer on the horizon though, doh!
3. I work in retail. Fun sometimes, often not. I often think I need a job where I can't be called rude awful names by customers, funny that.
4. I randomly decided last year to go to college to study Nail Care as I wanted to be qualified in something that really interested me. I loved it.
5. I met my boyfriend in high school. Awwww. We've been together 13 years almost now.
6. I am quite an organised person, I love making lists. Yup, Sad.
7. Addiction number 2 is stationary. I might not need any of it, but I want it goddammit.
8. My new favourite shop is Tiger. It involves cheap but funky stationary and kewl home products. I could spend ages in there.
9. I have no idea what I want to do with life as yet, it's getting a tad late I realise. This does panic me of sorts. From time to time.
10. Addiction 3 is instagram. I love that thing. I post random stuff and I can't help it (@boredatthenailbar - shameless plug!)
11. I burn Christmas candles whenever I feel like it. They make me happy. Simple as.

These are Abbie's questions she set out:

1. What's your favourite perfume? -  I am obsessed with Molecule One by essentric molecules. My current bottle is nearly done and it's heartbreaking!
2. What's your favourite online shop?  - right now it's rainbow-connection.co.uk a site selling indie nail polishes in the UK, hooray for cheaper shipping and getting my hands on fabby new polishes! I also love etsy in general, and could spend hours on there!
3. Who is your favourite style icon? - to be honest, I don't really have one!
4. Lipstick or lipgloss? - I'm new to either really, but think I prefer lipstick to have a more intense colour
5. Eat out or order in? - I enjoy either! Nice to be treated to a nice meal out sometimes though.
6. Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter? - probably Autumn, no snow, but not as hot as summer. Plus I love the dark colours that go alongside it. And wrapping up in warm jumpers!
7. What is your favourite quote? - "What makes life dreary, is the want of a motive" George Eliot.
8. What is your most valued possession? - a locket I was given when I was little, it has my initials on it with my date of birth. Its an unique shape and I only wear it on special occasions.
9. What is at the top of your to-do list in life? - gosh, this is difficult. As I said above I really have no idea what I want to do with my life. Generally, being happy is obviously very important and more recently I would say having children was growing in importance too though, but no clear path as yet.
10. Name one product you always repurchase? -  Collection's lasting perfection concealer in light, this has become my favourite concealer of late.
11. If you could meet one Youtuber or Blogger, who would it be? - I'd love to meet Sprinkle of Glitter - I love her youtube channel and her blog. Always brightens my day.

11 bloggers I'd like to nominate:

1. Skye
2. Chantelle
3. Jayne
4. Lorna
5. Rachel
6. Lisa
7. Megan
8. Jade
9. Mellissa
10. MissMelvis
11. Natalie

My 11 questions for them to answer!

1. What's in your most recent haul?
2. What's your favourite book?
3. What's your most used nail polish?
4. Name the app you most use on your smart phone?
5. Can't live without beauty product?
6. Most embarrassing story involving you?
7. If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?
8. What is your most used piece of technology?
9. Favourite blog you would recommend to others?
10. Name someone you always watch on YouTube
11. Name your beauty addiction!

Well, longest post ever it seems! Go check out these lovely girlies and give them a follow - hopefully they will be answering these wee questions sometime soon!

Night one and all!