Degustabox April 2014 Review

Holy yumminess. This month's box was immense I have to say. I will eat everything. I already have eaten a lot of it! Let's tuck in!

Dr Oetker - Cooking Chocolate (£1.69 each)

Fairly self explanatory. The box came with a yummy looking recipe for chocolate fondants using these so I might well be attempting that with these at some point. Random thing to put in the box maybe, but it will get used at some stage!

Mornflake - Superfast Pots (£1.20 each)

I love the idea of these. Handy pots that become a ready made bowl of cereal when you add water to them! They even come with a spoon in the lid. Great idea. So, imagine my face when I noticed both were nutty flavours. I'm fairly sure I stated on my profile not to send me nutty products because I'm allergic, but I got these. They'll be donated to my Mum I think, loves granola so she does.

Lindt - Lindor Bar (80p each)

Ok, hide my face in shame. The box came with three of these in it. Two of them had magically disappeared into my tummy before I got around to taking any photos. Whoopsie. Also, this one is gone now just before I started typing up this review. Whoops again. So, maybe that's enough said. These are delicious. I do like chocolate. Just a tad. Honest.

Go Splash (£2.45 each)

This product is a great idea I think. Just splash some into your water anytime to give it a flavour. I like that this is sugar free too. It'll make 30 glasses from this little thing as well. Very handy for work I think I'll be giving this a try next week. I'd quite happily get one of these again, but the price puts me off to be honest, when you could get regular diluting juice for a lot less.

Cawston Press - Love Sparkles Rhubarb (£1)

Fruity sparkling water in a can. This will be coming with me to work next week. Sounds yummy anyway! I'll put it to the test then, but I like the idea anyway!

Clearspring - Miso Soups (£1.29 each)

Just add water to these to get yourself some tasty Miso soup. Handy indeed me thinks! Again, I will be taking these for lunch to work this week, hopefully they taste as good as they look. They come freeze dried to seal in the flavour apparently, so it's worth a try!

Keogh's - Atlantic Sea Salt & Irish Cider Vinegar Crisps (£1.00)

Now, since I don't like salt and vinegar crisps, these were donated to the boyfriend. He ate them. When I then asked for his thoughts on them for this review he said 'They were alright'. So there you have it. Top notch review skills right there.

Mcvities - Jaffa Cake Mini Rolls (£1.30 each)

Now, here we have more chocolate. Somehow I ate the Lindt first and left these to the side. I was intrigued by the try me frozen claim on the outside, so 2 of each flavour have now been put in the freezer and I'll try one this evening me thinks. I like the berry burst ones the most so far, but I reckon the tropical ones will be awesome cold, so I'll let you know how I get on!

Crabbies - Alcoholic Ginger Beer with Raspberry (£2.19)

Lastly, some booze. This stuff tastes really yummy right from the fridge in the sun. I'll be getting this again have no fear. Well, if it's on offer that is.

Loved this month's box. I'm really enjoying having a food box, so much so this will be replacing one of my beauty boxes, as I feel I get more value from this sometimes. And it's always interesting and full of things I will use. This has to have been the best box so far though. Great stuff.

Glossybox April 2014 - Sweet Treats Review

 

Well, it's April time and another beauty box themed around sweet treats and sweet things. Weird coincidence huh? I did well this month, I forgot to take a photo of everything in the box. Go me. But no matter, there's at least photos of all the products! Let's investigate!

Emite Make Up - Lip Brush L312 (£17)

This is a slanted brush for lips to give more precision when putting on lipstick. As you know, I'm not really one for wearing lipstick, but I am trying my best to get involved in it so I'm sure this will help me on my way a little! 

Monu Spa - Warming Giner Massage and Body Oil (£25 for 100ml)

You can use this in your bath, or slather yourself in it before you hit the shower to help you leave with bathroom with super smooth silky skin. I love the smell of it, very ginger it and it does leave skin feeling quite nice. I've used it more in the bath than the shower though, I slid everywhere when I tried it in the shower! Be careful lovelies!

He-Shi Professional Tanning - Face and Body Gel (£7.95 for 50ml)

Let's start this with a confession. One you probably already know. I don't do fake tan. It's not something I've ever been greatly attracted to. So needless to say, I've not yet tried this product. I was debating using it a few days before I go on holiday to try it out just in case I look ridiculous! I'll aim for trying it on my legs before my face though! I'm afraid of that orange look. Classy.

MeMeMe Cosmetics - Beat the Blues (£5.50)

I feel like I've already cover this. But here's MeMeMe producing another dupe for a Benefit product. And I actually like this one. It's meant to be great for creating shimmer and highlighting skin. I've been mixing it in with my foundation to create a subtle shimmer and dewy finish, as well as applying it under my blusher as a highlight. It's been pretty effective. Great buy for less then £6!

TRESemme - Instant Refresh Cleansing Dry Shampoo (£4.99)

I feel like I've gained like 6 dry shampoos thanks to boxes alone. Not sure I've bought one in ages. I don't use these a lot to help refresh my hair, I use them more for volume and helping boost my curls when I have curly hair. This one smells nice and does help with volume. Nice to get a full size product as well! 

Annoyingly, another half decent Glossybox. I've claimed my last free for May so hopefully that will be good. And it will be my last one. I need to make cut backs and overall I still feel that Glossybox is losing to Birchbox. Plus, Glossybox now officially costs more than Birchbox. But I'll review one more in May, so let's hope it's a good un!

Birchbox April 2014 Review - Good Enough to Eat?

Well, happy April Birchbox all! This month's box was featured around the idea of Good Enough to Eat. It featured delicious scents and foodie elements to tie everything together. Now, before we dive into what came in the box, I must first apologise. Normally, I take the photos of the items that come in the box, or with a nice background etc. This month, my Birchbox arrived like this:

 

Not too great for taking photos of. Great impression there! Had to contact their customer service regarding this, I was honestly really lucky that nothing in the box was damaged I guess! Anyhoo! on the photos of the products I managed to take!

Propercorn - Sweet Coconut and Vanilla (90p)

Let's start with the actual food! This sweet popcorn by propercorn was immense. And I liked the size of the packet, the whole lot was only 40 calories which I thought was awesome, so I'll be keeping my eye out for more of their stuff in this size. I don't think I could eat more than this amount of this flavour anyway, it is very sweet and a tad sickly, but a good sugar and sweet hit I' d happily enough again!

Color Club - Gala's Gems Nail Polish (£15 for a set of 4)

This month, we were emailed earlier in March by Birchbox asking us to choose which colour of 4 we would like from this collection of polishes. I liked this option, and I went for the shimmery pastel green colour that is called 'Breakfast At...'. It's really creamy and long lasting with a nice subtle shimmer, perfect for spring and summer I think. I've always liked Color Club polishes when I've come across them and this one is great as always.

Campos De Ibiza - Almendra Body Milk (£16.55)

Right, omg this body lotion smells like holidays. I can't place why this is. But it does. I used this once and I could smell it all day. It literally made me think of holiday and sun all day. Immense stuff. I've since then decided to keep it for when I go on actual holiday as it's a perfect size. The lotion itself is classed as a body milk, it is runnier than other creams certainly, but it is hydrating and like I say, it smells like being on holiday and the scent clings to your skin all day. I might treat myself to using this again tomorrow after going on about it there again! Doubt I would really pay the full amount for this, but it is lovely.

Lord & Berry - Couture Kohl Eye Pencil (£10)

A black eyeliner. Always useful I guess. But I feel like we've had a lot of these in boxes recently! This one is a mini size which is handy and Lord & Berry are a good brand so I'll let that slide. It is quite long lasting and goes on easily. I've yet to try it in my waterline though, it'd be great if it worked well there! I would probably stick to my Rimmel eyeliners though, they are cheaper and do last all day!

TheBalm Cosmetics - How Bout Them Apples? (£26 for whole Palette)

Last time we got a thebalm product I loved it. This time is exactly the same. This is a cream blusher/lip cream, I got the very pink colour called Pie. It's a great product for someone like me. I worry about putting on too much blusher sometimes and this is great for finding a good balance. I literally dip my finger in it like 3 times then just pat it over the apples of my cheeks and it just looks so subtle and pretty. Great product. 

Yes to Cucumbers - Facial Wipes (£4.99)

I've used these before having bought them myself once and I do like them a lot. Very refreshing and manage to get makeup off fairly easily. Again, due to this ones handy size these have been put towards my 'taking on holiday' pile. Just the right number of wipes to last a week on holiday! 

Well, that's April's fun over. I have to say I really liked the box, I will actually use everything in it without an issue (and the popcorn has been munched already). I'm really enjoying Birchbox at the moment, so hopefully they can keep it up! Minus the damaged boxes of course! See you later guys!

March 2014 Degustabox Review

Well. I may be running a tad behind it seems. But I will catch up. I will. Honest! So a quick review of march's yummy box coming up!

Moma Porridge - £1.50 each

Instant Porridge - just add hot water. This sounded right up my street! The plain version needed some honey/syrup but I really liked the cranberry and raisan version and took it with me to work, it was very handy! Not sure I would pay £1.50 each though, but handy if you like porridge and need to eat breakfast quickly!

Drink Me Chocolate Chai (£2.55) and Tea Latte Multipack (£6.50)

Right. I have to be upfrront about this. I don't drink tea or coffee. I know. Weird. So needless to say, I haven't tried the tea latte, but I'm keeping them for a lovely person we visits me and fancies a cuppa hehe. But! I did try and hot chocolate, it has a nice spicy aspect to it which is different and makes it interesting. I've made a chocolate cake with it too and that was successful so it's been nice to try it.

Schwartz Shots (£1.40 each)

These are so easy to use. Just add them to the pan with some meat and anything else you fancy and they give basically a shot of flavour. I got two of each type and I've made a chicken paella and a basic pasta dish with the Italian sauce and they're really effective, if I come across one at a slightly cheaper price I will pick it up!

Tyrell's Popcorn Sweet and Salty (£1.80)

Really there's not much I need to say about this. It was delicious and I think I ate it almost within 5 minutes of discovering it in the box. Loverly.

Shaken Udder Milkshakes (£1.89 each)

These were really nice as well, they'd be great for kid's lunchboxes but I took mine into work. There made with real fruit and they are really tasty. Shame they're so expensive for just a little milkshake!

Organico Durum Wheat Pasta (£1.49) and Tomato and Basil Sauce (£1.99)

Pasta and a sauce. These were really nice and worked well together. Happy to get ingredients I would easily use and really nice products and good quality.

Mexican Daves Tortilla Chips (£1.00)

This was my favourite thing in the box. These were delicious. Very cheesy and easy to consume far too many once they are put in the bowl. I would really buy these again, great chips and at a good price for a big bag.  The recipe card has a great looking recipe using them to make loaded nachos as well which looks really good, but I didn't let them hang around long enough for me to try this oops.

Well, another yummy box from Degustabox. Second box I've had and so far it's paying off money wise with what is coming in the box and things I will actually use. As well as being worth more than I paid for it all. I'll keep it going for now, it's been really handy for discovering new foods!

Glossybox March 2014 Review

Welcome to March's Glossybox. This months theme was Beauty Blossom, meant to help us welcome in spring. Not to be my usual sarcastic self or anything, but it didn't feel springy to me. It annoyed me I'd forgotten to cancel my subscription. And they've just charged me again for April's one. I need to act quicker! Just not been impressed with much in this box for quite some time. Always seem to be giving it one last chance, but I think this needs to be the last one. In the box I have only used one product happily. Let's go through everything that was in it though, we might as well!

 Dove Hair Therapy - Intensive Repair 60 Second Treatment Shot £1.49 Full Size

This was the product I happily used. I like Dove treatments and intensive conditioners, so this was easy to get used up. It did help make my hair feel softer and smelt nice. Pretty good all round if you need a pick up for your hair. It lasts a good few uses as well so there's a bonus.

Vita Liberata pHenomenal 2-3 week Tan Lotion - Full Size £37.50

So, I saw these in the box. It raged me a little. Sachets? Really? and of a product I would never even use in normal life. I think I've fake tanned like twice ever in my life. And even I know that these two sachets would be lucky to even cover an arm each. Might look a tad silly, no? Needless to say, I have not touched these. Seems pointless!

Mitchell and Peach Body Cream - Full Size £36

Here we have a body cream. Nice texture and really moisturising. But goodness me. The smell is something else. If you like incredibly floral scents then this is the one for you. But not for me, I found the smell overpowered my perfume and just was not to my taste at all. If you like flowery smells though, knock yourself out!

Bellapierre Cosmetics Shimmer Powder - Full Size £12.99

This is basically shimmery eye dust. It does have a good colour pay off, this shade is somewhere between rose gold and bronze. I don't mind this product at all, but I have had it before in a silver colour, and same now as then, if I wanted an eye dust I'd spend the extra to get a MAC pigment or less on a Barry M Dazzle Dust thingy. Nice, but not something I'd buy again.

Sleek MakeUP Pout Polish - Full Size £4.49

Finally, this is a basic tinted lip balm product from Sleek. I quite like sleek products but I wouldn't normally buy a lip balm from them. Especially for nearly a fiver. I'm so picky with prices these days. I got the kinda nude, peachy colour, it has some shimmer in it too. Handy it has SPF in it as well. I might keep it more until my holiday. You don't need much of the product though, so I'm guessing it might last you quite some time.

Well, it's official. Last month has to be the last one of these boxes. I can't justify being unhappy with something I'm spending money on regularly as a treat to myself. I need to be happy overall for it to be worth it for me. Someone remind me to cancel once the April one has been dispatched!