Sun, Sea and Sand - Birchbox July 2014 Review

Well, July Birchbox was all centred around holidays and sun, sea and sand. It's all lovely and summery and full of use travel items for holidays! Now, a couple of apologies first guys, I know this is late, but I'm doing catch up today and there's several exciting posts going up! Secondly, when my July Birchbox arrived the bath/shower gel had leaked all over everything, so the box and lovely inner bag were all damaged so I've had to do the photos without them this month, so I really apologise if they look rubbish today! Anyhoo! Let's dig in and see what I got!

Gilchrist & Soames English Spa Sea Kelp Extract Mineral Bath

I was lucky there was some of this left to try to be honest! When I opened the box it was already open and all over everything. At least it smelled nice! I actually used it as a shower gel rather than in the bath and it was lovely. The smell is really fresh and it lathered up nicely. Wish I'd had more to use!

Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream

I feel like beauty boxes all have an obsession with Balance Me stuff for some reason. I don't think I've ever actually bought any of their products, I think I've had a constant supply from my boxes instead! I've not always been a fan of everything I've had from them though, especially all the rose scented things (just not for me!), but in this case, my Clinique eye cream had just run out, so this was well timed! So far I quite like this. I've not noticed any major differences in my skin as yet, but I'll keep using it and see how I get on!

Weleda Millet Nourishing Shampoo

More shampoo from Weleda. Again, I think I've had a version of this previously in a box. And I wasn't a fan of that one. And the same with this one. I dunno what it is, maybe it's just because it doesn't lather up at all, but I just don't like this. And to be fair, there was really only enough to use to twice or so, so it's hard to say if it had a great effect on my hair as yet. I won't be investing in this anyway.

Ultradex Fresh Breath Oral Spray

Ok. Honesty Time. I've been always been slightly perplexed by these kind of products. I'm more of a Smint girl. I've kept this, but it's been packed in a box (like most of my house at the moment!) so I might give it a proper shot at a later stage, but I just wasn't keen enough to use it immediately, so it'll get saved for another time!

Laqa & Co Sheer Lip Lube Pencil

I'm sure that I've also had a lip product by this company before too. This one was a more sheer effort though, so slightly different. It's very moisturising and goes one well. But the colour. Hell no. This is not me. It makes me look very pale and just didn't suit me at all. Coral, in this bright state is not a Lynne colour it seems. But maybe in a nude colour I'd get on better?

Compagnie De Provence Mediterranean Sea Hand Cream

I'm sure I've used products from this branch beforehand as well. This is pretty much just your standard hand cream in a handy travel size. To be honest, there's nothing much that stands out about it. It's quite a light formula with shea butter and just a slight scent. I'll get it used up, but otherwise, I'm not keen on it enough to run out and buy another one really.

July's Birchbox wasn't the best one I've had at all really. Especially when you compare it to July's box from Glossybox. It was that impressive I actually signed up for it. That says a lot. But more on that later. Hopefully August's box will be more exciting, we're getting a cute wee travel makeup bag thing included, so that'll be handy for my trip in September, but hopefully the samples will be good too!

Summertime! Caudalie Divine Legs Review

Welcome to a bit of a different post! I was lucky enough to be sent a full size bottle of Caudalie's Divine Legs from the lovely people over at BirchboxUK to review. I've never really used a product like it! I've always been slightly afraid of any kind of tanning or tinting product, honestly I'm not quite sure why! I think I have the fear of the white patchy factor, or looking like I've missed a bit! I must be just more than slightly paranoid about it! I've never been that brave about getting my legs out, so anything that might help can't hurt to try I guess!

Divine legs is basically a tinted body lotion. It's quite light and goes on easily. You really just need one pump for each leg. It does look a little frightening (read: very dark brown) when you pump it out to begin with but it spreads easily over the legs and just leaves you with quite a subtle and shimmering tint of colour. It has the classic Caudalie smell, the same as the divine oil, which is nice, it doesn't have the usual fake tannish smell either so that helps! It's meant to suit all skin tones as well, bonus! The other exciting thing about this lotion is it is also meant to encourage your skin's natural tanning process, so I was impressed with that, nice to know it does more!

With it being such a lovely sunny week here in Scotland, I have braved bare legs a few times. I've popped this on in the morning and it looks really nice and did seem to last all day. I've put in on the rest of my body as well, so it's not just for legs! All I would say is, this clings to your hands when you put it on, same as most tanning products I guess, but make sure you wash your hands after putting it on! It's great that this product does just wash off with water as well, so you can use it when it suits and get rid of it when it doesn't! Overall I'm really impressed and I think I might need to get more into the habit of using something for tanning, rather than just waiting until I head somewhere on holiday! It looks nice on your dresser in it's nice glass bottle too! This sells for around £26 so it might be a bit of an investment, but you do need so little it should last well!

Birchbox June 2014 Global Strikers

Ok. So I know I'm running super behind with everything. Life's been getting in the way I guess. But with today off, I thought I'd try and use it to get all caught up. So be prepared for several posts today probably! 

First up, it's June's Birchbox. This came when it was world cup time in Brazil and it was celebrating some amazing global beauty brands. My box included products based on Brazil, some from France and some from America. So let's have a nosy!

France

Yves Rocher - Sheer Botanical Lipstick £9.90

This product is a sheer colour lipstick. It contains cherry oil and is very moisturising on the lips. It gives a very sheer wash of colour and I really like the packaging too. It's actually a really nice product and I'm comfortable with the lighter colour effect since I'm not really used to wearing lipstick anyway. 

Brazil Inspired

Birchbox Keyring

A cute wee extra. Might be handy for my new house keys! 

United States

Coola - Classic Face SPF30 Cucumber £26

Suncream for your face. And it smells like cucumber. Nice. It's been a handy sample size to have, especially since it's been so damn hot this last week. But there's no chance I'd be shelling out £26 for the full size. Nope.

Brazil Inspired

OPI Nail Polish - Full Size £11.95

This is a polish from OPI's Brazil collection that came out earlier this year. From what I can see I got the colour called 'Where did Suzi's Man-go'. This is a orange polish, not something I've really owned before and I would be unlikely to pick up at the beauty supply. But still, it's a nice summery colour and I'm sure I'll get it used up!

France

Caudalie - Divine Oil £18

Now, I've had this same sample size of this product before in another box at some point. And I've still not used all of it up! This is a oil that can be used on the face, body or hair to help hydrate. I've tried it in my hair, but I find that even a very small amount in the ends makes them look a little greasy, so I've preffered to use it on my face just before I go to bed. It's a nice product and has a nice spa like scent. It just seems to be taking me ages to get through! I would think if you used it on the body it would go quicker though, I might pop it in the spray bottle to use after the shower and see how that goes.

United States

Beautyblender and Blendercleanser Solid £16

Now this product is quite a cult one. And all us subscribers were very happy to be getting one on our boxes in June. I've seen this spoken about on many blogs and youtube beauty gurus seem impressed by it's ability to help apply your makeup and blend products flawlessly. I was keen to get trying it. And I was impressed it came with the cleanser to keep it clean as well, this stuff is great for cleaning brushes too by the way. I'm still not sure what I think of the blender though. I feel it does help blending everything into the skin well. it's just a bit of a faff because you need to wet it first. I'll keep trying to get used to it though, it's a good find.

I really liked June's box. Everything is useable and will get used so I always appreciate that. It was nice to have a different coloured bag everything came in too, I love putting stuff in those for when I go on holiday!

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!

Birchbox March 2014 Review

So, welcome to March's Birchbox! This month was a collaboration edition with Lulu Guinness, so she had chosen two picks in the box so I'll you see those later on! I have to say, I was a little disappointed at the box design itself. I was kind of expecting a stripey box that would stand out from the normal birchboxes. But it was simply the usual box with a sleeve around it. I wanted a funky box I guess. But hey ho, time to look at the products inside!

Dr Brandt Pores No More Refiner - Full Size £39

So this product is meant to minimise pores and absorb excess oil. You pop it on before makeup and it should help makeup apply smoother as well basically. It is quite smoothing I found, but for the price there are plenty more primers out there that do a similar job.

Aroma Works Nurture Body Oil - Full Size £32.50

This oil is applied just after you come out the bath or shower and is meant to nourish your skin and leave you smelling nice. I felt it smelled mostly of verbena and lemon which was quite pleasant. I did use all the product up and it was nice to treat my skin to oil on occasion, but I definitely don't like oil enough to invest in the full price of this one!

Cellu-Cup - £16

First thought when I saw this item was pretty much 'what the frack?!', it's rather odd. It's designed to help fight cellulite basically, and is used on soapy wet skin or after applying oil. You basically slide it back and forth over the area you are wanting to treat. Now, in all honesty, I have not yet tried this product. It seems so random. But, having booked a holiday this week, I guess trying anything to fight cellulite is worth at least a few tries. My other half has already raised his eyebrow at this tho! I'll be keeping it in the handy wee bag anyway, it's just so odd looking! But hopefully it might help!

Candy Rock

This was one of Lulu's picks. Her newest collection apparently took inspiration from this kind of design in rock. Fair enough, not that exciting, but I'll certainly get it eaten. No bother.

English Laundry No.7 for Her - Full Size £47

Now, if you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you'll know I detest perfume samples or sachets of things. If I can ask for one for no cost in a department store or Boots, then I don't feel it's a good item to get in a beauty box I pay for. Basically. Every time I review my box on the birchbox site I comment on this as well, but still, here's another one. This one is very vanilla scented, not really my kind of fragrance I have to say. Far too sweet. It's nice to try new scents I agree, but if I really wanted to do that, I'd go and hit Boots.

Benefit Stay Don't Stray - Full Size £20.50

Finally, onto the other of Lulu's picks in this box. This is Benefit eye primer called Stay Don't Stray. It can be put on your eyelid as well as under the eye to help any concealer stay in place. I've been using this since I got it and it's been pretty decent so far. I normally use Urban Decays Primer Potion and this is certainly close to as good as that. It is helpful it comes with an applicator so you can limit how much product you use, and I guess you might get more out of the bottle than you could with the potion. It certainly does it's job, but if my primer potion is still cheaper than this, I won't be swapping over as yet.

So there you have it. March's collab box. I have to say, out of the items in this one, I will use everything, but I really only like 2 products (candy doesn't count!). Above you can see everything else that came with the box, a voucher to try Benefit's 'gimme brow' at a benefit counter, the usual insert card, the box covering and a booklet of 'Life Lessons as told by Lulu Guinness'. I have to say I didn't really learn anything by reading it other than things about her new collection and that she likes red lipstick. Fair enough, onto April!

Birchbox February 2014 Review

 

Birchbox were quick off the mark this month, boxes out in great time, love receiving it quickly! This months theme was London Fashion Week and We Love Your Style and it's showcased a lot of products to help you look fab and survive a hectic week! As usual, birchbox were doing pretty great this month, so let's get onto the products!

 

Eyeko - Skinny Liquid Eyeliner £12

 

 

I've used this product before, but not in black, but olive green. I tested it out on dress down Friday just passed at my work, and even over a very strong silver eyeshadow it went on well and lasted all through my shift without budging. It did look a little worse for wear later in the evening, but otherwise, all good and I'm pretty impressed with this one.

 

Beauty Protector - Protect & Oil £16

 

 

This was pretty hard to photograph, but hey! It's a small bottle of hair oil. You put a few drops onto damp hair and it'll help smooth and protect against UV rays, heat and breakage. Not half bad. I love the smell of it. It's just lovely, and I can smell it all day too. It has made a difference to the feel of my hair as well, it seems a lot smoother. Only small thing that annoyed me about this was the fact that it doesn't have a pump (the full size might though I guess), which means that sometimes I was getting too much oil out from it, but otherwise, I do really like it.

 

Janjira - Argan Oil Concentrate Serum £48

 

 

Serums have become a stable in my morning skincare routine now, so I do actually like trying new ones. This one so far has been lovely feeling on my skin, it smells ok but I've yet to see if it'll make any difference in my skin. It's meant to be youth boosting and plump up the skin, this still remains to be seen! But either way, no chance would I be paying the full price for this. Holy moly.

 

Green & Blacks - Dark Chocolate £2.29

 

 

Nom Nom. That is all.

 

Gilchrist & Soames - The London Collection Shower Gel £13.75

 

 

Standard showergel sample again, but this one smells pretty yummy so they're almost forgiven. It wakes you up nicely in your morning shower and it has left my skin feeling really soft today, so wahey!

 

Leighton Denny - Nail Colour £11

 

 

Yey a nail polish! by now you all know I love me some nail polish. Just a tad. Honest. I'm not the biggest fan of Leighton Denny, but it's a nice dark silver colour and probably worth a shot. I feel like I already have a colour very like this in my stash though, so I'll have to compare and keep the best one! I'll let you know how I get on!

 

Now, I really can't wait until the march Birchbox. Apparently, Birchbox have partnered with Lulu Guinness for this one, so that's really exciting! Hopefully it'll look gorgeous as well! I'm looking forward to reviewing it anyway!

Birchbox January 2014 Review

 

So! It's a new year, a new start with the Beautyboxes! This year, I've decided I'm just going to be loyal to Birchbox, I'm using up my Glossydots to get one last Glossybox, but then I'll be saving my money and just treating myself to one box a month. So, January clearly was a box I was looking forward to, hoping I made the right choice! The theme for the January box was Tiny Tweaks. I quite like this thought. Just to make little changes at a time and over time they'll begin to make a bigger difference. The box also came with a wee book showing some ideas for this, as well as suggestions of use of the products in the box.

 

 

I've still to have a good read through the booklet, but it does sound like a good idea anyway! The only thing I found odd about this box, was that it didn't have the usual Birchbox little bag which the products usually come in, everything was in tissue paper instead. I quite like these wee bags, so I kinda missed it!

 

 

Benefit - The Porefessional (Full Size £24.50)



 

Well, a good old primer, and a cult one at that. I've had this in a box before as well as free with magazines and things, so I know I do like this product. It's a very smooth feeling primer and definitely smoothed out my pores, a very nice base for your foundation. I couldn't afford to invest in the full size so it's nice to try it still.

 

Philip Kingsley - Moisture Balancing Conditioner (Full Size £18)

 

Ahh, I do love a good conditioner. I would never normally stretch to this price for a conditioner, but it's a really lovely product. It doesn't have a strong scent at all, but it did make my hair nice and smooth and it felt really healthy, so it's a nice treat.

 

Rodial - Glamtox Night (Full Size £75)

 

Now, if I was worried about the price of the items I've already looked at, this one's price would probably make me pass out. It's safe to say, I doubt I'll be ever ever be buying the full size of this product! That said, it is gorgeous. It smells amazing. I've used it every other night since I got it and in the morning I really feel like my skin has improved. If you can get your hands on this, I would.

 

Itsu - Miso Soup (3 sachets for £2.25)

Whoopsie. For some reason I forgot to take a photo of this. And then I ate it. (you can see it in the first pic tho!) It was a little sachet type thing of miso paste. You add hot water to it and stir and it makes a very low calorie soup for lunch or a snack. I'm sure it was around 42 calories for the whole lot. Pretty good if you're trying to cut back (which I should be!) but I don't know if I would pay this much for only 3 sachets.

 

Vasanti - Detox Nutrient-Rich Purifying Facial Cleanser (Full Size £18)

 

This is a lovely wee face wash designed to wash away toxins and all traces of makeup. I've used it just the once and so far all good. It foams up once you pop in on a damp face it does leave me feeling pretty fresh faced I guess! It's a shame its in a odd bottle that you can't squeeze and you just have to pour it out, so you might get more than you need but otherwise, it's a perfectly nice face wash!

 

Premae - Anatomy Nutrients Instant Renewal Body Oil (Full Size £9.50)

 

This is an after shower moisturiser oil. Just after a bath or shower you spritz this on to get all your moisturiser done in one go! Nice when you're in a hurry! It smells quite spa like and is really easy to use and not too pricey so yey!

 

Overall, a very decent January box and full of things I can and will actually use. Hoping the good Birchboxes continue anyway!

 

 

 

 

Birchbox December 2013 Review

 

 

Another Christmas Beautybox offering. Hooray for Birchbox! They have the right idea anyway, something useful, and something sparkly! Only thing that's remotely annoyed me: new subscribers were given a bracelet from Baublebar. As existing subscribers we were given a $20 gift voucher to use on their website. Great, but hey, shipping costs more than the item I wanted to buy. Pointless. But still. Everything else wasn't too bad. Let's have a nosy at the items then!

 

 

yey! Aromatherapy Associates Revive Oil. Happy to this in a box. You can get this kind of thing in a gift set for like £10, so already I've almost made all my money back on this one product. That's what I like to see. And it's a great product, I like to put some on before I get in the shower then as you wash the essential oils seep out and smell divine and wake you up. I've been using it sparingly, but I love it.

 

 

Non-Aerosol Hairspray from No 4. Much better for the environment and it still keeps your hair in place. Great stuff! I used this mostly when I have curly hair and it helps keep the curl without being crunchy so a lovely product. But can't say I could afford the £19 price tag for the full size!

 

 

Classic Twistband, I have had these in a box from Birchbox before. They are really handy and don't crinkle your hair the same as regular hair bands. Another for my stash!

 

 

Party Girl Serum by Sin-Care. This is an expensive Serum (£46!) that helps brighten skin after too many parties. It's certainly nice, and goes on well before my moisturiser. But no way am I paying that price tag!

 

 

Sparkly Eyeshadow from Alima Pure. Love this over other colours at the moment. I have been applying a dark colour or even just a winged black liner, then gently patting this on the top and it just adds that little bit of sparkle that makes my day better. Subtle but sparkly.

 

 

Talking of sparkly. Wowza this is sparkly. You apply two coats of the polish then when it's still wet push your nail into the glitter pot then brush off the excess with a makeup brush. Its very glittery. Only thing I don't like is you can't really apply a top coat after so I tend to find the glitter falls off fairly easily and I wouldn't think this would last more than 2 days max. I only wore it for one evening at time. Good for an accent nail so it's easy to change I would say.

 

December Birchbox is definitely more up my street anyway. Glitter is what every gal wants for Christmas right?! (well, me anyway!)