Stars and Stripes - Glossybox July 2014 Review

Yup. I got sucked in. I had acutally managed to unsubscribe from Glossybox for around 2 months, and then I saw the reviews for this box. I had to get one. To be honest, it was mostly for one of the products only, but everything else was pretty decent too. It seemed good value this month. So, yup. I subscribed again. This month's theme comes from it being the 4th of July celebrations, so everything was famous American brands and the box was pretty awesome too.

Literally, Stars on the top, and stripes on the bottom. I loved the design. In our attempt to cut out having extra stuff though, I had to give it up for recycling which I was a little sad about. But hey, I got to keep the contents of course!

Carmex Lip Balm

Starting with a classic. Carmex. This is a good lip balm, really moisturising, Ive had lots of their products before and they never really disappoint so this is defo useful and I'm glad I've got it.

Bellapierre Cosmetics Ltd Mineral Lipstick

Super orangey red. This will take some bravery on my part to wear this. It has natual mineral pigments in it and it has a nice formula. One day I might be brave enough to wear this, but I'll have to have lost more weight than I have so far before I feel confident enough! (yup, I've started a good eating plan, if you fancy a few food posts and weigh in updates, let me know!). 

Absolute New York Prefecting Eyeshadow Primer

An oil free primer, this helps even out skin tone and locks in eyeshadow. So far, this seems pretty decent. It's not as great as my usual Benefit or Urban Decay Primers, but it beats the Rimmel one hands down. So, value for money wise, this one wins. But I'll probably keep investing in my other ones, I don't mind paying a tad extra for something that really works.

Color Club Exclusive Nail Polish In Glossy Seal

Two pictures here, because I struggled to get this in the right light to show the colour! I love color club polishes and have many in the ol' collection and it's funky that this was an exclusive colour for Glossybox. It's a fun darkish blue, and quite different from any others I have, so I'll no doubt get using this at some stage.

Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes Mascara

Now this, Ladies and Gentleman, is why I was sucked into getting this box. I have heard so much about Tarte products through the lovely vloggers on youtube, and I've been dying to try it. And also the higher impact one called Lights, Camera, Flashes. I frigging love this. It really makes lashes look amazing. And it lasts. I will be saving for a full size of this (or the other one if I can get my paws on it!). And they sell it on QVC, so I'll keep my eye on that!

I was well impressed with the box, I knew I would be! I was just praying I got the mascara the whole time! I've now unsubscribed from Glossybox again, but I timed it wrong so I'm still getting the August box, so we'll see how that goes. I'm trying to save with all this house moving happening soon, so I'll try and just keep one box going at a time where possible. I think I might stick to waiting for reviews to come out, then buying it if it's worth it, like I did here. 

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!

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!

Empties - February 2014

So, I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon and get on with this empties malarkey! I love watching these videos on YouTube, so I thought I would do one every so often on the blog to show you guys what products I've been loving just that much that I've used them up totally! Let's face it, essentially this is a post about my rubbish. But hey, it might be interesting! Only a few products this month that were worth showing here, so I'll need to collect more for next time I guess! So, let's get a start on the products! Apologises in advance for the pictures, they were slightly rushed!

 

Lush - Snow Fairy Showergel/Shampoo

 

 

It's official, I am addicted to this stuff. Every time Christmas comes around, I hit Lush to treat myself to this beauty. I've been buying it for years anyway! It does take me a while to get through a bottle, mostly because I like to actually use this as a shampoo. It used to state on the bottle that it was a showergel/shampoo but there's no mention on this more recent packaging. But still, I love to use it on my hair. It makes it smell like candy floss. What's not to like? I find the scent lingers on my hair as well, more so than it does if I were to just use it as a shower gel anyhoo. Top product, more to come as soon as I can buy it again I would think!

 

Givenchy - Noir Couture Mascara Sample

 

 

I recently discovered this again, after getting it a Glossybox a while back and never using it. Just decided I would try and get it used up! It's got a weird wand with different sections on it and I found that this helped with volume on my lashes. It did begin to flake a little by the end of the day, but it did make my lashes look good all of my working day, so I stuck it out and got it used up. I would never pay the full price for this whatsoever though, so although it was a decent mascara, I have cheaper ones that do the same really.

 

Macadamia - Nourishing Leave in Cream

 

 

This is a leave in texturizing cream from macadamia. This means mostly that it smells insanely yummy. Like most macadamia products really! I used this on days I wasn't going to straighten my hair, so it would help give my curls texture and help them last a little longer. Since this ran out I've switched to a tigi product for my curls and they are both performing similarly so I'll maybe investigate if I can find a cheaper alternative when that runs out. I only tend to wear my hair curly on my 2 days off a week, so it will take me some time to get through my current product, but cheaper is what I'll look for next! Well, why not?

 

Urban Decay - All Nighter Make Up Setting Spray

 

 

Now, this product has taken me forever to use up. I honestly cannot remember when I bought it originally. It took me some time to start using it every day, I literally used to save it for nights out so it would help my makeup last all night, rather than using it to help it last all day as well. But hooray for youtubers using it in tutorials and I swapped to using it every day. I think it does help my make up last that bit longer, and I notice less creasing etc with my eyeshadows than I do when I've not used the spray. Really good product, I would buy again if I could afford to do so and now Urban Decay have lots of different versions of this spray so I'll need to investigate which one will suit me best first. At the moment I've done my usual and swapped to a cheaper alternative for now to see how it works for me. I couldn't really argue paying £3 for a similar product from MUA. Worth a shot I say!

 

That's it then! I hope this is actually interesting to you guys, please let me know if you want to see these posts more regularly and I'll do my best to remember and save my empty products to show off!

 

Glossybox February 2014 Review

So, time for the February Glossybox! What a cheesy box print we had this month, but as much as it pains me, I am actually fairly impressed with this months box. Uhoh. The theme was 'Be Mine' so I'm guessing this is rather obviously directed at Valentines day! Much happier the box came earlier in the month this month as well and I've actually got my review done on the same day I received the box! Go me! It does mean that I can't really comment on the products as I have only had a little test though, but anyhoo! Onto the products!

 

Eldora - False Eyelashes £3.90

 

 

I really need to be able to put on false eyelashes. I discovered today that I have more than 10 sets of lashes (all from previous beauty boxes) but I never wear them. Mostly, because I just can't put them on. I sense a lot of youtube tutorial watching coming up! This pair look nice, so I'll try and give them a shot this coming Saturday night.

 

Nought London - Sparkling Body Shimmer £14

 

 

This is basically a cream with a slight shimmer in it. It's fragrance is cherry blossom and it does smell pretty yummy! The shimmer is very subtle and pretty so again, I'll be trying that out properly for next Saturday night, yey!

 

Lindt - Lindor Treat Bar 79p

 

 

I can't believe I actually managed to get a photo of this. It was gobbled up pretty quickly to be honest!! Damn tasty.

 

Giovanni Eco Chic Cosmetics - Ultra Sleek Range from £7.99

 

 

Ok , I'm not gonna deny that getting samples is pretty annoying. But to be honest, for once I'm glad it's hair stuff and not more frigging moisturiser or serum or something. And these look interesting at least. I got the ultra sleek range, handy since I almost always straighten my hair, and it comes with a shampoo, conditioner and a leave in conditioner so a good selection to try. I'll try these out next week!

 

Maybelline New York - Color Sensational Stripped Nudes Lipstick £6.99

 

 

I'm a sucker for nice packaging (ha!) so this lipstick caught my eye before I even saw the colour. Whoops. This is the nudes collection so this is very different from anything I might normally pick up. I have swatched it quickly on the back of my hand and it's definitely a really nude shade (it was called coffee I think) and only has a subtle colour pay off. I'm looking forward to wearing this properly tomorrow, might as well give it a go! I've decided to try and wear lipstick more often so it looks more normal on me, at the moment my other half looks at me strangely when I wear it, because it's so rare I ever do, even though I have a good selection! Must try harder with this!

 

Ciate London - Paint Pot £9

 

 

Wahey again! I love me some Ciate polish! Again, this isn't a colour I would normally gravitate towards, so it's nice to have a change. This very red colour is called 'Cocktail Dress' and it's fully opaque in two coats. I reckon this will be saved for my toes in the summer months! It's very rare for me to wear red on my nails, but I might give a shot with some extra designs over it, I might manage to use this some!

 

Well, like I said at the start, annoyingly, I actually liked this box. Are Glossybox trying to make a come back? I still feel overall that Birchbox are winning here, but this month Glossybox made a much better attempt than normal and it has left me debating again over keeping my subscription going or not. I think it depends how many glossydots (reward points) I have left. We shall see!

Glossybox January 2014 Review

 

New Year, new Glossybox? So apparently the box was redesigned this month...

 

 

 

so, yea. It's pretty much the same. The box was more shiny and there was a different ribbon. Bout all I noticed anyway! Nothing desperately exciting! This was meant to be my last Glossybox but since hearing we're meant to be getting a Ciate polish in the Valentine's one, I'm hanging on for February, then I need to start saving money so it really has to go! Plus they seem to charge you for them really quickly at the moment, like they charged for the Febraury box on the like the 5th, before I really had to chance to decide what I was going to do! But if I get a Ciate, that at least softens the blow I guess. Anyhoo, let's get onto January's box. Well, again, I just wasn't overly impressed. Let's see how.

 



 Yu-Be Moisturising Skin Cream: Full size £13.50

 

This, I've definatley tried in a box before and was never really bothered by it then either. It's meant to revamp your skin and protect it from the elements. It's trying to be the 8 hour cream I think. And it just doesn't get there. Handy size for the handbag to help with dry patches, but otherwise, I'm just not bothered!

 

Balance Me Super Toning Body Wash: Full Size £10.25

 

 

I dunno what it is with Glossybox and balance me products. But, generally, I've had enough of receiving them. They are always very floral smelling (bleurgh!) and they just don't entice me at all. I would never pay the full price for any of their products at all. I appreciate that their organic and natural products, but still! Give us something different rather than a shower gel I'll end up saving to take travelling!

 

Vintage Cosmetics Company Floral Tweezers : £8

 

 

Awww. Cute. But at the end of the day? It's just a pair of tweezers. They do work well, and they look pretty, but they do seem expensive for basic tweezers with a pattern.

 

Vaseline Essential Moisture Lotion: Full Size £4.99

 

 

Vaseline Lotion. I can easily pick this up in Boots. Which makes it less exciting really. This has pure oat extract in it, which means it smells rather odd. Not unpleasant but kinda odd. It does the job and is a good moisturiser, just not overly exciting I guess. If I'd wanted to try this I probably would have bought it already myself.

 

Anatomicals Puffy the Eye Bag Slayer Wake-Up Under Eye Patches: Full Size £6 for 3

 

 

Now, I do love me almost anything from Anatomicals. Mostly because of their names and the blurb on the products that makes you laugh. I've used these previously so I did actually appreciate getting more of the them. They generally revitalise your eye area and are cooling as well. Lovely stuff. So, all in all a bit of a miss mash this month, some good and some annoyingly familiar. I must be picky that I just want to see something I couldn't find down the shops, or to try something I might normally be able to afford and these days I feel Glossybox is going more high street and there's just less of that! Here's hoping the valentines box is good anyway, I'll aim to get the post up quicker this time I promise!

 

 

 





 

 

Glossybox December 2013 Review

 

Again, this month I was looking forward to a little Christmas Cheer and a slight improvement on Glossybox's part. Again, I'm not sure I'm convinced. In the past, boxes at Christmas are just more special, with some glitter and sparkle and exciting products you felt made you feel rewarded for just being a customer. But instead, this is what Glossybox offered in Decembers box.

 

 

This is without a doubt the single most random item I have ever received in a beauty box. Well, as far as I remember. If I needed a razor I would have gone out and bought one. Not something I can say I expected to get in this method. It's one that you only need water to use so it will be handy to use on holiday perhaps, but not much else really. This took up much of the box space and I would rather have had more make up than this to be honest.

 

 

And... they're back up to their old tricks. Samples of moisturiser. The actual product by Yin Yang Skincare is £20 for the full size. No thanks. The smell really put me off this stuff and I couldn't even finish one of the samples. I'm guessing I could have picked up these samples on a magazine page or in boots. Let's have a change please Glossybox!

 

 

Nude lip gloss by Beautiful Movements Cosmetics. Worth £12. Fairly standard lip gloss, and as a girly that doesn't really ever reach for lip gloss, I'm guessing this product will get passed onto someone who loves this kind of thing. More not for me.

 

 

Ahh, more comfortable now we have some nail polish haha. This is by Seche and I got the colour Irrestible, a very deep red with pinky undertones. It could be safe in one coat, I do like Seche polish, but this is not a colour I am ever really attracted to. Into the for sale pile this goes.

 

 

Finally, we have the smoky eyes colossal mascara from Maybelline. A lot of bloggers rave about some Maybelline mascaras so I was a little curious as to how this one would fare. It's meant to have black Kohl in it to make it more intense black colour. But I didn't find it amazing in anyway really. I needed at least 3 coats to get a black I was happy with, whereas my regular mascara only takes two. I'll use it up, but not something I would buy myself.

 

So, maybe I set my expectations too high. I maybe should have looked at recent Glossyboxes rather than thinking of the previous Christmas ones that were awesome. I was hoping Glossy would take from their previous awesome Christmas boxes, but nope. I have to say, I've now spent all my Glossydots on the January box, so I can then cancel my subscription after that. I've had Glossybox for years now but recently, I just don't feel it's worth it. I'd rather keep the money and hit Boots!