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. 

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!

Tara's Talons Luxury Cruise Nail Polish Review

Well today, we have more polish! Yey I hear me say! This is another lovely creation from Tara over at The Tara Emporium. This polish is a lovely silver with a blue tinge. I thought it also had a very subtle holo effect, which I just loved, it looked fabby under lights and in the sun! It was hard to capture on camera annoyingly though, but keep an eye out!

This is two coats of Luxury Cruise with an accent nail of Mentality Scalawag. I thought these went well together due to the tinge of blue, and again another subtle holo effect.

Then, not being one to leave a good mani alone, I hit it up with some different stamping effects. I decided to tone this together with a sea or water theme. I used the moyou london sailor plate for these images. I wore this for 4 days without any chipping, really great long lasting polish!

I like the subtle sea effect here and I felt that it really tied the two colours together well. Luxury Cruise is a great colour and very different from other silvers I have in my collection! Please feel free to head over to check out all the lovely Tarastalons polishes and the other amazing treats Tara is creating! She's also on Instagram (@thetaraemporium) and Facebook and always posting new polishes I want to buy! Next one I'm after has to be her gorgeous holo top coat! I can't resist me a good holo in general! Hope you guys have a good week! See you soon!

*this polish was sent to me for my honest review

Tara's Talons - Scrumping Nail Polish Review

 

Finally, we're back to the things I love! Oh yup, it's nail polish! This little cutie is called 'Scrumping' and it's made by the lovely Tara from Tara's Talons and The Tara Emporium. Tara's Talons is the longest running UK indie nail polish brand and I just love all her creations! There's such a selection to look through and I like the fact you can get them in bigger or smaller bottle sized options as well, means I can buy more I guess? hehe. Anyway! onto this little polish first of all!

I decided for this mani to use another polish underneath Scrumping, just to help really bring out the glitter as well as saving polish I guess! The picture at the top of the post (nail wheel) shows 2 coats of Scrumping on it's own, and this one is one coat of NYC Foil polish in Magic Earth, topped with 1 coat of Scrumping. I thought this colour really complimented Scrumping, and it really brought out the glitter. Scrumping is a light green polish with glitter fragments in red, light green, dark green and tiny gold glitter as well. it really reminded me of leaves for some reason, so I decided to stamp some on it too!

I used the Moyou London Mother Nature plate to do the leaves and I love how subtle they came out, just felt it added something different too! 

I really like how this mani turned out, what do you guys think? I've posted very little about nails so far because I'm so nervous around my pictures! I need to work on getting them perfect still, but I hope they let you see how lovely this polish is! I've got another review of another Tara's talons polish coming up this week as well, so hopefully I'll see you again for that! Please head on over to visit Tara's store online as well and check out her awesome selection of polish! She does custom polish as well, so there's so many options! And recently she's started selling cute midi rings and lovely soap and hand care products as well, so there's a lot to see! I certainly love the polish, so I'm sure anything else will be funky as well! Tara's always popping up pics of her lovely creations on instagram (@thetaraemporium) and Facebook as well, so head over for nosy if you fancy! See you guys later on!

*this polish was sent to me for my honest review

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!

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 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!)