July Empties

I've managed to get through another bumper crop of empties this month, with some of them being more successful than others!

I've been on a bit of a body lotion rampage and managed to get through three samples in July. The Bee Kind lotion had a slightly lemony/honeyish scent to it that I really liked, but I found that it didn't really sink into my skin very well. I really loved the Naobay and Whish lotions though. The Naobay had a lemon scent which is great for this time of year, and the Whish was a lavender scented lotion which I expected to hate but actually really loved! Both of these were great for my skin and sank in really nicely.

This sample of Glamglow's Supermud Clearing Treatment lasted for 3 or 4 applications and did a really good job of cleansing my skin. Unfortunately I can't really afford the full size, but if you fancy a splurge I'd say it's worth it! I've been using the Blanc Cachemire moisturiser for a while now but I found that it really didn't work well with my make up. It made my skin quite greasy so I was really glad to finish it up! I didn't really get on well with the L'occitane Repairing shampoo and conditioner either. They irritated my scalp and made my hair greasier than normal.

I was really sad to finish up my sample tube of Lancome's Hypnose Drama mascara. It's been my favourite mascara for a really long time so I decided to bite the bullet and splash out on a full size tube. I'm really glad I did because I absolutely love it! I also finished up one of my many samples of the Porefessional. I'm using this every day at the moment so once all of my samples have run out I might end up buying a full size tube.

I've also made headway through my massive shower gel collection! This Dove shower gel was the last of the christmas smellies! It's a really nice nourishing shower gel, just what you'd expect from Dove really. The Anatomicals shower gel was from a previous Love Me Beauty box and even though rose isn't really my kind of scent, I actually really liked this shower gel. I probably wouldn't repurchase it, but it made a nice change from my usual fruity showers!

What did you use up this month? Have you tried any of my empties?

Love Me Beauty - July 2014

Love Me Beauty are obviously taking steps to try and improve after thier recent boxes, but unfortunately I feel that the July box is still a bit disappointing, which has prompted me to cancel my subscription.

Twenty bags of tea! I know that not everyone doesn't like tea, but for the people out there like me who have no use for it whatsoever, it's a bit disappointing to see one of the main items in the box be tea. I can rehome it so it won't be going to waste, but still a disappointing start.

So Susan is one of those brands I'm a bit 'meh' about. The contouring kit that I received from them in the June Glossybox felt very cheap, but I really like the look of this mascara. The packaging is adorable and the wand seems fairly sturdy.

But, then we get onto the eyebrow kit. Back to the same cheap feeling packaging and useless tiny brush. This will be rehomed as I'm pretty sure both of the shades included are too dark for me.

Ofra isn't a brand I've heard of, and we received two products from them in this month's box too. I went for the box option that contained the lip gloss but I won't be using it. It's a very bright girly pink that I'm sure some people will love but it's just not really my sort of thing.

I much prefer this product from Ofra, this eyeshadow is absolutely gorgeous and the packaging is brilliant. The eyeshadow pops up to reveal a mirror concealed underneath. Very cute, and the shade itself is a gorgeous shimmery gold.

Finally we have this sample of the Lashem eyelash and brow serum. This is supposed to enhance the growth of your lashes and brows, but I'm already lucky enough to have quite long lashes, and don't really fancy overgrown eyebrows.

Overall, some items I really like, and some that I really don't. I used to really enjoy Love Me Beauty and get really excited when it was time to pick out my box, but the quality of the products included has gone downhill and I'm just not as impressed with the boxes as I used to be. I'm sure lots of people will have loved this month's box and I'm sorry for this to be such a whingy post! I'll still keep an eye on the boutique to see what comes out and if there's a particular box that I really like the look of then I might resubscribe, but for now I'm sticking with Birchbox!

What did you think to the July Love Me Beauty box?

Glossybox - July 2014

This box is the last one from my 3 month subscription to Glossybox, and I'm quite glad it's come to the end of it's run! I won't be renewing, out of the three boxes I've received this one was definitely the best, but I was really not impressed by the others.

The July box promised four full-sized products, all from American brands. I love the design of the box, with the stars and stripes!

I love me a nail polish, so I was pretty chuffed to see I'd gotten a box with a full-size Color Club polish. It's not a particularly summery colour, but it fits with the theme of the box really well and I love blue polishes so I didn't mind!

I'd never tried Carmex before, but I am a total lip balm hoarder so I tried this straight away thinking I would love it. Unfortunately it's one of those tingly lip products so I wiped it off more or less straight away and binned it. Bit of a disappointment!

Besides the Carmex, this is the only other product in the box that won't get used. I don't tend to use eyeshadow primers unless I'm going out and doing a bigger eyeshadow look than I would during the day. I shall be looking to rehome this with someone!

I hadn't heard of Mary Kay before, but I love trying new mascaras, and I was pleased to see that this had a thinner plastic wand. I find these much easier to use than bigger bristley wands, and having tried this out it definitely gives my eyelashes volume and definition. I'm pretty impressed with it overall.

The final item in the box that I think most people were super excited about was the Bellapierre lipstick. There were three different shades going out in the boxes (pink, orange and red), and I landed the pink. It has a very creamy formula and felt quite comfortable when I tried it on, but I didn't wear it for an extended period of time so I'm not sure what it would be like for day to day wear.

As I said before, this is the best box I have had from Glossybox since taking out my three month subscription. There was a really nice selection of brands and different types of make up in the box, I just feel like Glossybox have lost their touch compared to other beauty box companies. 

What did you think to this month's box?

You Beauty Discovery Box - July

I know I say this every month, but I just love You Beauty! I'm always excited to see what will be on the menu, and I've never been disappointed yet. This month's theme was summer holidays and travelling, so lets see what I picked!

I can't believe how much was crammed into this tiny box! The extra samples were quite big this month, as well as fitting in a full-size mascara and two good sized bottles, I was chuffed when I opened this box up!

I chose the shampoo and conditioner duo from L'occitane as they're a brand I've been itching to try but have never gotten around to doing so. These are meant to be really good for repairing your hair, and contain lots of natural ingredients. They both smell quite herby!

I've heard a lot about this mascara and it's been on my wishlist for a while now, so I knew that I would have to get this in my box! I love the packaging and the cute name, I'm just curious to see whether it will live up to the hype!

 

A really good selection of samples this month, I know a lot of people were a bit confused by the inclusion of a mens shaving product from Dove, but its a good sized sample and I'm sure the husband will enjoy using it! I'm not a massive fan of the Agent Provocateur fragrance, its a little bit too heavy for me. The Egyptian Magic skin cream is quite interesting, I've not heard of it before. It's quite a small sachet but I'll try it out on my dry elbows to see if it helps!

Overall, impressive! £6.95 a month for this box is such a bargain, and its always a joy to receive. I love that its small enough to fit through my letterbox and that you get such a fantastic range of products to choose from consistently. 

Do you subscribe to You Beauty? What did you pick from this month's box?

Beauty Box Buys #2

 May was another great month for beauty boxes! Birchbox in particular did a fantastic job with their Harper's Bazaar collab, and You Beauty's theme of the CEW awards resulted in a great selection of products too. Here are my favourite products from each of the boxes I received this month.

Love Me Beauty    

I wasn't overwhelmed by the selection from Love Me Beauty this month, however there were a couple of items that I liked. The Raw Skincare lip balm in 'Rescue Me' has been a life saver at times this month. I suffer from dry lips and this balm has kept them moisturised and soft. It's also a total bargain at £2.98, and you can find it here. We also received these cute notebooks from Go Stationery. I am a bit of a stationery geek so I was pretty excited to get these in my box! The patterns are really cute and I will definitely get plenty of use out of these at work. Having a notebook handy is always a plus! You can find these cute notebooks in sets of three here for £5.

You Beauty Discovery  

This month I've totally fallen in love with the Glamglow Supermud Clearing Treatment that I was lucky enough to get my hands on when the menu went live! The mask is applied quite sparingly, and dries to be quite solid. I could really see it working on my pores and after rinsing it off my skin felt and looked incredibly clear and refreshed. It's an expensive one, but if you're feeling flush I really would recommend it! You can find it here for £39.99.

Birchbox 
 

Birchbox managed to entice me back into subscribing by producing (in my opinion) thier best box to date. It's been incredibly hard to pick just two favourites from the box, but I've just about managed it! Firstly, Benefit's 'They're Real!' mascara. This mascara really is amazing. It's not a product that's new to me, it's just a fantastic mascara and if you don't have or haven't tried it yet, get it! It's available here for £19.50. 

We also received a sample of the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser. I was intrigued to try this out after hearing so many bloggers rave about it, and it's definitely worth the hype. My skin feels so soft and clean after using this, it's definitely better than any other cleanser I've tried! You can find it here for £14.75.

Do you own any of these products already? Which are your favourites?

Birchbox - May 2014

I know I said that the April Birchbox was my last box, and I did unsubscribe, but then I saw the amazing things that everyone was getting in the special Harpers Bazaar collaboration box and I knew I was going to have to resubscribe!

I think you'll agree, a pretty impressive range of products! The item that really pushed me into subscribing again was the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish sample. I've heard so much about this from other bloggers that I just couldn't pass up the chance to give it a go! This came gorgeously wrapped up with a muslin cloth and instructions on how to use the product to get the most advantage from it, and I can't wait to give it a go!

Next up is this cute little bottle of bath and shower oil from Aromatherapy Associates. I've already had a bath with this and it smells divine. It's a gorgeous scent that definitely made me feel invigorated. I felt like it would probably be really nice to use if you have a cold, as it felt lovely when I breathed it in. The scent also lingered on my skin after my bath as well which was a nice bonus!

A couple of months back we received the Beauty Protector hair oil from Birchbox which I really loved, but unfortunately I knocked the bottle onto my bathroom floor and it smashed! Thankfully, the shampoo and conditioner in this months box are in plastic bottles so clumsy people like me don't waste them! I can't wait to give these a try, if they're anything like the hair oil then I'll love them.

I have been loving how much Benefit has been in the past few Birchboxes! I'm really pleased to add a sample of 'They're Real!' to my collection. This is a must-have mascara and I absolutely love it. It really does add volume and definition to your lashes, and if you haven't tried it yet, then you really need to! The only slight downside to it, is that it's notoriously difficult to remove.

 

This polish is absolutely gorgeous. I think this shade is called Cerise, and it's a lovely berry pink shade. I was super impressed with the application, the brush is a great size and the polish was incredibly easy to work with. It's also really high shine as you can see below, that's two coats without a top coat.

Birchbox have really blown me away this month. The April box was good, but this is even better! Obviously the boxes won't always maintain this standard, but I can't get over what a fabulous selection of products there is this month. Not only have you got make up, you've hair care and skin care, as well as a nail polish. I'm sure some people will be a bit grumpy about the lack of a lifestyle extra this month, but the fact that Birchbox have included both a shampoo and conditioner more than makes up for that for me! I'll be staying subscribed for a bit longer it seems...

Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win TheBalm's 'How 'bout Them Apples?' blush palette HERE!

Face of the Day #12

A couple of weekends ago, I was invited to my good friend Samantha's wedding reception. I haven't done a Face of the Day post in a while, so I decided to take a few quick pictures of the make up I chose for the evening!

I started by applying Rimmels matte BB cream. I find that this provides a great light coverage that still allows my freckles to be visible, but covers my blemishes. I usually apply this with a brush, as I find it easier to blend than with my fingers. It doesn't have a very creamy texture, it really is like a light foundation.

Over this I added one of my favourite blushes, Bourjois Rose de Jaspe. This is a lovely peachy pink which I find really brings out my blue eyes!  

On my eyes, I used the Iconic 3 palette from Makeup Revolution. At the moment this is my go-to palette. I love the range of shades, and how pigmented they are. It's great fun to use! I finished off my eyes with my favourite mascara, Lancome's Hypnose Drama. I find the wand of this mascara really easy to use, and it definitely gives me dramatic lashes!

Here's the finished look! What do you think? Do you have a go-to evening look?

Don't forget to enter my giveaway here to win TheBalm's How 'bout them Apples? palette!