Love Me Beauty Box - June 2014

After last month's Love Me Beauty box went off on a bit of a lifestyle tangent, I was interested to see where the June box would go. This month there seems to have been more of an emphasis on make up which I was happy to see, and I decided to go with option 3 (again).

To get the bad stuff out of the way first, I'm really disappointed with the shade of nail polish I received. I haven't tried any nail polishes from Nyx before, so I was pretty excited to see a shimmery gold colour pictured for option 3. However, it does say that colours may vary and unfortunately I've picked up a rather boring brown shade called 'Truffle'. I really don't like it, and I don't think I'll be able to rehome it easily.

With that out of the way, on to the good stuff! I received my second Montagne Jeunesse masque from a beauty box, this is a peel off formula with black seaweed. I have a lot of masques at the moment that have a 'clay' type formula that set on your face, so I'm intrigued to try a peel off one! I might be busting this out on Friday after work as a bit of a treat.

Initially, the colour of this lipstick from ModelCo really put me off. It looks so dark! But once applied, I actually really liked it. It feels quite creamy and comfortable on my lips and the mirror on the side is a really cute touch too!

I also received the Define-fx mascara from Beauty UK which is another brand I haven't tried before. The wand is exactly what I want from a mascara, not too big and unwieldy, with the smaller plastic bristles. I've had a quick go with this and it definitely defined my lashes, there was no clumping to be seen!

I also received my second Urban Veda sample for the month! This is the exfoliating version of the face wash I received from the You Beauty Discovery box. I absolutely loved that face wash, it left my skin so clean feeling and refreshed, so I'm pretty sure I'll love using this as well!

I think this was a birthday extra from Love Me Beauty, as I haven't filled out enough surveys to receive any extras yet. I like Jelly Pong Pong but I don't use eyeliners so I'll be giving this away, but a nice touch nonetheless.

I think Love me Beauty have redeemed themselves this month, I'm a little bit disappointed to only have a small sample of Urban Veda as they aren't an expensive brand and Love Me Beauty have always (in the past) provided bigger items in their boxes and that was what made me subscribe in the first place. The other items are full size though so I shouldn't really be complaining, but the value of the boxes have definitely gone down dramatically since I first started subscribing to Love Me Beauty.

What did you think to this month's box?

 

You Beauty Discovery Box - June 2014

You Beauty have outdone themselves again this month with another fab menu, with the theme being an introduction to summer. Here's what I picked!

I decided (after much deliberation) to go for the Urban Veda Daily Purifying Facial Wash and the L'oreal Paris Infallible 24 Hour Lip Colour in Timeless Rose. We also received a face mask from Montagne Jeunesse and a wash cloth.

I love seeing Urban Veda in beauty boxes, it's become one of my favourite brands! I've tried creams and face washes from them before and I'm always impressed. This is a face wash that I haven't tried before, but it feels like it will be a lovely product to use over the summer. It has a very refreshing scent, sort of minty.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this lip gloss but I just decided to give it a go. It's a double ended product, with gloss at one end and a sealing balm at the other. Whether the balm really does work for 24 hours, I dont know, but it certainly held up very well whilst eating and drinking and it's a gorgeous colour. The gloss feels very luxurious as well, not sticky or tacky.

The freebies! Having just gotten into face masks I was quite excited to see that we'd be getting one from Montagne Jeunesse. They're a brand I've heard a lot about but never tried, so I'm excited to try this out! The wash cloth has come in really handy, as I've been suffering rather a lot with hayfever at the moment so having a nice cloth to cool my itchy eyes has been a lifesaver!

I just can't get over how consistently good these boxes are. The range of products to choose from is always so wide, with quality brands to pick. For £6.95 a month, you really can't go wrong!

Do you subscribe to You Beauty? What did you pick this month?

Birchbox-February 2014

Birchbox have already made a massive improvement on last month by sending their February box out on time, and thankfully mine has arrive safe and sound! This month's theme is tied in with London Fashion Week, and is all about your own personal style.

First up is this small sample of Beauty Protector's new hair oil. This smells fantastic, and while I don't normally go for oils because my hair can naturally get quite greasy, I am intrigued by this. According to the card we received with the box, you only need 1-3 drops of this to work through damp hair or dry ends. It also provides protection from UV rays and heat. I had a quick go with this yesterday and it's definitely left my hair feeling super soft, and as of yet there have been no signs of greasiness.

We also received a skinny liquid eyeliner from Eyeko. The nib on this is very impressive, ultra slim and quite long compared to some felt eyeliners I've seen previously. There was also a handy eyeliner tutorial card included with the box which I love the idea of. I'm absolutely terrible at applying eyeliner so I'm definitely going to have a go using the cards tips!

 

Urban Veda is a brand that I have tried before and absolutely love, so I was really happy to see the Radiance Exfoliating Facial Polish in this box! It smells fantastic (although it probably won't be to everyone's tastes) and contains marigold, papaya and coriander. I can't wait to give this a go!

Next up we have this shower gel from Gilchrist and Soames. This also smells really good, and the scent is quite different in that it's not incredibly feminine. I usually expect shower gels from beauty boxes to be more 'lady-oriented' with florals and that sort of thing, so this was quite a pleasant surprise. According to the little info card thingy, this contains red tea, grape seed and milk thistle. Together, these combine to create a really relaxing scent.

I was really pleased to see a Leighton Denny nail polish in this box! This shade is called 'Message in a Bottle' and is a gorgeous dove grey with a metallic sheen. I'm really happy with this shade as I don't have anything similar in my collection, and the metallic element really livens up the grey. Here I've swatched it with two coats, and it's still quite pale. I think you'd probably need three coats to really boost the colour.

Finally as a little extra we received a mini bar of Green and Black's dark 70% chocolate. Dark chocolate isn't my favourite so this will be probably be eaten up by the husband, but what a cute little extra!

I am so much happier with Birchbox this month. I think we've received a great mix of beauty products with something for hair, skincare, bath and body, and make up. I'll definitely be staying subscribed for March, I can't wait to see what the Lulu Guinness collaboration will bring!