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?

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?

March Favourites

I haven't really bought a lot of beauty products this month, so my favourites are a bit sparse! It was my birthday on the 20th, and I mainly received books, dvds, and games for my new Nintendo 3DS. I'm not complaining, it's just meant that things on the beauty side haven't really featured much for me this month!

I've definitely been loving this Nip + Fab Viper Venom Eye Fix. You can see my full review here, and it has basically become a new daily staple. Not only does it feel super refreshing on application, it also visibly reduces my dark circles. I'm super pleased that I was introduced to this by Love Me Beauty this month! You can get the Nip + Fab Viper Venom Eye Fix for £14.95 here. 

Having finally finished up my Peaches and Clean face wash, I've been able to crack open this Urban Veda Radiance exfoliating facial polish. I really like Urban Veda, I've used their moisturisers before and loved them, so getting this sample in a recent Birchbox made me really happy! This face wash leaves my skin super smooth, and I really like the scent. It's quite floral but also a bit fruity, and quite hard to describe! If you've used their products before, no doubt you'll know what I mean. You can get it here for £8.99.

I've definitely been loving Benefit this month. The Porefessional has been tried and tested by me this month, and you can see how it did against Dr Brandt's Pore no More here. I know that a lot of people find the Porefessional to be a bit hit and miss, but I've found that it works really well for my skin, and I just absolutely love it. The Porefessional is available here for £24.50.

 I've also picked myself up a few extra Benefit goodies in the form of these gorgeous eyeshadows, a lovely blush, and a super girly lip gloss. You can read a more in-depth review about these here. I'm particularly in love with the lip gloss and the powder eyeshadow. The packaging is totally gorgeous too! All of these goodies are currently available on the Benefit website.

Have you tried any of my March Favourites? What do you think of them?



Benefit Haul

I was lucky enough to get some lovely spending money around my birthday, so naturally I decided that I would pick up some new Benefit goodies to play with. I'd seen a few reviews floating around for these cute lip glosses and eyeshadows, and I absolutely couldn't resist.

Firstly, I will never get over how gorgeous Benefit's packaging is. I love the 'Gatsby' feel that these little boxes have, and I'm definitely not throwing them away. They're currently making my dressing table look super pretty.

The first product I picked up was the Longwear Powder Shadow in 'Thanks a Latte'. This is a gorgeous shimmery brown, and comes in a cute plastic pot. The pot itself feels quite sturdy for plastic, but I still probably wouldn't want to just chuck it in my bag. Below I have a couple of swatches, just to give you some idea of the colour on the skin. The darker swatch is how I wear the shadow, as I find that it just needs building up slightly to get a stronger hit of colour. The shadow is incredibly smooth to apply, and there is very little fall out. I used this one without a primer, and found that it lasted most of the day which is pretty impressive as I apply my make up at about 6am and by 5pm it was still hanging in there.

I also decided to pick up one of the creaseless cream shadows. The shade that I've picked is much darker than I thought it would be (the woes of ordering online), but it's still a shade that I can use. This shade is 'Holy Smokes', and I absolutely love the glass lid on the pot this is in! When applied the shadow is almost liquid in texture, so I would definitely recommend a primer for these if you want it to hang around. I used the 'Stay Don't Stray' primer from the March Birchbox and found that the eyeshadow applied very smoothly, and was held in place for the majority of the day. There wasn't any creasing either.

I also picked up this adorable lip gloss in 'Fauxmance'. This colour is described on the Benefit website as being a 'soft berry' and I would definitely agree with that. It applies like a dream, and doesn't feel at all sticky on my lips. This is definitely going to become a firm favourite and I can easily see myself getting a few different shades from this range.

Finally, I decided to pick up one of Benefit's famous blushes. I absolutely love Rockateur, so I decided to try and get something with a similar peachy hue. Coralista definitely fit the bill! This is a gorgeous peach blush with a slight shimmer to it. I also really love the cute little brushes included, I think they work really well with the product and they feel like really good quality too. The blush itself looks great when it's applied, I would say that it is definitely more pigmented than Rockateur. I might have gone a bit crazy with it initially, you really don't need to apply an awful lot to get a lovely rosy cheeked look!

So that's my haul! Have you tried any of these Benefit goodies?

The Rich is Back set

This is the final Benefit item that I received for Christmas. This flamboyant set is based around the brightness and colour of the 70's, designed with a helping hand from Matthew Williamson.

 

 

I love the colourful packaging, it really fits with the 70's vibe! Included with the set are four eyeshadows, a blush, a mini They're Real! mascara, and a mini Inferno lip gloss.

 

I love the eyeshadows, they're so pigmented and they glide onto your eyelids incredibly smoothly. The set does come with a guide on how to apply the make up to achieve a gorgeous 70's look, but I'm probably going to save the tutorial until I have a night out! I think my favourite shades from the set are Feel So Teal and Solid Gold, they're so pretty!

Sorry about my goosepimply arms! It's been a bit chilly in the UK recently. The Inferno gloss is a gorgeous pigmented red with some shimmer to it, and the Gimme Fever blush is a lovely peachy colour. I've definitely developed a love for Benefit's blushers this Christmas.

How cute is the packaging as well? Very nice. Below I've got an on the lip swatch of this gloss, you can see a bit of the shimmer there.

The part of this set I was really excited about was the mascara! I've heard great things about this, and I couldn't wait to try it out. I love the sleek brush, nice and easy to handle. As you can see, it really made my lashes stand out. I might have to grab myself a full size version of this little beaut.

What do you think of the Rich is Back set? Do you like the idea of trying out smaller sized products before shelling out on the normal sizes, or do you prefer to take a risk?

 

Stila Lip Gloss Set

Today I have some lovely lip glosses to brighten up your Monday! How pretty are these?! I was super excited to unwrap these on Christmas day, I've heard a lot of good things about Stila products and I couldn't wait to swatch them.

 

The set I received came with 8 gorgeous glosses. There's a mix of glittery light shades and darker, more pigmented colours. They all require winding up to get the gloss onto the little brushes, but it doesn't take too long, and don't wind them too much or you'll get gloss everywhere!
 

 

The first shade I decided to play around with was Believe. This is a lovely dark berry colour, which is pictured above on the brush, and below once applied. The colour isn't too overpowering, but it's still pigmented enough to catch the eye. It's also got a slight shimmer to it.

I didn't want to bombard you with photos, so I've swatched all of the glosses below. Probably my least favourite shade is Dreamy. It's a little bit too brown for my liking, but it might look better on my lips. My favourite shade is really difficult to pick! I love the pinker shades of Fantasy and Grapefruit, but Starfruit and Believe are stunning too. Apricot and Kitten are also really lovely. I can't decide! Another thing I've noticed about these whilst swatching them is that they smell fantastic!

Which shade is your favourite? Have you tried any Stila lip glosses before?