February Glossybox

I never really jumped on the beauty box bandwagon. This was probably mainly due to my allergy to aloe and the fact there was no way of knowing what products let alone their ingredients I would be receiving.

For those of you who don't know a beauty box is rather like a magazine subscription but instead of a magazine you receive a box containing beauty products. Some are samples, some travel minis, some full sized. The idea is that you can, for a small subscription fee, try before you buy. Most of the brands listed on the websites are high end. Glossybox is probably the leading UK if not international beauty box at this time.

A Glossybox subscription currently costs £10 a month plus £2.95 P&P. If you pay up front for 3, 6 or 12 months it becomes cheaper. You get five beauty products supposedly tailored to your individual beauty profile you fill in when you subscribe. Not too sure about how much attention they do actually pay to this however.

So I ordered once and cancelled in around November. I was actually quite impressed with the contents despite one being unusable due to containing aloe. So when I heard that they were going to be doing a Valentine's special for February I re-signed up.

 

Box Contents:

- A3 fold-out leaflet detailing box contents and a lip tutorial

- Heart Shaped Lollipop

- Micabella Cosmetics Mineral Blush Powder in Siera Suede  

(0.8g sample, full size 9g retails at £34.95)

 - Voulez-Vouz Warming Body Oil in BubbleGum

(10ml sample, retails at £20 for a set of 6)

- MeMeMe Cosmetics FatCat Lengthening Mascara

(Full size product, 8ml retails at £7.99)

- Helen É Cosmetics Moisturising Lipstick in Caribbean

(No size writen on the product but I would assume full size, retails at £8 for 3.5g) 

- Narciso Rodriguez L'Eau For Her Eau De Toilette

(Sample size 0.8ml, retail price £23 for 30ml, £46 for 50ml, £66 for 100ml)   

Overall I can't really say I was impressed by the box contents. The box itself was cute, nicely designed and the leaflet and lollipop were nice touches. But I can't say it was anything special. MeMeMe Cosmetics are drugstore. I would probably consider £7.99 fair game when it comes to trying out a new mascara, I'd spend the cash and if it was awful it would be one of those things. I don't however want to spend £20-30 on a Dior or YSL mascara for example and find they don't work for me. This is the reason I signed up to Glossybox in the first place, or to try brands I wouldn't normally come across in Superdrug or Boots. At the same time I can pick up perfume sample vials free at counters in Debenhams or Selfridges. I don't need to pay a subscription to receive them. 

I haven't yet tried the Voulez-Vouz Body Oil, looking at the packaging I'm thinking it could be a bit of a disaster when opening and I can't say the idea of bubblegum scented oil excites me, but I have tried all of the others. The MeMeMe mascara is disappointing, it's a big wand, good for quick application, not clumpy, but it certainly doesn't live up to it's claims of creating "lashes full of volume and alluring depth". The bulky wand struggles to reach those fine inner corner and bottom lashes and I certainly won't be repurchasing this. It will possibly make it as a back-up mascara for when all of my other back-ups have run out, and certainly never make it to my main mascara of choice. The perfume sample was nice, nothing more nothing less. It was a light citrus/floral scent that would be nice on a cool summer's evening. Quite how it found it's way into a wintery February box I'm not sure although scents do read differently from person to person. It doesn't particularly stand out to me, it isn't something I would fall in love with and have to buy.  

The lipstick and blusher weren't particularly good colours for me. The blusher is a kind of reddish brown with fine glitter particles. It has a nice blendable texture and is very soft but being fair I couldn't wear this sort of shade. In my Glossybox profile when asked my skin tone I stated fair so why I was sent this I have no idea. The lipstick is quite an orangey peach red more suited to summer (again it's a winter box) and a tan. It's very soft and almost greasy, it hasn't any stain as such and just slips and slides about meaning smears and smudges are likely. It doesn't last long either.

So overall a big let down from Glossybox this month. I was planning on cancelling but they appear to have already taken the money for the March box even though we are still in February. Naughty. So we shall see if the next box is any better...  

 

 

A Little Update

I would have loved to have blogged more this last week. I've had plenty to talk about but unfortunately things have been a little tricky.

To begin, I'm writing this on my Kindle. My laptop hinges have taken a turn for the worse and it was becoming impossible to open without running the risk of snapping them completely. I have finally found somewhere that didn't want to charge me the earth to do half a job and so it is currently in pieces waiting for parts at a local laptop repair shop.

Secondly I haven't been too well. I'm aware that my only readers will more than likely be friends and family I have linked from Facebook so you will most likely be aware of my current and long term health issues. I am currently awaiting a couple of operations, one being for a very unhappy gall bladder which is giving me constant pain and is generally wearing me down. Alongside my M.E. and with the prescription meds I am on I seem to be managing very little some days. All of which accumulates to my lack of blog posting commitment.

I have however managed a fabulous day out to the Trafford Centre on one of my better days and made a couple of purchases as well as having been trying out a number of other products and services which I do intend to blog about in the very near future. If I can manage to find the patience to use my mum's super slow computer these may well be up before I get my laptop back. Failing that I do have an old laptop but it does have the rather unfortunate problem of a few missing keys...

So that's my little blog update. I hope you are enjoying the blog so far. It definitely needs work but once it starts to take shape I hope that a few people may enjoy taking a regular interest and it can be a place we can discuss all things make-up and beauty.

Laura xx

Polka Dot Nails

I really should have taken the photograph of these straight after I did them rather than after a shift at work where I cleaned the entire department. But still chipping aside, I really like doing polka dot nails and they are really simple to do.

 

Left Hand                                                                                             Right Hand

Products Used:

China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Dance Baby

China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Aquadelic

China Glaze Nail Lacquer in White On White

China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Sweet Hook

China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Coconut Kiss

China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Sexy In The City

China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Avalanche

Rimmel I <3 Lasting Finish Fruities Nail Colour in Apricot Punch    

Barry M Nail Paint in Raspberry

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint in Watermelon

O.P.I. Nail Lacquer in I Vant To Be A-Lone Star

Homemade dotting tool

The I Heart Drugstore Make-up Tag

Well why not? This has been circulating on blogs and YouTube for the last few months so I thought I might as well join in.

1. What is your favourite drugstore makeup brand?

- I think I would have to go with either Rimmel or Revlon for this one. I've had some fantastic products from both of these brands lately, mainly lip products such as Rimmel's Apocalips Lip Lacquers and the Revlon Lip Butters and Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains. Revlon have also just brought out some cream blushers that I would like to try out and Rimmel do the Scandal Eyes Waterproof Kohl Kajals which are amazing and the Scandal Eyes Mascaras are pretty good also.

2. What are your favourite face, cheek and lip products?

- Drugstore face products can be an issue for me as I am usually too pale to use them and often have to go high end. The L'Oreal True Match Touche Magique Anti-Fatigue and Illuminating Concealer is fantastic for under the eyes. A brand that cannot be bought in the drugstore but is priced around the same as drugstore products is NYX Cosmetics. Their cream blushers are extremely good and I would love to try the powder blushers. Lip products are as mentioned in the previous question and also the NYX Mega Shine Lip Gloss in Plush Red is gorgeous (and smells good too!).

3. Least favourite product?

- This has to be the Maybelline ExpertWear Blush in Flash Plum. I don't know if it's just this shade or all of this range but I picked this up thinking it would be great for the winter and it looked very similar to the Nars blusher in Sin. Unfortunately there was no tester to try it out first because this was the biggest waste of money. There is zero pigmentation in this. Even when I rub my finger quite vigorously across the product there is literally nothing. So disappointed.

4. What is the best makeup bargain?

- MUA. Most of the single products are just £1 and the palettes are £4 for 12 eyeshadows all of which have good pigmentation and blend nicely. You just can't complain for that price.

5. What is your favourite underdog product? (Something you love that often gets overlooked?)

- I think NYX often gets overlooked because it's not so readily available. But it really is worth trying to get hold of it and I really need to have a mini splurge in their online store.

6. A drugstore product that is overpriced?

- I find a lot of drugstore mascaras are extremely overpriced. Many of them are now over £10 which I think is crazy as it's only a few pounds more for a mascara from somewhere like Clinique which I find of much better quality.

7. Show your best drugstore dupe(s)!!

- The Rimmel Scandal Eyes Kohl Kajal Eyeliner is just as good as any eyeliner out there including my all time favourite pencil eyeliner the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eyeliner Pencils. In fact I think I would go as far as to say I prefer the Rimmel on particularly with it's £4 price tag. I also think the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains make excellent alternatives to the Clinique Chubby Sticks.

8. Drugstore product that isn't worth the hype?

- Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse Foundation. The colours are weird, the texture is dry and flaky and it wears off in patches. It never worked for me and I could never understand the hype around it years ago. People clearly still buy it now and I really would have thought it would be one of those products that got quickly discontinued and replaced with something else. I don't know who these loyal customers are but really there are much better options out there.

China Glaze Review - Turned Up Turquoise

Today I will be reviewing the China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Turned Up Turquoise.

Firstly I will say I'm no nail expert. My nails are terrible, they are quite weak, bendy and break very easily. I am not the best at nail painting by a long way but I do enjoy experimenting with different colours on my nails. Unfortunately I'm super impatient and usually make huge craters or smudges in the polish before it has dried. Luckily I find China Glaze becomes touch dry fairly quickly.

Turned Up Turquoise is found in the Nervy Neons/Wow Factor collection. I wouldn't describe the colour as neon but it is quite a bright turquoise. It's actually more green than blue but the camera seems to pick out the blue tones more when photographed. I have seen YouTube videos where this shade has been used and it also looks more blue on camera so I don't think it is down to my particular camera. The texture of the polish is quite thick, almost like a creme consistency which makes it a little hard to work with. It can get rather clogged up around the top of the bottle when you wipe your brush which is a little annoying and you have to work quite quickly on the nail. After applying a base coat of O.P.I. Nail Envy I found I needed 2-3 thin coats to get a good coverage and it provided a very matte finish. The photograph shows the nails before a top coat was applied. I used China Glaze No-Chip Top Coat which added a lovely glossy shine to the nail but you can always try a matte top coat if you want to keep the matte finish.

So I don't know where I went wrong with this. Is it because I used the O.P.I. base coat? I don't know. I've heard it makes a really good base for polish. But something went wrong as I painted these, went off to work, and within an hour of being in work two of my nails were almost completely polish free. It had just flaked and peeled right off! Now yes I was in work but that day about the most strenuous thing I had done was process a refund for a light bulb. Seriously. The polish is quite thick and it's a little difficult to get thin coats so have I applied it too thickly? Is it something to do with my nails? Someone help me out here...

I think I will be giving this polish another go because the colour is stunning. I got several compliments about the colour in the hour they stayed reasonable looking and so I am going to see if I can get it to work for me. I really hope I can but for now it's more of a Turned off Turquoise than turned on.

Quick Valentine's Rose Nails

This is just a quick nail art I played around with yesterday before work. I went into this fully intending to take time over it but then realised I was running late so had to quickly finish it and dash into the shower hoping it wouldn't all smudge. Luckily it didn't but it has chipped a little whilst in work. I'm definitely going to attempt this and more nail art again but taking way more time over it. And I'm also gonna sort those cuticles out because they are pretty bad...

Products used:

17 Nail Extras Strengthening Base Coat

China Glaze Nail Lacquer in White on White

China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Dance Baby

China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Turned up Turquiose

Revlon Nail Enamel in Cherries in the Snow

Nail polish remover

Small flat nail art brush

Small thin nail art brush

Oooh...

... First blog post. How exciting! 

Although let's be honest, I've written a billion of these before and just never hit the publish button. But I'm going to take the plunge this time...

Knowing where to start is tricky but I thought I might show a few of my most recent purchases and then perhaps once I've tried them out you can expect a couple of reviews and extra little piccies. Hmm sounds like a plan indeedy. 

I didn't go crazy with buying new products over recent weeks, after all Christmas wasn't that long ago. But this did mean sales, and I took advantage of a few items from the Illamasqua sale and also got drawn into buying a few other items from the main store. I also wanted to try out the new Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquers and see what all the hype is about.

So here's a quick sneak peak at the products I bought over the last couple of weeks. Reviews and better pics will follow but in the photo above we have...

Illamasqua Medium Lip Pencil in Manic

Illamasqua Brow & Lash Gel

Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Vice

Illamasqua Nail Varnish in Stagnate

Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Hollow

MUA Undressed Eyeshadow Palette

MUA Heaven & Earth Eyeshadow Palette

Clinique Superfine Liner for Brows in Soft Brown

Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer in Big Bang

Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer in Nova

Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer in Apocaliptic  

China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Turned Up Turquoise

China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Tempest

China Glaze Nail Lacquer in Sexy in the City

So quite a short first post but I have a starting point now. Some of these I have had for a good few weeks so are ready for review, others I am still yet to try. Please feel free to comment with any product suggestions, blog suggestions, opinions and the like, but keep it nice as I'm totally new to this.

Thank you for reading and have a lovely day. Bye for now xx