May 2012 Glossybox

What Beautiful weather we have been having lately!! My May Glossybox arrived a few days ago, and as it was such a gorgeous day, I decided to open it up outside in the sunshine! I had high hopes for this months box, expecting the team at Glossybox to pull out all the stops as a celebration of their first birthday, and I hate to say it, I really do, but am I the only one feeling quite disappointed with this months Glossybox? Here's what I received in mine:

1. 45ml Neal's Yard Rehydrating Rose Daily Moisture
2. Pair of Eldora handmade eyelashes D160
3. Collection 2000 lasting colour gel eyeliner
4. 75ml Noble Isle Summer Rising Bath & Shower Gel
5. Two Lolita Lempicka Eau De Parfum samples

Extras: A cute little mirror compact and Pearly Pink Balloon

First up Neal's Yard Rehydrating Rose - this product caught my eye immediately, and for all the wrong reasons. I had a sample of this exact same product free with Marie Claire magazine a few months back (read full review here) and I HATED it. Sheer disappointment with a capital 'D'. Urgh....

Eldora eyelashes D160 - I am not a fan of fake lashes, so if I were to wear some they would be understated with a natural feel. Even though I can appreciate these little beauties complete with mini mirrors to the tips, unfortunately they would be better suited to a Vegas show girl than to little old me :-) These retail at £5.90 per pair on the Eldora website.

Collection 2000 Gel Eyeliner - I recently purchased the Maybelline version of this product, and although I was really impressed, I am not a fan of pure-black eyeliners as they don't tend to suit my complexion as well as brown liners do. Also, Collection 2000 is not what I would consider to be a 'luxury' brand - so why is it in my Glossybox?! :-(

Noble Isle Bath & Shower Gel - This is more along the lines of what I think should be in a Glossybox! Noble Isle is a brand that uses inspiration from natural and cultural riches of the British Isles to create their luxury bathing products. This particular product smells nice, with a scent somewhat along the lines of CK one, and a full size 250ml bottle retails at £20. I am happy with this product & excited to try it out.

Lolita Lempicka Eau de Parfum samples - these got my blood pressure rising - in a good way! I first spied the Lolita Lempicka perfumes on my recent trip to Paris, and loved the Si Lolita perfume. I had samples of The First Fragrance and also L'Eau en Blanc  - so definately happy to have received these.


My big gripe with Glossybox is that, even though £12.95 is not that huge an amount, the products I receive are wholly hit-and-miss for me. I understand that Glossybox can't please everyone, but this month I have paid £12.95 for a shower gel mini that is to my liking, and two perfume samples that I could possibly have got free at a department store counter. I know lots of Glossybox subscribers love the element of surprise, and I do too, but this is never fully satisfied for me with the products that I receive. I have also read many reviews commenting on the pretty packaging, and though I agree that the packaging is lovely, in this day and age where we are trying to recycle as much as possible and companies are trying to cut down on their packaging, I have to ask if the amount of packaging used is necessary? And more to the point, does it compensate for the fact that alot of the time we are sent out samples that are not 'luxury' or that we could possibly pick up free in a department store. Sugar-coating so to speak.


Now for the big question - do I unsubscribe? Hmmm.... Decisions, decisions

Let me know your thoughts please girls!

x X x

MAC Haul & Important Information!!

There are quite a few MAC eye shadows that I have been wanting for a little while now, but I couldn't decide on whether to buy the individual pots or to invest in a pro palette and then just have to purchase the refill colours (which is also more cost effective option). After much thought, I decided to go for the palette. I think that this is a much better option for me, especially when travelling, as the palette is quite slimline and holds up to 15 colours, which is more than ample.

I have only three colours in my palette so far, those being Naked Lunch, Satin Taupe and Hush. as I have said before, I tend to lean towards more neutral colours as I have quite deep-set eyes and more vibrant colours just don't tend to suit me.

The colours are lovely - I have swatched them on my hand so that you can see for yourself - and I was so excited to receive them in the post this morning.

Right to Left: Hush, Naked Lunch, Satin Taupe

However... My excitement soon turned to guilt and also disappointment when I discovered this blog post that has been floating around in cyber space since March 15th 2012. Logical Harmony is described as being an 'animal friendly' beauty blog, and is written by a young lady called Tashina who focuses her posts on vegan and cruelty-free beauty.  I don't believe in animal testing, and I blindly thought that nowadays the vast majority of companies, especially the main cosmetic brands, would steer well clear of this as it is such a huge no-no.

Animal testing is an issue that I am now going to do alot more research on before buying any beauty products in the future. It was such a shame to find out that MAC could be participating in animal testing, and the thought of filling my eye palette with a further 12 colours is something that I am now really reconsidering.

Please let me know your thoughts :-)

Claire

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OJON haircare haul

I recently took advantage of the 'Buy One Get Two Free' offer on the Ojon website. Basically, if you made a purchase of one full sized product on their website, they also sent you a full size 250ml duo of their Volume Advance Volumising Shampoo & Conditioner.

I was lucky enough to receive the Ojon Damage Reverse Restorative Hair Serum in my Harrods Glossybox, and since then I have been wanting to try more of their products. As this was such a fantastic offer, I just couldn't pass it up!

I chose to purchase the Dry Recovery Revitalizing Moisture Mist as my full price product. This is advertised as being a 'lightweight pre-style, re-style genius in a bottle' promising re-hydrated, tangle-free, bouncy hair, and I have to say THIS WORKS! I loved the way that it ejects from the bottle as a fine misty spritz, rather than a direct spray, and is therefore easier to distribute evenly through the hair. I used it on towel-dried hair, which I then blow-dried, and my hair felt really soft, shiny and healthy without feeling bogged down with product. It smells great too. I would definately recommend this, as my ends were also alot less dry and overall my hair was in alot better condition.

The Volumising Shampoo is another great product. It has a lovely botanical scent without being too overpowering. It doesn't lather up very well, though I remember reading somewhere a few years ago that this is a good thing, as shampoos that lather up well contain detergents that tend to dry the hair. It definately cleanses well though, and you don't need to use too much product, which is a bonus considering the cost if you do purchase this at its full price.

The Volumising Conditioner also smells great, and even though it conditions the hair well, its doesn't stick on the hair to leave it feeling greasy or bogged down with product, but instead rinses out and leaves the hair feeling lightweight and healthy.  It also left my hair with alot more volume, which is something my hair hasn't had in a while!

I am really impressed with the overall effects of all three products, and would highly recommend them. The Dry Recovery Revitalizing Moisture Mist is £20.00 for 175mls. This is a little pricey, but when you combine this with the fact that I had two free samples, free delivery and free shampoo and conditioner worth a combined £37.50, you can see just what a bargain this offer was.

I would love to say that I would rush out and purchase all of these products again, but the only issue holding me back is the price. I'm not sure that I can justify spending £57.50 on 3 haircare products!!

Have you tried any Ojon products? Did you like them as much as I do?

Claire

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Soap & Glory Haul

Boots have a 3 for 2 offer on all Soap & Glory facial skincare products at the moment, both online and instore. I had been wanting to purchase their 'Glow Job' Daily Radiance Moisture Lotion for a while, but once I was faced with the 3for2 offer I also fancied trying out The Fab Pore Hot Cloth Cleanser. I got the 'Wonderfill' Wrinkle filler too, just as the third product as part of the offer really, and in the hope that it may make me look that little bit more youthful :-)

I had read a few mixed reviews about the 'Glow Job' product, but still really wanted to try it out for myself. It is a white lotion that contains little micro beads that, when burst, release a sort of bronzing colour into the cream and this eventually mixes in to create a healthy glow.

The first issue I had with this product is the bursting of the little beads - some of them take quite a bit of pressure and the whole concept as a product takes a bit of getting used to. I also found that the beads weren't evenly distributed throughout the cream, so you could have two equally sized blobs of cream, and one has about two beads in it and the other may have about 5 or 6. This then obviously affects the level of colour and sometimes can be a bit uneven on your face. It is a good tinted moisturiser, but I am quite pale and it is just a little too dark for my skin tone. If I had a tan though, it would be such a great product. As with all Soap & glory products, it smells great too!!

The next product is the Hot Cloth Cleanser. I bought this mainly because I had read a few reviews that claimed the ingredients in this product are identical to those in the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser. It is 100ml size, which is the same as the Liz Earle Cleanser, but around 3 pounds cheaper in price. It has a lovely scent, and is a nice consistency - although I did tend to have to use more of the Soap & Glory Cleanser in comparison to the Liz Earle Cleanser as it seems to evaporate quite quickly. I have quite sensitive skin, and after about 30 seconds application it made my skin tingle to the point where it was bordering on a mild stinging sensation. I followed the instructions, and left it on my face for two minutes in total, but I don't feel that it removed all of my eye make-up as effectively as the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish, nor did it leave my skin feeling as soft and moisturised. It is a good substitute product for Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser though, and comes with the cutest pink-edged muslin cloth. It just hasn't managed to convert me from my trusty Liz Earle!!

And my spur of the moment product was the Wonderfill wrinkle filler. This is a cream that claims to literally fill in your wrinkles (kind of like posh polyfiller for skin, or cheap botox?!). It boasts line fighting superpeptides, a special oxygen boosting skin stimulating complex, exclusive light-activated Superblur line-disguising spheres, and a wrinkle plumping moisture matrix. Could they be any more scientific if they tried?! You just dab a little cream on areas of skin prone to wrinkles and the lines become less apparent. All I have to say is that Wonderfill is most definately Wonderful!! I have light crows feet (or laughter lines as I prefer to call them) at the corners of my eyes, and this little gem just smoothed them right out. Instantly. I applied concealer on top, and it just glided effortlessly across rather than settle in the creases as it normally would, and this is an effect that lasted for around 8 hours. Highly, highly recommended to those who are attempting to cut around 5 years off your age!!

So that's it for my little Soap & Glory Haul - Have you bought any Soap & Glory products lately?

Claire

x X x

You've got to love a bit of Barry M!!

Boots are currently running an offer on Barry M nail polishes - save a pound with every two polishes purchased. So at a cost of £4.98 for the two, I snapped them up. Well, it would be rude not to wouldn't it?

I bought shade 304 Mint Green and shade 305 Pink Flamingo...

I have been wanting a minty-green nail polish for a while, and even though 'Mint Green' is a little more of a brighter green than I had planned, I LOVE it!! It is the perfect Spring/Summer shade, and I can see me getting alot of use out of it.

I am always drawn to pink nail polishes, but Pink flamingo is not your classic pink shade. It is a very bright almost neon-esque coral/pink, which is also such a great summer colour and will look fantastic with a tan. Bring on the sunshine!!

Both polishes require two coats as they are quite opaque, but two coats does the job really well. They apply easily and dry super fast.

They last around 2 days without chipping at all, and day 3 saw only minor chipping to the tips - although I do work alot with my hands, and this can increase the risk of chipping tenfold.

I am so very happy with the result of both products, especially for such a great price, and I now feel like I NEED more Barry M Polishes in my life!!

Do you love Barry M polishes as much as I do?
Claire

x X x

April Glossybox is here!!!

Well, my April Glossybox arrived about an hour ago, and at first I was confused as to whether it was a Glossybox at all because it arrived in a plain outer brown cardboard box rather than the normal Glossybox print packaging. On opening the outer box, all sort of became revealed I suppose as the inner box as such is made of a very natural feeling neutral coloured cardboard, suggesting that there were organic products inside. Am I the only one disappointed with this? I just feel that after sooooo many different boxes, the novelty has well and truly worn off for me. Bring back the pink I say!!

Anyway, once past this little issue, I was pleased as punch with the products inside!!

First up, Caudalie Vinosource SOS Thirst-Quenching Serum. I had already purchased the Caudalie spray on a recent trip to Paris and know just how high end this brand is. All Caudalie products are paraben free, and contain only preservatives used by organic brands in their products. The Vinosource Serum should be applied morning and evening to face and neck before moisturising as normal to ensure that skin never lacks moisture. I tested a small amount on the back of my hand, and it has a light scent to it, rubs in easily, and a little goes a long way. As I am always on the lookout for any skincare products to keep my skin looking healthy and on the younger side of thirty, this is a product that I am really excited about!

I also had a full size Inika certified organic eyeliner, which retails at £11.75. I have never come across this brand before, but Inika is a luxury natural cosmetics brand. I am always up for trying new products, and I especially like that I have received shade 10 Green Lagoon, as normally I tend to stick to smoky greys/browns. It is a very subtle metallic green colour, and as I have dark auburn hair and hazel eyes, this colour will be great for me.

The Monuspa professional skincare enriched body cream is described as a rich, indulgent cream to comfort and nourish the skin. Monu is another organic brand, and none of their products contain damaging chemicals, artificial perfumes or synthetic colours. They are also against animal testing - BIG thumbs up! This is a 30ml sample, and full size 200ml retails at £23.00. Consistency wise, I would describe it as being on the thicker side of a lotion more than a cream, but it has a really lovely, relaxing scent and I will definately be using this product.

The Figs & Rouge peppermint & tea tree lip balm is another organic product in this months box. It is full size, and retails at £3.29 for 8ml. It comes in the cutest little tin, and smells really good. The only downside is that it doesnt taste too great.

And the last product I received was a 15ml trial size of the Philip B drop dead straightening balm. It is heat activated, and wont work unless hair is dried with a hairdryer. This doesnt have the greatest of scents, but it is a botanical product containing matricara & althaea extracts that promise tangle-free hair with a sleek finish. Lets hope it does what it says on the tin (tube even!)

So thats it for my April Glossybox guys, what products did you get?

Claire

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Where have I been & what have I been up to?

This past week has been HELL. It started out with the preparation for a job interview that didnt really go to plan... Still waiting to find out if I got the job (they're ringing me tomorrow), but I dont hold out too many hopes on that one!! Hey Ho, onwards and upwards...

Then I was busy busy busy getting out my orders, to the point where I have been getting on average around 5 hours sleep a night - This amount of sleep does not bode well when you have a 9 month old ray of sunshine that likes to play peek-a-boo all day whilst screaming and shouting dadada at the top of her voice.

This was all topped off with my very first craft fair as 'Beau Flutterby' yesterday. I was busy sewing until 3am the night before, and had to be up at 7am to set off at 8. I had a good day, and met some lovely people, but I felt really ill all day too. I put this down to severe lack of sleep, but once I got home I was sooo sick and had one of those nasty 24 hour bugs. This may be too much information, but it has really seemed to top my week off nicely! (Im not normally this down in the dumps honest!! lol).

Anyhow, I just thought that I would share with you a few photos of my little stall at the craft fair :-)

Looking a little worse for wear - Doesn't my stall look pretty though?

All my hard work on display!!

Hubby brought my little ray of sunshine for a visit :-)

Hope you all feel much better than I do!! Off to bed now for some more much needed ZZzzzzz's

Claire x X x