Category: beauty boxes

beauty boxes, reviews, skincare, you beauty

You Beauty April – or stingy samples

ramblingmads

What’s the smallest sized beauty sample you’ve ever found in a beauty box?

How about this small?

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How are you even supposed to sample these and decide whether it’s something you want to buy? They’re essential oil capsules designed to boost your mood.

After last month’s quite pleasing box, this month’s is a bit, well, meh.

The theme is Natural & Organic and the shortlist is made up of products that fit this brief – but it wasn’t the most inspiring.

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I picked Balance Me Radiance Face Mask – something I’ve had in many boxes before, and Sond Hydrating Face Spray.

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The other bonus item was a sachet of Hask Keratin Protein Deep Conditioner Hair Mask.

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All in all not the most exciting box, but everyone’s allowed an off month. Hopefully May’s is better.

beauty, beauty boxes, make up, perfume, reviews, skincare

Cohorted April – Beauty Powered by You

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I decided to give Cohorted’s new beauty box a go, having been massively disappointed the last time.

Worth £93, this box is £35 including postage, making it one of the more expensive beauty boxes around.

The postman dropped it off bright and early, it’s a big box so I hope he has his van, he’s normally on foot.

Inside are fullsize products from five brands, some more familiar than others.

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First up MAC’s Patent Polish Lip Pencil – RRP £17.50. I received the shade ‘Clever’ which is rather nice light red, happily not orangey, but with pink undertones. It feels like lipbalm and is super easy to apply. Available in 14 shades.

Gold Elements Nail Care Kit – RRP £29.49. Four products make up this kit;

Hand & Nail Cream
Cuticle Oil
Nail File
Buffing Block

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These are all useful things and caring for your hands and nails is important as they get pretty battered throughout the day.

Miss Patisserie Bath Melt – RRP £3.99 for one. These little cupcakes are not for eating, made with Shea and coconut butter, each one contains antioxidants and minerals, decorated with detoxifying salts and cosmetic grade glitter.

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Body Shop White Musk Libertine EDT Perfume 100ml – RRP £24. Containing cruelty free musk, this is a modern twist on a Body Shop classic, sweet and classic.

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MDM Flow lipstick in Panther – RRP £18. Bizarrely, inside the box guide the whole article is about a shade called Milkshake but I’ve got a completely different one, which is a horrid neon pink.

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Not the best box in the world – who needs two lipsticks in one box, and the bath bomb won’t get any use, although it would make a nice addition to a birthday gift. The nail kit seems quite an impressive inclusion, most boxes would only put one item in, not the whole kit.

Might give this another go at some point – bit too pricey for every month.

beauty boxes, make up, reviews, skincare

Look Incredible April Beauty Box

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This beauty box is one of the pricier ones on the market but having seen Which Beauty Box UK‘s reviews of some of the older boxes I thought I’d have a look.

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For £35 you get £81.99 worth of full size beauty products – five items in this box.

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Laura Geller Spackle Undereye Eye Primer – RRP £20. Specially formulated for the under eye area this primer is infused with antioxidants to keep skin smooth and youthful. I don’t tend to use a separate primer for different bits of my face but I will definitely see if this makes a difference.

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SmashBox Blush/Soft Lights Duo in Super/Model – RRP £15. A blusher/highlighter duo in a rather nice soft pink and tawn. For some reason my pot is sticky but the product inside is fine. It’s suggested that it can be used as eyeshadow or even lip colour, but I’m not so sure about that.

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L’Oreal Nutri Gold Silky Day Cream – RRP £13. With White Jasmine and Calcium to improve your skin this cream is rich and designed to moisturise deep within the skin. Frustratingly all the product info on the box is in every language except English (there’s not even any French or German, which I can read) so I can’t really work out what’s in it.

Urban Decay Super Saturated Lip Colour in Naked – RRP £14. A lip crayon that’s super soft, glossy and richly pigmented. The only downside for me is the colour – a red/brown that’s way too dark for me.

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Velvet 59 My Fair Lashes Mascara – RRP £19.99. This mascara has a rather unusual looking brush designed to reach all the lashes. Will have to test it out and see for myself.

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While it is a pricier box, it seems incredibly generous, £35 would only get you maybe two of these products in the shops. I don’t know if I’d have this box every month but as a treat every now and then, I don’t see why not.

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beauty, beauty boxes, haircare, latest in beauty, make up, reviews, skincare

Latest in Beauty Build Your Own Box

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I rather love Latest in Beauty’s fabulous curated boxes and they have these build your own boxes you can put together yourself – perfect for presents or pampering yourself.

You can choose a number of different products ranging from skincare to candles from their shortlist, picking either 3, 6 or 9 items. There’s a mix of full and sample sized items for your box and new items are regularly added.

Here’s my pick.

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In no particular order;

💋Beauty UK High Brow All in One Brow Definition Kit – permanently on a mission for the best brow products for blondes, so I thought I’d give this a go. It’s designed for a variety of brow colours, and hopefully the blonde will be blonde enough.

💋teeez Head Over Heels Nail Lacquer in Frosted Gleam – super sparkly nail polish is one of my secret pleasures and this fits the bill. Cruelty free and promises to be chip free for three days.

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Sparkly

💋Burt’s Bees Lip Gloss in Spring Splendour – one of the downsides of buying online is it can be hard to tell exactly what shade you’re choosing. This is a bit pinker than I thought but my sister will love it.

💋Korres Bergamot and Pear Body Milk – this is more or less my favourite body lotion going so any time I can get some more, I will.

💋balmi Super Cube Lip Balm in Roseberry SPF 15 – talking of favourites, this lip balm ranks all time high in my book. Not too scented/flavoured, with SPF and in a clever little pot, keeps my lips happy.

💋Paul Mitchell Dry Wash – waterless shampoo or dry shampoo is big business these days, and I’m always looking for a good one.

💋Manuka Doctor Purified Bee Venom & Manuka Honey Skincare – three sachets of skin care – a mask, serum and filler with manuka honey and bee venom.

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Don't let the bees get you!

💋Sanctuary Spa Luxurious Body Butter – my dry, thirsty skin laps up moisture all day long, this is the perfect size to pop in my bag for moisture on the go.

💋Puriskin Therapy Resurfacing Formula – a super lotion for sensitive skin, targeting blemishes, bruises, burns and other damage. As queen of the mystery bruise and with skin so sensitive that a change in washing liquid brings me out in a rash, this seemed like it might be worth a try.

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What are your thoughts? Will you build your own box? Let me know in the comments below.

ramblingmads

beauty, beauty boxes, haircare, reviews, skincare

March Blogger Beauty Box

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Arriving just as March winds give way to April showers the Blogger Beauty Box was delivered by my rather chirpy postman.

Packed full to the brim and for the insane bargain price of £10 this is a box designed by a blogger for other bloggers.

Inside is a whole range of beauty goodies.

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March goodies

Top row L-R
❤Faust’s Potions Limited Edition Travels to my Elephant vitamin and herbal supplement drinks for day and night.
❤New Zealand BeeBio Active Manuka Honey Eye Crème with Bee Venom
❤Sass intimate Perfect Skin Concentrate
❤MOA Aphrodite Facial Oil
Miniatures L-R
❤Jr naturorganics Mandarin & Chamomile Balancing Moisturiser
❤Maya Black Gold of the Sun Confident Styling & Curling Crème
❤Merumaya Mud Marvels Mask

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There’s such a mix of products here, from full size to samples, haircare, skincare and the supplement drink (money from which benefits The Elephant Family charity).

There’s a focus on natural products which is always good, being able to pronounce the ingredients makes me more confident about what I’m using.

While I have a bit of a problem with Sass’ range of intimate body washes (your vagina is self-cleaning and doesn’t need douches or other PH unbalancing products), this is probably quite useful for relieving ingrown hairs anywhere.

Then there’s the bee venom – I actually read about this the other day. A popular product in the Antipodes, this encourages collagen production by mimicking the effects of a bee sting – minus the actual sting and a dead bee on your conscience.

I think I’ll be having a play with everything here, and definitely signing up for next month’s box here.

ramblingmads

beauty, beauty boxes, haircare, love me beauty, reviews, skincare

Love Me Beauty – March

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This month’s Love Me Beauty ‘box’ arrived – it’s not a box as such. But here’s what I picked from the Boutique.

For £13.95 a month you get 60 credits, which you can top up if you want more products.

🍓Tangle Teezer Blow-Styling Full Paddle Brush (20 credits)

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🍓Caudalie Make-Up Removing Cleansing Oil (15 credits)
🍓Dr. Lipp Original Nipple Balm for Lips (20 credits)
🍓Yu-Be Moisturizing Skin Cream (5 credits)

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I needed a new hairbrush and this was an excellent way to get one without breaking the bank.

The Dr Lipp balm is an essential item, use it on dry lips, dry corners of your nose, elbows, hands, and anywhere else that needs some TLC.

Do you subscribe to Love Me Beauty? Thoughts? Drop me a note in the comments.

ramblingmads

beauty, beauty boxes, make up, my little box, reviews

My Little Bubble Box

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This month’s My Little Box has arrived and it’s already causing a stir online – some subscribers aren’t very impressed.

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The problem with theming every box you send out is that sometimes the contents only seem related very tenuously. And that seems to be the crux of the complaints I’ve spotted on social media.

For a box themed around bubbles this is curiously lacking in them. There’s a rather sad looking deflated balloon – think ‘Eeyore has a birthday’ where a mini bottle of bubbles would have made more sense.

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Anyway, on to the box contents we’re really interested in – the beauty bits.

Firstly there’s a mini make up sponge and a little blue hairbrush.

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Always nice to have some tools, I use a very similar sponge daily so spares are more than welcome and with my mind-of-its-own hair I can never have too many hair brushes.

Inside the little cloth bag are three beauty products designed to help you glow.

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🎈Givenchy Noir Couture Volume Mascara – hand bag sized, perfect for touch ups on the go.

🎈My Little Beauty Bubble Blush Lips and Cheek stain – I thought this was nail polish at first but it’s a lip and cheek stain in a matt pink.

🎈Huygens Paris Body Scrub – citrus scented mini tube of scrub to help ready your skin for the post-tights spring we keep hearing rumours about.

As always there’s the in-house magazine My Little World, which not only profiles the box contents but also features articles on Creme Eggs, emojis, Pop Art and a cute fashion spread.

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Did you get a Little Bubble Box? What did you think? Let me know in the comments. 🎈🎈

ramblingmads

beauty, beauty boxes, reviews, you beauty

March You Beauty Box

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If you’re thinking of subscribing to a beauty box, this is one of the cheaper options and you can pick two of the items in the box too.

March’s shortlist was quite varied and one of the items I wanted to try was sold out in record time.

The theme this month is ‘Best of British’ and all the items are from British beauty brands (try saying that ten times fast).

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From the shortlist I selected The Body Shop’s British Rose Instant Glow Body Butter and Amie Morning Clear Purifying Facial Wash & Morning Dew Matte Finish Moisturiser Duo.

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Also included in the box were Charles Worthington Moisture Seal Hair Healer Leave-In Conditioner and two facemasks from Ooharr – Rosy Glow & Dead Sea Cooler.

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The booklet has a selection of discounts from the featured brands and the chance to win a goodie bag worth over £100.

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beauty, beauty boxes, look fantastic, make up, reviews, skincare

Look Fantastic – Destination Beauty #LFExplorer

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This month’s Look Fantastic box’s theme is Destination Beauty.

The box looks amazing with its world map in eyeshadow powder, well done to that artist.

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There are six products in the box –

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Lottie London Blend in Brush (from a selection – one per box). This super-soft brush makes blending a breeze.

Codage Masque Hydratant Moisturising Mask – French brand Codage formulated this revitalising mask without parabens, but with essential oils and is suitable for even the most sensitive skin (you may receive an alternative from the same brand.)

Revlon Colourburst Lip Balm – infused with mango, shea and coconut butter, this moisturising lip balm gives you a pop of colour and hydration – you can use it as a blush on your cheeks too.

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First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream – a head to toe moisturiser, packed full of goodness, including liquorice root, white tea and shea butter.

Nuxe Creme Prodigieuse – apply to your face and neck after cleansing in the morning, massaging to penetrate this lightweight moisturiser deep into your cells.

Caudalie Micellar Cleansing Water – gently cleanse and remove make up with this soap free and hypoallergenic cleanser.

Inside the mini magazine are the Look Fantastic team’s pick of Paris Fashion Week beauty faves, world beauty trends, recipes and other beauty insider news.

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There’s a few too many moisturisers in this box, a bit more variety would be nice but overall I quite like this month’s box.

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Are you a Look Fantastic subscriber? What are your thoughts on this month’s box?

ramblingmads

beauty boxes, my little box, reviews

My Little Home Box

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February’s My Little Box arrived on the bonus day of the month.

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The box is all about home, cosying up in the warm, because, well, baby, it’s cold outside.

Inside the box are some sweet little touches for your home and some goodies for your face.

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There’s a sweet blue picture frame with this month’s illustrated card tucked inside, an excellent holding place while you find your own or not.

There’s also a patterned cushion case to jazz up your sofa, chair or bed. Just add cushion.

There’s also the regular My Little World magazine.

Then there’s the little bag of beauty goodies. This month three items to treat your skin.

My Little Beauty Easy Morning Skin Perfecting cream – apply on its own or under your make up to give skin a healthy glow.

Polaar Genuine Lapland Hand Cream – made with antioxidant rich berries from the Arctic this non-greasy cream soothes frozen fingers and dry winter skin.

Noxidoxi Mask & Peel Perfection Éclat – a skin mask to reveal fresh spring skin  and slough off dead and tired cells.

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