beauty, beauty boxes, birchbox, make up, reviews, skincare

June’s Birchbox – Step Outside with French Sole

This month’s gimmick was select your box design. I went with the pick ‘n’ mix pattern.

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To be completely honest I am not impressed with this month’s selection.

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Temporary tattoos! I last wore these age 6 or 7. I am far too old and more likely to get a real one than wear these.

Another mascara – I think I get one of these every other month. I can’t even use them. There were other make up items hinted at, but no, another mascara.

Oil is an ingredient in much of the rest of the box.
Nude ProGenius treatment oil – applied after cleansing to boost skin’s hydration.
Beauty Protector Protect & Oil – hair oil that claims to protect against UV and heat damage.

English Laundry No. 7 For Her – perfume sample – adapted from a men’s fragrance, this is quite musky and a little too heavy for me.

Cowshed Body Lotion in Knackered Cow – contains essential oils of lavender and eucalyptus.

ModelCo Powerlash Black Mascara – another mascara, hot on the heels of the last one.

STYLondon Temporary Metallic Tattoos – nope, not even going there.

Bonus lifestyle item – a shoe bag designed by French Sole in matching design to the box. What a disappointing item – don’t see it getting much use.

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Not shown - temporary tattoos - they seem to have run away!

Birchbox seems to vacillate between good and pretty poor. This wasn’t my favourite by a long shot. I think they’re not entirely sure who their customers are – which is weird considering you do a questionnaire on the site.

ramblingmads

beauty, beauty boxes, glossybox, make up, reviews, skincare

Glossybox – Summer’s Calling

May’s Glossybox finally arrived and it’s themed with some of this summer’s biggest trends and products.

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MeMeMe Enchanted Eyes Dual Ended Eye Wand – blue eyeliner is a big trend for this summer and this full size features two shades. Both have a slight glittery shimmer to them and being a crayon are soft and easy to apply.

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Etre Belle Aloe Vera Ultra Moisturizing Gel – 40ml full size product. Aloe Vera is so skin friendly and soothes all manner of irritations from sun burn to nettle stings. This fits perfectly into a beach bag or picnic box so you can refresh and calm your skin on the go.

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Zerreau Towel Off Shampoo Foam – new generation of dry shampoo. Wash your hair without water. Apply to scalp, massage in, towel dry and voila! Great idea for camping, festivals or staying somewhere with iffy showers!

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Sass Intimate Perfect Skin Concentrate – this post-shave concentrate has been formulated to soothe the skin and reduce the chances of ingrown hairs, getting your legs summer ready, even if like me, they don’t get much sun (way too pale!)

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Philosophy Renewed Hope in a Jar Refreshing & Refining Moisturiser – philosophy is a brand I’ve always liked, except for its prices. The full size of this moisturiser is £35.50 which is just too much to justify. However a great sample to play with. This claims to reduce the appearance of lines, discoloration and uneven texture. I will certainly be testing its claims.

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beauty, beauty boxes, reviews, skincare

L’Occitane Taste of Provence box

There’s a group on Facebook called Battle of the Boxes, full of women who buy and review beauty boxes and they are a sweet, funny, generous bunch. Frequently offering make up goodies or other treats to one another.
Recently I took advance of such an offer and got myself a free box of mini L’Occitane goodies.

If you don’t know what L’Occitane is, it’s a French beauty company based in Provence that focuses on quality and natural ingredients.

I’ve never bought any of their products, due to price mostly, but love when magazines give away free handcreams from them.

However, their new eau de parfum launching in June is so nice I may have to treat myself.

Onto the box. This is a sample box, but even though everything’s mini, there’s a lot to play with.

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The almond hand cream smells delicious, and is rich and creamy but not greasy on.

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The foot cream, currently soaking into my toes, is also rich and smooth, smells good and hasn’t left a greasy residue on my hands.

There’s a Verbena leaf soap, which I haven’t opened, as well as Verbena shower gel and body lotion, both of which are delicately scented.

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Also in this little box is a voucher for £10 off a £25 spend in store or online, which I may well take advantage of (hand cream and perfume most likely).

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Finally a tiny sachet of lavender seeds, which you plant as it is, in the hope that lavender, a fairly stubborn plant to grow (I have 2 and they hate me) will bloom under London’s grey skies not Provence’s blue, sun-filled ones.

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beauty, beauty boxes, latest in beauty, make up, nails inc, reviews, skincare

Latest in Beauty – Heart Beauty Essentials

Latest in Beauty’s latest collaboration is with radio station Heart FM.

The box contains a mix of 13 full and sample size products. £18.95 + P&P.

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Nails Inc. Gel Effect Hyde Park Place

Kneipp Devil’s Claw Herbal Bath

Green People Sun Lotion SPF15 with Tan Accelerator

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bareMinerals Complexion Rescue

philosophy 3 in 1 cleanser

Wild About Beauty Eye Shadow in 08 Polly

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Vichy Idealia Life Serum

Skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels

Dove Youthful Vitality Shampoo & Conditioner

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Balance Me Radiance Face Mask

Le Couvent des Minimes Cloisters Hand Cream

Amie Hydrating Daily Moisturiser

Face Cloth

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And if you enter the coupon code HAIRSPRAY you get this free.

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The only link to Heart (which my dad listens to!) is the heart shaped face cloth (which expands in water -haven’t seen one of these since I was a kid).

Overall it’s a nice selection of things, and definitely worth the money as some of these items on their own are quite pricey (Nails Inc I’m looking at you!)

Next up from LiB is the Glamour Beauty Edit box for Summer. Will you be buying it? Or the Heart box?

Are you a member of the Libbie Club? (I’ve applied).

Let me know in the comments.

ramblingmads

beauty, giveaway, make up, nail polish, skincare

Mystery Make Up Giveaway

So, thought I’d have a little giveaway. All you have to do to enter is guess how many items are in this bag and then you could win the lot!

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The winner will be picked entirely at random, name quite literally out of a hat, on Friday.

The boring bit: this giveaway is not associated with any of the featured items or brands. It is not in relation to Instagram or WordPress. The decision of the winner is up to fate and cannot be bribed. The winner has a week from the draw to get in touch and claim their prize. The results will be posted separately. Only people who follow my blog can enter. Entries on Instagram do not count. You can only enter once. International. Thank you.

So look really hard at this picture (the same one is on Instagram as well). Make a guess and it could be you!

ramblingmads

beauty, make up, skincare

Splashing Out!

Not really.

Popped into town to pick up a few bits and post some things. Haven’t been into Superdrug in a while. Having seen lovely ladies like Rachel & Tifa talk about MUA make up on their blogs and IG made me want to check it out and having binned a load of slightly tragic looking eye shadows recently I was keen to pick up some new ones.

Superpdrug has had a bit of a face lift and expanded their selection of make up brands, so I had a quick browse.

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MUA is currently on an offer – spend £8 get a free 5th birthday palette so I picked up a couple of things.

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I really like this marble effect palette, it jumped out at me on the shelf. It’s not something I’ve picked up before.

I usually go for quite pinky blusher, but this peachy toned one appealed as a summer change, put a bit of sun into my pale skin.

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Previous eye palettes have been full of colours I never wear, my attraction to rainbows is a growing problem, so going for a neutral toned palette is very un-me. But probably a lot more practical for every day.

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This is the birthday palette, which I think is a nice mix of colours and will probably get used a fair bit.

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Annoyingly Superdrug didn’t have the Barry M product I wanted or the Bourjois one either, so I also went to Boots.

Boots have got a 3 for 2 offer on all skincare so I picked up some must-have items.

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Boots Tea Tree & Witch Hazel Night Treatment Gel is essentially a miracle worker. Smear it on before bed, it absorbs quickly and stops any spots from sneaking through, especially useful around my period when my skin decides it belongs to a greasy teenage boy.

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Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula Anti-Aging Smoothing Lotion is a mouthful of a product name but a magic product for less than a fiver. I smooth it on my arms before bed (I am very slippery at night with all my lotions and potions) and it has reduced the existence of those horrid ‘chicken skin’ bumps also known as keratosis pilaris or kp. While it doesn’t treat it completely, my arms are less red, lumpy and smoother than before. I tried it after Sali Hughes recommended it in her column.

Boots did have the Barry M product I wanted – a recent addition to the range. This highlighter crayon, which comes highly recommended and as I’ve not really bothered too much with highlighters in the past, I thought it might be worth a go. There’s an offer on Barry M nail polish, but I managed to resist.

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I also grabbed a miniature Palmer’s Original Cocoa Butter for my handbag to dab on those dry patches when out and about.

However I managed to forget conditioner, which is annoying as I’ll have to go back.

The one product nowhere seems to stock is Bourjois Magic Nail Care, a pot you dip your fingers in which contains a nail strengthener and cuticle oil. My nails are very brittle and nothing I’ve tried has stopped them splitting and tearing. If anyone spots this in a high street shop or department store, please let me know. I’ve only found it on Beauty Mart but would rather not have to pay shipping for a £6 item.

I can’t really splurge too much at the moment as I’ve ordered another cheeky beauty box, and bought a made to order skirt. But hopefully I’ll be able to get to the new Lush on Oxford Street to see all their unique items and treat myself at some point in June so stay tuned.  

ramblingmads

beauty, beauty boxes, lifestyle boxes, make up, reviews, skincare, vegan kind

The Vegan Kind – Beauty Boxes

Shipped every 3 months, price £18.95 inc. P&P.

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This month’s box contains;

– Sophyto Total Protection Serum. This is apparently step 4 of 5 in the skincare routine recommended by this firm. So that’s confusing.

– Greenfrog Botanic Geranium & Peppermint body wash. This smells nice and has been added to my shower gel line up in the bathroom.

– Zkin sensitive skin sample pack.

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Four samples of the products in this range. Cream Cleanser, Smoothing Serum, Relief Moisturiser, Brightening & Hydrating Masque.

– Lunar Lights Harvest Moon highlighter. A very pale, irredescent gold highlighter. Perfect on my very pale skin.

– Crazy Rumors HibisKiss lip gloss in Sunset. An orangey red colour that smells nice too.

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Highlighter & gloss swatches

I also get The Vegan Kind monthly snack box as part of my eating better plan (I’m not vegan but I don’t eat red meat and pork makes me nauseous).

In those boxes you receive a selection of food items and a lifestyle one (I’ve had body wash, hand wash and a bamboo toothbrush).

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This month's snack box

Check out their website or social media for more info.

ramblingmads

beauty, beauty boxes, make up, reviews, skincare

You Beauty Limited Edition CEW Awards

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This is a limited edition box in conjunction with the CEW Beauty Awards.

At £19.95, it’s not a bad price considering how packed it is.

Philip Kingsley Elasticizer sample size

Benefit They’re Real! Push-up Liner sample

Vita Liberta Luxury Tan sample and applicator mitt

Aurelia Miracle Cleanser sachet

Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara sample

Encore Noire Sport pour homme sample (men’s smellies in a women’s box?!?!)

Bee Good Honey & Propolis 2-in-1 Cream Cleanser sample bottle with face cloth and 20% off voucher.

Elemis pro-collagen marine cream full size (30 ml)

Dr Organic Bioactive Skincare Organic Snail Cream full size (50ml) – not suitable for vegans, contains snail secretions but no snails are harmed.

20% voucher for M&S selected beauty and fragrance

Booklet about the products.

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Plenty of things to try, including two full size products. Definitely worth the cost, as long as you make use of them!

Get yours here and remember it’s limited edition so they won’t last.

ramblingmads

beauty, beauty boxes, make up, reviews, skincare

You Beauty Discovery Box

You Beauty is an off-shoot from the Mail on Sunday’s You magazine.

The box is £6.95, significantly cheaper than most beauty boxes. You only get four sample size products however.

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Yours Truly Organics Fix Me! Repairing Serum sachet, Tisserand Aromatherapy Bath Oil, Deborah Mitchell Heaven Chamomile Desensitizing Hydrogel & Linwood’s Milled Flaxseed, cocoa & berries sachet.

There’s also a card offering you an opportunity to win a luxury spa day and a booklet about all the products you could have had in your box.

Their USP is that you can select two of the items, however things go very fast and I didn’t have a huge selection to choose from.

I think this is an OK starter beauty box and not all of the brands were familiar to me. If you’re interested, check out May’s options here.

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