Tag: beauty box

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Beauty Box Review: Winter Glamour by Latest in Beauty*

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One of the worst things about winter is once Christmas is over the glamour quotient disappears. The velvet, glitter, sequins all gone.

But when Latest in Beauty sent me their Winter Glamour box it brought back a little sparkle.

This box is rammed with treats – and I’ve already played around with a lot of it.

Max Factor Creme Bronzer in Light Gold – I’m not great with bronzer, I think I get a bit confused about whether it should be like blusher or highlighter in terms of application but this is very pretty and shimmery.

This Works Plus Hair Elixer – this spray goes on your hair at night to improve its quality. It smells quite herbal and I definitely want to see if it helps my grumpy hair.

Nude by Nature Radiant Loose Powder Foundation – I’ve never used a powder foundation before – my bad skin as a teenager required thick cream/liquid and I’ve mostly used various liquid bases since then. I think this is lovely and silky and could work quite nicely over the worst patches when my liquid foundation isn’t enough.

Rodial XXL Lip Liner in Nude – I don’t really use lip liner as the lipsticks I wear don’t really seem to bleed but some of the newer ones I’ve bought are a bit feathery so this might be useful. And as a nude tone I reckon it’ll work under most shades.

Charles Worthington Moisture Seal Leave in Conditioner – I haven’t used this yet because I haven’t washed my hair this week, and it says it should be smoothed through damp hair but having used a similar CW product before I know it was quite nice on my hair.

Moroccoanoil Treatment – argan oil is my hair’s best friend so this will get used quickly.

Ecotools Perfecting Blender Duo – I have these sponges so extra are always welcome. I love a blending sponge.

Kitsch Hair Ties – these are so sparkly and cute. Sometimes I feel like I collect hair ties, I have so many.

The Vintage Cosmetic Co. Duo Pencil Sharpener – this is very helpful, I don’t know what happened to my last sharpener.

Most of the items are from cruelty free brands, with one or two exceptions (I like to check on this website and via Google before I buy).

This is a really nice mix of products, some boxes can be heavily weighted to certain types of products, and I like the inclusion of the beauty tools and hair ties.

*I was gifted this item for review but all words and opinions are my own.

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My Little Garden Box 

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This is April’s box, the reason for the delay was because I wanted to take photos of my box in the wild – I don’t have a garden but the bonkers weather meant I couldn’t get a break to find some grass and take some snaps. Let’s dive in. 

This garden to table lists the vegetables and fruit in season for every month. Eating seasonally is something I try to do – it works out cheaper when there’s an abundance and you get the best of the crop, sweeter strawberries in June for example. 

I have a larger version of this infuser bottle somewhere, pop your favourite fruits in the infuser core and fill the bottle with water. My favourite fruit combo is lime and watermelon – so refreshing. 

Recipe cards/magnetic shopping list – this has some of the MLB team’s favourite fruit based recipes and then pages to pop your shopping list on with a magnetic backing to stick neatly on the fridge. 

Ape Crunchy Coconut Bites – tasty little discs of crunchy coconut – yummy. 

A floral patterned green and blue square scarf which can be worn in a variety of ways – the last scarf MLB sent out is a firm favourite so this one will be too. 

This month’s beauty treats are all skincare savers. Mixa is a French skincare brand now available in Superdrug (home of many a beauty bargain). Suitable for sensitive skin (yay) this dermatologist tested paraben free moisturiser can be used all over – giving you soft summer skin. 

My Little Beauty Vitamin Shot Facial Scrub – made with bamboo extract, apricot seed powder and argan oil this twice weekly scrub will buff skin and leave you all shiny. 

My Little Beauty Easy Morning Skin Perfector – once you’ve rinsed off the scrub this moisturiser softens and smoothes skin with a subtle shimmer. Just remember to top with SPF! 

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My Little Christmas Box 

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Look how festive this box is. With its green ribbon and candy cane. And it’s jam packed. 

There’s a Kanako art print with a message from the artist, My Little World magazine and loads of lovely treats. 

My Little Beauty Smokey Eye Duo – smokey eye make up has moved away from the greys and deep colours to these softer tones. Haven’t really had a play with these yet but I do quite like them together. 

Gingerbread candle – cinnamon and ginger are some of the smells of Christmas so this ties perfectly into the season. 

Cuff bracelet – gold tones with a hint of festive forest green.  I quite like this, it looks good next to my new velvet dress. 

Courrèges Hyperbole perfume – This perfume shares it’s name with one of my favourite words. It’s not a particularly heavy scent (although that might just be because I have a cold and can’t smell anything properly!) 

Kusmi Tea Tsarevna blend tea – this Russian blended black tea with orange peel, liquorice, vanilla and spice to give a whiff of Christmas. 

Tiptree Salted Caramel sauce – hands off! This is mine! I think this will be the perfect addition to my Christmas Day dessert. I love the mix of sweet and salt in this sauce and since I’m not having Christmas pudding (yuk!) I will add this to my sticky toffee pud instead. 

Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula Flipbalm Juicy Watermelon – I love lipbalm, especially in the winter months when my lips feel very dry and prone to cracking.  Plus this is a really cute pot. 

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Bow’s Beauty Box 

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“Brown paper packaging tied up with string – these are a few of my favourite things” so sang Julie Andrews in the Sound of Music. 

This new beauty box, curated by two bloggers, just launched on etsy, is very well wrapped in brown paper and string with a candy cane as well. 

Inside this neat little package are five beauty items.

– technic Colour Mix Cream Corrector Palette  – I’m never sure what colour corrector to buy in the shops but this palette has eight different colours to correct a multitude of sins.  

Pure Potions Skin Salvation Intensely Moisturising Ointment – suitable for sensitive and stressed out skin (conditions including eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis etc). My angry skin might just have found a new friend. 

Earth Conscious Natural Deodorant in Spice – this coconut oil based, cruelty free, organic deodorant smells like Christmas and is a bit too strong for me. But if you’re allergic or irritated by conventional products, this might work for you. 

Dr Botanical Japanese Orange Superfood Facial Oil – a vegan oil for your face, designed to renew and refresh tired skin. Smells fairly nice too. 

 Mitimo Natural 512 Avocado Seed Facial Essence Mask – Korean skincare has blown up in 2016 and sheet masks like this are everywhere. Infused with Avocado seed, aloe vera extract and other skin loving ingredients, this mask is designed to deep cleaning skin and leave you looking all fresh faced and shiny. 

For a brand new beauty box put together without the backing of a big firm this is a great start. At the moment they don’t have a subscription plan but considering they’re all sold out, that’s presumably in the plans. 

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TVK Beauty Box Nov ’16

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The box costs £18.95 from The Vegan Kind and comes every three months. There is also a monthly snack box with one beauty/body treat. As always 20p from each box sold goes to the Dr Hadwen Trust – the UK’s leading non-animal medical research charity. 

Inside this box are 7 items. Several are fullsize and I have a serious issue with the size of one of them…

Maggie Anne Gel Effect Nail Varnish (RRP £10.50) – fullsize. When will ‘nude’ nail varnish die? I would love to have received a fun, seasonal colour one, but no, another nude. Having said that it seems OK – goes on smoothly, with a nice finish. 

Human+Kind Body Scrub (RRP £13.50) – fullsize. This is a big bottle of body scrub and one I will be putting aside for the Mr as I really don’t like the scent. But I do like the natural ingredients and lack of evil microbeads. 

Inecto Naturals Little Saviour Coconut Hand and Nail Cream  (RRP £1.00) – fullsize. I like coconut and I like handcream. So I like this. 

PHB Ethical Beauty Peach Lip Liner (RRP £8.95) – fullsize. Matte lip liner in a slightly weird Peach colour. Hello the 90s. Really not sure about this. 

Dr Organic Moroccan Argan Oil Body Wash (RRP £2.99) – fullsize. I generally use argan oil on my hair after I wash it – it got rid of all my stress induced split ends like magic. So I will give this a go even though I’ve found other oil based body washes don’t leave me feeling clean or fresh as much as the bubbly ones. 

Amie Naturally Kind Morning Dew Matte Finish Moisturiser 10ml (RRP of fullsize item £4.95) – what is with the teeny tiny bottle? I don’t think you get much of a test run from something this small and at just under a fiver it’s hardly an exclusive premium product. That said, it’s a decent moisturiser for the price but nothing particularly fancy and no SPF.

Faith in Nature Watermelon Shampoo Sample  (fullsize RRP £5.50) – this is even more of a joke, have the Glossybox team taken over TVK? This is a tiny sachet of shampoo, good for one wash. Which isn’t a great way to test out whether this is for you. And again this is about average for a high street product.  What made me laugh the most was the fact that on the box insert card it raves about the gorgeous packaging – I wouldn’t know from this 7ml sample. 

All in all this was an ok box. Nothing too special- obviously the USP is that this is a cruelty free, vegan friendly collection, and in that sense it fulfils its brief. However all of these brands have been in the box before and some of the products are on the basic side. It would have been nice to see some little known and indie brands included.  

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TVK Beauty Box 8 

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Inside TVK’s latest box are seven cruelty free beauty products. 

Vitala Spa  Chakra Balancing Compassion Bath and Body Oil – full of natural extracts and essential oils, designed to soothe skin and leave it smooth and supple. My skin doesn’t like oils so passing this on to my mum. 

Figs & Rouge evAcalm Perfect Calm Moisture+ AM PM Cream –  specifically for use on dehydrated and sensitive skin, to reduce redness and calm stressed out skin. Maybe this will help with my rosacea and grumpy hot face. 

Spectrum CollectionsTapered Finishing Brush – these brushes are gorgeous. Hair free but super soft and gentle. 

The Konjac Sponge Company French Pink Clay Facial Puff Sponge – made from biodegradable vegetable material this cleans your skin without needing cleansers. I’ve used a different one of these sponges and wasn’t that enamoured. 

Weleda Almond Sensitive Skin Travel Size Body Wash – almond oil soothes stressed out skin, with shea butter and other skin loving ingredients. This smells pretty nice and as it’s for sensitive skin I’ll pop it on the shower shelf. 

Weleda Almond Sensitive Skin Travel Size Hand Cream – to accompany the body wash this hand cream is perfect to pop in a handbag or overnight bag. 

Sheila’s Natural Products Face Cream Deluxe Sample – this is a bonus item containing ingredients designed to appease eczema and acne. I’m always looking for the best moisturiser so maybe this will be it. 

As always 20p from every box sold is donated to Dr Hadwen Trust, the funder of non-animal research in biomedicine.  

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My Little Box – Coconut

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The theme for July’s MLB is not actually a nut, but a drupe, whatever that is. 

Anyway, onto less scientifically confusing things. 

Inside the box is a cute selection of treats inspired by everyone’s favourite hairy brown not a nut. 

There’s a patterned passport holder, sweetly packaged up in it’s own envelope. 

A Stella & Dot bracelet which speaks to my current love affair for tassels on jewellery. 

In regards to the beauty portion of the box, there are five treats in the little cotton bag. 

From the My Little Beauty range comes a Coconut Spritzer after sun spray – something that will come in handy in the summer sun. 
Mexci Handy Coco Rico Hand Cleansing Gel – popping this in my bag for commuting on the never clean tube. 

Yves Rocher Noix de Coco Eau de Toilette – this is very coconutty, and reminds me of Pina Colada cocktails and summer evenings. 

Ojon Rare Blend Moisture Therapy Oil – intensely moisturing hair oil for those days air con, sun, swimming pools and the sea (if you’re lucky) have done their worst. 

All this and the regular art print by Kanako and the My Little World magazine, which I can be spotted perusing on the Northern line. 

This box is like a slice of summer, a refreshing cocktail of coconut water blended with watermelon and lime. 

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You Beauty April – or stingy samples

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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.

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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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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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