Tag: beauty

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

Cohorted April – Beauty Powered by You

ramblingmads

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, reviews, you beauty

You Beauty February

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The new look box from You Beauty (they’ve dropped ‘Discovery’ from the title) has arrived.

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The black and pink box is quite chic and packed to the brim. Along with the two selected items from the shortlist there’s several extra treats.

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From the shortlist (The Rested & Radiant Edit) I selected Benecos Sea Buckthorn and Orange Hand Cream which smells delicious. My other pick was Aurelia Refine and Polish Miracle Balm, designed to brighten tired skin.

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Also in my box were 4 bonus items.

Philip Kingsley Geranium and Neroli Elasticizer – this is a product I’ve used before, and this limited edition smells amazing. Use it before shampooing on damp hair to revive and strengthen hair.

Real Techniques Deep Cleaning Brush Gel – I’m always keen to see useful extras like this, while I do have other brush cleaners, I’ve heard good things about this particular one.

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Vita Liberata Self Tanning Night Moisture Mask – not for me as my super pale skin doesn’t appreciate me trying to tan, a look I can create with make up anyway.

Eyeko Travel-sized Black Magic Mascara – bonus item for renewing my subscription following the new look and website.

I’m very impressed with the new You Beauty box. The old one had got a bit lacklustre so this is a brilliant return to form. I hope they keep it up.

Is this a box you receive? What did you pick from the shortlist?

ramblingmads

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

Love Me Beauty – January

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This is January’s box, but it was doing the rounds in the delivery world so only just made it’s way to me.

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This box is a little more restrained than the December Christmas lunch made me do it one (which apparently was my funniest post – thanks for the feedback).

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The cream and black box is back, one of the classiest designs around, as is the the LMB The Journal (in house magazine) which is a nice addition.

With my membership points I selected four items, three beauty products and a cute bit o’ bling.

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Percy & Reed Invisible Dry Shampoo – I love dry shampoo, but I hate the grainy white residue that looks way too much like dandruff. P&R say theirs doesn’t do that. I am building a fair collection of products from this brand and love the results I’ve had so far.

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Lord & Berry Magic Brow in Wonderful – a double ended brow tool/product. One end is a brush to tidy up those stray hairs that I don’t have! The other is a marble effect pencil to fill in. I’ll probably use this in conjunction with my Clinique brow pen.

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Omnisens Fresh Cleansing Tonic Water – teeny glass bottle with something a little different from the micellar waters currently riding high. I was intrigued and this seemed like a good way to try it out.

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I’m a bit of a magpie, so the jewellery in the LMB boutique is a terrible distraction. I picked the rose gold quartz bracelet, combining my love of rose gold with rose quartz, a healing crystal.

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Are you a Love Me Beauty subscriber? What did you pick from the boutique?

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beauty, beauty boxes, reviews, skincare, you beauty

You Beauty Discovery Box

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The You Beauty Box has had a bit of a facelift, is moving website and is apparently going to be even better come February. Hope it stays at the same price of £6.95 inc p&p, and with the select your samples idea.

This month’s samples were from a wide range of brands and types.

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If you follow me on Instagram then you’ll be aware of my love for lipbalms and especially the little cubes from balmi.

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So it was pretty obvious I’d be popping their rose gold roseberry flavour in my box. With SPF 15, Shea butter, vitamin E and other skin loving ingredients, these little pots are a firm favourite.

My other pick was Korres Bergamot & Pear Body Milk (body lotion to you and me). I love the smell of this, having had it in a box sometime last year. Might have to treat myself to a full size tub at some point.

Also in the box are sample sachets of Dr Organic Snail Gel – something I’m not entirely convinced by, and Perfection Gel Cushions for those slightly uncomfy shoes.

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

Birchbox x Pinterest

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Captioned “Best. Year. Ever” Birchbox kicks off 2016 with a collaboration with online scrapbook site Pinterest.

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Pinning has become a huge trend, with people compiling their dream weddings, cars, cakes, shoes and other things onto Pinterest’s digital mood boards. I do it too. Much handier than covering my walls in magazine cuttings like we did pre-internet. (Yes, there was such a time).

So how does a collab between a beauty box and a website work exactly? Well, inside the beauty booklet are suggestions for boards to create on Pinterest for the upcoming year. There are also five cute cards designed by illustrator Viktorija Semjonova in keeping with the theme. The Birchbox blog will have more throughout the year.

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Onto the beauty samples.

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There are five products in the box, and annoyingly some of them have been here before.

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Left to Right.

Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle – I’ve had this little chap several times in the past. While it does work quite well as a dentangler, so does my conditioner.

Absolution L’Eau Soir et Martin – basically a micellar water, 2015’s big product. Containing aloe vera and hazelnut oil, a no rinse required make up remover.

Benefit They’re Real! Tinted Primer – apparently this coats and seperates lashes before your mascara. Or on its own.

Birchbox pocket mirror.

Jelly Pong Pong Lighten Up Brightener + Waterliner – I definitely have one of these, I used it the other day. Suppose it saves me buying a new one. It’s a great highlighter pencil, scribble it on!

Whish Three Whishes Almond Body Butter – I am all about almonds, I eat them, drink them (almond milk hot chocolate anyone?) and smother them on my skin and hair so this’ll be a little treat for my skin.

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Are you a Birchbox subscriber? What did you think about this box? Let me know below.

ramblingmads

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

Dollibox December

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Following the lovely Which Beauty Box UK is lethal to my bank account! Showcasing the best boxes around,  and inspiring other beauty lovers. And so it is with Dollibox.

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A fairly new box, it contains five cult and premium beauty products, full size and sample size.

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I’m not madly keen on how pink the packaging is, but since that gets recycled, it doesn’t really matter.

What’s inside counts. The box is £10 plus postage, and this month’s is worth over £30.

Anubis Polivitamic Cleansing Mousse – containing the essential vitamin C, this gentle mousse promises to soothe and cleanse your skin.

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Bare Naturals Pomegranate & Pink Grapefruit soap – made with 100% natural ingredients, this delicately scented soap is designed to leave hands clean and soft.

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Model Co Highlighting Trio – featuring a luminizer, blush and bronzer, this little pot is designed to suit any skin tone and leave you with glowing skin.

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Osmo Intensive Deep Repair Mask – containing jojoba oil, patchouli and ylang ylang to nourish and repair stressed out hair.

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Barefoot Lavender & Mint Foot Cream – with tea tree oil and other natural ingredients, no parabens, this soothes tired feet, reviving them and softening the skin.

All in all, this is a nicely curated box, perfect for the party season, and for spoiling yourself in the cold, wet winter.

ramblingmads

blogging, life

The Procrastinating Beauty Blogger Tag

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The lovely Laura of Style Breakdown posted this tag post on her blog. As I am a famous procrastinator I thought I’d answer the questions as she suggested. If you like it, please do the same.

1. Name the beauty regiment that you rarely do.

I am always planning to apply a face mask to deep clean my face and rarely do because I am lazy.

2. Is washing your makeup brushes something you rarely do?

Yes, although Sal and Tifa would probably tell me off. I put off doing this all the time.

3. How long will you last with chipped nail polish?

Depends how annoying it is, I have been known to pick at the chips and make it worse, needing to repair the damage sooner.

4. How long will you put off buying/repurchasing a beauty product, even if you need it?

Not long, I tend to have a spare waiting in the wings, but if something really run out then it’s off to Boots I go.

5. What is your worst beauty habit?

I pick and poke any lumps or spots threatening to appear. I know I should leave my face alone but I can’t.

6. Name something non-beauty related that you put off doing all the time?

Taking out the recycling, only when it’s overflowing do I run out to the bins. Just sheer laziness.

7. When going out somewhere do you put off getting ready to the last minute?

Not really, I get anxious about being on time so often rush to get ready but I invariably forget something and have to rush around at the last moment.

8. Can you commit to a spending ban?

As long as nothing essential runs out, sure, but essentials must be repurchased.

9. How organised are your beauty/nail polish collections?

Not as organised as my brain in its analytical obsessiveness would like, but I’m working on getting it so.

I hope some of you lovely people take this tag up and have some fun with it. Thanks for reading.

ramblingmads

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

You Beauty Discovery Box

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I have become increasingly disappointed by YBD, this month is no different and I think it might be my last box from them.

I like the idea of picking some of your samples but the selection is often quite poor and you get little bang for your buck.

Yes, it’s possibly the cheapest beauty box out there but does that mean it should be lacking?

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From the shortlist I picked;

Philosophy renewed hope in a jar eye cream – or rather a tiny tube. My under eye shadows are rather dark and tired looking at the moment, insomnia does that, and I thought I might road test an eye cream or two. I’ve heard good things about this one. Just a shame it’s such a teeny sample.

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Not the best swatching but hopefully you can see the golden shimmer

Kilo Long Lasting Stick 8 Hour No-Transfer Eye shadow in 05 – a gold shimmer eye shadow crayon, and you know I love an easy to apply make up item.

The extra samples they threw into the box are a tiny sachet of Studio 10 Miracle Effect Priming Serum and Narciso Rodriguez Narciso Eau de Toilette spritz sample bottle.

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I dont think there’s enough primer in the sachet for one human sized face, except if you were for some insane reason, making up a baby (they have little faces mostly) but not for an adult.

I have a problem with sending out perfume samples – scent is highly selective, what one person loves and smells amazing on their skin, may not work with anyone else. This mostly smells of alcohol to me. Not nice.

Overall a bit underwhelming. Time to bid adios to this box I think and move on.

Anyone else cancelling beauty boxes they’ve been disappointed by? 

ramblingmads