glossybox continued.

Here is the second post in my Glossybox series. I’ll be talking about April and May in this one. I’m definitely still loving them and one of the boxes was even free! I’ll explain later, but for now… Have a little read about the products I received.

April

He-shi Face & Body Tanning Gel, Monuspa Waming Ginger Massage & Body Oil, MeMeMe Beat the Blues Peal Pink Iridescent Complexion Illuminator & Highlighter, Emite Make Up L312 Brush, Tresemme Instant Refresh Dry Shampoo

Now the fake tan instantly made me laugh – I don’t wear fake tan full stop, never mind in a medium shade?! I definitely said on the initial preferences questionnaire that I was fair / pale skinned. So this is free to a good home… If anyone wants it, just send me a tweet or similar. Apparently it’s quite a good brand, I’ve seen the girls from Pixiwoo using it.

The Tresemme Instant Refresh Dry Shampoo I have used up already. I’m an avid user of dry shampoo… Having naturally curly hair, my hair can sometimes look dull and slightly greasy the day after a wash and blow dry, so I love using dry shampoo for an ‘instant refresh’ and a bit of added volume. This was wasn’t my favourite, I usually use Batiste, but there wasn’t anything particularly wrong with it as such.

Again, I’ve used up all of the Monuspa Waming Ginger Massage & Body Oil already. I’m a lover of baths when I’m stressed or when my back pain gets unbearable. I loved the strong ginger smell, it lingered in the bathroom for quite a while afterwards… Lingered in a good way if that’s possible? Anyway, it was gorgeous in the bath but also when used on my skin in the shower. It left me feeling refreshed and soft skinned. I went to look at purchasing some, but £26 for 100ml – wow!

The MeMeMe Beat the Blues Peal Pink Iridescent Complexion Illuminator & Highlighter, what a long name… This has become another firm favourite of mine. I was using the Benefit High Beam as a highlighter, but this one beats it hands down. It’s a much lighter texture and I prefer the pink tinted colour of it. I’ve been using this nearly every day on the top of my non-existent cheekbones to add a bit of shape.

Now I haven’t been a wearer of lipstick really until fairly recently… But I’ve fallen in love with my Mac Lady Danger :) I was applying it straight onto my lips, but I tried it with the Emite lip brush and really loved it. It was a lot more precise and when combining Lady Danger with some of the Maybelline Naked Brown lipstick from my first Glossybox, just at the corners, I got a really full lip effect. It did take a little time to do, so it’s not for those days when I’m rushing out of the door… But I’ll be giving it a go again at some point.

May

John Freida Frizz-Ease Original 6 Effects Serum, Collection Bronze Glow Mosaic, Scholl Velvet Smooth Overnight Mask, Maybelline Colourshow Crystallize Nail Polish in Nearly Black, B. Sheer Conditioning Lipstick in Flamingo.

This box was free as I’d collected enough ‘Glossydots’ from completing some surveys on the products I’d received previously and for referring a friend, woohoo.

The Collection Bronze Glow Mosaic I was really excited about, having seen it used in a few YouTube tutorials. However, I’m slightly disappointed with this product. I can’t really see what difference it makes, I think it’s far too sheer… Even on a pale person!  This was the only product I wasn’t happy with, all of the others were awesome.

I’ve been using the John Freida Serum after every hair wash and I’m definitely noticing a difference in the texture of my hair. I wouldn’t say that it’s less frizzy, but it’s definitely softer than it was. I can see this lasting a long time, as I only use one pump at a time which is such a minimal amount… So we’ll see what happens to the frizz over time. If I blow dry my hair, it stays frizz free… But if I let it air dry and go curly as it naturally does, it’s so frizzy it’s ridiculous. So much for looking like that woman on the TV advert with perfectly glossy curls, sigh.

The B. Lipstick in Flamingo is a fantastic colour, sort of a coral-ly pink. The only negative points are the packaging, which is fairly cheap and flimsy, and also that the product has shimmer in it. I’m not one for shimmer on the lips, just a personal preference. These retail for £3.49 at Superdrug, great price point, but they only come in a limited range of shades which is a shame. But that said, the colour is fantastic and it’s definitely moisturising and fairly long lasting. They wear off nicely instead of leaving that lipstick outline I normally get.

I’ve tried the Scholl Velvet Smooth Overnight Mask twice overnight. I found it quite sticky and it wasn’t a comfortable nights sleep with it. Maybe I’ll try it with socks on next time. My feet definitely felt softer though which was nice. I’ll be persevering with this one, maybe doing it once a week. My feet are one of my least favourite parts, so getting them summer ready is important.

I also got a couple of extras, a sample of Garnier Oil Beauty Lotion and Ghost Fragrance in Eclipse… Loved the lotion, but the fragrance wasn’t for me. Still a plus to get some freebies.

Do any of you get Glossyboxes? What do you think of them? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading.

glossybox.

So as you might have noticed, I’ve had a subscription to Glossybox since February now… I’ve posted a few things about it here on the blog and also photos of the contents of my boxes on Instagram. A few people have been asking me to blog about it properly and I’ve had four boxes so far, so I think that’s enough for me to comment on them fairly. I’m going to blog about two boxes at a time… It was getting a bit lengthy doing them all at once. So this one is February and March, I will do a post about April and May soon.

I decided to give it a try after hearing great feedback from several blogs I read and YouTube channels I watch. I’ve never been massively into makeup until recently, now I’m a fully confessed addict :) So my makeup collection was quite limited. I’d stuck rigidly to the same products and never really experimented with my skincare or makeup before. This for me seemed like the perfect opportunity to try some new brands and products out, whilst building my make up collection, without spending and absolute fortune.

I must say now, I absolutely love them :) But I’ll just give you a rundown on the products I’ve received for February and March.

February

Nougat London Sparkling Body Shimmer, Eldora Eyelashes in H122, Ciate London Paint Pot in Red Hot Chilli, Maybelline Colour Sensation Stripped Nudes Lipstick in Naked Brown and Toni & Guy Stick it Up Gum.

My first Glossybox arrived in the post and I definitely wasn’t disappointed. Firstly, it was limited edition packaging… a black box with lipstick kisses all over it. I’m now using it to store all of my lip products in. So it was an A plus for me before I’d even opened the box.

Once inside, I found five products, one miniature and four full size. For £10, this is great value!
I decided pretty quickly that I wouldn’t use the Toni & Guy gum, just because I have quite fine hair which can look greasy pretty quickly – so I donated this to Gareth and he’s been using it.
I also knew that I wouldn’t use the body shimmer. I never have bare legs, always opting for nude tights, so I can’t see myself using this. I’m more than happy to post this out to anyone who wants it – so drop me a tweet or similar if you do.

The other three products were great and still worth the money for me. I’ve used the Eldora eyelashes a few times. They’re ace because they’ve got quite a thin lash band – I would’ve been willing to pay £10 for these alone.

The Maybelline lipstick is in a shade I would never have purchased, but it actually looks beautiful on. Very gothic, so I’ll probably be saving it for when I’m enjoying a brave day in the Autumn / Winter season, but I can’t wait. It also feels very moisturising, which is great for me as I tend to have slightly dry lips.

The third product, my Ciate mail varnish was actually broken. The neck of the bottle had cracked and the glass come apart, meaning I couldn’t screw the top on and off properly, so I sent Glossybox a quick email telling them this. A few emails and photographs of the damaged product later… They sent me out a replacement parcel. There wasn’t any Ciate nail varnish still in stock, so instead I got a B. Sheer Conditioning Lipstick in Caramel and a Murad Clarifying Mask for Acne – all with a sweet little sorry note. Thanks guys, fab service and you more than redeemed yourselves!

So a couple of products I won’t use and one broken one…  But an apology package later and all was well :)

March

Dove Intensive Repair 60 Second Treatment Shot, Helenere Age Sensitive Zone Repair Serum, Mitchell & Peach English Growers Body Cream, Sleek Makeup Pout Polish in 93 Bare Minimum and Bellapiere Cosmetics Powder in SP009 Bronze

I’ve used all of the products in this box – there wasn’t anything which I instantly thought I wouldn’t use… So that was a great start for this box.

Starting with the Dove Intensive Repair 60 Second Treatment Shot, I loved this :) I saw a few people complaining at Glossybox on Twitter that there were too many low end products in this box, namely this one, but personally I think this complete box was great value for money and I really enjoyed this particular product. It left my hair feeling soft and nourished, but not too heavy. Considering it’s currently £1.69 in Sainsburys and that I got two applications from the tube, I think it’s value for money.

The Helenere serum was a little bit of luxury for me. I looked it up online and the size that I got would have cost around £40! I’ve used serums before and found them to sit on top of my skin horribly, coming off the next time I washed my face. However, this one seems to sink in a lot better and be absorbed. Maybe knowing this would have silenced the people whinging about the low end products in the box if they’d have known.

The Mitchell & Peach moisturiser isn’t my favourite. It smells quite strongly of lavender, which kind of reminds me of old ladies, but smell aside it’s a pretty good product. I’ve put it in my gym bag as an emergency moisturiser… Wearing trousers all day at work, I often get quite dry and flaky legs. Rocking three quarters for the gym with my wintery legs isn’t a good look, so when I’m going there straight from work I just pop some of this on my lower legs when I’m getting changed... Works a treat.

The Sleek Makeup Pout Polish is one of my new favourites. It’s very sheer and the colour is as it sounds, a bare minimum. It’s become a regular in my work bag, as it’s perfect for a ‘no makeup makeup look’.  The only thing I dislike is that it comes in a pot, I hate getting makeup on my hands and not being able to wash or wipe them straight away… My OCD / inner Virgo coming out haha.

The Bellapiere powder in Bronze is an interesting product. It states it is multi-use and can be used for eye shadow, cream eye shadow, blush, eye liner, lip colour, nail polish, tinted mascara and bronzer. Personally, I’ve only used it for eye shadow so far and found that it works beautifully when pressed onto the eyelid with a flat brush, before smoking it out with a Mac 216. The only issue I found was that it did crease after my manic 8 hour day at work… But I think with a decent base or primer it would be great.

So there we are, two months worth of Glossyboxes makes a very happy Megan! If you’re thinking of subscribing, let me know as I can get GlossyDots for referring you :)

Go have a look and see what you think.

Thanks for reading.