August Glossybox

August Glossybox

Glossybox was the first beauty box I signed up for and this is my 3rd box from them.  You do not get to pick any of the items you receive like Love Me Beauty and YOU Beauty Discovery, however so far I have enjoyed every Glossybox I have received and have gotten use out of everything I have received from them (their packaging is my favourite, it feels so luxurious).  It comes in at £10 + P&P.

In my August Glossybox, I received:

Kryolan for Glossybox - Highlighter (4.5g) - Cashmere £12.95

Figgs & Rouge - Mini Hand Cream - £3.95

Yves Rocher - Pink - £3.00

Philip Kingsley - Elasticizer - £6.00

Lalique - L'Amour - Sample

Essence - I love extreme crazy volume mascara - £2.79

The highlighter is described as a "versatile, lightweight cream with a gloss finish.  It provides cheekbones, lips and other parts of the skin with a beautifully velvety shine".  A little of this product goes a very long way, I ended up a shiny mess when I first used it!  It blends very easily and looks very natural but needs to be applied with a lighter hand.  The hand cream smells amazing and is the perfect size for carrying around in my handbag, I will definitely be purchasing the larger version.  I didn't think I would like the nail polish as I wasn't really a fan of the colour in the bottle, however I was pleasantly surprised after swatching it and ended up painting them all.  The Elasticizer claims to be "originally created specifically for Audrey Hepburn" and is a very good sized sample, I can't wait to try this out, though I'm not sure I would pay £38 for the full sized version.  Lastly the mascara is ok, the packaging is a bit on the bulky side but it does what it says on the tin!

Highlighter swatch

Nail polish swatch

You can subscribe to this box here!

Let me know what you thought of your Glossybox this month, or if there are any I am missing out on!

Alys x

August Love Me Beauty Box - Edition 3

Love Me Beauty Box - Edition 3

Love Me Beauty was the third beauty box I signed up for and this is my 2nd box from them.  This box is slightly different from the others as you get to choose from 3 to 4 "menus" each month, you need to be fairly quick at making your selection from the "Boutique" as the more favoured boxes sell out quite quickly.  It costs £10 + P&P each month, and this month's boxes were worth at least £55!

In Edition 3 of Love Me Beauty this month I received:

Marsk - Mineral Eyeshadow - Lucky Penny - £14.49

A La Carte - Smudge-Proof Eyebrow Definer - Blonde - £23

Oriflame - Swedish Spa Beauty Wonder Oil - £8.45

Mirabella - Lip Luster Liner - Shy - £10.50

Unboxed!

I was really impressed with all the products in this month's box.  I received another Marsk Mineral Eyeshadow in my YOU Beauty Discovery box in shade Rich List, they both have really high colour payoff and are incredibly easy to blend.  I was a little worried that the Eyebrow Definer would not be the correct colour as all they had available was blonde however it works fine with my light-medium brunette hair and is very easy to apply.  It's described as being semi-permanent, so I was a little worried about removing it, but it comes off the same as any other product.  The lip liner is a gorgeous colour and glides on easily without too much tugging on the lips.  The Spa Wonder Oil smells amazing and I can't wait to try this out!

Swatches (top to bottom: Eyebrow Definer, Lip Liner, Eyeshadow)

Overall really impressed with the Love Me Beauty boxes.  There are some benefits to subscribing to them, when you complete 5 surveys you get an extra sample, a free month for every 3 friends that join and an extra product for every 3 months you are subscribed!

You can subscribe to the box here!

Let me know what you think about this box!  And let me know if there are any other boxes I am missing out on, I'm hooked at the moment!

Alys x

August Birchbox & Bonus Mystery Duo

August Birchbox - "Away We Go"

Birchbox was the second beauty box I signed up for and this is my 3rd box from them and comes in at £10 per month + p&p (£2.95).  There is a beauty questionnaire that you fill in for this box, though I have found they don't tend to stick to this too much.  I have read mixed reviews and a lot of people complaining about getting duplicate products from month to month.  Their reward points seem pretty good and there is a wide variety of things you can purchase in their store.

In my "Away We Go" August Birchbox I received:

NUDE - ProGenius Omega Treatment Oil (5ml)

Vasanti - BrightenUp Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator (20g)

Number Four - Lumiere d'Hiver Super Comb & Protect (30ml)

Supergoop - CC Cream (2x 3ml)

Chella - Ivory Lace Highlighter Pencil

Book - The Proposal By Tasmina Perry (1 chapter)

Not overly impressed with this box, the CC cream was very dark/orange, I wouldn't call it "light to medium" at all.  I was also not too fussed about the chapter sample from a book.  However, the highlighter pencil is amazing, so easy to blend and feels gorgeous.  The rest is so-so, they are all decent sized samples and are all of nice quality, I'm just not sure how much use I will get out of them.

August Birchbox Mystery Duo

This month Birchbox were running a promotion whereby if you signed up to Emerald Street's newsletter, you received a free mystery duo.  I received theBalm How 'Bout Them Apples for cheeks and lips and Laura Mercier Body Butter.  

The Mystery Duo more than made up for my slight disappointment from this month's box.  What do you think about Birchbox?  Are there any beauty boxes I'm missing out on?

Alys x

Daniel Sandler Blush, Eyeliners and Line 'n Lacquer

My mini-haul from Daniel Sandler

Last week I wrote about how much I liked the aqua eyeliner by Daniel Sandler that I received in my YOU Beauty Discovery box.  So I decided to have a nose at their website and see if there was anything else that could tempt me - and there had some really nice products.

From left to right:

Mineral Matte Blusher - Natural Beauty - £6.25

Velvet Waterproof Eyeliner - Purple - £7.71

Line 'n Lacquer - Rare Rubies - £8.33

Concealer Brush - See first image - FREE

Line 'n Lacquer - The liner is built into the handle of the lacquer.  Very handy!

Mineral Matte Blusher in Natural Beauty- I really liked how natural this blusher looked and it was on sale so thought why not!  The packaging is very slim and not too bulky, it's a little smaller than the full-sized MAC blushes but it's still a very good sized product.  A little goes a long way and the colour is very easy to build up.  There's a lot of hype for his watercolour blushes, unfortunately I forgot to add the sample to my order but I will definitely be giving it a go soon!

Velvet Waterproof Eyeliners in Aqua and Purple - These eyeliners are so easy to apply, they glide on like butter.  I'm still not sure on what I'm going to wear these with, any suggestions would be really appreciated!

Line 'n Lacquer in Rare Rubies - I really like this product.  The liner is built into the handle of the lacquer and matches the lip colour perfectly - no more rooting through my drawers trying to locate the corresponding lip liner!  The lip liner glides on just as well as the eyeliners and the lip colour is very easy to build up and I found it very flatter on my skin tone (NW15).  This 2-in-1 product will be great for traveling!

Swatches on NW15 skin

Overall I am really happy with my products from Daniel Sandler and would 100% recommend them.  They came with a free clear make up bag and they are currently offering a free concealer brush with all orders over £12 and shipping is free on orders over £24.  They have just released a new limited edition Watercolour Fluid Blusher in shade Joy whereby £5 from each bottle sold will be donated to Macmillan Cancer Support (more details here)

Have you ever brought anything from Daniel Sandler?  Let me know your opinions on the brand!

Alys x

August YOU Beauty Discovery Box

YOU Beauty Discovery Box - "Summer Essentials"

This is my fourth monthly beauty box subscription and is the cheapest coming in at only £6.95 a month including P&P!  It is also a little different to the other boxes I am currently subscribed to (Glossybox, Birchbox and Love Me Beauty) as you get to choose your 2 full sized products - you need to make your picks as close to the beginning of the month as possible, as things sell out fast.

This month each box contained: 2 Jimmy Choo perfume samples, a nail file and a face cream sample.  You are able to choose 2 items from the following for your full sized products in your YOU Beauty box.  This month's options were:

Daniel Sandler - Waterproof Eyeliner in Aqua (0.25g) - £9.25

Eucerin - Sun Fluid Mattifying SPF30/50 (50ml) - £12

Gazelli - Triple Youth with White Oil Duo (5ml each) - £16

Louise Galvin - Sacred Locks Treatment Masque (100ml) - £8.60

Marsk - Rich Mineral Eyeshadow in Rich List (1.2g) - £14.99

Peggy Sage - Nail Polish (Nude or Summer Collection) - £5

Rose & Co - Cherry Kiss Lush and Lovely Lip Balm (10g) - £2.50

JustBe Botanicals - Hydrating Serum (10ml) - £11.65

I chose the Aqua Eyeliner and the Mineral Eyeshadow, though I also really wanted the Rose & Co balm - I think I need to do some googling to find my nearest stockist for that one!  I'm pretty boring when it comes to eyeliners and so far only own blacks and browns so I couldn't wait to get my hands on the aqua colour.  The eyeshadow is my first mineral loose eyeshadow and it took a little while for me to work out how to get into it without making a mess!

The eyeliner is very easy to apply, it glides on like butter with no tugging or pulling - now I just need to work up the courage to wear it out and also figure out what to wear with it!  The eyeshadow is gorgeous, I really struggled to pick up its shimmer on the camera but it catches the light nicely.  Both are swatched on bare NW15 skin with no primer.

Overall I am extremely happy with my first YOU Beauty Discovery Box.  I've received £24.24 worth of full sized products for only £6.95!  I will definitely be continuing my subscription with YOU Beauty Discovery!

www.youbeautydiscovery.co.uk

Alys x

Debenham's National Lipstick Day Sale: MAC Angel & MAC Girl About Town

Girl About Town & Angel - Bargains at 50p!

Debenhams celebrated National Lipstick Day on 29th July by offering £5 off all lipsticks!  All their MAC lipsticks were £10.50 and with the £20 of Beauty Card Points I had saved up it meant that these lipsticks worked out at 50p each!

They were also offering a free mystery gift with each order, I received 5 perfume samples which are always handy to keep in my handbag.

Swatches on NW15 skin

 Girl About Town - This is a bright fuchsia pink with blue undertones in amplified creme finish.  A little goes a long way and works up to an opaque colour with a just few swipes.  Personally, this wasn't my cup of tea as it didn't look quite right on me but it felt so creamy and was so easy to apply.  Maybe I just need to get used to brighter colours!

Angel - This is a yellow toned light pink with a soft silver shimmer in frost finish.  I found this one a little harder to apply than Girl About Town and it took a little more effort to build up an opaque coverage without going patchy and it settled into the lines of my lips.  It took a reapplication with the MAC Prep & Prime lip primer as a base to eliminate the cracked lips look.