September You Beauty Box

I received the September You Beauty box early on in the month which was weird as it seemed like I'd only just received the last box.

The You Beauty boxes are small but for only £6.95 they are always good value.

As usual, I got to pick two products from a list and then You Beauty do the rest.

In this instance I chose the Germaine de Capuccini Excel Therapy 02 which promises to revitalise and nourish your skin and give a healthy and more youthful appearance.

This is an intriguing product and I'm always willing to try anything that claims to treat signs of ageing so I'm looking forward to giving this a go.  I'm in the middle of using something else at the moment and I don't want different tubes on the go but I'll put this next on my list to see how it works.  It retails for £51.50 on the website here.

This cream was twinned with the Multi-Regenerating Rosehip Oil.

This oil can be used to hydrate dry, mature and ageing skin but can also be used on stretch marks and scars in the manner of Bio Oil.  The site also mentions that it can sooth skin after chemical peels and skin undergoing surgery.

I like oils like these as I do have a few scars on my skin and I certainly have areas of very dry skin so I'm keen to see how this helps.  This oil is available from the website for £34.95 here.

The other product I chose was the Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pen.

I use eyeliner most days so I thought I stood a good chance of putting this to good use.

This is a waterproof, smooth eye pen that states that it doesn't budge or smudge!  Quite a statement methinks.

The colour I received was DeepPlum which I'm excited about as it's dark enough for me to feel comfortable wearing but not a colour I currently own.  As a green eyed person this colour should work well I hope.

I tried to quickly smudge this to give a better idea of the browny colour of this pencil and you can certainly see that it didn't want to smudge very much.

I like this pencil as it was beautiful to use, even if it was only onto paper, and I look forward to trying this out with different eye looks.

It retails for £11 and there are a lot of colours available to choose from here. 

The rest of the box included the following:

The Toni & Guy Volume Plumping Whip is something I'm sure I've had in a Latest In Beauty box but still not tried.  This is used on damp hair and blow dried as desired to give volume without being sticky.

To be honest, I tend to just put my hair up most days as I work in an office, don't take lunch breaks and don't meet the public so I don't really care about what my hair looks like.  However, when I next want to go the trouble of doing my hair I'll give this a go and see what it does.  My hair is quite thin so I'd like to see how much volume this offers.  I won't bother linking a website to this as it's pretty widely available from places like Boots and Superdrug for around £7.20.

Then there were two sachet samples of Crabtree and Evelyn tea.

As you can see, the flavours are Blackberry Green Tea and Afternoon Tea. 

I'll probably use this one more as it's like the type of tea I already drink several times a day already but I've never tried this one so I'll definitely be giving this a go soon.

I'm not sure about this one but only because I was put off blackcurrant/blackberry teas by a friend who once commented that they smelled like cats wee!  I think I'll give this one a tentative sniff before using it.  It won't go to waste however, as my Mum like to make a low fat fruit cake that steeps the fruit in tea before using.  I have given her various different teas to try using over the years so this one will certainly get used if I don't use it.

Lastly, the one that made me smile:

A sponge! 

Actually, I was recently watching Wayne Goss on his YouTube channel Gossmakeupartist (watch him if you don't already - he's brilliant!) and he said that face powder brushes were originally invented for using after you had put your powder on with a sponge like this to brush off the excess.  It got me thinking about giving this a try to see if it helps to keep my skin more mattified as you use it to press the powder into/onto your skin before using the brush.  It's apparently a good way of powdering your face if you have dry skin or are worried about your make-up being displaced with brush strokes.

You can watch that video here.  And watch a few more while you're there!

Well that wraps up the You Beauty box this month.  I love the weirdness of the things they send and the items you choose are usually good value, especially given the price and that it includes postage.  You Beauty boxes can be subscribed to here.

September Glossybox

I received this box a couple of weeks ago but various incidences cropped up that have delayed my posting.  Apologies.

The box itself is different from the usual light pink colour as this one is a Karen Millen inspired box and there was an accompanying event that Glossybox subscribers were invited to.  I'd love to have gone but I'm not the biggest fan of travelling to London and I'd not long previously been up there for a injection through my tailbone (yummy!) so wasn't feeling up to it which is a shame.

This is certainly a striking looking box and, even though I like to keep my Glossybox boxes anyway, this one will certainly be kept to use to store things in.

An offer of £25 off, presumably when you spend £150 in store.

The usual, helpful card of product info inside.

First up on the list is the ModelCo More Brows Fibre Gel.

This is basically a mascara style eyebrow gel that you apply by brushing it through your brows.  It's very useful as it applies colour and allows you to shape your brows at the same time rather than having to apply gel or wax, brow powder or pencil and brush your brows into shape.  The colour is Light to Medium and you can also get it in Medium to Dark so the colour I got was the lightest available.  It is a very versatile colour though and I had no problem in getting it to blend in on my brows.

It applies as a gel-type formula and dries in around a minute.

As you can see, the colour looks like a greyish brown but is certainly not too dark for lighter brows.  For a brow-phobe I found this to be a really good product to use as it was easy, gave great coverage and was really effective.  It certainly takes the stress away from using powders, gels, waxes and pencils.  It was easy to get a light coverage too in case, like me, you're worried about having fake looking eyebrows.

The card says that this retails for £14.95 for 3.5ml from the ModelCo site but the site says that it's £9.95.  I would definitely think about getting this again and there were quite a few mid price range cosmetics and more on their website so worth a look.

Next on the list is the L'Oreal Professional Mythic Masque.

This masque is designed to replenish and nourish your hair and leave it looking glossy.  It certainly seems to contain some very good ingredients like avocado, argan, grapeseed and cottonseed oils which is encouraging.

This is to be used after shampooing and applied to towel-dried hair, left for three minutes and then rinsed.  If your hair is very damaged, like mine, then you can cover your hair with a shower cap or clingfilm and even wrap a towel over the top of these to create some warmth and allow the masque to really sink into the hair.

I haven't had a chance to use this yet but, as I've said before, with damaged hair like mine, I'm always keen to try different products out to see if they live up to their claims. 

The card says that this retails for £15.50 and I'm not even going to attempt to link the site they give (a where2getit site with a looooong link) but I Googled it and found several hits.  Feelunique.com have it for £15.30 and offer free postage for orders over £10 here.

Third on the list is the SkinPep Enzyme and Acid Peel.

This comprises of 2 sachets of Brightening Enzyme and Acid Peel and a Dark Circle Eraser.

The first is used on wet skin and the company recommend that 3.5ml is the perfect amount to use which is the full amount of the sachet provided.  Massage the gel over your damp face and neck for 1-2 minutes, leave for a further 1-2 minutes and the rinse thoroughly.  The gel can be used up to twice a week and continued use can enable you to leave the gel on for over 5 minutes.  Skin should feel smoother during massaging but a deeper effect can be obtained with longer usage. 

The gel retails for £89.99 for 180ml, £29.99 or 30ml, £14.99 for 15ml and £3.99 for the 3.5ml sachet and can be purchased here and there is a useful instructional video on the page.  For anyone put off at the idea of chemical peel type products, the site also offers a sensitive skin version.

The second is the eye gel, applied to the under eye area much like most eye creams and gels.  The regular size of this product comes with a strange plastic applicator thing which you use to massage the gel into the under eye area.  The site recommends that you keep it in the fridge which is always a good idea for eye gels as it adds to the soothing feeling. 

There is a huge amount of information on this product on the site which includes stating that the gel reduces dark circles and supports collagen and encourages blood circulation. 
This comes in two sizes, 15ml for £49.99 and the 2ml sachet for £6.49 here.

I haven't used these yet as I like to use sachets of products on occasions when I can make the most of the results.  I'm not sure how I feel about these and the prices are quite high but the reviews on the website seem to be very good.  I think the proof will be in the testing and then I'll think about the prices.  Maybe.

The Nails Inc Westminster Bridge Matte Top Coat is next up.

These isn't much to say about this as it speaks for itself.  A matte topcoat instead of using a glossy topcoat or having glossy nail polish on.

 

I like matte topcoats and already have one that I bought from a clothes shop as there was a display near the till.  I like the idea of the different effects you can create with matte topcoat and sometimes the effect can be amazing, especially with polishes with micro glitters in.  I've often found myself adding glossy topcoat to matte polishes but I often forget to try mattifying a glossy polish.  

One great effect I used matte topcoat for was with the Models Own Speckled Egg range that I'm wearing in my header photo.  I loved that the colours reflected the colours you get with Cadbury's Mini Eggs but the shells of those are matte.  I broke out the matte topcoat I already had and applied it over the polish and was really happy with the results.

 The picture quality isn't great in the second photo but hopefully you can see how cool the matte effect was here (eew, my cuticles!!! - sorry!).

 

Getting this polish in my Glossybox has inspired me to try more matte effects over my regular polishes to achieve different looks and I've got a few new polishes that this would work well with.  I like Nails Inc too but I admit that I don't always reach for them when choosing my next polish.  I recently swatched all my polishes and the Nails Inc wheels had some great colours so I'll try to make sure I wear them more.  You can get this for £12 from the Nails Inc website here.

Lastly is the Ultrasun UK Extreme SPF 50+.

This product is a SPF 50 sun protection cream that you apply once a day, 15 minutes before going out into the sun and is water-resistant which means that you have excellent sun protection for the whole day.

The website states that this is perfume and preservative free, with no mineral oils or emulsifiers.

This is only a 15ml tube so it won't go that far on me but I look forward to trying this product out as I am always worried about sunburn and the damaging effects it has on the skin.

You can get the full size 200ml of this for £20.00 from ultrasun.co.uk here.  The company also offer a SPF30 cream and a face cream with a SPF of 50 and other variations of these creams.

Overall, I'm fairly pleased with this box but not overwhelmed by it.  The Glossybox site shows a great range of September products and ones I would have found really great to try.  I like the brow gel and the hair masque, sun cream and matte top coat are very useful.  The skin peel makes me slightly nervous but I'm willing to give it a go, as long as I have a basin of water ready in case my skin gets irritated.  You can subscribe to Glossybox here.

September Birchbox

I received my September Birchbox on Friday which was great as I'd just returned home from a hospital procedure in London and was in need of something to cheer me up.

This box was slightly different this month as Birchbox gave subscribers a chance to pick a product for themselves.  There were two lipglosses and a mascara, all by Modelco to choose from.  I went for a lipgloss as I use them more often than I use mascara and I have a ton of mascara.

As you can see, the theme this month is Happy Days and is based on memories of school days as being the happiest of our lives.  Luckily for me I did have a fairly happy time at school but I know that there are many that didn't and some that still aren't.  That aside, this is definitely a cheery box.

The usual card that lists the contents and the uses for each product.  Always helpful, especially when you occasionally receive something with no instructions on them (see upcoming Glossybox review!).

We're back to the little cloth bags to hold contents.  I like these as they come in handy for holding toiletries or make up.

First on the list is the Agave Healing Oil Treatment.

Before this box I had not heard of this company.  It was set up by Fernando Romero and uses the Blue Agave Plant to recreate his grandmothers hair treatments that heal, restore and control frizzy hair.

This is a 4ml sample of the oil and is used by warming a small amount between your hands and then smoothing onto the hair.

I like hair products that offer to heal hair and deal with frizz and I have bleach damaged hair and it needs all the TLC it can get.  I look forward to trying this out and seeing if it can deliver on its promises.  You can buy the full size for £16 from Birchbox.co.uk/shop .  The Agave website shows that there is also shampoo, conditioner and a hair treatment in the range too.

Benefit It's Potent! Eye Cream is a jar of eye cream that promises to get rid of dark circles under the eyes.

This is a 3g pot of the cream but a little does go a long way.  I have used this cream before but am terrible at remembering to use it.  I am currently using another eye cream but I'll switch to this one afterwards as it does have a good reputation.

Always remember to gently apply cream to the eye area as it is very delicate and easy to damage so it's best to use a tapping motion with your ring finger.
The full size of this retails for £25.50 and can be purchased from Birchbox or from Benefit's site or Boots stores.

Skin & Co Sicilian Light Serum is a light facial serum that brightens, tightens and softens skin and claims to reduce fine lines, even skin tine and boost collagen.

I remain ever hopeful of finding a skincare product that delivers on its' claims so I'll see how this one fares.  It seems like a soft, silky serum that absorbs nicely (well it did on my hand) so we'll see.  The full size of this retails for £29.

This is the Modelco Lip Lacquer in the shade 'Viva'.  It is a lovely pinky, nude shade and thus very versatile.  I love shades like this as they are so wearable, go with so many looks and, when they are nice and pigmented like this, can give just the right amount of colour.

This is a small, sample-sized tube of the gloss but it's so perfect for your handbag or small, clutch-style purse where space is of a premium.  It'll even fit into your pocket without looking bulky.

This is just a small sweep across my hand and yet it is very pigmented.

I know that this is a blurry photo but it shows the opacity of this gloss and the great colour payoff.  The full size of this retails for £15 and can be purchased through Birchbox or via modelcocosmetics.com.

Last of the beauty products is my favourite and I did a little squeal when I saw it.

This is the regular Beautyblender® and comes with a disc of Beautycleanser® Solid.

There can be hardly anyone left on the planet that hasn't heard of Beautyblender but on the offchance you haven't I'll do my best to explain.  Beautyblender® was invented to fill a demand created by the advent of HD.  Foundation brushes can leave small brush lines and brushes and other methods can also leave foundation clinging to dry areas or imperfections.  The Beautyblender® was born and enables the user to use the sponge, damp, in a bouncing motion and has a small tip that gives better access to the eye area or to specific blemish areas.

This is a genius product that grows larger when wet.  Hold under running warm water (or in a sink of warm water if you don't have a mixer tap) and gently squeeze to get the water all the way into the sponge and activate the growing process.  Don't squeeze into a fist as you can damage the sponge.  Then place the blender onto a clean towel or flannel and use the same gently squeezing motion to get rid of excess wet.  You can now use the sponge to dab into your foundation of choice and then use a bouncing motion to dab the product onto your face. 

When I first used one of these I was amazed by the results.  No streaks, really easy to use and easy to take care of.  This really made a massive difference to applying my foundation, BB or CC creams.  You can also use it to blend your under eye highlighter seamlessly.

Once finished with you should use the cleanser (or a foaming face cleanser or baby shampoo if you don't have the branded cleansers and use the same squeezing action to get the cleaner right into the sponge.  I use my thumb to gently rub cleanser onto troublesome areas.  Then use the same action to rinse the sponge until clear of soap.  The sponge can now be placed, pointy end down, into the 'drum' that the Beautyblender® comes in (remember that the damp blender will be a bit larger than it was when dry) to dry out.

As long as you use these sponges properly they should last for a long time and work fantastically.  I have heard of a brush that might rival the application but only one.  Otherwise it is one of the most raved about products around and it is not undeserved.  There are dupes available but the cheaper ones are a case of getting what you paid for.  The best dupe around is by Real Technique and is pretty darn good.  The Beautyblender® with Beautyclenser® retail for £26.

The first of the 'Lifestyle' products is the Urban Fruit packet of dried pineapple.

I like getting stuff like this in these subscription boxes as it's something new and introduces me to things I've never heard of before.  I am a big fan of pineapple and have tried it when it turns up in my Graze boxes so I am intrigued to try this out. 

Healthy snacks are always welcome to me as I work in an office where it is all too easy to pick at unhealthy food to wake me up and give me a sugar kick.  I look forward to trying this out at work and to trying out the other varieties available (mango, strawberry, apple & pear, cherry, blueberry & blackcurrant and apricot.  They also do banana but I hate bananas).  They sell at a variety of supermarkets and retail for £13.20 for 6.  Yum.

Lastly is the Happy Days Photo Clip.

I've seen clips like these before but never owned one.  You clip a photo in it and then place it on your desk, bedside cabinet or wherever.  I don't have many current photos but I'm sure I can find one to use with this and will maybe keep it on my desk at work. 

I'm really impressed with the products I've received from Birchbox this month.  Looking at their site and at the products that were available this month there seems to have been a lot of high quality products available.  There isn't a product here that I won't find useful and don't look forward to using.  There are also some products that I think I might purchase if they deliver on their promises.

Birchboxes can be subscribed to at Birchbox.co.uk from £10 per month with £2.95 postage.