cosmetics

UNBOXING: You Beauty Box July 2017 – Come fly with me!

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The selection this month was so so, with only one stand out item. The Skin Chemists serum was an easy choice and we chose to augment this with the facial oil. Could the serum possibly be good enough to justify the skyhigh price?  The freebie sachet is pretty tiny so a bit of a meh inclusion but it’s just an extra.

SKIN CHEMISTS: Aqua Repair Facial Serum, 30ml
Value: £64 (although available for £39)

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“Our SkinChemist 24 Hour Aqua Repair Facial Serum has been formulated to sooth and hydrate the skin for all day moisturisation. This serum would be the perfect product to use on the go for a quick zap of hydration. The main active ingredients include: Rose Water to calm and sooth the skin, Allantoin to moisturise and soothe and Aloe Vera to stimulate the healing process of the skin.”

BT INITIAL THOUGHTS: We love good skincare that’s compatible with combination skin, so love the trend towards serums and layering.  We couldn’t resist trying the serum right away. It sinks right in and isn’t sticky at all. Would recommend it being used before a moisturiser as we needed that extra hydration. Will report back on how much our skin likes it and whether it’s worth the splurge.

THE BODY SHOP:  Oils of life, 7ml
Value: £7.00

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“A lightweight daily facial oil to intensely revitalise skin, instantly replenish moisture and revive radiance.  Made from 99% oils of natural origin, this lightweight, quickly-absorbed formula effortlessly melts onto skin leaving a non-sticky, velvety-soft finish.”

BT INITIAL OPINION – We weren’t totally happy to see this in the shortlist as it’s available as a sample easily from Body Shop stores. However we did want to try it out as from cleansing to night treatments, we do love a good oil…they tend work so well with combination skin so much better and contrary to what you’d expect. Oil cleansers actually reduce how oily our skin is. This is a particularly lightweight oil that does absorb pretty fast. Hoping it will also nourish as well. We’ll see if it can compete with the likes of Kiehl’s Midnight Concentrate.

EXTRA TREATS:

OMS (OhMySkin) : Sublime Enzyme – Exfoliate & Surface Mask, 3ml
Value: £1.74

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“OMS’ natural formulation of Cacti & Wheat enzymes separate the old from the new, revealing an instantly brightened complexion.  OMS refines and perfects with each treatment, using no harsh acids, abrasive or microbeads. Concentrated vitamins and plant extracts leave the skin nourished, supple, firmed and uplighted.”

BT INITIAL OPINION – Look forward to trying this out, but think we’ll need more than one sample to see if it really makes a difference.

OTHER OPTIONS:

The shortlist this month was:

  • Acqua Cacteen Hydrasoothe Cooling Spray
  • Physicool Cooling Mist
  • Vita Liberata Self Tanning Night Moisture Mask
  • Years Rich Shea Butter Soap, Jasmine or Vintage Rose
  • Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration Air Soft Face SPF30
  • Aromatherapy Associates Support Breathe Bath & Shower Oil
  • Skin Chemists Aqua Repair Facial Serum
  • The Body Shop Oils of Life Intensely Revitalising Facial Oil
  • Simple Kind to Skin Micellar Cleansing Water
  • Green People Age Defy+ 24Hr Brightening
  • Invisibobble Traceless Hair Ring, True Black
  • Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure, Jolly Jade
  • Bohemian Chic Minerals Pretty in Pink Eyeshadow

OVERALL VERDICT:

The Skin Chemists serum saved this box! The rest of the list was pretty uninspirational. It’s always nice to try a luxury product without paying to premium to see if it’s really worth the hype. Another worthwhile item in the list, or another freebie would have raised the bar. Still amazing value for the price and this remains our favourite subscription box where you get to pick the items you receive.

Box price: £6.95 inc shipping
Total value: £72.74

Note: We paid for this You Beauty Discovery Box with our own hard-earnt pennies

Like the look of You Beauty Discovery? Sign up here http://www.youbeautydiscovery.co.uk

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Shara Shara Creamy Dual Auto Eyestick #3, Celeb Burgundy

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Shara Shara is a Korean cosmetic brand, more well known for its fun take on beauty than quality.

This is a dual-ended ‘automatic’ type pencil with a creamy glittery ‘eyeshadow’ that goes on smoothly and a more narrow, darker ‘liner. Ours was a peachy corally eyeshadow (shade similar to NARS orgasm) together with a burgundy liner.

The quality of both of these isn’t great and like most soft liners, they settle in to creases quickly without the use of primers and fixers. We suggest applying them then dusting along the lash line with a shade of eye shadow that matches or is darker than the liner to set it.

Whether or not the shades suit you, whether or not the shadow is too glittery for you, our biggest gripe is the absolutely terrible value. The liner end of the pencil broke and the turns out, there’s maximum 5cm of product in that end.

You woulodn’t get a whole eye look with this product and not that convinced the two colours even complement each other that well but it does give quite a fresh look. It’s a fun throwaway product that came in a Memebox, but we wouldn’t actually have wanted to spend money on this.

UNBOXING: Glossybox September 2014 – the Karen Millen one with the Mythic Oil

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We’ve not been fans of Glossybox UK in the past. The reason for this was tri-fold…the focus on makeup rather than skin/haircare, the poorly curated selection of low-value products, the wildly varying boxes (some people getting very poor, low-value boxes and others getting superb high-value boxes). In the past, You Beauty Discovery and Birchbox have reigned as our UK subscription boxes of choice.

Other than the gorgeous box design (we think we would actually pay just for empty Glossyboxes!!) However, we have been wanting to try Mythic Oil for a long time. This box came with the guarantee that you’d get Mythic Oil or Mythic Oil Mask to try. This would pay for a good proportion of the box and we’d heard that Glossyboxes had started to improve recently, so we decided to take the plunge.

We took up a Glossybox offer for a free past box by entering LUCKYDIP at the checkout (valid on 3-month+ subscriptions). Ours turned out to be the not-very-good-but-gorgeously-boxed-Seaside-Splash-Box (click to see the unboxing)

This is an unboxing, we’ll list the items and come back and review them later 🙂

 

L’ORÉAL PROFESSIONNEL: Mythic Oil, 45ml
Value: £5.75

“This lightweight oil cares for and pampers all hair types. The formula leaves your hair looking shiny while feeling nourised and supple.”

BT INITIAL THOUGHTS: Available from salons only, we’d been wanting to try this oil for a while as our skin and hair responds better to oil and serums. We’d heard really good things about this oil. This is a generous sample that should last a while. We had taken a bit of a gamble, hoping to get it so we were delighted to see it in my box!

 

MODELCO: MORE BROWS Fibre Gel, 3.5ml
Value: £14.95 (full size product)
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“This innovative brush-on fibre gel gives the appearance of fuller, thicker browns instantly.”

BT INITIAL THOUGHTS: We’re not really into the HD brows looks, so whilst we’re curious to see how well this product works, we’re glad we don’t have to pay for the privilege! A decent inclusion for the box though.

 

NAILS INC: Westminster Bridge Matte Top Coat, 10ml
Value: £12 (full size product)

“This matte effect top coat gives you two very different looks for every one of your nail polishes. The perfect way to add a unique twist to your favourite shade.”

BT INITIAL THOUGHTS: We’re super excited to try this out! This is bang on matte trend and can be used with our existing nail polishes. Plus we’re Nails Inc fans…what’s not to like?

 

GOSH COSMETICS: Silky Cream Blusher
Value: £6.99 (full size product)

“The texture of this smooth cream blusher leaves the surface of the skin with a flush of soft colour and a comfortable silky feeling.”

BT INITIAL THOUGHTS:  Whilst we rarely wear blusher day-to-day and this is not a brand that excites us to much, this is a useful inclusion that we will put to use. Full size, great for popping in your handbag – we’ll see if the colour suits. Nothing to complain about.

 

SKINPEP: Enzyme and Acid Peel + Peeling Gel, 7ml + 2ml
Value: £9.50 (£3.50 + £6)
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“This highly effective peeling gel uses Pineapple and Papaya extracts to create gently exfoliated, soft and bright skin.”

“This powerful dark circle eraser uses anti-oxidant ingredients to boost collagen in the delicate undereye area.”

BT INITIAL THOUGHTS: What incredibly expensive tiny sachets! Nice to try some high end products, however we are sceptical whether a sachet can ever give you enough product to really know if it performs well.

 


OVERALL VERDICT: This box was a strong all-rounder. With hair, skincare, nail, eye and face makeup products that we REALLY want to try and can probably afford (bar the sachets) to incorporate into our regular routines. We like that these products are all on trend and do not rely on being gimmicky. The products fitted with the ‘classy highstreet’ Karen Millen brand too.  This is probably our best ever Glossybox – well done guys! If Glossybox are able to maintain this kind of standard, then we will consider extending our subscription past the initial 3 months.

Box price: £9.50 (on a 3-month subscription) + £3.75 shipping
Total value: £49.19

Note: We paid for this Glossybox with our own hard-earnt pennies

Interested in trying out Glossybox UK? Click this link or the banner below.

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