liquid

UNBOXING: Birchbox May 2018 – Palm Leaves and Warm Breeze

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This month’s theme was Palm Leaves & Warm Breeze, saying ‘aloha’ to the first signs of summer.

No full-size products this month. We will use everything in the box. Well-curated but nothing particularly exciting other than the box, which is beautiful and definitely worthy of staying out on show.

DOUCCE: Luscious Lip Stain in Amber Rose, unknown size
Value: Approx £10 (not sure of sample size), full size 6g is £21

Image result for doucce lip stain amber rose

“This pigmented liquid formula applies matt, dries fast (so it won’t transfer onto anything and lasts for hours. Unlike other matte lip products, this long-lasting formula glides on smoothly for comfortable all-day wear”

BT INITIAL OPINION: A super flattering, fresh colour for oriental skintones. Formula is a little watery but the pay off is that is doesn’t ‘crack’ or dry too much like most matte lip paints. Tried the kiss test and it passed with flying colours 😀

GREENFROG BOTANIC: Geranium & Peppermint Botanical Bodywash, 50ml
Value: £1.49

Greenfrog Botanic Geranium and Peppermint Award Winning Soapberry Body Wash

“This organic formula is cruelty-free, vegan and completely free from chemical nasties! Brimming with moisturising alow vera and Saponin-rich soapberries, this gentle wash cleanses your skin whilst maintaining pH levels.”

BT INITIAL OPINION – The fresh scent is nice and the size will be great for a weekend away. This claims to be great for sensitive skin, eczema and psoriasis which would be the main plus point for us, but the sample is too small to verify these claims.

NATIVE UNEARTHED: Activated Charcoal Natural Deodorant Balm, 15g
Value: £1.99

Native Unearthed Activated Charcoal Natural Deodorant Balm

“This all-natural cream forgoes chemicals in favour of sweat-absorbing arrowroot, antibacterial coconut oil and soothing shea butter. Just smooth a pea-sized amount onto clean underarms to form an invisible shield.”

BT INITIAL OPINION – Small sample but happy to try alternative product like this although it’s not that different to a pushup stick or roll on once applied.

CAUDALIE: Make-up Removing Cleansing Oil, 30ml
Value: £5.40

Caudalie

“This 100% natural blend of sunflower, sweet almond and grape oils is a must have afor all skin types. Just massage onto dry skin to dissolve make-up, add water and rinse away to leave your skin clean and soft.”

BT INITIAL OPINION – We love cleansing oils! Will be interesting to see how this compares with our enduring classic Shu Uemura cleansing oil (which actually works out cheaper).

EYEKO: Skinny Liquid Eyeliner, 1.2g
Value: £9.60

Skinny Liquid Eyeliner

“This easy-to-use pen-style applicator will have you lining and defining your eyes in a flash. This fade-resistant formula will last all day and night.”

BT INITIAL OPINION – Black eyeliners will always get used and this one has a great reputation. Really surprised that the full size product is only 2g – super expensivo at £16. Let’s see if its performance justifies the high price tag when plenty perform well around the £5 mark.

OVERALL VERDICT:

We feel a bit conflicted with Birchbox at the moment. First of all, they got rid of Birch points and lifestyle extras and beauty tips. The quality of the boxes is very samey…on the one hand, they are mainly products we will use and are happy with. On the other hand, they are featuring high end brands less and being less exciting in general. Caudalie and Eyeko are solid brands but feature in boxes so often. In addition to this, there were no full size products. This was not so much the issue as some samples being too small as well (meaning that you can’t really tell if a product is worth buying). Whilst we’re not unhappy and have some great items to go in our travel washbags, Birchbox need to try harder.

Box price: £10.00 plus £2.95 shipping (rolling month by month subscription) – although we got this on a discount offer

Total value: £28.48

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

Like the look of Birchbox? Subscribe at www.birchbox.co.uk and you’ll get £5 off your first box! You’re welcome 😉

UNBOXING: You Beauty Box July 2016 – The Jet Set Edit

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YOU Beauty Box: The Jet Set Edit for July

It’s definitely the summer box! And although we don’t use tan products ourselves, we appreciate that the extra treat being a generous tube of ST Tropez In-Shower tan means we’re off to a good start. Illamasqua? Rodial? Alpha-H? Squee, you’re spoiling us this month!

We did get up early to order some Alpha-H liquid gold as we have yet to try this classic product, however it was already sold out. It seems like they only had a few bottles :-/

ILLAMASQUA: Precision Ink Liner in Abyss, 3ml
Value: £21 (full size, although the product sold has now gone down to 1.8ml vs the old 3ml…sneaky!)Image result for illamasqua ink liner

“Precision ink creates perfect lines with its long-lasting water-proof formula  The high percentage of pigment in the water-based formula proves ultimate pay-off. Also makes a great nail art pen.”

BT INITIAL THOUGHTS: Not sure how this is water-based but dries waterproof or how it can last long enough to use as a nail art pen, but we jumped at the chance to pick one of these up!  We absolutely love Illamasqua and use liquid liner every day.  We usually pick up whichever pigmented one we can get on a deal so it’s so exciting to get to use a premium product like this.  Fingers crossed it doesn’t disappoint us!

RODIAL:  Stemcell Super-food Glam Balm Multi, 25ml
Value: £27.50

Image result for RODIAL Stemcell Super-food Glam Balm Multi

Something weird has happened this month and not everything in the shortlist is featured on the featured image or the information booklet. We guess they received some extra products last minute?

BT INITIAL OPINION – Rodial is one of those brands you see in Space NK that sounds absolutely lovely but you can’t justify the money just to try it out. We like hard working products, so basically a multipurpose balm from Rodial is right up our street…

EXTRA TREATS:

ST TROPEZ: Gradual Tan In Shower Lotion in Medium, 50ml
Value: £3.63

Image result for Gradual Tan In Shower Lotion in Medium

“Gradual Tan In Shower Golden Glow Lotion lets you gradually build a deeper golden glow as part of your daily shower routine. This streak-free and easy to apply lotion is also ultra-hydrating and won’t transfer.”

BT INITIAL OPINION – Self-tan isn’t for us (or tanning in general), but St Tropez has a very establish (albeit with a premium price tag) reputation. This is a great freebie considering sometimes we get tiny sachets and will make a lovely gift for a friend.

OTHER OPTIONS:

The shortlist this month was:

  • Resultime – Regenerating Collagen Gel, 15ml
  • Illamasqua – Precision Ink Liner in Abyss, 3ml (full size)
  • White Rabbit Skincare Lime & Coconut Cleansing Water, 30ml
  • Aethic L’Air Bien Tubes in-flight Face and Hand Cream, 30ml (full size)
  • Carmex Peach & Mango Burst, 10g (full size)
  • Hawaiian Tropic Satin Protection SPF 15, 200ml (full size)
  • M&S Rosie for Autograph Nuit Parfum, 15ml
  • Philip Kingsley Swim Cap, 50ml
  • Rimmel London 60 Seconds Super Shine Nail Polish By Rita Ora in Glaston-Berry, 8ml
  • Alpha-H Liquid Gold, 50ml
  • NUXE Huile Prodigieus, 10ml
  • Rodial STEMCELL Super-Food Glam Balm Multi, 25ml
  • Balance Me Congested Skin Serum, 7ml
  • Bloom & Blossom Bath and Shower Gel, 50ml
  • INIKA Organic Eyeliner in Black Caviar

OVERALL VERDICT:

What a fantastic selection this month! We wish we had made it on time for the Alpha-H but as we login as soon as the selection is live, having discussed with other enthusiast we’re all pretty sure they had next to none of these. It was a tough decision between the items we chose and the Aethic L’Air Bien Tubes and the Resultime Collagen Gel, however the cult brands won out and we feel like we’ve received some extra lovely treats this month. You spoil us You Beauty…thumbs up!

Box price: £6.95 inc shipping
Total value: £52.13

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

REVIEW: Collection Fast Stroke Eye Liner (black) 3.8g, £2.99

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Image result for collection fast stroke eyeliner

We like the control of a pen, dislike the faff of gel liners with separate brushes. Our favourite liquid liners are definitely the dip style felt tip liquid liners. You get great control with these.

This Collection product was at a pretty good price but was very average. It stung our eyelids a little for the first couple of weeks, but the main issue was that the colour was not really as dense as we would usually like.

Not terrible/average in all. Our favourite so far is Rimmel Exaggerate (or the Clio Kill Black Eyeliner Pen, not available in the UK) which gives a really opaque line.

PROS: A good-quality tip for producing nice shapes/lines, relatively cheap

CONS: Colour bit watery

2 out of 5