March Glossy Box

Its that time again for my Glossybox review.  Before I start I want to comment of the delivery service, until this month the box was delivered by a courier and was delivered all sorts of times and they would leave the box somewhere if I was out, not good on a rainy day.  Now they have moved to Royal Mail and the box comes with the postman in the mornings, I may not be in but collecting the box from the sorting centre is no issue and I know the box is safe.

Onto the contents.  Let me be frank here, I was not impressed this month and as I reveal the contents I will explain why.

First up is the perfume samples from Juicy Couture, 2 of them in fact.

My view on perfume samples in Glossyboxes remains the same, I don't believe that samples should be included, I can get a perfume sample from Debenhams or House of Fraser when out shopping.  Anyway they smell ok and will be useful in my work draw to use in an emergency.

Next up is a body cream from Mitchell & Peace mitchellandpeace.com entitled English Growers.

This is a great size to try 40ml will enable me to see if I like it.  First impressions are that it is a little too flowery in scent for my liking but the texture is lovely and the scent may grow on me.

The third item is from Dove and it is their intensive repair 60 second treatment shot.

I am just meh about this again the one tube is not enough for me to see if I like the product enough, it will be handy to take on holiday with me but that's about it.  There are a few things I want to try from Dove, their heat hair mask for one but this is just a so so product from me.

The next item is from Bellapirre Cosmetics bellapierre.co.uk

This is a muti purpose shimmer powder in a very light pink.  I like the shade and the shimmer and I also like the fact it is a multi tasker, use as a highlight on the cheeks or eyes or mix with a lip gloss for a gentle shimmer on the lips.  The leaflet also says can be mixed with nail varnish but I have yet to try that.

I am most excited about the last item.

Pout Polish by Sleek sleekmakeup.com in shade Bare Minimum.  I have wanted to purchase this item for the longest time in this shade but my local Superdrug and Boots never had it in. I have heard brilliant things about this and I like the shade and this will be used right away.

This months box had been a tad disappointing, if it wasn't for the Sleek pout polish and the shimmer powder from Bellapierre I would have cancelled the subscription.
What are your views on this months Glossybox?

Glossybox February 2014 review

The postman dropped off my Glossy Box the day after valentines day.  I was not expecting to be thrilled with the contents after last month but I was blown away.

Firstly the box had a brilliant print on the lid of lipstick prints.  I will be using this box to store my lip balms, a fitting choice I thought.

The contents were very exciting.

Lindor treat bar| Nougat London sparkling body shimmer| Eldora false eyelashes| Maybelline color sensational stripped nudes lipstick| Ciaté London paint pot|  Giovanni Eco Chic cosmetics ultra sleek

Upon opening I was instantly impressed with the nail varnish, eyelashes and lipstick being instant winners.

I have used Eldora before and I have always been impressed with them, these look on the right side of natural and fluttery.

The Maybelline lipstick is a fantastic neutral shade called coffee craze, very wearable and feels soft and hydrating on the lips.

Ciate do amazing varnishes and this is no exception, the colour is a beautiful pink, bright but very wearable for work.

Lindor make gorgeous chocolate and this treat was as good as all their other chocolate, melt in the mouth niceness.

The body shimmer has a fabulous fragrance of cherry blossom,  my most favoured smell as it brings back memories

The only issue I had with this months box was the Giovanni sachets.  A sachet is not big enough for me to decide if I like a product or not.  I think a sachet is cop out and a cheap trick

Overall this months box has been a hit, they have made good product choices and may have redeemed themselves from last month.

If you subscribe to Glossy Box I would love to hear your views on this months box.

January 2014 Glossybox - Back to Basics

So the Glossybox theme for January is "Back to Basics" I kind of like the sound of that I thought as I opened the box up.
Firstly the box has been slightly revamped, it is glossy and feels nice to the touch.  I use the boxes after I have emptied them out for all sorts of things, I have one holding my belts and buckles, one for my pens at work, one holding my cotton wool pads I could go on.

Back to Basics

I opened the box right up and this bit is always thrilling to me as I have a sense of expectation of what I will find inside.  Some months I am happy, others not so sometimes I am on the fence.  This month fell into the fence category.  I always read the magazine that comes with the box but even that did not set me alight with inspiration compared to other months.

The first thing I laid eyes on were the 2 small tubes of Yu-Be moisturising skin cream.  click here for more details.  A little does go a long way and yes it is a nice cream but I was not over impressed after using it a few times and its not a repurchase product for me.

I then picked out the Anatomicals Puffy The Eye Bag Slayer Wake-Up Under Eye Patches click here.  Great name for a product and although I have not used it yet I know I am going to like it.  The packaging is bright and funky and after using their facial spray I know these eye patches will suit my skin.  The price is at a good price point £6.00 for a 3 pack and I know I will repurchase.

I pulled out next Vaseline Essential Moisture Lotion, the brand is already a firm favorite already with me, I use the spray formulas and like them so seeing this in the box was a good thing as I will use it but also a let down as I like to try new untried products with my subscription. Vaseline products is available in many places including Boots click here.  I prefer the spray function much easier in the mornings and I highly recommend the spray and go moisturiser click here

Next out was tweezers.  Now I groaned, I like tweezers and I have a few but the fact is one or two of mine have come from previous Glossy Boxes so I have a few already in my collection.  These tweezers are from The Vintage Cosmetic Company click here and look nice, floral and pretty but are no different the the HD Brows tweezers sent a few months back or any of the others I own. These will be given away and I hope someone else will enjoy them.

My last item out was Balance Me Super Toning Body Wash click here, nice smell not convinced about the toning part but lathers up and the fragrance stays with you for a good while after.  A nice product but nothing amazing.

Vaseline/Anatomicals/Yu-Be/Balance me/The Vintage Cosmetic Company

Vaseline/Anatomicals/Yu-Be/Balance me/The Vintage Cosmetic Company

Balance me/Vaseline

Anatomicals/The Vintage Cosmetic Company

Mixed feelings about this Glossy Box, but on the whole I was left disappointed but the products inside.
If you subscribe to Glossy Box did you feel the same?

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Maybe this is something I would not have said a while back but I think I am ready to say it now and that is that I am actually looking forward to Christmas, not super excited yet but I am facing the festivities with joy in my heart.
This week at school it has been very festive, lots of Christmas music being played and preparations for our community party were in full swing.  Yesterday was Christmas jumper day and our Christmas dinner.
The week has not been full of cheer though, Monday afternoon revealed a revelation that sent me into a spin and I spend the next few days catching my breath from it.  So it was really lovely to end the week with the Christmas dinner puller crackers and clinking glasses to shouts of cheers with my students whilst we all wore crazy Christmas jumpers.  I decided to go all glittery gold and silver for the Christmas lunch, I had gold and silver MAC pigment on my eyes and an amazing gold glitter polish from OPI "Goldeneye" on my fingernails (click here to buy from Amazon UK).  My Christmas jumper was a silver grey with a beautiful robin from Dorothy Perkins and I decided to wear my very festive red UGG boots.
It is just 5 days until we break for Christmas and boy I really do need the break.  This week really took it out of me but I guess I am lucky to have someone at home to watch out for me and for me to talk to when things get tough.

I received my Urban Decay Naked 3 pallet this morning and I am very excited about it.  The colours are very wearable and I cant wait to put a look together with it.

The packaging is in a beautiful rose gold and the pallet itself has a good range of matt and shimmer colours easy to transform a look from day to night and perfect for travelling.
I am also finishing off my eBay run with just a few more items to be added this weekend, then I am all set for Christmas.

The December Glossybox is also very festive.  It arrived in a beautiful red box with the items nestling in green wrapped in candy cane red and white paper.

So here goes, my own reviews on what I have received from Glossybox.
The first thing that really caught my eye was the Wilkinson Sword Intuition razor.  Mainly because it took up half the box.  

Its from their naturals range (click here for more details) and I have used the intuition razors before.  They are really handy for holidays and when in the gym as it has the 'gel' around the blades.  I like this item and I was pleased to see it .
The second item I pulled out was the Maybelline New York color tattoo 24 hour eye shadow in Everlasting Navy available in the UK in Boots.  

I was really chuffed to get this as I wanted to try this product for some time but never got round to buying it.  The colour is like a great denim and very wearable. I cannot wait to try it.
The third item that caught my attention was the nail varnish. As you know I have a number of nail varnishes so at first I thought meh and I put it to one side but then once I put it down the colour really caught my eye.  

The brand is Seche I have never heard of it before but the colour is 'smitten' (click here for more details).  The photos or their own site do not do this colour justice, its a bright vibrant red slightly on the orange side in the bottle but I will post a picture when I have tried it on.
The next item was a lip gloss in a nude shade from beautiful movements cosmetics a lovely shade that will balance out a strong eye during the party season.  

I love the fact that this brand is cruelty free and I certainly will be looking on their site for more of their products.
The last item I received certainly gets a meh from me, its a perfume sample.  Now I like perfume and I like samples  but I think it should never form part of the 5 items in this subscription.  I can go to any store and get a sample to try so why should it be part of this deal.  its from Lipsy and its called 'Glam'.  

First impressions is that it is a fruity fragrance, it is nice and would be lovely for the daytime it sits well on the skin but I am not convinced it is long lasting.  I may get the full size at some point but it is not high on my want list.
On the whole I am 90% pleased with this months Glossybox, it was the perfume sample that let it down, maybe I am not alone in thinking this.

I am off to finish my festivities planning.  I hope you are all set.

The Glossy Wishlist

It's that time of the month when I come home and find my latest Glossy Box waiting for me (see www.glossybox.co.uk for how it works).

This month contained a hand cream from Yves Rocher (Yves-Rocher.co.uk) part if their collection cacao range that smelt like a chocolate orange.  I liked the packaging with this product and it looked as if it should smell of chocolate, I was please it did!

The scent like I say was chocolate orange and although I really like this scent I could see how this could clash with the other scents I choose to wear, it could also become sickly after a while. The texture was nice and my hands did not feel too greasy after use which is a big plus for me when on the go all the time.

The next item I turned my attention to was the elegant touch nail pads I see this range as an 'old school range' I have used these before so before opening the packaging I knew what to expect.  

This is a great item to use when traveling or to keep in the desk drawer at work, I loathe chipped nail varnish and I absolutely hate getting chips when at work.

The third item I looked at was from Gosh Cosmetics (superdrug.com) a lipstick from their velvet touch range in shade 'Sundown'.

I will be honest I saw the colour upon opening and thought OMG when am I going to wear that?However, I swatched it on the back of my hand and it didn't look so scary.  It is orange but fairly sheer and it does feel lovely on the lips.  Not keen on the packaging, it looked cheap and not the normal style of lipstick packaging I go for, maybe better suited to teenagers.

The next item was an eye shadow from Emite Make Up (emitemakeup.com).  A gorgeous black, highly pigmented shadow that felt absolutely lovely on.  

This eye shadow is free from oil, nickel, parabens and perfume.  The packaging is simple in its design, the plastic container thinner than a MAC eyeshadow container but the size of the shadow was about the same size as one from MAC.  I know I will get a lot of use from this shadow over the next few months.

The last item was from Vichy (boots.com) it's their first skin idealiser called Idealia Life Serum, helping to transform the appearance of the skin's quality.  I liked how this had been put together by glossybox 3 small boxes in a pink gauze bag.  

I will be looking forward to using this item over the next few days, hoping for no breakouts.

I must say I like how glossybox are now packaging their boxes, the magazine is just right with a few snippets of information and a card with the details of the products in the box.

I will be honest I have had better months from them with better products, in most cases I have gone out and repurchased the item after using is in the monthly box that to me is what glossybox is all about.

In other make up news I am back using MAC paint pots and loose pigments, now I have reorganized my makeup I have found changing my make up products around far easier and not just sticking to the same old same old.  The MAC Christmas range has been released and I had a good look at their gift products last weekend whilst out Christmas shopping and like every year I could pick out many items I would like to receive this Christmas.

Since getting back to work it has been very busy, we are still waiting for ofsted to come in and we are on tender hooks until they do finally turn up.

I had also been nominated for an award, I was shocked to be nominated but also pleased that my hard work had been recognized.  The school days are long but every day is different, some more challenging than others but I wouldn't swap it for the world.

I also had a house guest for a few days and that can always throw my routine out a bit.

I know it's still mid November but I made a start on the Christmas shopping, I have a lot of people to buy for this year and I can't do it all on 1 pay packet so I made a start at the weekend and I will be honest I feel quite proud of myself as I manged to get a number of key gifts in 1 go. That means the next shopping trip won't be stressful and could even be completed on line.

Have you made a start to your Christmas gift shopping? Or are you a last minute person?  Whatever you are enjoy the build up to the festivities and stay safe.