Latest In Beauty Box: The Glamour Beauty Edit

Here with a review today of a non glossy beauty box for once! As soon as I seen the products in this box for such a good price I knew I had to get it!

I'm not going into detail with the products as everyone receives the same and they're pretty self-explanatory.

I was very excited about the HD Brows palette which I already own but getting a new one for free was too good to resist. I would have loved to get the lighter Bombshell palette to use on fairer eyebrows but Foxy will do for me! I also own the big benefit mascara but a baby one is always handy and will fit nicely in my handbag.

I was happy to receive the maybelline baby lips balm as I've been wanting to try that since forever! I got a lovely cherry colour which smells of cherries (duh) and leaves a very slight red tint to the lips.

I also love the brand balance me; I already own their eye cream and use it religiously. I've recently really gotten into using oils to remove my makeup so their Radiance Face Oil will certainly be getting used with its handy rollerball bottle too!

I love eyelash curlers even though I don't use them every day. The Eyeko ones in this box are very high quality with velvet handles. I've accumulated quite a few pairs from various boxes lately so I'll definitely be trying these out.

Less excited about the hair products but I was needing a new hairspray so I'll give the Toni&Guy one a go and Dry shampoo spray is always a winner as well!

Cost: £14.95 plus shipping
Value: over £60?

Verdict: A great box with a lot of my favourite products. Worth getting even just for the replenishment value of some items.

Glossybox for Net-A-Porter Limited Edition Box - November 2013

Sorry for my absence and to make up for that, I'm reviewing the newest limited edition box from Glossybox. It cost £20 plus £5 shipping and comes direct from net-a-porter.

We have some super luxurious packaging from n-a-p with a cute little measuring tape freebie and lots of bubble wrapped plastic packages inside to keep everything safe. As much as this was 'that bit extra' it did seem a bit wasteful.

The first product was the Philip B Beach Mist which retails for £22 on the website, right away giving us the value of the box. A review on this product is to come!

Next was the roll on perfume from Joya. This has a very strong and distinct scent which is not my cup of tea. 

Next is the ila Bath Salts for Inner Peace. A full jar of these retail for about £70 which is slightly crazy for bath salts so I was glad to get a very decent sized sample. Looking forward to my next bubble bath!

Next is my favourite product and the reason I bought this box. This retails at £20 on the n-a-p website which lifts this box's value even higher. 

The bullet shape of the mascara is very distinctive and I like it a lot. Review to come after a week or two of testing.

Next up is the Natura Bisse Diamond White brightening cream. The full size of this cream also retails at a much higher value than the cost of this box. I'm excited to try it but will probably pass it on to my mum.

Lastly, we have the Elizabeth Arden Prevage Anti-aging Daily Serum. This is another product I will pass on to my mother who rejoices when any of my glossy boxes contain anti aging products. I will be sure to update you guys on any improvements she sees.

Overall, I felt this was a good limited edition box. I like that all the boxes are the same, with everyone receiving the same 6 products. It takes away from the surprise element but seems fairer. Thumbs up!

Pale Foundation Sale

 I am selling some of my foundations as I have either bought them and used them once or never used them at all. All are listed on eBay here: http://tinyurl.com/knhjob6

They include: 

Makeup Forever HD Foundation in 110 Pink Porcelain - £23

Bobbi Brown Luminous Moisturising Foundation in 00 Alabaster - £20

Illamasqua Light Liquid Foundation in 115 (Now discontinued on website) - £22

Illamasqua Rich Liquid Foundation in 120 - £18

Nars Sheer Matte Foundation in Siberia - £22

Shipping is to UK only but international shipping could be organised if you contact me.

Thanks for looking!

Autumn/Fall Nails with OPI Malaga Wine

As its now mid-September, many people like to start incorporating autumnal colours into their wardrobe and style. I normally do this by adding warm tones to my hair and phasing out my pastel and bright nail colours for more deeper, rich shades.

I have always had a love/hate relationship with OPI's Malaga Wine as it is such a changeable colour. In daylight, as seen in the pictures above, it does indeed look the colour of a mature red wine. However, in artificially lit areas the colour changes to a very vampy dark raspberry/purple. It is completely unrecognisable. I have never seen a nail colour change like that so much depending on the light. I guess overall it is worth it as at least your nails are looking lovely outside!

I am definitely going to look for a more cherry red from OPI next time.

Price: £11 

What's your favourite OPI nail colours?

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Glossybox September 2013 London Edition Review

I received my glossybox in the post today and though I'd start a monthly review of them since I know many people, including myself, love to check out other people's boxes to compare with their own, it's all part of the fun of it!

Personally, I loved the box this month, keep reading to find out why!

First of all I loved the packaging with the Union Jack and pretty red paper. I'll definitely be using this box to keep makeup and accessories in.

I got a pair of eylure lashes worth about £5, almost half the box's price already! They are good quality and will be great for a night out.

I also got this Toni&Guy hair serum, worth £7. I generally don't use serum as it makes my hair greasy but I will pass it on to my mum who has dry hair.

Next, I got this felt tip liner from Be A Bombshell Cosmetics in the colour, Onyx, worth $14. I wore this to uni today and it has a very precise tip despite its 'chubby' size. It lasted well and I can see me wearing it often.

Not everyone loves perfume samples, however, this Liz Arden 'Untold' perfume is a very wearable, green fragrance and has a beautiful bottle so I'm happy enough with it.

Lastly, my final and favourite product is the HD Brows Blusher (no.2), worth a whopping £17.95. I love the HD Brows brand and received their Eye and Brow Palette from glossybox last year and use it everyday on my eyebrows. This is a warm pink shade with gold flecks. It is extremely pigmented and gives a nice, natural flushed look to the face.

Overall, this has been my favourite box to date for the last year or so. The products it contains come to at least £20 over the cost of box and I believe I received this box using glossy dots for filling in surveys on their website, making this box even better!

What did you get in your box?

Illamasqua HydraVeil Review

Today's post is going to be on a certain primer that has been sweeping through the beauty community online and its Illamasqua's new gel-based Hydra Veil.

I have never been a big user of primer, having much preferred moisturiser as a base for my makeup in the past. Out of the primers that I have tried; Gosh Foundation Primer, Benefit Porefessional and Loreal Studio Secrets Smoothing and Resurfacing Primer have all been silicone based and while they do create a more even base, I miss the hydration of a moisturiser. Thus, with this being a gel, I was very excited to try it and have been wearing it without my usual moisturiser for the last week or so.

As you can see I have a sample size since I didn't want to spend money on the full size in case it wasn't for my skin. The first thing that hit me was the funny 'jelly' like texture. It's not a smooth gel like I was expecting but as soon as you work the rubbery gel into your skin it turns into pure liquid. It feels like water on my face, it's that cooling and hydrating!

It dries very quickly into the skin but even then, you don't need to rush to put your foundation on as the product has already done its magic. I like to put a little more product around my very dry areas ie my forehead, nose and chin which works very well in avoiding any builds up of foundation.

Hydra Veil base, Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation and Vie Skin Dew

Overall, I really like this primer and can see why it has so many rave reviews on the Illamasqua website. Looking forward to buying the full size version soon!

Price: £27

What's your favourite primer?

MakeUp Forever Smoky Extravagant Mascara and Aqua Cream 16 Review

Today I'll be reviewing two MakeUp Forever products that I have recently been testing out.

Both are extremely versatile and high quality products, which is really to be expected from their price tag.

I already own the Smoky Eyes mascara which I use as my everyday staple so I was very excited to try its new sister mascara. Extravagant has a completely different wand with very little resemblance between it and its predecessor. The effect on the lashes is very much a more 'night' type of eye makeup as opposed to Smoky which I find more wearable.

The texture can make the mascara quite difficult to remove with your average facial wipe and may need a cleansing oil, much in the same way of Eyeko's Skinny Lash mascara which I avoid using due to its extremely difficult removal.

Overall this is a good mascara, which really opens the eyes with emphasis on volume but I probably won't repurchase.

Price: $24

Now, I really like MUFE's aqua cream range, it's long lasting and very wearable. The colour that caught my eye was no 16 which is a shimmery warm pinky beige shade. 

It has a creamy texture but can be slightly drying without the use of eye primer. It dries to a sort of crystalline finish which gives it a wet look when in the right type of light. 

I use it very sparingly due to its price tag but I definitely prefer it for a night look as opposed to daytime.  I have found the MeMeMe eye dew range to be a good dupe for the aqua creams.

Price: $23

Do you have a favourite MUFE product?