You Beauty Box

Hey all!

We've both been buying lots of similar things recently so we're back in the swing of writing double posts, we hope you like them!
Today's double review is the You Beauty box. Each box is limited edition and you get a choice each month of two products. You also get some products added in for free, and all this comes for just £6.95 delivered to your door - amazing!

This month we both couldn't resist and signed up mostly because Sasha from Ramblings of a Beauty Bird basically told us to, she is such an enabler!

It was nothing to do with the fact you could get a full size Illamasqua lipstick in a beautiful matte blood red finish for less than half of the normal £18.50 price tag.



Not only that there was also a travel sized version of Dove's Advanced Hair Series Youthful Vitality Shampoo and Conditioner - perfect for L now she's travelling a lot with work.

And also a lovely snack of a Nakd bar. We're big fans of healthy snacks and these are gluten, wheat and dairy free containing only cold pressed fruits and nuts and are normally around 100 calories, they're also perfect to take around with you in your handbag when you need a boost on the go.

This box was dedicated to the Best of British and came with a card to detail each of the products inside. We both chose the same this month, the Illamasqua lipstick and also the Good Things Manuka Honey Face Mask which L has been lusting after for a while. 

We both think this is such good value for £6.95 even without the lipstick. The lipstick is a beautiful bold red that would suit most people and is totally worth the £18.50 price tag for the pigmentation and finish.



Here it is on. The shade that comes in the box is Sangers which is still available to buy. It's matte but glides on easily doesn't dry out the lips and literally lasts all day.

The other products in the box are really generous sample sizes which is great as you will get to use them more than once like you would get with a sachet. It definitely seemed too good to be true. It's a great alternative to more expensive boxes and you get to choose two products each month you want to receive and then get extra ones thrown in or you can cancel for that month.

Have you tried You Beauty box? Do you think £6.95 is a much better price for a beauty box?

Who doesn't like receiving presents in the post?!

L and M xxx

Birchbox

Goooooooooood morning!

I've got a quick review for you today. I'm sure you've all probably seen these Birchbox reviews by now as they have been out for a little while, but I've decided to take a few snaps of them to share what i think.

I'm lucky that my aunty (who has recently turned 50!) was bought a 6 month subscription to Birchbox and although she loves products and in theory it was a great present for her she just won't use them.....cue me being the very happy recipient of every Birchbox for the next 6 months!

The first one I received was the Lulu Guinness box. I love the outer cardboard cover of this box, stripes and monochrome are a particular favourite of mine and the dress on the front of the box is a stunner as well, cannot complain one bit!

Generally I love these boxes as they're so handy for storing just about anything and they can stack up in display on your desk or shelving or be stored away  for safe keeping. I also really like the drawstring bags, they're so handy for travelling with and are actually really good quality and last very well.

As always these boxes come with a 'menu' and this one was no different. It contained a Korres body milk, Molton Brown hand cream, Pores No More pore perfector, Benefit Stay Don't Stray, a perfume sample and a Lulu Guinness stick of rock in the same black and white design.

I cannot wait to try the citrus body milk from Korres, I've heard so much about them and citrus is my favourite scent.
Molton Brown hand cream looks the perfect size for your hand bag and I'm looking forward to using this.
The sound of the pore perfector is ideal, but on lifting up the tube i can see straight through it and can see already that there is only a tiny bit of product in the tube which is quite disappointing and I doubt I will be able to get more than 1 or 2 uses out of it.

I can't say that perfume samples excite me in the slightest. I'm hoping my cousins appreciate these as I've just filled a huge bag of samples and products I won't use for them and this has definitely gone into it!
Benefit's Stay Don't Stray has been on my list for a long time and i'm very excited to try it out, it's probably the highlight of this box for me!

So marks out of 10 for the first box....probably 6/10. I like the variety and there's a few products i will enjoy but the pointless tester of pore perfector and yet another perfume samples was pretty boring for me.

The second box has exactly the same set up with a drawstring bag and a menu card. Some people might consider the brown box to be boring but i really like it's simplicity. Brown paper is something that I love and it can be so effective at making things and it reminds me of this.

This box contained:
Benefit's Porefessional - I'm already a fan and have lots of tester sizes for 'emergency purposes'
Non Aerosol Hair Spray - this will be great for my gym bag or handbag on a night out! Fingers crossed it's an effective one.
Skin Life - I love skincare samples so I'm sure this will be put to the test soon.
Eyeshadow - gorgeous colour but I have many in the same shade so this pot has again gone to my cousins.
Perfume -  Again not a fan of these, I'm yet to find one that i actually like so they've gone to my younger cousins, I'm sure they'll love them!

So marks out of 10 for this box? Probably 7/10 for variety, the perfume still lets it down though.

I love receiving tester size samples and I'm so grateful to my aunty for sending me her boxes, it's so much fun to go through them all even though I get them late and could know beforehand what I'm getting by reading others blog posts. However I think if I was paying the full amount for each of these boxes plus P&P I'd be disappointed when I could be spending the £13 on something that I chose myself.

Maybe the next few boxes will change my mind! What do you think of beauty boxes in general? Do you think they're worth it?

L xxx

Hip and Healthy Box

Hey lovelies!

I've got an awesome post for you today. I'm sure you love beauty boxes just as much as I do....but Latest in Beauty have recently brought out their Hip and Healthy* box featuring a whole host of products including organic skincare, free from foods and interesting teas and powders.

They were lovely enough to send me a box to review after they loved my post on their Glamour Beauty Edit box before Christmas so I was very excited as I was already considering buying it when I got paid.

I love the presentation of these boxes, the tissue paper is always gorgeous and its always a feelgood thing to open these boxes with the pretty presentation.

There's a huge and varied selection of items in this box and you can see how tightly packed in they are!

There's a photo below of the full size products so you can see and even an example of a recipe:

Starting with the sachets below we have Teapigs Matcha Green Tea at the bottom, Aduna Baobab, Organic Super Blends Omega 3 powder and Together Health Multi Vitamins.

Teapigs Matcha Green Tea is green tea leaves ground to a fine powder. Just 1/2 a teaspoon has the same benefits as 15 cups of normal green tea.....FIFTEEN!!! That's unbelievable! This means it gives you a natural energy boost for up to 6 hours, has 70 times the antioxidants of orange juice and can boost your metabolism. The also claim that 60% had improved skin, hair and nail condition in just 2 weeks.I cannot wait to try this!

Aduna Baobab is created from the African Baobab and contains 14 essential vitamins and minerals. It is 50% fibre and has one of the highest antioxidant capacities in the world. Nickname the 'Feel Good Fruit' it can hlep with energy, immune system and a reduction of tiredness and fatigue. Not only all this plus it helping your skin look great on the outside it also helps sustain 6-8 million households in rural Africa. You can mix this into shakes, smoothies, yogurt and porridge for a boost your day.

Organic Super Blends have been created to suit different purposes and all are soy, dairy, gluten, wheat and sugar free (woo!). The main ingredient was Chia and then each of the blends; Omega 3, Skin Food, Alkaline Greens or Energise, have their own individual ingredients. These powders can be added in to smoothies, porridge etc for a nutritious boost.

I've just added both of these powders to a smoothie (recipe coming soon!) and can tell you they're both very tasty.

Together Health Multi Vitamins are made from the highest quality natural foods and contains no hidden nasties, not even preservatives, sugars, synthetics, wheat, gluten or lactose. They really are super pills! My sample only contained 4 capsules so I'm afraid I won't be able to comment on the effects of these too much.

As part of the beauty product offering the Neom Organic Hand Cream is packed with antioxidant extracts including Acai and argan oil to aid collagen production and tighten the skin. It's very absorbent and feel thick and luxurious.

Balance Me Cleanse and Smooth Face Balm is an oil based balm with a combination of oatmeal and Arctic cloudberry (never heard of this!) to cleanse and smooth your skin just like a facial would.

Nourish Golden Glow Face Shimmer is a really nice product, a tiny bit goes a long way as its so moisturising. It's totally organic and whilst it's moisturising and helps reduce the appearance of uneven skin tone and age spots it also contains golden mineral powders for a healthy and vibrant glow. The shimmer particles in this are so fine that you can barely see them which I find is best in a highlighter, I don't want a glittery look!

Rude Health Ultimate Granola is a blend of oats, spelt, barley and puffed amaranth bked with honey and date syrup  and roasted nuts to create a breakfast cereal to keep you full until lunch time. My plan is to try this in the morning with Greek yogurt and some blueberries so I'm really looking forward to it! There's no added salt or sugar so you can rest assured that what you're eating is completely guilt free.

Jax Coco is 100% coconut water and is only 50 calories for the whole 250ml. It is allegedly one of the best ways to rehydrate after a workout and give you a natural boost. I mixed this in with the smoothie that I made with the above powders and it was really tasty. I'd definitely mix this into more things in the future!

I have previously posted about Bounce balls before and I'm already a huge fan. I have tried all flavours apart from the Walnut one and would recommend them all. The peanut and almond balls are great for filling you up with protein, the coconut ball is perfect for a sweet snack and the spirulina and ginseng ball is a great pick me up for your immune system.

This box was a great way to try new products as beauty boxes always are, but this box was even better with the new food products and so many different ways to try them out.

I've already made a smoothie with all of the powders and coconut water and will be posting a recipe soon.
Are you a smoothie fan? Do you like clean snack such as granola and bounce balls?

This box can be bought from the Latest in Beauty website for just £9.95 (plus £3.95 P&P) but is worth over £50. You also get a free days pass into a Virgin Active health club which would be a great way to try a new gym.

Do you like beauty boxes? Would you like to try the Hip and Healthy box?

L xxx

Latest in Beauty Glamour Beauty Edit

A few weeks ago I suggested that you snap up the Latest in Beauty Glamour Beauty Edit box before it sold out.

I thought I'd just do a quick run down of the products after using them for the past couple of weeks so you can purchase them yourself if you were interested in them. The box isn't available any more but all of the products can be purchased separately.

I'm a sucker for simple monochrome and gold is my metallic of choice so the box design was my absolute favourite of all of the boxes I've ever received before.
It also came with a 'menu' of the products inside which is pretty standard in beauty boxes but nonetheless informative.

The above tissue paper is the prettiest I'v ever seen; I've actually kept it safe. Weirdo!

Here's the products in the box in all their glory:

Philip Kingsley One More Day (dry shampoo)
Balance Me Radiance Face Oil
Toni & Guy Glamour Firm Hold Hairspray
Eyeko Lash Curler
Benefit They're Real mascara (deluxe sample size)
Maybelline Baby Lips
HD Brows Brow Palette in Foxy

The HD Brows Eye and Brow Palette came in the colour Foxy which was chosen as the best colour palette for the majority of people. I'd say this was correct as the colours can be chosen and mixed as required for your brows and the rest can be used to create a nude eye look for day time.

With my eye brows being almost black in colour, but my skin tone being rather on the pale side it's a hard compromise between looking like Madonna with massively black eye brows or non existent ones (which is quite laughable really).

This brow palette was worth £25 on its own and was the main reason I snapped up the box in the first place. I wasn't disappointed and although my brows are almost black; I actually end up using the bottom right colour (the darker brown) instead of the black/brown as it defines my brows without making me look like I've sharpied them onto my face.

Lots of thumbs up for this product, you barely need anything on the end of the brush, it stays on my face all day including through the gym and after a fair few weeks of usage I can honestly say it still looks the same as in the photos above. Worth the money!

I have to say, as far as eye lash curlers go I am not a fan of them. I am blessed in the lash department with long and thick lashes....but not blessed with lashes that can be curled.

However hard I try, my lashes do not budge. Any curl that is created lasts a few mere minutes and so I give up on using them. These would probably work really well for someone with normal eyelashes but mine seem to be industrially straightened!

The design is nice though and the fact it comes with extra pads is great, its very sturdy too and i can tell its good quality, but it's just not for me.

Balance Me Facial Oil - This is a great product, it's had many rave reviews and from my experience it smells amazing, rolls onto the skin evenly and sinks in like a dream. I've really loved using this and would consider purchasing it again.

Benefit's They're Real mascara - I've written about this before and still love it. I have quite a few minis in my collection now from magazines and the like so need to start using them more!

Philip Kingsley - As my first ever PK product I was excited to try it out as I've heard plenty about the brand. This is effectively dry shampoo and it had a great fresh smell (I hate strong smells). This worked really well to degrease my day old hair and does exactly what it says on the can - One more Day. I'm not sure I'd repurchase this as at £10.80 plus it is double the price of Batiste and they do just the same job.

Toni & Guy Glamour Firm Hold Hairspray - This was perfect to take away with my when i needed to create an up do for the Murder Mystery party we went to. As testament to its holding abilities I woke up with my hair still in a bun ring the next day after a few hours partying.....amazing.

Maybelline Baby Lips - Having already reviewed these i didn't have much excitement for another as I didn't feel like the first one did a lot for me. However this totally plain lip balm has become a staple in my lab coat pocket and has been great for hydrating my lips with all of the air con at the lab.

I have to say, paying £15 for this box was 100% worth it. I've got some favourite products (Benefit), some that I've wanted to try for a long time (HD Brows and Balance Me) and of course some nice surprises (PK and Babylips).

Did you snap up the box afterwards? Glamour have definitely got some of the favourites right don't you think?

L xxx

Christmas Shopping.....For Myself

Let's all be honest here, it's pretty damn hard to go shopping at any time of year without picking something up for yourself let alone at Christmas time.

I'm a very big fan of the 'one for you, two for me' mantra and as I missed out on an advent calendar of any kind (not jealous at all....) I have seemingly bought myself a product for each day instead....now who's winning eh?!

Here's a quick photo montage of things I've picked up, what deals were on, whee you can get them and how much you need it!






The Latest in Beauty box - The Glamour Beauty Edit.

This was £14.95 from here (plus p&p) and worth every penny. With £65 of goodies in this box not only is it a bargain but a lovely gift and if I bought for friends I'd definitely get one as a Secret Santa gift!

They're limited number I think but still available when writing this post :)





Lancome mascara set from Boots was snapped up in a triple points offer as I'm yet to try a premium beauty mascara and thought a set was the perfect opportunity!

The Mane and Tail Conditioner for human and horse hair was a surprise find in Liberty when I went to London (see posts here and here). I've heard a lot and couldn't resist picking it up, it's a yellow colour and smells pretty good all for £7!







I went on a nail spree too....oops!
The Maybelline Color Show Brocades were a random buy but they're so glittery I couldn't resist them on 3 for 2 as well.

Essie are one of my favourite nail brands and their Luxeffects collection hasn't escaped my notice. The pink was bought individually but the blue and silver glitter were bought in a set. Guaranteed a post will be up soon!





Lastly I had a bit of a spree in Origins. The above 2 pictures show products bought at the same time; in John Lewis they had 15% off to match Debenhams prices and luckily for me still had a Morning to Midnight set of Ginzing related goodies for me to try out! At £34 I really couldn't leave it behind after one of the products retailing at £35 so it was super savvy to pick it up at 15% off.

I also picked up their Sensory Therapy in Peace of Mind because my mum uses it for her headaches and I've found it works amazing on me too. This is normally £13 but I got it for just over £10 which for me is much better than taking tablets for headache as I get them regularly with stress.

As I bought 2 products I also received a free goody set which was another reason for going there. They always seem to have deals on at Christmas where you can receive a few products in trial size to test out and this was so cute!





I picked the Best Brighteners as I really want to try the skin illuminating cleanser.

Not only that, my last item was also my final item in my Boots triple points internet order (along with the Lancome mascaras) and was the Merry Moisturisers set.

I'm a huge fan of the Make A Difference range and I know I will use all of the products in this bundle. For £29 from Boots (currently half price) where the moisturiser is normally around £34 you cannot go wrong!

I've definitely overspent this year.........my own present buying has been a little off the charts but let's be honest its only Christmas once a year!

I cannot resist the bargains and have gathered myself a whopping £15ish in Boots points from the triple points and 500 points vouchers. I didn't need most of the products but I'm now in the frame of mind where I will use everything up and I've been getting through my stash quite well recently so fingers crossed I haven't overindulged too much....


Only time and my bank balance/credit card bill will tell!


What have you been buying yourself recently? Have you been snapping up bargains in the Christmas sales?

I can't believe there's this many bargains BEFORE the Boxing Day sales, think I'll have to give my mum instructions to hold me back when that time comes......

L xxx

Sample Stash

This is a bit of a random post, I have been sorting out my room recently and have obviously been going through my stash of products.

It has slimmed down slightly from what it was....but it still takes over the majority of my room and I drastically need to curb my spending!

I've been doing pretty well and haven't bought much for just over 2 months and I've been trying to go through my stash of samples to keep me going with trying new things.

Does anyone else have a massive pile of samples they have collected from various places??

This is mine:

It overloaded not one box, but 2 and a beauty box bag, so I'm a little overwhelmed!

Here's a few pictures of what's inside:

I am hoping that instead of buying new products, I can use these up, therefore making space and saving money all at the same time.

I hadn't even considered this before as I honestly didn't think I had that many, and it seems silly now!

Have you used all of your samples up recently? I have so many skin product ones that I'm sure it will keep me going for a few months!

I've already used some Avene samples and they've been great, really moisturising but not overloading, I'm looking forward to trying the Bioderma ones next.

Could you do the same as me for 1 month and save yourself some money??

1 month could make all the difference to me with saving up for a car!

I can't believe I've kept them all for so long, I'm definitely a secret hoarder!

L xxx