She Said Beauty June Box

I've been wanting to join the beauty box craze for a while now. I love the idea of recieving something through the post all packaged pretty with lots of beauty products in, but was put of paying up to £12.50 a month. As well as not knowing what box to pick.

Then over the bank holiday weekend She Said Beauty were offering a whooping 60% off there boxes. So I got the 6 month subscription for under £40 (the 60% off wasn't off postage) What swayed me was the chance of getting some St Tropez in my box. Did any of you see or take up this great offer.

It arrived in a bright pink cardboard box, I think it was love at first site ;). I love the bright pink packaging.

When I opened it I was greeted by a gorgeous mint green box with a light floral pattern to the corners. I really liked this and thought the box will definitely be used again.

The box opens with a flap lid (no losing lids) and has a magnet so it stays shut. Inside more pink in the form of tissue and ribbon. Who doesn't love the pretty combo of tissue and the mint and pink together.

So here is what I got in my box (picture heavy)

Money off St Tropez when you order online (thought I'd share the code)

In it I had:

• St Tropez Gradual Tan. Can't wait to try this as recently tried the lotion and loved it. I'll be interested to see how it compares to Dove gradual tan. Size in box is 75ml so a good size, Full size product is 200ml and costs £14.30 so a lot more than the likes a Dove.
• Let's Go Lashes. I love wearing lashes on a night out so lashes in these type of boxes always go down well with me. It's something I'll definitely use. £8.95 per set. I got the style tease. Again can't wait to try them.
• Perfume sample of Yardley London. not a huge sample, think I'll change my preference on recieving perfume samples as it's something that doesn't excite me. Smells ok. Full Size is only £9.99 so quite a cheap one.
• Balance me super mositurising hand cream. I was really excited to see this. Due to my job my hands get washed constantly and therefore end up rather dry so a good hand cream is a must. The 30ml size that comes in the box is worth 6.00. It also is 98.8% natural origin and is sulphate and paraben free, which is something you'll know me and L look out for.
• Elemis tranquil touch indulgent bath elixer. I love going to salons that use Elemis products so I'm excited to try one at home. I'm literally about to jump in the bath and test this out now. Sample in the box is 50ml and 300ml costs £19.00.
• There was also one extra sample. I'm very intrigued to try this, it's the ginvera Green Tea nude cover BB Cream. I'm definitely not a BB cream girl. I love full coverage of a foundation but I'm looking forward to giving this a proper try. It's not a huge sample but I'm hoping to get two uses out of it. It claims to help prevent fine lines and if I like it I will consider buying this for the summer, I'm all for the prevention of line. This retails at £20.00 for 25 ml 

All in all for me a box I will use everything of. The perfume definitely was the least exciting for me. With She Said you can pay monthly and cancel at any time of sign up for 3 months, 6 months or 12 months and pay all at once. They are priced at £9.00 plus 2.95 p and p. I think I'd think twice if it wasn't for the deal as I should be watching pennies at the moment, but who doesn't love a bright pink box through the post each month.

What do you think of the She Said Beauty box? 

If there are any products you are particularly interested to know how I got on with just let me know.

Love M

xxx

Lipstick Mondays Maybelline Color Sensational Pop Stick in Cherry Pop

Monday again so another of my vastly growing lipstick collection to show you, I just can't stop buying lip products lately. But as I'm sure you all know by now L is in America and has told me to stop buying as everything is lots cheaper over there and I'm heading there at the end of sept. So I'm now on a spending ban. (I'm sure it won't last, such a shopping addict)

Today's was a purchased when I picked up last weeks 10 hour lip tint as it was 3 for 2 on Maybelline in boots. Who can resist that. Due to being absolutely won over by the tint gloss (I literally wear it every day) this has taken a bit of a back seat but I do still really like it.

 

Apologies for the group shot to show the packaging here. I love the packaging, it's clean and simple and I like the the sheer cover reflects the fact the pop sticks are a sheer was of colour.

As you can see from the bullet it's see through. It just adds a subtle hint of colour with a splash of moisture and a gorgeous cherry smell (if you aren't a fan of smells this won't be for you) 

I spent a while swatching the different shades in store and found this had the best colour pay off.

As you can see it comes out orange in the swatch and is very sheer. If you are after a full lipstick these aren't for you. They offer a subtle natural shade that is very wearable. I love how the shade just makes your natural lip colour look better. It does require a couple coats to build up to a reddy orange shade but when on the lip it's a great way to wear a subtle red colour for every day.

As you can see from the before and after photos it's just a sheer wash of colour. I really like the shade it gives, the smell and the feeling of not wearing a lipstick so you don't have to worry about un even wear off. Lasting power isn't great but it's more like a tinted lip conditioner. Also it's harder than a lipstick in the bullet so will last ages, but it just melts onto the lip.

One last thing to note, is definietly use a mirror. I learnt this the hard way and ending up looking like a messy child who had just eaten tomato soup, orange stains around the lips aren't good.

Have you tried any of the pop sticks? It's £7.19 in boots and still on 3 for 2. I think I need to try more shades. There is one very similar to the topshop one I'm eyeing up. What do you think of these more sheer lip shades??

Love M

xxx

I recently dyed my hair from blonde to red, what do you think? I thinking of going a bit brighter.

How would you pack for 7 weeks?

Bit of a different post for you today so I hope you like it, it's a bit more personal and sort of a 'What's in my handbag?' post.

If you didn't know already, I'm currently away in America completing a uni course for a few weeks and so far I'm having an amazing time!

I've come here on my own which was initially quite scary and I obviously had no idea what to pack or what I'd need to bring.

Clothes wise I had a limited amount to choose as I needed certain things for my course like hiking boots, waterproofs and hoodies which obviously weigh quite a lot.

Match that with needing bedding, towels and my laptop, camera etc and I wasn't left with much room to play with!

I apologise in advance for the photos....the lighting is awful and I've ended up editing most of them so they look instagram style and not half as bad as before! The grey desk and cream painted brick walls don't exactly make good background either ha! I did what I could with what I have.

I decided to pick up some shower gel, shampoo, conditioner and body moisturiser when I got here as I could buy big bottles of each and throw them out before I left, so that was a large portion of toiletries taken care of.

However I did need to bring travel wash, a mini first aid kit, sun cream (SPF 15 and 30, and 30 for my face), after sun, bug repellant...etc etc that you normally would take on holiday with you as I wasn't sure what I could get my hands on when there:

As you can see, this really was not leaving me much room in my suitcase particularly with the 23Kg limit so I had to be really strict with what I brought.

For clothes after the things that I had to bring I brought with me a selection of vests and shorts, 2 pairs of jeans, 2 thin hoodies, 1 cardigan, 4 dresses and 1 pair of 3/4 denim shorts.

I also packed 2 sets of gym clothes, my swim suit, 2 bikinis and a substantial amount of underwear as I didn't want to run out before finding the laundry room!

(These clothes are really boring so I haven't bothered with photos of these)

Shoes wise I brought my hiking boots, running trainers, 1 pair of brogues, 1 pair of flip flops and a pair of black gladiator style sandals for going out:

I felt I did rather well on this front as you can mix and match any of it, I've never packed so well in my life!

Accessories wise I packed 2 necklaces and a bracelet, 1 obi belt and I had either my rucksack or my black leather bag for outings:

The main problem for me, as I'm sure it is with most of you, is products.....

Where on earth do I start?!

I had no idea what to do, and ended up starting with make up as I knew what I needed for every day use and could go from there.

Here's what I brought altogether:

Base products

Lipsticks

Essentials!

Brushes

Sleek Ultra Matte V2 and MUA Heaven and Earth

Blush and other eye and brow products.

I gave in and couldn't leave without some nail varnish, but I restricted myself to a top coat, base coat and 4 colours:

A nude pink, coral, gold shimmer and glittery red.

Skincare was another problem for me, I love it and could have easily filled my suitcase with it particularly as I've been investing in it quite a bit recently.

But I was as strict as I could have been and here's what I brought with me:

Liz Earle, Vichy, Etat Pur and Origins.

To keep me entertained on the plane I also brought a number of samples with me to play with and test which was great fun and I loved the cooling feeling of the eye gel on the plane!

Do you think I did well??

I'm quite proud of myself, though I feel rather guilty for all the products I've left at home that I clearly can live without.

It's spurred me on to use more up when I get back, which is a good thing as I actually only have £40 left in my account until I get a job....eek!

What products can't you live without? Have you managed to be super savvy with your products for holidays etc?

Next up I'm going to make a post on what I'm missing so far...being away from home for 6.5 weeks on your own isn't easy and there's certain things I'm missing more than others!

L xxx

Review: Origins Eye Doctor

I mentioned a while ago (here) that I've been having a few problems with my eyes, particularly with wearing lenses and them generally watering and running down my face and ruining my make up.

My optician told me it could be to do with allergies but as it was December when this started it was unlikely, so ever since I've been wearing my glasses as much as possible and putting drops in so they don't get too dry.

(I've been told it was down to me wearing my lenses for a ridiculous amount of hours per day whilst trying to do a full time Masters and full time job, listen to what they say when they remind you to have a 'contacts free day. because I'm paying for it now!)

Because of this I've been taking care of my eyes a lot more than I used to, I know everyone wants to look good and have amazing skin but you only get one pair of eyes so this has been priority numero uno for me for a while!

After buying the Origins No Puffery Eye Gel and absolutely loving it, I went back for another purchase, this time their Eye Doctor eye cream: