November Glossybox- The Glossy Wishlist

November's Glossybox is filled with products that are supposed to get you ready for the party season ahead. This month's box contained 4 full size items and three sample sizes which is amazing value for your money and seems to be more than you would usually get in a Glossybox. 

Emite Micronized Eye Shadow in Dams- €19 (approximate conversion)

Scholl Dry Skin Exfoliator- €5.40 (approximate conversion)

Yves Rocher Cacao and Orange Hand Cream- €2.50 

B. Smokey Soft Blendable Kohl Eyeliner in Plum- €5.40 (approximate conversion)

Vichy Idealia Life Serum/ Smoothing and Illuminating Cream- €38.50/€26 (approximately €9.30 worth of product for 3 samples) 

So all in all you are getting approximately €41.60 worth of beauty products for around €15. The only thing I would say is that it would be great to have the actual Euro prices of each product on the info card for the Irish customers. It's a small detail but one I'm sure the Irish Glossybox customers would appreciate. 

I really loved this month's Glossybox, the Scholl Exfoliator is perfect for getting your feet ready for wearing heels. I think everyone neglects their feet a little in the Winter because they are mostly hidden so I really enjoyed using this and then using my Soap and Glory Heel Genius afterwards, it's the perfect treat after a long day on my feet. 

The Yves Rocher Hand Cream smells good enough to eat. Terry's Choclate Orange fans will love this! I can't believe how inexpensive it is, it absorbs nicely into the skin and it's handy size to keep in my bag. 

Emite is a Swedish brand I hadn't heard of before. This matte black eye shadow is perfect for creating a smoky eye for your Christmas party, I like to use it along my lash line as eye liner.  

The B. Kohl Eye liner is a gorgeous deep purple shade , something that was missing from my make up collection and I am rather partial to a smoky purple eye so I'm dying to try this out properly. So far I've just used it a little along my lower lash line for a bit of colour. It's really easy to blend especially with the sponge tip on the other end of the pencil. 

I've used the Vichy Serum before and I absolutely love it, this is a definite repurchase for me, combined with the sample of the moisturiser, it makes an unbelievable base for applying make up. I'm so impressed with this range. 

If you're stuck for an idea for a Christmas gift, I don't know any woman that wouldn't love a subscription to Glossybox. You can purchase three, six and twelve month subscriptions so it's the gift that keeps on giving. Another option is to get somebody the Limited Edition Christmas Box that contains 6 samples this time, all adding up to £80.  

Have you tried Glossybox yet? Are you interested in trying it?

Emma x

July Glossybox Review

What with cancelling my subscription and everything I almost completely forgot to review the July Glossybox! I wasn't going to bother but there were some really great (and not so great) items in the box so I decided to go ahead and do a review anyway. 

I wasn't hugely excited about this Paul Mitchell Texturizing Sea Spray when I first saw it it the box. Mostly because my hair is naturally curly and I assumed these sprays were more aimed at people with straight hair who want some texture. I gave it a try anyway because I secretly have always wanted to try one of these products. I was really shocked with the result, it actually worked. My hair was not longer as curly as it normally is after air drying, instead the curls had fallen into a wavy texture. I was very impressed with this and it smells so good, but I decided to give it to my sister who has straighter hair than me as I figured she would get more use from it. If you want a texturising spray, I highly recommend this one.

I was so excited to see a lip product in the July Glossybox. I think it's the first one I've had in a glossybox apart from a lip liner which was completely the wrong colour for me so I gave it to my mam. I don't hate this product but I wouldn't repurchase it and in fact I haven't actually worn it outside of my apartment in the two months that I've had it. It seems to me to be aimed at young girls with the packaging and scent, it's like something I would have bought when I was 15. It smells very sweet, it comes in a tube that you have to squeeze out and I always squeeze out too much and then you have to apply it with your finger which I hate doing with a lip colour, especially if you're out and you need to touch it up which is mostly why I haven't worn it out yet. This is a full size which according to the product list is £10! I can't see any woman paying £10 for this and what 15 year old girl can afford to spend £10 on a lip product? I tried to find somewhere that sells this and yet again, impossible! Glossybox really need to consider how accessible the products they choose are to their customer.




This is the only thing I've gotten in a Glossybox that I actually had tried before. I adore this NUXE oil. It smells so nice, it's multi use so you can put it in your hair, on your body, your face, your hands and cuticles. It's just an all around fantastic product. NUXE is quickly becoming my favourite skincare brand. The only downside to this is it's price which is €30.50 for the 100ml bottle and €18.50 for the 50ml bottle in my local pharmacy but it makes a great gift to get someone because it's such a treat. This is already on my beauty wishlist.

I had heard really good things about Monu skincare but as far as I know it's a salon brand so again not the most accessible of products. This is a green tinted cream and it's purpose is to neutralise redness in the skin. I don't suffer from much redness in my skin so I don't feel like I can properly review it. That being said it feels really nice and I did try it a few times when it was a little red after exfoliating. It also contains Rutin which is renowned for healing broken capillaries so I can imagine for anyone who suffers from any skin redness this could be a life saver. This is £14.95/ € 17.23 at full price, but you can buy it on Feel Unique for €12.06 at the moment.

What can you really say about these skincare samples in sachets. I am never going to get enough product out of one of these to know that I want to spend a lot of money on the product. This Elizabeth Arden range is expensive and I didn't have enough in these samples to say anything conclusive about them. If you're interested in trying any of these products the sales assistants on the counter will usually be willing to give you some samples if you are nice enough to them.

I don't really know what to say about this except I hated it, but fragrance is such a personal thing so if you're interested in trying it please do (if you can find it). It's also super expensive at €100 for a 100 ml bottle. Not my cup of tea at all! If I was ever going to blow €100 on a fragrance it'd be Chanel Coco Mademoiselle.

So that's the end of my Glossybox experience. Having seen the August and September boxes I wasn't at all sad that I cancelled my subscription, I've saved €32 which will go towards some French goodies in Paris! Once again this is just my opinion and if you decide to subscribe you may find it more worthwhile than I did.

Are you subscribed? What did you think of the latest box?

Emma x

July Glossybox/ June Review

I was a lot more impressed with July's Glossybox than June's one. We got an extra sample too of a trio of Elizabeth Arden skincare sachets. The only thing that I knew I didn't like was the fragrance which I suppose you will always know if you either like or dislike straight away. Here's what I got in my box;

NUXE Huile Prodigieuse 10 ml

Monu Calming Cream 20ml (more than full size)

Jelly Pong Pong Lip and Cheek Frosting 15ml (Full Size)

Paul Mitchell Awapuhi Wild Ginger Texturising Sea Spray 25ml 

Bex Londoner N6 Eau de Toilette 2ml

Elizabeth Arden Visible Difference Serum, Cleanser and Cream Sachets 2ml each

The contents of this month's box are worth approximately €51 (I had to average some of the prices as they varied depending on where you got them and I had to convert some prices from Sterling to Euro using the current exchange rate). So this comes second to last month's box in term's of how much the box is worth. I won't say too much more about the products as I want to take the time to try them properly. I am very excited to finally try out the NUXE oil as I've been wanting to get it for ages. 

And now for my thoughts on the products from the June box.

I was really happy to get this 20ml size of Green People's Organic SPF 15 as I often forget to bring sun screen with me if I'm going out for the day and it's sunny (not that it has been needed AT ALL this Summer!). But for the days when the sun has decided to get over itself and actually come out, it's been so handy having this in my bag as it's really small and light and easy to apply. I love the scent, which to me smells a lot like Sudocrem (if you don't live in Ireland you may not know what that is), it definitely has lavender in it. It's also organic and is suitable for people with skin issues such as eczema and psoriasis. It has UV and UVB protection, antioxidant and a tan accelerator. It's also water-resistant and paraben free.

At first I thought the inclusion of this brush was a bit cheeky, like I didn't realise Glossybox were "high end" brush manufacturers too. JK. I know a few people have said that their brushes have shed a lot but mine hasn't (yet). I like this brush, it feels nice and does the job applying blush. I don't think I would buy it over a proper brush brand though, I love Real Techniques brushes so I would definitely prefer to buy their blush brush. 

This is definitely one of the best things I've gotten in a Glossybox. If not the best because it'll last a lot longer than anything else I've gotten. Having tried out many different tweezers in my life, this is by far the best one I've used, including some of the Tweezerman ones I've had. I tend to lose tweezers quite often (or my mother used to take them from my make up bag and lose them) so it's nice to finally get a really good quality one that removes my brow hairs with ease. 

I have only tried the porcelain colour of this product, because obviously the other colours would be too dark on my skin tone. I have to say that this is not something that I would buy simply because I don't have the need for a product like this. I used it as a concealer under my eyes and on any blemishes I had and it worked a treat, it really does cover any marks you need covered. The consistency is quite thick and I found it needed some blending to soften the product and work it into the skin evenly. Because I don't usually like thick or heavy products I wasn't crazy about the consistency, but if you have any pigmentation, scarring or very dark circles under your eyes, this is definitely something I would recommend trying out. 

I don't know if I've mentioned this before but I am terrified of bronzer! Any time of tried it I've ended up looking like I'd spread dirt on my face. Being fair skinned means that in general fake tan and bronzing products do not suit me. Simply because I do not tan that much naturally so when I've used these products in the past they just look so fake on me. During the Summer the most I will get is a slightly darker colour on my arms and more pronounced freckles on my face and I don't like to sit out in the sun that much and if I do I will wear at least an SPF of 30. So I thought I would give this a shot in order to be able to properly review it. This stuff is very shimmery! I just don't like the fact that it's so shimmery, I always think matte bronzing products look better on people. However I've used this as an eye shadow and it actually looks really nice. It does remind me a bit of Urban Decay's Half Baked eye shadow. I'm glad I've found a use for this as I definitely won't be using it as a bronzer any time soon!

July's Glossybox will is sadly my last. After careful consideration of what the samples were actually worth to me personally, I just felt my money would be better spent on things I know I love instead of taking a gamble every month. The main reason though for cancelling my subscription was the fact that some/most of the products are very hard to get a hold of in full size. One of the products I've loved the most has been the Yes Nurse hand cream. I went on their site to try and buy a full size and found that they currently don't ship outside of the UK. I emailed them to ask if this was going to change any time soon and they were hopeful that it would. 

This made me cancel my subscription as I thought what's the point of getting these samples and only liking maybe one per month and the one you do actually like you can't find anywhere! I really think Glossybox need to consider this when picking out what products to include as it's pointless sending a product sample to Irish customers if we can't buy them when we like them!

I will still do a review of the July box next month so I get a chance to try everything out properly. Obviously if I had a never ending bank balance I would love to keep up my subscription but I can't justify it anymore. Having said that I really enjoyed my experience and I've found some really great products and brands too, so I suppose all in all I would say that I can recommend beauty boxes, depending on your budget, they can be a great way of discovering new products. However I would say that their are more misses than hits which is always going to be the way unless they can start to really cater for the individual which I can't see happening any time soon.

Hope you're keeping well, I'll have a new outfit post for you during the week!

Emma x

June Glossybox/ May Review

My June Glossybox arrived on Monday exactly on time. This month's one is a lot better than last months but the April one is still my favourite of the three I've received so far. 

This month's box included two full size products, a Glossybox Blush Brush valued at £15/ €18.50/ $23.50 (I'm not sure where they're getting this price from as I've done some research and it doesn't seem to be on sale anywhere, but I'll update you on that in my review next month), the other full size product is a HD Brows Precision Tweezers valued at £19.95/ €24.70/ $31.30. The three other products were samples. A 1g BM Beauty Summer Warmth Bronzer which is £2 worth of product. A 20ml Green People Sun Lotion and Tan Accelerator with SPF15 which is £2.60 worth of product and lastly a Vichy Dermablend Ultra Corrective Foundation Cream Stick starter kit with 6 1g samples of each shade, assuming you use a maximum two of the shades for your skin tone this is £3.15 worth of product. 

Therefore June's Glossybox has a total worth of £42.70/ €52.90/ $67, which is the most yet. I'll let you know next month how I get on with everything, but I'm already very impressed with the tweezers!

*****

Now for the reviews of last month's products. I'll start with the Lolita Lempicka perfume samples. I received the L'Eau en Blanc and the Eau de Parfum. 

With most perfumes I can spray them once and know if I like them or not. With others they grow on me as I wear them throughout the day. One of my favourite perfumes Burberry Weekend was one such "grower" which means I'm not quick to judge on first sniff. However my first impression with both of these perfumes was "yuck". It's hard to review a perfume because scents are such a personal thing and I find my sense of smell is so sensitive that I have to really try out a scent before I commit to buying it and even then it's rare that I can commit to any larger than a 30ml bottle of perfume.

On second and even third sniffing I found the scents did grow on me. I definitely preferred to Eau de Parfum, the only way I can think to describe both scents is as grown up versions of teen perfumes. The Eau de Parfum is quite musky whereas the L'Eau de Blanc smells like Parma Violets to me. I don't like either enough to pay the €45.90 they cost. I think I'll stick to my Burberry Weekend that's €16 on offer in Boots!

You can see below that the samples weren't even filled to the top, they were less than half full. I really think this is a cop out as most make up counters will give these out for free if you ask nicely enough. 

Okay so now for something a bit more positive. I loved the Noble Isle shower gel. It smells divine and the little bottle is perfect for travelling with. Having said that at £20 for a 250ml bottle I think I'll stick with my Soap and Glory Clean On Me for £5.50!

I'm still undecided about this Uniq-One 10-in-1 Hair Treatment. It seems to be available in hair salons in a few countries which you can find on their website. I put in into damp hair and let it air dry, it's supposed to do ten things all at once but I didn't notice a difference as the sample was only big enough for two uses. For €14 I'd be willing to buy this to try it out properly as the sample wasn't really enough for me to be able to tell if it works for my hair. It would really have to make a noticeable difference for me to switch from my beloved Kérastase. It smells amazing though! It's quite a strong fragrance and I can see that that may not be for everyone but I loved it. 

These Eldora Lashes are beyond ridiculous! I held them up to my eye and I don't even know how I'd be able to see wearing them! They retail for £3.90 from the Eldora UK website and after having a look they seem to have a huge selection including individual eye lashes, fashion eye lashes and ones made with real human hair! To be honest after using No. 7s eyelashes I don't think I'd be bothered trying another brand, they're just so easy to wear and with the Boots €7.50 off No.7 vouchers they are so inexpensive and look incredible. 

When you subscribe to Glossybox they ask you to fill in a Beauty Profile in which you say your skin type, hair colour, scent preferences, where you buy products etc. which is why I was rather surprised to receive this Acne Treatment Mask from Murad. I had been wanting to try Murad products for a while as I've heard a lot of positive things about them. However I think giving someone who has 'normal' skin a mask for Acne is a bit ridiculous, especially since they have a lot of other products for other skin types. This is where attention to detail in these Beauty Boxes really makes a difference. It would make far more sense to give a sample of a product aimed at 'all skin types' or 'combination skin' to cover more bases.

I've used this mask a few times when my skin has felt particularly in need of a deep cleanse. However as it's not aimed at my skin type I don't feel like I can properly review it. It contains ingredients to comfort and calm irritated skin, protect and heal skin and antioxidants to prevent damage so I suppose that's something most people need. I wouldn't use this on dry skin as it might overwhelm it. At $37 it's out of my price range anyway so it's probably good that I wasn't mad about it! Oh and because it contains sulphur it doesn't smell great either. 

Finally I got a Glossybox compact mirror. I guess these are always handy to have with you. 

All in all seems like there were more misses than hits in this box with only one product I would really fork out the money for. However sometimes it's good to try out new products and not like them, it makes you appreciate the products you do use and confirm that you're using things that are worth the money you pay for them. I'm excited to try out the products in this month's box so check back next month for that post. 

Emma x

May Glossybox/ April Review

So I got two Glossyboxes this month, my April one arrived on the 10th and my May one arrived on the 24th, just two weeks apart. I was much more impressed with the delivery time with May's box as it arrived the day after it was dispatched. I think that's the way they need to do things in future.

May's box was the one year anniversary one and so I was expecting something a bit special. Here's what I got;

I was a little disappointed what with it being the anniversary box, they sent out a balloon to blow up (I have no idea why they thought we'd want a balloon, maybe for those with children?) and a compact mirror with the Glossybox name and logo on it which was a nice touch, even though I already have one that I carry around in my bag all the time, they always seem to break so I'll definitely use it at some stage.

This time there was only one full size product as opposed to last month when we got four full sized products. This was a pair of false eyelashes by Eldora and although I do wear false eyelashes from time to time, these ones are so huge and I would never feel comfortable wearing them.

I also got a sample sized shower gel by Noble Isle, a Clarifying Face Mask (for acne prone skin, which I don't have) by Murad, an All in One Hair Treatment spray by Uniqone and two half full perfume samples of Lolita Lempicka perfume.

I won't tell you what I think about the products until next month so that I have time to try them out but I wanted to go over the value of this month's box in comparison to last month's one. I did some calculations and altogether this box was worth approximately £25 / €31 / $39. That's including the perfume samples which considering they were half full, I combined and included as one perfume sample which I valued at 52p. But to be honest, I though it was a bit cheeky including a couple of perfume sample that are the same size as ones you'd get free from a make up counter. The most valuable thing in the box was the Murad Face Mask which contains £14 worth of product.

So it was worth £10 /€12 /$17 less than the April box. However that included eyelashes that I won't wear, perfume that I didn't like and a face mask for the opposite skin type to mine. So to me it was really worth a lot less.

That being said I've decided I'll keep up my subscription for at least six months and see how I feel after that.



Read on for my reviews of last month's products.

I really like this Ayuuri Natural Body wash. I don't love it but I like it. It contains Indian Rose to hydrate, dry, mature or sensitive skin, Jasmine to calm the body and mind and is good for sensitive and dry skin, Aloe Vera which is soothing, calming and cooling. Ayuuri are against animal testing and the products are paraben free, which I think is great. The body wash has a floral rose scent which might not be everyone's cup of tea but I liked it, it also lather's up easily and feels very moisturising. I like the packaging too, it's easy to use in the shower. 

This is available from the Ayuuri website for £4.95 and seems to be widely available in different supermarkets and pharmacies across the UK. I personally wouldn't order this online as it's too much hassle with shipping charges and all that, but I would buy it if they started selling it in Boots or a local pharmacy as it's a lovely product and is reasonably priced. 

I absolutely LOVE this hand cream from Yes! Nurse. It's £5.49 for a 50ml tube on their site or you can buy a monthly or bi-monthly subscription for £4.99 or as low as £3.63 when you refer a friend. It contains Active Manuka Honey, Pomegranate Seed Oil, Aloe Vera, Wheat Germ Oil, Passion Fruit Seed Oil, Sweet Almond Oil and White Willow Bark Extract. It also contains Vitamins E and B5 and Omega 3, 6 and 9!  So basically it's a party for your hands and smells lovely too! 

What I really love about this is that because it's been developed for busy nurses who wash their hands constantly, it has a really nutrient rich formula as you can see from the ingredients above, but it sinks into your skin so quickly and isn't greasy at all so you can put it on and just go about your business not having to wait for it to dry into your skin. I love this and I'll definitely be repurchasing it!

I've been hearing a lot about Caudalie products over the past year, in particular their Beauty Elixir which I've been dying to try out.  I've been wearing this serum under my moisturiser at night since I got it and for a 10ml sample I've actually gotten quite a few uses out of it. I don't think I would need to use it every day, maybe two or three times a week or if my skin was feeling particularly dehydrated. I definitely noticed a difference to my skin after leaving it on at night, the following morning it felt more hydrated and bouncier if that makes sense! 

It retails for £29 and that's for a 30ml size, according to the Glossybox info card. I actually couldn't find the size of it on the Caudalie site. I would definitely repurchase this and use it only when I felt I really needed it to hydrate my skin as it's quite expensive for me, although in comparison to other serums I've looked at, it's quite inexpensive!

This lip liner is the only product from the April Glossybox that I haven't been using almost everyday. In fact I only used it once as it's not a good colour for me. However after reading up on INIKA as a company I was really impressed. Here's the story if you want to read it yourself but basically it's an all natural cosmetics brand incorporating organic and vegan products and free from synthetic chemicals and harmful ingredients.

I'm very impressed with the company and hope to find more retailers stocking their products soon as for now they are available to buy in AU$ from the site and from about 5 stockists worldwide. If you are vegan or in anyway worried about the chemicals in cosmetics, this is the brand for you. I tried the pencil on my lips just to test it out even though I won't wear it. The pigmentation is amazing and it has a smooth texture that doesn't seem like it will smudge too easily. I'll give the pencil to my mam as she wears this colour and see what she thinks.  

Last but not least is the Figs and Rouge Balm. What I really like about this balm is that it is 100% pure, natural and organic and they don't test on animals. This Rambling Rose Balm contains organic sunflower seed oil, organic shea butter, organics beeswax, organic rose geranium oil and organic geranium oil. Other scents include Sweet Geranium, Peppermint and Tea Tree, Pomegranate, Aloe and Mint, Wild Cherry and Coco Vanilla. 

I love the scent and texture of this it just melts into your lips and it's so smooth. I can't recommend this highly enough! There's also a great section on their website that gives you lots of tips on how to use the balm. It's such a great all in one product that you can use on your lips, body, hands etc. It retails at about €5 depending on where you buy it. I'll definitely be repurchasing this!

Sorry that this is such a word heavy post, but I want to keep the review with the photos from the new box. Have you signed up for a beauty box? Do you think it's worth the money?

Emma x

My First Glossybox

Last month I signed up to the monthly Beauty Box subscription service Glossybox. I had wanted to try the service ever since I first heard about beauty boxes last year. I signed up to the month by month payment which allows me to cancel my subscription whenever I want. You can also sign up for 6 months or a year. It costs £12.95 including postage which works out at just over €15. 

I received my first box on last week and that was April's box. It took two weeks to get to me from the UK which I really don't understand because even when I order from the US or China, it doesn't take that long, but it didn't bother me that much as it wasn't something I specifically needed. I saw on their facebook page that a lot of people were getting annoyed about it, but it wasn't a huge deal for me, I would just say that they probably should have sent them out sooner so you actually get it in the month it's for but all in all, I was fine with it.

April's box had a 'Natural' theme. The products came beautiful packaged in a biodegradable box and as you can see below the inside is just as pretty as the outside. I'm really happy with the packaging alone which I will definitely re-use for various things. 

The products are all ethical, natural and mostly organic and include a sample size (10 ml) Caudalie Thirst Quenching Serum,  a full size Inika Cosmetics certified organic lip liner, a full size (200ml) Ayuuri Natural Body Wash, a full size (8 ml) Figs and Rouge Lip Balm and a full size (50 ml) Yes! Nurse Hand Cream. So out of five products four of them were full size. So just to do the maths for you, including a 10ml sample size of the serum which is a third of the full size which is 30ml, it all adds up to £35/€43/$56 worth of products. 

I did a lot of research before and after signing up and it seems a lot of people aren't happy with the service for numerous reasons but to be honest I still wanted to try it out and I'm very happy with my first box. I'm excited to try all the products and I'm planning on showing you the next box and reviewing this one when I receive May's box. I figured that would give me enough time to try all the products (I'm already mad about the lip balm and hand cream!). 

Glossy box have also launched their US service this week which is $21 which is slightly more expensive than the British/Irish counterpart. 

So what do you think? Are you signed up for any beauty boxes? Is is something you would treat yourself to every month or do you think it's a waste of money? I'd love to know what you think as I'm still undecided as to how long I'll keep my subscription for, but for now I'm really looking forward to discovering and trying new products!

Emma x