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
