November's Glossybox

Its that time of the month again, after a very long week of waiting, I've  received my Glossybox. My box usually arrives the day after the dispatch email, but this month it took a whole week. This served to heighten my excitement so I could not wait to peel back the packing and explore its contents. 

Its with a heavy heavy heart that I inform you that I was not bowled over by this month's offerings. Its not an awful box, just a bit lack lustre. I can't really complain too much, if you do the maths, it is worth over the £10 price tag and my previous boxes have been great. I guess I've got to take the rough with the smooth.

 

The Products

This months theme was stocking fillers and the products were mostly skincare. Firstly there's an Olay Regenerist 3 Point Treatment Cream, this is a good product, I've tried it before. Its slightly too rich for my skin to be used daily but great if I need a bit of extra TLC. The sample is 7mls (it retails in 50ml jars) which I think is a bit stingey from such a big and easily available brand. It also makes it difficult to give it a proper road test if you've not tried it before. I'll use the sample but without much excitement, It'll probably end up in my locker for post night shift emergencies.

Next I found a pouch containing a tiny 4ml tube of Wei Beauty Jujube age Control Serum. I'm quite excited by this brand as it bases its products on theories from Chinese medicine, which I find fascinating. I've looked at these products on SpaceNK before but they are quite pricey so have yet to pluck up the courage to splurge on something that I've not read too much about. Its a very small sample but a 30ml pot would set you back £60 so price wise the size is understandable. Can't wait to try this out but hoping for great results from it. It claims to renew, revitalise and restore elasticity. I sure as hell could do with some revitalising right now. 

My need for revitalising is partly due to too much fun this weekend but also, in no small part, due to the reaction I've had from the Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant. I won't ramble too much about this as its getting its own post, but it is a good product just not for my fussy skin. Its a good sized sample at around a quarter of a full sized jar. I really like the powder to paste formulation, I thought it was nice to mix your own preferred consistency. The £5 off an order from the Dermalogica was a nice touch, sadly me and this brand have fallen out twice now so I don't think I'll be trying anything else from the range.

The Alison Claire Natural Beauty Body Butter was happily received, I never get bored of body butters. Loved the fact its in a pump, negating the body butter under the nails issue. Its a lovely consistency, thick enough to qualify for body butter status but easily absorbed. It has a delicious, almost edible mango scent and the 50ml bottle makes it ideal for travelling. It is fabulously natural, 70% organic, suitable for sensitive skins and from Devizes (!!) There's 20% off orders on the website until January too, I may well be filling my own stocking from there!

I thought that was my lot, slightly miffed by only recieving 4 products I started to read the info card and realised there should also be a Nails Inc product. After a bit of a rummage among the shredded packing I found a 'so small its cute' bottle Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top Coat. This is one of my favourite top coats and I already own a full size so was disappointed I didn't get one of the colours on offer (Porchester Square of Notting Hill Gate). It gives a good shine and a bit of longevity to any polish and I'm sure you'd be impressed by it if this was your first try. I don't tend to take nail products away with me but if you do this 4ml pot would be perfect for travelling and at almost half a full size its a good sized sample. 

Thoughts

I think my vague disappointment with this box stems from the fact I already owned two of the samples and the first product I tried from it distroyed my newly healed skin! I've had two fantastic Glossybox's before this one and think I'll renew my subscription. It was certainly worth the price and reminded me to add Wei Beauty to my wish list. I'm happy to have discovered Alison Claire too. Hoping for a really festive box next month with a bit of sparkle and wintery scents.

Out of the Rut #2, Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month & I've been loving the wealth of amazing pink products that have been launch to raise money & awareness for this worthy cause. I have included my picks at the end of this post.
Anyway on with my ramble about today's look. It has been partially inspired by the pink theme of the campaign, a song from Funny Face (fabulous Audrey Hepburn film) & the crazy amount of pink shadows that are gathering dust in my box! Hope you like it. 

After priming lids with Benefit Lemon Aid I swept some Sand 01 (3) from an Estee Lauder palette across the lid and brow bone. I blended Bourjois  34 Rose Tentation  into the inner corners. I took Cherry from NYX palette (TS13) through the crease and over the outer corner before running some Hot Pink from the same palette under the eye. To add an extra touch of girlishness, I dabbed a some Benefit Show Off (Lola) into the very centre of my lids To avoid looking like I'd spent the day in tears, I lined the upper and lower water lines with Maybelline Gel Liner, curled lashes and applied some MAC  Opulash. I left my brows naked.

I finished the look with Bourjois 34 Rose D'or blusher to highlight my cheek bones and a touch of MAC Melba powder blush on the apples of my cheeks. A quick slick of Benefit Her Glossines in My People  Your People gave my lips a cute sheen and I was good to go.
I liked this pretty little look more than I expected, I think the black liner pulled it together.  I think keeping the rest of my face fresh and light helped to keep the overall look from being to Barbie Girl. I'm definitely more likely to give my pinks a more frequent outing after trying this.


So, with so many gorgeous products on sale in aid of Breast Cancer Awareness, what has caught my eye?

Origins Make a Difference/Peace of Mind Duo (£10) These seem to have sold out everywhere, have been desperately seeking one for a a couple of weeks. I love Peace of Mind, it really helps chill a frazzled brain when applied to temples or pulse points and I'm sure the Make a Difference hand cream is as divine as the rest of the range. I love the keyring design as these are two great products to have to hand. Origins will be donating £2 to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation (UK) and Cancer Clinical Research Trust (ROI).

Nails Inc Pinkie Pink Polish (£11) 7 OPI Pink of Hearts Shatter (£11) Love the glitter heavy Pinkie Pink Polish (available from Debenhams) & think the concept of the Paint Your Pinkie Pink campaign to raise awareness for this important cause. I'm yet to try a shatter nail polish (not sure I like the effect) but Pink of Heart could be the one that changes my mind! I love the candy pink colour, it'd would compliment today's make up look beautifully! I can't seem to find the details of how much is donated per purchase but you can be sure that your good deed will be rewarded with high quality, on trend polishes that you'd expect from these brands.

Clinique Great Lips, Great Causes Keyring (£15) I featured a Clinique Lip colour key ring in my Christmas wish so you know I love things that I can attach to bags and keys. This all pink version is so pretty, comprising of 3 mini Long Last Glosswear glosses and a pink heart embossed with the ribbon emblem.  £2 from each sale goes to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.   This was available from Boots but its no longer on their website and sadly sold out at my local store. 


As ever, thanks for reading and if you've found a beautiful Pink Product this month please comment, I'd love to hear about them. I'll be donating 50p for each person who reads this post the the campaign, so please share.