UK Joliebox September 2012

I know I'm a little late on the bandwagon but I finally subscribed to some of the UK beauty boxes, namely Joliebox and Glossybox, but this post will be on my first ever Joliebox.

I was so excited to get this box as i didn't know what to expect and I just love getting little presents (don't we all) even if I did pay for them myself.

 

The first thing you see upon opening the packaging is a lovely mini glossy magazine called Joliemag which if full of really interesting articles.

 

 

The box itself is really cute, mines is a lovely vivid orange colour.

 

Inside the box is a September menu which tells you what is inside and a little bit of info on each product. It also tells you what the theme of each box is and this box had a London Fashion week theme.

 

 

The First product in the box was a full size Balmi Lip balm.

 

My lip balm is in raspberry and it smells amazing, I could smell it before i opened it up so it is very strong. It feels really moisturising and has SPF 15 which is always a plus. It has a little string attached so it can be put on a keyring but personally I'm just gonna keep this little beauty in my bag. you can pick this up in Boots here for £4.99 and they also come in Strawberry, mint and coconut.

 

The next item I have is a full size sachet of I Love face mask.

My sachet of face mask is in mango and it is suitable for all skin types. It has natural fruit extracts and as with all the I love range I love it! You can pick up I love products from superdrug.

 

The third product in my box was the Redken Align 12 Protective Straightening Lotion.

This is a 30ml sample size product which is a decent size, it smells lovely and it works as a heat protectant while also claiming to banish frizz. I have extremely frizzy hair and was in dire need of a new product for this so my hopes are high for this one. The full size of this product is £12.90 on feel unique here.

 

The next product in the box was two Twistband Hair Ties.  

I got a yellow and a grey one of these nifty little hair ties. These claim to keep your hair secured without leaving bumps in your hair. I'm all for that as I wear my hair up alot but at around £4.50 for three of these I think i will stick with my good old bobbles and as you can see from the picture these look like they are going to fray like crazy.

 

As a little extra in the box we also were given two small sachets of Dr Bragi Bio Marine Exfoliant.

These are tiny samples but they do come with a code for a 20% discount at the Dr Bragi website but at $25 for 50ml of this its a little out of my price range but none the less i am happy to try It out.

 

Joliebox gave me another surprise product with the So Susan Wide Awake Face Palette.

They said "Since this is your fist box, we thought we'd add a little extra! A palette of skin enhancing tools, perfect for concealing imperfections and illuminating the skin". This is a very generous extra gift at £15 for the palette.

It has an illuminating cream for hiding dark circles, a highlighting cream and three eyebrow colours which I will more likely use as shadows as they are a little dark for my brows. It also includes a small brush which is a little cheap feeling and a pair of mini tweezers which i like. The creams feel nice and the brow colours have good pigmentation. The packaging is also very sweet and girly.

 

I am really pleased with my first joliebox it has products I will use and a good range of things. The value of this box I worked out to be over £30! Now I just cant wait to see what I get next month.

MeMeMe Little Angels Collection

At the end of last week while surfing the net I came across a groupon offer for a cosmetics brand called MeMeMe Cosmetics, I had heard of them before but never tried out any of their products. They are a company which sell high end type products for a much lower price tag (always good to hear)available online and in superdrug. The groupon offer was £18 for £45 to spend on the website which is a great deal.

I bought a variety of things but this review is going to be on the Little Angels Collection which are very reasonably priced dupes for a few Benefit products.

First thing which caught my eye was that the packaging is very sweet and girly which I love. On the back of the box it says,

"This adorable collection of Little Angels is ready to give you an added flush of colour whatever the occasion or skin tone"

All four of these come in 12ml bottles, which when opened have a brush just like nail polish and simply brush onto the skin to be blended in with fingers or a makeup brush.

Beat the Blues Moonbeam is a light pearly pink toned highlighter, you use it by applying it to the top of cheekbones and the brow bone for an iridescent glow. 

 

This colour really suits a pale or blue skin tone and brings a slightly shimmery pearlescent brightness to the complexion it is not glittery at all but just seems to catch the light perfectly and create a glow. Another way to use this highlighter is to mix a small amount with foundation or tinted moisturiser if you like a really dewy  and glowing complexion.

Beat the Blues Sunbeam is a shimmery gold highlighter which reminds me alot of Benefit high beam. This is used the same way as Moonbeam.

This lovely golden colour looks great on a slightly warmer skin tone as it brings a shimmery sun kissed look to the skin. This also looks amazing when mixed with a foundation because it gives that lovely golden glow which will look perfect for summer.

Both this and moonbeam have a nice creamy workable consistency to them and they don't dry out the skin either which is great if you have naturally dull dry skin like me.

This is a cheek and lip tint which you use by putting a few strokes on cheeks or lips for a nice pink flush.

This is an almost perfect dupe of benefit's posie tint, it is the exact same colour (light pink and pretty) and a very similar consistency. The thing I like about this colour so much is that it is buildable and natural looking on my pale skin. As I was swatching this colour on my hand I got distracted for a few minutes and when I went back to remove it it wouldn't budge at all. So my advice to you with this is blend quickly unless you wand a line along your cheeks. They don't call it a stain for nothing!

Pussycat Lip and Cheek tint is a stunning deep red colour which is used the same way as Poppy tint.

I know this looks like a scary colour to be putting on cheeks but it has a very  runny watery consistency which means that once is is blended it only gives a lovely rosy tint nothing too dramatic at all. Although I will give the same warning with this as Poppy, on cheeks blend quickly!

Overall I am really happy with this purchase, it is so pretty and I will use all of these products again and again!

MeMeMe Little angels collection £15

Avon Supercurlacious Mascara

I have been super lazy in the last few months when it comes to blogging partly because I have moved house and been busy getting that all sorted but also because I havent really bought many new beauty products.

I made the huge change last week from a blonde to a brunette (Eek!) and it got me thinking I may have to change some of the makeup I have been wearing because some of it looks a little wrong now. So i decided to have a bit of a clear out and came across my all time favourite mascara, which I had kind of forgotten about, Avon Supercurlacious.

I have naturally long but straight eyelashes whch need so much curling and when my mum got me this from her Avon catalogue a while back I instaintly fell in love with it! It looks pretty with just a splash of my favourite colour, pink, but its the wand which makes it stand out to me. It's bristles are so small compared with other mascara's but there are so many of them that it coats every lash and feels like it is brushing them into place rather than just caking them in product. It dispenses just the right amount of product for a natural curled effect but after a few coats your lashes will look amazingly long and thick.

This is a must have for anyone who loves a good curl!

You can buy this mascara here

Parma Violet Candle

I wanted to just say a quick word about my ultimate favourite candle. The Parma Violet Candle tin.

These candles are amazing, when i first saw them in BHS i was so excited and when i actually popped the lid off and took a whiff I was blown away with how much they actually smell of Parma Violets. They smell good enough to eat and look so cute as well. They come in a fun little tin and would make an excellent gift.

If like me you love Parma violets and want your home to smell like a sweet shop then these are a must have!

Find them in store or online at

http://www.bhs.co.uk/mall/productpage.cfm/bhsstore/96679

Birthday Boxes on a Budget

Well the holidays are well and truly over and it’s getting into birthday season once more. This year I decided that since two of the most important birthdays come around in February (Sam, aka my best friend and my mum) that I would try something a little different.

I am on a major budget this year as I am not currently working and am also moving house in the next few weeks so I decided I would show I care by giving them each a few small presents. This idea quickly evolved into making up a basket hamper for each of them but when I saw the cutest gift boxes in a local card shop I decided a gift box hamper was the way to go.

I wanted it to feel a little like Christmas for them when opening their gift boxes so I layered the presents with some nice shredded tissue paper interspersed with birthday confetti.

This is what I got them both in the end.

Neil Gaiman - American Gods

My mum is a big reader so for the bottom layer of her box I got her a book which I have heard a lot of good things about. She is also a science fiction lover so this seemed perfect for her.

In the top layer to her box is Thornton’s chocolates, Assorted Fruit Soaps, Pink grapefruit shower gel, Pink grapefruit soap and Sweet lemon soap all from The Body Shop. My mum has very sensitive skin so I made an effort to get her very gentle products.

This is the finished product. I love the glittery box because it is so pretty and she will be able to keep it to store things in which is always a plus!

On to the second box!

The bottom layer of Sam’s box has a mini bottle of her favourite wine, and some sweets from back when we were young.

Every girl loves a nice bar of Galaxy.

For the third layer of this box there is a cute sparkly shoe key ring and a manicure kit both from Claires. There is also a Lipgloss from MUA in shade 4 and a Nail polish from MUA in shade 8. .

On the final layer of this box there is a Beauty UK Palette in the shade pastels, two Beauty UK Pearl Liquid Eyeliners in number 4 blue lagoon and number 6 purple haze.  

This is the finished product for Sam. Again a lovely box which can be reused.

I really hope they both like their gifts.

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation Review

My skin has undergone a slow subtle transformation in the past few years from my oily teenage skin to the quite dry skin I have today. Because of this the foundations I was using before seemed to cling to my dry skin far too much so I decided I need a change.

After many hours of researching blogs and reviews on drugstore foundations (I’m working on a bit of a budget) to try out I finally decided that Bourjois Healthy mix foundation was the one which seemed to meet my particular skin needs. 

I bought shade 51 light vanilla because I have very pale skin all year round and it is a very good match for my skin tone. It is also available in shade 52 vanilla and shade 53 light beige. It boasts it has apricot for radiance, melon for hydration, apple for anti oxidant and ginger for energy. I’m not sure about these claims but the fruity ingredients have given it a very subtle and pleasant fruity scent which is really nice.

The texture of this foundation when you first pump it is very creamy and light, it feels expensive and blends beautifully into the skin with almost no effort. It gives a light to medium coverage which is buildable and leaves skin with a gorgeous radiant glow without looking shiny.

 I do feel like I have to use quite a few pumps of this foundation to cover the whole of my face which is a slight drawback but at around £9.99 for 30ml you can afford to be more generous with it than some of the more expensive foundations around. It also claims to have 16 hours of wear which is a bit optimistic although if you set it with a powder it does last really well for the price.

All in all this is a great product which I highly recommend if you are looking for a high quality drugstore foundation. It is available in the UK in Boots, Superdrug and online at www.ASOS.com

Make Up Academy Professional Eye Palettes Review

Last week after doing a little research I bought some Makeup Academy products and this review will be on the MUA Professional eye palettes. I bought five of these, there are six in total but the Heaven and earth Palette was out of stock so I will pick that up at a later date. 

So here goes The first palette is the Glitter Ball.

Glitter Ball

This is a gorgeous palette with lovely shimmery colours, they are not overly glittery though but have a definite shimmer to them which is probably better as glitter tends to get very messy. My favourite colours are the two pinks on the left hand side mostly because I suit pink shades. All the colours go on very easily, they are nicely pigmented and feel creamy when wearing them.

Dusk Til Dawn

 This palette is a good mix of colours my absolute favourite has to be the dazzling deep blue sparkly colour on the bottom row, third from the right which I have been using as more of a glittery eyeliner. The colours are all extremely pigmented and so easy to blend. They are also gloriously shimmery which I love.  This palette has a few silvery toned shades on the left and a few slightly pink/lilac shades also. The greys and blues would be perfect to create a really stunning smoky eye effect.

Pretty Pastels

This palette looks much more matte than the others but at a closer look it is a little shimmery. The colours are very minimal and subtle and so it is very difficult to build us a strong colour with them. They are nice if you are just trying to add a little hint of colour to your make up. If you are looking for bold colours then this if not the right palette for you. Some of the shades are really good for highlighting though and also for using as bases.

Poptastic

The first thing I thought when I picked up this palette was “wow those colours are bright” and they are. They are mostly a mix of turquoise blues and purples with a couple of others thrown in there too. The colours are pigmented to the max and go on so strongly. They have a slight shimmer to them but not too much. These are not the kinds of colours you would wear all the time but if you are going out and looking for a really bold look then this would be the perfect palette for you.

Starry Night

Starry night is packed with shimmery silver and grey colours but also has a pink and purple in there for a little extra colour. These are less pigmented than some of the other palettes and go on lighter with less of an intense pay off but they still look pretty on. They are perfectly blendable to create a gorgeous evening smoky eye effect.

All the palettes came with a double ended sponge applicator which I personally will never use but they seemed good enough quality. The majority of the colours last for around the four or five hour mark which for a £4 palette is pretty good, much longer than expected. Using a primer doesn’t seem to give them much more wear but maybe that’s just me. I didn’t expect to get such good quality eye shadows at such a low price. I would have liked the individual colours to have had names as I always like that in a palette but that is not a big deal really. These are a definite must have, for £4 each you can’t really go wrong.