Review: October 2016 Beauty Boxes - Part 1

In October 2016 I received 4 boxes: Birchbox, Glossybox, LookFantastic Beauty Box and the Amazon Luxury Beauty box.  Since I have so many boxes to catch up with (it doesn't help I subscribed to more!) I thought I would write about a month's worth at a time rather than box by box.

Instead of having one super long post, I'm breaking it into two parts.  So here is part one...


First up is Birchbox, which costs £10 (+£2.95 P&P) a month with savings of £20 if you sign up for a year of boxes.  I've been signed up to Birchbox for a while now and have stuck with them as they are, more often than not, good value for money.  This month's box had a theme of "What's Your Sign?" with 4 different box designs that could have been received (Air, Earth, Fire or Water) and with me being an Aries I aptly received the Fire box (the stars on the box also glow in the dark).

The first product in the box was a little disappointing, Doux Me - Pure Spring Mist (RRP £16, sample worth £8).  Ultimately this is water in a can; I can see it being useful in the hotter months when you need to freshen up your face or if you've just worked out but you can get the same product for much cheaper elsewhere.

Next there was a good size sample (70ml) of Rituals - Rituals of Sakura Magic Touch Body Cream (RRP £19.50, sample worth approx £6.20) which is lovely and rich and soaks into the skin easily without greasiness.  The scent is very pretty but not overpowering and lasts for a long time so I look forward to using this more.

The box also featured Number 4 - Fluoro5 Elixer Restore & Repair Oil (RRP £18, sample worth approx £4.60).  I do use hair oils on and off so I will use this sample up; it has a very subtle scent and feels light when applied to the hair but there's no noticeable differences between this and other hair oils I have used so far.

I do like a face mask to brighten my skin up every once in a while so I was happy to see Whish Renewing Mud Mask (RRP £29, sample worth £7.25).  The product is quite thin so dries quickly and you leave it on no longer than 2 minutes before washing off (the mask also exfoliates as you wash it off).  It does have a strong scent to it and left my face a little red once washed off but this soon went away, unfortunately there was no noticeable difference to my skin after.

The full-size product in this month's box was the Lord & Berry 20100 Maxi Matte Crayon Lipstick in Intimacy (RRP £12, full size product) which is a rose-pink shade, suitable for everyday wear.  The formula is good, not too dry for a matte lip crayon, and does not transfer too easily so it should last for a while when worn.

Finally, the box included a sachet of Bodyism - Beauty Food (RRP from £50, sample worth approx £1.80) which is a supplement powder that is meant to fight ageing, reduce lines and wrinkles and help repair damaged skin.  It seems a bit pointless including this in the box, as with any supplement or vitamin you need to take/use them for quite a while before seeing any results.  Anyway, the supplement is to be mixed with water, milk or milk substitute and taken on a morning.  This does have a slight taste but I mixed mine with milk and it wasn't too unpleasant - I didn't see or feel any effects from it though.

Box value = £39.85


Next is Glossybox, which costs £10 (£3.25 P&P) with savings on boxes with their 3, 6 and 12 month plans.  I'd looked into Glossybox before but this was the first one I had received so it was interesting to see how similar or not it was to Birchbox.  The contents of the month's box were picked in collaboration with blogger Estée Lalonde and contained a mixture of haircare, skincare and makeup products.  I was pleasantly surprised by the number of makeup products included as Birchbox usually only has one, if any.  It was also a plus that there were 3 full size products in the box!

The first product in the box was a mystery shampoo sample that turned out to be by Head & Shoulders (RRP £2.99, sample worth approx 90p).  I'm not picky with shampoos so I'll try any samples I receive and this one was cleansing without being drying and left my hair shiny.  I would definitely use it again and I'm not put off it being by Head & Shoulders.

Next was a sample of The Body Shop - Drops of Youth Concentrate (RRP £25, sample worth £5.80).  I have combination skin which can be sensitive to some things causing it to break out but luckily this hasn't caused any negative reactions so far.  The product dries unscented and soaks into the skin well without leaving a greasy finish.  I have tried a sample of this before and didn't really notice much difference to the appearance of my skin after using it but I'll give it a go again.

The box also included Universal Beauty Cosmetics - Secret Flush, Soothing Cream Blusher & Lip Stain Duo (RRP £15, full size product) in Nectar.  The product is pink in colour and has a shimmer to it which creates a pretty look when used on the cheeks, it's not really my style for lips so I'm unlikely to use it for that purpose.  It has a fruity scent too so it could possibly affect sensitive skin but it has been ok on mine so far.

There was also Bee Good - Honey & Camelina Facial Exfoliator (RRP £10.50, full size product).  This has lovely packaging and is made by British bees and is environmentally friendly.  I'm not too sure whether I'm keen on the scent (I'm not a massive fan of lavender) but when used it does feel like it is exfoliating the skin well, and once washed off my skin did feel much fresher and smoother.  I look forward to using this a few more times.

The second makeup product in the box was Trifle Cosmetics - Lip Parfait Buttery Lip Cream in Exotic Fruits (RRP £12.95, full size product).  The first thing about this is the fun cardboard packaging, looking at the Trifle Cosmetics website it seems to be a big thing for them and I love that.  The lip cream itself is a  light nude-pink shade which applies easily and feels lovely and creamy on the lips, it's infused with vitamin E so should be great at moisturising when needed.  Unfortunately the shade is too pale for me and doesn't suit my skin tone but I might still wear it at home when my lips need a bit of TLC or even try and mix it with different lip products to lighten darker shades a bit.

Finally, PS... Pro HD Mascara in Black (RRP £3, full size product).  I don't wear mascara every day and I'm not too fond of over-the-top mascaras for every day wear.  This one, from Primark, applies OK with the rubber brush (although it does clump a little bit) and does create a noticeable effect to the eyelashes but it is not subtle enough for me to wear every day for work.  I'll still use it for other occasions though.

Box value = £48.15


I'll post the second part shortly, which includes my review of the October LookFantastic Beauty Box and the Amazon Luxury Beauty box.

Review: MeeBox August 2016 - Boho

I'm finally working my way though all the MeeBoxes I have received so far!  I actually swatched the polishes quite a while ago but haven't had time to write the actual post, but here goes.

MeeBox is a monthly subscription box which costs £20 (including P&P) if you want to pay month-to-month or £18 per box if you prepay for 3 months (this is my second box of my 3 month sub).

August's MeeBox had a 'Boho' theme and included polishes from Zoya, Barry M and Cuccio plus a few extras which I'll show you too, including a pretty silver midi ring.

Barry M - Green Berry (£3.99)
As with the Models Own polish from the previous box, I already own this polish and have used it a few times (I am a huge Barry M fan!) but I guess it doesn't hurt to have a spare bottle.  This is a pretty turquoise creme polish from the Gelly Hi Shine collection so has a slightly thicker consistency which dries with a great shine.  You could probably get away with 1 coat but I used 2 for full coverage, it also has a wide brush which helps to get a smooth coat.  I used 2 coats with no top coat for the swatch below.

Zoya - Aggie (£11.70)
This looks stunning in the bottle but I couldn't quite capture the true colour/duochrome with my camera.  Aggie is a shimmery duochrome polish which shifts from a strong gold colour to a green shade - it isn't as noticeable on the nails as it is in the bottle which is a shame.  I used 3 thin coats with no top coat for the swatch below.

Cuccio - Prince I've Been Gone (£6.95)
This is a rich, dark teal creme polish which dries with a really good shine.  I can imagine this polish would stain the nails slightly just from the way it looked when I removed the swatches.  I used 2 coats with no top coat for the swatch below, I should have done another coat for fuller coverage.

MeeBox - 'The Grape Escape' Nail Polish Remover (£3.00)
This is MeeBox's own nail polish remover which does have a fruity scent.  I tested it out and it removes polish fine, did have to use a little more than with my usual remover but it might be that this one is more gentle on the nails.

Miss Cat Nails - Metallic Leaf (£2.49)
This metallic leaf is from the 'Pistachio' leaf collection on the Miss Cat Nails website.  It is a gold colour with hints of green, it reminds me of tarnished metal, but not in a bad way because on the nails it produces a lovely effect.  You just apply it to the nails when they are still tacky, or you can use a clear polish if they've dried.  Just tear some of the leaf off and smooth it down so it is flat on the nails then apply a top coat to seal it on.  I wore it with my nail art from this box for a few days and it lasted really well and kept it's metallic appearance throughout.  I would definitely look into buying different colours of this product.

Sterling Silver Midi Ring (£10.99)
The final little gift in this month's box was the sterling silver midi ring which was in the shape of an arrow.  I already own some midi rings so this is a nice addition to them which I will get lots of use out of, plus it went well with the Boho theme.

Took me a while to think of how to use all the different polishes and extras together as well as suiting the Boho theme.  I decided to use Prince I've Been Gone on the thumb, index and pinkie fingers then Green Berry with a MoYou-London stamping plate at the base of the nails.  On the middle and ring fingers I used Prince I've Been Gone as the base then 2 coats of Aggie on top.  Finally I used some of the metallic leaf on the ring finger.  I finished it off with a coat of Sally Hansen's Mega Shine top coat.

I wore this nail art for a few days and it lasted well, with some edge wear as usual.  Prince I've Been Gone didn't stain too bad when I removed it, it was harder to get off the skin than the nails themselves though.

The photos below show the nail art indoors with LED light and outdoors with natural light.

So this month's box had a value of around £39 and the contents included were impressive yet again.  I thought they did suit the theme well as there's lots of different effects you can create with the polishes and foil.  I was a bit disappointed that out of both boxes I've received so far I already have 2 of the polishes but I guess it's bound to happen when you own a silly amount of nail polish like I do!

Did anyone else get this MeeBox?  What were your thoughts on it?