Review: April 2024 LookFantastic Beauty Box

One of the main reasons I enjoy monthly beauty boxes is that they often include products I wouldn't buy or try myself otherwise.  Over the years, they've helped me find some new favourites, as well as encouraged me to try other products from brands that I've discovered from the boxes.

As of April 2024, LookFantastic - The Box was the only beauty box I was still subscribed to.  Like I've said in previous blogs, this box generally contains a good mix of products from a decent range of brands, although some recent boxes have left me feeling a little underwhelmed.

LookFantastic - The Box is a monthly box which costs from £13 a month (with a 12-month subscription) and usually contains 6 beauty products with a "minimum value of £50", according to the website.  Usually, one or two products included in the box will vary per person - there are different variants of boxes sent out - but you don't get to choose what you will receive.

My April 2024 LookFantastic - The Box was "Variant 2" and included: 

• BeautyPro Squalane Nourishing Facial Sheet Mask (full size / £5 value - though currently on sale for £3.75) - I do love a sheet mask!  I like to use one if I'm having a bit of a pamper session, and they usually make my skin feel softer/smoother.  This BeautyPro mask was intended to hydrate the skin and claimed to have an anti-aging formula.  I used it recently - there was plenty of liquid in the packet without a strong fragrance, and it felt nice on the face.  I left it on for the recommended time, and although it did make my skin a little red afterwards, my face did feel quite nourished from using it.

• We Are Paradox Volume Blow Dry Spray 30ml (£5.40 value - no longer on the LF website, and can only find this version on clearance at £36 for 2 x 100ml bottles on QVC) - I've tried quite a few volumising sprays over the years that I've received from beauty boxes, and I've not really liked any of them - some did work quite well, but I just don't like the texture feeling they leave in the hair.  I'm currently testing out a Philip Kingsley texturising spray, and then I'll give this We Are Paradox one a try - it does smell quite nice if nothing else.

• GLOV Picture-Perfect Makeup Blender (full size - no longer on LF, but it is £10.75 on the GLOV website) - This is a little smaller than some of the beauty sponges I own, but it has a nice feel to it, so it should be good to use around the eyes and nose areas especially.  I've only used GLOV makeup remover cloths before, which I find really useful, so it will be nice to try another of their products.

• Elemis Pro-Collagen Energising Marine Cleanser 30ml (£9.60 value / £48 for 150ml) - I surprisingly haven't received this cleanser in a beauty box before, only the cleansing balm, so I'm looking forward to trying it out.  I do like the Elemis Pro-Collagen night cream though, and I'm hoping this cleanser is as nice to use!

• Rituals The Ritual of Sakura Rice Milk & Cherry Blossom Magic Touch Body Cream 70ml (£7.29 value / £22.90 for 220ml) - I really like Rituals products, mainly as they smell incredible - I'm actually currently working through a mini Rituals home perfume in this fragrance!  I'm pretty sure I've had this body cream from a box before, but it has the prettiest scent with soft florals and sweet notes.  I'm looking forward to using it again.

• Ciaté London Velvet Skin Cream Blush "Fancy" 5g (£9.50 value - no longer on the LF website or for sale officially elsewhere, but the Dewy Blush version is for sale on LF for £19 for 10ml) - I don't usually use cream blush products, I much prefer powders for my skin type, but this seems like a nice formula.  It looks very pigmented when first squeezed from the tube, but it blends easily into a more subtle colour, and seems like it will be buildable.  The colour itself is quite pretty too; a cool-toned mauve.  I'm looking forward to giving this one a go.

The box also included a 1.2ml sample of Mugler Alien Hypersense EDP which I won't include in the value of the box, but was a nice little extra to receive.  I actually own this perfume already, as I am a fan of the Alien and Angel fragrances.  I don't think Hypersense is as unique as what the original Alien smells like, it's fruitier and not as intense, but it is still a lovely wearable scent that lasts quite well throughout the day.

The April box has a value of £47.54 when looking at the full-size versions of the products - this is below the stated £50 value, but this may be due to the We Are Paradox hair product which I couldn't find an original value for, so I'll let it slide for this box.  Otherwise, I'm a bit more impressed with the value of the individual products in this box compared to the previous one - none under £5 this time!

Also, I finally got the colourful makeup product that I'd been hoping to receive for a few months! Yes, it was a cream blush which isn't something I'd ordinarily use, but it's nice to see some colour in the box.  I feel this month's box had a good mix of products again - skincare, makeup, haircare, a beauty tool, etc. - so I'm overall quite happy with it for a change.

What types of products do you enjoy receiving in beauty boxes the most?  Are there any you would opt out of receiving if you had a choice?

April 2024 Declutter

I'm back with another month's worth of decluttered products - this time from April 2024.

I've been treating this process as more of a slow declutter, as I've allowed myself time to test most products out again before deciding whether to let them go or not.  I really don't like wasting products, but a lot of what I own is many years old now and already past its prime.  So, if I haven't felt that something suits me, or I haven't enjoyed using it, then I have decided to part with it in order to use another item that I do prefer and don't want to expire before I can use it up.

In April, I focused a bit more on lip products again to reduce my overall amount.  Even today, I still have more lip products than any one person could realistically use up, but my decluttering is an ongoing process.

• Dr PawPaw Hot Pink Multipurpose Soothing Balm - This was very pigmented, but it wasn't the best formula to apply neatly, and it didn't last long on the lips.

• Nivea Strawberry Shine Lip Balm - This didn't smell very nice anymore, so it had most likely expired.

• Raw Skincare Rescue Me 100% Natural Lip Balm - This had also expired, probably due to it containing natural ingredients.

• Dr PawPaw Scrub & Nourish Lip Sugar Scrub & Balm - I think my lips just don't like something in the Dr PawPaw products, as this one dried my lips out quite a bit, so I stopped using it.

• Revolution Glow Bomb Lip Balm "Firestorm" - This had a light mint scent which was nice, but it was a pale pink shade which didn't suit me very well, and it also made my lips feel dry after using it.

• INC.redible Jelly Shot Lip Quencher "Fuelled By Luck" - I did try using this again for a couple of weeks, and it was ok, but it didn't really do anything for my lips.  I let it go in order to try out some, hopefully, more moisturising lip balms.

• Revolution Lip Trends Ultra Vamp 2017 Gloss "Lip Sheer" - This had survived my initial lip product cull, but when I tried to use it again, it just looked a bit patchy on my lips, and it was also not a colour I would have worn much.

• Revolution Lip Gloss "We Rule" - I don't use metallic lip products anymore, so this one was let go.

• Smashbox Gloss Angeles Lip Gloss "Shimmer Nova" - Even though this gloss was really pretty, it had developed a bit of a smell which made me think it had expired, unfortunately.

• Smashbox Gloss Angeles Lip Gloss "Mercurial Mauve" - Same as with the nude gloss, this sadly seemed to have expired.

• Illamasqua Loaded Lip Polish "Vogue" - Another that had developed a strange smell, so I let it go to be on the safe side.

• INC.redible Glazin Over Intense Colour Lip Glaze "_daily inspo" - This was quite a nice pink shade, but it made my lips feel a bit dry after using it a few times.

• BareMinerals Gen Nude Lip Gloss - This was a really pretty bronze shade, but as I said, I don't wear metallics anymore.

• Lip/Power Natural Matte Liquid Lipstick "Tiphaine" - This was such a stunning red shade, but it smelled rather expired.

• Lord & Berry Maximatte Crayon Lipstick "Here-and-Now" - I decided to let this lip crayon go as I have a couple of orange toned lipsticks which I am more likely to use than this.

• Rodial XXL Lip Liner "Nude" - This had completely dried up, unfortunately.

• Laritzy Cosmetics Lip Liner "Beau" - This had also dried up a bit, and was quite scratchy on the lips when I tried to use it.

• W7 "Socialite" Indulgent Multi-Textured Pressed Pigment Palette - This was a very pretty palette with lots of warm neutral shades.  However, I felt I was only using a handful of the shadows, and the pressed glitters were a bit crumbly, so I decided to let it go.  "High Society" and "Extravagance" were stunning shimmer shades though!

• Illamasqua Beyond Powder Highlighter "OMG" - I don't use highlighter as much as I used to years ago, and this was a little too gold toned for me, which caused some shadowing, unfortunately.

• Revolution Liquid Highlighter "Unicorn Elixir" - I think I'd mainly kept this over the years as it looked so pretty, but I hadn't used it for a very long time, and it had become very thick, so it was time to let go.

• Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse Or Multi-Purpose Dry Oil - I hadn't used this for a little while either, but when I came back to it, the scent had changed, so it had probably expired.

• DefyBrow Brow Atelier Styling Brow Soap - I tried using this for a couple of weeks, but I just didn't get on with it, so I went back to using my usual coloured brow gel.

• HD Brows High Definition Brow Wax - This was a bit easier to use than the brow soap, but I felt it didn't set my brows in place as much as some clear brow gels would, so I stopped using it.

• Barry M Anna Lingis Eye Foil "Alhet" - This had dried up in the tube and wasn't usable, so it had to go.

• Laura Geller Baked Balance n Brighten Foundation "Fair" - This was many years old, and although I had enjoyed using it in the past, I felt it was a bit too dry for my skin when I came to try using it again.

• BPerfect Cosmetics Lashout Brown Mascara - This smelt very much like paint to me, so I didn't want to risk using it near my eyes.  I would like to find another brown mascara, though.

• Elf No Budge Shadow Stick "Rose Gold" - This was a lovely shade, and it would last overall quite a long time, but it would also crease a bit.  I have a similar shade eyeshadow stick which I prefer, so I let this one go.

• Rimmel London Ink Me Stamp Tattoo "Black/Heart" - I'd had this for quite a few years and maybe used it two or three times.  I couldn't really see myself using it anymore, so I parted with it.

• Me Now Pefect Eye/Lip Liner Pencil "Navy" - This had dried up quite a lot, so it wasn't easy to use anymore.

• Laritzy Eye Pencil "Black" - This had dried up, it barely gave off any colour anymore.

• Insette IceCool Spray Mist - I enjoy using these sprays during the warmer weather, but when I came to test this one, it just would not spray anymore.  I tried everything to get it to work, but had no luck.

• L'Oréal Paris Colorista Hair Makeup "Copper" - Despite this being intended for brunette hair, the colour did not show up very well for me, so I let it go.

• Prai Ageless Throat & Décolletage Creme - I did try using this a couple of times, but it was almost as if it wouldn't soak into my skin properly - it would sit on top and ball up.

• Rainbow Connection Nourishing Cuticle Oil "Pumpkin Spice" - I love anything pumpkin spice scented, so I was sad that this cuticle oil had expired by the time I came to use it.

• FOM London Hydra Bright Night Complex Treatment - This had developed an unpleasant smell, so it had also probably expired.

• Nip + Fab Exfoliate Glycolic Fix Overnight Purifying Gel - I tried using this a few times over a couple of weeks, but it would make my skin turn increasingly red and hot - to the point on the third time that I had to wash it off after a few minutes, but my skin still felt hot and uncomfortable for a while after.

• GrandeLash-MD Lash Enhancing Serum (full size and mini) - As I mentioned in my March declutter, a lot of lash serums contain prostaglandins which make them work, but can also have quite severe side effects.  I've since watched an informative video about this, which was interesting, and luckily most side effects do usually reverse once you stop using the product.  I didn't want to risk having any more issues after experiencing some with the UKLash serum, though, so I decluttered both these GrandeLash ones.

That was everything I decluttered in April 2024.  I was glad I was making some progress with lip products, but I knew I still had other categories that needed attention too - eye makeup products especially!

Working through so many lip products has made me start to wonder if I have a sensitivity to certain ingredients, or if the products are just a bit too old, causing my lips to become dry and sore.  This is something I'll keep an eye on as I work through more balms and glosses.

As usual, anything that can be hygienically passed on will be, and the remainder will be recycled where possible.

Do you follow expiry dates on products?  Or do you go by smell and texture changes too to know when to stop using them?