Review: Feel Unique Beauty Box January

Hey Lovelies

Now I must confess I did go on and have a sneaky look at my beauty box account before this got delivered so I already knew what I was going to get and I have to say I wasn't looking forward to it. The reason being there ware no make up items in my box this month, I do love skin and hair care products but I don't really bother using the really small samples as I don't think they give you a good enough idea of what the product is like so I just tend to save them for weekends away when I don't want to take my full sized products. Anyway onto the box for those of you that are interested.

Lierac Coherance L.IR Infared Lifting Cream Sample Size 15ml RRP £56.55 for 50ml

I must say this is a really decent sample size for such an expensive product. It's a firming cream that helps to repair collagen fibres in the skin, I haven't started using anti ageing products yet but maybe I should start. There was also a small 2ml sample of Lierac's Comfort Peel Wrinkle Smoother included in the box.

Dead Sea Spa Magik Salt Brushing Sample Size 2 x 50g sachets RRP £12.25 for 500g

Dead Sea seem to pop up in many beauty boxes! I still have their bath salts from Novembers Glossy Box. These salts are for use in brushing over the body either by hand or with a body brush, I've wanted to get a body brush for ages so this has reminded me to do that. I think I'm going to save them until I do. If anyone has any recommendations of body brushes for me please pop them below!

Caudalie Vinotherapir Nourishing Body Lotion Sample Size 30ml RRP £21.50 for 400ml

I think one of the reasons I wasn't as excited about this box was also because I didn't recognise some of the brands, this being one of them. This is a softening and firming lotion using plant based ingredients, seeing as it's a body lotion this sample definitely isn't enough to cover your whole body, unless it's very tiny so I think I'll be throwing this in my box of overnight samples too.

Phyto PhytoBaume Color Protect Express Conditioner Samples Size 20ml RRP £10.20 for 150 ml

No I didn't make a typo, that's how they have spelt colour on this product. I have read quite a bit about this brand and their hair products, most recently the gorgeous Vivianna of Vivianna Does Make Up fame (link) said she had tried the Phyto Express Conditioner on her lovely locks. Although my hair isn't that long and pretty fine I'd still like enough product for at least a couple of washes and at only 20ml I think this is a bit useless.

Green People Gentle Cleanse Sample Size 10ml RRP £15.25 for 200ml

A brand I had heard of but I haven't yet tried any of their products, Green people use mostly organic ingredients in their products. I doubt I'll be trying this as I'm happy with my skincare routine at the moment although a trial of a sample product I got from the clothes show has convinced me to switch my cleanser so you never know.

So there you go, for me, nothing to exciting or inspiring in this months box, I think we've been spoilt getting full sized products in the beauty boxes lately so when a box full of sample sizes arrives you feel a bit hard done by  haha Think I might be popping over to the Beauty Box Swaps facebook page (link) to see if anybody is interested in any of this months samples. I'm definitely going to keep my subscription though as I've been really happy with my past beauty boxes and been as this months was all skin and hair care that means next months might be all make up!!! :)

Lots of Love
xxx

Review: YSL Rouge Volupte #13 Peach Passion and a super simple FOTD

Hey Lovelies!

Being one of the most coveted lipsticks in the beauty world it seemed wrong that I didn't own one. Even if I don't really like lipstick. I'd seen so many other people flaunting their golden bullet on their blogs and I had major product envy. Now I have to say generally I'm a lipgloss girl, while I know some people can't cope with the whole sticky, gloopy, hair stuck to your lipness, I have always felt lipsticks just don't 'suit' me. This changed a few months ago, nothing too daring (baby steps) I'd stocked up on some lipsticks for my make up unit at college and while perusing my collection one day I decided to try it out. It was a nudey brown, and I was surprised, I actually quite liked it! Since then I've made myself a little 'to buy' list and top of it was a YSL Rouge Volupte. Now I'd eyed up various  shades, #1 Nude Beige and #30 Fabourg Peach but while I will happily invest £30+ in a new foundation, I was prepared to wait a while until I spent twenty two well earned pounds on a lipstick (no matter how pretty the packaging).And then, randomly perusing blog sales, quickly becoming my latest habit, I came across this beauty for £10. Now granted it wasn't in the shades I'd initially lusted after but #13 Peach Passion sounded and looked, just beautiful. I swiftly sent my payment and awaited my arrival.

The beauty of this product is well documented, its lustrous gold casing combined with the trademark YSL watermelon scent is enough to make any girl, lipstick lover or not, just a bit giddy. Unfortunately the longevity of this lipstick is much talked about also. I'd just applied my make up, bar any form of lip product when I heard this drop through my letter box, it must have been fate I though as I hurriedly tore open the package and got myself to the nearest mirror. And well, I wanted to love this lipstick, I really did, I'd convinced myself that not only would I love this lipstick, but it would be a turning point in my lipstick journey; from now on I'd peruse make up counters eyeing up their lippie offerings instead of instinctively reaching for the latest face products. I'd even found a lovely little storage box that I thought would be perfect for keeping all my soon to be purchases in (sad I know!). The problem I found with this lipstick is in the application, I don't have dry lips, the upside to never having worn lipstick before is that I slather balm on my lips several times a day, this keeps them soft and moisturised, the perfect base for my rouge volupte so I thought. However when I applied the lipstick it seemed to pick up on every single line on my lip, so much so I immediately removed it to check that my lips hadn't randomly dried out overnight. Nope, still fine. I tried once more, this time I decided to combine it with a gloss on the top, I chose my jelly pong pong strawberry shortcake, which already had quite a lot of colour to it. The result was an almost neon lip, definitely not what I was after. So I popped the rouge volupte away in my make up collection and resided myself to the fact that maybe I would never be a lipstick kinda girl.

A few days later the rouge volupte was still on my mind, it was too pretty to just let it sit amongst my make up collection. This time I applied a bit of vaseline first, it was a slight improvement but it felt much more like a gloss rather than a lipstick and the staying power was naff. Almost giving up hope I rubbed in a teeny bit of Figs and Rouge Sweet Geranium Balm from last months Feel Unique Box and this time instead of applying directly from the bullet I used a lip brush to line my lips with the colour and then used the bullet to gently dab the colour on to my lips so I didn't overload them and finally I liked it. It's not the gushy, swoony lipstick lust I thought it might be, but I really do like it.

YSL Rouge Volupte #13 Peach Passion (without flash)

Recently I've been keeping my make up super simple so my rouge volupte has been a perfect accompaniment to my dressed down look but I am looking forward to seeing how it fairs with some heavier eye make up.

Face

Jemma Kidd Light as Air Foundation in Medium (still mixed on this one)

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in shade medium for blemishes and light for under eye.

ELF HD Powder

Jelly Pong Pong Matt Bronzer for contouring

Collection 2000 Shimmer Shades Blushalicious Blusher

Eyes

Christian Eyebrow Kit (review here)

Loreal Telescopic Clean Definition Mascara

Lips

Figs and Rouge Sweet Geranium Balm

YSL Rouge Volupte #13 Peach Passion

Have any lipstick recommendations for me?

Lots of Love xxx

Review: Lush Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter and OPI's Katy Perry Last Friday Night

Hey Lovelies

I've been neglecting my cuticles recently and when taking a recent NOTD picture decided I really needed to give them some TLC. Generally I'll rub it some Imn cuticle oil but I felt they needed something a bit extra so took myself off to Lush for some Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter. One of the best known products from Lush, this lemony pot of loveliness costs just £5.95 for a 50g and will last you a lifetime. You need the teeniest amount of this and it's no wonder as it contains shea butter, beeswax, avocado oil, mango butter, coconut oil and a whole host of other skin softening treats. But don't be fooled by the name, this fluttery buttery thrill is most certainly not just for your cuticles; heels, knees, elbows and any other stubborn dry areas are sure to be tamed with this little delight. The biggest reason (other than aforementioned loveliness) that has kept me repurchasing this product for a solid 7 years? The smell! There's lemon, and then there's lemony flutter, sometimes I just sit with the tub and keep opening it up for a sniff (I know how to party!) I tend to pop this on combined with some Soap and Glory Hand Food before I go to bed and wake up with lovely soft hands and cuticles. I've not yet invested in some manicure mittens, I just can't get with the idea of wearing gloves in bed but feel free to tell me they're totally worth it!

One of my lovely friends sent me Katy Perry's Last Friday Night polish from OPI, its a blue jelly polish jam packed with a tonne of iridescent sparkle. I swatched it over my current Models Own Nyla Nude and just wasn't feeling it, this polish on it's own isn't my cup of tea.

Cuticles refreshed I did a little blog research and as advised tried it over a dark base instead, some random No.7 polish I've had for ages called Betty Blues, cue the perfect midnight sparkle! Over a dark shade you can really see this polish in all its beauty, I think this would work well over any dark base - blue, purple, black even green if you're so inclined. I don't think the photographs do it justice, as you really can't see how iridescent the glitter is. Although glitter season is almost over (for me) now I am very happy to add this to my collection and don't think I'll be putting it away for the year just yet.

Have you put your sparkly polishes away for the year or do you wear it all year round?

Lots of Love xxx