April Glossybox product review

I was quite excited by April's Glossybox and felt that it had a lot of promise compared to March's Glossybox and admittedly previous Glossyboxes too. Aside from the STYLondon Temporary 'Henna' Tattoos (which retail at £5.99) which I won't be trying because I'm not into temporary tattoos, I was looking forward to April's box. First up I tried the Studio10 Brow Lift Perfecting Liner which retails at a whopping £22 for eyebrow pencil!! For the hefty price tag I expected great things but in all honesty the Studio10 Brow Lift Perfecting Liner was too light for my dark eyebrows. The Studio10 Brow Lift Perfecting Liner was heavily sharpened and pointed at both ends so of course you're supposed to blend the ends before use. I didn't have time and needed a quick fix but unfortunately the colour didn't match my gappy eyebrows at all. The brown shade on the Studio10 Brow Lift Perfecting Liner was far too light and the other end is a pale off-white colour assumedly to lighten the brown eye pencil that you've already applied. The Studio10 Brow Lift Perfecting Liner was a disappointing eyebrow liner for me. (If you're looking for a cheap eyebrow liner you can read my review on Constance Carroll eyebrow liner here).

Next up I tried the essence Mosaic Compact Powder which retails at £3. It seems that every month or so there's a new blusher present in the Glossybox and April's box was no different. As a result of this I have about 5 or 6 blushers that I need to power my way through. The essence Mosaic Compact Powder is made up of various different shades and sizes. The idea is that when you sweep your blusher brush over it the true colour is blended nicely onto your face. I'm a huge fan of the mosaic look in compact powders so I was excited to try this essence blusher. I found the colour quite neutral, I'm used to an obvious dark glow on my cheeks from my usual St. Moriz bronzer. The essence Mosaic Compact Powder however is very light on the skin and it hardly looked like I had any make-up on at all! My face looked natural and my look simple and understated. I like the essence Mosaic Compact Powder although I would have preferred it to be a tad darker just so I didn't feel so washed out.

I was excited to try out the Leighton Denny Expert Nails Miracle Mist as I'm always on the look out for a product that promises speedy results. I was a bit eager and applied the Leighton Denny Expert Nails Miracle Mist straight after applying my black nail varnish. Of course I touched it to see if it was dry and found it to be tacky still. On the back of the bottle however, it states that you should leave the nail varnish to dry for a minute before applying the Leighton Denny Expert Nails Miracle Mist. To me this defeats the point of a speed drying nail varnish spray. Usually my nail varnishes dry in around 60 seconds or less so with this in mind a nail varnish speed drying spray is irrelevant. I do like the idea of the Leighton Denny Expert Nails Miracle Mist however, and although I'm impatient I will continue to use this product straight after a nail varnish application. I will just make sure that I don't touch it straight away! You can buy Leighton Denny Expert Nails Miracle Mist from any good M&S store and a full-size bottle of only 75ml retails at £12. It's pricey but I do credit that it works. The metallic silver canister looks a bit like an aerosol deodorant can but it's quick and simple to use. A definite keeper in my books!

Last up for April's Glossybox was by far my least favourite product The Body Shop Oils of Life Intensely Revitalising Facial Oil which retails at a whopping £28. Personally, I don't like facial oils because they leave my skin feeling oily and greasy. As I have problematic combination skin with an oily chin and cheeks, excess oil is the last thing I need to put on my face. I also don't actually know how to properly use facial oils and as there was very little write up on the Glossybox cards, it didn't really help me in how to apply it. The sample size bottle of The Body Shop Oils of Life Intensely Revitalising Facial Oil comes in a tiny bottle with a dropper application. Instead of dropping the oil onto my face I literally scraped the dropper onto my skin and then rubbed it in. Straight away it's noticeable how greasy The Body Shop Oils of Life Intensely Revitalising Facial Oil is which wasn't great for my skin. If you have dry skin I assume The Body Shop Oils of Life Intensely Revitalising Facial Oil is fantastic as it's packed full of restorative oils but unfortunately it just didn't do anything for me sadly.

Let me know what you thought of April's Glossybox in the comments below or, if you have any tips on how to use facial oils I'd love to hear from you! xx

January Glossybox 'The Year of More' product review

I've felt really underwhelmed by my recent Glossyboxes and had considered stopping the subscriptions. It seems that I haven't received a useful box in months so I was apprehensive about this box. I'm pleased to say that I was wrong in my apprehensions. I absolutely love January's box and couldn't wait to use everything. In this month's box I received: a full size bottle of UNANI Dermo Defense Face Mask which retails at £11.36 for 100ml, Madara Cellular Repair Serum which retails at £38, a full-sized Glossybox Eyeshadow in Glossy Mauve retailing at £7.10, a full-sized bottle of ANGELE Paris Red Nail Lacquer retailing at £6.32 and a full sized stick of Teeez Cosmetics Oasis Gem Lipstick in Coral Onyx retailing at £11.93.

I really liked the Teeez Cosmetics Oasis Gem Lipstick in Coral Onyx but when I wound the lipstick up in the tube, it looks like the lipstick has been put in the wrong way. The tube is angled to follow the conquers of your lips but unfortunately the lipstick has been put in back to front so the larger part of the lipstick was squashed onto the shallow angle. Instead the lipstick should follow the larger angle in the tube. I contacted Glossybox and they vowed that they would send another one out in the post which they did really quickly. They also sent me a bee venom moisturiser by way of apology and two packets of eye tattoos (which let's be honest I won't be tryng out). Despite the original sloppiness I really like the Teeez Cosmetics Oasis Gem Lipstick in Coral Onyx. The packaging is really quirky and cool and the colour despite the name, is more of a pale pink than a coral. The Teeez Cosmetics Oasis Gem Lipstick in Coral Onyx is a moisturising lipstick that is kiss proof and looks amazing on. The Teeez Cosmetics Oasis Gem Lipstick in Coral Onyx is a definite winner in my book although it does taste a little bit like a crayon.

Next up was ANGELE Paris Red Nail Lacquer and like most women I already own about ten different shades of red nail varnish. I really like the colour of this nail lacquer. The ANGELE Paris Red Nail Lacquer is a more pinky red than a true red and it looks great on. The brush is quite wide so you can do your nails with just a few strokes and it dried super quickly so it means you can get on with your day quickly. The ANGELE Paris Red Nail Lacquer is a little bit thin if you just apply one coat so a couple of coats are necessary for a deeper colour. The ANGELE Paris Red Nail Lacquer is a definite keeper for me! However, the colour chips quite easily and after a day at work the ends of my nails were white and patchy where the lacquer had chipped off. I also have a prominent white fleck on my ring finger at the minute (I've heard that this is the result of a lack of calcium or too much salt in the diet but I don't know which is true), and unfortunately the white fleck is still noticeable under the reddy pink lacquer. I really liked the colour of the ANGELE Paris Red Nail Lacquer but it doesn't provide as much coverage as I would like. I found that after a couple of days my nails started to chip and flake which often happens to me when I use gel and lacquer type nail varnishes. I don't know why but if I don't use clear nail varnish as a base coat for my nail varnish my nails peels like mad. I've since regifted ANGELE Paris Red Nail Lacquer as it seems to weaken my nails which is a shame as I really liked the colour of this polish.

I was quite excited to try the  Glossybox Eyeshadow Glossy Mauve as I needed a new mauve eyeshadow to stay in my make up bag that I keep at my boyfriend's house. The colour in the compact is a subtle mauve with a hint of glitter so it's not offensive in any way. I applied a thin coat with my MASK bamboo eyeshadow brush which I previously received from another subscription box. Quite a lot of the product seems to go onto the brush which at first I thought was a good thing. The  Glossybox Eyeshadow in Glossy Mauve really had very little show on the eyelids at first. I had to apply several coats of the Glossybox Eyeshadow in Glossy Mauve to see any difference to my lids. As a result of the excess product applied to the brush however, I had a lot of residue powder fall onto my cheeks. This of course is easily rectified by rubbing it from my cheeks but it will still a bit annoying to have to do that. I liked the colour of the Glossybox Eyeshadow in Glossy Mauve after a few coats but I found that it didn't last all day on the lids. A disappointing eyeshadow that I don't think is worth £7.10.

The Madara Cellular Repair Serum states that you should use it morning and night as a base for moisturiser. I was pleasantly surprised by the Madara Cellular Repair Serum especially as the liquid is green. The Madara Cellular Repair Serum felt really smooth when applied to the skin and offers a cooling sensation to the face. I haven't noticed any change to my face so I'm not sure what it's supposed to repair but I do like the Madara Cellular Repair Serum all the same. I haven't realy noticed a change in my skin but I like using it and will continue to do so until it runs out.

 

Lastly, I tried the UNANI Dermo Defense Face Mask which a full size bottle retails at £11.36. The packaging is really quite aesthetically pleasing with its' basic white and silver bottle. The face mask that I was lucky enough to try is defined for sensitive skin so I was looking forward to trying it out. I have mixed feelings about UNANI Dermo Defense Face Mask. The UNANI Dermo Defense Face Mask is really unusual compared to other face masks that I have tried. The UNANI Dermo Defense Face Mask is essentially a clear gel solution that you apply to the face. It's like nothing I've ever tried before and left something of a dewy complexion on my face. Less is definitely more with this as I applied way too much and hoped that my skin would absorb it. With face masks I'm used to it drying onto the skin and producing a coloured mask that you can phyically peal off when it's dry. The UNANI Dermo Defense Face Mask is completely different to what I'm used to as it left my face feeling very sticky and restrictive at first. The UNANI Dermo Defense Face Mask doesn't dry onto the face to produce a mask but rather it is absorbed by the skin. Despite the fact that it states that it is specific for sensitive skin my skin felt very tight and itchy when I used this product. I left the UNANI Dermo Defense Face Mask on the skin for around ten minutes and my face felt very cold and bare as a result. I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to UNANI Dermo Defense Face Mask as my face felt very itchy and raw after 10 minutes of having this on my face. There is no noticeable fragrance with the UNANI Dermo Defense Face Mask which is a bonus. There was an evident difference in the apperance of my face. When I washed it off (which FYI it takes a while and a lot of warm water to actually rid the product from your face) my skin was so bright and clear afterwards. I have mixed feelings because there was a visible difference to the appearance of my skin but my skin felt tight, restrictive, itchy and raw during the 10 minutes it was on my face and afterwards. My cheeks in particular felt especially raw so I think this may be a product that I pass on as the skin reaction is slightly worrying.

That's my thoughts on January's Glossybox, let me know what you think of this post and what your favourite products were in the comments below xx