Autumn Spell October Glossybox review

I was really disappointed with the Autumn Glossybox as not only did it come with products I've never heard of (a highlighting pencil and a blending sponge) but it came with mascara. I don't use mascara and this is the third time Glossybox have included mascara. I contacted the company because each box is meant to be tailored to you. As I've previously explained you answer a questionnaire before you receive your first box and this is supposed to cater the products to you. I was told by Glossybox that they would pass on my review to the relevant people who pack the boxes but because they're generic they can't tailor the boxes to each individual. Of course I understand this but given that I specified that I do not use mascara it's frustrating that this is the months' product that every box had to receive. A full-sized  Jelly Pong Pong Fairy Lashes Curl mascara is priced at £17.95 and it's a product I won't be reviewing.

Like the September Glossybox it took me a while to use this box. I just don't use this array of products so I really had to push myself out of my comfort zone. I've had a few poor Glossyboxes so I am seriously considering stopping my subscription as there's always a few products that I'm disappointed it. Of course this is bound to happen and I won't be happy with nor use all the products that come in the box but it seems to be more and more frequent that this is happening each month. This was especially true with the Nicka K Airbrush Blending Sponge which was surprisingly heavy and cumbersome to use. I had expected that with it being a sponge it would be light and airy but it was really difficult to use. I tried to use the Nicka K Airbrush Blending Sponge on my face after applying foundation but found it really hard and that it hurt my face using it. For £6.50 I expected a much better product than this small and unusual product. Unfortunately, I won't be reusing the Nicka K Airbrush Blending Sponge.

Next up I tried the Talika Photo-Hydra Day which retails at £24.85. I used this on the face first then followed by serum. The OLAY moisturiser that I usually use doubles up as a primer and a moisturiser so I was essentially testing whether or not the Talika Photo-Hydra Day would serve a multi-purpose. Surprisingly, the Talika Photo-Hydra Day does work well as a primer and my make up lasted just as long when using it. I hasten to add if you exercise during the day you will sweat the make up so of course the Talika Photo-Hydra Day doesn't prevent this but usual day wear ensures that your make up is kept in place. A little goes a long way with the Talika Photo-Hydra Day because otherwise the liquid feels really greasy when you apply it to the skin. It's quite surprising that the Talika Photo-Hydra Day feels greasy if you apply too much as the solution itself feels very weak and watery. It almost seems like the bottle itself restricts how much you can apply to the face as it seems to release the moisturiser in small spurts which is enough to cover the face. I liked the Talika Photo-Hydra Day but it won't replace my usual OLAY moisturiser.

One of my all time favourite products is the Lanolips 101 Ointment which retails at £7.99 and is an absolute miracle worker. I have previously reviewed the Lanolips 101 ointment which you can read about it here whereby I used it to treat burnt skin. For such a small tube it is an absolute godsend as it can be used to treat anything from insect bites, chapped or burnt skin and probably even dry skin. I loved the Lanolips 101 Ointment because the results are almost immediate and it really works to soothe skin troubles. This is a definite re-buy for me and a beauty essential for every hand bag.

It's taken me a while to post this review because I received a So Susan Haute Light Highlighting Pencil in the October Glossybox. I've already said in a previous review that I didn't jump on the highlighting and contouring trend partly because I don't understand it. I tried the So Susan Haute Light Highlighting Pencil out alongside the So Susan Statement Skin Highlighter Pencil and both are supposed to be used along the cupids' brow and along the nose to highlight the skin. The So Susan Haute Light Highlighting Pencil can also be used along the inner rim of the eyes to make them pop and to help colour stick to the lids. I disliked the So Susan Haute Light Highlighting Pencil because I found it quite hard to colour the lid in. The So Susan Haute Light Highlighting Pencil isn't as soft as the So Susan Statement Skin Highlighter Pencil so it makes it difficult to blend onto the skin. At £15 I don't think it's worth the price and I don't believe it did much to highlight my skin. I used the So Susan Haute Light Highlighting Pencil as a primer for my eyeshadow but my MUA eyeshadow didn't last all day. The colour stayed in the corners of my eyes but unfortunately slid off from my eyelids. I wasn't a fan of this So Susan Haute Light Highlighting Pencil and won't be using it again.

It's taken me about 5 months to use all of the products in October's Glossybox and I wasn't taken with all of them. There were two definite products that I loved and use on a regular basis but unfortunately this was a disappointing box for me. Let me know what you thought of October's Glossybox in the comments below xx

Confessions of a Beauty Blogger Part II -- Rodial Bee Venom Moisturiser and Lanolips 101 Ointment Multipurpose Balm product reviews

I promise you that I am intelligent but sometimes I do really stupid things that will make you question this statement (see Confessions Part I). After using the UNANI dermo defense face mask I decided to go all out and get rid of all unwanted hair on my face. As I say this alarm bells should be ringing and although they were for me I still persisted. If you've read my review on the UNANI dermo defense face mask you'll know that I had an allergic reaction to some of the ingredients so it was particularly idiotic to apply hair removal cream straight after this reaction. The pores are opened after using a face mask so it's a really bad idea to wax or apply hair removal cream onto this area. I know this yet I didn't heed my own advice and used my usual Nair hair removal cream anyway. I left it on for ten minutes as usual but as soon I applied it my top lip started to burn like nothing before. By the end of the ten minutes I had tears pricking my eyes the burning was so intense. I'm breaking every beauty rule I know, don't apply bleaching creams to opened pores, don't leave it on the skin if it's burning, wash it off immediately, but of course I didn't do any of that. When I came to wipe the cream off not only did it not take all of the hair away (which meant all that pain was pointless) it left obvious red patches on my skin. My face looked really sore and angry so I attempted to bathe it with warm water which did nothing for the pain. After this I bathed my upper lip with cold water which really helped to reduce the pain. I slathered my top lip is Vaseline as it was the only product gentle enough not to cause another reaction. When I awoke the next morning I had horrible large burnt patches on my face which was ridiculously painful.

In January's Glossybox I was missing one of the products and had a defective lippy which I complained about and received several products in the post as compensation. In this mixture of products was Rodial bee venom moisturiser which retails at a whopping £150 in most retailer for a 50ml tub. I was really impressed with this moisturiser but there is no way I can justify spending £150 to replace it. The 5ml tube that I received really isn't enough to get proper use from it as I pretty much used it up in two applications. I slathered this onto my burnt patches and it really helped to calm and soothe the skin. The tube states that it is an 'extreme performance cream with stem cell technology' which was why I used it on the burnt patches. The benefit of stem cells is that they help to regenerate your cells so I figured the Rodial bee venom moisturiser would be perfect to repair my broken skin. Admittedly, I had to cake the foundation and concealer on and reapply concealer regularly throughout the day so as to hide the horror of my top lip. The Rodial bee venom moisturiser definitely soothed and helped my skin but when I woke the next morning after removing all make up the night before I was left with hard dry patches on my face.

I used the Rodial bee venom moisturiser as a base before applying my serum and then warmed the Lanolips 101 Ointment Multipurpose Balm in my hands and applied it to the dry patches. There was a noticeable difference to the appearance of my skin after using the Lanolips 101 Ointment Multipurpose Balm. It looked quite glossy and shiny on my face as the Vaseline did at first but the Lanolips 101 Ointment Multipurpose Balm dried quickly into the skin. The Lanolips 101 Ointment Multipurpose Balm is one of those miracle products that can be used for burns, skin irritation or dry and chapped lips. It reminded me a bit of Anatomicals almond lip gloss as it has the same consistency. The Lanolips 101 Ointment Multipurpose Balm really worked on my dry patches and even better, you can't even tell that my skin is so dry underneath it. In future I won't be making this mistake again but if I do I will definitely re-use Rodial bee venom moisturiser and Lanolips 101 Ointment Multipurpose Balm as they were my saviour products this week.

Do you have any embarrassing beauty confessions? If so feel free to leave them in the comments below or even let me know what you think of this review xx