Glossybox August 2016

Reminder: this box is £10 a month + £3.25 P+P.

First impressions:

I was one of many, many people who did not get the palette that they chose. I've been incredibly lucky to get the one I ended up with, considering the other options were pastel blues/pinks or bright glitters, but I was still really disappointed to see that it was a cool toned palette and not the warm toned one that I'd chosen. This was apparently due to a packing error and Glossybox have emailed those that were affected to tell them that they will be getting the palette that they chose in their September box by way of apology. So, I've got that to look forward to. In the meantime, I have the Hall of Fame palette - branded as "Boldly Bardot" in the choices list - to review instead. 

The pochette I assume counts for one of the items in this bag as there are only four others, which is a bit disappointing. The Birchbag was at least a separate thing. I think it's weird how these boxes both seem to be sending me similar things whenever possible. Both sent bags this month, and both sent lip/cheek tints at the same time before. It can't be a coincidence. Still, the other four products in this box are nice to receive, even if the palette is not the one I wanted. I'm happy that there's finally some form of eyeshadow in one of these boxes, even if it's not the singles I was gunning for, and even happier that there's a face mask sample: I LOVE clay masks, and use them almost religiously to keep my skin as clear as I possibly can, so it was great to get one of those. A body lotion is a new thing too, and since I don't remember the last time I saw my Bodyshop face brush (I think I might have lost it when I moved, as I've looked everywhere. They don't seem to do them anymore unfortunately), I was really glad to get the Spa to You brush. All in all, another good mix of products. I know Spa to You and MUA from previous Glossyboxes but I haven't heard of Mudmasky or Cowshed before (or Rae Feather, I suppose), so there's a lot of new in here again. 

Here's what I got this month! 

1) Rae Feather Mini Monogram Pochette - RRP £20

3/5
Okay then, Glossybox. Who on earth would pay £20 for this? It's a little annoying that it's been included as one of our five products this month, but it definitely isn't worth £20! There's no way that I'd pay that much for it just because of the Rae Feather thing. I'm not like that about designer products. If I like a product, then I like it. Who designed it has nothing to do with that. I'm not going to like something just because it says it's designer and the designers that I generally like don't always make things that I like. Maybe there's something out there by Rae Feather that I'd love enough to warrant the price, but this bag isn't going to be it. I don't understand the fascination. Think of all the amazing products that you can buy for that amount of money. I'd rather get a liquid lipstick and some change than this. Having said all that... I still like it better than the Birchbag. It's just more practical. The Birchbag's shape makes it pretty inconvenient to use, the material means it's usually filthy, and it's small to boot. This doesn't have those issues. It has a nice wipe-clean lining and it's a really good size. The MUA palette fits inside easily and there's plenty of leftover space. You could easily fit your day's face in here. For keeping Glossybox makeup goodies together, it's fantastic, but the boxes do that just fine too. This is obviously more suited to travelling than the big bulky boxes are, but I have a million makeup bags already. So I don't really know how I feel about this. I don't agree that it's worth £20 or even close, and I don't like that I got this in the box instead of something else that I would get more use out of, especially since I didn't get a hair product this month. But it's not a bad makeup bag. It does the job and it does it much better than the Birchbag does. I just don't think it was really necessary. I don't even think that it's available now that the box has been and gone, so I don't know why they've put a price on something that nobody can buy anymore anyway.

2) MUA Eyeshadow Palette in Hall of Fame - RRP £4

4/5 
This is going to be a really long review I think! It bugs me when shadow names are on the underside of the palette because I find myself constantly turning the palette over to see what I'm using, so for reference, top row L-R: Rose Ash, Bare, Lion, Reveal, Tectonite and Hydra. Bottom row L-R: Shy, Catacomb, Chino, Hustle, Cool Grey and Titan. There's no mirror but I find it really awkward using palette mirrors anyway (must be an eyesight thing) and I always use a different one, so I didn't care about that. I actually really like the little window because I can look at the shadows and see whether I feel like using that palette today without having to bother opening it. The double ended sponge in the palette is a bit unfortunate - I'm not against sponges, but having a double ended one seems like a waste of space. A fluffy brush for blending on one end and a sponge for packing on colour on the other end would be so much better. 

Like I said, of the four palettes available to get in this box, if I'm going to get one that isn't what I chose then I got lucky considering the other palettes on offer. I opted to try the mattes in this first, before I even did swatches on my arm, and I was really disappointed with them. They did hold up for a good few hours before creasing, I think, but they were barely visible on my lids until that happened. You can see which ones they are on the swatches quite clearly: they barely have any pigment and are chalky/chunky (2 "Bare" and 9 "Chino"). The swatches were done with one finger swipe in the pan and one finger swipe on my arm.

I like that there's two different ones so you can mix and match to make your own crease shade, skintone-wise, but I couldn't get either colour to show up on my eyelids. I wish MUA had put a bit more effort into them. If you've only got two matte shadows in your palette, make sure they're useful. Since I decided to completely ignore those shades, I've gotten along with the palette much better. There's a lot in here to like, especially considering the price. I was going through my palettes, realising that I didn't have any affordable palettes to compare it to, when I realised that there were plenty of similarities with my high-end palettes, so I decided to do some comparison swatches.

Hopefully the picture is fairly self-explanatory (click to see a larger version). Some are pretty close, some are a bit different, some are exact. I didn't get a comparison for all of them, but these were the MUA shadows that I was most impressed with. Let me know if you want me to dig around for comparisons for the rest of the shadows in the palette. Here's what I got though, and it really didn't take very long to match them up either.

1 - UD's Dust (from Naked 3 palette) VS MUA's Rose Ash: Dust is more pigmented and perhaps a little more shimmery, but they're very similar otherwise. 

2 - UD's Half Baked (Naked 1 and 2, but I swatched it from Naked 1) VS MUA's Lion: these look different in the photo but they looked exact on my arm, so I'd say these are matches. Half Baked is maybe a bit brighter and more pigmented, but not by much. I couldn't tell the difference when they were on my eyes.

3 - UD's Gunmetal (Naked 1) VS MUA's Cool Grey: this is the only really noticeable difference in the comparisons. Gunmetal was darker. Same sparkle though, and I assume it's meant to be used in the same way. Cool Grey can always be darkened with a bit of Titan. 

4 - UD's Creep (Naked 1) VS MUA's Titan: these are pretty exact, right down to the subtle sparkles. Pigmentation was very similar but Creep was a little smoother. 

5 - UD's Hustle (Naked 1) VS MUA's Hustle: these are exact matches, even down to their name. On my arm I couldn't tell the difference, in the photo I can't tell the difference either. If I'd done this one first it might have confused me over which side was which. 

6 - UD's Sin (Naked 1) VS MUA's Catacomb: Sin is slightly more pink than Catacomb and a bit more pigmented, but these two are very close. I did a comparison later with High from the UD Smoky palette and that one is exact: High was just a bit more shimmery than Catacomb was. I wasn't paying much attention to the Smoky palette when I was looking for comparisons for some reason!

Unfortunately, MUA don't seem to sell any of the shadows from this palette as singles, but since the whole palette is only £4, it hardly matters. The mattes aren't great, but the shimmers are so good that they almost make up for it. As long as you have another shadow to use as a transition shade, the mattes being bad in this palette won't matter. The hits in this palette are fantastic shadows and I'm having a lot of fun playing with them. The fact that they stood up so well to Urban Decay, when those shadow palettes are £38.50, is pretty amazing. I didn't test the shadows with a primer as I still haven't found one that isn't a creased mess way before eyeshadow normally would be without, but the MUA shadows didn't last on me as long as the Urban Decay shadows do. I used Lion and Half Baked against each other and the eye with Half Baked looked good for much longer. Still, the MUA shadows I've tried have all lasted a good five hours or so and there are plenty of times when that's all I need. I was actually really impressed with that five hours, too: they survived oily skin in a heatwave and even when they started to crease they still looked really vibrant. For someone without oily skin, it's probably fine. It's actually opened my eyes up a bit to more affordable brand eyeshadows. I haven't tried any for over a decade now because they just didn't work that well on my skin, and I would rather spend the extra money and get high end shadows that lasted instead. I have 12 high end palettes now and a small selection of single shades and I use them all the time, but it never occurred to me to try a more affordable brand since back when I tried them before, they were really disappointing. Things have clearly changed! I can't give it full marks because those mattes just aren't really there, but I fell in love with this palette, I fell in love with the price and now I'm really excited about getting the palette that I chose in September!

3) Mudmasky Facial Detox Purifying Recovery Mask 20ml/0.7fl. oz - full size RRP £53 (the Mudmasky website says it's £59 though, so not sure where Glossybox got £53 from)

4/5
The packaging for this includes a time for how long to leave the mask on depending on your skin type, which I thought was really helpful. I've never seen that before on a face mask and I think it's really good that they recognise that people with different skin types will be using this product. At first, once the mask was applied there was the usual itch/sting (usual for clay masks in my experience, anyway) but it wasn't long before that was replaced with something new: pulsing. I was very, very aware of every millimetre of skin on my face under this mask. It's a very weird feeling. It didn't hurt, but it felt like it was tightening and actually changing my skin. This sensation outlived any unpleasant itching and it was definitely more comfortable than some other clay masks that I've tried. The recommended time for oily skin was 11 minutes, and after this time the mask was mostly dry. There were a few dark patches still, but they contained the weird flotsam and jetsam that the formula has in it. It's not a smooth mask, it has little leafy bits in it. They reminded me of pieces of seaweed, which I hate touching, so applying this mask was a bit disgusting. I think they're actually the camellia sinensis leaves that are listed in the ingredients description, but they don't feel particularly nice either way. Also listed in the description was parfum. I have no idea why a mask that is expensive as this one is (I think I dumped £5-10's worth on my face) contains perfume. It's not tested on animals, is paraben free and contains natural ingredients, and then there's that parfum. I'm sure it serves a purpose, I just don't understand what that purpose is. Maybe the natural ingredients smell too disgusting for people to tolerate them on their face for 11 minutes without something to mask it. Who knows. 

This is quite messy to remove. The leaves in the formula will stick to your face and get tangled in any hair they come into contact with and they make the removal so much harder than it otherwise would be, so I hope they do a world of good for the skin to make up for it. It specifies to remove with cold water, which I don't recall seeing in instructions before. Usually it's warm water so I have to remove it in the shower, but this mask likes the cold apparently. I'm glad I used it before a shower anyway though, because even after removing it and drying my face, I still had pieces of leaf stuck to my skin. Sort of worth it, however: my skin is definitely feeling and looking tighter. It feels the cleanest it's felt for a long time and it is noticeably clearer. I was also able to tell a difference with oil production. As I mentioned in a previous review, this could just be a by-product of hot water on my skin, but usually after removing masks like this my skin gets oily again rather quickly, whereas with this one it didn't do that. I was impressed with the initial use and then impressed again when I tried it again. It's definitely better than the clay mask I was using before, but it's also ten times the price. The second time, I used a lot less product, so maybe it could be stretched out to last longer - it does say to use a thin layer - but it also involves washing clay down the sink, and I'm not sure of the longterm effect that that would have on the plumbing here. I have a tub of Indian healing clay and some organic apple cider vinegar to use for a face mask on the way, and I know that you can dampen that once it has dried and then peel it off rather than washing it down the sink each time. I'm definitely going to keep this one in mind, though. It did make my skin feel and look really, really nice after I'd used it. It was put in our boxes this month to mark the launch of the product in the UK, so I'm hoping that it'll be a lot easier to get hold of than some of the other things I've had in these boxes when this sample runs out. When questioned about the high price, the brand replied that you will end up saving money because you won't need to buy as much make up. I don't know about that for me - I don't wear that much makeup on my face at the moment anyway, but that's a pretty huge claim for a company to make. Still, it was very nice. I'll definitely be keeping this on my radar for a luxury skin treat in the future. 

4) Spa to You Deep Pore Cleansing Brush - RRP 6.99

4/5 

As I said, my trusty Bodyshop face brush has disappeared off the edge of the planet and isn't sold anymore. I was actually eyeing up the Soap and Glory brush to replace it with, but then this came along. I love the handle. It's very easy to hold and maneuver and it also feels strong and very well made. I don't see myself snapping this anytime soon. It comes with a plastic case to protect the bristles for travelling or when it isn't in use, which is fantastic. It's easy to clip on, easy to remove, and does the job perfectly. The silicone bristles give a really nice massage for improved circulation, too. The only complaint I'd have is that I don't think the bristles are quite as soft as they make them out to be. It can be quite harsh on the face. I have to use this much more gently than I had to with the Bodyshop brush as it can be a bit much for my skin in places. But it's still a great face brush and I use it all the time. After this and the konjac sponge, this brand is definitely on my watch list now.

5) Cowshed Wild Cow Invigorating Body Lotion 30ml/1fl. oz - full size RRP £20

5/5
This was a lot thicker than I was expecting it to be! Since it says it's a lotion I was expecting a much thinner consistency than this. I think I might struggle to get all of this sample out and used. The full size is 300ml and packaged in just a larger version of this, so I'm not sure how that's going to work. I had to shake it to get product out for my first use. That said, I really, really liked this. Even though it was thick, a little went a long way. It smells amazing, but not too overpowering or choking. It isn't greasy on the skin, it sinks in really well and the absolute best part was that I didn't need to wash my hands after applying it before I could do anything else. It's not necessary to do that with this. I don't think I've ever had a body lotion be like that before - I always have to wash my hands after I've used something like this, either because of the smell on my hands or the sliminess. All this did was moisturise my hands as well. So it might be a bit difficult to get product out when it's been used quite a bit, but I'm certainly going to try anyway.

Overall Impression:

This was a really good box this month. Even with the makeup bag, I still got my money's worth from this. I know that they made a pretty huge mistake with the eyeshadow palette choices but the correction was made very quickly. They responded to my email quickly and sent out a mass email with the resolution almost as soon as the problem came to light. I was really impressed at how fast they handled that. There was none of this "3-5 business days for a response" crap. I will still be getting the palette I chose and in the meantime I have another palette now that's really nice. I would never, ever have chosen this palette with these colours but it ended up being very similar to things I already have and love. I've used it so much since I got it. Win/win.

I use the face brush pretty much every day, I use the lotion when my skin is feeling extra dry (now that the seasons are changing, I'm going to actually have to bother moisturising my skin sometimes unless I want to shed it all like a snake) and I've almost used the mask up. This is another box from Glossybox where a lot of the products have made it into my routine. It's a little different this month since two of them were sample sizes - I don't remember having more than one sample size in a previous box - but they were still decent sizes and I got a good idea of what the products were like from them. With the exception of the makeup bag (I'm just trying to pretend that the makeup bags from Birchbox and Glossybox this month didn't happen), these are all products that I would buy in future and continue to use, so that's great. Glossybox are definitely improving since my first few boxes. I would still much rather have had a haircare product in place of the Thing That Shall Not Be Named, but it does feel like they're working on variety. I got a beauty tool, skincare, body care and makeup and they're all perfectly usable.

Box average: 4/5
Cumulative box average: 4/5

The spoiler for September's box is amazing - Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara! It looks like a sample mascara, not the full size, but I don't care! There's a picture of both the regular and the waterproof and I have no idea what I'm getting. There's been no email sent around so we can choose and even if there was, I honestly wouldn't know what to go for. But I've never tried that mascara and I've wanted to for ages now, but was put off buying it in case I tried it and hated it, so it's great that I'll be getting one to try in my box!

Glossybox July 2016

Reminder: this box is £10 a month + £3.25 P+P.

First impressions:

This month's box is very makeup heavy this time around. With the exception of the face tanning cream and the hairbrush, it's all about the makeup. But it's a summer box, and the makeup is mostly geared towards summer essentials, so that's good. I've only just ordered a Clinique waterproof mascara (sigh. It's the moisturiser all over again!) because I really needed a good waterproof mascara so it's great that there's one in this box too. That's something that I need to have all year round. There's also some very good sized products here. Everything is a full size except the Utan and Tone product and that's still a great size for what it is. The lip product here is seriously huge. For comparison, it's way bigger than some of the samples I get from Birchbox that are intended to be used on the whole face - that Huygens scrub is only 10ml, for instance. I have had plenty of items from both of these boxes that have been smaller than this lip product but intended for use on a much larger area. Definitely pleased with how much you get for your money with that!

I'm not overly thrilled about the inclusion of a hairbrush. A hairbrush is just a hairbrush to me; like the tweezers, I don't really go shopping around for the perfect hairbrush! I have very long hair, I have a giant paddle brush for it and I also have a comb and a few other bits that don't get used very often. If this even works at all, it's still going to go in the "not used very often" pile. I would much prefer it if Glossybox sent hair products for the "hair" portion of the box as that's what I'm more likely to be looking for and therefore keep using. For brands, I've heard of Hairon and Hawaiian Tropic from previous boxes but the rest of the brands here are new to me. 

Here's what I got this month! 

1) Utan and Tone Nourishing Night Crème 25ml - RRP £12.50

5/5
This isn't the full size as far as I can find - the full size is 50ml and retails for £25. I assume the price is just halved because the product is half that size, but I'm guessing it's a large sample as I can't find it for sale like this. As I said at the end of June's post, I was terrified to use this. Ideally I wanted to use it when I had two straight days off but with me working triple my usual hours, that just hasn't happened. I was just going to have to risk it! It feels exactly like a moisturiser to put on. I didn't need a lot - I could probably make this last for a whole summer of tan if I was careful enough with it - and it smoothed over my skin nicely. I put it on my face, neck and décolletage as per the instructions, and was careful to blend it out, particularly around my hairline. It sank in quickly, it wasn't greasy and then I went to bed feeling very nervous. I was expecting to wake up with marked bedsheets, but there was nothing there at all. It really was just like I put a moisturiser on and then went to bed. Best of all though, it definitely works! Far from the orange mess that I was nervously expecting, this looked really natural. It wasn't a huge difference - I don't know if this is because I have a tan anyway - but I had a very subtle and natural looking bronze to my skin. I could tell that it was there, but other people probably wouldn't notice. That's exactly what you want from a product like this. It lasted a few days to a week I think. When I cleansed my face, the cotton pad would come away coloured. Eventually it stopped being coloured. It was a very subtle fade - it didn't just outright wash off - and it stayed looking natural throughout. I would definitely repurchase this and am now really curious about the rest of the range - and this from someone who has never used or liked the idea of tanning products before. It was very easy to apply and really very quick too - I'd have had to go to sleep anyway after all - and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. 

2) Hawaiian Tropic Island Berry Lip Gloss 20ml - RRP £6.99

5/5 
I love this. This is my new favourite thing. I use it every single day. Lip balm, lip gloss and sunscreen all in one and it smells absolutely amazing. I put it on before I leave the house and it comes with me to work for touch ups throughout the day. If I go out, I have this in my bag. Without fail. It's the perfect formula. It isn't too thick or thin, it isn't sticky, it doesn't melt straight into nothing two minutes after applying... this will stay for a surprisingly long time, and will live through quite a few drinks of water while I'm at work. It's not really opaque, so it adds a subtle bit of colour that makes my lips look fuller. It's very moisturising and it doesn't have a chemical taste, it actually tastes exactly how it smells, so that's really nice for something that's so close to the mouth. Way too many of my lip products have a chemical taste to them regardless of what they smell like and it's disgusting if you accidentally taste it, but this isn't like that. I really, really love this. It's so nice to finally get a lip product that I love this much! The MUA one was great too, but I definitely prefer this one for its all-rounder qualities. Perfect for quick and simple makeup days. 

3) Icona Milano Emotion Allowed Mascara 10ml/0.34 fl. oz - RRP £13.04

5/5
This is another new favourite. I am really cursing Glossybox's lack of a shop because in all likelihood, when this is gone, it's gone. I'm assuming from the price that I'd have to import it from somewhere and that's not going to be worth doing for one mascara. It is a really, really nice waterproof mascara though. It's not clumpy, it's very black, and you can hear the brush combing product through your lashes when you use it. It has a very thin formula, so you need to be on your guard when applying it. It can actually leave little splashes of product on your skin if you're not careful. This isn't a huge problem though as I always apply mascara last and this has never ruined my makeup yet. Although it's waterproof I've never had issues with any mistakes being hard to get off my skin. It's easy to remove, too. I've seen so many bad reviews of waterproof mascaras because they're hard to remove and I think those reviewers must be using the wrong remover, because with an oil-based remover for waterproof makeup, this comes straight off. No rubbing or tugging at delicate skin required. I actually bought Clinique's waterproof mascara literally just before this one arrived as I didn't know it would be in the box this month, and I've been reaching for this one over the Clinique one because it's easier to get it looking nice without being too thick on the lashes. It creates a lovely natural eyelash look that isn't going to move if you get caught in the rain or watch a sad film or something. I have showered with this on and it's looked no different afterwards. Definitely love this, just no idea how I'll ever replace it once it's gone. 

4) Hairon De-tangle Brush - RRP £6.99

3/5 

Well. Hm. The shape is apparently meant to be easy to hold as it fits nicely in the palm of the hand. I don't know about you, but I don't have suction pads on the palms of my hands, so I need to grip things with my fingers like a standard human would. I don't understand the shape of this brush at all. It's not easy to hold and I have dropped it a few times. Surely a handle is not asking for the world when it comes to a hairbrush. For what it's intended for, I suppose it does work. I only really get tangles around my hairline if I leave my hair plaited overnight - when I take it out it can be tangled around the top - and at the ends. For the hairline tangles this brush works fairly well and it doesn't tug on the hairs and break them. For the ends of my hair this brush is absolutely useless because of how short the bristles are and how thin my hair isn't. I don't know if the bristles have to be that short in order for the detangling thing to work at all, but they're too short to use on the vast majority of my hair. Separating little bits and brushing them through is the only way that I can use this brush. It's effective, but it's not a quick process. It's also very annoying with the shape of the brush, as I already mentioned. So, as predicted in my first impressions, it works well enough but I still probably won't be reaching for it very often. 

5) Blank Canvas F20 Flat Brush - RRP £11.95

3/5
I really wanted to like this more because it looked so nice. I couldn't decide between a 2 and a 3 just because I've only tried it for liquid foundation and it might be really good for powder or something. For liquid foundation, it was okay. It wasn't great. I did one half of my face with this brush and the other half with the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush and the RT side was definitely better. The Blank Canvas brush required more product and didn't seem to blend as well as the RT brush. It's not as densely packed, and it didn't smooth over my pores in the same way and it looked a bit streaky in places. I got good coverage with it, for that it was no different, but I just liked the look of the RT side better. The kicker is that the RT brush is cheaper as well. I washed the BC brush before taking the photo but as you can see, it's still stained from the foundation I tested it with. The bristles are originally white at the end. I'm not too bothered about this, as I tested it with a foundation that I don't really like (I don't like to waste my nice foundation on brush tests) and I know that that foundation stains pretty much everything, but a few bristles fell out when I washed it and you can see on the enlarged photo that there are some that are sticking out a bit. They aren't loose, I've tried to remove them and they won't budge, so I don't know what's up with that. I know losing a few loose bristles on the first wash is pretty normal, but some fell out while I was applying the foundation as well and I didn't have that issue with the RT brush. This is basically a foundation brush for me to use when I don't have time to wash the RT one. I highly doubt I'd ever reach for it otherwise.

Overall Impression:

Neither of the "beauty tool" products wowed me this month, but I absolutely love the rest of the box. I use the mascara and the lip gloss almost every day and they both look fantastic. Definitely summer beauty staples, and I'll probably love them both in winter too. Very pleasantly surprised by how much I liked the Utan and Tone product as well. It would be perfect to use before a special occasion or something. I was expecting it to be a total disaster, but it's something I'm actually really likely to use. Even though I didn't like the foundation brush or the hairbrush, I really like all the other products in this box. Once again I've got my money's worth even with things in the box that I wasn't a huge fan of. But those things are still usable. The quality of the products has definitely improved from the dud products in the first few boxes. Glossybox haven't sent me a useless product for the last two months now. Look at the box average creeping up.

I still think that Glossybox is more of a makeup box than the Birchbox is. I'd really like it if Glossybox had a better range. They're definitely good at sending quality makeup products, but it'd be nice if the rest caught up a bit too and there was more of a selection. They sent out a survey about products that subscribers would like to see (I think in July, but maybe the very beginning of August) and it was about hair products, brow products (yes please!) and something else, I can't quite remember. Might have been perfume. But it's good that they're trying to work on their range and asking subscribers for things that they'd like to be getting in their boxes. I'm not sure how often these surveys come around - I got one from Birchbox at the same time - but I think it's great that they're actively listening to what people like, what people don't like and what people want from their boxes.

Box average: 4.2/5
Cumulative box average: 4/5

The spoiler for next month is an eyeshadow palette by MUA! Finally some eyeshadows! We've been able to choose which one we got from a choice of 4 different ones and the ones that we could choose from really would cater to everyone: warm neutrals, cool neutrals, pastels and brights. I obviously chose the warm neutrals one. I know I have a lot of palettes already but this will be my first time trying an affordable brand for this. I've used drugstore brand eyeshadows before but a really long time ago, and never a palette. Excited to try it! 

Glossybox June 2016

Reminder: this box is £10 a month + £3.25 P+P.

First impressions:

Glossybox has taken a leaf out of Birchbox: this box has a good skincare and makeup mix. It makes me wonder why they do the starter boxes that way if they aren't an indicator of what the proper boxes will be like. Not complaining though, as I much prefer this format. I'd like more in the way of hair products, as this box doesn't have anything for hair and the hair ties last month don't count as a hair product (to me anyway), but it's better than the starter box was. I'm hoping that it isn't a one-off.

Two sunscreens in a row! Hopefully this one is nicer than the one from the last box. It's good that there's some aftersun as well, as that's something I can get through very quickly so it's always nice to have another one. The spoiler for this box was the lip and cheek tint but the real star for me is that Konjac sponge. I have wanted one for ages and they're not sold anywhere around here, so I am really glad I got that to try. It was a total surprise as well, since I never saw anything about it anywhere beforehand. The eye cream is tiny but then it's just an eye cream, so I assume that it's still going to last for ages and be a good size for what it is. I've heard of Origins before but never used any of their products and the other brands are all new to me. I'm assuming that everything is full size except for the Origins eye cream.

Here's what I got this month! 

1) Spa to You Konjac Sponge - RRP £6.99

5/5
I was so excited to get a Konjac sponge that the rest of the products in the box seemed less interesting in comparison. I've wanted one for ages, but getting hold of one doesn't seem very easy. I was so excited to give this a try and it didn't let me down. It felt a bit weird when I got it out of the packaging as it was actually wet already, which I wasn't expecting. I'm not sure if that's to preserve it (it being made of vegetable fibres and all that: it does eventually break down) or not. I tried it with the Absolution cleanser from the Birchbox and it worked really well. It's a little exfoliating but it's not scratchy. It didn't hurt my skin or irritate it and afterwards my skin was like silk. I've used it with a variety of cleansers since, and without a cleanser at all as it can be used like that too, and it's been amazing every time. My skin feels so clean and smooth after using this that when it does break down and stop being usable, I will be able to tell the difference to my skin without it. That's the problem with Glossybox: they don't have their own shop, so I'm not sure how easy this is going to be to replace when it goes, but I can't not replace it now that I've had one. 

2) Origins GinZing Refreshing Eye Cream 5ml/0.17 fl. oz - full size RRP £20

4/5 
I was really curious about this as I've heard so many amazing things about Origin products but never had the chance to actually use one. Out of the tube, it looks like a lot like a liquid highlighter. There's a pinkish shimmer to it. On the eyes, this helps to brighten the skin. This cream is moisturising without being greasy. It didn't irritate my eyes, either by stinging the skin or making them water. I use an eye cream by Soap and Glory and I can't put that near my actual eyes as it makes my eyes feel like I have conjunctivitis and they water constantly. It's strictly for the skin under my eyes only, so it's nice that this one doesn't do that. It definitely made me more bright-eyed. Whether it reduces dark circles or not I don't know, mine aren't all that dark and I don't remember noticing a real difference, but there's zero puffiness and they're definitely brighter. Since it didn't bother my eyes, I would be really tempted to switch over to this once my Soap and Glory one has gone. 

3) De Bruyère After Sun Lotion Monoï 50ml/1.76 fl. oz - RRP £9.48

5/5
This. Smells. Amazing. It might not seem like you get a lot, but you only need a little. It's quite a thin, milky formula so a little goes much further than you'd think. It soaks into the skin well and is soothing and moisturising - just what you need after you've spent time in the sun. I don't generally burn anyway, but it's nice to soothe my skin with something when I get home as it can still be dried out from the sun and it can't hurt to moisturise just in case. I couldn't fault this product. I don't even care that it has perfume in it because it's such a lovely scent and it hasn't bothered my skin. I love that it isn't a thick goopy formula too, since it means that I'm not rubbing excessively on skin that may be extra delicate to try and work the product in. This glides over skin effortlessly. I'm not going to have leftover gunk stuck to my clothes and it isn't going to clog all around the opening (not yet, at least) of the tube. It's the perfect skin treat at the end of a day out.

4) Ladival Sun Protection Spray SPF 15 150ml - RRP £19.99

4/5
The second sunscreen in as many boxes and this is more like it! This is a much thicker formula than I thought it would be since it has a pump. It almost looks too thick for the pump to be particularly effective, but it seems to work fine. I haven't had it clog up on me yet anyway. The product itself is white but it does soak into the skin nicely (it didn't leave that white glazed donut look to my skin like some other white sunscreens can), it's not greasy and best of all, it doesn't have a really strong scent to it like the Hawaiian Tropic one does. It doesn't actually smell of anything at all. I don't want my sunscreen to smell really strongly, I want it to be functional. That's way more important. The only thing that bothered me about this is that it's only SPF15, which doesn't seem like a lot. I have other sunscreens around that and I would have liked something with a higher SPF just because I don't have one and on burning hot days, SPF15 just doesn't seem like it would be enough. Still, it's a nice sunscreen for general use and it didn't irritate my skin or attract any wildlife. The pump means that it's fast and easy to apply with minimal mess.

5) Emité Make Up Lip & Cheek Tint 6ml - RRP £12.50

4/5
This has become a staple in my routine when I'm getting ready for work. I use it on my lips, applying it with the wand like it's a lip gloss and then using the wand to blend for an even coverage. I can apply it more heavily if I wish by letting a layer dry and then reapplying, or I can leave it as one layer for a more subtle bit of colour. It will stay there on my lips all day. I can drink water and eat my lunch and it will still be there afterwards with no need for touchups. It generally comes off with my cleanser at the end of the day, but not before. The colour is really nice and suits my skintone really well. The only issue I have with it is the staining power. I said with the Jelly Pong Pong one from Birchbox that if that had a stronger stain it may not work so well on the cheeks, and I got that from this. This doesn't work on the cheeks for me. I can't blend it over my lips by dabbing with my finger as my finger will be bright pink all day, so I have to use the wand for that. If I use the wand to dot it on my cheeks and then try to blend with my finger, I get a bright pink finger and a darker dot of colour where the initial application from the wand was. I can't think of a way for me to apply this on my cheeks with the tools that I have: I'm not willing to sacrifice one of my two makeup sponges to see if it would work with that as I assume it would stain the sponge really badly, and while I could put the product on my finger first and try and apply it that way, I really don't like having bright pink fingers all day. Using cleanser on my fingers afterwards only cleans them so far. It seems that it needs the wear and tear of the day before it will come off. But for the lips this is an amazing stain. I haven't had any problems with mistakes as long as I correct them quickly. The formula is quite thin but not drippy, it dries fast and it definitely stays there.

6) Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Reconstructor Deep Conditioner 20ml - RRP £1.09

5/5
I forgot to get a photo of this before I ripped it open and smothered my hair in it. It's a sachet and there's enough for my hair to be mostly covered, which is quite rare. For people with shorter hair I imagine you'd get two uses out of this. It smells nice, it feels nice to use and it made my hair super soft and shiny. The effect has also lasted, which tells me that it actually did something. I've washed my hair several times since I used this and I can still feel the benefits. Definitely worth a go every now and then if you have dry or damaged hair.

Overall Impression:

I really liked the box for this month! It's definitely been the best one so far. Quite a few of the products could easily be daily use items for me if only they were readily available: I will forever lament the lack of a shop for Glossybox goodies. I love the konjac sponge and will be a little bit lost without it, and I use the lip tint most days for work because it will last for my entire shift. Glossybox seem to send better quality and much more usable makeup items than Birchbox do. They certainly have so far anyway. 

I don't really understand why they've sent another sunscreen though. It kinda seems like the one from last month's box is a waste of a product "slot" since this sunscreen is so much more wearable without the overwhelming stink of Hawaiian Tropic, and if I have to choose which one to use I'll use this one first every time. I'm glad I got the sunscreen for this month, don't get me wrong, but it does seem a bit odd that I have another sunscreen already. I know that it's summer and all that, but still. I wonder if this means I'll be wading through handcream once the winter boxes come around. Still, it's nice to get a Glossybox at last that doesn't have a dud product in it. They've broken that spell, hopefully it will stay that way. 

Box average: 4.5/5
Cumulative box average: 3.9/5

The sneak peek of next month's box is terrifying! They're sending a Utan and Tone facial overnight tanning cream. I'm scared of it already! I don't use tanning anything - I usually don't need to - so I'm already worried that this is going to either do absolutely nothing or make me very orange. And it's a tanning cream so I'm guessing it doesn't all wash off. What if it looks awful and takes a week to go away? Aaaaaargh! But, as I keep saying, trying new things is one of the reasons why I signed up for these boxes, so... 

Glossybox May 2016

Reminder: this box is £10 a month + £3.25 P+P.

First Impressions:

The box is the same size as the starter box but it has a different design: there were four in circulation I believe and I got the New York box design. Pen and ink style cityscape. I do like this design, but I prefer the usual pink. I suppose if you've been subscribed for longer than I have, it's nice to have a change. Again, it does seem a little bigger than is necessary, but maybe there are some months where the products are larger and I suppose this size means they aren't automatically restricted with what they can include. The addition of the Proper Corn filled the box that much more, for instance.

Inside, the box has more of a makeup lean to it than Birchbox seems to. I like that the two boxes are different though, or there's not much point in having both, and it's still a good range of products. It has a very summer holiday theme which is great right now. Two skincare products, two makeup products and a hair product certainly makes for a more balanced box than the starter kit. As far as brands go, I've only heard of Revlon and Proper Corn. I've never tried the latter, and for Revlon I think I have one emerald green nail varnish or something like that. I've never tried anything else from that brand. I know that the Revlon mascara was a choice, but it was only a choice if you were subscribed before the first few days of April I think. Because I subscribed in the middle of April, I didn't get to choose which one I got. I was happy to get a lengthening mascara as I trust that they aren't going to clump all over my face. I was a little disappointed to get another moisturiser though. I know that Glossybox can't help that I got one in my Birchbox as well, but I got a moisturiser from Glossybox last time and I still want to build a shrine to it. It made it take longer to do these reviews because I couldn't use the one in this box at the same time as the one in the Birchbox and I was a little sad that I had to hold off on the Être Belle for the time being. I'm not sure if that's more of a mark against this box or praise for the last one though! I'm going to guess that the mascara, lip product and hair ties are full size, and that the sunscreen and moisturiser are travel sizes. The card this month doesn't actually say which is which, it just gives the full size price, which was a little annoying.

Here's what I got this month!

1) Hairon Zero Crease Hair Tie pack of 3 - full size RRP £3.99

4/5
I wasn't remotely fussed about these when I saw them in the box. They're a fun colour but I don't really put my hair up. It's too long and too heavy to do things that would call for something like this. I tried them after letting my hair dry naturally while leaving it loose. It was still a bit damp from being washed and after a while it did have a barely there kink in it when I took the hair tie out, but since my hair wasn't fully dry I will give them the benefit of the doubt on that score. It felt weird because of the design and I have no idea what it looks like while it's in my hair. The design and the material used for these ties are great for a major pet peeve of mine when it comes to hair ties though. You know when you put your hair in a ponytail and over time the hair tie just slides off your hair and the ponytail gets loose? These don't do that. It stayed put. I was pretty impressed with that, considering how much hair it was having to hold together. I did put the ponytail at the base of my neck and not higher up because I didn't want to die of a headache, but usually even like this hair ties still get loose and these didn't at all. When I took the tie out of my hair I was disappointed at how stretched out it was. The one I'd used was double the size of the other two and barely fit back in the little box they come in (which is super cute). But as you can see from the photo, it does shrink back to size: the one I used is at the top of the triangle. I have no idea if that's something that will change with time and use or not. At the moment though, if for whatever reason my hair isn't already braided out of my way and I want to tie it back, these are great. 

2) Absolute New York Velvet Lippie in Rumba 6g/0.2 fl. oz - full size RRP £4.93

0/5
Where do I even start with this. I really, really wanted to like it. It smells exactly like the Nyx Soft Matte Lip Cream. I have that in the shade London and I really like it, so I expected to like this as it's basically the same thing. The tube colour looks a bit out of my usual zone, but it's still nice and after the MUA gloss from the starter kit box, I had high hopes. But inside, it's just orange, not coral. The picture doesn't really do the orange justice. It doesn't suit me at all and it makes my teeth look very yellow (they aren't). Normally I could forgive this. I'd hate the colour, but I'd be curious about the other available colours and go hunting to see if there was another that I liked. But the formula is horrible too. It feels the same as the Nyx one in that it's more of a mousse but unlike the Nyx one, this looks awful. It manages to be streaky and patchy at the same time. It just looked worse the drier it got and it dried my lips out too. No matter how many layers I tried to get the colour looking even, it wouldn't cooperate. It settled into every line on my lips and made them look instantly really dry and about 50 years older even though they were really hydrated before I put this on. I put up with it for about ten minutes before I removed it. Then I thought it couldn't be that bad, and really since I was going to review it I should give it another try. The second time, I had it on for around fifteen minutes before I couldn't stand it anymore. There's nothing I could ever do to make it look good, so I can't say how long it would last. There's no way I'm wearing it long enough to find out. I've heard some bad things about some of the Nyx shades and that the formula isn't the same for every shade, so maybe this product suffers from the same issues and other colours are nicer, but I'm not really inclined to spend any money on finding that out after trying this one. It's unusable.

3) Hawaiian Tropic Protective Dry Oil SPF 15 100ml - full size RRP £13.99

3/5
I was worried about using this when I saw the word "oil" and saw the cap because I just assumed it would spill everywhere and be super messy, but it's actually more of a gel that turns to oil when you rub it into your skin, which I really liked. I don't generally get burnt from the sun. It takes a whole day on the beach with little to no sunscreen for my skin to care about the injustice that's being done to it, so I'm not sure how well this works to guard against actual sunburn. I wore it when I walked to work and walked around the shops and to and from the supermarket and yes it was warm and sunny, but I wouldn't ordinarily get burnt from doing that. It's nice to know that there's some protection there, though, and I was impressed with the application. The only reason this isn't a full five stars is because of the scent. It's not a bad scent in small doses, but it's a bit overpowering for something that's designed to be all over your skin. I only applied it to the tops of my shoulders because that's where I get burnt if it happens at all, and the scent completely covered the perfume on my neck. I didn't even use a lot of this, but I could smell it the entire way to work and for quite a while after I arrived. It would really benefit from having the strong scent removed (yes it contains parfum in case that's not obvious) as I don't think it's particularly necessary. Scented skin is what perfume is for! Something to neutralise a chemical smell I could understand, but this is clearly way beyond that. My usual sunscreen is an invisible waterproof spray by Soltan and that is fantastic. It's also not got a strong smell, so I'm not sure that I'd use this over that. But I do really like the formula of this. I'd never heard of the brand before - my Soltan spray works well enough that I don't go browsing for anything else - but this is actually available locally, and in little travel sizes as well. I think that's perfect, as my spray is huge and if you were going away for a week, perhaps a little unnecessary unless you have a whole family to use it on. I'm not even sure if my spray is still sold. But even if it isn't and I run out of the spray, I don't think I'd be turning to this brand with a scent that strong. It's a shame but it really is off-putting.

4) Bee Good Youth Enhancing Plump and Firm Moisturiser 15ml - full size RRP £23.50

4/5
This is sold at this size on the brand's website as a travel size for £9, so this was actually a really good deal for this box (the full size is 50ml, for comparison). It also has the cruelty free bunny on the packaging, which I appreciate and wish companies were more transparent about. It was tough to get a moisturiser in each box and did push these reviews back somewhat, but this is a nice one. It's a really good size, has a fresh citrus-y scent, and it definitely does do what it says it does. Unfortunately, it suffers from the same issue that the Caudalie one does: it's not for oily skin. It does address other things that I ticked boxes for, but it kinda seems like the number one priority is ignored when it comes to these products and that's my skin type. It can do all the plumping in the world but if it's not suitable for my skin type then it's not really all that suitable, is it? It gives the skin a beautiful dewy finish that initially looks great, but for oily skin that really doesn't last very long. I'm really curious now about the serum and eye cream from this brand, just because for plumping and firming the skin this does a really good job. Same as the Caudalie one, it's been a night cream for me and I obviously couldn't use them at the same time, so that was a bit of an issue. But when I wake up after using this, there's a noticeable difference to my skin. It looks fantastic. I'm assuming there's no law on using it at night only, because it's been doing a great job so far and it's definitely got me wondering about the rest of the brand.

5) Revlon Super Length Mascara 8.5ml/0.28 fl. oz - RRP £9.99

4/5
It was a little exciting to be getting a newly released product in a full size like this. As I said at the top, I didn't get to choose which one I got, but I was happy to get a lengthening mascara as it usually means it's going to be more suitable for a "your lashes but better" kind of look. I was really weirded out by this mascara at first. I've never used a mascara with a fibre formula before and it just looks like the brush is falling apart. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about putting it near my eyes! But this mascara really, really works. Perhaps a little too much for me. I naturally have quite long lashes, and this mascara makes my eyelashes travel into eyebrow territory. It's also really hard to wear with my glasses, because my eyelashes touch the lenses. Several times, I've taken my glasses off to clean them and there's been streaks of mascara on them. It's also not the most comfortable feeling in the world when it happens. I wonder if I might have gotten along better with one of the other new releases instead. But if I had shorter eyelashes I would be singing the praises of this mascara. It doesn't add much (if at all) by way of volume, so the effect is quite natural but it also means that it's nice for more than one coat too if you wanted to build it up. The only real downside is that I have had some fibre-related fallout after using this, both after a while of wear (probably scraped off on my glasses, in fairness) and immediately after applying. It's maybe not as big a deal as eyeshadow fallout, which can lead to sparkle and colour in places where neither particularly belongs, but it's still a thing that can happen. It also isn't as black as I'd like it to be. It's more of a natural black, which I suppose does suit the overall natural look of the mascara, but I like black-black mascara better. Maybe I'm just being picky though. It's definitely a "super length" mascara.

6) Proper Corn Lightly Sea Salted Popcorn 10g

5/5
I haven't added a price for this one because there's nothing about it at all on the products card. It was just in my box. But this added bonus was delicious. There's no solo photo of it because it didn't live long enough. It was the size of your average bag of crisps, so a nice amount, but I wish the bag had been bottomless. I've never had salted popcorn before. The idea of savoury popcorn just seemed weird: in my head it's a sweet snack. But this was really nice. Not too salty but still flavoured enough. And sometimes I just feel like eating something savoury. I'd definitely pick this up if I saw it in shops. Yum.


Overall Impression:

I was most excited for the lip product when I first opened this box and that turned out to be a huge disappointment so it let this month down. The rest of the box had to try and make up for it, since I tried the lip product first. However, I'm going to cut the box some slack. With boxes that contain more makeup I think I'm going to find more things that I don't like, unlike skincare and haircare, since those products are rarely completely awful. With those, I feel like even if I didn't completely love it, it's still usable somehow. It's easier to be on the fence about those products. I don't remember trying many skincare or haircare products ever in my lifetime that I absolutely hated and would never use again. But with makeup, it either works and I like it or it doesn't. There's not a whole lot of middle ground for me. I'm either going to use it or I'm not. If Glossybox continues to have more makeup items in it, there's going to be more room potentially for products that I can't stand to be included.

On the other side of that, though, I felt that this lip product was so bad that it was hard to understand how it ended up in the box at all. It's like nobody at Glossybox's HQ tried it before they thought it was a good idea to send it to everyone. I have no idea how products get selected for boxes, but it seems hard to believe that nobody noticed that this one wasn't very good. Ignoring the lip product, the rest of the box wasn't bad. If I don't count it in the box average score, then this box would get a 4, which is much better. It's just a shame that I've had one dud product for both boxes now. Since this month's box has a different design to the rest, if my other boxes stick to the usual pink, then this box will be used as a Glossybox Sin Bin and will just serve as a home to the worst products I get from this subscription. As I said, it's easier for Glossybox to send me something I hate with the kind of products that they're sending, but it's also hard to ignore that I haven't completely hated anything from my Birchbox subscription yet. I'm hoping the dud-per-box trend stops, but I also feel that even with it, both times I've still had my money's worth, so it's hard to take a stance on.

To prove the point about skincare and haircare, the sunscreen isn't amazing when it has that scent, but it's still usable, and I will still in all likelihood use it up eventually. It's much better suited to my bag for use on the go than my current one is, if nothing else. The moisturiser didn't suit my skin type, but it's great at night and I am still using it. I don't wear my hair in anything but a braid very much because of the length, but if I do feel like having it down and then for whatever reason I need to tie it back quickly, the Hairon ties are great. Makeup isn't like that.

The star of the box, if the popcorn doesn't count (although that was a really nice surprise, I wasn't expecting to get anything like that) has got to be the mascara. I've never been a giant fan of Revlon as a brand, but I do find myself still using that mascara almost every day, even with the lashes-on-glasses issue, just because it really opens my eyes up and looks great with any eyeshadow look. That alone is £9.99, so really that's paid for the box. Even with the dud the box has still managed to offer good value for the subscription cost, and I've got to hand it to Glossybox for managing that.

Box average: 3.3
Cumulative box average: 3.6

I actually do know something about the next box and I am really excited to try it - everyone will be getting a lip and cheek tint from Emite in their June box. I only have one lip and cheek tint already and it's a red Bodyshop one that was in a members promotional freebie bag, but it's a sparkly red and I've only used it once or twice. I did like it, though, so that's caused the excitement over this one. I've never heard of Emite - the sneak peek info says they're a Swedish mineral makeup brand and I'm really curious about this product. There was an email sent mentioning this at the end of the month as well as a small section on the products leaflet about it too, which I thought was nice for anyone who got a starter box in May (and therefore maybe not the information on their leaflet) as they'll still get the email letting them know. I only own one blush (yeah I know - new thing for me) so I'm hoping that the colour is nice for cheeks. There's going to be four full size products in June's box, which is also exciting. Now I'll get to play Guess the Sample. I have no idea what the other products are going to be but the lip and cheek tint combined with the guarantee of four full size products seems promising, so fingers crossed!

Birchbox April 2016 and Glossybox Starter Kit

I signed up to two beauty box subscription services in the third week of April after hearing a lot online about American beauty box services and finding this article by the Independent that listed ones available in the UK. I chose Glossybox and Birchbox as I couldn't decide between the two, even after reading a mountain of blogs and watching half of YouTube for more information.

For Birchbox, I did get an April box, which contained a guaranteed Benefit product sample in it. For Glossybox, I had missed the April box and received a starter kit instead. To me, this is my April box, so I wasn't bothered. I don't know if they offered anything special in the April boxes or not. I literally signed up for them on the day I learned of their existence.

Both boxes are £10 a month, with postage pushing Birchbox to £12.95 and Glossybox to £13.25. Each subscription boasts around 5 products to be sent each month (sample, travel size and full size) and upon subscribing, you complete a questionnaire to help your boxes be tailored to your needs (hair colour, hair type, skin type, etc). You can also edit this throughout your subscription, which is useful. Glossybox was sent via Royal Mail, which meant I could fetch it from the sorting office that's practically next door, but Birchbox was sent via Hermes and delivered to a neighbour. I've got no idea where it would end up if my neighbour hadn't taken it in for me. Neither box fits through a letterbox, so this may become an issue at some point, but I hope not.

The Glossybox is much larger than the Birchbox - almost double the size - and was packed with shredded black paper inside to stop everything from rattling around too much. There was also a removeable pink paper lining sealed with a sticker and a black ribbon to protect the box and keep everything together. The Birchbox, on the other hand, was tightly packed inside the box in a drawstring bag, to the point where the box didn't actually close properly with the products inside. As this is my first month for both boxes, I don't know if these are standardised sizes or not. I got full size products from Glossybox, so it would make sense if their box was a standard size as it can accommodate a range of products at full size. I actually really like the size of the Birchbox too though, and I particularly like the drawstring bag as this protects the box from any damage from the products moving around inside (even if it stops the box closing properly) and is reusable for other things. For April, Birchbox teamed up with the Rifle Paper Co. and the box is so beautiful, I'm glad that it's pristine inside so that it can be kept. I'm going to keep the products I got in their respective boxes, so it's nice that they're both suitable to keep and they look nice to display. Subsequent Glossybox deliveries will probably be condensed into one box though; there's plenty of space in the one I have so far for more products to fit inside.

Here's what I got in my boxes!

Birchbox April 2016:

First Impressions

I was so happy to end up with the box design that I chose, even though I was late subscribing. I really like the range of products in this box! I ended up with hair care, skin care and makeup items, which I thought was fantastic. I've only heard of and used one brand in here and that's Benefit, but I've never used a Benefit mascara before, so everything in this box is totally new to me. The accompanying leaflet explaining the products is, therefore, extremely useful. It tells you what each product does, how to use it and how much the full size version costs - except the Nuxe, which I believe is a bonus item. There are four things listed on the page with this, no prices included and very little by way of usage instructions, but I assume it was one of four possible bonus items for this month. The only downside is that it doesn't mention whether a product is full size or not. So for reference, everything is a sample/travel size except the Nuxe, which was full size. (It's fine, I can Google.)


 1) Benefit Cosmetics BADgal Lash Mascara (4g/0.14oz) - full size RRP £17.50

5/5
Benefit is one of my favourite brands, but as I said above I've never tried one of their mascaras. I wore this to work on the day it arrived. It looked just as good when I took it off as it did when I put it on. It didn't smudge all over my face (it was quite warm outside) but it washed off easily. It's a black mascara, not clumpy, and made my lashes thicker and added extra length as well. It's the kind of mascara look that I really like, and this will definitely be well used. Because it's not clumpy I can layer it if I want a more dramatic look. It's not a full size product, but I never seem to finish mascara tubes properly anyway, so I'm not fussed about that. It's a good size, the brush is big and it's perfect for my mini makeup bag.

2) Cynthia Rowley Beauty Eyeliner in Black (0.8g/0.03oz) - full size RRP £11

4/5
I swatched this on the back on my hand straight away and was impressed with it. It is so smooth to apply, it went on like butter. And then it wouldn't budge. I rubbed at it until my hand was red, and it was a bit faded, but not smeared all over my hand. It didn't come off until I put a bit of the Absolution cleanser onto it. It's very creamy and very black. I don't generally like eyeliner - it's difficult to apply on my eyes (I think anyway) - but I do like this. I've only tried it so far for tight lining. It didn't transfer to the waterline and it did stay for far longer than other eyeliners have done (it beat Perversion by Urban Decay, at any rate). When it did come off, it only came off closer to the eyeball, so it still looked like it was there (if that makes sense). It didn't make a huge mess, it didn't look awful, and my eyes were watering a lot because it was very windy outside (as usual). I'm curious to see how it would fare if it wasn't windy, or on the upper or lower lash line. I'm impressed with it so far at any rate.


3) Absolution L'Eau Soir et Matin (30ml) - full size RRP £27

3/5
I already knew this was a good makeup remover because of the eyeliner swatch, so I was expecting to love this when it came to removing the eyeliner from my eyes. I did not. I definitely did not. Aside from the fact that it has a very strong chemical smell, it says on the packaging that it's "organic cleansing and purifying water for eyes and face". It might be for other people's eyes, but it burned mine so badly I had to stumble around with my eyes shut trying to find something to wash it off with. My face looked nice after I'd used it, and I've heard it does wonders for clearing skin up in general (at that price it had better be doing something, to be fair) but if I have to use another one for the eye area then I might as well cut this out and just use the other one that I can put near my eyes. I'll continue to use it on my face, because aside from the horrible smell it did a good job, but it's going nowhere near my eyes and I doubt I'll bother with it beyond this sample.


4) Beaver Professional Hydro Nutritive Repairing Shampoo and Conditioner (40ml/1.35fl.oz shampoo, 10ml conditioner) - full size RRP from £11.50 

4/5
First off, these both smell amazing. This seems like a product influenced by my questionnaire answers, as I tend to have very dry hair, so that was nice. The shampoo is in a little travel sized tube but the conditioner is in a packet. I would really rather the conditioner had also been a tube. It's hard to keep packets nice for another use if you don't use the whole thing in one go. I also didn't get that there was four times the shampoo as conditioner, since I generally work the other way around. I have very long hair and it needs a lot of conditioner. But the directions for this say to use the shampoo mainly on the scalp and mid-lengths and the conditioner on the ends, so I thought I'd give that a try. However, in practice I was right. The shampoo lathers up really well but the conditioner sample just wasn't enough. When I tick the box to say I have long hair, I mean my hair is almost touching the tops of my legs, so I imagine that most samples like this will be too small. I used the conditioner on the ends but the rest of my hair felt dry still, so I had to use more than the directions said was necessary. My hair is soft and shiny now and feels really nice but I had to use a leave-in conditioner on it as well as it wasn't conditioned enough. Not entirely the product's fault that I didn't get along with this as much as other products: the conditioner sample was just way too small for me. I'm sure it's great for people with shorter hair as the ends of my hair felt extra silky afterwards and they're usually super dry. For that it gets a rating upgrade, as my hair needs cutting at the moment and anything that makes it nicer until then doesn't deserve a 3 just because the sample is small.

5) Kueshi Foot Care Cream (40ml/1.3fl.oz) - full size (100ml) RRP £12

4/5
First thing to note about this is the smell. It smells of TCP. Almost as strongly as TCP smells of TCP. I had to go and wash my hands after using it because I couldn't stand it on my hands. It's definitely the kind of foot cream to use before bed, which is what I did. It was nice to apply, not greasy, and in the morning my feet were noticeably softer. I've seen a lot of complaints about getting foot creams while I was looking up previous boxes, but it's coming up to summer and sandal weather and soft feet in time for that is more than welcome. It definitely did work and I will keep using it. It's just a shame that it doesn't smell nicer.



6) Nuxe Masque Crème Fraîche de Beauté (50ml/1.7oz) - RRP £18.50 (Birchbox website)

5/5

I tried this at night on the day the box arrived. I was too curious to leave it much longer than that. It smells really nice - not overpowering but nice and fresh and clean. I really liked the scent. There's not a lot of instructions on how to use this, either how much to use or how often. It's a no-rinse mask, which I've never tried before. You leave it on for 10 minutes and at the end either rub any excess product into the skin or cleanse it off. I started off with a tiny amount and built up from there until I felt like I'd used enough and in the end I didn't need a huge amount so the tube should last a while. It made my skin super oily looking and I was a bit nervous of it, but after 10m it had done its magic, I massaged the excess into my skin and went to bed. When I woke up, my skin looked amazing. I have very oily skin (but still dry and flaky in places. I wouldn't call it combination because it's still oily where it's also dry - it's weird and hard to cater for) and it's usually oily when I wake up, but there was no oil on my skin at all. It felt hydrated and looked great. It actually looked like I'd cleansed already, even though I'd just woken up. I am definitely going to be using this and am already considering repurchasing once it runs out, even though I've only used it once.

Glossybox Starter Kit April 2016:

First Impressions

Less varied than the Birchbox, but I can't compare the two fully as I know I didn't get the Glossybox for April. This is definitely more makeup centred, but I have no idea if they're all like that. The card for Glossybox does say what size each product you actually get is - all of mine say they're full size except the moisturising gel which is a "luxury size" (whatever that means. I googled it and this is the size that's sold, so I assume that it's also full size and have no idea why it isn't called that). It also gives the prices. However, there's precious little information on the card about how to use each product. It's a double sided card as opposed to the Birchbox leaflet, so there's less information. It's not impossible to look up products so this isn't a huge issue, but it is extra hassle. I did really like the contents though. It's mostly makeup but a good range of makeup and definitely colours I would not normally have chosen, but still really like. I'd heard of Nails Inc and MUA before but never had any of their products, so this is all new to me.


1) Être Belle Aloe Vera Moisturising Gel (40ml/1.36fl.oz) - full size RRP £15.93

5/5

This has a lovely fresh scent to it - it is aloe vera after all - and is definitely a gel! I usually use Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Gel (I actually just bought a whole new bottle: I might regret that now) but this is much more gel-like than that. It soaked straight into my skin and didn't leave behind any slick. The scent did linger, so someone who was sensitive to things like that might not like it, but I didn't mind as it was so nice and it did fade eventually. I really love this product and it's another that I'm considering a full size of when I've run out (sorry Clinique). It moisturises my skin without making it greasy and when I used it before my usual makeup, my skin stayed matte for much longer. I barely even needed to powder, my makeup lasted for my entire work shift almost and that literally never happens. I'm not sure if it's the Nuxe or this but since these boxes turned up my skin has improved hugely. All the flaky patches have almost gone and it's less oily as well. Both products are on my wishlist now and I would definitely recommend this to people with really oily skin!


2) Nails Inc Nail Polish in Battersea Park (10ml/0.33fl.oz) - RRP £11

4/5

This is a lovely khaki colour. I would never have chosen this for myself so it's definitely a new thing for me, but I have it on my nails now and I really like it. It's very thick to apply, which I'm not used to, but it still went on very smoothly and had no air bubbles in it. It dried fast and it looks great after just one coat. I would never normally have gotten this: Nails Inc is not sold near me and I'd never get khaki either, but it looks great and I really like it. I didn't use a top coat (my usual top coat is amazing, so I felt it wouldn't be a fair test of the polish) and although some nails could have done with a second coat, I left it after one. I was expecting it to chip off the next day as I use my hands a lot and though it has worn off very slightly on the tip of the nails (it's barely noticeable), it hasn't actually chipped and this could easily be fixed if I'd used a top coat. I'm not sure how often I'll use the colour, but I did like the formula and in a way I'm glad that it isn't something I already have by a million other brands.


3) So Susan Statement Skin Highlighter Pencil in Starlight (1.8g/0.06oz) - RRP £15

5/5
The first obvious thing about this product is the cruelty-free rabbit proudly displayed (and rightly so) on the packaging. It's a beautiful golden highlighter and swatched on my hand very smoothly. I didn't own a highlighter before this turned up so I was excited to try it. It doesn't look very large for a £15 full size product, but after trying it it's pretty obvious that it's going to last a long time. I used it as a cheekbone highlight and inner corner highlight for work and at the end of the day, it was still very much there. It's the perfect shade for my skin tone and it looked really nice. It can be blended for a more subtle highlight or built up if you want something stronger. It's just a shame that I don't have anything to compare it to. I have an Anastasia Beverly Hills order waiting on a decent payday and when I finally get that, I'm getting the glow kits. It never occurred to me to look at highlighters that weren't in powder form. I'm not sure how it'd compare to a powder, but having the stick did make applying it really easy and really fast.



4) MUA Power Pout Glaze Low Voltage Gloss in Enchant (3.2ml) - RRP £3.50
 

5/5

I was horrified when I saw this in the box! It was the first thing to be opened and played with because it's such a bright pink and I never wear any bright lip colours, so I couldn't wait to see what it was like because I was worried I'd hate it. It's the only lip product I've had across the two boxes, so it seemed to matter that I liked it. And I do! It's not opaque, it's quite sheer and subtle with a touch of colour and very nice. So although it is bright pink it doesn't look bright pink. I don't own many glosses, so I was happy to get one. I'm not a giant fan of the packaging as I prefer wands and this is a brush. To get more product onto the brush you twist the silver end, which can result in too much product coming out. It's not awful packaging though, I can live with it, and I will definitely get some use out of this. I also don't think I can beat it for the price. I wore it to work and it felt really nice and lasted for a few hours until I needed a drink of water. It's obviously just a gloss and does need to be reapplied, but it smells lovely and looks really nice. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I didn't hate it.


5) The Vintage Cosmetic Company Floral Slanted Tweezers - RRP £8

1/5

This is a product that I wasn't bothered about when I saw it. It's certainly very pretty, but I have tweezers and I tend to stick to those: tweezers for me aren't the kind of product where you try loads of brands and types. They're just tweezers. However, when I signed up for these boxes I swore I'd try to give everything I got a fair trial. So I did. And I can't stand them. I tried to tidy my brows with them and they didn't remove a single hair, they just cut them and made it harder or impossible for me to rescue with my usual tweezers. I think you'll find, Vintage Cosmetic Company, that that's not the purpose of this whole tweezing exercise. Normally I'd say they look so nice that they'd make a nice stocking filler or something, but there's no point in them looking nice if they don't do the job. My usual tweezers are plain silver and I'd still use those over these any day. It's a shame, because they are pretty, but they just didn't work.



Overall Impression 
My favourites are definitely the Nuxe mask and the Être Belle moisturiser. I don't know if I'll change my mind with continued use or not but at the moment I feel like building a shrine to these two products. Skincare is definitely an area that I need to improve on. Closely on the heels of those are the MUA gloss and the Benefit mascara. With the MUA gloss I really didn't think that I'd like it and I love it. I didn't have the same reservations about Nuxe and Être Belle that I had for this and it's nice to be wrong. But I was expecting to like the Benefit product before I even opened the box and saw what it was (there were four possibilities I think). It felt like a safe bet because I've loved everything I've tried from the brand so far, so I ended up not being as excited for it as the others which was perhaps a little unfair, as I've used it every day since it arrived and loved it.

I'm not too bothered about getting the tweezers since I loved everything else. I still got way more than my money's worth out of that box, so I'm not going to whine about the one thing I got that I didn't like. Four other full size products (that moisturising gel alone, really) more than made up for it. 

Overall I was very happy with both boxes, and I can't wait to see what I get next month/in a couple of weeks (one benefit of subscribing late in the month, I suppose - not long to wait!) - I know there's a Spectrum Collection's Wonder Sponge in Birchbox's May box because they emailed to ask for my colour preference, and I know there's a full size Revlon mascara in the Glossybox because of a sneak peak email (apparently you did get to choose this, but really early into April, so anyone who subscribed in April gets a random one I suppose) but otherwise I have no idea about either box. Because it's my first proper month I also don't know when they'll be arriving. Glossybox start shipping their May box at the end of the first week I think, but I have no idea about Birchbox or when either one will arrive. I may split the reviews after this initial post though to keep the two boxes separate.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to set up camp online to see if I can get a Too Faced Sweet Peach palette when they finally launch online here before they sell out. Fingers crossed!