Archive for 2011

My first ever Glossybox! Like most followers of fashion and beauty blogs I'd come to know the glossybox rather well, reading countless posts from bloggers, both raving and slamming the monthly beauty boxes. Although intrigued by the concept from first having heard about glossybox, I'd held back on subscribing as month after month the contents had failed to leave me jealous from not having received any particular item from a box. Though the HD Brows palette in the September box come very close! However if I was ever gonna part with my well earned cash and start a subscription, December was going to be the month to do it, the Glossy Team were promising a very special box for Christmas!

I have to start by being honest say that when my box arrived, once I'd gotten over the prettiness of the limited edition glossy red box itself (perfect for storage), my first impressions of the contents were a little underwhelming, I knew it was definitely good value for money with the quality and size of the samples received, but nothing immediately jumped out. It was only after closer inspection, and a few days of actually using the products, that I began to appreciate the purpose of Glossybox, the thought put into making the December box cohesive with a 'Christmas Party' theme and begin to appreciate the products themselves.

Cargo Lip Gloss: I thought I'd start with this product as it's the one which, for me, was most 'blah'. I'm not a massive wearer of lipgross but I can appreciate it's a very pretty colour in the tube. Non sticky, which a bonus, the issue I have with this product is that the colour just doesn't show up at all. I'm sure it would like nice layered with a lipstick, if your that type of girl, I just don't usually bother!

Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle Nail Polish: The standard item in everyones box, and the one I'm most excited about! If you've read my older post on Nail Polishes, my follow me on instagram or twitter, you may have noticed that I'm liking glittery nail polishes at the moment. Razzle Dazzle is perfect for Christmas, the perfect berry colour, and I'm in love! Apologies for the appauling application in the pictures, I was in such a rush, but you can get an idea of how it looks applied. It took about 3 light coats to get that finish, and trust me, it's a lot more sparkly in real life. I've had tonnes of compliments on it!

Ritual Foaming Shower Gel: I've used this nearly every day since I received my Glossybox a week ago and it's really great! Mandarin and mint scented, it's quite a Christmassy smell, so has genuinely brightened up my mood in the morning before work! I also never realised, before using this shower gel, just how frustrated I used to get with the lack of foam my regular shower gel would produce! The Rituals shower gel really does make shower time feel that little bit more luxurious!

MeMeMe Seventh Heaven Facebase: First thoughts were what a lovely little sample size with very classy packaging, however I wasn't quite sure what to do with product, moisturiser or primer? As it's winter and my skin has been feeling quite dry, I've aired on the side of caution and used a light moistruriser underneath, but this a really lovely primer, helping lock in moisture and keep my foundation in place. Absolutely stunning smelling, again it's another product where Glossybox has got me feeling very Christmassy everytime I use it. I'm loving the citrusy smell of orange, lime, lemon and manderin!

Blink +Go Long Lasting Mascara: This is only the product in the box that I've not given a go, and not because I don't desperately want to either! I'm try to be restrained and save this one, I've got too many mascara's on the go at the moment and also a couple unopened. Even more so because I've such great reviews on other blogs, I don't want to have this go off after only using it a few times.

So, overall I've benn really please with my first ever Glossybox! I'm definately gonna continue my subscription for the time being, now I've finally tried a subsription box I'm definately interested in trying out a few more. Watch this space!

Have you tried Glossbox? What do you think? Is there a beauty subscription box that you prefer?

This is my first ever monthly favourites post! I get so much inspiration for new products from reading these posts on other peoples blogs, but it's only just occurred to me to share mine!

01. I bought the Tangle Teezer about two weeks ago and have not looked back since! Now that my hair is getting quite long, and with it being in pretty bad condition this little baby has been an absolute life saver throughout November. It really does quickly and gently get out any those pesky knots!

02. The good old classic Carmex has helped my lips with that nasty transition from summer to winter that always usually makes my lips horrendously chapped. I've also been appreciating the menthol smell, it's been quite soothing while I've had a bit of a cold recently!

03. If you read my Weekly Wrap Ups or follow me on instagram, you may have noticed that I've stuck to one nail varnish recently, Models Own Juicy Jules! I love the disco ball effect of this nail varnish and have had it on my nail constantly, either alone or layered with greys, purples and pinks!

04. After wanting to try the well known branded Moroccan Oil but not being able to bring myself to spending an absolute fortune, I quickly snapped up this little bottle of Argan Magic when I spotted it in TK Maxx for around only £12! My hair is pretty dry and damaged at the moment, but after applying this sparingly to the ends of my hair twice a week, it's slowly starting to look healthier and tonnes shinier! The best thing is I can't see this running out for ages. Definitely a good buy!

05. I received a gift voucher from Leeds' beautiful Victoria Quarter for this write up on one of their many fabulous events a while back. After a lot of umming and ahhing I decided to treat myself to the Laura Mercier tinted moisturiser. I'm not a massive foundation wearer, only really on nights out, so after reading rave reviews about this tinted moisturiser I thought it would be the best solution for my oily and breakout prone skin. I bought it in September and wasn't convinced at first, I thought it was greasy and smelt funny! However I turned back to it this month and love it! The oil soon disappears and leaves my skin looking glowing and nicely covered. You soon get used to the strange smell too!

06. When picking up the tinted moisturiser I spotted the Baked Eye Colour in Black Karat, literally winking at me at the counter! It was such a stunning shimmery khaki colour that I couldn't resist buying myself it. It's been absolute favourite 'go-to' eyeshadow throughout November. The colour is so amazing rich when used wet and perfectly suits the metallic trends around at the moment, however my favourite way of using it came about because of my laziness! Running late for a night out I'd just finished contouring my face and just decided to quickly sweep some bronzer over my eyelids and be done with it, this looked a bit pants so I tried to fix it by roughly sweeping Black Karat over the top, it looked so good that I've been wearing the look non stop all month!

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On Monday Rihanna's new album Talk That Talk was released, having all her other other albums I literally bought this as soon as I woke up. Although there are some absolutely amazeballs - We Found Love! I'm actually not getting into the album as whole yet though :( Hopefully it'll be a grower!

The nails I sported for the most of this week! Gosh's Black Passion with Models Own Juicy Jules. Juicy Jules is my fave polish at the moment, it's great layered over anything and on its own! This instagram picture just doesn't do it justice!

I've been carrying round One Day in my bag for weeks. It's a really brilliant book, and I'd really recommend it, but after a certain event I just can't get any further... I've seriously got 10 pages left and have lost interest. I'm sure if any of you have read it you'll know what I mean!

I'm building up a quite a collection of innocent smoothie big knit hats! Those little hats make me so happy every time I glance over to my vitamins at work!

I'm loving my furry ear muffs! Always welcome when waiting for the lat bus home from York on a Friday night!

Saturday I went to see the The Vaccines at the O2 academy in Leeds. I don't really know any of their songs, other than those played on the radio and the place was so busy I could barely see the stage, but quite a few of us went out so it was a really fun night!

Today I attended a one day make-up course from Blaze, which I bought on a whim from Groupon, for only £30. It was a good day and chance to do nothing but apply make-up styles that I wouldn't ever go for normally, but I don't think I learnt anything new. I did get a MAC Dazzle Glass (Like Venus, a Deep Pink) and a Bourjois eyeshadow in a lovely gold shade.

How cute are my new Primark Santa Socks! I couldn't wait for December to wear these, perfect for feet up in front a TV!

Hope you all have a good week ahead!

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