Birchbox - May

I finally received May's Birchbox on Wednesday, felt like I had been waiting forever!! What makes it worse is the fact I knew this month's was a collaboration with Bazaar and so I was literally desperate to get mine! But here it is, and it did not disappoint. Even the box looks great:

This month's products are Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanse and Polish, Aromatherapy Associates Revive Morning Bath and Shower Oil, Beauty Protector Protect and Shampoo & Protect and Condition, Benefit They're Real Mascara and Soigne Nail Polish in shade Persimmon.

This oil actually smells delicious. The sample size is pretty small, which is a bit disappointing, but I think if I use it before showering it will last. I am really looking forward to trying this as I have heard brilliant things about Aromatherapy Associates.

These shampoo and conditioner bottles are really handy for taking to the gym as they fit nicely in my wash bag and have dispensing lids which are always good on  the go. I was kind of hoping that the samples would be a bit bigger as they are a Birchbox own brand and so they could have been a bit more generous. They are literally tiny bottles, 2 washes at the very maximum. Being that the full sized product is around £16 though, I am hoping I will be impressed.

What an amazingly packaged nail polish! It was in this very chic box, surrounded by a foam packaging to stop it getting damaged, very nice! I love the shade, even though I have so many polishes in roughly this shade but never mind. I couldn't test it yet as I have just painted my nails but I will do soon. It does look a very nice, high end product. And it's a full sized sample!

I have heard so many brilliant reviews about this Benefit mascara and so I was really excited to get my hands on it. I was slightly put off by the applicator as I prefer the brush fiber ones to the plastic like ones like this, as I think they just do a much better job of separating the lashes and making them appear longer. After trying it though I was very happy with it. It beautifully separates and lengthens my lashes with no clumps in sight. What I like about the wand is that it is shaped to catch even the little lashes in the corners, which really gives a great wide eye effect. Love.

This Liz Earle cleanser has got to be my favourite item from this month's box and the product I was most looking forward to. I think it's hard to miss the amazing reviews and awards this has been receiving and I wanted to try it out to see if it lives up to it's reputation on my oily skin. It really did and then some! I use this at night before bed and the improvement in my skin by the following morning is already noticeable. Truly a wonder product. I have already ordered myself a full-sized bottle and more muslin cloths as I know it will be a product I really miss when it runs out!

So that was my box! I may have had to wait ages for it but it was definitely worth the wait. If you're a subscriber to Birchbox, what products did you receive this month? Were you impressed with your box?

April favourites

I know it's probably a bit late to be writing my April favourites now that its the 7th May, but I have been planning this blog post for a couple of days now. I always find it really difficult to limit my favourites to only a few items! So here are those carefully selected for April:

Barry M Textured Nail Paint in shade TNP 5 Princess 333 - I go through phases with Barry M of either loving there products or finding them a bit disappointing. This nail polish though is Barry M at its finest. This is a gorgeous glittered light pink shade and is so easy to apply, especially for a textured polish. It dries evenly, but you do need to use a topcoat to avoid that rough, sandpaper like feeling you get with textured/ glittered varnishes. I really do love this colour though and have worn it a few times for evenings out as it really is like dressing up your nails.

Benefit the POREfessional Agent Zero Shine - As you may have read in earlier posts of mine, my skin is very oily and looks very shiny very quickly, regardless of whether I have put a base on before my make-up or not. But this works wonders combatting the shine! It's a mattifying powder that does really work to give a more matte look to my face. I keep this in my make-up bag and use for touch ups during the day, which means that it having a built in brush is brilliant! It's a translucent powder so can be used for all skin tones and it doesn't cling to dry patches like with some face powders. Being from Benefit it is a bit pricey, but well worth every penny.

Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Eau de Parfum - This was actually a gift from my aunt that got pushed to the back of my perfume collection (I do have a pretty epic perfume collection) and forgotten about until recently. I was wanting to wear a different perfume as I seem to always wear the same 3 or 4 regularly, so I picked this one up and have been wearing it a lot since. It is a beautiful smell and has great longevity so you really don't need a lot to last you all day. I'd say it is a great summer scent and I will definitely continue to wear this a lot.

Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in shade 240 Striking Spectaculaire - Not only do I love a good bright red lip but I also love a good matte lip, so I definitely struck gold with this lip crayon. It is so easy to apply accurately to the lip and goes on so smoothly and feels so hydrating, not like you would expect from a matte lip product at all. This shade is a gorgeous bright red that I love to wear out in the evenings, although I do have some more neutral shades in these Revlon crayons as they just feel so great on the lip. The fresh minty-ness of it is an added little bonus as well - lovely!

Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow/Liner in shade Busy Signal - I got given this by a friend AGES ago as she didn't think the colour suit her (she is blond with a very fair complexion and this just looked to dark against her pale skintone). Again this was a product that I had just chucked in with my other make-up and not really given a second thought to. I rediscovered it when sorting through my make-up a few weeks ago though and have been wearing it to work a lot since. I prefer to use it as an eyeliner as it isn't too obvious and a perfect shimmery brown shade that compliments my eyes and skintone, but I have also used it as a shadow too recently (after trying the shadow sticks here, before getting them I always thought anything other than powder eyeshadow would feel cakey on my lids) and it gives a great colour without feeling in anyway heavy on the lid.

So those are the products I have been loving in April. It is mainly just make-up products but I haven't found any other products that I have really fallen in love with recently. Are you a fan of any of my recent favourites? Maybe you have these yourselves? All comments are very welcome :)

Monthly subscription box - Glossybox

 I was so excited when the postman arrived at my work yesterday equipped with this month's Glossybox! My monthly subscription boxes really are the highlight of my month. Sadly, I found myself slightly disappointed by this month's box, although this may be because last month's box was so much better in comparison (it included tinted lip balm from Sleek and perfume samples from Juicy Couture, I'm sold!). The samples are actually pretty good now I look back, but my initial reaction was a bit 'oh...'. Anywho... I'll get on with a short review of the products!

MeMeMe Cosmetics Beat the Blues - Pearl Pink

I've been reading quite a lot of different bloggers talking about this brand recently so I was quite pleased to receive one of their products in my box, and it is a pretty good sized sample. This product reminded me a lot of Benefit High Beam as it is a very similar colour, I'd say it has a thinner consistency to it though, which isn't a bad thing if you are wanting to apply it very lightly and is that little bit easier to blend in. It has a brush applicator, like that of a nail varnish and it instructs to apply this sparingly to your cheekbones and brow arches to highlight, much like you do with High Beam. What makes it that little bit better is that you can also use it under your blusher for a natural, dewy glow or mix it in with your foundation for a subtle shimmer (like I used to do with my nSpa Beauty Serum that sadly ran out recently - read more about this here). I love a product that works hard! I'm sure I shall write a more in depth review on my opinions on this product at a later date.

Unica Cosmetics Radiance Plus

I had yet to hear about this brand before receiving it in my box, I hadn't seen any talk about it on any blogs or anything like that and I wasn't overly excited about coming to own it. If I'm perfectly honest the reason I wasn't overly excited about this product is the fact that it is such a small sample. As soon as I saw it I wondered if my face would even manage one use out of this sample and it's not like I have an abnormally large face! That aside, it does seem a pretty good product, I have face/eye creams that contain rosehip oil that I swear helps fine lines around my eyes and so was quite pleased to have another one in my arsenal. It smells lovely and the fact that it is 100% natural is an added bonus!

It is to be used on a freshly cleansed face and I think I'll use it in place of my usual night cream and see if I notice much difference. It's just a shame there wasn't a larger sample to be able to give it a proper trial, lets hope a little goes a long way!

MONU Spa Warming Ginger Massage & Body Oil

I was a bit worried about this product when I discovered it in my box... My skin is quite sensitive to oils, even to the point where I developed a rash all over my arms from using Johnson's Baby Oil for Sensitive Skin! So I was a bit worried that my skin would not agree with this. Also I am just really not a massive fan of the smell of ginger. On opening it though it actually smelt quite pleasant, the smell of ginger was admittedly quite strong but I didn't find it nasty or overpowering. It instantly absorbed in to my skin, so much so that when I went to take the picture it had pretty much all absorbed in to my hand, hence the slightly odd picture! It advises to add a small amount to a warm bath or massage in to the skin before washing to leave your skin silky smooth, I will definitely be trying the warm bath option!! Sounds lush! Look out for further posts on this product as I have a feeling I am going to love it.

TRESemme Instant Refresh Cleansing Dry Shampoo

I use dry shampoo a lot, I'm a strong believer that you should only wash your hair roughly 3 times a week (at most!) and so on the other days I do use dry shampoo to stop any greasy hair mishaps. I am a devotee of Batiste Dry Shampoo's but I do like TRESemme as a brand and so I was keen to try their product. I tried this this morning and the only downside to it I would say is that, although my hair looked clean and grease-free, it didn't feel clean like it does with Batiste. It did give my hair masses of volume though, which is always appreciated with my fine hair. Also I find with Batiste that my head begins to get itchy during the day from what I guess is the dry shampoo on my scalp, but I didn't seem to have this trouble with the TRESemme product. Overall I am really happy with this product and will definitely be buying a full sized sample in the near future, move over Batiste!

Emite Make-up Lip Brush - L312

This brush could not have arrived at a better time as I recently had to throw away my MAC Lip Brush due to me somehow managing to break it. I thought it was a bit chunky for a lip brush at first but it is actually great. It holds a good quantity of lipstick and the smooth flat edge that tapers almost to a point is perfect for precision to apply product right to the edges of your lip and around your cupid's bow.

I was surprised by how much I actually liked this brush as I received an eyeshadow from Emite before and was disappointed to see that the packaging was rather weak and it exploded black eyeshadow all over my make-up bag, disaster! So I thought this may be a bit of a disappointment too, but I am actually quite loving it.

So all in all, I may have been disappointed by this month's Glossybox on very first impressions but after actually trying them out a little bit I am very pleased with what I received and will happily repurchase a lot of them, look out for further reviews on them!!

Do any of you subscribe to Glossybox? What did you think of this months box, do you also feel like it doesn't hold a light to last months? Comments are always welcome!