Timeless beauty

5th Feb 202217th Feb 2022Leave a comment

This month Glossybox is all about giving us some timeless treats for February. In two special design boxes with an old Hollywood theme, I love when we get a different design!

There are 5 products in this box with everything needed to give yourself a chic and timeless look. So let’s unbox!

First is one of my favourite brands Rituals with a hair and body spray in the Ritual of Mehr scent. This scent just reminds me of sunshine and holidays! It’s very fruity with sweet orange and cedar wood but light and not overpowering. You just spritz this over your hair and body to enjoy the sunshine feeling! This is a deluxe mini with 20ml for £5.90.

Next is an Illamasqua eyeliner mini in black, perfect for nailing those cat eye looks- always a classic. Another deluxe mini size worth £10.

Original Skin essence toner is our next product with aloe Vera and chamomile to help soothe the skin. This gives my skin a lovely feel after using it and is perfect prep before moisturising the face. This is a full size worth £34.99

Next up is The Beauty Crop BFF Brow mascara. I love a good brow gel as I’m a fan of laminated brows so anything that keeps my brows in place without them feeling stiff or crunchy is a winner. This is a full size and is £5

Finally a product I’ve had a few times in beauty boxes We are Paradoxx Repair 3 in 1 conditioner. I really like this it works really well, especially seeing as I have coloured hair. Because it’s a 3 in 1 you can use it as a basic conditioner, a hair mask or for taming flyaways. This is the deluxe mini size and is £10.50 for 50ml.

And that’s our February Glossybox unboxed! Hope you enjoyed, what was your fave item?

I’m very excited for next months box which is Glossy Wonderland themed, taking us on a beauty adventure with pops of colour and new skincare. Alice in Wonderland is my all time favourite movie so anything with this type of theme immediately grabs my attention!

Spa feeling with Glossybox

22nd Sep 202122nd Sep 2021Leave a comment

I can’t quite believe October is just around the corner and my September Glossybox has only just arrived! There’s been lots of issues lately with Glossybox and there are some really unhappy customers on their social channels.

Thankfully this months box was worth the wait and packed with goodies to make a spa day in your own home.

First was this Spa Cleansing brush from Spa to You worth £16. Great for giving your face a deeper clean than normal and exfoliating for a smoother complexion.

Every good spa has a range of different products for you to try and we got this lovely Figs & Rouge Clarity serum to try. They have been a featured brand before and one which I’ve really liked after trying their Wonder Charm serum which gives a beautiful glow to the skin so looking forward to trying this one.

Face masks are always a beauty box favourite and this is a Pearl brightening mask from Vitamasques which is a brand I really like. They have a great range of masks and I love taking some time out to use a sheet mask and relax!

After you’ve cleansed and used your masks and serum you can use this Skin & Co Face Gommage which helps in exfoliating the skin gently using winter truffle extract.

Finally a cute hairspray which is always handy to pop in your bag from Percy & Reed. I really like this hairspray as it’s not sticky and doesn’t dry your hair out.

There were also two treats included this month which was nice, especially when one is a Lindor chocolate bar! The other treat was a sample set of fragrance from Judith Leiber which can be worn separately or layered together.

I have a yearly subscription to Glossybox which costs 11.75 per month including postage and packaging. There are loads of different options if you wanted to sign up from a monthly rolling subscription to 3, 6 and 12 month plans like the one I do. I do have a referral code if you click here which will get you 20% off your first box.

What did you think of this box? Is it one you’d enjoy?

Dreaming of paradise

20th Jun 202120th Jun 2021Leave a comment

Glossybox this month had a Dreaming of Paradise theme which was all about summer products to take you from pool to party. In my case it’s more like paddling pool to dinner as I don’t think it’s likely to be going abroad anytime soon. I’m just as happy with a sunny day and a BBQ in the garden to be fair and the weather lately has been so lovely, summer is definitely here!

First out of the box is Oui Cherie Lip Oil from The Beauty Crop in the shade Sacrebleu! Now, on first glance I was dubious about this as it explains it’s a pH changing lip oil so I wasn’t expecting much to be honest. However I was pleasantly surprised as it actually changed colour as I was applying and gave a really nice tinted berry colour. Now with it being a pH based product it should react differently on every person, it was a fun item to include and it is super moisturising and smells gorgeous.

Oui Cherie Lip Oil from The Beauty Crop £13

Next is a Vitamin C Face Scrub from Nip + Fab. I recently took part in the Glamour Big Beauty Call and Vitamin C is really being touted as the most beneficial and easy to use product for your skin. I’ve introduced the Nip+Fab Vitamin C toner recently (this was in one of my advent calendars) and loved the results so I was excited to try the face scrub. It’s a really nice product lovely smell and gentle on the skin. It’s designed to soften and cleanse as well as exfoliate the skin. I’m going to use this 1-2 times a week to give me a nice glowy skin!

Also in this box is a full size Mitchell and Peach English Leaf Body oil. Last year we got a bath oil from this brand and I find their scents really strong. This oil has changed my mind though as it’s really light and fresh smelling. It’s a blend of citrus, coriander, basil, mint and floral oils, giving it a freshly cut grass scent. Got to say when I read it smells like cut grass I thought that was a bit weird! However I actually really like it, I guess it’ll be one of those marmite things- you’ll either love it or hate it!

Mitchell and Peach English Leaf Body oil £23

Another full size with a Micellar water from a Garnier. Although this is quite a basic product I was really pleased to get this in my box, it’s something I know I will use as I use reusable washable cotton pads and makeup cloths so this is ideal to use with those for more stubborn makeup but still gentle on the skin.

And finally a Christophe Robin Regenerating Hair Mask, I’ve actually had this before in a Lookfantastic box and it was soooo good for my hair! So I’m delighted to get another one, it literally leaves your hair so soft and you only have to leave it on for a few minutes, perfect if you don’t have loads of time. Also you only need a tiny bit to emulsify between your hands and apply so although this pot is small it really does last for ages. For anyone following Curly Girl method, this is an approved product you can use as well.

Christophe Robin Regenerating Mask with Prickly Pear (Deluxe mini size) £10.80

Julys sneak peek is a beautiful looking bronzing powder from KNDR worth £14. The July theme is Beauty Treasures which sounds lovely and I’m looking forward to seeing what products we get next!

Let the sun shine

7th May 2021Leave a comment

Summer is meant to be on the way but if you’re in the UK like me you’ll have been wondering if it’s going to come at all! We’ve had a very typical English spring with lots of April showers but this Glossybox has definitely perked me up with its “Let the Sun Shine” theme. I’ve got to mention the packaging this month which is beautiful and features a foiled box and ombré tissue and looked so pretty when I unwrapped it.

Five items are included this month and four of them are full size which is amazing value. First we have a Minetan Rapid Recovery After Sun Gel which is a deluxe mini size and has the classic after sun ingredient aloe Vera but also Niacinamide to help with any damage caused by the sun and giving an anti inflammatory response.

Next is one of my favourite makeup brands Ciate London with their Gold definer liner. This is a really beautiful champagne gold colour and glides onto the skin. It has a built in sharpener in the lid which I also love as no fiddling about looking for a sharpener before you’re headed out!

Now we have our sneak peek for last month which is the Rodial Dragons blood eye masks. These are gel eye masks with hyaluronic acid to dry-puff and give you bright eyes. I love eye masks to help with more hydrated Under-eyes so this is perfect for me.

Next is the perfect partner for our eye liner and it’s a Power Foil eyeshadow from Lottie London. I’ve used these before and the coverage for a metallic shadow is just amazing. I only did one swipe in this picture and you can see how pigmented it is. I love this as a summer look especially paired with the gold liner !

Lastly we have a lemonshower gel from Kueshi which is infused with camomile extract as well as lemon. I love the scent of this it smells so fresh and summery. It’s a nice one to include in the box.

Overall I really enjoyed this box, the theme has been really well thought out and I’m looking forward to playing with those makeup products! The total value of this months products was £50 – great value for money.

June’s sneak peek is a Nip+Fab Vitamin C scrub which sounds really nice. I just attended the Glamour Big Beauty Call and Vitamin C was talked about a lot by the skincare experts as something pretty much everyone can incorporate into their routine and see brightening effects from.

The box theme for June is “Dreaming of Paradise” I’m definitely excited to see what else will be included! Last June was a really great summer theme with bronzer and some themed face masks so interested to see how they theme it this time. What did you think of Mays box?

Woke up in Spring with Glossybox

12th Apr 202112th Apr 2021Leave a comment

April has usually brought with it blue skies and some sunshine as well as warmer temperatures. Although we also expect those April showers to occur I don’t think anyone, least of all me, was expecting snow forecasts and hailstones over the past week!

I’m cautiously optimistic that that’s behind us now and we can focus on some warmer weather coming our way! This months Glossybox has the theme of waking up in spring and some lovely little products to change up our makeup!

First of all is a product from Minus 417, Serenity Legend Hydrating Dead Sea Bath Salts. With minerals and salts to help your body retain moisture, Dead Sea salts are renowned for giving you soft smooth skin. I’ve used similar products a lot over the years for my psoriasis I and really like Dead Sea salts for relieving inflammation.

Minus 417 Serenity Legend Dead Sea Bath Salts Deluxe Mini 100g £2.17

Next is our sneak peek from last month, an eyeshadow quad from Sophia and Mabelle. This is a lovely little palette with four everyday shades with matte and shimmers. They’d be great for a simple natural eye look to just give a bit of a boost to your natural eye contour. This is full size and would cost £25 which seems pricy to me for a quad palette. The shadow itself has a nice texture and good pigment but I don’t know that I’d be happy paying £25 for 4 shadows. They are pretty nice when swatched and I can see myself definitely using this.

Sophia + Mabelle Aphrodite Eyeshadow quad £25

Another full size product included is the Feel Free Antioxidant Eye Contour cream. This is a lovely light formula and has a citrusy smell which isn’t too strong. Being an eye cream it’s main aim is to hydrate the delicate skin under your eye as well as brighten and balance your skin tone. I love getting eye creams in these boxes as it’s definitely an area I am focused on staying hydrated, it’s so important to use an eye cream to keep those fine lines at bay!

Feel Free Antioxidant Eye Contour Cream £4.77

Next is a liquid blush from DWTN Paris and while I love liquid and cream blush I will admit the colour of this put me off at first. It’s quite an orange toned red but it does blend out nicely. Just not too sure about it suiting my skin tone.

AHAVA mineral shower gel is our last product and this smells really nice. It says it has pomegranate and cherry blossom scent so definitely a nice one for the spring and summer. I think I will keep this one for when we hopefully get away for a little break in the summer, fingers crossed no more lockdowns.

May’s sneak peek is Rodial Dragon Blood eye masks which sounds interesting and the box itself has the theme “Let the sun shine” so I’m excited to see what else will be included! What did you think of this box?

Pretty Pleasures

10th Mar 202110th Mar 2021Leave a comment

As we move into March and toward an end to the lockdowns in the UK, fingers crossed! This months Glossybox is all about thinking about the warmer days pastel colours and generally feeling the pretty pleasures of spring!

There are 5 products this month and a makeup heavy box this time which I am pleased about. So let’s dive in and see what we have.

Figs and Rouge Satin Soft Blurring Primer & Finishing Fix is our first item. I love a good primer and having used Figs and Rouge products before I have high hopes for this! This costs £38 to purchase and contains hyaluronic acid, marshmallow root and as the name describes it aims to blur imperfections and minimise shine for a perfect make up base. It also has anti inflammatory properties to reduce breakouts. I love the Figs and Rouge packaging it is so pretty and very millennial pink.

Figs and Rouge Satin Soft Blurring Primer & Finishing Fix £38

Nails Inc is our next treat with a nail polish called Palace Gardens, a really pretty pastel blue grey . Nails Inc has long been one of my favourite brands for nail polish and this one is no exception. Really love the colour and this is one I can see getting a lot of wear out of. This is £11 to purchase.

Beautaniq Beauty Nourishing Mascara is next and this is not a brand I’ve used before. This has conditioning ingredients like Camellia and Almond Oil to strengthen your lashes. The brush is oversized and designed to grip and coat every lash. I’m coming to the end of my mascara so this was a welcome addition !

Beautaniq Beauty Nourishing Mascara £15.50

The So Eco sponge I actually got in a Lookfantastic box previously but I like to change my sponges regularly so this is a nice addition to the box. They are a really nice sponge and I find they blend really well. Make sure to use your sponge damp so it doesn’t soak up all of your product! These sponges also have a pointed tip, this is great for under your eyes and blending concealer. The best thing about the So Eco brand is they plant a tree for every 100 products sold which is really important to know that they are considering the environment around them.

NYX Professional Makeup is one of my faves and this item is different for each subscriber. There was a lucky dip between highlighter, liquid lipstick and regular lipstick. I am so pleased with mine! Mine was a gorgeous hot pink liquid lip so pretty and definitely one I might have chosen myself. I really love NYX lip products so this was a really good choice for me.

NYX Professional soft matte metallic lip creme £6

Next month we have a sneak peek announcement of an eyeshadow palette from a new brand Sophia and Mabelle. No details on colour or anything just yet. Their website details them as a very inclusive brand which is really great to hear. A quote on their website reads

“With all skin tones and age ranges in mind, we created this beauty brand where anyone can come and find something that will be a staple in their beauty routine. S+M welcomes all walks of life, because beauty should reflect who you are on the inside, not the outside. We are proud to sample our products on persons of all ages, genders, sexualities, and will continue to strive at being an all-inclusive “made for everyBODY” beauty brand.

I’m looking forward to seeing what the eyeshadow palette is next month!

Glossybox February 2021

9th Feb 20219th Feb 2021Leave a comment

Sing dance love repeat! Or so goes the theme of the February Glossybox with the cutest cassette design to the box, very retro and giving me major flashbacks to buying cassette singles in Our Price… showing my age there !

There are 5 products in this months box which, as it’s February, are aimed at giving you everything you need to be prepped and reading for Valentine’s Day.

First is our sneak peek from last month and it’s an Avant Velvet Perfecting Rose Sugar Lip Scrub. Of course this is to perfect your pout for Valentine’s kisses. Rose is not my favourite scent for skincare but this seems ok and as it’s a scrub I don’t think it will bother me as much. This is a full size and costs £58 to purchase. It’s meant to get rid of any dead skin cells so your lips are prepped and kissable for Valentine’s Day.

Continuing the lip theme is a Steve Laurant total repair lip mask which is £5. This is to give your lips a burst of hydration so perfect for getting over the cold winter weather.

Next we have a product we were meant to get last month but which was delayed due to COVID and the issues at ports. It’s a Rose Gua Sha. This is a skin tool which helps reduce inflammation and promote better circulation. It’s not something I’ve tried before but I will definitely give it a go to see if it works! This is £10 to purchase.

What would a Valentine box be without a nice lip pencil? I’ve had one of these Nudestix lip and cheek pencils before and I loved it. The formula is so creamy and blends brilliantly. This one is more of a balm than the previous one I had which is nice and I love the red shade for Valentine’s Day. This is a full size and costs £20 and I like that it’s multi use as well being for lips and cheeks.

Bubble T Peach Bellini hand cream is our next product and it smells amazing! All of the cold winter weather really takes it’s toll on my skin so this is perfect for sitting next to me in the office so I can keep applying throughout the day. I go through a lot of hand cream and this is a really nice formula. This costs £4.99 and is a full size item.

So in total this months box is worth £97.99 making it great value for money once again!

Glossybox January 2021

24th Jan 202124th Jan 2021Leave a comment

January’s theme is The Power of Beauty with 6 products to get us kicking off 2021 feeling fresh and showing our natural beauty!

So first we have some reusable face pads, designed to replace the need for disposable wipes and cotton pads. I’ve been wanting to try something like this and I was pleasantly surprised. I’d always been put off by the idea of having to wash them and also whether they’d work as well as cotton wool. I used these with makeup remover and they work really well. My only recommendation when washing would be to use a delicates bag so they don’t end up getting lost in the washer! They washed and dried nicely and stayed soft so these are a winner for me.

Next is a moisturising serum from ECooking perfect for the winter weather. This is a really fine serum and works nicely under my moisturiser. I’ve been using it daily and am seeing my skin looking more moisturised and fresher.

Moisturising serum ECooking £22.50 Deluxe mini size

Saint Luxe Beauty is a brand I’ve had before in a Glossybox, we got some lip liners last year which were nice. This time it’s a brow gel to keep those brows in shape and make them stay put. It’s a really nice clear brow gel, no stickiness when applying and keeps everything in place, a nice addition to the box.

Mudmasky Undereye Mask is our next product . Mudmasky has been in quite a few Glossybox’s and is a brand I really enjoy using. This is an under eye mask to apply to clean skin and to help with the elasticity of the skin which as I’m sure you know is thinner and more delicate in your under eye area. This is a really nice serum infused mask and my skin felt lovely afterward. They say it takes between 4-7 uses to see improvement so I will look forward to that if it happens! This was a replacement product as Glossybox had a supplier issue but they did inform everyone via email prior to the box being sent.

Beauty Pro Avocado Infused Sheet Mask is a hydrating and moisturising mask, completely plant based so great for anyone who is wanting to put more skincare of that range into their routine. Beauty Pro products always seem really nice and this is no exception a lovely sheet mask and nice for a little pamper afternoon!

Well hand sanitiser is something we are all getting used to using on a regular basis so this Your Sanitiser was a good addition to the box! It’s a perfect handbag size so great for on the go and works well on sensitive skin. It also kills 99.999% of germs so definitely a great find in the current climate!

If you got this months box what did you think? My favourite is the E Cooking serum and the brow gel but I think it was a really well rounded box for January.

Total value of this months box is £94.97 which is fantastic value for money. The sneak peek for February is an Avant Velvet Perfecting Rose Sugar Lip Scrub to prep our pout for Valentine’s Day!

Fenty beauty x Glossybox

21st Jan 202121st Jan 20212 Comments

Hey everyone! Hope you enjoy this post about my special edition Glossybox purchase which was a collaboration with Fenty Beauty in December. If you don’t know Fenty Beauty is the line created by Rhianna and has become iconic for its products which are known for their pigmented shades and staying power. This box was a limited edition and sold out super fast, it was my Christmas present to myself ! There are 6 products here to show you and as I’ve had a little time to try them out I can give a review.

So first we have the Killawatt Freestyle Highlighter in the shades Mean money / Hustla Baby. These are described as a soft champagne and peachy champagne and it’s a full size. This is £28 to purchase usually and pretty much means the box pays for itself after this. I really like these colours and they are perfect for an everyday highlight. You could layer it up to be more dramatic too.

Next is the Fairy Bomb Shimmer Powder in the shade 24Kray again a full size item and this is a really fine loose powder and a glittery gold shade. It really is a gorgeous powder which can be used over the face and eyes for an illuminating effect. I used this at Christmas for a sheer effect on the eyes and it looked so nice. I think this would be really great for another highlight effect on the cheeks. This is £24 to purchase.

Also included is a portable highlighter brush which is slanted so you can trace the angle of your face. This would be fab for either your hand bag or for travelling. I absolutely love all of the packaging for this range it’s really edgy and sleek. This retails for £19

Pro Filt’r Mini Instant Retouch Primer £15 is a mattifying primer to give you a filter effect and blur all those imperfections. I’ve been looking for a new primer for a while and not really found anything I’ve been wowed by. I really like this formula and found my foundation sat beautifully and didn’t slide off during the day!

Stunna Lip Paint- Unbutton £20 is a peachy nude matte liquid lip colour and having used a couple of these previously I can definitely recommend their staying power! I really love this colour as it’s perfect for everyday and stays put. A perfect nude shade that would suit a range of skin tones.

Deluxe mini size of Full Frontal Volume Lift and Curl Mascara full size £21 this is one of the newer products from the Fenty range and has a specially designed “flat to fat” brush to give lashes volume, length and curl- who doesn’t want that for their lashes? This was ideal for a test of whether or not I’d like the formula , I hate purchasing mascara and then finding that I just don’t like it and having wasted money. I really like this formula and the brush is great for grabbing all your lashes and really coating them in the product. I would definitely consider purchasing the full size of this.

I loved this box for giving me a chance to try more of the Fenty Beauty range as I’ve previously just had an eyeshadow palette and a couple of lipsticks. It was an absolute bargain when you add up the total value of the products they are £106 altogether and the box was £30. (I haven’t included a price for the mascara sample)

Some of the collaboration boxes have been hit and miss for me with Glossybox but this was a really great one and such good value, I’m hoping there might be more like this on the cards during 2021!

What do you guys think? Do you have any Fenty Beauty recommendations? I’m thinking of trying their foundation next as I’ve heard great things.

Advent is getting expensive!

1st Dec 20201st Dec 2020Leave a comment

So December the first is upon us and it’s time for those advent calendars to start being opened.

Advent is getting more and more luxurious and expensive as it’s not just your basic chocolate advent calendar that’s available. Everything from beauty and makeup to gin, cheese and Lego, you can pretty much get anything you want in an advent calendar!

This year I went for Glossybox , which is the calendar I got last year, and the ASOS Face and Body advent calendars. The main reason I got them is because of the quality of the products and value for money. I saved 20% on my ASOS calendar and with Glossybox you get a subscriber discount and can also use your Glossycredit which is credit you build up on Glossybox for completing monthly surveys.

Day 1 of the Glossybox advent calendar 2020

Did you get an advent calendar this year? If so would love to know what you went for!

ASOS Face and Body advent calendar Day 1

I’ll be unboxing these everyday on my Instagram page @vanessakay84 if you want to follow along!

Vanessa Kay

Beauty, Fashion and Fun

Tag: Glossybox