Birchbox May 2017

Hey everyone, hope you're all feeling good even though it's Monday! Today I have an unboxing of this month's Birchbox, which can I just say is the best design ever! Marble and rose gold, it's the perfect box to match an Instagram theme!

 First up is this volume spray from Beauty Protector which I think is a brand exclusive to Birchbox, maybe even their own brand! This spray is used to increase volume and add shine without making it sticky or weighing it down. It has no parabens and is 100% vegan which is perfect for people that struggle to find products that aren't. I struggle quite a lot with my hair thinning after the first day of washing so this (hopefully) will be perfect for me.

 The next product is a liquid exfoliant from Paula's Choice. I've never heard of this brand before, admittedly because I don't buy a lot of different skincare products. This really intrigued me as all the exfoliators I've used before have been a really thick consistency whereas this is literally just like water! It contains 2% BHA liquid which works hard to unclog the skin leaving it clear and calm without damaging it! My skin doesn't usually get too bad but now that it's getting warmer out, I've had oilier skin which has caused a few breakouts. I'll definitely be trying this out to see if it helps!

 Up next is a firming body cream from Whish. I've received a lot of products from Whish in previous Birchboxes and I've loved all of them! This body cream is designed to smooth blemishes, soften and protect the skin. It contains shea butter, cocoa seed butter and green tea which not only work wonders for your skin, they also make the product smell amazing! I can't wait to use this and hopefully I love it as much as their other products!

 The next product I received is a mascara from Doucce. I've heard a few YouTubers talk about this brand, but they've never gone into a lot of detail. This mascara has the biggest I've ever seen!! I suppose that's the perfect way to add volume and thickness to your lashes! I really like mascaras that have 'proper' wands instead of those thin plastic ones. This looks like it will grab every single lash and lift it to high heaven! This is also the perfect size to just chuck in your handbag if you're travelling.

Last but not least is this really cute mineral eyeshadow from Marsk. I've not heard of this brand either but I will definitely be looking up some of their other stuff because this eyeshadow shade is beautiful!! I received the shade Vanilla Frosting but I believe you could also get Fifty Shades, but it was a random pick. This is the full size eyeshadow which seems a bit small at 1.2g, especially since it has a price tag of nearly £15! I swatched this on my hand and it is the most gorgeous icy white shade which would be perfect either in the centre of the lid, as an inner corner highlight or even as a face highlight! 

I wasn't overly excited by the contents of this box, as I don't do a lot in terms of skincare, but I suppose it might make me be more thoughtful of my skin. I absolutely love the Marsk eyeshadow and can't wait to try so many looks with it! I'm also looking forward to using the volume spray, hopefully it gives my hair a bit more oomph!

I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on this month's Birchbox, if you'd like to sign up click here to receive £5 off your first box!

Birchbox April 2017

Hey everyone, I hope you all had a great Easter and ate your weight in chocolate.. Just me? Oh...
Anyway, today I have an unboxing/review of this month's Birchbox!

Polaar Ice Pure Gentle Scrub
The first item is a body scrub which contains Arctic cotton, an ingredient known for its moisturising properties which basically means it both smooths and softens the skin. It has a lovely smell, and the packaging is super cute. If I don't end up using this I might just keep it on display in my bathroom!

Luseta Beauty Keratin Smooth Conditioner
Up next is a conditioner by Luseta Beauty, a brand I've never heard of before. This conditioner is perfect for strengthening your hair against all the stress we put it through from curling/straightening to blowdrying! Now that we're in the warmer months, my hair gets so frizzy from all the humidity so this conditioner will hopefully be my saviour.

Baija Paris Creme Moana
When I first saw this cream, I immediately thought of the movie Moana which I suppose makes it a memorable product haha! This is a body cream, infused with a blend of coconut oil, shea butter and jojoba wax which not only make it smell amazing, it combats those pesky dry patches leaving your skin feeling as smooth as a baby's bum!

Manna Kadar Cosmetics Split Pan Bronze & Highlight
This split pan was actually announced last month as sort of an enticer to subscribe to this box, and I've got to say I'm slightly disappointed. I was expecting this pan to be a bit bigger and looking at the RRP, I feel like it's a bit of a rip off! After swatching, I noticed the bronzer is slightly orange toned but is a lovely colour. The highlight is really nice, and both are very pigmented! They swatched really well and felt very smooth.

ModelCo Eye Definer Crayon

The last product is a black eyeliner crayon, which is apparently water resistant so I will definitely be testing that out! You can never go wrong with a black eyeliner, and with this one being a twist-up liner, it's perfect for travelling with! The only thing I don't like is the eyeliner actually fell out the first time I opened it, but that might have been broken in transit so I'll have to blame the postie haha!

I'd say I'm moderately happy with the products I received this month, and I like discovering new brands and products. I will definitely be trying out all of these products, but I doubt I'll repurchase any purely based on the fact that I don't really need any more of these.

I hope you enjoyed reading, if you want to sign up to Birchbox click here.

Birchbox March 2017

Hello everyone, I hope you're well! I recently shared my thoughts on March's Glossybox, which you can read here. But today I have an unboxing/review of this month's Birchbox. This month, they're celebrating the original Birchbox, originally founded in the US over 6 years ago! The box arrived in a very plain kraft box which I really like, simple is sometimes better. So without further ado, let's get into the box!

Balance Me Instant Lift Primer £22

The first product in the box is this primer which is designed to smooth out any harsh lines or wrinkles while also making your skin look pore-less and more youthful. It's made with 99% natural ingredients, including hyaluronic acid and acacia gum which tightens the skin for a smoother finish. I noticed recently that Iv'e got quite large pores on my cheeks so I will definitely be trying this out to see if it helps to reduce them! 

Amika Style Extending Spray £20

First of all, this packaging is so groovy! This is basically a spray to protect your hair from the elements, keeping your perfect style intact and no frizz in sight! I'm one of those girls with such awkward hair that no style ever stays for more than an hour and I end up with a frizzy mess if it's even slightly humid outside so hopefully this works wonders for me! 

Korres Santorini Vine Shower Gel £8

Up next is a shower gel from Korres. Packed full of wheat proteins that moisturise while cleaning. It smells absolutely gorgeous, a very fresh scent which I always think makes you feel more clean. I think it has bit of a hefty price tag for a shower gel but I never usually pay more than £5. I can't wait to see if this is actually worth the money!

Bobbi Brown Multi-Mask Kit £33 each

The next products are sample sizes of face masks from Bobbi Brown. They even came in their own little pouch which I thought was super cute. Their all different so you can mix and match to target the areas that need it most. I have combination skin so I'll be trying to get rid of any oiliness with the Instant Detox mask, and get rid of my dry patches with the Skin Nourish mask. I think they're a bit pricey at £33 for one mask so I probably wouldn't repurchase but I'll definitely try them out to see if they work!

Benefit They're Real Double the Lip £16.50

I've definitely saved the best product till last and it is the new Double The Lip lipstick from Benefit. I was so excited when I saw this would be in the box and even more so when I got to pick the shade I'd receive. I opted for Lusty Rose instead of Pink Thrills and I'm so happy I did. The lipstick has a teardrop design with a lip liner (dark pink) and the lipstick (light pink) which makes it super easy to apply to your lips. It's not as pigmented as I thought it'd be and does have a sheer/satin finish but is a gorgeous shade! I'm so excited to try this out and see how long it lasts on the lips!

Overall, I'm very happy with this month's box, it features a good variety of products including that new release from Benefit. I'll be trying all these products out but I probably won't repurchase some of them since they are so expensive. But it'll be nice to see if they are worth the money.

I hope you enjoyed reading! If you like the look of these products and would like to subscribe to Birchbox, click here.
Until next time,

Birchbox February 2017

Hey everyone, I hope you're well!
Today I have a unboxing and review of this month's Birchbox.

 This month's theme is Express Yourself and is in collaboration with Papier, giving every subscriber a voucher for 25% off their products!

The first item I pulled out of the box is a conditioning spray by Beaver Professional. This is designed to detangle and nourish frizzy hair which is perfect for me cause my hair likes to do whatever it wants and is always fly-away. This costs £21* for the full size bottle which I think is a bit steep but if it works then you can't really complain!

Up next is this gorgeous makeup brush from Spectrum. I absolutely love their brushes and have received a couple from Birchbox before, although this marble design is to die for! This is a tapered eye contour brush so is perfect for blending and smudging. This only costs £5.99* which is an absolute bargain for a makeup brush in my opinion! I'll definitely have to check out the rest of the Marbelous range!

The next product I received is a dry shampoo by SHOW Beauty, who I've never heard of before. As far as I can tell, this just works like any other dry shampoo! It costs a whopping £30* for a bottle though so it's a bit of a jump from my usual spend of £3.99 for Batiste dry shampoo! I don't think I'll purchase the full size of this but I'll definitely try it out and see if it's worth the hefty price tag!

I received this eyeshadow trio from POP Beauty, another brand I've not heard of before. This is in the shade Champagne Mocha and looks perfect for everyday wear, creating a natural looking smokey eye. This retails at £15.50* which I think is a good price for 3 shadows and all 3 shades are shimmery and very pigmented! I love testing out new eyeshadows so I can't wait to have a play with this!

The last product I received is one I didn't even see at first cause it was underneath everything else! It's a sheet mask by KEEOME which is a Korean brand who have revolutionised skincare! This mask is designed to revitalise the skin with a blend of vitamins that brighten up tired skin. Perfect for those on the go all day! This usually costs £29* for 6 masks which is a pretty good deal if you ask me! I'm a sucker for a good sheet mask so I'll definitely be using this!

To buy all these products together it would usually cost over £100 so you can't really go wrong paying £12.95 for Birchbox! Overall, I'm super happy with this month's box and I can't wait to try out the Spectrum brush with the POP Beauty eyeshadow trio!

*All prices are for full size items on birchbox.co.uk/shop*

I hope you enjoyed reading, if you'd like to sign up to Birchbox click here.

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Birchbox January 2017

Hey everyone! Today's post is going to be a review and unboxing of January's Birchbox. I must admit with Christmas and New Year, I'd completely forgot about Birchbox until it arrived last week! This month's theme is Sprinkle of Happiness and it includes a variety of products to help kick off 2017 in the right way.

The first item I pulled out of the box is this shampoo from Kebelo. It has a deep cleansing formula that will essentially give your hair a detox from any product buildup or overstyling. I'm not really fussy with what shampoo I use, usually it's whatever is on offer to be honest. This shampoo doesn't have a very strong scent, but it does smell nice and I can't wait to try it.

The next item is a shave cream by Whish. I have a few products from Whish that I've received in previous Birchboxes and I love them! This is scented with acai and grapefruit which smells amazing! I'm quite lucky in that I don't have sensitive skin so I can test all sorts of products. I already own this shave cream in the almond scent and love that so I can't wait to use this one too!

Up next is this hand cream by Merci Handy. I've never heard of this brand before this product has the cutest packaging ever! Like most hand creams, this is designed to keep your hands super soft. As far as I know, there were a few variations of fragrance in this month's Birchbox and I received a cherry scented hand cream which smells lush! It's the perfect handbag size and I will probably use this to death!

 The next item I pulled out of the box is this concealer crayon from Lord & Berry. This is basically just a pencil that you use directly on the skin, blending with the fingertips. I received the shade Beige which, after swatching, might be the wrong shade for me but it is super creamy and I'm sure I'll be able to make it work!

Last but not least is this nail varnish from Nails Inc. The shade didn't really show up very well but it's a gorgeous dark green. Unfortunately, I can't wear nail varnish because of my job so I'm gonna have to give this away which is such a shame because the colour is so nice and I know Nails Inc are a really good brand!

That's everything in January's Birchbox, if you want to sign up click here. I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts and I'll see you very soon!

Blogmas Day 16 | Birchbox December 2016

Hello and welcome to day 16 of Blogmas. We're now into a single figure countdown to Christmas and I'm getting more and more excited just thinking about it! 

Today's post is going to be an unboxing and my thoughts on this month's Birchbox so let's get straight into it.

Firstly, can we just talk about how cute this box is?! It's their cutest design yet, and I'll definitely be using this for storage! Included in every box is a little booklet to tell you what you've received and this month there's also a gift envelope if you decide to give someone the gift of a subscription for Christmas.

The first item I pulled out of the box is a pack of Starskin Eye Catcher masks. These are for the under eye area and are designed to reduce puffiness and smooth out the skin. They're infused with coconut juice and licorice root extract to help brighten under your eyes. I will definitely be using these because I suffer from the worst eye bags ever!

Up next is something I am super excited about and that is Benefit Porefessional Matte Rescue. This product has been raved about so much ever since Benefit released their new range of Porefessional products. It's a clear mattifying gel, which is perfect for me since I have quite oily skin. It's designed to mattify the skin and leave it looking poreless.

The next product is one that I have wanted for so long and it's the Fierce Flicks Eyeliner from Ciaté. This has been on my makeup wishlist for as long as I can remember! It's a felt tip liner and it's super black, like the blackest liner you will probably ever find! It's perfect for winged liner 'cause the tip is really thin too!

I've never been one to use any sort of masks or fancy products on my hair so when I saw this Percy & Reed Wonder Balm, I was slightly sceptical. I'm one of those girls that just uses shampoo and conditioner, purely because my hair isn't in a really bad condition and because I'm just too lazy to faff about. This is a leave-in treatment balm which preps your hair for any styling products you might throw at it (not literally I hope)

The last item is one that enticed me quite a little and it's an Eyelighter by Laqa & Co. I assume by the name it's a highlighter designed mainly for your brow bone and inner corner of your eye but I guess you could use it anywhere. All the highlighters in my collection are powder so it'll be nice to try out this stick. The shade is a really lovely pink champagne colour, it has a really creamy texture and blends so well!

So that's everything in this month's Birchbox! I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts, if you'd like to subscribe click here.

Birchbox November 2016

Hello again! Today, I have an unboxing and review of this month’s Birchbox which features a collaboration with Tatler, giving you a discount on their monthly magazine subscription!
This month's box also included their Christmas gift guide featuring lots of great products perfect for anyone beauty and makeup obsessed.

The first item I pulled out of the box is a hair brush from Wet Brush Pro. This is such a cute little brush and is perfect for throwing in my handbag. Apparently it can be used wet or dry which is great for whenever you’re in a rush getting out of the bath/shower and need to quickly chuck your hair up!

Up next is an eyebrow pencil from Bbrowbar. I’ve never heard of this company before which is good because I love trying new products! This pencil is in the shade Indian Chocolate and after swatching I feel like it might not be the right shade for my brows since I have dark hair. It has a very creamy texture and seemed to take forever to wipe off my hand which is perfect if the weather’s not too great because then at least you know you’re brows won’t budge haha!

The next product I picked up is a leave-in conditioner from Beauty Protector. I’ve received a few items from this brand before and I’m almost certain that they’re exclusive to Birchbox. This conditioner comes in a handy spray bottle and is designed to help detangle the hair and leave it feeling silky smooth. I’ve never tried a leave-in conditioner like this before so I can’t wait to use this and see what kind of wonders it does for my hair!

Another brand I’ve received items from is Nuxe and this month I got their face moisturising cream. I’ve tried a few of their products and I really liked them so I’m excited to use this! I normally don’t splurge on anything special as a moisturiser as most of them just do the same thing regardless of the price but I’m SO tempted to purchase the full version of this moisturiser because it’s just so good! It has such a lovely scent and makes my skin feel softer than ever!

The last item in this Birchbox is a lip primer from Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics. I’ve heard of this company but never tried any of their products but after trying this primer, I might have to look at what else they have to offer! This primer has a lovely minty smell which actually made my lips tingle a little when I used it which made me feel like they were a little bit plumper than usual! Although it only comes in a small tube, a little does go a long way! It makes my lips feel so smooth and hydrated and also kept my lipstick on all day with no need for re-applying!

That’s everything in this month’s Birchbox, I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on it.