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Birchbox

Beauty Boxes

Birchbox January 2014

January 21, 2014

It seems like a lifetime ago that the December Birchbox came and after my completely overwhelming Christmas period where I was spoilt rotten, I had nearly forgotten about beauty box time. In fact I was at Gem’s house when suddenly the strange delivery lady appeared with her box, so I instantly hurried the fifteen feet or so back to my own house in excitement!

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A new look to the Birchbox was pretty surprising, but great. Gem and I are suckers for packaging and one of the things we like most about Glossybox is unwrapping the beautiful tissue paper and delicately placed ribbon. Although I admit that the mini Birchbox bags we used to get were convenient, I now have so many of them that I have no idea what to do with them, they aren’t as sturdy as the boxes themselves so they don’t stack, thus they take up muchos room!

The other exciting thing about this edition is that Birchbox announced we would get a Benefit product in them, which Gem and I absolutely -thrive- off.

So what’s in the box?

tommyguns

Tommyguns Fig, Plum & Marshmallow Conditioner – £5.50 for full size product

This promises to guarantee frizz-free hair – and it smells pretty lush too, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had a gigantic 250ml size bottle, as usually the smaller samples do me for half a wash, given the amount of hair I have!

pore-fessional

Benefit – The POREfessional – usually £24.50 for full size product

This is one of the greatest primer’s on earth, I like to use mine on only problem areas and use another primer for the rest of my face, just to conserve what I have of this. But seriously – pores be gone!

Gem and I absolutely love this, and are always saying we need to double up on all our fav cosmetics – mostly so that on gig days we don’t have to go through the trauma of packing a make-up bag, but also after Gem had hundreds of pounds worth of make-up stolen a few years ago on our jaunt to Wacken, we like to cover all possibilities of our fav’s going walk abouts. A decent sized 7.5ml to add to my collection – thank-you very much Birchbox.

noble isle

Noble Isle – Willow Song Bath & Shower Gel – £20 for full size product

Well I was a little disappointed with the addition of this product, it doesn’t really smell that great and I have so many toiletries to get through after the festive period that it will probably end up in my “mini’s collection” bag ready for some sort of overnight outing I may find myself going on. I may find myself surprised, but it also seems a little pricey for something that doesn’t seem to claim any great feat. A mini 30mls, good for travelling though!

Vasanti

Vasanti – Detox Nutrient-Rich Purifying Facial Cleanser – £18 for full size product

A generic cleanser, claiming to wash away toxins and all traces of foundation – I’ll remember this and will give this a go after a night on stage to see just how well it performs! Can’t go wrong with miniature sized cleansers though really can you? Another generous 20ml bottle.

Anatomy

Premae – Anatomy Nutrients Instant Renewal Body Oil – £9.50 for full size product

“Moisturise, tone and detoxify skin” – I have to admit, I’m becoming a bit of a fan of body oils. Not only are they great for massages (I mean the actual massages, after a stressful day, when your partner does something completely selfless and doesn’t even expect any late night sessions ;o)) but they are also good if you suffer with dry skin, especially during the winter months, where all that heating tends to dry your skin out. I’m definitely looking forward to trying this out. Another 20ml bottle.

miso-soup

Itsu – Miso Soup – £2.25 for three sachets

This was the lifestyle extra, a light and healthy soup paste, that you just add hot water to. I’m a fan of healthy soups like this, I previously used to buy “1cal soup” which was Vegetarian, but chicken flavoured. Really nice for a snack, without the guilt trip of scoffing unwanted calories. This too is also Veggie friendly so next time I’m feeling peckish, I’ll try this out and see what I think. I’ll then decide if £2.25 is reasonable for just three packets.

 

Overall I’m pretty pleased with the first Birchbox of the year, although that may have something to do with the addition of Benefit! If’ you’d like to try this box out, head on over to their website here. It’s £10 a month with £2.95 P&P. You also have the added bonus of collecting points when you complete surveys on your products, which you can spend in their shop on all the lovely products you get in  your box each month!

Totally hellbent for the first box of the year

-Pants

 

Beauty Boxes

November 2013 Birchbox

November 15, 2013

Birchbox

Seems like this Birchbox came around really quickly! Not that I’m going to complain – Birchbox have had a winning streak of amazing boxes recently and this one is no different!

November birchbox

 

For the uninitiated, Birchbox is a monthly subscription beauty box that tends to have between 5-6 beauty products and a lifestyle (usually some kind of delicious snack!) extra.

This month is another big one with seven products and an overall worth that’s way above the price point.

 

Welda Replenishing Oat Shampoo

 

Welda Replenishing Oat Shampoo

I’ve been keen to try more from this brand since falling in love with the Welda Skin Food (which I received in a previous Birchbox) so this was a nice treat! It claims to smooth hair, reduce breakage and improve suppleness and is enriched with lots of yummy natural oils!

18ml Sample

Full size £8.95 from Birchbox.com

 

Laura Mercier Long Lash Mascara

Laura Mercier Long Lash Mascara

You can never have too many mascaras right? I tend to be less adventurous with seeking out new mascaras, so it’s always great to get to try out samples in beauty boxes. I fell in love with the Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser last month, so fingers crossed the mascara is just as good.

5.6g Sample

Full size £18.50 from John Lewis

 

 

 Matriskin High Performance Cream

Containing 47 different peptides to plump, regenerate and restructure the skin, and I’m guessing it needs every single one to be worth £80.50 a jar! I think I’d like to do a little research into it’s contents before I put it near by face, as a quick google search couldn’t ascertain if this was animal friendly or not. At any rate I doubt it will be a repurchase at that price unless it really does work miracles!

15ml Sample

Full size £80.50 from Birchbox.com

 

Chella Highlighter pencil

Chella Highlighter pencil in Ivory Lace

I’ve never once considered a pencil as a viable medium for highlighter before, but this is gorgeous! A lovely pinky shimmer that will be just at home on the cheekbones as it will for eye make-up. This is one of the reasons I really love beauty boxes, not only a new brand to be discovered but also a whole new world of highlighters in pencil form!

Full size

Available for £15.95 from Birchbox.com

 

 

English Laundry Signature For Her Eau De Parfum

English Laundry Signature For Her Eau De Parfum

Oh that old complaint of perfume samples in beauty boxes. I don’t really mind when you get the odd one, though I much prefer the adorable miniature bottles to a standard sample card. I’d put this down as a very feminine floral scent, very summery though not too light. Not sure if I’d go for the full size but it might just grow on me.

2ml Sample

Full size £47  from Birchbox.com

 

 

BirchBox Pencil Sharpener

BirchBox Pencil Sharpener – Bonus Goodie

It’s always handy to have a pencil sharpener to hand, and this is actually much better than the one I’m currently using. Not super-exciting, but definitely useful! It has a clip off top so you could keep it in your make-up bag and not risk bits of pencil going everywhere, and accommodates both thinner and jumbo pencils.

Full size

Available for £3 from Birchbox.com

 

 

Pukka Herbs tea

 

Pukka Herbs Selection of Teas – Lifestyle Extra

Is it okay to get excited about tea? I’m English, of course it’s acceptable to get excited about tea! I smelt the delicious Three Cinnamon the moment I opened the box, then quickly spotted Gorgeous Earl Grey and Elderberry & Echinacea beneath. They are all organic and made from the most delicious (mostly) fair-trade ingredients.

3 x 2g tea bag

£2.39 per multi-pack from BirchBox.com

 

Yet another great box from Birchbox! If you like what you’ve seen, you can get your very own monthy box of treats from www.BirchBox.com for £10 & P&P.

Totally hellbent for tea? OOOOOOH TEA!

– Gem

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Beauty Boxes, Hair, Skincare

Birchbox October 2013

October 21, 2013

Birchbox October 13 2

I seem to have waited forever for this month’s beauty boxes to come around and after an underwhelming Glossybox this month, I couldn’t wait for Birchbox to try and lift my spirits.

This months delights included the following:

Birchbox October 13 3
BirchboxOctoebr 13 1

  • Laura Mercier Foundation Primer Radiance | £28.00
    A generous 15.0ml helping of this primer was very nice indeed. This will last a lifetime! I used a little of this on Saturday in the frantic morning rush when slapping on my stage makeup. It did a pretty fine job and putting on my foundation was most definitely a dream for once. I think this is a keeper to add to my stage makeup collection.
  • Dr Brandt Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant | £67.00
    I havn’t actually tried this yet, having not heard of the brand before I am expecting absolute miracles considering the price. A 7.5g helping is good enough for me to put it to the test though, so expect updates on this in the near future.
  • KMS California Curl Up Wave Foam Mousse | £15.00
    Being one of those with naturally curly hair, I am always buying products to make my curls and waves look nicer although most of the time I opt for straightening so it’s always a nice change for me to sport my natural hair do. This 75ml mousse should be plenty for me to test this out, despite the amount of hair I have!
  • theBalm cosmetics Stainiac | £10.00
    Having received a previous lip and cheek tint, I was a little apprehensive about this one. On swatching it’s a very subtle color, but I’m not sure the texture of this will get along with my skin, especially my cheeks. Time will tell with 1.2mls for me to play with.
  • Dr. Lipp Nipple Balm | £11.50
    I’ve been meaning to pick some of this up for a while and this months Birchbox was well worth it for this alone. An absolutely adorable 3ml size product. I own the Nip+Fab version of this and absolutely love it. Needless to say I will be saving this for as long as possible! If it had cheeks – I’d pinch them.

Lifestyle Extra:

  • Birchbox Eyelash Curler | £10.00
    I recently received a Curler in my Glossybox a few months back and havn’t really got to grips with having a very bulky object very close to my eyes, with my precious eyelashes in it’s grasp. At some point, I will have a play with them box and see how they do. It took me years to finally take the plunge with falsies, so hopefully I can be a little braver this time.

Beauty Box Extra:

  • Egyptian Magic | £29.00
    Three 3ml sachets of all purpose skin cream. Who does not love skin cream? I haven’t tried this yet, but through the packet it feels very thick – almost like Vaseline. With the packaging bringing a little Nile into the equation, I could almost see this as a death metal beauty item too. Can’t wait to play with it.

Another thing I enjoyed this month was the little cards in place of a “magazine” with a few tips and other bits of info. I’m a sucker for quirky graphics!

You can get your hands on a Birchbox for just £10 a month with £2.95 P&P. With the option to cancel whenever you want and earn reward points for each box which you can spend later it’s well worth it.

 Totally hellbent for teeny tiny treats

-Pants

 

 

Make-up, Skincare

Double Whammy – Benefit PORE-fessional & Gerda Spillmann Make-up Primer

September 16, 2013

primercombo2

primer combo1

From Left: Benefit The PORE-fessional, Gerda Spillmann Hydro Pearls Make-up primer.

 

I’m always on the lookout for things that make my makeup stay put on stage. I’m in love with the Benefit PORE-fessional, but I don’t always need to use this. Alas, since I was having a particularly bad face day during the last two gigs, I used this around my cheek area but decided to try out one of my beauty box delights, Gerda Spillmann Hydro Pearls Make-up primer.

I found the Hydro Pearls a little watery when I applied it, however it went on more like a moisturiser which seemed to give me more coverage. My foundation went on brilliantly and I was very impressed by the durability.

I finished putting my makeup on at around 16:30 in the afternoon, played a 40 minute set with Dakesis and came got home around 12:30am.

Despite sweating my behind off on stage, the end result is pretty damn impressive!

These were taken before bed & makeup removal – the second one obviously being for pure comical value!

primercombo4 primercombo3

 

Oh yeah … did I forget to mention the blonde? This is a temporary measure – I figured that having a break from Red, would a) allow the current fashion world to pick a new color and b) make it super super bright when I dye it again.

To conclude, this is definitely a product I will be using more often for gig days and will put on my “must buy in the near future” list.

You can buy Gerda Spillmann Hydro Pearls for £30 shiny pennies via the Birchbox website and you can pickup Benefit The POREfessional from Boots for £24.50.

Totally hellbent for 2 being a prime number ;o)

Pants

 

 

Beauty Boxes

Birchbox September 2013

September 15, 2013

septemberbirchbox1

I returned home from the New Disorder Music Festival last night, to a note from a delivery man, telling me this little beauty was outside (with a slug attached to it).

Brains gave me that look … the one he gives when yet another makeup based/girl product arrives, and I grinned, ran into the kitchen, giggled to myself and opened it.

septemberbirchbox3

 

And what a delight did this month’s Birchbox have in-store for me …

 

septemberbirchbox2

From Left to Right:

  • Aromatherapy Associates Revive Body Gel – Body Gel (for use on “problem areas”? perhaps I’ll try this after a workout!)
  • Révérence de Bastien Nail Polish – Could this have come in a more perfect colour?
  • Molton Brown Ylang-Ylang Nourishing Body Lotion – (overjoyed at this, since I received the shower gel last month)
  • ModelCo® Party Proof Lipstick – I’ve heard good things about this Matte look lipstick, so I’m looking forward to trying out the wear-ability of it.
  • Bioderma – Bioderma H20 – Makeup Remover – I used this last night to remove my stage makeup and it definitely gives Loreal a run for it’s money.
  • Green & Black’s White Chocolate Bar – Firstly, I love White Chocolate, secondly, I love Green & Blacks and thirdly – how utterly adorable is that!!

So there we have it folks, another month, another box and a whole host of amazing goodies.

You can get your hands on this months (and the next) Birchbox for £10.00 + £2.05 p&p.

 

Totally hellbent for chick things and chocolate

-Pants

 

 

Beauty Boxes

Birchbox August 2013

August 26, 2013

I know, I know – we are nearing the end of August and I have already had this box since my return from Wacken!!

Unfortunately, real life took over and I have been very slow on the posting horizon, but better late than never, feast your eyes on this:birchboxaugustbirchboxaug3bircboxaug2

My juicy contents this month include:

  • Birchbox Gel Mask
  • Montibel.lo Gold Oil Essence
  • Molton Brown Ylang-Yland body wash
  • Skinlife Energetic Cellular Cream
  • LAQA & Co’s Fat Lip Pencil in Fairyblood
  • Gerda Spillmann’s Hydro Pearls Make-up Primer
  • Propercorn (looking forward to nomming this)

I was a little underwhelmed at the Birchbox last month, but I have to say I am loving this month’s and despite plummeting head first into a financial crisis after deciding to leave my job to work alongside my partner, I think I am going to keep going. Well worth a subscription, even if you do intend on it  being for only one month!

Totally hellbent for “just one more month” mentality

-Pants

 

Beauty Boxes, Hair, Skincare

Free product joys

August 13, 2013

It’s always sad when festival season finishes, however it is made slightly better when you come back to parcels that contain free things!!!

On my return from Wacken, I received my two free products after signing up to Birchbox:

wenloccitaneWen Cleansing Conditioner, which I confess I used during my first shower back at home and it felt amazing! I was also filled with joy at receiving another L’Occitane moisturiser. I already have one of these from a Glossybox a few months ago and have been using it sparingly so I am pleased this has now been replenished.

To make things even better, upon returning from Bloodstock yesterday, I received this through the letterbox:

maybmascaraA free Maybelline “The Rocket Volum’ Express” mascara. This was from a competition I had entered and clearly forgotten about. I have resisted opening it to test it out for now so I am sure this won’t be the last you will be seeing of this!

Totally hellbent for bonus postal goodies

-Pants

 

 

Beauty Boxes

July 2013 BirchBox

July 22, 2013

July birchbox

Oh you sneaky beauty box companies! Just when I decide it’s time to curb my spending for a little while you send me an email offering free delivery and two extra products…

BirchBox is a monthly subscription beauty box of 4-5 beauty products and one lifestyle sample. The packaging is decidedly less glamorous than the HBFL favourite Glossybox with a smaller sturdy brown (but eco-friendly looking) box and a fabric drawstring bag inside containing all the spoils.

 

July birchbox inside

 

Well in honesty I’m not sure how I feel about this box. I received two make-up products, two skincare, one hair and one lifestyle which is a very good mix…I just wasn’t particularly excited by any of it.

 

July Birchbox Detangle

Beauty Protector protect and de-tangle

Cute packaging, and a product I get through quite a lot of. I really like the scent of the spray, but on first testing it seems a little thicker than my usual de-tangle sprays. I’ll be taking this to Wacken with me to put it to the test!

 

July birchbox the balm blusher

TheBalm Cosmetics InStain long wearing powder staining blush in Swiss Dot.

What a mouthful! This was probably the most exciting product for me. I love the little magnetic close book packaging, and the colour is one I would definitely pick for myself.

There is a lot of pigmentation, but it blends out quite easily, again this will be going in my festival cosmetics bag as it is absolutely tiny at 0.5g. It will have to really impress me on my face to make me buy the full size at £21.50 though!

 

July birchbox cashmere

 

Blanc Cashemire Creme de hour protectrice

First up I love the smell and texture of this day cream – it feels every bit a luxury skincare item. It left my skin feeling fresh and soft and was completely non-greasy which is a must for my horrid shiny skin.

 

July birchbox eyeliner

 

Laura Geller Beauty inkwell gel eyeliner

I’m a huge fan of gel eyeliners, and I don’t have a purple so this will fit in to my make up collection nicely. The colour is very metallic and rich, and it applied much easier than I thought it would at first glance.

It comes with a small brush in the lid of the pot, however I couldn’t find out online if the brush was synthetic or animal hair so I shant be putting it on my face any-time soon (If you know either way please do let me know!)

It set very quickly, but didn’t feel dry or stiff as some gel liners can, however it doesn’t come close to the Elf gel liners that are £20 cheaper.

 

July glossybox weleda

 

Weleda Skin food

With a long list of natural ingredients and a very strong herby, plant based scent I thought I would love this, but it feels a little too oily for my skin unfortunately. I will give it another chance when I’m having a less shiny day as I’ve heard so many good things about this brand and it’s results!

 

July birchbos Chia shot

 

The Chia Co shots

I love me a good superfood, and as a vegetarian was very happy to see that these seeds are packed with Omega 3 and protein. Rather tasteless, I found that sprinkling them over breakfast gave me a burst of nutrients without even noticing!

I think I may get my hands on some more of these, as I’d much rather get my extra vitamins from food then tablets.

 

 

Overall I think I was just a little underwhelmed with this box, despite liking almost all of the products. It feels a little more grown up than Glossybox, but I think that’s where part of the fun is missing.

I’ll be giving BirchBox another month to impress me, and if next month isn’t an improvement I might just have to cancel my subscription and find something more fun.

 

You can get your very own BirchBox here for £10 (+ 2.95 P&P)

 

Totally hellbent for my new mini blusher at least!

– Gem