Ciate

Beauty Boxes

Glossybox October 2014 Review

October 29, 2014

It’s not secret that Glossybox and I have had our ups and downs over the last 6 months and despite cancelling my box I’ve somehow still ended up subscribing. Thankfully they’ve managed to win me over with this month’s Pop Art theme which has been absolutely fantastic and well worth my monthly sub.

This first thing that’s a little different about this month’s box, is that the product card you usually receive is now online. Great if you can keep your crummy hands off opening the e-mail until your box arrives, but unfortunately I peeked because I couldn’t help myself. There was also no glossy mag but I’m all up for saving the environment so I don’t mind.

NUXE – CRÈME FRAÎCHE® DE BEAUTÉ MASK – £19.50 for 50ml – Full Size Received

The first thing I checked was whether this was cruelty free and it seems to be after confirming with their FAQs. This is billed as a 24 hour moisturising mask which helps to soothe and reduce redness. The instructions say to leave the mask on for 10 minutes and then either rub it into the skin or wipe off with toner, so I’m quite excited to try this out. After trying a little on my hand although the smell is a little less than desirable my hand did feel quite soft afterwards, although I opted for rinsing it off under the sink. I’ll definitely be giving this a go sometime next week to see how my face gets on with it.

Website: uk.nuxe.com

ÊTRE BELLE COSMETICS – LIPLIFT PEEL – €12.95 for 15ml – Full Size Received

Again my research tells me this is not tested on animals and should be cruelty free. Brilliant news because I’m super excited to give this a whirl. I often get dried lips, especially in Summer and Winter so have a quick fix like this will really help. Simply massage onto the lip area and rinse. No nonsense, no fuss and hopefully lovely smooth lips!

Website: etre-belle.co

SO SUSAN COSMETICS – FLUTTER MASCARA – £14.95 for 4ml – Full Size

I do already own this mascara I have to admit and it’s been sat unopened in my “mascara” drawer (issues I know!). I’ve enjoyed all the So Susan products I’ve acquired over the past few months so I’m hoping this one will be no exception. The price is a little steep and I’m pretty good at avoiding paying full price for pretty much everything so I’m not sure that this is something I would actively seek out to buy but it’s been bumped up my “mascara to open next” list by quite a few so I’ll see how it goes!

Website: sosusan.com

CIATÉ LONDON – PAINT POT – £9 for 13.5ml – Full Size

One of the reasons this month’s box was so appealing was definitely this full size beauty. Both Gem and I have quite a collection (obsession) of these and they are definitely one of our favorite brands of nail varnish. The finish and look is so perfect and the longevity of the colours beats a lot of other products I’ve used in the past. I’d not owned a nice blue from Ciate so this gorgeous bright and bold colour named “Skinny Jeans” was a more than welcome addition to my collection. I’ve had it on my nails since it arrived and I’ll be hard pushed if I’m going to change it for another few days I’m so in love. Gem received a lovely green in hers which I also want!

Website: ciate.co.uk/glossy-box

YVES ROCHER FRANCE – QUELQUES NOTES D’AMOUR – £33 for 30ml – 5ml Sample Received

I’m always pretty so so about receiving fragrance samples. The reality is that even though they may smell nice, I never really repurchase them with the exception of Katy Perry which I instead asked for as a gift. Still, providing they smell nice, they are quite handy for when I go away, for festivals and gigs. This fragrance is quite pretty though and is a pretty great Autumnal smell with notes of damascus rose, guaiac wood and patchoul it’s not too heavy and very wearable for the day. £33 seems pretty reasonable for this though and it might be something I’d think about repurchasing at some point when I can justify it.

Website: yves-rocher.co.uk

RIMMEL LONDON – BB CREAM MATTE – £6.99 for 30ml – 8ml Sample Received

This is probably the least exciting out of the box. I’ve not really got on with BB creams since they became such a trend. Mostly because even when opting for the lightest shade, they still turn out a tad orange. Although I received a sample in “light” it’s still a little too dark for my skin but there is less of an orange undertone to this one. I reckon this is destined for my summer skin drawer where it should give me better coverage when I become a victim of tanned when daring to brave the sun for more than 5 minutes. In terms of application, I’m not sure how impressed I am with this. It’s a little heavy and I have the feeling it may dry my skin out if I use too much of it. Having tested it on my hand, it does give a pretty nice matte finish so a good dose of moisturiser may help with the heaviness when applying – unfortunately they only have this in Light and Medium, but a shade or two lighter would have been perfect for my skin!

Website: uk.rimmellondon.com

This month’s box has definitely made up for a bunch of bad ones and I love the theme, the box and the contents to go with it. I’ll still be subscribing for now and crossing my fingers that the next few month’s are equally as good.

You can subscribe to Glossybox for just £10 per month plus postage and packaging here. You can also buy 3, 6 and 12 month subscriptions which are perfect for gifts especially around this time of year!

Have you received the Pop Art Edition yet? If so, I’d love to know what you received and what you thought!

Totally hellbent for a little art with my makeup

– Pants

Nails

Bourjois Manucure Toppings in Coral Bikini, Lilac Sand & Maliblue

June 19, 2014

As with all nail trends I was inevitably late to this party but I seem to have suddenly acquired quite a collection of nail caviar sets, and this the latest was a competition win from the lovely Pretty for Pence!

The trio contains three shades; Coral Bikini, a mix of red silver and gold, Lilac Sand in purple and silver and Maliblue, which is made up of blue silver and black. I’ve tried quite a few different caviar manis recently and I have to say I can see no difference between the original Ciate (£18 a set) and the Primark (I paid £1 for mine!) set, nor indeed this Bourjois offering somewhere in the middle at £6.99 each.

To apply you simply pour the tiny beads over the top of wet nail varnish and leave to set. None of them survive longer than a day or two, but they do give an amazing 3D effect whilst it lasts!

My favourite of the three is (unsurprisingly) Maliblue, but as I’m so into this look at the moment I think all three will find plenty of wear on my nails. If you’re like me and enjoy changing your manicure every few days anyway then it’s no extra bother to take it off and start again once the balls start going AWOL. If you are after something that will last you a whole week then caviar nails are definitely not for you!

The only thing I don’t really like about the Bourjois Manucure Toppings is that they don’t come with a funnel, which is pretty essential if you don’t want to throw away the inevitable spillage that occurs when you pour the beads onto your nails. Luckily I have a few from my other sets, but if you don’t have one it’s quite tricky to try and pour the beads back in even if you do collect them in a piece of folded paper. My advice would be to pop to Primark and grab one of their sets for £1 just for the funnel!

Overall I am quite smitten with this summery trio, so big thanks to lady luck and Katie from Pretty for Pence for bringing them into my life!

£6.99 each from Boots.com

Totally hellbent for loving a freebie!

– Gem

News

Get three Ciate Paint Pots for £1 with Sun+!

April 17, 2014

Have you seen this amazing offer from Sun+? You can pick up three Ciaté paint pot nail varnishes in Paparazzi, Knickerbockerglory and Butterscotch for absolutely free when you sign up for the £1 month trial to Sun+.

The set of three is worth £27 so it’s quite a saving, and a great chance to try an amazing nail brand out if you haven’t had the chance yet (or add to your collection!).

Just follow this link to www.thesun.co.uk and follow the directions to sign up.

Totally hellbent for stumbling across such an awesome offer!

Gem & Pants

Beauty Boxes

Glossybox February 2014

February 16, 2014

Here’s yesterday’s Glossybox – I know usually Gem and I swap between us, but unfortunately she is busy on the mainland with Sir Roodington so to avoid it being a further week until you get to view the contents, I’ve defied all sense of normality and just gone for it. (Sorry Gem)

This was the “Valentine’s-esque” edition and the box is just so adorable! I love the themed boxes and they look so cute stacked on top of each other.

And finally onto the box:

As always, removal of the lid takes you to the most beautifully and lovingly packaged contents that you almost don’t want to spoil.

Nougat London- Sparkling Body Shimmer – 100ml sample (£14 for full size)

This was first out of the box, ordinarily I would think this was a cute body lotion, but my drawers are absolutely overflowing with lotions of all shapes and sizes at the moment and I’m finding it hard to get excited about something that makes me … well … shiny. I think if I was a slightly darker shade of “white” I might just get away with slapping some of this on my “shins” as recommended, but unfortunately my pasty self that hides behind tights and leggings doesn’t quite make the cut. Besides that, it smells nice and the bottle is quite pretty – application wise, it’s a little greasy at first but then fades into that lovely disco ball shimmery glow that people seems to be keen about these days.

NV – Chunky Eye Crayon – Full Size (£5 for full size)

This is pretty spectacular in terms of application. On trying it out on my hand, grabbing a brush and playing with some blending – this was golden! (Actually more of a lilac, but hey ho). It applies well considering it’s a crayon and I love the texture, unfortunately I’m struggling to work out how and when I would get away with such a disgusting colour. My experience with purple of any kind is that I generally look like I’m on the receiving end of an abusive relationship and I just -can’t- seem to pull the look off. If anyone has any tips on how I could incorporate this into a look, please let me know because I’m desperate to use this little beauty.

Ciaté London – Paint Pot in “plastic fantastic”

When Gem and I found out we were receiving one of these in the next Glossybox, we both squeed a little. My previous Ciaté has been well used and is such a classy colour (See one of my nail tutorials here). I was hoping for more of a red colour with it being Valentines day, but actually, this is quite a cute pink and probably something I will use and even incorporate into a few nail designs. It also forces me outside my comfort zone of RED RED RED RED RED RED … did I mention red? I’m pretty pleased with this to be honest.

Giovanni Eco Chic cosmetics – Chic Ultra Moist range – Shampoo, Condition & Hair mask sample (£7.99 for 251ml)

I’m not usually one to get excited over hair samples, I’m a bit stuck in my way’s with my current hair care regime, but these samples seem to be pretty full so I might just get one wash out of them. My only issue with this, is that it’s hard to trial it over time and see a noticeable difference. Having said that, a useful addition to my growing collection of hair samples for when I’m too poor to buy Shampoo (luckily I haven’t been there yet!)

Maybelline New York – Big Eyes Mascara – Full Size (£8.99 for full size)

At the risk of sounding like I have some serious issues here, I also have a vast collection of unopened mascara’s and am at the point where I will not open them until I’ve used my others up for fear of them drying out. This however looks pretty interesting and has two ends – one for the lower lashes and one for the upper. I’m intrigued to see whether this makes a difference or not, so watch this space.

Lindt – Lindor Treat Bar (£0.79 for one bar)

Oh Glossybox I love you. As if stuffing my face these past two weeks wasn’t enough – throw in Brain’s breaking my cross-trainer, which means I haven’t exercised either and Birchbox plying me with Green & Blacks, you have to add to this with a juicy bar of Lindt. My 12lb loss post Christmas may have gone down the pan but this chocolate bar certainly made up for it. Nom nom nom.

There you have it, another beauty box and edging closer to three months into the year. Scary stuff! If you want to give in to Glossybox, you can subscribe here for just for £10 (+ P&P) per month.

Totally hellbent for all of the chocolate but none of the weight gain

-Pants

Nails

Nail Tutorial – 1950s style roses and polka dots

November 12, 2013

Gem and I went to our friends wedding (evidence of the hen party we survived found here) the other weekend. Both feeling somewhat under the weather, we scrubbed up relatively well.

Alas, it was a 1950s esque red and black themed wedding, so naturally I went for a red rockabilly style dress to make up for the lack of my usual red hair.

This surely called for some distinct 1950’s nail art to go with it, so I have a play after some internet scouring. It’s also worth noting that I did my nails on the Friday evening, and didn’t remove my intact nail polish until Thursday the following week! The nails inc top coat is just -that- good.

Here’s the goodies I used for this nail:

As always I applied a base coat, filed my nails and did my cuticles.

I first applied Ciaté’s “Pocket Money” (another beautiful nail of the day from this shade can be found here) You can use any neutral or “toned down” shade for this really.

On all but my feature nail (whichever you choose), I used my trusty Avon Nailwear Pro+ “Licorice” to paint the tips and allowed this to dry.

Once dry, I lined the black with Révérence de Bastion “No 4” and added some Polka Dots with my dotting tool, I have to admit, the dots weren’t as bright as I’d anticipated so next time I may try this with a white underneath.

Now for the roses, I placed a blob of No 7 “Devil’s Delight” and a blob of Avons “licorice” on my nail wheel (or anywhere you don’t mind staining with varnish)

Using my nail brush, I mixed some black and red and made multiple C’s on my nail to get the rose effect. I layered this alternating the colours and once dry I used the black to add some leaves and the Révérence de Bastion “No 4” to highlight. Add a few polka dots and leave to dry. Make sure you pee or do any other hand based tasks before starting this!

Once dry, lather on the top coat and enjoy!

Totally hellbent for 1950’s themed weddings and nails!

-Pants

News, NOTD

NOTD – Ciaté paint pots in “PP107 pocket money”

September 19, 2013

I received Ciatés “Pocket Money” (£9.00) this in July 2013’s Glossybox.

On first glance, it not normally the colour I would go for, but I tried it for the first time on all my nails (not just an excited swatch on an already painted nail, which I do whenever I get new nail varnish) yesterday. First of all I tried it with Avon’s Opal, (on sale at £3.00) but it looked terrible.

Anyhow, I enjoyed the colour so much, that I repainted them today with Avon’s nailwear pro+ in “licorice” (on sale at £3.00) for the tips, and swapping them round on my index finger for an almost “accented” nail.

I adore how the glossy black Avon varnish compliments the classy grown up colour of the Ciaté. It’s like putting metal and finesse together! To finish up, I used my nails inc LONDON (£12.00) top coat.

Definitely going to be doing this one again as well as purchasing more from Ciaté’s range, which is absolutely beautiful!

On a complete side note … it will soon be Christmas, so look out for some nail tutorials of some of my signature “Christmas Nail” looks.

Totally hellbent for combining rock ‘n’ roll and chiqué

-Pants

Beauty Boxes, Festivals, Hair, Make-up, Nails

July 2013 Glossybox

July 13, 2013

Glossybox day is always the most exciting day of the month!

I’ve been doubly excited about the July box since I saw the gorgeous turquoise print a few days ago as part of the “ready for summer” theme, and I’m glad to say the contents were just as exciting!

After a long day in the sun at work organising a performance for some pupils at my music school, I was filled with glee at my lovely blue box. Despite my hot, sweaty, impatient demeanour I took my time drawing that lovely blue ribbon to reveal the treasures inside.

I am happy to say I will use everything inside the box, in fact I’d used the first item within seconds of spotting it!

Anatomiocals spray misty for me facial spritz

Anatomicals is not a brand I’ve heard of before but I rushed to cover my face in this cooling lavender and peppermint spray the moment I realized what it was. I was still wearing a full face of make-up at the time and it cooled me down and made my face feel refreshed without budging my war paint even a bit!

Alterna Haircare bamboo style boho waves tousled texture mist

I love the wavy just-come-from-the-beach-or-alternatively-from-a-vicious-headbanging-session look so I’m sure I’ll get lots of use out of this. It has a very light summery scent so I’m sure I’ll enjoy that regardless of how good it is at giving me big blue summery waves.

Pukka Ayurveda radiance serum

I’ve become slightly less excited about skincare items in my Glossybox as I find I never really get a chance to properly try them out. I have so many skincare samples and minis I fear I’ll never get around to really giving them a go, but the tripple whammy of Wacken > Bloodstock > Sunkfest next month means I should have plenty of reasons to pack my skincare minis and leave my full sized staples at home!

Ciate paint pot in “Pocket Money”

I’ve been meaning to try a Ciante polish for a long time, but begrudge £9.00 for something I will use one or two times then relegate to the back of my nail varnish drawer, so this was a nice surprise.

I love the warm neutral shade, and the packaging is very pretty however my boyfriend broke the trademark bow within two seconds of seeing it proclaiming “I want to eat it, it looks like dessert”…..

Coola Organic Suncare Collection mineral face SPF 20 rose essence tint

I hate hate hate the feeling of oily sun lotion on my face and sadly stick to foundations with SPF rather than a dedicated cream, reluctantly using a light spray sun protection in the hottest of weather. This however looks like it might be my new favourite product!

The full size product is a tad on the pricey side at £29.99 got 50ml as you have to throw away suncare products every year, but if it protects my face and keeps my skin from looking like an oil slick I might be swayed.

Overall verdict

Although I prefer a mix of more make-up products I’m really happy and impressed with this box, and I think I will get a lot of use out of it on my adventures next month!

You can order a Glossybox here for £10 (+ P&P) per monthly box.

Totally hellbent at almost being set for adventures thanks to my new miniatures!

– Gem