Birchbox February 2013 Review!

My Birchbox arrived!

I had seen a few spoilers for this month so was pretty excited for this one!

This box is London Fashion Week themed and all the products are good sizes.

First up we have a 50ml Vichy Eau Thermale spray. It says it is thermal spa water, rich in rare minerals and is 100% pure.
On the little card of products it also says it can be used as a toner, to set make-up or as a refreshing boost.

I tried it and it is very refreshing - great for summer!

Second we have a 50ml Korres Guava shower gel. I've tried a few products by Korres and they are pleasant, so I'm sure this will be nice too. Fruity smell is good for summer too!

Thirdly, we have a 59ml Nick Chavez Leave-In Thickening Mist. I haven't heard of this brand before it is American and has good reviews on qvc.com.

Fourth is a sachet of EBoost drink mix. It is a orange flavor vitamin and mineral powder drink. I've seen this before and wanted to order a sample but they only shipped within the US, so at least I can try it now!

Fifth, we have a Gerda Spillmann foundation compact. Super disappointed in this! It would have been perfect. The size is great for handbags and comes with a sponge to apply. Oh, it would have been amazing. If they had it in my shade! I don't know how many shades were sent out but I got 'Truffle' and  boy is it orange! I can't do anything with this! And I would have been so happy if the shade matched. So sad.

Lastly, a very nice bonus of an eyelash curler! I was going to go and buy one so this is perfect timing!

I've had a quick go and they do make a difference, yay!

I'm impressed with this Birchbox. Way better than the miserable Glossybox I had.
It would have been a fantastic box if the foundation had worked out!

What did you get? Anything different? What do you guys think of this months box?

From Me, For You  xoxo

Boots 'Be Enchanted' Tales of Spellbinding Beauty

This gorgeous 'book' of beauty was part of the Boots Christmas gifts range and there were about 6 different items in the Be Enchanted collection.

I am a sucker for anything 'enchanted', 'princess-y', 'fairytale-ish'!
I'm still crying over the fact I missed the Sephora Cinderella collection and the magnificent mirror in that collection *sniff* Why did you leave me Sephora, whyyyyy? (have a look at that here: http://www.sephora.com/disney-cinderella-collection#!ref[]=1375145&pageSize=60&sortBy=-1&brandId=1301 )

But back to the lovely Be Enchanted Tales of Spellbinding Beauty......

It is in the style of a big fairy-tale book and the eyeshadows are found by opening the 'front cover' of the book and the lip and cheek sections are in a draw in the middle section of the book.
There is also a mirror on the lid (underside of book cover).

There are ten eyeshadows, each with a name linked to fairy-tales. So cute.

 

 Here we have a lovely dark gunmetal type colour with a gold key over-spray called 'Sorcerer', an aubergine colour in 'Cloak', a beautiful gold bronze in 'Coppice', a silver/pink in 'Pendant' and mustard gold in 'Coronet'

 left-to-right: 'Pendant', 'Coronet', 'Coppice', 'Sorcerer', 'Cloak'.

 The next five are a dark grey and silver flecked colour in 'Castle', lovely silver with a slight blue/green hint and gold key over-spray in 'Moonshine', dusky pink in 'Spirit', creamy gold in 'Slipper' and taupe in 'Fawn'.

left-to-right: 'Castle', 'Spirit', 'Slipper', 'Fawn', 'Moonshine'. 

The dark shades are well pigmented I have to say! There is a nice variation in shades. The lighter colours definitely need more layers to get the shade as seen in the pan and I wish they were more pigmented, but with a few layers it's all good. I love the variation in shades here and the names given.

The brush included is your standard foam double-ended applicator and I'll be using my own brushes as I don't like the foam ones!

Onto, the lips and cheeks!

There are 2 blushes and 4 lip colours.

The blushes are a bright pink called 'Fanfare'and a dusky pink called 'Fairytale', both with gold key over-sprays. 
'Fanfare' is sooo sheer, but as it is very bright, that ends up being a good thing.
'Fairytale' is more pigmented and a nice deep pink shade.

top: 'Fairytale'

bottom:'Fanfare' 

The lip colours are all creamy lipstick formulas, but look more like balms as they are sheer in colour, which is fine with me! They do look a fair bit different in the pan and on the lips though.

The colours are a hot, neon pink in 'Damsel', bright pink in 'Pixie', a sugary pink in 'Gracious' and a gold/pink in 'Blossom'.

left-to-right: 'Blossom', 'Gracious', 'Pixie', 'Damsel'.

The lip and blusher brushes are ok, nothing special, so will likely use my own again.


I do LOVE this though! The packaging is so adorable and well thought out. 
It's sturdy and does not feel cheap at all.
The colours in the eyeshadows are great I think and can do different looks. 
The lip and cheek colours suit me because I like things more on the sheer, light side, but those of you who love strong, pigmented colours may not be as happy as me, although layering is possible. 

The mirror is not the best of quality - it has that soft almost fuzzy look, but I like to think that was intentional and just adds to the fairytale/romantic look and feel! ;) Love the cute gold key accessory though!

This was £16 but the range was included in the 3 for 2 so I indulged and felt that with the savings it was a pretty nice buy.

Did you see this range in Boots? What did you think?

From Me, For You xoxo

TONY MOLY - Latte Art Morning Pack

This is a moisturiser by TONY MOLY, a 'cute as' make-up and skincare brand with amazing packaging! 

I am a sucker for packaging, so just had to have this one!

There was also a scrub in the same range which smelt of coffee!

The moisturiser comes in a sweet little mug container with spoon/spatula in the top and a cute swirly drink design. It looks great. There is also a small tub of 'Milk Creamy Essence' in the shape of those teeny milk pots.

You twist the top of the mug off and reveal the base which has a lid to protect the moisturiser inside.

Then we add the milk essence, which is an extra 'boost' of goodness. Stir it in and voila! 

The moisturiser has milk extracts in it and can be used as a normal moisturiser which has a good base for make-up and can also be a mask once the essence is added!
It is quite thick, but is water based, so very light and easily absorbed.

TONY MOLY has lots of lovely packaging, a lot in the shape of fruit and veg! I'm after the Broccoli Sprout Cleansing Cream next!

From Me, For You xoxo

Birchbox January UK 2013 review!

I write this blog entry as I sit eating my dinner all alone in Frankie and Bennys after getting snowed in at work and having to kip in a hotel overnight so I can still go to work tomorrow - thanks snow!

So, this is the first official UK Birchbox since it took over from Joliebox UK!

I was a bit cheeky and looked for spoilers on the box because I wanted to know a little about what I'd be getting and just from the spoilers I knew it was better than January's Glossybox!

So here's the box:

And what was inside

So, first item........tea-bag! Thanks! I like tea and all, but think I deserve a bit of a better 'sample', this could have been a bonus instead! I'm sure it tastes lovely though....!

Then we have TAAJ hand cream. They say it smells of cinnamon and I love cinnamon, but this doesn't really smell of cinnamon. Good for a handbag hand cream I think.

Next is WEI serum. I had this from Glossy and have yet to use it so I don't know what it's like. It sounds brilliant, but we will see! Have any of you guys tried it? Any good?!

Then we have fresh SUGAR lip balm, yayyyyyy! I've always wanted to try this! The colour looks a bit dark on the photo (and in the tube to be fair) but it leaves a slight hint of pink which is nice. And it seemed moisturising. Glad I got this!

Lastly is some KMS volume spray. I need some volume in my hair so will give this a go and see what its like. I recently tried another brand of 'root boost' type product and hated it, so hope this is better!

So, as a first box, it didn't wow me, it didn't disappoint me. It was good. Loved the fresh sugar balm. But was kind of hoping for a mega awesome box! Remember Carmine and their first box with 'the balm' blush? I was hoping for that, but I guess it was a decent start to Birchbox!

Thanks for reading,

From Me, For You xoxo

The Blog!

Hey. This is my beauty blog. I'll be blogging about my favourite products and brands. Some old, some new. I want to tell you about awesome products that I love and think you will too! 
It is a beauty blog, but I might throw in a post or two about other amazing things, like cake, afternoon tea and darling little places that look wonderful. 

I'm all about the cute. Packaging makes me happy, but, the product has to wow as well! I do love the Japanese and Korean brands that make the product look as good as how it performs. 
I absolutely LOVE and support animal friendly, cruelty free products and try to use as much as I can. 
Also, natural and organic is another love. Who doesn't love natural?!

I am on the hunt for 2 things....... number one is the Best Concealer. I haven't found 'the one' yet and everything I've tried has disappointed so far really. Number two, is the ultimate hair care range. I want shine and bounce for my hair so bad! Just like the concealer, everything has not wowed so far!

I also welcome feedback, so please comment on any posts! Let me know what you like or want to see more of.

I hope you enjoy the blog and come back for more.

From Me, For You