BBBBox 2 - What Was In My Box?

I was unlucky not to get my hands on the first BBBox which Jane, the lovely lady behing the British Beauty Blogger Blog put together and when I saw how fantastic it was, I was slighty gutted.  I was therefore delighted that there was going to be a second BBBox and there was no chance I was going to miss out on it.  It cost just £22 with P&P very reasonably priced at £5.95 and for your money there was a box packed full of lovely products to get excited about, all of which Jane herself picked and chose.

In my box was the following:

• Alterna Bamboo Range 48 Hour Sustainable Volume Spray
• Bourjois Eyeliner
• CND Vinylux Nail Polish & Top Coat
• Indeed Labs Hydraluron
• L'Occitane Angelica Cleansing Gel
• L'Occitane Angelica Face Toner
• L'Occitane Cherry Blossom Hand Cream
• La Roche-Possay Redermic Dermatological Anti-Wrinkle Treatment
• Mandara Spa Tropical Blooms Softening Bath Milk
• Maybelline Rocket Mascara
• Rituals Car Fragrance
• REN Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask and Invisable Pores Detox Mask
• Rouge Bunny Lip Gloss Gleaming Temptation in Uncaged Tigress
• Urban Decay Moondust Eye Shadow in Zodiac
• Roger & Gallet Bois d'Orange Huile Sublime
• Vichy Idealia Smoothing and Illuminating Cream
• Washi Hot Cloth 

And a lovely little Union Jack stocking which can be used to house some of your products, perhaps to give them as a gift to someone (you will not get that from me).

I was really excited to find the Indeed Labs Hydraluron and Washi Hot Cloth, both of which are nestled quite nicely on my 'Want To Try' list and I was also chuffed to see the two REN products and La Roche-Posay which also feature on the 'Want To Try List'.

Did you get your hands on this box? 

Does this box contain any product that you would love to try?

Dr Lipp Nipple Balm for your lips!

Part of my night time skincare routine does involve my lips. Lips for me are an important feature and I like to do as much as I can to ensure they look and feel soft, smooth and supple rather than dry and cracked with bits of skin hanging off all over the place.

Dr Lipp Nipple Balm was a product I had only heard of but had never used, then I got a sample in my Glossybox and I put it to one side for quite a while until I read a few blog posts about how good it was with some people referring to it as their Holy Grail Lip Balm, curiosity got the better of me and I decided to try it for myself.

According to the website: Dr.Lipp was originally developed as a nipple balm for breastfeeding women because of its ultra hydrating & hypoallergenic multipurpose properties. Dr.Lipp has many benefits both medical and for beauty and is ideal for dry cuticles, dry skin patches, burns and abrasions, severely chapped lips, sore nipples, split ends, eczema, babies’ bottoms, and much much more.

The tube that I have is quite a small one and it contains just a 3ml tube and the product inside is like a thick gel, similar in consistency to Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream (which I dislike a lot) only it is totally without any scent or odour.  I always apply this to my lips every night before I go to bed and you only need a really small amount.  when I used this for the very first time, I was expecting to get that horrible greasy feel that Vaseline leaves on my lips, but instead it felt nothing like that and more natural, as though I had applied a normal lip balm and on my lips was a lovely sheen.

If like me you suffer with dry lips, this product is wonderful, for me it is a miracle worker and I am glad I had the chance to try a smaller version as a full 15ml tube costs £11.95 which although pricey, for me is worth every single penny.  

Naturally this product does have more than one use and for us Beauty Bloggers it is a multi-purpose products and these are just some of its uses:

• Use as a long lasting lip-gloss
• Prep dry skin before applying foundation for a more even look.
• Cheek shine
• Eye gloss for a dewy look
• Shaping eyebrows
• Lip primer to help prevent blotching
• As a mixer for pigments
• Perfect for ‘glitter lips’, ‘eye glitter’ & diamantes
• Last minute shoe polish!

Alongside used for us Beauty Bloggers there are some other uses and these are:

• Helps soothe and soften chapped lips
• Help prevent dry cuticles
• Helps soothe dry skin patches
• Helps reduce fine lines under the eyes
• Helps moisturise & nourish split ends
• Helps nourish eye lashes
• As a healer for nipple tape rash
• Helps with small cuts, burns and abrasions
• Helps sore noses from blowing
• Helps soothe Nappy rash
• Helps with itchy skin and eczema
• Helps soothe sore nipples from breastfeeding

As a product, Dr.Lipp is 100% pure and natural, hyper allergenic, tasteless and odourless and it contains no parabens or fragrance and is approved by Ecocert France. Dr Lipp is made from 100% ultra pure medical grade Lanolin which is harvested during the summer from natural Sheep’s wool and cleansed of all impurities to make our ultra pure ‘Queen’ of Lanolin.

Finally, Dr Lipp is:

• Proven to help reduce skin roughness by 40% in one hour.
• Considered by dermatologists and scientists to be one of the safest ways to care for your skin as the Lanolin lipids (oils) are so similar to your skin’s natural oils that they easily penetrate & absorb deeply into your skin.

For me this is a brilliant product and I absolutely love it, it does everything that it states it will do for the ways in which I use it.

Have you tried Dr Lipp? Do you like it?

Rituals Jasmine Dream Candle

I love candles, they create such a relaxing atmosphere for me that I tend to have a few dotted about the house (though I never leave them to burn unattended).  

At the minute I am burning Jasmine Dream, a candle from Rituals which was a gift from someone that I work with.  I love the packaging on this candle, once you remove the lid, the part which encases the candle opens out to reveal more information about the scent.

It retails for £19.50 which you can see HERE and for your money you get 50 hours of burn time and the most amazing scent comes to life just a few minutes after the wick has been lit.  The glass jar that the candle is housed in also lights up once the candle is alright adding to the look.

Rituals describe this candle as follows:

Jasmine Dream combines the relaxing and harmonising power of Jasmine blossoms with the calming properties of Ylang Ylang, the ‘flower of flowers’.

This candle smells totally divine and whilst I normally associate being able to relax with a Lavender scent, this candle does just a good a job at creating a relaxing environment with the most amazing scent to go with it.

I would definitely buy more candles from the Rituals range and I wouldn't hesitate to purchase this candle again.

Have you ever used a candle from Rituals?  

What candle do you burn to help relax?

Project Shoebox - needs YOUR help!

So I have Grace from AllThatSlap to thank for alerting me to this amazing cause that I too had to share with you.

Project Shoebox was an idea brought to life by a lady called Kate just 6 weeks ago and she, like many of us Beauty Bloggers has a bit of an addiction to buying beauty products and then a few weeks later realising we have so many that there are not enough hours in the day to not only use them or review them but we forget about them too. Kate took it upon herself to ring her local shelter for woman to see if they could make some use of the product she did really need. Many of these women are victims of domestic violence, who have been traumatized and often have to leave their homes with absolutely nothing, just the clothes they are wearing.

The appeal itself is asking for any unwanted beauty products to give to these women at a shelter who have been through a lot during this year, and Christmas may not be something they are looking forward to or have any presents to either give or receive.

I am the first to admit that I could probably fill more than one shoebox and I am guilty of having products sat around that I bought and didn't like so just leave them there until I eventually throw them out.  But rather than throwing them out, this year I am giving them to this fantastic cause and I hope some of you will be doing the same too.   This is just some of the stuff that has been sent to support this project to date:

All of these photos have been kindly given to me by Katie herself and feature her baby son. As you can see, there has been a lot of generosity so far, but still more is needed. Below you will find a list of what are deemed accepted products, naturally they are preferable unused:

*The Basics List*

Toothbrush and paste
Shower gel
Shampoo
Some sort of moisturiser
Tampons/towels

*Luxury List*

Hair conditioner
Hair products - spray, mousse, gel, etc
Body lotion, cream
Hand/Foot cream
Facial wash/cleanser, toner, moisturiser
Body scrub/loofah
Make up remover
Make up - unused mascara, lippy, etc
Cosmetics
Razors
Hairbrush/comb

If you think it a worthy cause, please give what you can. Simply go to the Facebook page which you can find by clicking here, send them a note with your postcode and a paid label to simply print off, as well as a list of local shops for you to drop your goodies off to will be given to you as quick as that.  It really couldn't be easier.

So get rooting through those drawes, cupboards,boxes, bags, sacks and anywhere else you hide your stash and give it to someone who needs it much more than you do!