Cohorted Beauty Box for March

Having been disappointed not to get the first Cohorted box, I did manage to get my hands on the March box but not the April Box - ooh Cohorted you don't half know how to play with my emotions! Anyway, I shall be watching with interest as to what the April box contains before sobbing into my tissues.

I think the first thing I should be saying is that the actual box itself is really nicely put together, someone has put some thought into the presentation and whoever sits and ties all the bows, it is such a nice personal touch. When I opened my box, I had annoyingly seen some spoilers, not to self - Stay off Twitter! However, not deterred by the spoliers, I was still chuffed to see the contents which consisted of full sized products from Too Faced, Sleek, bareMinerals plus a sample size of Urban Decay mascara which I have been wanting to try.

The first item that caught my attention in the box comes from bareMinerals, which isn't a brand I have too much experience with.  Said to be worth a whopping £45 it is described as bring the 'Pure Transformation Night Treatment' in shade light.  Described as being:

"Our amazing ActiveSoil Complex in it's most concentrated form. This powder formula dramatically reduces the appearance of pores, improves skin tone and texture, and increases luminosity."

I am quite looking forward to giving this a try, more so because the brush really intrigues me.

The next product is by Sleek and it is the Precious Metals Highlighter Palette for face and body which has an RRP £9.99.  Within the palette there are four different shades, three are cream highlighters and one is a powder and they are accompanied by a little applicator brush and a handy mirror.  It is described as being:

"The versatile face and body highlighting palette compliments all skin tones, and the metallic finishes add a radiant glow and a luminous polish to the skin"

L-R Platinum, Royal Gold, Renaissance Gold and Antique Bronze

With shade names such as Platinum, Royal Gold, Renaissance Gold and Antique Bronze, it makes for a truly stunning palette.

The next item comes from one of my favourite brands Too Faced by way of a single eyeshadow and I got the shade Copper Peony which is a stunningly bright copper shade which is really pigmented and will suit all skin types, even my own almost porcelain shade. Described as follows:

"The eye-shadow shade will compliment any type of look you want to achieve. Elegant or rocker, a beautiful shimmer accessory for both day and night"

Now I am also a sucker for pretty packaging and this definitely wins the beauty in the box award for being pretty, flower shaped with a little clear see through circle, you can see the shade in the palette.

Finally, there is a sample of Urban Decays 'Perversion' mascara, an item that has been on my wishlist ever since I saw it at the counter in Debenhams. It is in shade black and described as being:

"A volumising mascara that defines each lash. The brush glides and creates bigger, blacker, badder lashes. Perversion mascara never gets brittle or clumpy"

I really like the wand on this mascara, it is huge and it is so easy to use.

So there you have it, the March Cohorted box and I am sure, like me, you will be hard pressed to find a single item to dislike or be disappointed with.  It is more than worth its £19.99 price tag and has so many items within the box that I want to use.

Did you get any of the Cohorted Boxes so far?

Exclusive Benefit Mascara Masterclass with Birchbox

Last weekend I attended an event with Birchbox and Benefit, two great brands in one amazing Curls Best Friend pop-up shop for exclusive Benefit Mascara Masterclass.

I arrived at the store on time after a powerwalk from the tube to be greeted with all the lovely Birchbox girls, whom I have had the pleasure of meeting before. Warmly welcomed with a choice of cocktail or mocktail, I quickly made my decision and had a lovely time chatting to fellow bloggers whilst we waited for the event to start.

The event. based upon the March Birchbox, which gave subscribers the choice of three different Benefit Mascaras - Bad Gal, They're Real or the brand new Roller Lash, Lisa Potter-Dixon, who is Benefit's Head Make-up Artist was on hand on to show us some looks she had created using each of the mascaras and an abundance of other Benefit products.  

We were also able to ask questions along the way including advice on which products we could and should be using as well as Lisa giving us some of her top tips - for example... have you ever used Hoola on your eyes or lips? No me neither, but it is a tip I shall be taking away with me and this video shows you some amazing tips and it features the lovely Jessica, Birchbox Editorial Director and Lisa herself.

After the make-up demonstrations we were given the opportunity to go down into the salon to have our make-up and hair done using the products that Lisa had used (not literally) to demonstrate each look with.  The Salon was amazing, I could have spent hours in there just chatting to the staff who were all so helpful and lovely.  I had my make-up done by the lovely Alison, who herself gave me lots of hints and tips when it came to using Boing, Fine One One and the fabulous World Famous Neutrals Most Glamorous Nudes Ever kit, which I now feel I need in my life.

Finally, alongside some amazing cupcakes that were well and truly divine, we were all given an amazing goody bag to take home and play with and it was so incredibly generous, thank you Birchbox and Benefit.

Now there's still time to subscribe and select your very own Benefit mascara! Which mascara will you be choosing?  

The Bee Good next Great British lip balm competition!

Those of you who read my blog regularly will know that I am a huge fan of the brand Bee Good and have featured many of their products. One of my favourites from the range is the Vanilla lip balm which is intensely conditioning and soothing, especially for chapped lips. So I was delighted when an email dropped into my inbox with the question:

Do you dream of designing your own beauty product? 

Would you love to see your name on-shelf across the UK? 

Well yes I do, who doesn't? It would be a dream come true! Well the team at Bee Good are on a mission to find the next Great British Lip Balm and they need your help to create the next flavour! 

Beauty bloggers have been an integral part of the Bee Good success story to date, so as a thank you for the supportive reviews and help with new product testing, Bee Good want to give something back! Everyone at Bee Good values the expert opinion of a beauty blogger, so who better to work with for such an exciting project?! 

All you need to do is use your imagination to generate an idea for the next Bee Good lip balm. Following on from the best-selling Vanilla & Honey Lip Balm, your new idea will need to be creative, yet appeal to the masses as the winning flavour will potentially be on-shelf at not only Waitrose, but also retailed online on the Bee Good website and hopefully in Bee Good's other stockists including LoveLula and Urban Outfitters.

Here are our top reasons to enter Bee Good’s competition to design the next Great British Lip Balm which will be launching before Christmas!

• Every beauty blogger that takes part will be provided with artwork and badges for their blog site to encourage votes… use your loyal following to secure support in the final public vote! 
• You will be profiled on Bee Good communication channels throughout the competition, including a feature in the e-newsletter and if chosen as a finalist, on the online voting portal! 
• Five semi-finalists will be invited to Waitrose HQ to present their lip balm to the Waitrose beauty buyer and the Bee Good team (Bee Good will cover your expenses to and from the venue.)
• Three finalists, determined from the judging day, will receive lab samples of their creation to give to family, friends or lucky blog followers.
• The winner, voted by Bee Good customers, will have their blog name printed on the packaging design!
• The winning product will be retailed on the Bee Good website, plus potentially in Waitrose and Bee Good online retailers including Urban Outfitters and LoveLula.

If you’re interested, all you have to do is drop an email to 

info@babushkacommunications.com and we will send you the details you need to take part… including some helpful hints from Bee Good’s marketing director.

Please note that the closing date for entries is 17th April, so hurry!

Wrap.me

Are you like me and spend many hours during the day on Instagram liking photos, uploading photos and generally re-arranging things on your desk, in a shop or at home to take a picture of for instagram? Well what else could you do with those photos other than leave them in cyberspace for people to click on?  Turn them into things that is what...

I came home a few days ago to a package I hadn't been expecting.  My first thought was my mister was playing a practical joke or had bought me something, but as soon as I opened the package, the look of surprise on my face and then his firmly put those thoughts to bed and this is why:

A package had arrived wrapped in photos of my cats, but how or why?  Well the cute little note card explained all and honestly it made my day.  Let me introduce you to Wrap.Me  who are a newly launched website that allows you to create personalised, bespoke wrapping paper, from handpicked images, tailored to the time of year or your intended recipient.  You can upload photos from your desktop, Instagram or Facebook and use up to a maximum of 30 photographs, re-arrange them as many times as you want, decide whether you want a black or white border and submit your order.  

From the package I received, the quality is simply superb, the images, taken from my Instagram are printed to such an amazing quality and the wrapping paper itself is really good quality paper.

Since this little gift arrived for me, I have spent some time look at Wrap.Me and inventing my own wrapping paper... some of the ideas brimming in my head amuse me no end because the list is really endless - embarrassing photos of my nephew for his 18th Birthday (9 years to go), something for my mum of all her grandchildren (though she would probably frame it) or maybe even something for your better half covered in photos of you - how romantic!

Anyway, inside my little package was the following really thoughtful gift:

So there was a little book that is described as follows "Delight your furry friends with dog and cat treats made from your own kitchen! With pet owners becoming increasingly concerned about the ingredients in commercially prepared pet treats, making them at home is a great way to ensure that you know exactly what’s in the treats your dogs and cats are eating. 

Making pet treats is surprisingly easy. It’s a great activity to share with children, too! With 25 recipes to try and choose from, this book is sure to provide some new favorites that your pet will love. They also make great gifts to give your friends’ dogs and cats, especially at holiday time".

So now I can have a go at making my boys some treats and that's not all, Wrap.me also sent me an extra sheet of wrapping paper, which was just so lovely and thoughtful, though it is so cute, I don't think I could ever use it.

I urge you all to go and look at the Wrap.Me website to explore this idea in more detail and even have a play yourself! Prices start from £4.99, with a large 3 metre roll costing £14.99.