Glossybox - November Edition

I think we can all say that whilst Autumn arrived and it didn't feel too horrid, Winter is in the air as the nights have got colder, darker and the I am already debating whether or not it is too early to be wearing my scarf. On board with that seasonal change is Glossybox and for their November edition they have created a box which is designed to give the skin as much hydration and goodness as possible as we gear up for Christmas. The box this month contains no less than five products and they are a mixture of skincare and makeup to help you look and feel your best.

Green Frog Botanic - Geranium & Peppermint Body Wash - Natural, Organic, Cruelty-free and vegan, this is a new brand to me and I have really enjoyed using this body wash. It uses a combination of moisturising Aloe Vera, calming geranium and cooling peppering oil and is designed to be a deep conditioner for your skin, leaving it hydrated, nourished and full of antioxidants. 

Using it first thing in a morning is a great start to the day as the Peppermint almost kicks you awake. On the skin it just feels absolutely lovely and a 100ml travel size tube costs just £3.95 (here) which is a bargain.

Next up we have the Boots Charcoal and Willow Bark Sheet Mask. I love a good sheet mask and they are great for just having some time out to chill and relax. This mask is one you leave on for 15 minutes and it is designed to cleanse and purify the skin. 

I always sheet masks really soothing, especially if you have had a stressful day and come home all angry wanting to kick things.

Collection Cosmetics Eyebrow Powder is also included this month and this is a product I have used and fully reviewed HERE. Eyebrows are still a 'thing' in the world of beauty and whilst I am not sure I will ever have the best eyebrows thanks to my over-tweezed teen years, I do everything I can to ensure they look half decent on a daily basis. 

This product contains a loose powder formulation, containing fibre particles to add volume to the brows with a natural finish and you use a sponge applicator to apply, which I found really easy to do.

Beauty UK Cosmetics is a brand which is described as being an independent fashion-savvy brand that offers an exciting and accessible range of cosmetics designed to fire the creative spirit. With that in mind, this month Glossybox have included their Contour Brush which has really soft bristles and is really nice on the skin when applying your bronzer.

I have also been using this brush to apply powder and it does a pretty good job. Brushes with Beauty UK Cosmetics start from as little as £3.99.

The final item comes from SportFX, a brand which has become a Glossybox regular and one I had never come across until they started to feature in these boxes.

This months sees a Limited Edition Lip Balm which leaves a slight tint of colour on the lips. I am a huge Lip Balm fan and always have more than one on me at any given time and as the months get colder, they become more and more needed.

So there you have the November box which is actually one I have enjoyed. I have really liked being introduced to Green Frog Botanic and using a product that has left me wanting to explore the brand a little bit more.

  What did you think to this months box?

If this looks like a box you quite like the look of, you can find out more about subscribing here and if you use the code GLOSSY you can get 40% off but it is only valid until 30th November.

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page here

Cloud 9 Skin Solutions Good Night Deep Nourishing Sleep Mask

Cloud 9 Skin care was something I had never heard of until I was kindly sent the Skin Solutions Good Night Deep Nourishing Sleep Mask.  I do love a good overnight mask, especially as the colder months set in, I find I need to slap on anything and everything moisturiser to ensure my skin stays hydrated, supple and smooth.

With Winter already on our doorsteps (Who can believe it's already November?) I'm already prepping my skin for cold weather by using different masks. Whilst you sleep, Good Night makes the most of your skin’s recovery time by acting overnight when your cells are working their hardest to repair and heal themselves and this Sleep Mask is packed full of incredible ingredients such as:

• Avocado Oil: Derived from the super-food and renowned for its high essential fatty acid content, it works to deeply hydrate and smooth the skin, offering immediate relief for extremely dry skin types. Its potency of Vitamins A, D and E nourish the complexion and help to reduce discomfort caused by dry skin conditions.
• Vitamin B12: Promotes DNA and RNA synthesis for a healthy skin function, stimulating cell renewal for improved softness and elasticity.
• Vitamin A: A mild form of retinol that helps with stimulating collagen production, smoothing wrinkles and providing an overall even and radiant complexion.
• Vitamin E: Protects the skin from pollutants, moisturises and reduces inflammatory skin conditions that contribute to the signs of ageing. It also helps other ingredients penetrate deeper into the skin.

I followed the instructions for using this mask an applied it after double cleansing my skin, something I do almost without thinking.  Once on the skin, I massaged it in and it instantly felt cooling on my skin, not to mention smells divine. Housed in a sterile pump system bottle, I found I needed no more than 3 pumps to ensure my entire face, neck and decolletage were covered. This has a luxurious and rich texture which is really easy and relaxing to apply.  

The following morning, I didn't notice any oily residue or 'tackiness' on the skin or on my pillow and my skin definitely got just what needs -  a moisture boost.  I found my skin was deeply nourished, thoroughly moisturised not to mention soft to the touch. I have combination skin which leaves me with an oily tzone and added to that, it also leaves me with dry skin under my eyes and on my cheeks,  so for me, this mask is ideal.

I am really impressed with my first dalliance into Cloud 9 Skincare and I really love using this mask and it is one that I will continue to use it. Priced at £38 (here), this is available from Cloud9.

Have you tried any of the Cloud 9 range?

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page here

Beauty Shopping with Chemist 4 U

I am a bit of an impulse shopper and when I am browsing, researching a post or just looking for inspiration I often end up buying things I've read about on blogs or just randomly buy things I think I could like.

Chemists 4 U is one of the sites I have gone to on more than one occasion because you can find some absolute bargains with some products being much better priced. It is also as the name suggests an online pharmacy and it has the option of getting quite a few services such as the electronic prescription service. 

I love that the website is split into sections so you can find pretty much everything you need for numerous ailments. There is also a huge range of products to discover and lots of incredible brands featured within the beauty section and I was kindly given a store credit to the value of £30 to spend on cosmetics and it took me quite a long time to decide what I would really like to try but in the end I did manage to choose three items that I had read a lot about.

The first item was Juicy Couture Dirty English for Him.  Those of you who are not aware, I am married to BeautyKingUK and he has a bit of an obsession with aftershaves, so much so he has more than one option for every day of the month!  So to add to his collection, a brand he owns nothing from the brand. I wasn't too sure how this scent would work with the mister but he actually really liked it and am sure he will do a full post on it over on his own blog.

Dirty English opens with opens with peppered mandarin, blue cypress, Calabrian bergamot, cumin and cardamom which pakcs quite a punch and it is an instantly warming scent. The heart notes of marjoram and black leather accords are accompanied with sandalwood, Atlas cedar and vetiver root which are incredible together and brings the scent into a woody Citrus stance before the while base notes of agarwood, ebony, black moss and amber musk settle the fragrance.  Priced at £16.99 here, this is a great fragrance for those who are a fan of intriguing bottles and long lasting scents.

My second item comes from Elizabeth Arden, one of my favourite skincare brands, but instead of skincare I went for Lip Tint in shade Plum as it was the one which stood out to me the most and I do love a berry lip.   This Lip Tint has been described as being skincare for the lips and I am sure everyone has come across the Eight Hour collection from Elizabeth Arden by now. 

Enriched with emollients, protective sunscreen (SPF 15) and vitamin E, this Lip Tint glides onto the lips leaving behind a hint of colour as you swipe and what I love about it is how lovely it feels on the lips. I was expecting it to be greasy and slightly tacky to the touch, but it is neither of those. Priced at £9.49.

The Final item I chose comes from Maybelline and again is a product I have seen people rave about. The Fit Me Matte + Poreless Powder. It contains no oils or waxes and is said to give a natural coverage that leaves skin the way it was meant to be…fresh, breathing, flawless. 

For a highstreet powder, this is actually quite good, I haven't tried anything from Maybelline in some time now but have really liked using this and I do sometimes mix it with my setting powder as well.  Priced at just £2.89 I wouldn't have minded too much if this product wasn't as good as I had read it was, but it is.

I think Chemist 4 U is a great service whether you use it for prescriptions, advice or like me to grab a bargain.  Have you tried the site?

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page here

BYBI Babe Balm and Prime Time Facial Polish

BYBI Beauty, which stands for By Beauty Insiders are a new brand to me and one which I have enjoyed getting to know. BYBI Beauty is a 100% natural skincare from the founders of Clean Beauty Co and no only are they Cruelty -free and vegan but they are also microbead-free. 

What I really like about BYBI aside from the products is that they put real focus on using natural extracts from plants, nuts, flowers and seeds as opposed to using synthetic chemicals or ingredients in their formulations. 

To Celebrate the relaunch of Babe Balm and Prime Time in biodegradable tubes, we have put together a beauty Eco-pack to make sure that whilst we're looking glam we're also behaving sustainably. The beauty industry contributes a huge amount of plastic waste and we're keen to change that! Everything in this package is 100% biodegradable or recyclable and full of good Eco vibes. Our tubes are made of sugar cane, and while they look like plastic, they definitely aren't.

So, having just re-launched two of their cult products the Babe Balm and Priming Facial Polish, I was sent them to try and having read that they have also just switched from jars to biodegradable tubes this is something I think we will be seeing more of.

Prime Time Facial Polish is quite unlike anything else I have tried.  With a really thick gel like consistency it does feel slightly tacky when applied but that feeling doesn't last for too long because once it comes into contact with water, it softens slightly and because this amazing creamy scrub. The Scrub particles are jojoba beads which make for a great alternative to Microbeads and for me, I find a much gentler option for my skin as well as for the environment.

If you have dry skin or even dry patches of skin on your face, one of my main bug bears, then Prime Time is your best friend and it smells just incredible as it packed full of allantoin, apple and pineapple acids for a gentle and smoothing polish that removes dead and dry skin cells to leave your skin looking radiant and feeling soft and smooth to the touch.

Babe Balm is a multipurpose beauty balm that can be used as a highlighter, moisturiser or cleanser not to mention a cuticle oil, lip balm and it is perfect for using on the dry skin of your elbows, knees, hands and feet.  

Using ingredients such as Kokum butter, Monoi, Squalene, Hibiscus and Calendula all of which hydrates, softens and smoothes and it works alongside the balm’s hero ingredient Coenzyme Q10. On the skin, this balm has a slight peachy colour to it thanks to the inclusion of pink sweet potato extract which is kind of kooky.  On the skin, the texture is quite similar to Elizabeth Arden's 8 Hour Cream but with one slight difference, as soon as you begin to massage onto and into the skin it absorbs much quicker and I am glad to say that there is no greasy feeling left on the skin, in fact, the only reason I know it was ever there in the first place is the delightful feeling of how soft and smooth my skin is.  Again, if you do have those pesky dry patches, my tip is to slap this on quite thickly and leave it to absorb itself and it literally is amazing. I have even slathered my feet in it (I hate feet), put my moisturising socks on (one whole pound in Wilko) and left them overnight and the difference the following morning was phenomenal!

I think it is fair to say that I have become quite the BYBI fan and am excited to see what else they have in store.  Have you ever tried anything from them?

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page here