Glossybox May 2014

So after last months venture into the world of subscription boxes I did indeed dip my toe into the water again. 

When I saw the online spoilers for the May Glossybox I just could not believe what a great deal it was and had to have it. Glossybox is a monthly beauty box that costs just $21.00 a month (total inc. tax and shipping) and like PopSugar you can purchase just one box. May's box was a collaboration with Bergdorf Goodman.

I filled in a short questionnaire and based on my answers they selected six generously sized deluxe samples. Also included in the box was a $25.00 Bergdorf Goodman gift card... yup, that's right $25.00.   Basically the box, it's contents and the shipping were free and I'm up $4.00, win, win all round!

The box itself is, indeed, glossy and very nice. I am keeping it and using it for storage. The samples were just fabulous, there's not one thing that I disliked in there.

The Alterna CC Caviar Cream for hair adds moisture, shine and protection. I'm on the lookout for a new leave in hair treatment and if I get along with this I may buy a full sized one - it smells great BTW.

The Napoleon Perdis Auto Pilot Primer (despite having a silly name) is very light in consistency and feels almost like a serum on application. It has good slip, I can feel it gripping my base and it's not at all silicone -y. 

Next up are two eye creams that I have yet to try, but I'm super thrilled to get eye creams and especially the ReVive Intensite Eye Serum. The full size of this serum retails at a whopping $350.00 for a half ounce so this sample alone is worth $50.00! There's almost $20.00 worth of Lancer Eye Contour Lifting Cream  here as well.

The Atelier Cologne sample is 'Rose Anonyme', and I really like it. It's not an overtly rosy scent and is really quite incense like so it's right up my street.

Finally, I love all things Chantecaille, as you may well know. The Luminous Gloss in 'Framboise' looks super bright, but actually goes on as a clear wash of colour, leaving behind a subtle pink high gloss.

Overall, I'm super pleased with my Glossybox. Unfortunately this box is sold out but June's box is now available. Why not take a look at glossybox.com ?

Aspinal Wallet

I have been looking for a new wallet for a while and whilst I don't really need one I like to swap things around a bit now and again.

Recently I was browsing Aspinal's website, www.aspinal of london.com when I chanced upon this beauty. And not only did it satisfy my love of a good Union Jack it was (and still is) on sale reduced by over 60%! SOLD to the lady online with the credit card!

Shipping was prompt and it really is a gorgeous wallet. Made of glossy patent leather, lined in suede, with numerous card slots, an outer pocket and a zipped inner one. It's nice and secure as well with a sturdy zip that goes all around.

Oh, and it came in a lovely box...

(I know it's odd but I do love a high quality box.)Why not take a look at the Aspinal site and see if there's anything that catches your eye.

A Little Caudalie Treat

Last week I needed a new eye cream. Caudalie's new POLYPHENOL C15 was something that I was keen to try so I took advantage of their Mother's day GWP and went ahead and ordered one along with one of their '2013 Favourites' set as I am getting low on their Beauty Elixir. (The 'Favourites' set contains the 15ml spray which is the one that I always get as it is a great in your handbag/ convenient for travel size.)

I've only been using the eye cream for a few days but so far I really like it, it's soothing and hydrating without being greasy.

In addition to the Beauty Elixir spray the set also contains a lip balm, hand cream, micellaire water and a Vinosource moisture sorbet moisturiser. TBH the bag that it comes in is a bit of a cheapie, but it would be good for throwing in your beachbag with sunscreens etc.

The Mother's Day gift (no longer available) consists of a lovely lined cotton make up bag, the same micellaire water (50ml) and moisturiser (10ml) as is in the Favourites set and a travel spray can of Grape Water(75ml).

With the set, the GWP and samples (you can pick three with your order) I ended getting quite the mini haul - and to think I only wanted an eye cream *chuckles*.

As added bonuses the shipping was free as the order was over $50, there were 40 points on the eye cream packaging to add to my 'My Caudalie' account and I received it the day after I placed my order.
The Caudalie site, us.caudalie.com is currently offering 20% off orders as well as having certain items on sale. If you would like to try their products now might be the time!

Confessions of a Wild Child.

Confession time...

Whenever I see  a new Jackie Collins novel I have to pick it up and read it. I'm pretty sure that I have read all of her books. I started reading them when I was a teenager and they were considered to be rather racy! I zap through them in a couple of days and the minute I put them down can remember barely anything of them. But they keep me amused and are a total zone out type of thing.

Confessions of a Wild Child, subtitled 'Lucky, The Early Years' tells the story of Lucky Santangelo, who is the main character in a series of seven books that Ms Collins has written. There's not too much of a story to it: Lucky makes out with boys, gets thrown out of boarding schools, makes out with boys, runs off to the South of France, makes out with boys - well, you get the picture.

I do think that Jackie may be a little out of touch with the modern world - teenagers wearing over the knee boots, 'big boobs' are saucy and sexy, gay men are considered a bit daring and are always camp etc, but what can I say, it's Ms Collins and that's the way she is! I think I'm going to have to draw the line at 'The Lucky Santangelo Cook Book' that I saw tho...

It.

I've always thought that Alexa Chung comes across as being one of those downtown cool kind of gals so when I noticed this book in the library I threw it into my book bag to peruse.

It's a collection of photos and Alexa's musings on her life - her goals, her style icons and favourite things, fashion shows, karaoke etc. It also contains a sprinkling of style and make up hints and a section on heartbreak. (She still seems pretty angry about the heartbreak stuff...)

Overall, I'm a little confused by who this book is supposed to appeal to. If I was 16 and found this in my Xmas stocking I'm sure I would have thought it was cool, but I'm not sure that 16 year olds do books anymore. Don't they just do every thing on line?. 

It's really one of those books that you pick up, flick through and fling onto the done pile. Why, it's a hardback magazine!!. It's not glossy enough to be a coffe table book either with mostly black and white photos on matt paper.

Having said that it's not all bad. I wouldn't recommend buying it but if you find yorself in Anthropologie or somewhwere with 20 mins or so to kill, pick it up and have a browse.    

Brand New Kicks.

I spend a lot of time on my feet AND I'm hard on my shoes.

Whilst I really love my Nike Free 5.0 I have to say they were getting a bit raggedy after 6 months or so. After perusing online and walking around staring at other peoples feet to check out their sneaks I found what I was after...

Adidas Element Refine. 

These are the most comfortable shoes ever. If the Free 5.0 were like wearing socks these are like being barefoot! The upper is made of a knitted fabric with a fairly open weave so they are a great summer sneaker - you can feel the wind on your feet. They weigh next to nothing and although they come in bright neon colours I went for a dark charcoal grey pair with a very subtle black Adidas three strip logo. I bought mine from the Adidas store but you can also find them at Footlocker. At a reasonable $70.00 a pair I may have to go back and get some neons for the weekend...

A Few New Beauty Products.

The other day I found myself on 6th Avenue and popped into TJ MAXX. I like to have a browse in their toiletries/cosmetics aisles and always seem to come away with a couple of items, this time it was body lotions and hand lotions. The Royal Apothic hand cream was part of a set with the shower gel. I adore this cream and always pick them up when I see them. The Crabtree and Evelyn 'Lily' hand cream smells divine and is a good size to slip in my handbag. 

I've never tried a Weleda product, but these Swiss made, all natural products have a great reputation, I picked a 'Pomegranate' body lotion. I bought the 'Au Lait' body butter because I liked it's scent and I can never have enough body lotion.

Across the street is a fairly new branch of Harmon Face Values - I love this drugstore! In addition to the usual suspects they carry some more unusual brands and imports. The Skin Quench 'Hemp' Lotion smells divine in a sun tan lotion-y kind of way and I look forward to trying it out.

I'm a huge fan of Real Technics brushes and when I saw the limited edition set of duo fiber brushes I just had to throw them in my basket. I've yet to use the contouring brush (middle) but the large face brush (top) works wonderfully with  my Hourglass Ambient Lighting powders. The eyeshadow brush is really rather wonderful, it looks odd as the fibers are very long yet it picks up a perfect amount of powder and blends it so easily - it's really rather miraculous!

I've been looking for a cheaper  eye make remover alternative to Chantecaille's Rose Eye Make Up Remover to decant and take with me when I travel so I picked up Rimmel's Just Let it Go. It's not oily, it doesn't sting and whilst it's not as good as, it almost is and it's about a tenth (!) of the price.

For my new brushes I nipped into Sephora and bought their daily brush cleaner. It's great for keeping them germ free between proper washes.

In CVS to use up some extra bucks I restocked on Baby Lips Sunscreen and grabbed a Maybeline Dream Bouncy blush in he shade 'Coffee Cake'. I have been after a browner blush for the summer and this fits the bill. The texture of this is such fun - it's like Play-doh - I really like the colour and the way it applies. I had to have the Rimmel nail varnish as it's part of their Kate Moss range and the shade is 'Punk Rock', it's a little dark for summer so I'm saving it for an Autumn mani. I also grabbed a Brown Rimmel Scandaleyes, it has a slight coppery/amethyst tinge to it that I like... I'm still wondering how I managed to lose it's lid on the way home!.

Finally Space NK had their Try Something New promotion recently - $25 off any $75 purchase, well,  it would be rude not to don't you think? Laura Mercier's Cream Eye pencil in 'Slate' has filled the "Where's my grey eye liner?" gap in my make up bag. The 'Jean Queen' by Lipstick Queen lipstick is a repurchase, I love using this under 'Jean Queen' gloss for a casual everyday look.  Caudalie Vinosource sorbet is a new Caudalie product for me. I'm going to use it as a night time moisturiser after my serum to seal everything in and combat dehydration.

Have you bough anything new recently?

Empties April 2014

I was expecting to finish a lot more things this month but have to admit to being a bit of a floozie and flittering about using a bit of this and a bit of that. However, I did manage to use up seven full sized products and nineteen samples so that's not too shabby. I also used a few sachets of Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Peel, which I have decided not to include in the count as they are pretty much a  given every month.

I was overjoyed to finish the huge bottle of Cetaphil. Honestly, this thing was never ending and it was such a joyless product to use. I didn't feel that it was bad but I didn't see that it was beneficial either, it was just dull, dull, dull and so ugly to look at on my countertop. I'm really mystified as to why so many people rave about this other than it's cheap and lasts a long time.

Clinique's Moisture Surge underwhelmed me. So did By Terry's Baum De Rose... Not that it was bad, it was just one of those products that you hear so much about you expect it to be miraculous... Well it wasn't altho it was very nice, but $60 for a lip balm is just crazy. (My empty was a half sized freebie).

The L'Oreal shampoo and conditioner were a great drugstore product that I enjoyed. On a positive lip balm note, so was the Lypsyl.

I loved the MIO MIO body oil and whilst we are talking oils the African Botanics Pure Marula Oil was amazing and long lasting.

Ren Frankincense Night Cream was an old multiple purchase product that I enjoyed revisiting, it smells so good. And finally, another multiple purchase product was the Clinique All About Shadow in 'Nude Rose' it's one of my favourite ever matt nudes - immensely flattering.

Right I'm off to the bathroom to finish up some more products!