Love Me Beauty Box April 14

I gotta admit I wasn't too keen on this month's Love Me Beauty Box when I first saw the options. Two repeat brands and products I'll use but wasn't overly excited about meant that for the first time I seriously considered just skipping the month altogether. But after opening it and having a proper look at all the products I can honestly say I'm glad I didn't. Let's crack on, shall we?

1) Betty Hula | Secret Wonder Oil Roller Ball

Full size: £6.25

At first I thought I wouldn't have any use for this rollerball. It's recommended for stretch marks and scarring and I don't have any stretch marks and all the various little scars all over my body (what can I say, I'm clumsy) have already faded. I couldn't really think of any dry skin areas either other than my legs and I could imagine it being a right pain trying to apply oil in a rollerball to such a large area. 

After doing a bit of research I found out that you can also use this on the face, so I might try it in place of my overnight serum or moisturiser. If that doesn't work, it's also meant to be really good for sunburn, so I might try that if I spend a little too much time in the sunshine.

2) Models Own | Nail Art Pen in Pastel Pink

Full size: £6

Models Own is a repeat brand for Love Me Beauty and you could choose from either another nail polish or this nail art pen. In all honesty it was mainly this product that drew me towards this particular menu. I've never really tried my hand at nail art as I didn't expect to be any good at it, but it's about time I at least gave it a go.

Sadly I managed to break off all but three of my nails last week, so it's going to be a little while until I can try this out properly.

3) Neal & Wolf | Glow Super Shine Spray

Full size: £9.50

Neal & Wolf is another repeat brand, but while I've tried quite a lot of their products almost every single one was a hit, so I don't mind getting another one. At first I thought this was a sample size, as it is more on the smaller side, but it's actually a full sized product. I've not had a shine spray for years - it's one of those things I always considered buying but never got round to it, so I'm happy to finally have one in my stash. And who knows, a little might go a long way.

4) Redken | Colour Extend Conditioner

Full size: £9.99 for 250ml / Sample value: £1.20

I'm not overly sure what to think of this product just yet. I much prefer to use the same brand shampoo and conditioner and as a matter of fact I don't even use normal conditioner, as I tend to alternate between purple shampoo/conditioner combo and a deep repair hair mask. I'm sure I'll find a way to use it anyway and on my long hair the sample size should be enough for about two washes.

5) Various Bonus Items

Value: £30.72

This month Love Me Beauty included a few items in their box that weren't on the menu listings or on the card that accompanied the box. I actually received the Melvita Extraordinary Water in last month's box and I still have about a quarter of the bottle left, but I'm actually really happy that I got another one, as I love it to pieces and was looking at getting a full sized one.

The Hello Fresh voucher also got me very, very excited. I've been thinking about trying this food delivery service (they deliver fresh ingredients and recipe cards and then you get to cook the food from scratch) for a while, but I've been put off by the price. Now I've got the perfect excuse to give it a go!

The two sachets of the Weleda Stretch Mark Massage oil weren't such a great hit. As I've already explained above I don't have any stretch marks or any scarring that could be helped, so I tried to use it on my dry legs. Not only did the oil in a sachet make a huge mess, but it also left me feeling very sticky and made it almost impossible to put on some leggings.

Total value: £53.67

Even though I originally thought there would only be four items in this box I ended up with a total of six (seven if you want to count the gift card which will most definitely be used) and the value is among the highest that I've seen in these boxes. None of the items are hugely exciting, but I'll find a way of using everything, so it's another hit from Love Me Beauty!

Sample Summary #11

I've been rubbing, spreading and smothering my way through an array of samples again, so it's about time I gave you another run down of mini sample summaries to see what's gone straight on the wish list (or straight in the bin).

1) Kerastase | Elixir Ultime

Full size: £34.50

Rating: 4.5/5

The Kerastase Elixir Ultime is hailed as the mother of all hair oils, so I was expecting nothing short of miracles for my hair. After the first application, I have to admit that I do see where the hype is coming from. Despite being an oil, this doesn't really feel oily - it's more sticky in texture and my hair literally drank it up like there was no tomorrow. It did everything I look for in a good hair oil: It gave my hair a little extra kick of moisture, smoothed away flyaways, added a bit of shine, but without making the hair seem greasy and limp. It wasn't quite mindblowing enough for me to rush out and spend £30 on a full sized bottle, but if you're in the market for a hair oil and don't mind spending a bit extra, then you really can't go wrong with this.

2) Clarins | Hand and Nail Treatment Cream

Full size: £20

Rating: 4/5

I remember getting my Mum one of these as a present, as it was highly recommended to me by the shop assistant for somebody who uses their hands a lot. It's hailed to be a fast-acting hand cream that takes no time at all to sink into the skin, but at the same time repair some serious damage both from ageing and harsh environments. As far as sinking in goes, this is right up there with my favourites and one of the few hand creams I could apply during the day. As far as damage control goes, it did leave my hands nice and soft, but it didn't work quite as well as my beloved Yes! Nurse hand cream (which is also a lot cheaper). I don't think it's quite heavy duty enough for what my poor hands have to withstand in the winter.

3) Clinique | 7 Day Scrub

Full size: £18.50

Rating: 3/5

I'm a bit lost here with the 7 day claim on this scrub. What is it supposed to mean? Are you meant to use it every day for 7 days? Does it take 7 days to see results? Does an application last for 7 days? I don't know!! What I do know is that this performed like a pretty average facial exfoliator. The grains were a good size, the texture firm enough not to end up down the sink, but soft enough to not tug skin when you spread it. A decent product, but at that price point I would expect something to really wow me to justify spending that extra bit of money. As it stands, you can find pretty good drugstore alternatives at no more than half the price.

4) Weleda | Millet Nourishing Shampoo

Full size: £8.95

Rating: 1/5

Oh my.... is it possible for a shampoo to leave your hair even dirtier than it was before the wash? This is an all natural product free from SLS and other foaming agents, so I wasn't expecting a rich lather anyway, but this just left my hair heavy, tangled and slightly on the oily side. Such a shame, as it has a zesty scent that is simply to die for under the shower.

5) Shiseido | Ibuki Refining Moisturizer Enriched

Full size: £42

Rating: 4.5/5

Eugh, how I miss this little pot. This was pretty much the perfect moisturiser for me. It was rich, yet lightweight and an absolute pleasure to apply. Even from this little sample size I could tell the difference it was making to my skin, which seemed clearer and just a little bit more alive. Good enough, in fact, to run errands and go shopping completely make-up free. The only downside is the price. At £42 a pop, it really ain't cheap, but I'm still hovering over the buy button, as this might just be worth a little extra splurge.

6) Louis Widmer | Skin Appeal Peeling

Full size: £11.20

Rating: 4/5

I can't say I've ever heard of a brand called Louis Widmer, but judging from the writing on the sample it seems to be a Dutch brand. The Skin Appeal series in particular is targeted at young, breakout-prone skin and while that's not exactly me (my skin is more on the combination side and my teenage years are well and truly a thing of the past), I really enjoyed using this product. It's definitely one of the harsher products I've ever had the pleasure of using, so not one for those with sensitive skin. But on the plus side, it left my skin feeling really squeaky clean, as if it literally got into every single pore to get rid of all of the rubbish that has accumulated there over time.

7) Eucerin | Dermo Densifyer Day

Full size: £24.42

Rating: 3/5

Another name that leaves me a bit baffled. I've heard of many different skin concerns, but does anyone really want their skin to be... denser...? Opening this sample I didn't think I'd get on with it at all, as it's just the type of heavy, thick cream that usually leaves me looking like I've been in an oil wrestling match, but I thought I'd give it a go anyway. Turns out it wasn't quite as bad. As it's so thick a little goes a long way on my skin type and you can definitely feel that there's something on your skin, but it's been working pretty well in the cold winter months at creating a barrier on my skin that has kept the occasional redness or dry patches completely at bay. As far as samples go it's huge and even though I've been using it for 3 months I've only just started getting to the bottom of it. I feel that while it's good on my skin, it would perform absolutely exceptional on dry to very dry skin types.

8) Rodial | 5 Minute Facial

Full size: £35

Rating: 5/5

This stuff is flippin amazing! I'd never tried anything from Rodial before and I'd highly questioned their approach to beauty with names such as "Size Zero" cream and rather dodgy looking meal replacement sticks. But, I've got to give it to them, as far as face masks go, this might just be the best that I've ever tried. It applies as a smooth cream, then dries and hardens, just like a mud mask would. You're then meant to rub off the hardened product, but I found that only about half of it came off by rubbing and I had to rinse the remainder off with water. (It also made a right mess of my bathroom sink, let me tell you that!) What I was left with was skin that was (sorry, there is no other word for it) radiant and just... just, wow. Absolutely worth the £35 - although I found it £10 cheaper on Allbeauty (see link above) and will be purchasing a full sized tube soon!

Love Me Beauty Box October 13

This month's post on my Love Me Beauty Box (formerly known as Beauteco) is a tad late due to the fact that we've not had any internet at home for a while - the cause was two naughty puppies destroying the router, thanks for that, dogs! But on the plus side that means that I've had a chance to try every single one of the products I've received and can give you a little mini review along with a description of each item.

1) Lord and Berry | Smudge Proof Eyeliner

Full size: £7.50

To be honest with you I wasn't overly excited to get another two Lord & Berry products in this month's box, seeing as there had already been two lip products from them two months back which I've probably used twice and then given up on. To be fair that wasn't Lord & Berry's fault; it was just because the colours didn't suit me one bit.

The eye liner that came in this month's box was in the colour "Smoke", which unlike the lip products was a brilliant choice in my opinion. I've got more than enough black eye liners to last me a lifetime, but this is a very pretty off-grey with slight green undertones, which makes a nice alternative to a traditional smokey eye. When I opened my pencil, however, I found this:

For some reason the nib had sunk into the pencil!? But never mind, it was nothing a few quick twists in the sharpener couldn't fix. Unfortunately, however, the dodginess didn't end there. As much as I adore the colour, I found the pencil to be way too hard, which means that it pulls a lot on my eye lids, making smooth and even application almost impossible. And you can forget about using it on the waterline, unless you really insist on poking your eye out with a sharp object.

2) Lord & Berry | Scuba Mascara

Full size: £12

On to the second Lord & Berry product: The waterproof Scuba mascara. Upon first inspection I was sure that I'd quite like this product. The brush is densely packed with bristles and it seemed to be nice and pigmented in the tube. 

Unfortunately that doesn't translate at all to the lashes. For a start, the texture is way too dry - I'm not sure if my tube was simply gone off or if that's just how it comes every time, but it just wouldn't do anything to my lashes. Today I gave it some elbow grease and after five coats (yes, FIVE), I finally managed to get some pigment on my lashes - which resulted in flaking about three hours later and a lot of tears trying to get it off in the evening.

Now, I've got to add to this, that I received an email this morning from Love Me Beauty and Lord & Berry apologising about the poor quality of these two products. It seems that I wasn't the only one left thoroughly unimpressed and apparently this is not representative of Lord & Berry as a brand, so they're adding a lipstick to next month's box as compensation. While that's a nice gesture, this mascara is nevertheless going straight in the bin and I won't be happy if I see any more of their stuff in my beauty box.

3) Balm Balm | Indulge Bath & Shower

Full size: £6 for 5ml

This month's box featured three different scent options of this bath and shower oil and with the one I chose (Menu 3), came the "indulgent" variety. I would definitely say this is a strong, slightly spicy and very rich scent and throughout using it I couldn't really make up my mind about whether or not I like it. The little bottle lasted for three applications, which makes the £6 price tag a tad steep in my opinion. Maybe I've just been using too much, though, who knows? As I tend not to take baths anymore, I used this in the shower, but on its own it just didn't seem to clean my skin at all, so I ended up mixing it with my regular shower gel.

And oh my, this is scented heavily. I did not only emerge out of the shower smelling of this oil, without any lotion or even perfume standing the slightest chance in overpowering the scent - it actually left the whole flat smelling like "Indulge" all day long! Maybe I really have been using too much of this.... Nevertheless, now that it's gone I wouldn't say it's anything I'd consider repurchasing.

4) Weleda | Millet Nourishing Shampoo

Full size: £8.95 for 190ml / Sample value: £0.85

I haven't had a chance to sample too many Weleda products yet, so I was quite happy to see this brand featured in this month's box. This shampoo smells absolutely divine - it's got a fresh and citrussy scent but without that hint of detergent that you can get in a lot of citrus scented beauty products. 

Unfortunately, this was another dud for me. There was practically no lather when I used this on my hair and while I accept that this is common amongst "natural" shampoos that aren't full of SLS, it's still something that bothered me quite a bit. Even worse was the fact that it just didn't get my hair clean at all. I actually had an urge to apply dry shampoo straight after blow drying my hair, that's how heavy and greasy it felt.

5) Amie Skincare | Bright Eyes

Full size: £4.95 for 125ml

This is the only product that offered any real choice this month, as you could choose between this, a moisturiser or two packs of face mask. I decided to go with the make-up remover, as I was running low and didn't really fancy any of the other products. It might not be an overly exciting product, but it's been doing a good job at removing my make-up without irritating my eyes or leaving a sticky film on them. As it's oil free however, it will barely scratch the surface of waterproof make-up (such as the scuba mascara that came in the same box), so you'd need a separate product for that. Even though Amie has been featured in a previous box I don't mind seeing them again as I really love the face scrub that I received in an earlier box.

6) Mitchell and Peach | Body Cream

Full size: £36 for 180ml / Sample value: £10

I got an extra product in this month's box which isn't mentioned anywhere on the menu, so I'm assuming that this is part of Love Me Beauty's special offer that gets you a bonus product for every three months you've been subscribed. A great idea in my opinion! Who doesn't love a little extra surprise thrown in? The cream smells has a lovely and quite sophisticated floral, slightly woody scent. Unlike most body lotions that I always complain about it's not too thin and moisturises my skin very well. A huge thumbs down however for whoever designed the packaging of this sample - it doesn't squeeze and the cream is too thick to just run out of the top, so I can see at least half of this lovely sample going to waste just because there's no way for me to get it out. What a shame!

Total value: £31.30 (£41.30 with bonus sample)

Sadly, I have to say that this month's box was my least favourite out of all of the ones I've received. This is partly down to three products being repeat brands and partly down to four the items turning out to be complete duds for me. Getting four full sized products is still really amazing for any beauty box company and I've really enjoyed my little bonus sample this month. Maybe it's just that I've gotten so used to Love Me Beauty / Beauteco supplying me with products that I absolutely adore month after month - after all most of my last monthly favourites posts lately have featured at least one item from each box! You can't always be on to a winner, so I'm still happy with Love Me Beauty as a concept and I'm looking forward to hopefully discovering some new gems in next month's box. But please, pretty pretty please, no more Lord & Berry products!

Birchbox April 2013

There seems to be a reoccurring theme that whenever I get a delivery, it ought to be either just as I'm about to head out for a run, or just as I'm stepping into the shower. So, naturally, this month's Birchbox arrived just as I was leaving the door and I was way too excited to just leave it, so off came my trainers and my jacket and my headphones and god knows what else.

This month's theme is "In Bloom" and considering the warm weather that's suddenly hit us yesterday and caused all the trees on my road to magically explode into pink fluffiness, it couldn't have been a better choice!

1) Gerda Spillman | Renaissance Age Serum

Full size: £69 / Sample value: £6.90

Whoops, looks like a had a little silly moment and took a picture of the back side of the sample. But don't worry, the front is fairly unspectacular, so you're not missing much. I'm feeling much less rebellious against anti ageing products these days, so even though it is minuscule, I'll happily give this serum sample a go. It smells absolutely divine, but unfortunately it's going to have to wait on the back-up shelf until I've used up my current serum. And at almost £70 for the full size it would have to be beyond amazing for me to purchase it after the sample runs out!

2) La Societe Parisienne De Savons | Savon Maya

Full size: £8.50 / Sample value: £8.50

This was the first item I spotted as I opened the drawstring bag and it got me beyond excited. Just look at how gorgeous the packaging is! Then I realised it was soap.

Now, nothing against soap, but I'm just not a person that tends to appreciate it. I use shower gel in the shower and hand wash to wash my hands. Soap is slippy, harsh on the skin and always leaves this mucky, slimy residue on the soap dish. Having said that the scent of this one is absolutely beautiful, so it would be a shame to just leave it laying around. Nevertheless, this is more of an item I'd gift to my nan instead of buying it for myself.

3) Mirenesse | Glossy Kiss

Full size: £17.50 / Sample value: £17.50

This was the other product that stood out to me right away as I opened my box this month. I've never heard of Mirenesse, but pencil lip products are having a big moment right now and I'm excited to give this one a go. It's a full sized product, so I'll be getting plenty of use out of it. The colour I got (14. Perfect Kiss) is also really, really pretty. A fire-engine red studded with a light gold shimmer, absolutely gorgeous! From a quick swatch I can see that application is soft and very glossy, so this seems to be a winner!

Random side note: I keep accidentally writing "Glossy Kill" instead of "Glossy Kiss". Just to show what's on my mind these days...

4) Weleda | Skin Food

Full size: £8.95 / Sample value: £1.19

Considering what an institution Weleda has become, especially concerning natural skincare, I'm almost ashamed to say that I've never tried any of their products. Skin Food seems to be one of those cult creams, which I've heard loads and loads about and finally I get my mitts on a sample to try it for myself!

I do, however, struggle a little with multi-purpose balms like this, as I never know what to actually use them for. Give me a choice of options and I'll sit there fretting and eventually go without anything. I'm thinking of trying this on my feet, as my heels are pretty much the only dry skin area I have at the moment.

5) Green & Spring | Relaxing Conditioner

Full size: £16 / Sample Value: £2.67

I love the design of this little bottle, it's so cute! In this box you'd randomly get either the shampoo or the conditioner and I have to admit that I'm a little peeved, as I much prefer using the same brand shampoo and conditioner together. But oh well...

The scent of this is a tad strong for my tastes - you can really, REALLY smell the lavender and the rosemary that have gone into the product, but I imagine it would leave a beautiful lingering scent on the hair after washing. This is another product that will certainly get used up.

Lifestyle Extra: Birchbox | Paname Paris Mirror

Full size: £7.50 / Sample value: £7.50

Oh, c'mon. You gotta be kidding me. This is literally one of the worst compact mirrors I have ever seen in my life. It weighs about a gram and doesn't even have a lid! If I put this in my handbag it would get ruined within seconds. I don't know who they're trying to fool with the supposed £7.50 price tag, but yeah, good luck selling a mirrored badge for that price. I absolutely hate it when beauty boxes make their own shoddy tools and try to sell them as luxury beauty samples. At least Birchbox had the decency to include this as an extra instead of one of the actual five samples. But I would have much rather received a single tea bag or something, rather than this rubbish. Rant over.

So, my second Birchbox has been full of ups and downs to be honest with you. The only real highlight is the lip crayon, though I will certainly use every single product and I really like the fact that they're all brands I haven't tried before. The inclusion of two full sized products is also a bonus.

The soap on the other hand was a bit of a disappointment, even though it was one of the two full sized products and the mirror... let's no longer talk about the mirror.

The total value of this box comes in at £44.26 for those of you who are interested.