Review: Super Facialist by Una Brennan Brighten & Refine Facial Scrub

The Super Facialist by Una Brennan range has been getting so much love from other beauty bloggers I couldn't help but treat myself to a few bits from it. And as soon as I saw that they had a rose range I was sold! While I never used to be a big fan of rose-scented anything, the last couple of months I've been really drawn to this scent and find it instantly relaxes me.

The Rose Hydrate Brighten & Refine Facial Scrub (what a mouthful) did not disappoint when it came to this scent. Light and floral it has just the right strength to smell soothing and relaxing, without being overpowering. But alas, scent isn't everything!
When it comes to texture I found it also pretty much hits the golden spot. Though I wouldn't recommend using it on dry skin, as it could be a bit rough, when used on wet skin it's just the perfect amount of grains to really get rid of any gunk sitting on top of the skin.

What I really like is that you only need the tiniest amount for each exfoliation, so this 150ml tube has lasted me absolute ages. I'm not sure how suitable it would be for really sensitive skin, though, as like I mentioned above it does feel a bit too harsh even on my skin when used dry. It's definitely not a scrub suitable for everyday use, but for a once-or-twice a week skincare pick-me-up it does the job pretty well.

When bargains are too good to be true: Sea Spa Salt Scrub

I admit that I am totally guilty of this: When browsing sales or bargain sites, I instantly sort my search by "highest discount". There's just something insanely satisfying about getting a huge discount, even if you still end up spending more than you would have on an alternative product. Well, there comes a time when you get your fingers burnt and for me it's this.

Not only was this reduced from £40 to £10 on Fragrance Direct, the description also promised that it would last for a year, as you only ever need a tiny amount of product. I was instantly sold and into my basket it went. Unfortunately, the minute I opened up the tub I knew something was wrong...

As you can see, the pot was completely sealed, but underneath all the oil had separated from the grains. Not really a problem, as I've had particularly oily scrubs do that in the past and you just need to give it a bit of a shake/stir to even things out again. But while I was expecting a sweet fruity scent of Tangerine Melon, I was instead hit by a wave of something smelling distinctly fishy... literally.

After tipping out the foul smelling oil on top, the rest of the product seemed kind of usable, but I may as well have not bothered. At least I can attest, that you really only need a tiny amount of this - the grains are sharp as nails and pretty much instantly irritated my skin (and that's coming from someone who likes their scrubs extremely, err scrubby). It was just completely unusable.

Sea Spa are no longer listed on Fragrance Direct's website and overall I can barely find anything on the brand, so I'm not sure if it even exists anymore. Truth be told, I'm not sure who to blame for this. Is it just a horrendous product or is it actually gone off stock being sold on a bargain cosmetic site? Hard to tell. The only thing I've taken away from this is that when a bargain seems too good to be true, there's probably a very good reason for that.

Review: Schwarzkopf Essensity Intense Repair Mask

My hunt for the perfect hair mask to quench my parched hair's thirst is somewhat of an ongoing adventure, though I gotta admit that this one's a pretty serious contender.

As far as texture goes, this hair mask is absolutely spot-on. It's got enough slip to massage into hair easily, but is also thick and creamy enough not to drip out of the hair while you leave it to sink in.
I used this every other wash instead of conditioner and it worked an absolute treat on my hair.

It does that wonderful thing of being really nourishing but without making the hair feel heavy afterwards. It adds shine and it even seems like my hair didn't take quite as long to blow dry afterwards.

The only downside? The pot is on the smaller side, so it really didn't last that long - about a month of using it 1-2 times a week and it was gone. It's definitely something I'd look to repurchase, though!

Review: Rimmel Colour Rush Balm in 110 Make Me Blush

A few months back I went through a phase of wanting to buy pretty much every single shade of these Rimmel lip crayons. I was absolutely besotted with them and wouldn't wear anything else on my lips, but eventually my love fizzled out and while they haven't totally been forgotten, I don't reach for them quite as often anymore.

The really annoying thing about these lip crayons is that they don't have the shade name printed anywhere on them, so it took me a while to figure out that this is actually shade 110, "Make Me Blush". I do apologise for the weird tint this has picked up on camera. In reality this is actually a quite light and very blue toned baby pink!

The swatches show a much more accurate picture of the actual colour. It goes on quite sheer at first, but is build able to a more opaque finish. I definitely prefer it in a thicker layer, as it does have a tendency to look a little patchy otherwise.

As I've said previously, I absolutely cannot fault the formula of these lip crayons. They feel smooth and silky on the lips, go on without dragging in the slightest and offer a healthy hit of pigmentation with a delicate sheen. Longevity is excellent, though I have found that this shade in particular doesn't fade out into an even stain like the other ones do, but tends to settle into the lip lines instead. It's a real shame and though it's nothing you can't fix with a regular touch up, it does mean that it's by far my least favourite colour from the line up.

My Little Box October 2014 - Diane von Furstenberg Edition

It's been a while since I had a beauty box subscription. The last one that got me excited was Korean Memebox, but after some difficulties which resulted in me never getting a box I ordered and still losing out despite getting a refund due to bank charges and conversion rates, I felt like I'd had enough for a while. But then My Little Box came over from France and I was smitten (this seems to always happen as soon as I think I'm over subscription boxes). Their attention to detail, the mix of fashion, lifestyle and beauty products and the gorgeous illustrations just completely won me over.

Unfortunately, it hasn't been quite plain sailing with this box either. It took three weeks to arrive, so I got my October box on the very last day of October. However, their customer service were extremely friendly and helpful and explained that the first box always takes a bit longer to arrive and I should be getting my subsequent boxes on time from now on. As long as I don't get my November box on the 30th that's something I can live with and overlook just this one time.

On to the actual box, the spoiler this month was that there was a designer collaboration involved and I gotta admit that got me pretty excited. I tried to not look at any blog posts before getting my box, but caved at the two-week-after-it's-been-dispatched mark. I wasn't so sure about DVF at first, but if you read any of my wish list posts you'll know that prints are basically my favourite thing in the world and prints are something Diane is extremely good at, so my expectations grew.

The packaging of the box certainly didn't disappoint. From the illustrated box to the way everything inside was packaged, the attention to detail made it feel like I was opening a special present someone had packed just for me. Everything came wrapped separately, from the printed envelope of the scarf to the drawstring bag for the beauty products.

My Little Box always include a magazine with their boxes and even though you could tell the translation from French into English was a bit wonky, it felt extremely well executed with high quality photographs and great interviews. This is by far the most impressive little magazine I've ever seen in a subscription box.
Also included was a printed card and a red lip brooch. I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with these two items. I might put the print up somewhere in my office/make-up room, but I'm a bit lost on what to do with the pin, as it wouldn't go with any of my clothes, but I don't want to just throw it away either!

As soon as I heard there'd be a designer collaboration for this box I instantly knew there'd be a printed scarf included. Turns out my hunch was right! Granted, nobody is going to mistake this for an actual designer scarf (there were a few loose threads I had to snip off with scissors), but I'm still happy with the quality and bright animal print is definitely something I'll happily wear. I also like that the inside of the card envelope had some illustrated suggestions on how to wear the scarf.

On to the beauty samples. I was a little bit disappointed how tiny the tube of L'Occitane hand cream was - somehow it looks much bigger in photos, but in reality it's about the size of my thumb. However, L'Occitane are famous for their great quality hand creams that moisturise but don't leave hands greasy and sticky and this one in particular has an amazing vanilla scent that somehow isn't too sickly sweet at all.

The Kerastase hair spray is another winner. I don't use hair spray much, but this one is lovely and light and doesn't make my hair crispy. Overall from what I've seen on the My Little Box website, their brand selection is really amazing with lots of mid-tier and high-end brands that are well known and loved.

As for their own brand products, they're certainly on a different level than anything I've ever seen before from subscription boxes. The packaging manages to pull of this whole "cute but still chic" thing extremely well. As for the micellar water included in this box it has a nice scent and is gentle enough to use on the eyes, but it does struggle a bit with waterproof mascara, so I don't think it'll be replacing my beloved Garnier anytime soon.

Overall I'm quite impressed with this box. It certainly felt like a special treat to open it up, which is what a good subscription should be about in the end. I haven't done a breakdown of the value, as it would be difficult to price items like the scarf and the pin, but it certainly felt like the value for money was there.

I'm quite excited now to see what the November box brings!