A Late Unboxing Of Glossybox UK - July 2020 Edition - Aloha*

After the relatively plain pink and black design of the June 2020 edition of Glossybox UK, July's box was a breath of tropical fresh air. The pale turquoise, ocean blue tones of the box base, coordinated perfectly with the bright and cheery, tropical leaf and flower design of the lid. The box also featured an embossed gold foil dotted lattice design. The word "aloha' was also embossed onto the lid in a gold foil, as were the words "A MOMENT OF PARADISE" on the side of the box lid.

The turquoise and aqua theme carried on inside of the box with the lining of the box and the paper shred, resembling perfect turquoise seas. The box contents were wrapped in a sheet of peach / coral tissue paper, and a pink ribbon, a colour palette that reminded me a little bit of tropical sunsets and exotic flowers - a lovely and cheerful box design perfect for bringing a little bit of sunshine into an up and down British summer.

As you should know by now the first thing in the box is the information leaflet. Again brightly coloured, the colour way of June's leaflet was reminiscent of a sandy beach and a beautiful blue sea, The theme of June's box was obviously 'Aloha' and it was all about those tropical summer vibes. Containing a mix of refreshing and hydrating skincare, and products to give you a flush or colour and a sun kissed glow, the box was designed to make you feel as though were on the tropical beaches of somewhere like Hawaii.

Jecca Blac Glow Drops Highlighting Primer For Face - Rose Pearl - 20ml - Full Size - RRP £16 

The first product in the box was all about the, and it was a product from a new brand to me, Jecca Blac, or as it's often known as just Jecca.

Jecc Blac is a gender free make up brand thats focus is inclusivity. They whole brand philosophy is "beauty for all genders, identities, expressions, sexualities, abilities, ethnicities, shapes and sizes". All of their products are vegan and cruelty free, and are made right here in the UK.

This product is basically a make up primer, but it's a primer with a twist! As well as doing all of the things that a primer normally does such as making your make up last longer, and evening up your skin tone, this particular primer is also designed to give your skin a healthy, natural glow.

The primer comes boxed and is packaged in plastic, paint style, squeezy tube, The primer itself has quite a fluid feel. It doesn't feel greasy or sticky, and it dries and sets down pretty quickly, so have to blend it out quite quickly. The colour itself is described as Rose Pearl, but in real life it's probably more of a warm copper / rose gold.

It's not very clear in the pictures below but it definitely adds a noticeable shimmer and warmth to the skin. I've just photographed it on bare skin here but when you use it under foundation, you don't really see a lot of the shimmer, it just warms the skin tone up and make the skin look a bit brighter and has a bit more of a glow.

Before 

On Application

After Blending

Unfortunately though as nice as the glow was, this just didn't really work for me as a primer. My skin looked shiny quite quickly and foundation didn't seem to last that long especially on my t-zone. If your skin is dull or dry, or it needs a bit of a boost though then this would be ideal for you. Jecca Blac say you can also use this on the cheekbones, on top of foundation, and on the collarbones, as a liquid / cream highlighter, so I think that's how I'll be using this in the future.

Even though this didn't really work for me as a primer, it has definitely made me want to try more from the Jecca Blac range, so if you have any recommendation I'd love to hear them x Whilst Look Fantastic, HQ Hair, and NEXT Beauty all sell a small range of Jecca Black products, the only retailer that I can find for this product is direct from Jecca Blac, where this full 20ml size retails at £16.

Naobay Orange Juice Hand Cream - 100ml - Full Size - Est. RRP £11.50

The next item in July's box came from Spanish natural skin and body care brand Naobay. I've tried a few bits from them now including the Naobay Detox Illuminating Micellar Water, that I received in the January 2020 edition of Glossybox UK, but this is the first opportunity that I've had to try a body product.

I love a good hand cream, and as operation nail growth continues, I'm pretty much going through a tube a month at the moment, so I was really pleased to receive one in July's box.

Like all of the products in the Naobay range, this hand cream is paraben free, certified organic (ECO CERT) and cruelty free, and it's also suitable for vegans. Designed to moisturise and hydrate the hands, and revitalise and regenerate the skin, 99.279% of the ingredients are natural in origin, and include aloe vera, olive and avocado oils, shea butter, and chamomile and orange extracts.

The hand cream comes in a plastic tube, and it features an eye catching wood and plastic lid. The hand cream itself is white in colour, and has a creamy but not sticky or heavy texture. 

It was really easy to massage into the skin, it absorbs into the skin really quickly, without feeling oily or sticky, and it leaves the skin feeling silky soft, and smooth, and hydrated. 

As expected it has an obvious citrus scent, I was expecting something sweet and juicy, but instead it was more of a tart, tangy almost orange pith type scent

I'm a huge fan of citrus based hand creams, and this is another good one, and I've used more than half of it already. I've been using it as an overnight treatment with loads of cuticle oil and cotton gloves, but the fact that it's non greasy, and it absorbs into the skin so quickly, means that it's perfect for using during the day, after hand washing or sanitising, Again it's not the easiest product to find, in fact the only places that I can find it are on Amazon or on Ecco Verde. Glossybox quote an RRP of £11.50 but around £7.30 seems to be a more realistic price.

#GIVE THEM LALA BEAUTY Aloha Bronzer - Ibiza - 7.5g Full Size - RRP $26 / £19.80

Nothing screams summer beauty more than a bronzer, and the next item in July's box was a full sized bronzing powder from another new brand to me #GIVE THEM LALA BEAUTY. Founded by US reality TV star Lala Kent, #GIVE THEM LALA BEAUTY is a high quality, cruelty free, cosmetic range, that features a large range of lip and cheek products.

This powder bronzer came boxed in a special Glossybox themed "Aloha" themed box. The powder inside was packaged in a round matte black compact. Again this seemed to be special packaging that was exclusive to Glossybox, because the same powder on the official website comes in a white compact.

The compact contains a mirror and a full sized bronzing powder in the shade Ibiza. Officially described as a light milk chocolate tone, perfect for light to medium skin tones. it feels really smooth and as you can see the pigmentation is superb, with just a hint of visible shimmer.

I'm not going to lie though, it is a touch orangey on me, and despite the fact that it blends really well, it still looks a tiny bit dark and a bit muddy on my skin, but it definitely adds a bit of welcome warmth to my skin.

It's definitely not the worst bronzer (colour wise) that I've ever used but it's just a bit to orange toned for my paler, pink toned skin. If you have a warmer complexion this would probably work a little bit better for you than it does on me, and if not there are several other shades available on the #GIVE THEM LA LA BEAUTY website where this full sized bronzer retails at around $26 / £19.80.

The Beauty Crop Palm Balm Lip & Cheek Balm & Color - Mauve Wave - 4g - Full Size - RRP £17-18 / $22 

The next item in the box was another make up product and it was something from natural ingredient, cosmetic brand, The Beauty Crop. The Beauty Crop produce a large range of products made from natural, plant based, ingredients. All of their products are cruelty, paraben and mineral oil free.

This product really is a multi use product that you can use on your eyes, lips and cheeks. It's made of 90% natural plant oils including coconut oil, pomegranate seed extract, grapeseed oil, and apricot kernel oil.

It comes boxed and it's packaged in a small clear, glass pot, with an oceanic, turquoise twist off plastic lid. The balm itself has a semi solid texture, that softens on contact with the skin. The shade I received was Mauve Wave. The surface was a just a touch darker, and warmer, compared to the mid toned, cooler pink underneath.

With a slightly oily taste and scent, the pigmentation as you can see is decent. A lot of balms are soft and creamy but this one really wasn't, it had an almost dry feel. It was pretty also pretty quick drying, and the fact that it didn't feel that greasy or creamy meant that it wasn't that easy to blend.

The colour though was spot on, I used it below to create a really natural pink flush to my cheeks, and a soft pink tint to my lips even though it wasn't that moisturising. I didn't manage to photograph an example for you but you can also use on the eyes for an on trend pink eye look.

Although this wasn't perfect by any means, it's a really nice multi use product. and the shade Mauve Wave works really well on my skin tone. I would have maybe liked it to be a bit creamier in texture but the fact that it isn't greasy meant that it actually lasted really well especially on the lips and cheeks.

From what I can gather this product is exclusive to The Beauty Crop where it retails at £17 for this full sized pot.

Kocostar Slice Mask Sheet - Watermelon - 12 Slices - 20ml - Full Size - Est. RRP £2.99 - £4

The final item in the July's box was a skincare item and it was from another new brand to me, Kocostar, who retail a nice range of quirky, yet high performance Korean skincare products. All of their products are vegan and cruelty free.This particular sheet mask is designed to be moisturising and refreshing, and it contains watermelon fruit extract, acai extract, plum blossom, anise, and thyme.

Now I do love a sheet mask but this was something just that little bit difference. Immediately on opening the packet I was hit a lovely, mouthwatering, fruity scent. I was expecting a normal sheet mask but instead the packet contained a plastic sheet with 12, wet, fibre circles, in two different sizes, that looked exactly like mini watermelons. 

You really just use it like you would any other sheet mask, you just apply the mini melons to clean, dry skin and you leave them on for around 15 minutes. I wasn't sure how well they would stick, but they were actually quite secure. They initially felt quite cooling on the skin but they gradually warmed up to skin temperature, and they actually started to feel quite tingly as time went on. After around 15 minutes the stickers felt quite dry, but there was a little bit of liquid still left on my skin, which felt slight sticky when I massaged it into my skin, and even after it had completely absorbed. My skin looked slightly pink and felt a little bit warm to the touch, but it definitely looked plumper and brighter.

Before

On Application

After

I'm not 100% sure that I would repurchase this particular mask, my skin definitely felt more hydrated but with the tingling and warmth, I'm not sure that my skin particularly liked it. Kocostar products are available from various retailers including ASOS, but I can only find this specific mask on The Fragrance Shop website, on the Danielle Creations website and on Notino. Glossybox quote a RRP of £4 for this mask but for what I've found the price seems to vary between £2.99 - £3.90.

So that was the July 2020 edition of Glossybox UK. The quality and value was definitely there but I can't help feeling a bit mehhh about some of the products, that just didn't work that well on my skin type and skin tone. I'm definitely going to try using the Jecca Blac primer as a highlighter, and I might try using the bronzer on my eyes, and I might have a bit more of a play with it on my face to see if I can make it work better. The balm for me makes a better cheek product and I love the hand cream. Boxes like this are always a risk so you can't really complain about a few duds. I've had a chance to try some new products and new brands and for me that is what it is all about. Let me know your thoughts on this box in the comments, and don't forget to use my link to find out more about Glossybox for yourself and to find out more about this years advent calendar, that went on sale to subscribers today x Thanks for reading and I'll see you soon with a nails of the day post x 

*This Post Contains Affiliate And Non Affiliate Links 

Mothers Day At Poundland - Stationery, Homeware, And High End Make Up Dupes

When I was younger, like so many of peers I wouldn't have been seen dead in a so called discount stores, whether it was down to naivety, delusions of grandeur, just trying to fit in or just plain stupidity, I look back on the Louise of the 1990's and I cringe, I was such an idiot, discount and bargain stores rock and they probably always did.

It's simple really, why pay more for something when you don't need to, I am a huge fan of the so called discounter supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl, I love a good market stall, and of course I love bargain retailers like B&M and Home Bargains. My real love though is Poundland, you do sometimes need to watch their prices, as you can occasionally get things cheaper elsewhere but it's one of the few shops that I can never leave empty handed.

What do I buy in Poundland? well anything and everything, you name it and I've probably bought it in Poundland, nail varnish - check, CD's - check, cleaning products - check, yeah, you get the idea. I'm lucky enough to live quite close to one of their larger stores so I can't resist popping in every week or so, to see their latest arrivals.

Like so many stores now, Poundland is a buy it when you see it shop, if you don't get it when you see it there is no guarantee that it will be there the next time, I think that fear of missing out is probably one of the reasons that I buy so much on every trip.

Now I don't post as many hauls on the blog as I used to instead I tend to upload pictures to Instagram,  and save them to highlights but I thought that today I'd share some of my most recent Poundland buys with you, and they all have a bit of a theme.

If you are still lucky enough to have either your own mum in your life or if you're a mum yourself then you'll already know that it's now less than two weeks till Mothers Day. I think I'm just about sorted now but if you aren't and you either want some little things to add to a main present or you just want some cheaper or token items, or even if you fancy treating yourself on a budget, than Poundland really should be your first port of call.

On my last couple of trips I've noticed more and more items appearing in the their Mothers Day collection. With 90% of the range priced at just £1, this years offerings are perfect if you're are a fan of pinks and marble prints. With items ranging from these fabulous tea light holders, to travel mugs, coupon books, coasters, and trinket boxes, there really is something for every type of mum

Now my mam, is a bit of a puzzle book fan so I've picked up a cute set of pens that are shaped like cooking utensils for her (not pictured), and you know how it goes, I couldn't resist picking up a few stationery bits for me. The pack of  marble print washi tape wasn't in the Mothers Day range but everything else in this picture was. I love anything in gold, pink and marble, and I do love a notebook, so for just a £1 this one was a must, and I love the quotes like "Write Your Own Future" on the pencils.

As well as stationery Poundland's Mothers Day range also contains quite a few beauty items, I'd already picked up one of the marble Blending Sponges when they first appeared with the Valentines / Galentines range, and after a few uses I decided to get a back up. It works just as well as my Beauty Blender and I love the grey and white marble print. As well as the blending sponges, there are perfume dupes, nail polish and nail files sets, bath bombs and some pretty decent make up products.

For Mothers Day 2019, Poundland have released 3 cheek different products inspired by Revolution / Make Up Revolution's, popular Blushing Hearts line which retail at around £4.99 and were themselves inspired by Too Faced's £24 Sweethearts. I don't own any of the Too Faced originals but I'm pretty happy with the Revolution dupes that I do own, and £4.99 is a lot easier to spend then £24. What about a pound though, can make up that cheap really be any good? well I decided to find out and I managed to get my hands on two of Poundland's "heart" make up items.

The first item I picked up was the Bronzing Powder Triple Baked Bronzer. Sticking with the the pink, Mother's Day theme, it comes packaged in pink and white cardboard box. The box itself comes wrapped in a plastic seal so you can't actually see what you're buying, slightly risky but it was only a pound and there is nothing worse than getting a product home and finding someone else's fingerprints in it, so at least you've escaped that!

Open the box and you're greeted with your product adhered to a plastic insert, and boy does it look the part. The domed, chunky, heart shaped bronzer contains 3 shades, a deep warm gold, a deep brown bronze, and a slightly lighter nude bronze.

With the baked texture that you we've come to expect from this type of product, the payoff and pigmentation is superb, all of the shades are strong, and smooth, and I didn't have to do any of that scraping that your sometimes have to do with baked products to get to the colour - just warmth and shimmer in just one light swipe.

Unfortunately I haven't managed to take any pictures of these actually on my face yet, but I have used this bronzer for an all over look, swirling the colours together to warm my cheeks up, and then individually as eye colours. The shades aren't quite as dark as they appear in the pan but I definitely think that this will be more of a summer palette for me, it definitely adds a real glow and a bit of shimmer, which I think will work better on me when I'm not quite as pasty.

Now the other item I got is something that I can definitely wear all year round, it's the Triple Baked Highlighter. Yes, yes I have a ridiculous amount of highlighters but they make me happy, I mean look at it, it's so pretty!

Obviously it comes in the same packaging as the bronzer, only this time you're getting an altogether lighter, cooler toned glow. Again you get three shades in your chunky, domed heart, a true champagne, a more golden champagne tone and a bronze nude. Again I can't fault the colour payoff, or the texture, the pigmentation is there and it's definitely a case of shimmer rather than glitter.

Whilst the bronzer palette worked best for me on the eyes, this is more of a put it everywhere type palette, you can use each shade individually or swirl them together and use them on your cheek bones, brow bones, and again you could even create a full eye look with just this one heart.

I wasn't expecting a lot from these two palettes but I'm so, so impressed for the price. They feel nice, the colour payoff is superb and they were really easy to apply and blend, oh and did I mention that they aren't tested on animals? Yes you get a little bit of fallout, and they create a bit of dust, and I can imagine that the packaging will get a bit grubby after a while but hey I can live with that, they are a £1 each what's not to love! I can't really justify buying any more cheek products at the moment but I'm so tempted to go on a hunt for the as yet elusive, Blushing Hearts Blusher to complete my trio, if that is even half as good as these then for just £1 it will still be well worth picking up. If you've tried it though let me know your thoughts As I say when you see things in Poundland you should buy them, everything that I've seen and read seems to suggest that there were made specifically for Mothers Day so if you fancy a real make up bargain or anything else that I've mentioned then I'd get yourself down to Poundland sooner rather than later x Are you like me and a fan of bargain and discount stores? Share you best finds with me in the comments x

Highlighter Heaven With The Revolution Ultra Pro Glow Highlighting Palette

Now it's no secret that I haven't been the best blogger lately but I promise I am going to try and make it up to you in the last few months of the year and going forward into 2019. Although posts have been a bit thin on the ground I've still been photographing and thinking about posts and whilst searching through some of the folders on my MacBook recently I found some pictures of a few products that I'd always intended to review and never got round too, and this was one of them

I originally bought this palette way back in 2017 and like the "good blogger" that I am (deep down inside anyways) I photographed it when it was all new and pristine, shared a quick pic on Instagram and then promptly never mentioned it again on social media - slaps wrists! Anyways despite the lack of online love I pretty much started using this palette straight away and despite the ridiculous number of highlighters that I have in my make up collection, I've used it pretty consistently ever since, so I thought that I'd share it with you and tell you just exactly why I love it so much  

I've been a fan of Make Up Revolution, or Revolution as they're now known since day 1, I know they have their critics due to their sometimes blatant copies of higher end products, but you can't deny that they do what they do well. Although there are now some higher priced items in the range they've remained largely affordable, and purse friendly. In my opinion they do a lot of things well but for me the palette is where they truly excel. I love make up generally but palettes just make things easier, colours tend to go together, and you're adding multiple items to your make up collection with just one purchase, I have lots of their eyeshadow palettes, a blush palette or two and of course I have this one, the Ultra Pro Glow Highlighting Palette.

My highlighter collection is pretty ridiculous, I have way more than I could ever wear but I absolutely love them, and the subtle nuances, and variations in each one that I own. I own budget friendly ones, and high end luxury ones, and whilst I love them all I keep coming back to this palette.  The reason is that this particular palette give you pretty much every warm toned shade of highlighter that you could ever need all in one place.

The packaging is basic but the powders inside are anything but, the shades in the palette range from pale yellows, and champagnes, to peaches, a warm peachy pink, and coppery bronzes. All of the shades in the palette are gluten and cruelty free, and they are vegan friendly to boot.

The powders inside are super smooth and they so finely milled that they almost feel like creams rather than powders. They don't feel dry or chalky, and since they are shimmers rather than glitters, the fallout is virtually non existent. 

As you can see from these swatches the pigmentation is superb, and depending on your skin tone, some of the deeper shades would make fabulous shimmery blushers and bronzers. Obviously you can use these as out and out highlighters to emphasise your cheekbones, your cupids bow, your brow bone, and the the bridge of nose, but what I love about this palette is it's versatility as I say you can use some shades are blushers or bronzers, and of course you can use them as eyeshadows too.

We're entering silly lighting season at the moment, so the lighting hasn't really been conducive to decent, natural face shots but I've taken a few in different lighting condition to give you an idea of just how smooth, blendable and wearable this palette actually is.

This first picture is taken with the flash and it's probably one my favourite ways to use the paler colours in this palette. Here I've used one of the pale champagne colours to highlight my brow bone, I've just used it very simply alongside MAC Smoke And Diamonds eyeshadow and a little bit of black mascara, a very easy shimmery eye that works equally well when worn day or night.

Annoyingly this photo that's taken again with the flash didn't come out as well as I'd hoped, but you can just  about see a hint of the warm, shimmery pink shade worn as a blush. On my pale (ish) skin tone it makes a really pretty and subtle cheek colour.

At last we had sunshine so I managed to take a few pictures in natural light. I'm a huge fan of nude, and neutral eyes, my Naked palette is my best friend and I love a bit of shimmer on my eyes so I've had a play or two and some of the bronze, copper shades are pigmented and strong enough to make excellent eye shadows in their own right. Again I've just teamed them up with a coat or two of mascara for a really easy autumnal eye look.

Again I'm not really that happy about how this one has photographed, because I'm quite pasty in the picture it looks very daring and quite strong but in real life it was definitely a little bit more subtle and wearable. This is lovely almost metallic deep champagne, bronze shade, that just made my face and skin pop. As I say it looked way nicer in real life, but if you have darker or tanned skin then I think this particular shade would be even more beautiful

As I say I've struggled a bit with some of my photographs but hopefully alongside the swatches they give you an idea of both the quality and the pigmentation, and of course the versatility of this palette.

Not only is this palette amazingly versatile but as you would expect from Revolution it's also a bit of a bargain. For just £8 your getting 8 fabulous, versatile and wearable shades, with a total weight of 20g, so that's basically just £1 per shade. Obviously if you're a highlighter obsessive like me then you need this but it you're new to make or to the whole concept of highlighting then this is an excellent product to start with and if your not a fan of cooler toned highlighter then this couple be the only highlighting product that you would ever need. I love and I'm so pleased that I picked it up. If you fancy picking one up for yourself then it's available from Superdrug and from Revolution Beauty. Are you as obsessed as I am with highlighter? Let me know in the comments x