A Late Unboxing Of Glossybox UK - September 2020 - Glossy Spa Edition*

Greetings from LouLouLand, or as I'm currently calling it Fibromyalgia hell! Again this post is super late but I'm in the middle of a pretty full on Fibromyalgia flare, pain, exhaustion, insomnia, jaw spasms, and headaches, you name a fibro symptom and in the last month I've probably experienced it with bells on! Thankfully I'm starting to see a tiny chink of light at the end of the tunnel, I'm controlling my pain a bit better, and I'm sleeping better (more on how to come x), so I'm trying to do a bit of work when I can - I really am the obligatory tortoise, it may take me a while but I'll get there in the end x 

So think back a month or two to September and enjoy my thoughts on the September 2020 edition of Glossybox UK. 

After all of the bows and excitement and bows of the August birthday edition, at least packaging wise, the September edition felt a little flat with a return to the traditional pink and black colour way, both inside and outside the box.
 

The first thing that you normally see when you open up your Glossybox is the information leaflet, but myself and many other subscribers didn't actually receive one in September's box. Thankfully though it was available on the Glossybox website, so we could find out more about the theme of the box and the products in September's box. The theme was of course 'Glossy Spa' and the box contained 5 indulgent products to give you that spa experience in your own home.

MineTan Body. Skin Exfoliating Coffee Scrub - 30g - Deluxe Mini - Est. RRP £11

The first product in the box was a body product, and it was a product from Australian owned self tanning brand. MineTan Body Skin. I'm not big on self tanning anymore so I was really pleased to receive a product that I would actually use, a sachet of their Exfoliating Coffee Scrub.

Like all of their products in their range, this scrub is 100% vegan and cruelty free, and it is also paraben, palm oil, mineral oil, and sulphate free. It contains ground coffee, sweet almond oil, walnut shell powder, brown sugar, salt, olive oil, macadamia oil, shea butter, vitamin E, pumice and oatmeal extract.

Designed to smooth and hydrate the skin and target imperfections such as dry and flaky, and uneven skin, and stretch marks, this scrub looks and smells exactly how you would expect it to.

    

Think slightly, damp coffee grounds, combined with smaller grains of salt, brown sugar, and pumice, that smells exactly like your morning cup of coffee.

All you do it massage it over damp skin, and then you rinse if off. Like all of these types of scrub it's pretty messy, and it produces a bitty coffee, coloured liquid in the bottom of the shower, but if you can get past that though it really does work, my skin felt super soft, and smooth, and after a couple of uses my skin looked more even and smooth.

Whilst the particles are quite small, this scrub was scrubby enough, to pass my 'I can feel it working' test but alas it didn't pass Mummy Lou's clean, no mess, shower test :(

Glossybox quote an estimated retail price of £11 for this 30g deluxe mini size, but based on my research that seems to be a mistake. From what I can gather the full 200ml size retails between £9.95 and £9.99 direct from both MineTan and from Look Fantastic, so a better estimation of the price was probably be around a couple of pounds.

Imperial Leather Foamburst Luxury Gel To Foam Body Wash - Lychee & Lotus Flower - 75ml - Deluxe Mini - Est. RRP £2

I've said it before but I really miss my bath, especially when I'm having an aches and pains day. Showers are brilliant for getting clean but when it comes to a luxurious and pampering experience, baths will always win out, or will they?

In the four or so years that have passed since I lost my bath, there has been a huge improvement in shower products - from just the humble shower gel, we now have shower steamers, shower creams, shower butters and shower foams, all designed to make the normal shower experience just a little bit more special.

When it comes to shower products one of my favourite type of products has to be shower foams, and one of my brands of choice has to be Imperial Leather.

I've talked about Imperial Leather's Foamburst before (read my thoughts here) but the September edition of Glossybox gave me the chance to try one of their newest editions, Lychee and Lotus Flower.

With a beautiful exotic, fruity, floral scent, this this pink gel transforms instantly into a lovely, creamy shower foam. A tiny bit goes a long way and leaves the skin soft and clean, and you can also use it shaving foam. I love these foams and they really do make the whole showering experience just a little bit more luxurious.

Glossybox put a price of £2 on this 75ml deluxe mini size. The full 200ml size retails at around £3 - £3.15 from various retailers including Superdrug, Boots, and Tesco.

Avant Skincare Supreme Hyaluronic Acid Antioxidising DUO Moisturiser - 50ml - Full Size - Est. RRP £89

The next item in the box was another product from high end skincare brand, Avant. I've tried quite a few of their products now and I've usually been pretty impressed with both the quality and the results.

Now I'm going to hold my hands up and say that I haven't actually opened this one yet. I currently have a couple of day creams on the go so I thought that I would leave this one sealed up until I was ready to use it. 

Fear not though my dear readers, I have actually already reviewed this particular moisturiser before. I received a mini 10ml size in the September 2019 edition of Pink Parcel, and you can read my review here.

Glossybox put an estimated value of £89 on this full 50ml size but again based on my research the same size also in a tube actually seems to have a retail price of £100 on the official Avant website, and it's also available in slightly different packaging also for around £100 from Look Fantastic and Beauty Expert. Either way it's a pretty expensive so I'm really pleased to have received it in September's box.

Ameliorate Intensive Skin Therapy With Alpha Hydroxy Therapy - 30ml - Full Size - RRP £15

The next item in the box was a product from a new brand to me, Ameliorate. Ameliorate produce a range of products specifically for those people with dry, sensitive or problematic skin, catering for every concern from psoriasis, to ingrown hairs.

The September 2020 edition of Glossybox UK, contained a full 30ml sized tube of the Ameliorate Intensive Skin Therapy, which is a petroleum free balm, which is designed to rejuvenate protect and deeply moisturise the skin.

Containing lactic acid, sweet almond oil, shea butter, beeswax, barley seed extract, and lanolin, it is slightly yellow in colour and it has a rich, creamy texture, and a fresh cream scent.

Despite its creaminess and thickness, it's easy to massage in, it doesn't feel overly greasy or oily and it sinks in quite quickly.

I don't have a lot of problems with dry skin, so I've mainly been using it on my hands, feet and my elbows, and I have to say that I am seriously impressed. I could see a difference in the hydration of my skin, and that look and feeling lasted for a good 24 hours or so.

If you have patches of dry skin, I would definitely recommend that you give this product a try. I'm definitely going to be taking a closer look at the entire Ameliorate range in the future. This balm retails at around £15 from various retailers including Look Fantastic, Feel Unique, Cult Beauty, and Space NK. 

Wishful Yo Glow Enzyme Scrub - 20ml - Deluxe Mini - Est. RRP £9

Although this wasn't the most expensive product in the box, according to most of the subscribers commenting on Glossybox's social media channels, it was the most wanted product in the September box. From Huda Kattan's Wishful skincare range this is a cruelty free, facial exfoliator with a twist.

Containing papaya and pineapple extracts, cellulose, alpha hydroxy acids, and beta hydroxy acids, this paraben free scrub is designed to remove dead skin, and impurities, to help leave the skin smooth, soft and glowing.

Now when you think of facial exfoliators, you immediately think of something rough and grainy - a more physical scrub, but nowadays that isn't necessarily the case. A new generation of facial exfoliators like Ginvera Green Tea Marvel Gel, The Body Shop Drops Of Youth Liquid Peel, and of course this Wishful scrub, are basically enzymatic exfoliators, that don't contain exfoliating particles and instead contain various acids and plant extracts to help smooth and tone the skin.

Containing both pineapple, and papaya, this Wishful exfoliator has a fresh and fruity but slightly astringent scent. 

The product itself us a thin, cloudy / milky white gel. All you do is apply it clean, dry skin and then massage it onto the skin in circular motion. As you begin to massage it onto the skin, the texture starts to change, and it begins to form little balls as it picks up all of the dirt and dead skin. It sounds disgusting but it's actually really satisfying to do!

Then using a muslin cloth or a flannel, and warm water, you just wash the residue away and your skin is left feeling super soft and clean.

Before 

Massaged In 

After Rinsing 

I'm not sure how well you can see it in these pictures, but my skin did look a little bit pink after using this product, probably down to the acids, but thankfully it didn't last, and I didn't experience any tingling or discomfort. If you have sensitive skin you can use it like I did once or twice a week, or if your skin is a bit more hardy, you can use it every day.

I'm a huge fan of enzyme scrubs like this, in fact I think I prefer them to more manual, bitty exfoliators. I've just recently bought The Body Shop Drops Of Youth Liquid Peel, but when I've finished I will definitely consider buying this one, well done Huda, this was definitely worth the hype.

This particular size doesn't appear to be a regular retail size but Glossybox quote a recommended retail price of £9. It usually comes in 2 sizes, a 40ml size that retails at anywhere between £15 and £18, and a 100ml size that retails anywhere between £28 and £34. The Wishful Yo Glow Enzyme Scrub is available from various retailers including Cult Beauty, Feel Unique, Boots, and of course direct from HUDA Beauty.

Since the box was all about pampering and treating yourself, the majority of subscribers also received an extra treat from the lovely people at Glossybox, and it was the best kind of treat, Chocolate!

Lindt Lindor Milk Chocolate Bar - 38g - Est. RRP 75 - 85p

When you think about Swiss chocolate brand, Lindt, probably the first things that comes to mind is probably those fabulously spherical Lindor truffles, but did you know that you can now get that same Lindor taste but in a bar?

Well you can, and in my box I was lucky enough to receive a 38g bar of Lindor Milk Chocolate. Instead of the spheres that we are all used to, the bar contains 6 squares of delicious high quality milk chocolate, with the beautiful smooth, creamy melting chocolate centre, that we've come to expect from Lindor - a yummy and gorgeous treat!

The Lindt Lindor Milk Chocolate 38g Bar retails at around 75p - 85p each from various retailers including Asda, Tesco, and Sainsbury's.

So that was a super late unboxing of the September 2020 edition of Glossybox UK. On the surface it wasn't the most exciting of boxes but the value was insane, and I loved all of the products inside, including the little chocolate surprise. It was a definite winner from Glossybox and I can definitely see myself repurchasing a few of the products again.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments and don't forget to use my link to find out more about Glossybox UK, and course to subscribe for yourself. Thanks for reading and I will see over the weekend with a little self care post x 

*This Post Contains Automatic Affiliate, Added Affiliate And Non Affiliate Links

Sample Saturday - Evolve Tropical Blossom Body Polish - A Review For My Pure*

I've had quite a few new blog followers over the last month so I make no apology for repeating this statement for the probably the millionth time - I love body scrub, no I don't love it, I am in fact obsessed with it!

For years and years I never understood why I needed to use a separate exfoliator, that was until  I started to develop ingrown hairs on my legs. The introduction of an exfoliator into my body care routine made such a difference that I never looked back. I've got a few favourites that I keep going back to, but I love trying new things so for the second of December's My Pure reviews I decided to try another one of their natural body scrubs.

Although I 'm quite familiar with most of the brands on My Pure now, Evolve was one of the brands that I hadn't managed to try. Based in Hertfordshire, Evolve produce a small range of hand made, organic skin and body care products which are all based on natural, and super food ingredients.

The first product I decided to try from Evoke had to be a body scrub. Although I don't expose a lot of skin at this time of year, I still remove excess body hair, and the cold weather can often leave the skin feeling dry and rough, so a good moisturising scrub is always an essential for me no matter what the season, and the Evoke Tropical Blossom Body Polish definitely fits the bill.

Packaged in a glass jar, this soap free scrub is crammed full of ingredients that are not amazing for the skin, but ingredients that are also amazing for the senses. With a base of organic sugar, this scrub is full of sweet almond oil, and Tahitian Monoi.

Tahitian Monoi, oh the magic words, I adores this stuff and anything that contains it. It's described as "the sacred oil of the Polynesians" and what it basically is, is pure coconut oil, that is infused with the blossoms, of the Tahitian Gardenia flower. The result is a beautifully scented oil with restorative and antioxidant properties.

Simply massage some of this finely grained, oil laden scrub onto dry skin, then add a little bit of warm water, and enjoy the resulting creamy, hydrating milk, that rinses away easily and leaves the skin silky soft and fragrant.

This scrub feels amazing on the skin but for me the real selling point is the fragrance. The weather is dull and dreary at the moment and it seems an awful long time till summer, Smell this delicate, exotic floral fragrance with just a hint of coconut though, and your transported to a warm, tropical island in an instant. 

The love is real with this one and when I've finished all of the other scrubs in my collection I'll definitely be making room for another tub of this one in my shower. The Evolve Tropical Blossom Body Polish is available from My Pure and comes in two sizes , the 30ml travel size that you can see here which retails at £3.33, and the 180ml size which retails at £20.00. Are you as obsessed with scrubs as I am? Let me know xx

*Sample

Sunday Fun Courtesy Of Lush Newcastle - #GeordieLush

Hey Guys x It's been a few days since I last posted but I've been seriously lacking in spoons, chronic illness you suck! It's always the way I do something I enjoy and I pay the price, it annoying really because last Sunday was probably the best and most positive that I've felt in a long time.

Instead of having my customary lie in on Sunday morning, I boarded a bus and headed into Newcastle to meet up with some of my favourite North East bloggers for a mini blog event at Lush Newcastle. Unlike the previous Lush blogger event that I attended, this was a very small, intimate event that gave us the opportunity to have a play and ask as many questions as we liked.

We were met at the door by the lovely Graeme, who was to be our guide and our host, and our first task was to get our hands dirty, and make one of Lush's most popular skincare products, Angels On Bare Skin

If you've been reading my blog for a little while now, you'll know that it isn't the first time that I'd made Angels On Bare Skin. Way back in May 2013 I attended a blog event at Lush's Metro Centre store, and this was one of the products that we made. You can read a full review here but it's a product that I love, it's a fabulous cleanser and gentle exfoliator for all skin types, and it smells absolutely fantastic. Compared to last time though this event was a lot more intimate so there was plenty of opportunity to get involved and to get our hands dirty (or should I say clean?).

The first thing that went into the bowl were the liquid ingredients. In this case, vegetable glycerin, plain old tap water, and Lush's special fragrance and colour mix which includes lavender essential oil and rose absolute.

Next it was time for the dry ingredients, there are just two dry ingredients but they make this cleanser what it is - kaolin which is clay that absorbs grease and dirt, and ground almonds to tone and brighten the skin.

Then it was time to get our hands in and give it a good mix. You're really trying to create an almost dough like consistency so you need to pull in and combine the dry and liquid ingredients and give it a good knead.

Then it was time to form our cleansers. We were each given a ball of dough which we had to roll into a log shape, then we had to flatten it out, sprinkle it with lavender flowers and then roll it into a sort of a Swiss roll shape.

Finally it was time to squish our cleansers into the familiar black plastic pots, sprinkle it with a bit more lavender and pop the lid on - Voila!

Although Angels On Bare Skin is probably best known as a facial cleanser, Graeme told us that it can also be used as a gentle body cleanser, particularly on areas prone to redness, and congestion such as the upper arms, and as you can see here it also makes a fabulous hand scrub and cleanser.

After we'd dried our hands Graeme then give us a guided tour of the store, and told us a little bit about some of the soon to be discontinued products, and about some of the newer launches and of course about the new Oxford Street exclusives (stamps feet I want the Comforter Shower Gel!)

We also had a little try of some of the fragrances and learnt about some of the back stories and the reasoning behind some of the stranger names. Although my sense of smell was still lacking I came away wanting, no needing ! both Kerbside Violet and Death And Decay!

We also spent a bit of time finding out more about the Lush sun protection line. It's so hard to create cruelty free sun protection but Lush seem to have done it with their Sesame Sun Tan Lotion and The Sunblock, a solid sunscreen wash! which I'm very keen to try.

After a bit of chit chat to Graeme about blogs and blogging it was time to leave. As well as our tubs of Angels On Bare Skin we also received a little goodie bag containing a mini New Charity Pot, a Braziliant Shampoo Bar, an Avobath Bath Ballistic and some discontinued Love You Mum soap that went straight to Mummy Lou ;)

I'll definitely be reviewing some of these products in future posts and I'll also be reviewing something that I purchased on the day x More on this little packet to come soon x 

I would like to thank both my fellow bloggers, and Graeme and the rest of the staff at Lush Eldon Square for a fun morning, and for their obvious enthusiasm for the brand and it's products. Thanks for reading and if you have any questions please leave me a comment x 

Getting Your Feet Party Ready With Footner Exfoliating Socks*

Nothing seems to divide opinion more then feet. Some people love them (?) and some people? well they can't stand them. Whilst I'm fairly indifferent my mum definitely falls into the latter category and can barely even tough her own without squirming. Love them or hate them though most of us have them and as a result we need to take care of them

In the summertime the majority of us do exactly that. Because our feet are often on show, we exfoliate and moisturise our tootsies, and make sure that our toenails are painted in all manner of pretty colours, come wintertime though and everything changes. Our poor feet are crammed into socks, tights and boots, and like waxing (come on admit it!), caring for our poor feet just isn't as big a priority when the weather gets colder.

I have to say this is me to a tee, in the wintertime my poor feet are usually lucky if they get an occasional massage with foot cream. It doesn't really pay to be lazy though does it? It gives us more work to do later on to get our feet summer ready and what about those Christmas and New Year Parties? A lot of us show off our feet in strappy sandals throughout the party season and believe me sparkly sandals, and cracked heels is not a good look. The obvious solution is to dig out the foot file and the foot cream but thankfully there is now an easier way.

Exfoliating socks really are the answer to mine and so many other lazy peoples prayers. Available in Asia for quite a while now,  it's now much easier to get your hands and feet on some of these miracle plastic booties. I've tried a couple of versions in the past but a little while ago now I was sent some socks to try from one of the UK's best selling brands, Footner.

The idea behind these socks is quite simple. Boxed and sealed in a foil packet, these plastic socks contain an alpha-hydroxy acid (AHA) gel. I'm a huge fan of AHA's in my skincare for their exfoliating and smoothing properties, and they play a similar role in this case.

The AHA's in these socks help to exfoliate and loosen the dead skin on the feet, leaving the feet softer, smoother and exfoliated.

The foil package contains two plastic socks, each sock is lined with a thin paper / fabric type material which is infused with the AHA gel. The socks are sealed so you need to cut along the dotted line in order to put your feet in. A little bit of liquid does come out this point so make sure that your floors, surfaces and floors are protected just in case. The liquid has an ever so slight chemical smell which reminds me a little bit of Alpha H Liquid Gold.

Before you put the socks on it's recommended that you wash your feet in clean, warm water, and thoroughly dry them. These socks fit my size 8 feet with no problem and room to spare, if your feet are smaller the socks do have an adhesive strip which you can use to tighten the top. You can leave them as they are but it's probably safer to put a pair of socks on over the top, just in case you need to move around.

You need to leave the socks on for about an hour. They feel a little bit cold and tingly but they aren't uncomfortable and I didn't experience any real stinging or burning. After an hour you need to wash the excess gel off your feet, again in clean, warm water.

Then all you do is wait. This product isn't for the impatient and those who like to see instant results, it does take time. Over the next few days, your feet will gradually get drier, and drier. Whatever you do, don't use moisturiser on your feet, and don't use a foot file, you just need to have patience.

Eventually the dry, dead skin will start to literally peel off your feel. Soaking your feet in warm water seems to speed up the process, and I know it's gross but don't be tempted to pick it off. The peeling can last for up to 2 weeks and eventually you should be left with much softer feet.

I've been torn so many times over whether or not to show you the photographs of my own experience with the Footner Exfoliating Socks, because to be honest they might put you off your mince pies. That said I do think that they play an important role in showing you just how effective this product actually is, so I've decided to add some links below so you only need to look at the pictures if you really want to ;)

Before 

Before Close Up

After 5 Days

After 5 Days - Close Up

After 5 Days - Close Up 2 

After 5 Days - Close Up 3 

After 7 Days

After 7 Days - Close Up

After 7 Days - Close Up 2 

After 14 Days 

After 14 Days - Close Up

Whether you're brave enough to take a peek at my pictures or not. I can tell you that I was pretty impressed with how this product performed. My feet were a bit of a mess at the start of the trial, and I had lots of dry skin on both my toes and my heels. It took about 3 days before my feet started to peel and that continued for about 10 - 12 days. By day 14, the majority of the dry skin on my feet was gone, there were still a few dry patches on my heels but by and large my feet were smooth.

The worst part of the whole thing was probably when the dryness and flakiness kicked in. My feet did feel pretty itchy at this point, and not being able to moisturise them was pretty hellish. Thankfully soaking my feet in warm water made a huge difference to both the peeling and the itchiness.

If you're after a quick fix then this product probably isn't for you. It takes at least a week to see a result and to be honest they aren't cheap but the results can last up to 6 months. Imagine all that time without scrubbing and filing, it might take a while initially but  you have to admit that this is a much easier way to achieve smoother feet. All I need to do now is slather them in moisturiser every time I have a bath or a shower, and I should have smooth and soft feet right up until the spring. 

The Footner Exfoliating Socks usually retail at £19.99 from Boots and various other retailers

If you have any questions on this product or my experience with it, then please leave me a comment x

*PR Sample