A Late Unboxing Of Glossybox UK - May 2020 Edition - Wild Thing - Zebra Edit*

I don't know if it's just me, but it seems as though 2020 was the year that the team at Glossybox really discovered make up. I've been a Glossybox subscriber on and off since Day 1, and whilst their boxes have always contained the odd bit of make up, the boxes that I've had so far in 2020, seem to be a little bit more make up, and colour heavy than some of the boxes that I've had in previous years.

I love make up though, so I'm not complaining, it just means that my unboxing posts can sometimes take a little bit longer to prep - there are colour accurate swatches to shoot and edit, and of course face shots to shoot, and of course to edit. It all takes time, and in my case I need good light to shoot it in. It's been a bit tough to shoot make up pics over the last few weeks, it's either been too hot to wear any or it's been too dark and miserable to capture any decent pictures - sometimes you just can't win! Thankfully though I've managed to finish all of the pictures for this post, all be it two months late, so welcome to a very late unboxing of the May 2020 edition of Glossybox UK.

After a couple of traditional pink and black boxes in March and April, I was really pleased to see something a bit different in May. The majority of Glossybox subscribers were sent one of two safari / jungle animal designed boxes. There was a yellow gold and black leopard print design, and a zebra print design which was the one that I received.

The lid featured a black and silver foiled zebra print design, with the words 'WILD thing' written on the edge of the lid in white and gold. The inside of the lid also featured a special design with the usual Glossybox logo printed in white on a black background, alongside some white paw prints.

The box base was in a plain matte black, and the black and silver theme was carried on inside the box. The contents of the box were wrapped in silver tissue, tied with a black ribbon and accompanied but matte black paper shred.

The first item in the box as always was the information leaflet, and even though there were officially two different box designs, the contents was pretty much the same, bar a few differing colours, varieties, and packaging options.

The theme of the box was obviously 'Wild Things' and the products in my zebra edit, were specially selected to make the subscriber feel fierce and wild - miaow! and the box contained sultry eye make up, animal print skincare, and beauty tools to encourage creativity and help us to rule the urban jungle - roar! (sorry I don't really know what sounds zebras make - neigh maybe ;)

Steve Laurant Wild Thing Eyeshadow Palette - 7.2g - Full Size - RRP £31 / $40

The first product in the box, was the item that was teased in April's box,  and it was an eyeshadow palette from Glossybox favourite brand, Steve Laurant.

I've tried a few things from the brand now including and lipgloss in eggplant, and lip gloss / tint in cherry, and a rose gold pigment, but this is the first time that I've had the opportunity to try a pressed eye colour and a palette.  If you haven't heard of the brand - they are a US based cosmetics brand that are both cruelty and gluten free.

This is Steve Laurant's Wild Things palette, whilst the outer box varied and reflected the zebra or leopard print of the outer box, the palette inside was exactly the same.  Whilst the box was pretty fancy, the packaging of the palette itself is quite basic. It just a plain square, shiny black plastic compact with the Steve Laurant logo on white on the top. Unfortunately it's one of those palettes that's quite difficult to open without breaking a nail, I found that I had to stick something like a pair of tweezers into the slot to twist it open to save my nails.

When you eventually get into the palette you're greeted with a full, palette sized, mirror, and 9 roughly 5p - 1p sized eyeshadows. Obviously gluten and cruelty free, Steve Laurant claim that these shadows are long wearing, crease resistant, silky smooth and blendable.

The palette contains a nice mix of mattes, and shimmer, in a mixture of nudes, browns, taupes, bronzes, and it even contains a black and a silver colour.

I have to say I agree with Steve Laurant's claims on this palette all of the shadows are smooth and creamy, and as you can see the colour payoff even on the matte shades is excellent. I did experience a little bit of fallout on the shimmers but otherwise they were really easy to apply and they were really easy to blend. Excuse the lockdown brows but I thought I'd two quick and easy looks just to show you the pigmentation and again just pretty these shadows actually - the first is a peachy, bronze, brown look, and the other is a quite silvery smoke look using just the black and silver shades.

As well as looking awesome, the wear time on these shadows was also pretty decent, they faded down gradually with no harsh, creasing or smearing, and even at the end of a warm day I still had eyeshadow to remove from my oily eyelids - win!

I love browns, nudes and taupes, so this palette was right up my street. The quality was decent, the pigmentation, wear time, and application was all spot on, the only real drawback for me is the price, this palette retails at around £31 / $40 direct from Steve Laurant who ship worldwide, and as good as it is, I think it's quite pricy for the size of the shadows, and for the relatively basic packaging. I don't know about you but I think it seems a lot when you consider just how good, and how affordable a lot of UK drugstore palettes are. Let me know your thoughts in the comments x

eos Smooth Sphere Organic Sweet Mint Lip Balm - 7g - Full Size - RRP £6.50

Next up a cult lip balm from eos. It seems as though every other brand has a globe / spherical shaped lip balm now but eos is the original and some say the best. Once quite hard to get hold of in the UK, eos, which stands for evolution of smooth, are a US based brand that some say revolutionised the humble lip balm with a new philosophy and an innovative new shape!

From their organic range, all of the balms that subscribers received in May's box are certified organic and Eco Cert guaranteed, they are made from 100% natural, sustainably sourced ingredients and contain no gluten and no mineral oils. They are dermatologically tested, and they aren't tested on animals.

Every subscriber randomly received one of 3 balms, and the one that I got was Sweet Mint, The pastel green, twist open sphere contains a dome shaped, creamy coloured, solid balm. The balm contains a whole host of moisturising ingredients including shea butter, sunflower seed, coconut, olive and jojoba oils, as well as carnuba wax and beeswax, as well as stevia extract to give it a sweet taste, and of course peppermint extract.

The balm melts slightly on contact with the skin, and goes on translucent, with an ever so slight gloss. It feels smoothing and moisturising on the lips without feeling, gloopy, heavy or sticky. The name sweet mint describes the flavour and scent perfectly, it tastes like a sweet mint with an almost warm, vanilla undertone. Like all lip products containing mint it does tingle slightly on the lips but it's not harsh or painful.

I struggled a bit applying the spherical SPORTFX balm that I got in April's Glossybox, but the translucency and the rounded shape of the container actually made it easier for me to hold, and to apply.

I've got to say that when I first saw this product in my box I was a little bit disappointed to see yet another lip balm, but even though I'd tried a lot of the eos inspired balms I'd never tried actually tried the original, and I have to say that despite my initial negativity,  I'm pleased I've now lost my eos virginity. I really, really like this lip balm, I love the fact that it isn't heavy or sticky, and I love the fact that actually seems to absorb into the lips rather than just sitting on the top, and it actually seems to make my lips feel softer! As you know from my SPORTFX review I have a strange relationship with lip balm, but I like that one and this one from eos enough from to try and keep using them - will I ever finish a lip balm? That still remains to be seen but I'm going to give it my best shot from here on in. This particular eos lip balm retails at around £6.50 from various online and bricks and mortar stores including Boots, Look Fantastic, Beauty Bay, and NEXT Beauty.

Oh K! SOS Skin Calming Dalmatian Print Sheet Mask With Charcoal And White Tea - 1 x 23ml Mask - Full Size - Est. RRP £4

The next item was another random selection item, and this time it was one of 3, animal designed, printed sheet masks from quirky Korean inspired skincare and body care brand, Oh K!

I received the Skin Calming Dalmatian Print Sheet Mask, that contains a host of botanical ingredients including white tea, tea tree, ginkgo bilboa and charcoal powder. This vegan friendly mask is designed to draw out impurities, soothe breakouts, and reduce redness and inflammation.

When I first started using sheet masks one of the major problems with them was that they were too dry, given the last couple I've tried though, that doesn't seem to be of a problem any more no matter what the brand. This mask was very, very wet, it was soaked in a clear, almost serum like liquid. It was very wet, and quite tightly folded together, but tissue, like fibre mask felt surprisingly strong so it was fairly easy to pull it apart.

The mask was white in colour, with black and grey Dalmatian like spots, and splodges on it. In theory it sounds quite cute but like so many of these character and animal style masks, it actually looked a little bit scary!

The scent though was lovely, it had a nice fresh, almost herbal scent. It immediately felt really cooling and refreshing on the skin, which was ideal on the warm day that I used it. Being so wet though there was a problem with excess fluid running down my face and neck

I removed the mask after around 15 - 20 minutes or so and predictably my skin felt very wet, so there was loads of serum like liquid left over to rub into my face, neck and chest. It took a good 5 or so minutes for it all to soak in. As it claimed on the packaging my skin did indeed feel cool, calm, and refreshed, and it definitely had a bit more of a healthy glow to it.

After

Even with a filter this mask didn't look quite as cute as I wanted it to, but it was a nice mask to use especially on a warm day, and it's one that I would definitely consider using again. The price seems to vary quite a lot depending on where you buy this one - I've found it for as little as £2.50 and for as much as £5. It's pretty easy to find online from various retailers including direct from Oh K! and also from retailer such as Feel Unique, Beauty Bay and Look Fantastic.

Mudmasky Hair Mask, Scalp Treatment & Miracle Shampoo 3 In 1 Formula - 75ml - Full Size -  RRP £21

Although their focus in the early days of their business was primarily on face masks, as their business has grown Dutch company Mudmasky have introduced a range of other products including skincare items, and now haircare.

I actually already own a tube of this product that I got in the August 2019 edition of Pink Parcel, but I'd never actually got round to using it, Seeing as my hair needs a bit of TLC at the moment ahead of my long awaited appointment with my hairdresser next week though, I've been digging out a few pampering products to try so I thought I'd give this a go.

The brand is both cruelty free and it's also approved by PETA. It both paraben and sulphate free and it contains Moroccan Argan Oil, Moroccan Lava Clay, and botanical and flower extracts including St John's Wort, Cornflower, Calendula, and Linden Flower.

Suitable for all hair types including damaged, and chemically treated, this is a 3 in 1 treatment, it's a hair mask, a scalp treatment, and a miracle shampoo, the helps to repair, hydrate and strengthen the hair, moisturise the scalp, and control damage. You don't need any other other shampoos or conditioners - this apparently is all you need.

Slightly off white in colour, it has a loose, thin but still creamy texture, that reminds me in both appearance and feel of an everyday conditioner. It has a nice gentle, clean scent that reminds me a bit of Dove and Nivea. All you do is massage it into wet hair. It isn't too thick so it's quite easy to work it through the hair and massage it in to the scalp. It wasn't really clear on how much product you should actually use so I just used a good dollop. Then you just leave it on the hair for one minute before rinsing it out with warm water.

It was pretty easy to rinse out, it didn't really produce any foam so it did feel more like I was washing out a conditioner rather than a cleansing product but it hair feeling smooth, clean and almost slick to the touch. As per usual I left my hair to dry naturally, and it ended up feeling a touch knotty and dare I say it not quite as clean as normal.

Maybe it was down to the amount of product that I used, or even something psychological with the lack of foam, and the more conditioner like feel, but hair definitely felt a touch greasier, and it seemed to need washing more quickly than usual.

This product would be great if you were in a rush, or if you're travelling and you just want to take one product, or even if you like the idea and feeling of co-washing, but alas it's a no from me, it didn't leave me hair feeling clean enough, or even conditioned or smooth enough. The only retailer I can find it direct from Mudmasky who ship worldwide, where depending on the exchange rate this 75ml tube retails at around £21.

Stargazer Glitter Eyeliner Pencil - Silver - 1.17g - Full Size - RRP £2

The fifth and final item in the box was another make up item, and yes it was another eyeliner! I seem to have received a lot of eyeliners from Glossybox in both 2019 and 2020, and there is yet another one to come in June's box, but this one from Stargazer is just a little bit different.

Stargazer are a UK beauty company, who manufacture products for other brands, and themselves right here in the UK. They are a cruelty free, budget friendly brand, that produce a range of fun make up and beauty products ranging from brightly coloured hair dyes, face paints and glitters, to foundations, bronzers, nail polishes, and eyeliners.

Every Glossybox subscriber received one of 6 shades of glitter eyeliner pencil in their box, and the one I got was Silver. In the traditional wooden pencil style, it has a silver coloured barrel, and a clear plastic lid with embedded silver sparkles. The pencil itself has a waxy silver base, and contains lots of small silver glitter particles.

The pencil has quite a soft feel, and unlike a lot of glitter liners that I've tried the pigmentation  excellent. A lot of times glitters are suspended in just a transparent wax but the silver base made a real difference.

Unfortunately these pictures were taken at the height of the heatwave that we had a few weeks ago, so it was way too hot for full make up so I'm not wearing foundation, powder, concealer, or even mascara, I'm just wearing this liner, and my product less lock down brows!

Worn As Liner 

Even for eyeliner noobs like me, you can't go too wrong with a pencil liner like this. It was smooth and easy to apply and as I've said the pigmentation's spot on, in fact it was so soft and blendable,  without any pulling or dragging, that you could even colour your whole lid in like I've done here and use it as an eyeshadow.

Worn As Shadow 

As I say it was a pretty warm day when I shot these pictures, so unsurprisingly it didn't last too long especially since it was applied directly onto bare skin. The silver base faded leaving tiny silver, glitter particles on my lids which pretty much spread everywhere else on my face within a few hours.

With an RRP of just £2 though you can't really complain. This liner would be great for a party, a night out or if you want to experiment with make up or if you're on a budget. It's available direct from Stargazer as well as from eBay, Amazon, and several other fashion and beauty retailers.

Despite the fact that I didn't really get on with the Mudmasky product, I really liked all of the other products in the box, with my standouts being the eos lip balm and obviously the Steve Laurant eyeshadow palette. Okay I also received another lip balm and another eyeliner but overall for me it was a decent box and again well worth the money. 

Let me know your thoughts in the comments and don't forget to use my links to find out more about Glossybox or to subscribe for yourself - I'd really appreciate it x Thanks for reading and I'll see you soon with my June empties post and then my thoughts on the June edition of Glossybox UK which contains a product from HUDA Beauty x 

*This Post Contains Both Affiliate And Non Affiliate Links

KIKO Milano Cosmetics Haul And Reviews

As I said before, I think we're pretty lucky in the UK when it comes to beauty products. There are a lot of great UK budget brands, and we also have some of the best European and US brands at our disposal.

One of the most recent brands to make its way on to the UK high street is KIKO Milano. I already own a few KIKO pieces that I'd got in European swaps but now we can buy KIKO here in blighty via there website and if your lucky enough you might even have a store near you.

I'm lucky enough to have two KIKO Milano stores pretty much on my doorstep now in both Sunderland and Newcastle, and I can never resist a little look in every time I go past. Over the last few months I've bought quite a few bits and now I've had a chance to use them all I thought I'd let you know my thoughts on some of their products.

Because the UK website existed before either of the stores near me did, I'd spent a little bit of time looking at the products and deciding what exactly I wanted to try and these Water Eyeshadows were right at the top of my list

These eyeshadows remind me a lot of some the MAC In Extra Dimension products. They look beautiful which is one of the reasons that i bought them I guess but these shadows are just about how they look.

They remind me a bit of a topographical map, with their grooves, peak and troughs, but these specially ergonomically designed 3D, eyeshadow, are actually designed to make these eyeshadows easier to apply, and to make the shadow itself easier to pick up.

There are 32 beautiful shades to choose from and I went for the shades 209 Olive Green and 227 Light Taupe, which is actually more of taupe, champagne colour. These shades are made using spherical powder pigments, which give them a soft and almost creamy feel. You can use these shadows in two ways, dry as you see below, which gives a more sheer, colour and you can also mix them with a little bit of water or some KIKO Mixing Solution, for a full on metallic, block colour finish.

There is literally nothing that I don't like about these shades, I love the chunky matte black packaging and the little mirror inside, I love the appearance of the shadows and I love how they perform. The pigmentation is superb, they feel super soft and creamy, and they apply and blend well and they last. The price of these and a lot of things from KIKO varies depending on the shade, and whether you buy them in store or online but I paid £4.40 each for these in store.

The next thing that I picked was a lipstick, and like their eyeshadow KIKO do a lot of different lipsticks, in different formulations, different packaging and in different shades. I decided to try one of their Smart Lipsticks, which is probably affordable lipstick line in their range.

There are 24  Smart lipsticks shades to choose from and being a creature of habit, I went for one of their nude, pink shades - 927 Intense Rose.

Packaged in a basic but stylish matte black bullet, all of the lipsticks in the Smart Lipstick line are designed to smooth, creamy and nourishing and this one is no exception.

It has a soft and creamy feel, and you get no dragging on the lips but it isn't so creamy that just disappears in a instant. The pigmentation and strength of colour is excellent, and it's also very buildable so can either apply a thin layer for a sheerer shade or you can build it up or apply it with a heavier hand for a full block colour.

Here you can see a couple of pictures of it on the lips, no close ups I'm afraid but I hope it gives you an idea of what this colour looks like on the lips.

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I don't know whether it's down to the super wearable shade of the creamy formulation but this has been one of my go to lipsticks for the last month of so. I've dabbled the odd red, purple or nude lipstick but I keep coming back to this one and for the price I really can't fault it. Again prices vary but I think I paid around £3.90 for this one. The only drawback I guess could be the taste and scent, I know not every likes a vanilla based scent and taste but personally I don't mind it.

Next up a blusher and something else with a chocolate, vanilla scent. This is actually a blush duo, and it's one of the KIKO Milano Cocoa Shock blushes.

Open the gorgeous mint green box, and inside you're greeted with two ginormous squares of chocolate! Okay it's not real chocolate but that's exactly what this sturdy, plastic compact is designed to look like, two rich creamy squares of milk chocolate.

Alas there isn't any chocolate inside but instead your greeted with two sweet and creamy scented, chunky squares of blusher, and a full sized mirror.

There are 4 different colour combinations to choose from and this is 03 Adorable Pink and Peach. Despite their traditional powder appearance these blushers are actually baked, to create an ultra lightweight buildable formula.

Every beauty needs a baby pink and a peachy coral blush in their collection and especially two blushers as nice as these ones. As well as being vanilla scented both of these blushers are super soft, and silky to the touch. It does mean that they are a touch powdery but given the softest and the superb pigmentation I can forgive a little bit of mess.

Alas the autumn and winter light has not been kind to me but I've tried to get a few pictures of these blushers on my cheeks - again it's not showing up to well especially with the peach coral but I hope it gives you some idea x The peach coral is first, then you can see the baby pink shade. I've chosen to use them separately but you can mix them together x

This palette is a little bit more expensive then the items that I've already talked about but for me it's well worth it. Although I'd probably save the peach coral shade for spring and summer, the baby pink shade is one of my favourite blush colours and it works perfectly with the pink undertones in my skin. I love the packaging, vanilla scent and the quality of the blushes themselves so I have no regrets about paying £10.90 for this palette.

The next couple of things that i got were both nail polishes and to be honest I will talk about more about these in a future nails of the day post but I thought I'd let you have a sneaky look at them now x

On the left you have the KIKO Nail Lacquer in 521 Pearly Ocean, which is beautiful metallic, glittery turquoise blue,

and on the right you have KIKO Nail Lacquer in 530 Pearly Blue Peacock, which is metallic glittery, teal which is shot through with gold shimmer.

Again the prices vary depending on the shade, and whether you buy them online or in store, but these polishes usually retail at around £2.50 for an 11ml bottle, but I was lucky enough to get them for £1 each. This formulation is supposed to be super glossy and almost gel like, throw in the fact that they are toluene, camphor, DBP and formaldehyde free and I really can't wait to try them out.

The final product I'm going to show is something that I've fallen in love with but unfortunately I don't think you can get it any more. I bought it from the sale stand a few months ago but I'm showing you it anyways just in case any reappear in either the Black Friday or the January Sales.

The first thing that I can say about the KIKO Milano Dessert Dunes Baked Blush is WOW! The packaging is beautiful. Open the box and you immediately spy a beautiful textured rose, gold compact. It's plastic but when it looks as good as this who cares!

As much as I love pretty packaging though - it really should be about the product inside and this compact from KIKO certainly doesn't disappoint!

Alongside a good sized mirror, you get a beautiful tri colour, baked blusher, which features a dark pink, a peachy coral shades, and a bright but so wearable baby pink.

Again with a slight vanilla scent, these baked powders are silky, silky soft and lightweight. Again you get a bit of dust and fallout but as I say I can live with that.

The pigmentation is superb, and you can use each of the colours separately or you can swirl them all together. I haven't managed to take a picture of this product on my face but you can see me wearing it like this in the lip pictures above and in the You Tube video at the end of this post.

I know this product isn't available any more but as I say you might be able to find it on a sale rack, if you can't though there are some beautiful baked blushers and bronzers in KIKO's Holiday 2016 collection.

As I say I've made a little You Tube video to accompany this haul which you watch via this link or below. If anything could go wrong in this video, it probably did but I hope you enjoy it and find it useful regardless of my total lack of professionalism :)



I'm now officially a KIKO convert and I would definitely recommend checking out their products either online and in store if you have one near you. If you have any KIKO recommendations I'd love to hear them so leave me a comment and let me know x