A Late Unboxing Of Glossybox UK - February 2021 Edition - Sing, Dance, Love, Repeat*

Hi Guys, I hope you have all had a good start to the week, thankfully it's cooled down a little bit here, so I can actually think straight again! Today I'm playing catch up and I'm sharing my thoughts on the February edition of Glossybox UK with you. 

In some senses February seems like a lifetime ago, but for me this year seems to have flown by, and it's very much a case of stop the world I want to get off!

So, February, the month of love, and in 2021's case the month of lockdown! Despite that though the limited edition February box seemed to be perfectly designed to lift our spirits, and for some of us to trigger a little bit of nostalgia.

 

Way back when I was a lass (LOL) there was no such thing as Spotify, iTunes, or downloads, in fact even CD's were just becoming popular, it was all about vinyl records, and cassette tapes.

I grew up in a very music loving household, and I still remember my first ghetto blaster, and my personal stereo, and later my Walkman's, and I still remember having to fix or rewind my tapes with a pin or a pencil.

Needless to say the brightly coloured, cassette tape design took me right back, to listening A-HA tapes in the car on the way to Scotland.

Instead of the usual pale pink tissue paper, the contents of the February box were wrapped in a sheet of creamy yellow tissue paper featuring a yellow cassette, and blue headphone design, the box also contained toning light blue paper shred, all secured together with a pink and white Glossybox logo sticker, and a pink ribbon.

The first thing as per usual in the box was the product information leaflet, which told you a little bit more about all of the products in the box, and talked a little bit more about the "Sing, Dance, Love, Repeat!" theme.

Avant Skincare Velvet Perfecting Rose Sugar Lip Scrub - 10ml - Full Size - RRP £58

The first product in the box was the product that was teased in January, and it was another product from high end skincare brand Avant.

I've tried quite a few items from Avant skincare now (Check out my Beauty Product Directory to see which ones), and by and large I've been pretty impressed but this is the first opportunity that I've had to try one of their lip products.

Now like most people I regularly use lip balm, but like with skincare, and body care there isn't a lot of point in applying any moisturiser if you aren't using an exfoliator. Whilst I probably don't exfoliate my lips as often as I should with a specific product (although I am trying to get better at it - more in that in a future post!), I usually use a cloth or a flannel on my lips when I'm doing my skincare, so at least I guess I'm doing something!

Containing hyaluronic acid, sugar, jojoba oil, argan extract, sweet almond oil, and rose, and peony extracts, this lip scrub aims to soothe, soften and revitalise the lips, as well as protecting them against environmental aggressors, leaving them radiant and brighter.

Unboxed and packaged in a plastic lip gloss like tube, with a slanted tip, the product itself is a very sticky pale pink, translucent gel, containing a fairly sparse smattering of white, sugar grains, and larger red /. brown particles. Given the name I was expecting it to have more of a rose, floral scent, but instead it has a sweet, vanilla based scent.

To use it all you do is apply a small amount to clean, dry lips. Although it's sticky it's quite easy to massage, and whilst it is abrasive, it isn't rough or scratchy. The one thing that I did notice though is how warm and slightly tingly it felt on the lips. I didn't find it uncomfortable but it was noticeable especially since you need to leave the scrub on for between 1- 2 minutes. 

Despite its sweet taste, unlike a lot of lip scrubs you can't lick this one off, so you need to wash it off with warm water, and a flannel or a muslin cloth, before patting them dry with a towel.

Alas I didn't manage to take any before and after pictures, but this product did what it promised, my lips were noticeably more even in tone, all of the dry, flaky bits were gone, and probably down to the self heating element, my lips actually looked a little bit fuller. They did feel softer as well but I still felt as though I needed to apply a lip balm.

I've got to say that this product did exactly what I wanted it to, and whilst I will happily use it up, even with the small amount you use each time, it is quite price prohibitive. 

The Avant Velvet Perfecting Rose Sugar Lip Scrub comes in a 10ml tube which retails at around £58 direct from Avant Skincare. It is also available in a 10ml jar also with a recommended retail price of £58 from Look Fantastic, and Beauty Expert.

NUDESTIX Gel Color Lip + Cheek Balm - Siren - 2.5g - Full Size - RRP £20

Next up the only make up item in February's  box, and it was a multi purpose product from a brand called NUDESTIX. I've only tried one other product from the brand, a Lip + Cheek Pencil in the shade Mystic, which I received in the 2019 Glossybox Advent Calendar, and I was pretty impressed. As much as I love beauty, and make up, most of the time I want a quick fix and multipurpose products like this are the way forward, so I was thrilled to get a chance to try another product from NUDESTIX, this time in a different formulation.

Preservative, paraben, gluten and cruelty free, this pencil contains over 30% ultra hydrating and protective plant oils including sunflower, cottonseed, and soybean oils, as well as Vitamin E.

In their Gel Colour Formulation this pencil promises rich pigment and a wet gloss like finish, as well as protecting, nourishing and hydrating the lips. So it's basically a lip balm, a lip colour, and a gloss all in one, and you can use it on your cheeks as well, what's not to love!

The shade that subscribers received in February was Siren, a deep glossy, cherry red that was perfect for Valentines Day (even though we should have been fist bumping rather than snogging in 2021 ;)

The pencil itself had a lovely, creamy texture, but it wasn't so soft that it lost it's shape and went smooshy.

The pigmentation, and gloss as you can see is superb, so you did need to be a little bit careful when you were applying to stay within the lines. That said though it was really easy to put on, it felt comfortable, moisturising and there was no dragging, or pulling. The coverage was excellent and I loved the rich, glossy finish.

Understandably given the finish it did transfer quite easily but it still lasted well and it gradually faded down to a more natural looking stain.

I don't know how well you can see it in these pictures but I'm also wearing it on my cheeks as a blush. Just pop a couple of dots or stripes on your cheeks, and then blend it out with a brush, sponge or even with your fingers, for a nice "pinch your cheeks" look. On and I used it on top of foundation and powder, and it blended out really easily with pilling or clumping.

A couple of years ago, I would have probably ran a mile from the shade of lip colour, and whilst it does look super bright against my pale skin, I love it for a statement look, and I love both the finish and the formulation.

Glossybox claim that this 2.5g size is a full size that retails at £20, but based on what I can find though the full size is 2.8g and that size also comes in a tin and with a pencil sharpener from £20 from Look Fantastic and for $26 direct from NUDESTIX.

Bubble T Peach Bellini Restoring Hand Cream - 90ml - Full Size - RRP £4.99

As you can see from my latest beauty empties posts and updates I'm still going through hand cream as though it's going out of fashion, and this particular one will probably be the next one that I will be adding to the that list.

From tea inspired beauty brand Bubble T this cocktail themed hand cream contains aloe vera and shea butter.

White in appearance, it has a thick, almost cream / gel texture and a slightly oily feel. Despite that it absorbed into the skin really quickly leaving the skin with a slightly matte finish, but looking immediately more hydrated and feeling a lot smoother.

Probably the biggest selling point for this hand cream is it's fabulous sweet, peach based fruity scent. If you've ever had a Peach Bellini or any form of tropical fruit cocktail then that's exactly what this hand cream smells like. The scent does tend to linger on the skin and if I'm being hyper critical I think that some people could find it a touch sickly, but that is obviously very much a personal thing.

Whilst this wasn't the most intense hand cream that I've ever used, it was quick to absorb, and it made an immediate difference making it a great everyday hand cream.

From what I gather this was a special limited edition Valentines's product but there are several other hand creams in the Bubble T range, some of which I already have to try, that are available from around £1.99 - £4.99, from various retailers including direct from Bubble T, NEXT Beauty, Look Fantastic, and HQ Hair.

Steve Laurant Total Repair Lip Mask - 1 x 8g Mask - Full Size - RRP £5

Next up another lip product this time from Glossybox championed, US based brand Steve Laurant. So far the February edition of Glossybox has given us a lip balm / lip colour, and a lip scrub, and now they've given us a real treat, a lip mask.

This cruelty free, lip mask contains Irish moss powder, rose extract, and hydrolysed collagen, and is designed to hydrate and sooth the lips, whilst at the same time reducing the appearance of fine lines.

The sachet contains a plastic tray which holds a little bit of excess liquid, and a translucent hot pink, wet, hydrogel like mask in the shape of an exaggerated pair of lips. The mask is quite thin but it feels quite substantial so there doesn't seem to be any danger of it splitting.

Before

It was quite easy to stick to the lips and whilst there was no real taste, it did have a slight floral scent.

On Application

The mask initially felt quite cool on the lips, but it gradually warmed up to body temperature. It felt fairly comfortable and secure on the lips, and the slit did mean it was possible to talk and move your face but it did move a bit so it was safer to stay put, lie down and take some silly selfies!

There was no indication either or on the packaging, from Glossybox or even on the Steve Laurant website about how long to leave on for, so I left on for about 15 minutes.

After

After peeling it off the skin above my upper lip did look a bit pink, and it felt a bit tingly but I think that was because I'd had a facial wax the day before. I don't think you can see too much difference in these pictures, there was no outward impression of extra moisture, but my lips definitely felt less dry and a touch more defined.

Glossybox place a value of £5 on this one single use mask. The only retailer seems to be Steve Laurant themselves where one mask retails at $10.

Glow On 5th Rose Gua Sha - Full Size - RRP £10

The final product in February's box was an item that subscribers were supposed to get in January's box, but due to import issues subscribers ended up getting it a month late, but was it really worth waiting for?

From US based brand Glow On 5th Beauty, the product in question was a Rose Gua Sha facial massage tool. These facial massagers are everywhere, and when I first saw that subscribers were getting one I was pretty excited -I was hoping to receive a lovely piece of rose quartz, instead I received a piece of all be it recyclable plastic / resin!

So obviously no crystal or stone benefits, but never mind I gave it a go anyways. Basically you massage your face and neck either with or without products, in an upward motion using the different angles, and nodules to contour your face for 4-6 minutes a day, to help firm the skin and to flush out toxins.

I've watched a few You Tube videos on techniques, and so on, and I've got to say I don't get it! For a start a lot of people don't have the time to do this every day, but not only that I also found it pretty uncomfortable to use even with barely any pressure. Is it supposed to hurt or am I doing it wrong? I'm sorry Gua Sha devotees on this experience give me a facial roller any day!

Glossybox place a price of £10 on this product, it's available exclusively from Glow On 5th Beauty where it retails at $12.

So that was a very late review of the February 2021 edition of Glossybox UK. Given the fact that it was the Valentines Day edition, it's no surprise just how lip heavy it was, even though I wasn't kissing anyone this year though, I loved all of the lip products in the box, with the NUDESTIX lip colour being a particular favourite. I also love the hand cream, and although the Gua Sha tool was a bit of a disappointment, I loved the box design and the majority of the contents.

I'd love to know your thoughts on the products in this box, so let me know your thoughts in the comments and don't forget to check out Glossybox for yourself x 

I hope you all have a good week, and I'll see you soon with another post x 

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

Glossybox "All I Want" Advent Calendar - Part 2 - Days 13 - 25

Okay this post, like so many over the last 12, or even 24 month is late but as the saying goes better late than never. I've promised you this post a few times over the last few weeks but eventually the starts have aligned, the creeks haven't risen and it's now ready for you to read!

Although Christmas does seem like a lifetime ago, let's take a little look back to those hectic days in the run up to Christmas and of course to the big day itself as I share the contents of days 13 - 25 of the 2018 Glossybox All I Want Advent Calendar.

Day 13 - Karmameju Charcoal Age Defence Konjac Sponge 03 - Balance / Combination Skin - Full Size

First up we had a full size Konjac sponge, from Danish company Karmameju. Made with fibres from the Amorphophallus Konjac plant, and Bamboo Charcoal, this sponge is perfect for oily, combination and hormonal skin, is designed to exfoliate and purify the skin. 

I've used a few different Konjac sponges in the past and I've particularly enjoyed using them for my morning cleanse. You can use them both with and without cleanser, and surprisingly even without cleanser your skin feels super soft, and very clean afterwards. To be honest every time I've used one I've always been really pleased with how clear my skin has looked after a few days use but despite following the instructions thoroughly, they never seem to last very long, they either dry out to much or they just seem to disintegrate and fall apart. I haven't used this one yet but I'm looking forward to giving it a go and fingers crossed I can make it last for more than a week x The full size Karmameju Charcoal Age Defence Konjac Sponge 03 - Balance / Combination Skin has a recommended retail price of £11.44 / €12.

Day 14 - Elgon Refibra Haircare Concentrated Restoring Mask  - 100ml - Full Size

On Day 14 it was a hair mask from professional Italian salon brand, Elgon. Now I do love a hair mask or any hair product come to think of it and this sounds like a good one! Especially formulated for dry, brittle, and unruly hair, this mask containing guarana and glycerin, promises, soft, smooth, full bodies shiny hair. Bring it on is what I say x This is a full size tube and I've seen this same size online retailing at various price points between £6.49 and £13.42.

Day 15 - INC.redible Jelly Shot  - _Ex Revenge - 4.4g - Full Size

Next up, a lip product from Nails Inc's make up line which is now called INC.redible. I've tried a couple of things from the brand so far ( you can read my reviews here and here) and I've been pretty impressed with both the formulations and the overall performance. Whilst the packaging isn't that exciting immediately on opening box number 15, the appearance of this product certainly gave it that wow factor. 

How pretty is that?? This lip product definitely falls into the nearly too pretty to use category but that would be a waste. Formulated with a blend of avocado, vitamin E and rice brand oil, this clear jelly balm, which contains real 24 carat gold flakes, and a pretty little flower, is designed to nourish, moisturise and repair the lips, and to give them a subtle sheen

There has been a bit of trend for balms and lip colours with glitter, gold, and flowers suspended in them and believe me I'm here for it - this is without a doubt one of the prettiest beauty products that I've ever used, but for me that is pretty much where it ends. I'm actually at a bit of a loss as to what it's actually supposed to do. Obviously it's some sort of lip balm, with a sort of gel like texture but it doesn't appear to add any colour to the lips and as yet I've encountered no gold flakes; it does add a bit of a sheen but in my experience it doesn't seem to last that long, and unfortunately it doesn't seem to add that much moisture. It's very pretty to look at and I'm glad I've tried it, but personally looks aren't everything are there are more hydrating lip products on the market still the recommend retail price for the full 4.4g size of INC.redible Jelly Shot  in _Ex Revenge is £8 so price wise this wasn't a bad inclusion.

Day 16 - POP Beauty Pure Pigment - Metallic Copper - 4g - Full Size

On day 16 it was a full size pigment powder from Pop Beauty. Now I've had trouble find these in the UK but they are available for around $4 for Amazon, and from various US retailers.

I used to use a lot of Dazzle Dusts, pigments and loose eyeshadows but in the last few years I've kind of fallen out of love with them, after having a play with this though, I can see myself shopping my loose shadow stash a little bit more in 2019. This is one beautiful pigment, it's in a gorgeous deep, metallic, copper shade. Yes, they can be a bit difficult to apply and of course there is the fallout issue, but this one in particular is so beautiful, and they are so economical to use that they are definitely worth the extra effort. Obviously this makes an amazing eye colour, either used as a shadow or even mixed with a bit of mixing medium as an eyeliner, but I also think that it would make a fabulous lip colour mixed with either a little bit of clear gloss or a some lip balm.

Day 17 - Luxie 522 Dreamcatcher Tapered Highlighter Brush - Full Size

Now I do love my make up brushes and no matter how many that I own, and how many brands that I've seen and lusted after, it seems like there are still more beautiful brushes, and beautiful brands out there. Now one brand that you may not be that familiar with is Luxie, I only own one Luxie brush and it's one of those brush brands that you try and you immediately want more.

All of Luxie's brushes are handcrafted, made of high quality, soft synthetic bristles and are hypoallergenic, vegan and cruelty free. This is their tapered highlighter brush that is specifically designed to deposit highlighting powder on the cheekbones, nose, forehead and Cupid's bow.

Despite the fact that my brush head had got a little bit crushed in it calendar box, this brush was a pleasure to use, I've used it alongside the HUDA Beauty palette (keep on reading ;) and a few other cheek, and highlighter powders in my collection, and I've been really impressed with how well it's performed. The bristle are lovely and soft, yet dense and it's the perfect shape to get into the contours of your cheeks so you could use it as a general cheek and contour brush, as well as a highlighting brush. This particular brush is from Luxie's limited edition Dreamcatcher range, which means that it looks fab as well with a periwinkle blue handle, and a rose gold ferrule. Retailing at around £19 this isn't the cheapest brush but I think it well worth and again it's a great value inclusion in the calendar.

Day 18 - Lollipops Fluid Glowy Liquid Highlighter - 10ml- Travel Size

One of the things that I love about beauty boxes and of course beauty advent calendars is that they give you the chance to try new things and new and unusual brands, and seeing as Glossybox is an international brand you do got a lot of overseas brands maybe you haven't heard of before.

Case in point day 18 of the calendar and it's a make up product from French Parisian brand Lollipops. Fluid Glowy is a gorgeous paraben and cruelty free highlighter. I do love a highlighter and there were a few in this calendar, in different formulations and textures, and this one has a creamy, liquid consistency. It's in a gorgeous warm gold colour, that will work equally will in the summer months, as it will in these colder months. This one is perfect as a cheek highlighter but I also think that it would make a lovely brow highlight, and a lovely liquid eye colour. A nice versatile product, and the travel size means that it's great for your handbag or for holidays. Again not easy to get hold of in the UK but it retails for around €4.

Day 19 - Crabtree & Evelyn Rosewater & Pink Peppercorn Hand Therapy - 25ml - Travel Size 

Now I don't know about you but when the weather turns cold you can really see it in my hands, my fingers look red, my hands look and feel dry, and my cuticles feel sore and peel, not nice! Hence I'm a prolific cuticle oil, and hand cream user. I normally have a couple of tubes on the go at once, and this one went straight into use.

Made with macadamia seed oil, shea butter, glycerine, ceramides, and rosewater, this cream has a thick and creamy feel but it actually absorbs really quickly leaving the skin super soft, and protected. I've really enjoyed using this one and I've fallen in love with the scent - a soft rose aroma with a warm and spicy hit. I have a load of hand cream to use up but I can already that this one is a potential repurchase. Because you need so little this is a very generous travel size which retails at around £8.

Day 20 - Steve Laurant Lip Gloss - Eggplant - 3.2g - Full Size

On Day 20 Glossybox gave to me a Steve Laurant Lip Gloss, or should that be Steve Lavrant as my tube says, I'm not saying that's why it's in the calendar, but having a misspelling on the packaging would make it quite hard to sell, or am I just being cynical?

Anyways thanks to various beauty boxes I've tried a few products from Steve Laurant and at the risk of repeating myself I've been fairly impressed. Steve Laurant seems to be one of those brands that you only ever seem to see in the UK in beauty subscription boxes, but apparently it's a US based luxury make up brand that only uses high end cruelty free ingredients.

Packaged in an eye catching tube with a rose gold toned lid, and sponge doe foot applicator, this lipgloss is apparently a hybrid gel, oil mix that moisturises and hydrates that lips and provides highly pigmented long lasting colour in a lightweight formulation

gorgeous berry red - 

With a slight coconut, the formula does feel quite moisturising, and unlike a lot of lip glosses it didn't feel that sticky. Eggplant is a very rich, dark berry red, the pigmentation is superb but personally for me it looked a little bit too much when you applied it straight out of the tube. Given the fact that it was so lightweight, and moisturising, it did have a tendency to travel out of the lip line, and as a result it was hard to maintain that perfect deep berry finish. I've worn this a few times though, and how I've got round it, is to blot it down slightly which gives you a much more wearable, long lasting, pink, berry stain with just a hint of gloss. This is the shade that I'm wearing in my December Pink Parcel video which you can watch here x This is a full sized product and it has retail price of around $22.

Day 21 - PIXI By Petra Fresh Face Blush - Beach Rose - 4.5g - Mini

If you're a fan of cheek products then I think that this calendar will have been right up your street - I love highlighters and blushers so I was really pleased to find this PIXI blush in box number 21.

I've tried a few things from PIXI already (including a few bits from last years look fantastic advent that I still need to review - whoops!) and although a few of the lip things have been a bit hit and miss, the skin care, eyeshadow, and cheeks products that I've tried so far have definitely been on point so I had high for this blusher and I wasn't disappointed.

Containing natural minerals, Vitamin E and mica, this blush is gorgeous neutral, brown toned peach, it feels silky smooth and the pigmentation is excellent. It's a good neutral shade and I think that the colour would work on a lot of skin tones. At this time of year it's just a touch too dark for me so I've just been applying it very lightly but come the summer I can see myself wearing this an awful lot.
I have had a bit of trouble finding this shade anywhere else bar directly from PIXI, I'm not sure if it is the same size that they are selling but they describe it as a mini and sell it around £6, where as Glossybox value this size and shade at £8.80. What is the correct price? I have no idea!

Day 22 - Zelens Transformer Instant Renewal Mask - 10ml - Travel Size 

Next up a travel size product from top, scientific, skincare brand Zelens, I haven't tried anything from the brand before but this sounds like an interesting starting point.

It's basically a face mask that promises to hydrate, smooth and firm the complexion, leading to noticeable younger looking skin. It contains sesame protein which is designed to reduce the appearance of wrinkles, hyaluronic acid to increase skin elasticity and erase fine lines, a blend of Vitamin C, yeast extract and marine glycogen to regenerate skin, as well as magnesium, brown sea algae, enzymes, and lactobionic acid.

Lots of ingredients and lots of science and a high price tag to match, the full 50ml size retails at £100, so if you do the maths, this 10ml travel size retails at £19, still a lot of money for such a small tube but a good to try a high end product.

Day 23 - Eyeko London Fat Eye Stick - Satin  - 4g - Full Size

Now I'm the first to admit that I have a love hate relationship with Eyeko, I remember them in the first incarnation, slightly manga inspired and super cheap, then almost overnight the prices flew up and they adopted a more mid to higher end image. I haven't bought anything from them since then but I've acquired quite a few of their products from beauty boxes, and as magazine freebies - well I guess that's one way to get your products known! 

Anyways I've tried a few of their products now but I've never tried one of these shadow sticks before. I do love the convenience and ease of a shadow stick so I couldn't wait to give this one a go. The colour Satin is beautiful silvery, taupe shade, that you could literally wear every day, or you could add some lashes and liner for an evening look, super versatile and wearable. Love the colour but unfortunately that pretty much the only thing that I loved.

The pen itself is quite chunky so if you're applying it straight from the tube it has a tendency to where you don't want it to, so if you want perfection, you need to have a cotton bud at the ready for touch ups. I can deal with that but what I had real issues with was the wear time, I have quite oily eye lids and as result it faded quite quickly and after a few hours it had almost completely disappeared :( I'm not giving up with this yet though, the colour is really me, and I going to try and use it over a eyeshadow base, or even as a base for powder shadows. I love the colour so I'm really hoping I can make it work. The full size eyeshadow stick is cruelty free and has a retail price of £12.

Day 24 - Mitchell And Peach - Fine Radiance Face Oil - 20ml - Full Size

Despite now being in my early 40's I still have quite oily skin, I can deal with that though, I don't have too many wrinkles and fine lines, and dry patches thankfully are few and far between. I know that won't last for ever though, so I'm starting to introduce a few anti ageing products into my regime. Something that I was always quite scared of were facial oils. It's a common belief that you shouldn't use facial oils if your skin is oily, rubbish, you need to find the right oils for you and when you do you won't believe the difference in the feel and texture of your skin.

That's why I was delighted to see this beautiful facial oil from British brand Mitchell And Peach in box number 24. Designed to leave the skin feeling plumper, firmer, and glowing with radiance, it contains cobnut oil, which contains vitamin E and B, as well as apricot kernel oil, coconut oil and wheat germ oil. It is scented with Mitchell & Peach's own Flora 1 natural fragrance blend containing rose, ylang ylang and lavender.

I haven't managed to try this on my face yet but I did try a little bit on the back of my hand, the oil itself is quite runny so it was easy to massage into the skin, it absorbed really quickly, and the scent was beautiful, you could really smell the essential especially the lavender but it wasn't too strong or too overpowering. This is a full sized bottle and has a retail price of £40.

Day 25 - HUDA Beauty Winter Highlighter Palette - Winter Solstice Edition











At last the big one! When I was little I definitely don't remember advent calendars going up to day 25, but hey I'm not complaining. When I first received the press release about this calendar, this was the clincher and this was the reason why I decided to go for the Glossybox calendar, what was it?  a full size highlighting palette from one of the brands of the moment HUDA Beauty of course!


Now I am going to be honest with you this palette was a limited edition and as a result it's no longer that easy to get your hands on - is that why it was in the box? I don't know but in the interests of fairness I thought it was worth mentioned. Now I'm quite new to HUDA Beauty and before receiving November's Glossybox (click here to watch the unboxing) I hasn't actually tried anything from the brand. Like most beauty lovers though I'd lusted after the entire range for the longest time and when I win the lottery this weekend (haha) my first purchases will definitely be Huda Kattan's rose gold, and nude palettes! drool! then again though I love all of her highlighter palettes too so maybe a few of them? Hell I guess if I win the lottery I can buy it all!                                                                                 



As I say this highlighter palette was a limited edition but as a relative newbie to the range it gave me a good opportunity to get a feel for it, to try some of the textures, and to see if the brand really lives up to the hype.





The palette contains four good size highlighting shades in two different formulations. Frosted Kiss is in a cream formulation, and can either be used alone, as a pale pink / champagne cream highlighter or as a base colour to intensify the other powder shades. Arctic Glow is probably the most left field of the shades, it's a beautiful iridescent lilac, blue coloured powder. Although it looks a touch green in the picture Northern Lights is in fact a beautiful gold, and Winter Rose is a beautiful shimmery pink, coral, with copper and rose gold undertones. I've taken the swatches in both natural light and with the flash so you can the full effect and how the shades can look in different lighting conditions.

Frosted Kiss (Left) And Arctic Glow (Right) Taken In Natural Light 



And Frosted Kiss And Arctic Glow Taken With Flash








Northern Lights (Left) And Winter Rose (Right) Taken In Natural Light





And Northern Lights And Winter Rose Taken With Flash




The creamy product Frosted Kiss, feels lovely and smooth and creamy to the touch but not too oily or greasy, it gives the skin a lovely sheen when you wear it on its own. All of the powder shades are silky smooth, and buttery and have an almost creamy feel. On my skin tone Frosted Kiss, Artic Glow and Northern Lights all make fabulous highlight shades, but you could easily use them as eye colours and for highlighting different parts of the face such as the brow bone, where as Winter Rose on the other hand would made a fabulous shimmery blush on my pale pink toned skin.
As I say this was my first opportunity to have a proper play with some cream and powder textures from HUDA beauty and I have to say I'm really impressed, the pigmentation and the effects are superb and everything feels so soft and dreamy, I'm now even more convinced than I ever was that I need some more products from the HUDA Beauty line. The stated retail price for the HUDA Beauty Winter Highlighter Palette - Winter Solstice Edition is £40.
So they you have it - days 13 -25 of the Glossybox All I Want Advent Calendar, you can also read days 1 - 12 here if you haven't already x What's the verdict then? Well by and large I'm pretty pleased, I will use the majority of products, and the ones that I won't I can easily pass on. Although Glossybox's pricing on some items was questionable after doing my research the value definitely seemed to be there. Obviously there were a few big brand, high end items that stood out but there were quite a few smaller items and of course there were a few lesser known brands in there but the products and quality seemed decent and I've said before I love trying new things and new brands.so I definitely had no complaints. Like beauty boxes, beauty advent calendars can be hit and miss, if you want full sizes, high end brands, and big names, then the likelihood is that you will always be disappointed no how much you spend on a box or a calendar, if you're like me though and you don't mind taking the odd risk and you don't mind the odd travel size and you love trying new things. and new brands then you'll be fine and you'll look forward to and be pretty happy with every box - At the end of the day you pays your money, you makes your choice. I love the surprise of a beauty advent calendar and I'm going to try and get another one this year. What are your thoughts on beauty advents?  and have you tried any of the product that I've talked about in this post? Let me know in the comments and don't forget from this week I'll now be doing my regular beauty box unboxings right here on the blog, starting later this week with the January edition of Glossybox UK. You can find out more about Glossybox here x 
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