A Late Unboxing Of Glossybox UK - May 2021 - Let The Sun Shine Edition And An Update*

Hi, and hello from illness city! Thankfully neither of us have had the old 'rona' again, but me and the mothership have had a 'fun' couple of weeks! Mummy Lou had to go on an unexpected trip to urgent care, and I'm now on antibiotics and a steroid nasal spray thank to the chest infection from hell! Thankfully we're both feeling a bit better (touch wood!), the antibiotics have a couple of nasty side effects so I'm currently having the odd spell of wondering if the cure is worse than the disease! but hopefully I'm getting there!

Whilst I've been coughing and spluttering, I've been doing a lot of thinking about the blog, and after a lot of thought Ive came to a few conclusions. Last year was a bit of a fail when it came to posting on the blog, they were sporadic at best, and despite honestly doing my best to keep on top of it, and to keep things up to date, when 2021 ended I was nowhere near where I wanted to be and to be honest it really stressed me out.

Up until that point despite my grumbles, I'd always found blogging to be a pretty positive thing for me, but in late 2021 all of that changed and I got to the point where it was affecting my mental health in a negative way. I felt like I was a failure and everything was just getting too much, so I had to take a step back and reassess. 

So what have I decided to do? Well after this post in some senses I'm going to start from scratch. This post is going to be the last Glossybox unboxing of 2021. I'm so far behind on them now that I think it's better to just to write it off and start afresh with my 2022 unboxings. I will of course try to show you as many of the products as I can in some future reviews and empties posts, but I really need to take a bit of pressure off myself at this moment in time, so I really hope you understand x 

So before we start afresh let's take one last look at Glossybox in 2021, with an unboxing and review of all of the products in the May 2021 edition.

May! My birthday month and I guess the official start of summer, and that was reflected in the bright, sunshine, holiday design of May's special edition box.

With a pale lemon base and a pale sea blue / turquoise and light yellow ombre lid with a gold foil embossed sun burst and the words "Let The Sun Shine" printed on it, the lining of the box used the same colour palette, with a yellow base and turquoise Glossybox logos, and a smattering of gold foil embossed sun bursts.

The bright sky blue and yellow colour palette also features inside the box with pale turquoise / blue tissue and paper shred, and a gorgeous pale yellow ribbon.

In case you haven't already realised the theme of May's box was of course "Let The Sun Shine" and according to the information leaflet the box contained make up products "as shimmery as the sun", and summer scented products to help "transport you to tropical lands".So did the box make me feel all summery and shimmery? well let's see...

MineTan Body. Skin Rapid Recovery After Sun Gel - 50ml - Deluxe Mini - Est. RRP £13.35

Now nothing screams summer like getting your tan on, and the first product in May's box was something from fake tanning specialists, MineTan, but it wasn't actually a fake tanning product! After trying their Exfoliating Coffee Scrub way back in 2020, May's box contained another one of their skin and body care type products, and this time it was an after sun.

This vegan friendly, paraben, palm oil, mineral oil and sulfate free after sun gel contains sustainably sourced aloe vera, a known anti inflammatory and skin soother, as well as niacinamide to reduce sun damage and the appearance of fine lines.

Packaged in a squeezy tube, this product is a translucent green gel with a runny, almost liquid texture. The scent isn't over powering and is quite fresh and green based, it might just be my nose but the smell reminded me a bit of washing up liquid!

I didn't get a lot of sun exposure last year but I did try this on my shoulder after a bit of mainly conservatory sun exposure, and I actually also used a little bit after a hair removal session! It was really easy to massage into the skin, and it absorbed pretty quickly, leaving my skin feeling cooler, refreshed, and calmer without any stinging. Compared to other aloe vera based after suns that I've used I also found it to be a lot less sticky, it did leave the skin a tiny bit tacky but that quickly subsided.

I don't think I managed to give this product a truly thorough test but it was pretty decent and I'll happily stick it in the fridge for some extra benefit and use it up this summer, providing that is that we get some sunshine x 

Glossybox placed a value of £13.35 on this 50ml deluxe mini size. I can't find this particular size online and I can only find the full 177ml / 6fl oz size online direct from MineTan where it rather surprising retails at £13.99

Ciate London Definer Liner Gel Eyeliner With Sharpener - Starburst - 1.10g - Full Size - RRP £18

Next, up the first of two make up items in this box and it's the first of the "shimmery as the sun" products, and unsurprisingly for Glossybox, it's another eyeliner!

In the twist up, gel liner style with a sharpener on the end, this eyeliner in the shade Starburst is quite correctly described as a metallic champagne gold. It quite firm but the liner has a smooth consistency despite the fact that there are a few quite evident tiny glitter particles present.

The eyeliner itself has quite a thin"lead' and a thin point so it's not too difficult, even for an eyeliner phobe like me to achieve a fairly precise line. Alas it didn't show up as much as much as I expected it to on my skin tone. I had to reapply it a few time to really get it to show up. The finish on me was a lot more subtle than what I'd hoped for but I can imagine that if you have a darker skin tone it might look a little bit more dramatic.

There was a tiny bit of glittery fallout and transfer but the wear time even my oily lids was excellent and it lasted most of the day without budging!

Although this finish of this liner wasn't as dramatic as I'd hoped, I actually really liked this liner. I generally prefer pencil, or gel pencil liners and this one was pretty forgiving and easy to apply, and I was really impressed with the wear time. It was definitely more subtle than I'd expected but it was still very pretty x 

The only place that I can find this eyeliner is direct from Ciate where it retails at £18.

Rodial Dragon's Blood Eye Masks - 1 x Pair - 5g - RRP £6

Sticking with the eyes, from innovative skincare and now make brand Rodial, comes an eye mask from their popular Dragons Blood range.

Containing Dragon's Blood extract ( no Dragon's were harmed ;) it's from a tree ;), arnica extract and hyaluronic acid, these patches are specially designed to hydrate the eye area and to reduce puffiness. I normally love masks like this but alas these ones didn't quite live up to my expectations.

The sachet contained two thin under eye shaped gel like patches that were, at least as some point sandwiched between 2 fibre sheets. They were absolutely sopping wet and one of the patches had freed itself and was crumpled up at the bottom of the sachet. It was also really hard to get the remaining one off the backing and to straighten them out because they kept folding up and sticking to themselves.

Before 

Considering that they felt so sticky and tacky they didn't actually stay put on my under eye area that well, I actually ended up having to put my glasses on top to keep them in position.

They initially felt quite cooling on the eyes but unlike some of the previous gel like under eye patches I've tried, the coolness disappeared within a few minutes of wearing them. 

On Application

The instructions advised to leave them on for between 20 to 30 minutes but I just about made it to 20 before they came loose and gave up hope! Despite the amount of liquid in the sachet, there was nothing left on my eyes to massage in when I removed the masks.

My eye area did feel a little bit fresher and awake and maybe did look a little less puffy and more hydrated, but on the whole I didn't really notice that much of a difference.

After

I keep looking back and trying to see if I did anything wrong with these masks, but other than maybe putting them in the fridge to firm up a bit, I can't really see what I could have done wrong. I just found them really awkward to use, and texture wise they were just too thin and flimsy to justify a repurchase.

Now the funny thing is that these masks now seem to be really hard to fine, so whether or not they've been discontinued, or reformulated and replaced by the Rodial Dragon's Blood Jelly Eye Patches that have slightly different ingredients, I really don't know, but for the price I'd try something else. The only place that I can now find these particular ones is Look Fantastic, when a single pair sachet retails at £6.

Kueshi Lemon Shower Gel - 200ml - Full Size - Est. RRP £5.70

As well as shimmer the information leaflet talked about the scents of summer, and whilst this shower gel doesn't really make you think of truly tropical beaches, it certainly makes you think of sipping a cool glass of limoncello in the sunshine.

From Spanish vegan and natural beauty brand Kueshi, this revitalising shower gel contains lemon extract, chamomile, and aloe vera. Designed to clean and protect the skin, this shower gel is a slightly cloudy, pale yellow in appearance and it has quite a runny texture.

Initially you get quite a subtle, sweet citrus, lemon hit, but when you add water you get much more of a generic fruit scent. I would definitely describe it as a sweet lemon smell rather than some of the more  in your face citrus burst scents that you often get with lemon based shower products.

Performance wise a little went a long way, and it produced a nice creamy lather that left the skin feeling clean with leaving it feeling dry or tight.

Again another nice product from Kueshi but again the same problem - it's nigh on impossible to find this brand in the UK. Glossybox place a value of £5.70 on this particular product, but if you fancy trying it for yourself the secondary market such as eBay might be your best bet.

Lottie London Power Foil - Golden Hour - 2g - Full Size - RRP £6.95

Finally we make a welcome return to shimmer and boy do I mean shimmer, this product has some serious sparkle and shine to it From cruelty free and vegan British based brand Lottie London comes one of the most impressive individual eyeshadow or pigments that I've used in a very long time, but here's a warning - it's going to get messy!

If you love the look of a real metallic, foil effect eye, then the Lottie London Power Foils should be right at the top of your shopping list.

These shadows come in a glass pot, carefully unscrew the lid, and inside the pot there is a small plastic lid, slightly smaller than the inside of the pot, which I assume is designed to keep the product in place, it doesn't 100% but I think it would be a lot messier without it.

Lift it up, and you're greeted with a soft textured, slightly clumpy pigment powder. I don't know if it's my imagination but it almost feels damp to the touch, and almost creamy. The shade that I received was Golden Hour - officially described as gold in real life it's probably more of an old gold, or a golden bronze.

As you can see from just this swatch the pigmentation and the metallic foil finish is unbelievable. You can apply it with a brush for a bit more of a subtle look but for me this product isn't really for that - it's for making a real impression, so use your fingers and get messy!

I found that the best way to use this product in order to achieve that full on foiled finish was to pat it on to my eyelids with my fingertips. No you can't be precise and be prepared for fall out and clean up city, but the finish is just so worth it, and my quick application and photos will never ever do it justice.

You only need a teeny tiny amount for a full coverage finish that lasted me nearly all day with just a little of fading and creasing. Obviously as time progressed I did experience a bit more fallout but if you're going to go all out then who cares about a bit of excess shimmer and sparkle on the rest of your face!

As I say if you didn't want to go all out then you could apply it with a small brush, or if you wanted to be even more precise then you could even mix the pigment with water, mixing medium or even setting spray and paint it on for a less messy wash of colour.

Is this product messy? Yes it is but the finish is so worth it, I don't care about the fallout and cleaning a bit of excess off the bathroom cabinets and mirrors, I love the metallic finish and I'm only sad the Lottie London don't do a silver or gunmetal shade.

This full size 2g pot has a recommended retail price of around £6.95 and is available in 3 shades direct from Lottie London as well as from Look Fantastic, ASOS, Feel Unique and HQ Hair.

So that was my very long awaited review of the products inside the May 2021 edition of Glossybox. I loved the sunshine box design and bar the Rodial mask, I was really pleased with the products in side of it. A special shout out obviously goes to the Lottie London foil, but I was also really impressed believe it or not with an eyeliner, well done Ciate! All in all not a bad box and I discovered a couple of gems. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this box so please leave me a comment below x 

As I say this will be the last 2021 Glossybox post that you're going to see from me but I will be starting afresh in a couple of weeks with my thoughts on the January 2022 edition (It didn't arrive till the middle of the month so I'm still trying things out x). In the meantime if you'd like to try Glossybox for yourself then please use my link to sign up, I'd really appreciate it x 

Thanks again for your patience, and for reading and I'll see you soon with an empties post and a couple of lifestyle and beauty reviews xx

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

Trimming My Stash - October 2019 Edition - Empties And Mini Reviews*

Right, only two catch up posts to go and then we can finally say goodbye to October x First up October's beauty empties

Elemis Pro Collagen Cleansing Balm - 105g
Kueshi Double Effect Make Up Remover - 100ml
Woo Woo Cranberry Wipes pH Balance For Intimate Use - 12 Wipes
Natura Potato & Parsley Infused Under Eye Mask - 1 x 3g Pair
The Body Shop Vanilla Pumpkin Shower Gel - 250ml

Total - 5 Items 

To be fair after the highs of finishing 11 items in September (read my post here), October was nearly always going to be a disappointing month, but I've got to say that I'm actually not that disappointed. 5 items is still a pretty respectable total, and even if you ignore a few recent buys,  I still have 5 less skincare, and body care items to use up, so I guess it still counts as a win.

1. Elemis Pro Collagen Cleansing Balm - 105g

First up one of my favourite cleansers of all time, from one of my favourite British brands of all time. I am a huge fan of British brand Elemis, and this award winning product is without a doubt one of the best products that they, and believe me they make a lot of fabulous things so that's a pretty high accolade.

This semi solid balm contains a whole load of good for your skin ingredients including mimosa, and rose waxes, starflower oil, elderberry, coconut oil, Shea butter, sweet almond oil, vitamin E, as well as the key ingredient in Elemis Pro Collagen range, Padina Pavonica which is a type of seaweed. It also contains some gorgeous botanicals including orange, clove, eucalyptus, lavandin, mint, and chamomile, which give it a beautiful, if slightly strong, spa like, aromatherapy based scent. 

Massage a tiny bit into dry skin, and the balm melts down into a oil, add a touch of water, and it turns into a milky cream, remove your make up with a warm muslin cloth, or flannel, rinse and dry and your skin is left feeling clean, soft and hydrated.

If you have an oily or combination skin like I do, don't worry this will still work for you, it doesn't leave my skin feeling oily or greasy, in fact it almost seems to help balance the oil production, and help with dry patches. I only use it at night, as I prefer something a bit lighter in the morning, and with the texture, ritual and scent, I think it makes a lovely pre bedtime treat.

As I say the scent can sometimes be a little bit strong for me and I because of the aromatherapy oils I don't use it on my eyes, but other than that it's a fabulous product that I will continue to use, and I already have a pot or two in back up.

This particular size retails at around £44 direct from Elemis, but it's also available on it's own and in sets from various other retailers including Look Fantastic. Feel Unique, Debenhams, John Lewis, and from where I get most of my Elemis products from, QVC UK.

2. Kueshi Double Effect Make Up Remover - 100ml

This was the first of three items, that I received in subscription boxes. It was so long ago now that I can't really remember but I think that this came in a Glossybox.

I can't find too much online about them but I believe that Kueshi are / were a Spanish brand. Containing Aloe Vera and Chamomile this was a dual phase eye make remover comprising of a blue, and a clear liquid. The blue liquid was a gentle, refreshing lotion, and the clear liquid contained oils that were designed to remove even the toughest eye make up. All you do is give the bottle a good shake to combine the two phases, then as usual you apply it to a cotton pad.

I have quite sensitive dry, but watery eyes, and I'm wary about trying new eye make up removers but this actually wasn't bad. It removed everything that I threw at it from notoriously hard to remove mascara and water resistant liner, with no irritation and no rubbing. My one issue was that despite non greasy claim I did find that it left a slightly oily residue on the eyes, that you had to rinse away, other than though it was decent and it did the job.

I can't find this particular product on any UK based websites, and I can only find it on a few European sites such as ekosmetik all be it in a slightly larger size, and slightly different packaging for around €15.99.

3. Woo Woo Cranberry Wipes pH Balance For Intimate Use - 12 Wipes

Next up another subscription box item, and something that I received the July 2019 edition of Pink Parcel. You can read my initial thoughts here, but basically what they were, were intimate wipes, containing Aloe Vera, and cranberry extract. With a lovely fresh, fruity scent they weren't the thickest wipes that I've ever used but I don't particularly mind that because they are biodegradable and flushable.

As I've said before I can take or leave specific intimate products, I wouldn't buy these all the time but these wipes are good for that time of the month, or for when you're on holiday or on the go, and you went to freshen up a bit. This pack of 12 retails at around £2.25 from Superdrug

4. Natura Potato & Parsley Infused Under Eye Mask - 1 x 3g Pair

We've reached product number 4, and that was another product that I received in a Pink Parcel. This cooling mask came in the September 2019 edition of Pink Parcel, and you can read my full review here. They did what they promised and cooled and soothed the eye area, my skin felt refreshed, and looked less puffy, and felt more hydrated, and moisturised. A pack of 3 pairs retails at around £5.95 direct from Beauty Pro and from various retailers including Feel Unique.

5. The Body Shop Vanilla Pumpkin Shower Gel - 250ml

Finally an autumnal limited edition from The Body Shop's Vanilla Pumpkin range. Containing Madagascan vanilla extract and pumpkin fragrance, this is a rich and creamy shower gel, that I would personally describe as a shower cream. You only need a tiny amount to produce loads and loads of soft creamy, moisturising bubbles. It leaves my skin feeling soft with a light warm, sweet, vanilla based scent that smells good enough to eat.

I absolutely love this scent and I was fully intending to stock up on it this year but by the time I made it into The Body Shop, a couple of weeks ago, they only had the new festive scents and Vanilla Pumpkin was long gone. A sensible person would have left the shop but old habits die hard, and I ended up picking up a few Juicy Pear products instead, which after such high hopes is the only Christmas limited edition that I actually like this year ho hum! Anyways I have a scraping of Vanilla Pumpkin Body Butter left, and about 2/3 bottle of shower gel remaining which I'm going to really enjoy using, before moving onto some of the older festive limited editions from The Body Shop that I still have in my stash.

So they were my 5 items, despite a couple of beauty buys this month so far, I've already finished a couple of items already in November, so here's hoping that I can punish on over the next two months and finish 2019 Trimming My Stash on a high! Any questions as per usual, leave me a comment and let me know xx 

*This Post Contains Both Affiliate And Non Affiliate Links