A Late Unboxing Of Glossybox UK - August 2020 - Birthday Edition*

 One of the things that I love about Glossybox is the fact that every month you feel as though you're getting a present! I really look forward to receiving all of my boxes, but over the course of a year 2 boxes in particular always stand out, the December Christmas box, and the August birthday edition.

I know I'm super late with this post, but since Glossybox went all out to celebrate their 9th birthday with a special box design, and some pretty special products inside, I thought that it was still worth sharing my reviews and my thoughts with you.

First up the box itself, and as you can see it really was a show stopper. Hot pink in colour, the box lid featured a tone on tone glossy and matte geometric design, and if the that wasn't enough the box lid was festooned with a huge black and white chevron design, fabric bow.

The pink, black and white colour palette continued on inside of the box with a pink, and white lining,  a sheet of black tissue paper, and hot pink paper shred.

The first item inside the box as per usual was the information booklet. August's booklet was a little bit thicker than usual, but I'll talk more about that later in this post ;) As always the booklet contained a full list and more information on the bits inside the box, as well as talking a little a bit of the whole birthday theme.

Glossybox Skincare Eye Boost Cream - 15ml - Full Size - RRP £16 - £20

The first official item in the box was actually a exclusive sneak preview product, and it was something from Glossybox's new skincare range. Whilst we've seen a few Glossybox branded products over the years, this is their very first official product line.

Created on the back of Glossybox customer comments and feedback, Glossybox have produce a simple, effective and non nonsense skincare range, this is vegan, cruelty free, and nasty free. All of the products contain at least 87% natural ingredients and their packaging is predominantly made from 100% recyclable sugar cane.

The product that subscribers received in the August box was the Glossybox Skincare Eye Boost Cream. Containing ingredients such as eyebright, elderberry flower extract, and red seaweed, this cream is designed to reduce the appearance of dark circles and puffiness.

The pink and black colour palette of the packaging just screams Glossybox, the product comes boxed and it's packaged in a pink, plastic feeling tube.

The cream inside is white in colour, and whilst the texture initially appears to be quite light, it actually feels quite creamy but not heavy or sticky.

It's quite simple to apply you can use it both morning and night, and you just apply 3 small dots to your under eye area and then you just gently pat it in until it absorbs.

As I say it feels creamy, and slightly cool on application, it sinks into the skin quite quickly, and it leaves the eye area feeling hydrated, with a matte feel and a more radiant appearance.

Before

On Application

After

I don't think you can see too much difference between the before and after pictures, but I do think that my eye area looks a little bit more fresher and a bit more hydrated in the after picture - what do you think?

For someone in their early 40's I don't think that my eyes look too bad, I can see a few more fine lines, and a little bit of darkness coming though, so I think I do need to start using products like this and the Sebamed eye product that came in the March 2020 edition of Glossybox on a more regular basis.

Apart for the slightly oily scent I actually really liked this eye cream and I will definitely try and use it up. This eye cream is available exclusively from Glossybox UK where it retails at £16 for Glossybox subscribers and at £20 for non subscribers. As I said earlier the August information booklet was a little bit thicker than normal, and that was because it included more information of their new skincare range, which includes several different cleansers, moisturisers, as well as specialist products such as mist and scrubs, all of which are available individually and in sets exclusively on the Glossybox website. My first experience was a good one so I will definitely consider trying some of the other bits from the brand in the future.

HUDA Beauty Demi Matte Lipstick - Day Slayer - 3.6ml - Full Size - RRP £18

If getting the opportunity to be one of the first people to try a new skincare range wasn't exciting enough, August's birthday edition also included another product from must have make up brand, HUDA Beauty.

Every subscriber received a full size of one of 10 different shades of the HUDA Beauty Demi Matte Lipstick. Containing menthol to plump, the lips, and the exclusive maxi lip complex, which stimulates collagen and hydrates the lips, according to HUDA Beauty this is apparently a creamy long wearing liquid lipstick, with a velvet, satin finish.

Like a lot of the HUDA Beauty products that I've had in the past from Glossybox, this lip colour came unboxed. The product itself is packaged in a plastic tube, with a slanted, doe foot applicator.

Considering some of the other shades that were available, I've got to say that I was pretty disappointed to receive the shade Day Slayer, a brown toned, nude, but I guess that's the look of the draw.

Application was a breeze, this lip colour felt beautifully smooth and creamy on the lips. The pigmentation was superb and the applicator made it really easy to stay within the lip line and even to reshape your lips. With a pleasant coconut scent and taste. it did feel slightly tingly on the lips at first as the menthol did its thing, but it wasn't painful and the tingly feeling gradually disappeared.

Whilst the finish did highlight the lines on my lips, at least at first it had quite a glossy, creamy finish, but it as it faded down it left more of a matter stain, which lingered on the lips for quite some time.

I'm still not convinced on the colour especially since it went on darker than it appeared in the tube, but I do like the formulation. You really do have the best of both worlds, a shiny and creamy without been overly glossy, that you can either blot it down to take away the shine or just let it fade down to a matte stain of it own accord.

It feels pretty moisturising on the lips and it doesn't leave your lips feeling parched or dry. I'm definitely considering buying another shade in the future - I'm thinking Bonnie or SHEro x HUDA Beauty Demi Matte Lipsticks comes in a wide variety of shades and retail at around £18 from various retailers including direct from HUDA Beauty, Feel Unique, Boots, Selfridges and Cult Beauty.

brushworks HD Wonder Sponge - Full Size - RRP £5.49

I don't know about you but I don't really buy expensive make up sponges anymore. I did invest in an official Beauty Blender initially, but ever since then I've bought mainly cheap to mid range sponges and I've been pretty pleased with the money that I've saved. I've had a few different ones from beauty boxes too, so it was nice to get another one in the August box from beauty tool specialist, brushworks.

Their latex free, vegan friendly HD Wonder Sponge really is a multi use product. It can be used damp for liquids, and dry for powders. The large rounded side is great for stippling and applying liquid foundation, you can use the flat side for applying contour creams, liquids and powders, and the pointed tip for precision application blending in smaller areas such as around the eyes and nose.

I've tried a lot of good sponges and this one is a good one - it's a really nice quality sponge, I've used it quite a bit since I got it and I've washed it a few times already and it's still in perfect condition with no splits, cracks or tears.

This sponge has a retail price of around £5.49 from various retailers including Look Fantastic, Beauty Bay, Feel Unique, Beauty Expert and HQ Hair.

Molton Brown Delicious Rhubarb & Rose Bath & Shower Gel - 100ml - Deluxe Mini - Est. RRP £7.33

I've been a huge fan of British beauty brand Molton Brown for many years now. I love their brightly coloured, easy on the eye products, their use of exotic ingredients, the fact that their products are paraben and gluten free, and the fact that since their inception in 1971 they have never tested their products on animals.

I don't buy their products as often as I used to (purely for financial reasons) so I was really pleased to get the opportunity to try a product that I'd wanted to try for a long time, their Delicious Rhubarb & Rose Bath & Shower Gel.

With the aromas of grapefruit, yuzu and lemongrass, as well as vanilla and spearmint, and of course rhubarb and rose, this shower gel comes packaged in Molton Brown's famous and often imitated, understated and stylish, clear plastic bottle topped with a shiny silver top.

The bottle contains a gorgeous, slightly runny, pale pink gel. Mix a tiny bit with water and you get a lovely, softening, creamy foam, that cleanses without stripping or drying, and leaves both your skin and the bathroom smelling amazing.

This shower gel has a gorgeous, revitalising, fruity, zesty rhubarb scent, with a splash of citrus and just the tiniest hint of rose. This definitely more of a refreshing fruity scent, rather than the floral scent that I was expecting but I actually think I love it even more than I expected to and I'm now going to be trying to hunt down the mini travel size bottle that exists somewhere in my stash to keep on enjoying the fragrance.

This isn't the cheapest shower and bath product that you will ever use but a little goes a very long way. This 100ml size doesn't appear to be available on its own, although it does come in a few different gift sets, Glossybox though place an estimated retail price of around £7.33 on this size bottle. The full 300ml size retails at around £22 from various retailers including direct from Molton Brown, as well as Look Fantastic, John Lewis, and Cult Beauty.

Steve Laurant Lip Liner - Vogue - 1g - Full Size - RRP £12.09 / $15

The final item in August's birthday box was another make up item and it was a product from a Glossybox favourite brand, Steve Laurant. 

I'm fairly lazy when it comes to my everyday make up, and one of the items that I tend to skip is the humble lip pencil, but when ever I use one, it always makes look better and I end up wondering why I don't use one all of the time.

I know they had a bad rep over the years and I know it's an extra step to slot into your make up routine but they really can make a huge difference to the appearance of your lips. They can stop your lipstick bleeding, you can use them underneath your lip colour to make it last longer, and if you're feeling super lazy, you can even fill in your whole lips with them and wear them on their own or under a clear gloss.

This cruelty free, and gluten free lip pencil came boxed in a gorgeous, metallic, rose gold tone box, which looked super fancy. Unfortunately the pencil inside wasn't quite as fancy looking with a brown toned barrel and plastic cap.

The shade that I received was Vogue, a pink, wine shade, that looks a little bit lighter on the skin than it does in the pencil.

It wasn't the softest or creamiest pencil that I've ever used but the pigmentation was decent and you didn't have to press too hard to get any colour payoff.

Obviously you can use it as a liner, but since it was a different colour to the other lip product in the box, I decided to fill in my whole lip area with it. It was a touch dry and a little bit patchy but the coverage was decent and it wore well. 

Steve Laurant claim that it's waterproof, and that it lasts up to 7 hours, and whilst I wouldn't quite go that far it did stay put while I had a shower and it also passed the face mask test, with only minimal transfer.

This pencil is available in various shades exclusively from Steve Laurant, where it retails at around £12.09 / $15

So that was the August Birthday edition of Glossybox UK, and in my eyes (and Max's ;) it was a win. I liked all of the products in the box, and whilst I wasn't the biggest fan of the colour of the HUDA Beauty lipstick, I really liked the formulation. As per usual the value was there and I particularly loved the box design and of course the bow. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this box so please let me know what you think in the comments, and don't forget to check out Glossybox UK, to find out how to subscribe for yourself, and to find out more about Glossybox Skincare. Thanks for reading and sticking with me, and I'll see you soon with another post x 

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

A Late Unboxing Of Glossybox UK - February 2020 Edition - Love Crosses Borders*

Apologies for the lack of posts over the last week but I took some much needed time out to celebrate my birthday on Friday. It was a little bit weird not seeing anyone bar my mam, but everyone made a real effort to make it special for my anyways, sending my messages, sending cards, and dropping off cards and pressies, and it's funny even seeing people through panes of glass and at a safe distance made me feel a little brighter. I mainly got money and vouchers, so I may be doing, and have already maybe done a little bit of online shopping, so if you want to see the results of that make sure you're following my blog and my other social media channels x 

In the meantime though let's take a trip back to February, the month of love or in my case this year the month of illness! I was so poorly throughout February and March (with what we now believe thanks to a few emergency hospital trips for Mummy Lou in the last month, was more than likely Covid 19!),  that Valentines Day was nothing more than just another day, where I couldn't breathe, and I couldn't stop coughing.  My memories of February are pretty vague but I'm sure that Newcastle United's FA Cup run and the arrival of the Valentines Day edition of Glossybox must have lifted my spirits slightly.

With a "Love Crosses Borders" theme, February's box was pink in colour, with an almost ombre variation from light pin to a deeper more coral toned pink, with the word "Love" embossed in white on the lid in several different languages, and in several different fonts.

The pink theme was followed on inside the box, with pale pink tissue paper, and red shred to protect the contents, which was secured with a pink / red ribbon with printed with hearts and the words "Love Crosses Borders" in white.

The first item in the box as per usual was the information booklet which talked about the products in the box, and explained the box theme. The "Love Crosses Borders" theme was all about sharing things that bring us to together and the universal language of love, and as a result the box contained a range of products from across the globe to create a kissable pout and soft dewy skin, perfect for Valentines Day!

Figs & Rouge Wonder Love Charm Glow Elixir - 30ml - Full Size - RRP £35

The first item in the box was the item that was teased in January's box, and it was a product a British based brand, Figs and Rouge, whose vegan and animal friendly products, and both made and formulated in the UK.

One of the most recent additions to their line this products is a brightening elixir that is designed to give the skin a healthy glow, whilst perfecting, soothing and reenergising the complexion. It contains hydrating hyaluronic acid, vitamins A, C, and E, minerals including rose quartz, and rosewater to perfect and add radiance.

Keeping in with the pink theme, this product comes in a beautiful pink box. The product itself comes in a glass bottle, with a pale pink rubber, and plastic dropper.

Squeeze out a few drops and you're met with a slightly cool feeling, pale pink shimmery liquid, which a fresh, clean almost floral scent.

On Application

Lightly Blended

Completely Blended Out 

You can use this product in a few ways, one of the ways is apply a few drops onto cleansed skin, either before or after, or even instead of moisturiser, and then blend it out, before applying foundation, or you can do what I've done below and just wear it on its own.

Bare Skin - Before

Bare Skin - Application 

Bare Skin - After

To be honest there isn't a huge amount of difference between the before and after pictures but in real life my skin definitely looked a little bit more radiant, and hydrated.

As well as using it alone or under your make up you can also use it on certain areas of the face either on it's own or as I've done here, on top of make up as a liquid highlighter / illuminator.

Applied As Highlighter On Top Of Foundation And Under Foundation 

The funny thing is if I'd reviewed this product back in February, March or even in early April, I would have been at best indifferent to it, but that extra month has made all of the difference - I get it now! 

It's subtle, it doesn't add a ton of pigment or shimmer, whether you wear on it under make up or even on it's own, it just makes you look a little bit healthier, and it takes away some of that dullness and flatness, that we're probably all suffering from at the moment. You can use it in a few ways, and I think it's all about finding out what works best for you and your skin, and what type of finish that you want to achieve.

The full size retails at £35 and despite the fact that Feel Unique seem to sell a small selection of Figs & Rouge items, the only place I can find this product is direct from Amazon via Figs & Rouge.

Starskin Dreamkiss Plumping & Hydrating Bio - Cellulose Lip Mask - 1 x 5g Mask - Est. RRP £4.25

The next product was something from face mask specialist Starskin. Launched in 2015 Starskin's range of high performance, instant results skincare, is PETA certified, and is free from parabens, phthalates, mineral oils, sulphates and synthetic dyes.

Whilst they are probably most well known for their face and eye masks, this is actually a lip mask that aims to hydrate and plump the lips, and improve the appearance of fine lines, and wrinkles. It contains vitamin rich fermented coconut juice, sea fern collagen, hyaluronic acid, jojoba, linseed oil, sunflower seed oil, shea butter, safflower oil and honey.

The first thing you notice when you open the packet is just how much liquid there is in inside. The lip shaped patch itself has a thin gel, like appearance, and it doesn't feel that thick or substantial so it isn't that easy to peel it off the 2 sheets of clear film that cover it.

The patch itself had a pleasant fruity scent and taste and it adhered really securely to the lip area, so you can stand up and do other things, without it falling off. It feels quite cool on application but it warms up to body temperature quite quickly.

Starskin advise that you leave the mask on for around 10-15 minutes. It feels off really easily and whilst the instructions tell you to rub the excess serum into your lip are, I was actually surprised at just how dry the patch felt. My lips and skin must have sucked up every little drop of moisture that this mask had to offer.

I couldn't see any real difference in the plumpness or volume of my lips, but they definitely felt softer, and less flaky. Although I didn't experience any major miracles with this product I think it's a really nice treat for dry lips and I would definitely consider using it again.

The packet contained 1 mask, which Glossybox valued at around £4.25. The masks usually come in a pack of 2 and retail at around £8.50 from various retailers including Look Fantastic, Debenhams, and Feel Unique.

Saint Luxe Lip Liner Duo - Crush and Cupid - 2 x 1g - Full Size - RRP $40 / £23

One of the things that I love most about beauty and subscription boxes is the fact that they give you the chance to try something new. I can't find too much out about this next brand, other than the fact that they are a US based brand, that pride themselves on their sleek packaging and their luxury ingredients.

The only products that are actually on their website appear to be pencils, and the pretty pink box in February's Glossybox contained two lip pencils, that Saint Luxe claim and both creamy and long lasting.

In a true, wooden pencil format these pencil are pale pink and colour, and they come with a pink plastic lid. You get two different contrasting colours, Crush - a deep cool toned red, and Cupid - a neutral, nude pink shade.

Top - Crush - Bottom - Cupid

 Crush And Cupid 

The pigmentation is superb, but in my opinion they aren't that soft or creamy. The obvious way to use a lip pencil is to use it to line your lips, but I think that a good test of a lip pencil is to use it to fill in your lips so that's exactly what I did.

Crush 

Cupid 

On the whole I think they did a fairly decent job, they did drag a bit on application, and they weren't that hydrating, but they lasted well, and they looked okay on. When it came to sharpening them though, it all went a bit wrong. I tried to sharpen Crush, and I found the coloured section very, very crumbly, and the wood was really brittle, so it was pretty much impossible to achieve a decent point.

Apart from the sharpening and the lack of moisture these pencils weren't actually that bad. They wore well and Cupid especially is a very Louise colour but a high end product? not in my opinion! The only retailer I've found for these pencils is direct from Saint Luxe, who ship worldwide, where the duo retails at $40! Glossybox quote a slightly less eye watering £23 but I think that even that is overpriced when brands like Revolution, Rimmel and even Primark, produce lip liners that are equally as good if not better and more purse friendly.

Floss Beauty My New Favourite Lip Gloss - Ath - 15g - Full Size - RRP $16 / £12.30

Next up another lip product, and this time something from Canadian brand Floss Beauty. I first came across Floss Beauty in the August 2019 edition of Pink Parcel, when I received a My New Favourite Lip Gloss in the shade Yul - You can read my review here x 

Since Yul was almost a translucent shade, I'm really pleased to have the opportunity to try a coloured gloss this time around.

Both cruelty and paraben free like Yul, the shade that I received this time around was Ath, which is also named after an airport only this time Athens.

Although it look a little bit more coral here, Ath is a lovely neutral pink shade, that works perfectly with the Cupid lip liner. Again it comes in a squeezy plastic tube with a doe foot applicator and again it has a slightly synthetic coconut / vanilla scent.

As you can see the pigmentation is excellent, it applies easily, and it feels smooth, creamy and comfortable on the lips. One of the biggest deal breakers with gloss is stickiness, and thankfully this one doesn't feel too tacky, it wears well, and even when the gloss fades it leaves a small amount of colour on the lips. 

This is a really nice wearable shade that I will definitely use. It's non drying, and perfect if you aren't a fan of of sticky or gloopy lip glosses. The only retailer that I can find for this gloss is direct from Floss Beauty where this lip gloss retails at around $16, Glossybox quote a price of around £12.30.

Glossybox Slanted Lip Brush - Full Size - Est. RRP £5.10

The final official item in February's box was a Glossybox branded lip brush. With a pale pink handle with the Glossybox logo printed on the side, this brush has rose gold tone ferrule, and a slanted brush head, with soft but densely packed hairs.

The pointed end is perfect for outlining the lips and defining the lip line, and the large, flat side is perfect for filling in the lips.

This is a nice quality brush, that doesn't just have to be for lips, you could also use it as an eye brush or even as a brow brush. This brush is Glossybox branded and is exclusive to this box, and it has a recommended retail price of £5.10.

Now as well as the usual 5 items some subscribers also received a 6th item, and do you know what that means - controversy! Not everyone received this extra item and to say that some people weren't happy was an understatement! I was apparently one of the lucky ones and I did receive an extra 'treat'.

Glossier You Eau De Parfum - 1.5ml 

Yes, after all of that it was a fragrance sample from one of the brands of the moment, Glossier. As I've said before the inclusion of fragrances in a subscription boxes is always a bit of a funny one, so I'm not quite sure why so many people seemed so desperate to get their hands on this one, especially after smelling it!

Based on a lot of online reviews Glossier You appears to be a pretty popular scent but personally I'm not a fan. It contains warm and creamy base notes of amberette, ambrox and musk, and top notes of earthy green iris root, and pink pepper.

To me it smells very musky and dare I say it old fashioned, if you like this I'm sorry to say this but it reminds me of perfume mixed with stale cigarette smoke! The only positive thing that I can possible say about it is that it wears incredibly well, and that unlike a lot of fragrances, the smell stays pretty much the same as it does when you first spray it.

I've worn it a few times now, and it hasn't grown on me at all, it's a world away from the sweet floral tones that I normally wear, and there is something about it that I just don't like!

The full 50ml size of Glossier You retails at £45 and is available direct from Glossier. The box also included a coupon for 10% off your first order from Glossier but guess what? I forgot about it and it expired on the 5th May - wahhhhh!

Although the February 2020 edition of Glossybox ended on a bit of a damp squib, overall I was pretty pleased with February's offering. It was pretty make up heavy but it contained some nice wearable products. There were no real standouts but everything was decent even I wouldn't necessarily pay full price for the lip pencils

Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and if you fancy subscribing to Glossybox, you can find out more via this link x Thanks for reading as per usual and I'll see you soon with a quick make up review before resuming my Glossybox catch ups x 

*The Post Contains Both Affiliate And Non Affiliate Links