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

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