Best Beauty Box?

For quite some time now I've been debating on subscribing to a beauty box but I was never quite sure which was the best one for me. So I took it upon myself to carry out a bit of research on several different beauty boxes, and this is what I've found ...

Glossybox is offering you a mix of five minature products which are selected specifically for your beauty needs (when you subscribe you are asked to fill in your personal beauty details). The box will cost you £10 a month and £2.95 for postage and packaging. There are approximately 95 brands including Yves Saint Laurent, Liz Earle, OPI and Philip Kingsley so it kind of sounds like the real deal. However, after reading several reviews it became apparent that a lot of customers weren't happy with the products they were recieving saying it was very hit and miss. This put me off majorly and I was actually quite disappointed to hear this as it sounded pretty ideal to begin with.

Whilst reading the reviews for Glossybox, another common beauty box name appeared which I hadn't heard of before. It's called JolieBox and is the same price as Glossybox, £10 for a monthly subscription and £2.95 for postage and packaging. You receive four to five beauty samples which could be from 40 different brands again including OPI, and also Yardley London, Agent Provocateur and Eyeko London. A lot of these brands aren't that well known but I think that's the best thing about beauty boxes, discovering new products from different brands and being able to experiment with them. Most of the reviews were pretty positive about this beauty box, saying they were going to continue their subscription and couldn't wait for next month's box - which is good news! (This is my favourite by far!)

This has to be the biggest let down of all the beauty boxes. After reading so many reviews which were literally singing their praise I couldn't wait to go on their website and check out the prices and products etc (I mean check out the picture, it looks lush!) But alas, to my dismay, there was no website. Turns out Carmine is now Glossybox! Now to me this is a little confusing as Carmine had so many good reviews and customers genuinely seemed really happy with their beauty box, but after reading Glossybox's reviews so many were disappointed, so I don't really get how this could have happened. Either way, I'm pretty upset I didn't get to try this out when it was originally Carmine cos it sounded so good. Bad times.

This is a reasonably new beauty box consisting of 5 deluxe sized beauty samples which will cost you £9 a month and £2.95 for postage and packaging. The website doesn't state how many brands they use but I know that some used in previous boxes include Collection 2000, Aveda, Kim Kardashian and Inika. There aren't a lot of reviews for this beauty box but the majority of what I read were reasonably positive with just a few a little disappointed with some of the products. Possibly a bit of hit or miss again like Glossybox so maybe it's worth subscribing for a month and then cancelling? Not too sure how I feel about this one ...

This is a slightly different beauty box in that it isn't a subscription and you get to select what products you want to receive. So if you don't like the products, you don't have to get them! The "Little Beauty Box" consists of three samples which you get to select yourself from a list which is provided. Unlike a normal beauty box it isn't paid via your card online it's actually paid for using your phone. You text the number given which will cost you £1.50 plus your standard network rate and that's it all done. Pretty simple and easy to be honest. Obviously a bonus of this is the cost, however lots of reviews have stated that the sample sizes are pretty small but I suppose this is to be expected as its dirt cheap. They also do luxury samples and sample sets from lots of different brands including Dove, Elemis, Liz Earle and Nicky Clarke which are all separately priced. Lastly they do a themed box which will cost you £5.95 plus £2.95 for postage and packaging. Overall sounds pretty good and might possibly give this a shot ... the only thing that puts me off a bit is paying by phone ... hmmm.

What are your favourite beauty boxes?

Keep Calm and Race for Life

A few of the girls and I from Wicksteed Park are running the Race for Life this year in Peterborough and it would be great to raise as much money as possible for Cancer Research UK. If you would like to make a donation then please click on the link below and together we will beat cancer. 

 https://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/stephanieclark92 

My 7 Deadly Sins of Beauty

So one of the YouTubers I follow did this for one of their videos and I thought it would be really cool to do on my blog, so here goes ...!

My 7 Deadly Sins of Beauty

1. Greed.

What is your most inexpensive beauty item and what is your most expensive?

My most inexpensive would be my £1.99 clear mascara from Collection 2000 which I use on my eyebrows every single day (without fail) to hold them in place.

My most expensive beauty item would be my YSL Perfect Touch Radiance Brush Foundation which is £34.00 .... but it is pretty darn good!!!

2. Wrath

What beauty product do you have a love/hate relationship with? And what product has been the hardest to get?

Mascara has to be the one. I absolutely adore mascara, especially my YSL Mascara Volume Effect Faux Cils Shocking (it's amazing) but I hate hate hate with a passion removing it. IT'S SUCH A PAIN!!! But it would never put me off wearing it.

  The hardest product to find would be my Make Up Forever Mat Velvet Plus foundation. It isn't sold in the UK so to find it anywhere apart from the States (which means expensive shipping) has been a nightmare. Luckily I recently found a couple of websites which stock Make Up For Ever so I've finally got it!

3. Gluttony

What are your most delicious beauty products?

One of my favourite delicious products is my Diesel Fuel for Life Unlimited Body Lotion - it just smells incredible! My favourite perfume is Diesel Fuel for Life Unlimited so when I got the body lotion for Christmas last year I was extremely happy! It smells really similar to the perfume, and just makes your skin smell so good!

 My other delicious product is my Raspberry Milkshake Body Scrub. It smells just like raspberries and honestly leaves your skin smelling fabulous! (It even says on the back of the bottle "DO NOT EAT, THIS IS NOT A FOOD PRODUCT" it's that good!!)

4. Sloth

What beauty product do you neglect due to laziness?

 I would have to say it would be primer and the eyeshadow I use to fill in my eyebrows. I used to be obssessed with using primer every single day but now I just can't be bothered. The moisturiser I'm using at the minute (Origins VitaZing SPF15 Energy-Boosting Moisturiser) has a slight tint and pretty much smooths over any imperfections I have on my face so I can just about get away without using one. I only use primer now if I am going for a night out or if there is a special occassion where I need my make-up to stay on as long as possible. I also a bit lazy when it comes to filling in my eyebrows. They're not too bad but for an every day look I just can't be bothered to fill them in! Again I'll only do it for nights out or special occassions.

5. Pride

What beauty products give you the most self confidence?

Has to be both foundation and mascara.  I wouldn't say my skin is awful but I just prefer the look I acheive with foundation. It makes me feel like my skin is just amazing and flawless, and I hate leaving the house without it. Mascara's just as bad because my natural eyelashes aren't particularly dark and so when I have no mascara on I feel like my eyes aren't as defined or look as big and I hate that look. I love big lashes so when I know I've got tons of mascara on I feel so much better and just much prefer the way I look.

6. Lust

What attributes do you find the most attractive in the opposite sex?

This is a bit difficult because I've been with the same boyfriend for just over three years now so I wouldn't say there are certain attibutes or qualities I find most attractive in a man, but I love my boyfriend's dark hair, blue eyes and sense of humour.

7. Envy

What items would you most like to receive as a gift? 

I'd love to purchase some more make-up brushes from either Mac or Sigma first (I only have 6 or 7 at the minute) but I mean to receive any sort of beauty items would be amazing. I love experimenting and trying out new products, especially foundations, mascaras, and lipsticks so a variety of those would be lush!

Hope you enjoyed this!

Make Up For Ever in the UK

As some of you may know Make Up For Ever isn't sold in the UK and so to get hold of it can be quite a pain. I've been dying to get my hands on the Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet Plus for such a long time, but could never bring myself to purchase it from the states.

 However, I've recently discovered two websites which stock Make Up For Ever in the UK (YAY) and I've finally purchased my foundation so all is good.

The first one is called Precious About Make-Up

and the second one is called Guru Make-Up Emporium.

The price for my foundation was £27.50 from Precious About Make-Up and £28.95 from Guru Make-Up Emporium so simply because it was cheaper I went with Precious About Make-Up. I'm so happy I've got the product now and will be doing a review shortly! Hope this is helpful for all you Make Up For Ever lovers!

Wednesday Wishlist

So I've decided to start up a Wednesday Wishlist where I will be sharing with you some of the new clothes, shoes, accessories etc that I really really really wish I could have, but sadly as I'm a student they're going to have to remain a wish! So here goes ...

1. Pink Love Ring from River Island £4.00

2. Red Polka Dot Sleeveless Swing Shirt from River Island £22

3. Tan Platform Boots from HighStreetJacker £34.99

4. Leopard Pleat Cami Top from Topshop £25.00

5. Dip Hem Dress by Wal G from Topshop £35.00

6. Cross Bead Strech Bracelet from Topshop £7.50

7. Lola Chain Sandals from Bank £18.00

8. Ribbon Lace Panel Knicker Shorts from Bank £12.00

9. Maissy Skater Peter Pan Collar Belted Dress from MissGuided £26.99

 10. Hearts & Bows Cream Santa Rosa Shirt from Ark £19.99

That's all of them! What items are you loving this Wednesday?

Multi-Coloured Leopard Print Nails

Multi-Coloured Leopard Print Nails

Hey guys so I decided to do something a bit funky with my nails today and this is what I've come up with:

If you want to create this look yourself then keep reading!

What you'll need:

1) A base and a top coat

2) Three different colours for the base

3) Black nail polish

4) Some sort of brush to draw the leopard print on

 From left to right -  Barry M in Turquoise, Max Factor in Mellow Yellow, Barbara Day in Sizzler, Marks & Spencer Nail Colour in Black.

Steps:

1) First apply a base coat to your nails and let this dry.

2) Take one of your three colours, apply to a third of your nail, and let it dry.

3) Repeat this step with the two other colours

4) Now it's time to draw the leopard print onto your nails. You can either do this using a nail art pen or a nail brush and black nail polish. Unfortunately I do not own a nail brush so I used an old eyeliner brush. The best thing to do is to pour a small amount of the polish onto a piece of paper and dip your brush into it; this enables you to wip off any excess nail polish. If you're not sure how to draw leopard print then copy my design, although its mostly random lines!

5) Make sure everything is completely dry. If there is any smuding on your fingers from the nail polish, then get a cotton bud and dip it in some nail varnish remover  and go round the edges of your nail to make it look more neat.

6) Once you are happy with the completed look apply a top coat.

Hope you enjoy it!