Beauty box stand-out products: December 2011

Before I launch into this post, I'd like to ask your views on something... beauty boxes. Obviously there are a load of them on the market now, but I wanted to ask what you think of how I am thinking of writing about them. I'm keen not to do just a post on 'What's in my...' each month, but rather wait a bit, use the products and then pick my stand out ones for the month.

This is what I'm doing here, the products are from a couple of boxes (Glossy Box December and Jolie Box December) and will include pictures of what's in the box, but I don't really just want to list what was in them, I want to highlight my favourites - after I've had a bit of time to actually play with the products and see what I really think. 


Let me know what you think on this approach, if you just want to see what's in the box then I can still do that, but figured that if you read more than just this blog you're likely to have seen a few similar posts by the time mine goes up! For this review there will be the pictures of what's in each of the boxes, but I won't be going into detail about each product. For potential future posts, I might just focus on my favourite product?

Anyway, comment below and let me know what you think! And back to my picks of the December boxes...


Jolie Box:

First up, my pick from the December Jolie Box (previously Boudoir Prive) has to be the full sized OPI shatter polish in Gold.

I normally really don't like shatter polishes - but something about the gold really appealed. So I tried applying it on it's own rather than as a top coat, and a few coats later I had lovely sparkly gold nails, without a crack or shatter in sight. Throw on a top coat and it's fabulous! The gold does dry to a bit of a matte finish, so needs a top coat. But overall, I have a gorgeous gold (full sized) OPI. Happy days.

I should mention that on first impression, opening my Jolie Box,  I liked the New CID lip gloss as my stand-out product. But when I used it I realised the wand/brush bristles were all frayed and sticking out all over, so it made it a bit of a mess to apply. So whilst the colour is lovely, I prefer the sponge style wands for lip gloss application. So that made my decision for me, my standout is the OPI (but as an all over colour rather than shatter top coat).


Glossy Box

Onto the next box, the December Glossy Box - my pick from the box has to be the Rituals Yogi Flow Shower Mousse. I was going to go with the Deborah Lipman, but I can't always choose nail varnish!

I do have to slightly caveat this stand out product... there were also some lovely Blinc and Go make-up palettes in some people's December Glossy Boxes. I got to try these because I spent an afternoon filming a video with Glossy Box and loved them, there's a gorgeous neutrals/shimmering metallic palette that's absolutely lovely. But I can't technically include it as my pick as it wasn't in my box!

So based on those decision making factors, my favourite is the shower mousse, I tried another of the Rituals mousses a month or so ago and loved it, and this one smells just as amazing - so I was very happy to find a lovely full sized one in my Glossy Box.

So there we have it... my stand out products of December 2011 beauty boxes:

Jolie Box December: OPI Gold Shatter Polish
Glossy Box December: Rituals Yogi Flow Shower Foam

Along with the products I loved, I should very quickly mention the ones I'd skip...  for Jolie Box it has to be the tea, I'm just not a tea-drinker and for Glossy Box it would be the shimmery Cargo lip gloss, just because I don't really like glitter in lip gloss. But as with any of these sample-delivery box things, there will always be ones you love and ones you are a bit 'meh' about!

Overall though, I was really impressed with the contents for both boxes this month... as always, curious to see what they include next! The surprise of opening them has to be the most exciting part of a beauty box delivery!


Both boxes were PR samples.

Christmas party make-up

Earlier in December I went along to my work's Christmas party. The one last year was at Cargo in Shoreditch, and was really fun even though at the time I had only been there a month. Now having been there over a year and getting to know more people I was really looking forward to it. This year's was at The House of St Barnabas in Soho, a gorgeous and eclectic venue.

Make-up wise I went for a bronze look because the outfit I was wearing included bronze - a bronze mini skirt from ASOS, teamed with black tights, a loose black tshirt, and black ankle boots (a very crappy outfit pic is further down...I need to learn how to take decent outfit photos of myself!). 

I should also mention that the party had a masquerade theme, but I forgot to snap pics of my mask - it was a large feather thing, from Accessorise... 

I started out just going for my standard make-up, but then decided to add some false lashes to up the glamour a bit. Choosing a pair from the Girls With Attitude 'Double Take' range

The lashes!

 I also got back on the fake tan bandwagon the night before the party, so I didn't feel as pasty and pale as I normally do. Plus I couldn't really do a bronze look without a bit of bronzing. After skipping the fake tanning for so long I was lucky to be re-introduced to it with a professional spray tan from Sienna X. I was hugely impressed, I couldn't see one flaw in the tan at all - which I am pretty sure has NEVER happened. Last time I had a spray tan there was a bit of a foot-area disaster, and the time before I had a couple of small patches and a white triangle on my hand that had been missed.

Anyway, previous errors aside - the sienna X was flawless - and the spray part was quick and easy, and smelt of holidays. Post tan - if I liked my legs more then I would have been brave and got them out. I've been trying to maintain a winter glow with the at-home products, but have yet again fallen off the wagon over Christmas. Will get back to it though as the gradual moisturiser is so easy to use, I have no excuse not to really.

With the lashes.

Products used:

Clarins Everlasting Foundation in 105*
NARS concealer in 'Honey'*
YSL Shocking Mascara in black*
MAC MSF in By Candlelight as blusher
MAC MSF in medium plus (to set)
MAC eyeshadow in bronze & naked lunch
Bourjois Bronzer (in light/medium)*
Miners liquid liner in brown*
MAC eyeliner in Teddy (LOVE this, need to do a blog post dedicated to it)

I can't remember the lip gloss I wore now... doh!

Here is the oh-so-rubbish outfit pic, but you get the idea - all black other than the sequin skirt....sorry about the flash, taken in a dark hallway with no natural light.

Products with a * are PR samples. Others bought by me.

Christmas gifts I spotted and loved...

This is hardly an extensive gift guide, but here are a collection of various gifts I've spotted over the past few weeks and loved - either for myself or someone I'm buying a gift for this year.  So I thought I'd share them for some last min prezzie inspiration! (Fingers crossed not too many of those I'm buying for decide to read the blog...!)

Boots 17 Mini Nail Library

There are a few mini sets of nail varnish out there that tempt me (since I have a problem with mini sets...) but this one really is AMAZING value - 9 colours for £10 (and it's in the three for two thing at Boots too...). This is a little treat I picked up and split into three sets of threes to give to my boyfriend's nieces as a little stocking filler.

Jim Jams from Boots

I love these - so this is more of a gift I want for myself! But I do love a good pair of PJs! Hoping to find a pair of these or something similar under the tree this year (I must be getting old!)

L'Occintane Gift Set for Men*

Most of the men in my life are either very fussy with their skincare (boyfriend is totally dedicated to Clinique) or not fussed about what they use (Dad & Brother) but I think this set for Men is nice enough as a gift but still simple enough that they will like it.... I hope!

Yardley Lavender Fragrance Set from Boots

I always think Lavender is one of those 'if in doubt' fragrances, ok so not everyone loves it - but it's not offensive... I think these lovely little Lavender gift sets from Yardley are a nice but affordable little way to gift aunties and grannies....

Jurlique Herbal Recover Gift Set*

This is one of the gift sets I've been talking about over on the Jurlique website. I fairly recently discovered and feel in love with their Herbal Recovery Gel - it feels refreshing, especially for tired (hungover) skin. So I'm sure this will go down a treat for a few people...!

Marc Jacobs Daisy Gift Set* (how cute is the mini bottle?!)

Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh and Daisy (original) have been my favourite fragrances of 2011, so I have to mention one of these little sets (there's also a set of Eau So Fresh too) but I absolutely love the little mini bottle in the set - so cute and ideal for having a little bit of Daisy loveliness in your handbag. 

Is it just me, or is there something lovely about opening a gift set of perfume rather than just the bottle of fragrance? I don't know what it is, but it's definitely something I love to receive!

So these are just a few bits and bobs I spotted. I also saw some other lovely make-up and beauty gift sets in Boots - including the giant Soap and Glory Box (already ordered one of these myself...) there are some really good ones on the market this year! 

But as a fairly simple person myself, I would genuinely be happy with some nice jim jams, a classic 90s action film DVD (Air Force One is a classic...) and maybe some snuggly Christmas socks!

* = PR gift of this received. 

Stocking filler idea: Giant Vaseline Tin

I love anything that's either a giant or mini version of something that's regular sized...so I was a little bit excited when I first spotted the giant Vaseline tins last year. I'm not going to lie, I was a little disappointed when I opened it to find 4 normal sized tins inside... how amazing would it be for the giant tin to be totally filled with Vaseline?! You could put your face in it! (Not that you would want to, that would probably cause all sorts of problems with your skin...) but still, a giant tin would be fun.

But four normal sized Vaseline pots is still good - if you are one of those people who never has one far away, then you could have a tin everywhere - one at work, one by the bed, one in your bag... one spare?! Then the giant tin is good for some quirky storage.

I think this makes a cute little Christmas stocking filler or secret Santa gift - only £5.99 from Superdrug.

PR sample.

Soap and Glory bargain alert...

Quick heads up that the Soap and Glory 'Big Splendour' gift box will be the Star Gift from Boots from Friday 16th December... if you're a Soap and Glory fan then you need this in your life.

This will be £25 - reduced from £60.... yep, that's right, reduced from £60.

The set contains:

Clean On Me™ Creamy Clarifying Shower Gel - 500ml

The Righteous Butter™ Body Butter - 300ml

Pulp Friction™ Body Scrub - 300ml

Face, Soap & Clarity™ Fresh Facial Wash - 150ml

25 Off Your Face™ Cleansing Wipes

Heel Genius Foot™ Cream - 125ml

Hand Food Hand™ Cream - 125ml

Mist You Madly™ Fragrant Body Spray - 250ml

Sexy Mother Pucker™ Lip Plumper In Candy Gloss - 7ml

Calm One, Calm All™ Bubble Bath - 500ml

Elbows at the ready....

Beautiful, beautiful Clarins...

Ah Clarins, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

Ok, I'm not really going to countdown the ways in which I love Clarins - but I do. For me, the brand has a lot of heritage as it's one my Mum absolutely adores so I feel like I've always trusted the brand on her recommendation. Then over the past few years the make-up has caught my attention more and more, whereas previously it was skincare I had had the most experience with. 

Well, if they wanted make-up to grab my attention then this is the way to go about it - check out the gorgeous palettes Clarins has out for Christmas as part of the 'Passion' collection...

Gorgeous little red velvet pouches to keep the pretty protected...

Sleek packaging with the signature 'C' on the ridge.

Gorgeous...

But of course we don't judge books by covers, it's about what's inside too... the pretty golden palette with the 20's style pattern is a gorgeous finishing powder....with a matching pattern to the exterior.

This palette truly is stunning, it's beyond sturdy - it's heavy enough that it could double as a very beautiful paperweight. The golden areas of the packaging are over spray and will go away with a few uses - leaving a gorgeous shimmering powder that leaves skin matte but with a glow. This palette would make an absolutely amazing Christmas present for any make-up fan I think!

There's also the gorgeous eyeshadow quad - with four powder shadows and one silvery cream.  When I spotted this I was immediately drawn to the one on the bottom right - a purple/grey/taupe shade - my usual shade of choice. But when I swatched them, the one I loved the most was the warm pink/orange/rose-gold shade - it's silky smooth and a really unusual colour that I think is really pretty.

I can see myself using the powder shadows more than the cream one as it's a little bit glitter-full for my eyeshadow tastes - but I love the three powder shades. Even the black shade - I'm generally a bit wary of black powder shades as they can be chalky (or if they have shimmer, turn out black with chunks of glitter) and from looking at it in the pan I have to say that's what I expected - but I was very wrong - it's smooth with just a healthy bit of shimmer - lovely for a smokey eye!

Lets just have a look at the prettiness of the palettes one more time... gorgeous!

Do you have a brand out there that you trust because you grew up with someone using it? 

A quick google search and it looks like the Clarins Passion collection is currently reduced on Debenhams.com (the face palette is currently £29.75 - reduced from £35)

PR samples.

Lacoste Touch of Pink

I've previously mentioned the Lacose Touch of Pink fragrance, from when I went along to the launch to meet Alexa Chung - the face of the fragrance. Since then, it became one of my go-to daily scents of last year. It's absolutely packed with the fresh scent of citrussy blood orange and is a perfect wake-up-call in the morning. But the hints of vanilla and jasmine mean the dry-down has a more floral edge to it.

Of course with it being festive season, there's a lovely little pink gift set out there, including the fragrance, a shower gel and a moisturiser.

The gift set is so lovely, that I am going to give one away to you! Just in time for Crimbo! All you have to do is comment below completing the sentence with 5 words or less....

"I need a touch of pink in my life because..."

To find out more about Lacoste Touch of Pink please visit the Lacoste Website.

Terms and conditions:

- UK only

- Must be a follower of the blog via GFC or facebook

- If under 18 make sure you have permission from a guardian

- Comp closes 5pm Friday 16th December 2011 (GMT)

- Winner chosen at random

- Make sure you include a way I can contact you if you win

- Must provide address details within 72 hours of winning or else a new winner will be chosen

Sponsored post.

Bobbi Brown Christmas 2011

Bobbi Brown became one of my first high-end make-up items, when I was a teenager and my Aunty bought me a Bobbie Brown Shimmer Brick as a Christmas present - MAJOR brownie points for Aunty. Ever since then I've always had a bit of thing for all things Bobbi (and I still have that shimmer brick).

This year for Christmas, Bobbie Brown has some new slick packaging and some gorgeous products for the Christmas season and here's a little peek at them... 

A gorgeous silver and gold highlighter palette with party-worthy design.

A tiny little has-everything you need compact
(The £2 coin is to illustrate how small it is)

Inside there are two lip shades and a lip gloss.
Although I guess the lip shades could also be blushers...

On the second level of the palette there are three lovely eyeshadow shades
Silver, Purple and Purple-black.

There's also a small mirror in the lid and the lipgloss slots in nicely so it's easy to carry.

A gorgeous neutrals palette - very slim and nicely portable.

Dual Ended Eye Liner with black and silver

Swatches of the black and silver liner - the black is lovely and glossy.

That's just a sneak peak - I love the neutrals palette (as I would...so predictable) and the highlighter is gorgeous, but I'm interested to see how the gold and silver work on the skin together...

The little portable palette is amazing for it's size - very pretty colours (I like that it's purple shades of eye-shadow rather than typical smoky grey) and the lip colours are nice but a bit on the dark side for me. How amazing would it be if you could pick and mix a palette that was that size!?

Will report back again with swatches!

PR samples.

Festive TV ads

Earlier this week I went along for a preview of the new Boots Christmas ad. You would think that the preview of a new TV ad was pretty much a 'meh' affair, but no lie - I loved it. Partly because it makes me feel a little bit festive, even when the weather outside still feels almost as warm as it was in Summer...

But there were two moments in the ad that actually made me laugh out loud, have a watch and let me know what you think...



I wish I had James-Bond-esque sound effects for when I apply my perfume...

Nars Christmas 2011

The Nars Christmas collection has hit counters in Selfridges now, and it's a stunner. I can honestly say that twice whilst swatching these colours, my chin actually dropped with the prettiness (I'll tell you more about which colours shortly...) but first up, lots of piccies!

Nars Christmas 2011
Clockwise From Top:Arabian Nights Trio, Mandochourie Duo, St Marks Place Long Wear Liner, Campo Di Fiori Long Wear Liner, Ponderosa Cream Eyeshadow, G-Spot Multiple, Albatross Lipgloss

First up is the obvious stunner from the collection, the Arabian Nights eyeshadow trio. Doesn't it just scream Christmas party with all that shimmering glitter?! The colours are so rich, they will make for amazing smoky eye looks. But what are they like swatch wise?

Well, one of these was one of the two products that made my chin drop and another was a tiny bit of a let down...

Nars Arabian Nights Eyeshadow Trio

 The rosy pink shade on the let of the trio totally made my chin drop, it felt so silky and was AMAZINGLY pigmented, but the black shade on the right was a bit of a disappointment - as are many black shadows, it came off a bit on the chalky side and was a bit too heavy on the glitter for my tastes. But the rosy shade? Stunning. It swatches blacker than it appears in the photos, but with a rich purple warmth to it. It's also the least glitter heavy of the trio. Look at the swatches on my finger tips in the pic below - how dark they are! That was one single swipe. It was also very hard to capture the colours totally on camera, they all swatch and photograph more black than they are in the pan.

Nars Arabian Nights Eyeshadow Trio

Next up we have swatches of the liners, multiple and lip gloss. I can see the lip gloss being a great lipstick topper and the multiple really is very pretty - almost like a more winter/rosy shade of orgasm - it has the same golden shimmer, but the base colour is more natural flush after a cold walk in the country.

The two liners are additions to the larger than life range, a non-shimmer purple (whereas Bourbon Street is a shimmer purple) and a rich gold. I love these colours, especially next to each other as they were the team colours for the Uni I went to in America... which isn't totally a reason to love them, but it makes me happy to see purple and gold together!

L-R: St Marks Place, Campo Di Fiori, G Spot, Albatross
Top: Artificial Light
Bottom: Flash

Last but by no means least there is the stunning Ponderosa cream eyeshadow - this was the other colour that made my chin drop. SO pigmented and gorgeous - a tiny finger swatch and the colour was so dark. It felt lovely and creamy and I just adore the colour - a warm brown but with a cooler shimmer. Now my only challenge is to find a way to wear it that actually lasts all day, I've never really been able to make cream shadows last - any tips would be much appreciated!!

Nars Ponderosa Cream Eyeshadow

So there we have it, a whistle stop intro to the gorgeous Nars Christmas collection 2011 - if you want to see daylight swatches of any of these let me know and I'll make a note to do this at the weekend (darn the days getting shorter...) but in the meantime - any of the above caught your eye and made it onto the Christmas wish list??

Personally, the real standouts for me are the G-Spot multiple and Ponderosa - both of which I can see myself wearing regularly. I can't wait to give G-Spot a trial run tomorrow (and yes, typing that did make me giggle like a school girl!)

The Nars Christmas collection is on counters in Selfridges now.


PR samples.

Estee Lauder Sensuous Nude, Vera Wang Lovestruck and Daisy Oh So Fresh

It feels a little like this week has been all about fragrances for me... I think it's because it's 'Christmas in July' season, where I feel like everyone is wishing the Summer away so we can eat mince pies and curl up in front of the fire and fragrance is pretty much as important to Christmas as Santa is.

To be honest, I don't love the whole 'Christmas' thing in the middle of Summer... I'm still catching up with emails from two weeks ago - let alone thinking six months in advance. But that's a whole other thing.

So that being said, I'm quite happy with a couple of the discoveries I have made this week. 

Firstly, Estee Lauder's latest fragrance in the 'Sensuous' collection - 'Sensuous Nude'. It's best described as a clean, fresh fragrance, it's a fragrance that captures the whole romanticised image of slipping on a man's clean shirt and looking all sexy and tousled but smelling good at the same time. It has something powdery and fresh, but also really feminine. It's grown up without being old and I really, really, like it.

Next up I spotted a couple of fragrance gift sets from Coty that I think are worth a mention...

Firstly, the Marc Jacobs Daisy Oh So Fresh Xmas Set. I beyond adore this fragrance,  it's definitely my current number one perfume love. The Christmas gift set has the added bonus of a teeny tiny bottle of Daisy Oh So Fresh... and yes, simple as that, I'm won over. I like tiny things, especially if they smell good. Look at it, it's so cute!

At the Coty event I also got the chance to have a whiff of Vera Wang Lovestruck for the first time - the fragrance fronted by Leighton Meester of Gossip Girl (my favourite guilty pleasure).

I expected to smell something young, sweet and sickly. But instead I smelt something a little more grown up, not predictable and really nice. It's another fresh, but floral fragrance, I like it and want to give it another sniff to see if I like it as much as I think I do.  It doesn't hurt that the bottle is really pretty too.

Anyone else as easily won over by tiny things as me? Or have you smelt any of these fragrances, what did you think?

Sample of Sensuous Nude provided for PR purposes. Other products were previewed/sniffed at events.