©Katiewrites.co.uk
©Katiewrites.co.uk
©Katiewrites.co.uk

First of all, can we all just take a moment to appreciate how pretty this box is?! Look at it!


Lord & Berry Lipstick Pencil in Kiss
I'm really pretty happy with receiving this! It's a lovely bright red shade, with the slightest hint of orange. I would honestly expect it to cost more than £10! On its own, it leaves a matte finish, but adding a slather of lip balm will give it a bit of shine.

Astral Original
I've never really tried Astral before, even though it's a really cheap skincare brand that's stood the test of time... I've just never really been drawn to it.

However, after trying this, I'm pleasantly surprised at how light it actually feels on my skin. I expected it to feel quite thick, greasy and heavy; but it really wasn't.

One downside is that the scent is quite 'soapy' and fairly strong, so it's probably not best for those who have particularly sensitive skin. Although, I would say it's an absolute bargain at £3.89! 
(Apparently, you can use it to remove your makeup as well, so it's a handy dual-use product!)

POP Beauty Kajal Eyeliner Pen
I'm pretty sure that Glossybox sent me a POP eyeliner a few months back, which was really good for the price. This eyeliner is great as it has a pencil at one end and a smudger at the other; to give a lovely smokey eye look. The shade is 'Sooty Black', which reminds me of Sooty the puppet from back in the day... Remember him? It's also only £6.50, which certainly isn't going to break the bank! 

Color Club Barely There Nail Polish
I really like this nude shade that they've sent, and it's totally on trend too. It's kind of a 'cappuccino' colour. From the quality of the packaging, you'd never guess that it retails for just £4.10! Although I haven't tried this yet, expect to see it popping up in a Mani Monday post soon!

Nougat London Soothing Bath Pearls
Ahhh these smell gorgeous! The first thing that hit me when I opened this Glossybox was the scent emanating from these bath pearls. I can't wait to try them!

The Glossybox card reliably informs me that these pearls leave a 'very subtle shimmer which stays on the skin, creating a limb-lengthening sheen'. Sounds impressive. The card also says that you're supposed to use a large tablespoon full of the pearls and add them to your warm bath. At £6 for 25ml, these will make such a lovely pampering treat!

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It's always a lovely post day when my Glossybox arrives.



Essence Lash Princess Mascara
Glossybox have sent me an Essence mascara before, a few months back. It was okay, but I wasn't completely wowed by it. I am however, wowed by their cheap prices. This mascara costs £3.30! Yes, really! What a bargain! I'm quite pleased with this. It's got a good, thick wand and it leaves my lashes looking volumised and lifted without making them look like spiders' legs.

Another plus point was that there was minimal smudging under my eyes, which, if you're a regular reader, will know is one of my biggest bug bears. The only negative I've found with this is that the wand felt a tad 'sharp' upon application.

Sleek Pout Paint
I'm becoming quite a fan of the Sleek range, but haven't tried any of their lip products yet. I received this in shade 'Peachy Keen - 156' - which is quite a bright orangey-coral colour.

Sleek say:
'Pout Polish is a tinted lip conditioner that nourishes and feels like a lip balm, whilst providing the look and colour of a subtle gloss'

It is really pigmented, but I'm really not keen on the shade as it's a bit too orange for my skin tone. It just doesn't really suit me. However, I'm impressed with the high pigmentation that this has to offer and the fact that a little goes a really long way! One thing that I really love about Sleek is that their products are high quality, but also reasonably priced. This product retails for a mere £4.49!

Naobay Moisturising Peeling
When I read the description of this on my card, I wasn't quite sure what is was... Is it a face mask? Is it a moisturiser? Is it an exfoliant? No idea, so I had to Google it.

Apparently, it's an exfoliating face peel. Naobay say:
"Facial milk with natural peeling particles from the Acai palm tree. This face peel gently exfoliates the skin, removing surface cells and impurities. It helps reduce the appearance of fine lines by combining Olive oil, Shea butter and Sweet Almond oil with Gotu kola extract that soothe the skin after the peel. 98,82% of the total ingredients are from natural origin. 29,1% of the total ingredients are from organic farming."

I haven't had to chance to try this out, as my skin's in an awful state at the moment; but a full review of this will be up once I've tried it!

NCLA Nail Polish
Again, I haven't tried this yet, but expect to see it popping up in a Mani Monday post sometime soon!

Dove Youthful Vitality Shampoo & Conditioner
Right, so these are anti-aging hair products. Not quite sure what you're trying to say there, Glossybox... I'm only in my early twenties. Having said that, I really love the scent of Dove hair products. I used it anyway, and it made my hair lovely, clean and soft. Not sure it looks any younger though...

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I have been soooo busy lately that I just haven't had chance to try most of what's in this box. (Excuses, excuses...)


 Why am I writing about it then? Because I didn't want to let my lovely readers down completely, obviously.

Burt's Bees Lip Shine
This is a lovely little lip gloss from Burt's Bees. The only problem is, I'm a bit odd and every time I use lip gloss, I develop a tickly throat and cough until I have to wipe it off... So, I've not really given this a test run. Can you blame me?

Lollipops Eye Pencil
How pretty is this? It's a retractable eyeliner pencil in 'Black: Goodbye Moon'. Lollipops is a brand that I've never stumbled across before, it's French. This pencil is supposed to be anti-aging... (Quite offended that Glossybox think I need that yet.) It also has Vitamin E, so it's nourishing and it doesn't contain preservatives either.

The fact that it's retractable is great because you don't need to sharpen it! It costs 14 euros, which is just over £11. 

Green & Black's Organic Butterscotch Chocolate
Now this didn't last long. Yum.

(It was a special treat from Glossybox for being a subscriber for a year! That's lovely of them, isn't it?)

Monu Face Oil
This is Monu's Soothing Hawaii Facial Oil, with Cardamom, Sandalwood and Lavender.
My skin's been spotty recently, I don't want to risk making that worse by smearing my face with oil... So I've not tried this. I have tried Monu's bath oil though; which is gorgeous!

A full sized bottle of this, which is 100ml, costs a whopping £26.

H20+ Face Oasis Hydrating Treatment
Again, this is something super-nourishing and hydrating for skin. Which is great, if your skin needs it. It's not, if your skin is already spotty. Glossybox do say that it's oil-free, but I don't really want to risk it.

H20+ is also quite a premium/expensive brand. A full-size tub, which is 50ml, costs £27.50!

This is also 'age prevention', as it reduces the appearance of fine lines. What are you trying to say Glossybox?!

OGX Argon Oil Conditioner
Okay, confession time: This is another thing I ashamedly haven't got round to trying yet! A large bottle costs £6.99 from Boots. I've seen this in shops for ages and keep on meaning to try it!

I will try to write reviews of all the products that I've not been able to try yet in the coming weeks!

My Glossybox December review will also be up soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that!

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It's Glossybox's third birthday this month, so to celebrate, they were giving their recipients an extra little gift. My 'birthday bonus' was a little Yves Rocher Nail Varnish. I bought this box with my Glossydots, which makes it even better, because all of the products were technically free!

Yves Rocher Pink Nail Varnish
This retails for £3.60. I received a beautiful pinky-coloured varnish; which is great because I tend to stick to reds/pinks regarding my nails.

I've not got round to using this product yet, but as you can see from this picture it's a lovely shade; but it is rather on the tiny side - A 3ml bottle.

Philip Kingsley Elasticizer
This product was specifically made for Audrey Hepburn, so surely it's got to be impressive? At £38 a pop for a full sized tube, it's very far out of my price range; but I'm delighted to give it a try...

...Having said that, I've not actually had a chance to try this yet because it involves: Applying it on wet hair, wrapping your hair in a towel for 10-20 minutes, then rinsing and washing your hair as normal afterwards. I'm one of those people who's always in a rush when getting ready, so I've seldom got time to add an extra step to my morning routine! However, I promise that I'll talk about it in depth once I've had the chance to try it!

Figs & Rouge Mini Hand Cream
This smells AMAZING. So fruity. A full-sized tube of this costs £6.95, so I'm probably going to use it as a 'treat' - Sticking to cheaper hand creams for daily use...* My little booklet tells me that this is readily available from Feel Unique.

The smell actually reminds me of Parma Violets. You know the random purple sweets? A bit like them.

After using this (quite sparingly) my hands feel much softer. It soaks in really quickly and there's not a lot of residue that's left behind - So hopefully no greasy fingerprints everywhere and things sliding out of your hands, like you get with some hand creams...
I've learned the hard way not to try and handwrite stuff after using hand cream. It never goes well.

The packaging's really bright and ensures that it stands out. It reminds me of L'Occitane Rose Tenderness Shea Butter Hand Cream, but it's about half the price! The packaging is similar in style (but not colour), the quality of the product feels just as high to me... The only thing that's different is the aroma.

*I'm really tight with my money... 

Kryolan for Glossybox - Highlighter Cashmere
I'm really getting into my highlighter at the moment, so I'm pleased to try a new one. I've always used liquid highlighters (like Me Me Me's Beat the Blues, Benefit's High Beam or ELF's Radiance Enhancer) or powders (like Sleek's), so I was intrigued to try a cream-based highlighter for the first time.

My initial thoughts? A little seems to go a really long way. It's easy to apply and looks great. It's quite a shimmery golden finish but looks subtle at the same time, which is something I always look for in a highlighter. You don't want people guessing that you're wearing it from ridiculously shiny cheekbones/browbones/noses etc.

This product costs £12.95 for a 4.5g pot.

Lalique L'Amour
I'm sure I've mentioned before that I'm a cheapskate, especially when it comes to perfumes. If you receive beauty boxes yourself, you'll be aware that you only receive small samples of perfumes. A full size bottle of this is a whopping £67, so definitely out of my price range.

It smells lovely. That's about all I have to say about all perfumes, to be honest. I'm hardly a connoisseur.

Normally perfume samples (of which I've had quite a few from Glossybox over the past few months) come with an atomiser, but this is literally a tube with a removable lid, which then reveals a top with holes in it that you have to shake over yourself to get it out! So, as you can imagine, I looked like a complete idiot in order to smell impressive. (Maybe I was doing it wrong?)

It's described as: 'A sensuous floral fragrance, a love potion for absolute seduction'. Ooooh. So if you're looking to seduce someone, this is the perfume to wear... Apparently.
I've not tried doing that myself. Nor have I attracted shedloads of men (or any men at all, actually) whilst wearing this perfume.

Essence - I Love Extreme - Crazy Volume Mascara
I'm a mascara junkie. I well and truly hold my hands up. I'm also incredibly picky when it comes to mascara, so it takes a really good product to please me.

This costs £2.79. It's wonderfully cheap and cheery. The packaging is bright and eye-catching. You can't miss the bright pink tube with bold black lettering across it.

I really like the brush; it's longer than your average mascara applicator and bristles are made of plastic. One thing that I wasn't keen on was how clumpy it can get. I really can't bear clumpy mascara... The first time I used it, it was fine. The second time, however, it did cake my eyelashes in mascara a little too much. I had to use an old (clean) Max Factor False Lash Effect brush to try and save my eyes from looking like the legs of a fat spider. I'm undecided as to whether I'd use this mascara on a regular basis.

I've never tried anything from the Essence range before, but I always enjoy discovering new and cheaper brands from Glossybox.

After visiting their website, I'm reliably informed that they're a relatively new company and my nearest Essence stocker is actually Wilkos. Seeing as they're everywhere up and down the UK, I'm sure that this product is really easy to get your hands on! (I've not been to Wilkos for ages, which is probably why I've not seen it!)

Thanks for reading!
Katie
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