Birchbox July 2014 Review

After a busy and tiring week I was so excited to see my second Birchbox (July2014) on my doormat. I was slightly more excited by the June 2014 spoilers (the Beautyblender and Caudalíe products) than the July spoilers (Balance Me Eye Cream and LAQA and Co. Sheer Lip Lube Pencil).. Mainly as I was dreading potentially receiving a coral lip colour – it just doesn’t suit my skin tone!

However, when I received my box I was even happier with my July box than my June box! I received:

• LAQA and Co. Lip Lube… in PURPLE – I was so pleased to receive this colour
• Benefit’s Porefessional
• Model’s Own ‘Sparkler’ nail varnish
• Whish’s body butter in lavender
• Balance me’s wonder eye cream
• Filosofille nail file as my lifestyle extra

Just as I imagined the Lip Lube looks fantastic on, is long lasting, hydrating and also really wearable (don’t be scared – honestly this product is fantastic!). This colour looked especially good with pale matt skin and dramatic eyes – when this sample runs out I will definitely buy it again in the future, the product is priced at £14 and will definitely become a staple in my handbag.

Talking of dramatic eyes… I wasn’t so keen on Balance Me’s eye cream. Obviously it takes a while and a few weeks continuous use to determine whether an eye cream is really for you, but I was surprised to see that the eye cream actually irritated my skin, especially as this product is 99% natural – the irritation didn’t last long (just a slight sting upon application) and left my skin feeling soft but I think I would need to trial the product longer to give a definitive answer as to whether this product is for me (first impressions suggest not).

Next comes Models Own Nail Varnish ‘Sparkler’ – I was really pleased to receive a nail varnish firstly as I have given up with gel nails and secondly because of the product being clear with silver sparkles it can be used over any other nail varnish and is therefore ideal to create a feature nail.

Now if you didn’t know already I absolutely love Benefit, (especially after visiting their world cup pop-up pub Gabbi’s Head – see my review here)! Therefore I was so pleased to see I had Porefessional in my box – even if I do already have samples of this product and I use it every day, it certainly saves me buying another, plus the sample size is generous (7.5mL) especially as this product lasts forever.  I find that Porefessional is a fantastic primer allowing makeup to stay on the skin for longer and also reduces the need for as much make up. As a little tip – if you get lines in your makeup either side of your upper lip from smiling, use Porefessional before applying your concealer and this issue will be minimised.

Finally my last sample – a nail file from Filosofille. This sample was so much better than last month’s lifestyle extra the flip flop keyring – the nail file has four uses: filing, buffing, polishing and shining! It also looks really cute – I used this product before using my models own nail varnish – I was so pleased with the result that I even considered not using nail varnish as the product gave lovely natural looking healthy nails.

So what do you think of my box this month? How did yours vary? Were you pleased with your box?

L x

 

Benefit’s Pop-up Pub ‘Gabbi’s Head’ and Brow Bar Experience

After having an awful experience with eyebow waxing when I was 17 I decided that I would NEVER have my eyebrows waxed again… six years later and being sick of the constant need for plucking I decided it was finally time to give into my fears and where better than Benefit’s Pop-up Pub, Gabbi’s Head. 

http://blog.benefitcosmetics.co.uk/2014/06/09/the-world-cup-bene-pub/

Whilst the pop-up pub may now be closed, I thought it was still relevant for me to blog about my brow bar experience for those of you that are considering going to a brow bar. The idea of having a brow wax at a Benefit bar instead of in a salon was more appealing to me as I feel like they are potentially more ‘on-trend’, especially as they have just bought out Gimme Brow (which I will review shortly), indicating that they are fully on board with the bigger brow look!

So with that in mind and whilst in London I popped up to Covent Garden in search for the Gabbi’s head. WOW – what a fun and lively place, I almost wish I had gone earlier when England were still in the running for the world cup! Equipped with a cocktail bar, all Benefit products at 10% off and a treatment area, this place is really one of its kind – this is the type of thing that makes me love Benefit!

I’m not entirely sure how much brow waxes usually cost at Benefit as prices vary at each beauty bar (I believe it is ~£18 for a wax and tint) but here a £5 donation to Refuge was suggested – what a great cause!

First of all I had a consultation about how I would like my eyebrows to look; personally I was after big but tamed brows similar to Cara Delevingne. Secondly I was given a tutorial about how to care for my brows and where approximately each section of my brow should be to best suit my face shape. After testing the wax temperature the process began and I must say that it was very quick and painless. After 5-10 minutes the final few hairs were removed by tweezers. At this stage my skin was pretty red so the lady gave me some cooling gel and showed me the results – they looked fabulous (if not a little red!) However, that was soon remedied by Boing industrial-strength concealer. The lady even offered to add some Gimme Brow to thicken a sparse area of hair growth which made my brows look even more fabulous!!

Later that evening my brows were no longer red at all and I actually had a number of compliments on them which was nice. So if you are considering going to a Benefit Brow Bar I would definitely recommend it – they provide a conservative, pain-free service where they listen to your requirements and give priceless advice on maintenance for your brows. This experience has definitely made me switch back to waxing and it genuinely surprised me how much different your overall look can change (for the better) with eyebrows which are shaped to be more complimentary to your face shape.

Have you ever been to a Benefit Brow Bar? If so let me know your thoughts.

L x