Firstly, a HUGE thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway. And a massive apology from me for not announcing the winner yet. Don't worry, nothing's gone wrong, I still have a mystery beauty box which is so full of things I had to move it from an old Boudoir Prive box to an empty Lux box in order to fit it all in. I've been absurdly busy now I am back at work and I'm still in that crazy adjusting to my new routine mode. And now I am busy tapping away at my laptop whilst on a train to Scotland to spend time with my Mum who has a special birthday on the horizon, and I didn't want to draw the winner until I was in a position to actually send the box! So, if you could hold out a teeny bit longer I'd appreciate it a lot :) Im only 5 followers away from 50, which will surely mean another giveaway on the horizon as well!

Anyhoo, I have today for you a really old collection of empties. Doing it monthly wasn't working for me. Some months I get overexcited and open so many different beauty products that I don't finish anything at all. So now I'll just collect empties until I have a decent enough stash to write about them, then I'll put up a post. Sounds good, no?



Not a huge amount for this post, but I get the feeling I have other empties photos lurking around so I'm sure another post will be along soon.

• The Sanctuary Luxury Bath Foam - this was part of a gift set. nice and bubbly, with a slightly different scent to what I would choose myself.  I probably wouldn't buy it again but at the same time, if I am given any as a gift I will be more than happy.
• Balance Me Super Moisturising Body Wash - I went off Balance Me for a bit after the beauty box market became a bit saturated with the products but in all honesty, that's very unfair on the brand. I enjoyed using this shower gel a lot, it was nice and moisturing and I felt lovely and clean after using it. I would buy this again in the future (this one came in a beauty box).
• Dead Sea Magik moisturiser - I got this in an early beauty box, used it all up and then popped the empty into a drawer in my bedside table. Classic hoarder behaviour. This was a nice sample and it was moisturising but didn't especially wow me. I probably wouldn't buy it again but I'd be interested in trying more products in the range to see what they're like.
• Korres rose SPF6 moisturiser - I've had a couple of samples of this through beauty boxes. Its no good for me as a day cream, but not bad as a night cream/intensive moisturiser/makeshift hand cream. Im not a huge fan of rose-scented things so all in all, this wasn't really for me. I wouldn't buy this in the future.
• Batiste Dry Shampoo - love these mini cans, so useful for travelling. Dry shampoo is the best at taming my fringe if I was to spruce up my slightly wild hair during the day (my hairline etc is not really formed in a fringe friendly way, I have a bit of a widow's peak and a whopping great cows lick, but a fringe is cheaper than botox for the lines on my forehead, so I find a way, oh yes). I buy the ginormous dry shampoo cans for home and the minis for travel and handbag (and I've had plenty of minis in beauty boxes, which is fine by me). Batiste probably isn't my most favourite dry shampoo but it does a fine job at a good price. I'll be buying again (and have probably half a dozen times over since taking this photo!)
• Balance Me face moisturiser - its been a while since I took this photo and I wont like, I don't remember anything remarkable one way or another about this moisturiser. My skin is very picky, so it was unlikely to be a resounding success. Most of these types of products work best for me at night, as my skin tends to get greasy otherwise. Wouldn't purchase again.
• Body Shop Passion Fruit body butter - passion fruit things are my absolute favourite. But not all body butters were created equally and I find this body butter leaves a bit of a greasy residue on my skin that others have not. Still, if you buy when there's an offer on you cant go wrong with slathering a load on after a bath or a shower to help your skin feel soft and smooth. I'll buy body butters again but not the passion fruit one. Woe.
• Witch skin clearing primer - helps prevent breakouts and primes your skin for foundation? Brill. This primer worked reasonably well on my skin, I didn't see any extra breakouts when I used this. I haven't purchased it again since as I've been trying out different products, but I would give this one another whirl for sure.
• TIGI Rockalot dirty secret dry shampoo - you might be able to see from the price sticker on this that I picked this up in the clearance at TK Maxx, along with the dry conditioner. Its not a bad dry shampoo, leaves your hair looking slightly less powdery than bastiste will. I'd buy it again if there was an offer on.
• Korres Mint Tea Body Milk - picked this up from TK Maxx as well (I love going there to look at beauty products. Sometimes you can find some amazing things!) and I really liked it. The mint made it slightly cooling on the skin which was great in the heat (I did say these empties were old!) as I'm prone to heat rashes etc (delightful, eh?). Would definitely buy this again. 
• Boots Botanics 3 minute deep conditioning hair mask - I've been using this for years and it doesn't disappoint. About a fiver for this big tub, no matter how overly generous you are in scooping some out it lasts for ages and I love the scent and the effects on my hair. Would definitely buy again.

And that, my dears, is another one of my empties posts. Not a bad mix of things I liked and things I didn't. I didn't actively hate any product, but some weren't best suited to me.

What products have you been using up lately?

Yesterday I was near an Asda store, I'm not normally up that way so I thought I'd pop in for a browse as I'd heard good things about their beauty products, specifically nspa. Here's what I ended up getting:

• Melting Cleansing Gel
• Jojoba and White Vanilla foaming bath milk
• Jojoba and White Vanilla warming salt scrub
• 5 minute magic mask
• Jojoba and White Mask Dry Body Oil
• Jojoba and White Vanilla scented candle

Last night I was a football widow and with little interest in watching a bunch of fellas kick a ball around some grass on my TV, I decided it was time for a pampering session so I tried all of these products out in a luxurious bath. I loved the scent of the jojoba and white vanilla products, it smells really luxe and much more expensive than the price tags. The bath milk gives a good amount of bubbles and you're surrounded by the delivious scent.

The melting cleansing gel was quite interesting. It comes out as a peachy-pink gel which you rub all over your dry face. Then you wet your finger tips and massage the gel over your face again and it turns into a cleansing milk which you then wash off your face. It took all my makeup off with ease and didnt leave my skin feeling too tight after which is what I was worried about.

The salt scrub was a teeny bit disappointing as it wasn't very scrubby, but it did feel nice to use and made my skin feel really soft after using it, I just wasn't able to get a proper scrub of my skin like I wanted to first.

The 5 minute magic mask was a pink creamy consistency. You apply a layer across your face and  massage in to release the beads of Vitamin E which are suspended in the cream. You then leave on for 5 minutes before washing off. After using my skin felt smooth and soft and this morning, having applied some serum and night cream after my bath my skin still feels soft and smooth and doesn't feel greasy.

The dry body oil initially smells of alcohol when you first spray it and is a little unpleasant in that respect, but once you rub it in the alcohol evaporates and leaves a dry oil that absorbs quickly into the skin leaving the skin really soft.

All in all I was really impressed with these products. There was an offer on for 2 for £8 for the mask and cleansing gel and the foaming bath milk, scrub, oil and candle were about £3-4 each so they are good value for money. I can't wait for my next pampering session!

Have you used nspa before?

This is an odd thing for a beauty box/beauty product obsessive to say, but, my favourite face cleanser is one I make myself and the main ingredient is something you would normally cook with. I remember reading about the oil cleansing method (or OCM for short) through a forum or through Livejournal. I have greasy skin that sometimes tends towards combination skin and am prone to breakouts and throughout my teenaged years I assumed face washes specifically designed for greasy skin were my best bet. I now realise that's not true. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that every single foaming face wash I've ever used has been quite damaging to my skin, in terms of drying it out, or making me overproduce oil on my face to compensate, or giving me horrendous breakouts. Some have even stripped so much from my face that its been left red and sore (and I don't have sensitive skin or any particular allergies to products that I'm aware of). If a face wash makes your skin feel dry, you'll end up piling on moisturiser to compensate, and you'll probably end up a greasy mess a few hours later.

When I first read about OCM I'll admit I thought it was lunacy. My skin is already oily, why on earth would I pour more oil on it?! But if you think about oil, it dissolves in other oils, and not in water. You can break it down with detergents (so soap and soup like products) as anyone who has done the dishes will know, but that will take every last bit of oil away. If you do that, your skin won't have anything, and will freak out, and will produce masses to compensate for its loss. And there you have it, the vicious cycle begins. I was still skeptical though, but when I first read about it, I figured I had nothing to lose. I tried it and I was really impressed with the results and anyone I've recommended it to has said the same.

Im so behind in blogging. So I thought I'd lump together as many beauty box reviews as I have photographs for from September till the end of 2012.  I'll try to do them according to the month they came out but I can't quite remember the order. Oops!

A whole month has gone by! I can't quite believe it. Its been a little cold the last couple of days which says to me that autumn is coming. I do love autumn (if we could just have one with very little rain, I'd be extremely happy!).

I've been trying to zip through all my half-used beauty products still and I think I'm making reasonable progress. My progress would be a lot better if I stopped buying more things, of course, but we won't worry ourselves about that.



Here's my empties this month. I still think I Must Try Harder.

Given that I'm ever so behind in blogging, today you're getting my round up of all the beauty boxes I received in August! So expect this to be a long post with a lot of pictures. Its not like anyone uses dial up anymore, thank goodness.

First up way back at the beginning of the month was a Latest in Beauty You Magazine collaboration box. The 'In Flight' Box. This box had lots of goodies in it considered useful for those off on holiday. Ahhh, holidays.










The box contained:

• A tin of Barkleys Cinnamon mints. So useful for that post travelling funk mouth we all get. Have to admit, I haven't plucked up the courage to try these yet, haha. Cinnamon I only like in small quantities...might try these on my other half first.
• Jurlique Rosewater Balancing Mist - this is so nice and refreshing when you spray it on your face. I tried a couple of sprays worth but I'm saving it for my upcoming holiday!
• Garnier BB cream - three sample sachets. I've tried this once before and I didn't love it, so I tried another sachet and, well, I still dont love it. But then I did find my favourite high street BB cream in Maybelline so nothing's really lost. I'll pop the other sachets into a giveaway box I've been gradually building up.
• Stri-VectinSH Age Protect SPF30 - I have very fair, pale, Scottish skin. Although said skin is cov ered in freckles, I still have to be very careful in the sun and I use factor 30 in the UK (don't laugh!). So I'm always happy to receive SPF30. This also came with a wrist band which changes colour when you're exposed to UVB, very helpful.
• Batiste Dry Shampoo in Cherry - I have quite a few of these handbag sized cans now and I'm grateful. At the moment I'm fighting a losing battle with my hair, brought on by the mad heat we've had and my recent foray into exercise, which makes me sweaty, which makes my roots look greasy really quickly. I also plan on getting my fringe cut back in soon, and I use dry shampoo to help keep it tamed and in place.
• Xen-Tan Dark lotion - I've been a bit scared to use this as it's 'Dark'. And I am, well, super pale! But according to the blurb that came with the box, it can be mixed with moisturiser, which might be a better bet for me. That being said, I find it really hard to get tan to take on my legs, so maybe dark is the way forward there?
• OPI Nail Polish in William Tell Me About OPI - Apparently, this isn't the nail polish I should have received, it should have been one of two limited edition Muppets colours. To be honest, I don't really mind. I remember thinking I REALLY didn't want to get one of the polish colours, and I'm very happy with this deep purple colour. And I love the name.
• Acqua D'Alfresco Insect repellant - unfortunately my holiday this year wont be to sunny climes where bugs will be a problem. But there's always next year! Otherwise I'll use it against the dreaded Scottish midge when I go home :)
• Urban Acai Powder Sachet - Acai is one of those superfoods, I do believe. I'd probably not drink this while on holiday but as part of a build-up detox!
• L'Oreal Mythic Oil - I'm a big fan of hair oils and use various different ones, so I'm pleased to get to sample this one too.
• Good to Go Anywhere wipes - fab for popping into a handbag. I've been doing a lot of travel in and out of London and always feel so grimy on the tube! This will certainly help.

As ever, a great box from Latest in Beauty.

Second in the month for me was GlossyBox. My box gets sent to my in-laws house, as the postman over there is better at hiding packages/handing them in to neighbours than mine is down here. So I always end up seeing other people's spoilers before I get my box. Unfortunately, this month, I wasn't terribly excited. The theme was International Superstars, which could have been amazing.






I received:

• All for Eve- Eve's Balm - I have no idea where this is from, actually, and it didn't say on my card either. Anyway, its a multi-purpose balm. I do like a good balm in the wintertime.
• DHC Deep Cleansing Oil - I love oil cleansers and am a big fan of the Oil Cleansing Method, which I've always meant to blog about. This one has mixed reviews but as I know my skin gets on well with oil cleansers, I'm excited to try it.
• Lipcote original lip sealer - I've never tried this before but always meant to pick some up, so that has saved me the trouble. I have heard it makes your lips sting though, which puts me off a lot!
• Pro-White Original whitening nail varnish - I learned in a chemistry lecture at school from a guest emeritus professor of chemistry about how specks of blue makes things look whiter and brighter and how, before the days of optical whiteners, blue powder called Rickett's Blue was rubbed into white clothes to make them look whiter (in fact, people who used to keep birds and show them at shows would rub it into their white chests, apparently. I dont condone rubbing a bird with blue powder, though). Fun science facts! I must surely have carried that nugget of knowledge around with me for 10 years, waiting for the day when I could explain to people why this polish has a blue tint to it! Its there to combat the yellowing effect using lots of nail polish has on the nails. I struggle with this a lot so I'm really pleased to have this. And as its German, I'm hoping when I go to Europe in 3 weeks I can pick a full sized one up!
• THAT eyeshadow palette. To be honest, there's no point even naming it. Its pretty vile. You can buy better eyeshadows in the pound shops, the sponge applicator is the worst I've ever seen (I know they're all bad, but this is EXTRA BAD) and the shadows basically have no pigment in them. One for the bin.
• Glossybox lipstick. This is a nice colour, looks like it'll suit most colourings and would be good for every day wear. Here's a swatch:

All in all, I really wasn't that impressed with the box. I hope next month's is better. We'll see.

Next up was the Selfridges beauty box. I don't know that I've ever worked harder to buy something in my entire life. I meant to get up early to buy it online, but slept in. Then I figured they were all sold out and I'd missed my chance. Then Selfridges announced the release of more via twitter. The the site went into meltdown. I must have spent an entire hour trying to buy it. Im not the most patient of person, but I somehow managed to not throw the mother of all hissy fits and finally, it was mine!






To be honest with you, Selfridges single handedly raised the bar with their offering, which I presume is a happy little one off, but still. No tiny perfume vial! Amazing products! Amazing value! None of that sizzle stuff in the box! The box contains:

• Antipodes Organic Avocado & Rosehip Divine Facial Oil - Anything with the word divine in attracts my attention! And I love facial oils, as I have documented well in this little blog.
• Bio Effect EGF Serum - I've heard a lot about Bio Effect and I'm excited to try this. Second to my love of oils is serums!
• Aesop Parsley Seed Anti-Oxidant Serum - I've been wanting to try out Aesop for ages and ages and now I can. Thanks, Selfridges!
• Estelle & Third Lip Balm - I like to have a lip balm in every handbag becase I'm forever licking and biting my lips.
• Philip B Katira Hair Masque - My hair seems to be permanently split at the ends, so all hair masques are good for me
• Stila One Step Correct - Known as a 'Fashion Week Favourite' this primer looks amazing in the tube, can't wait to try it out.
• Omorovicza Deep Cleansing Mask - perfect for pamper days.

I can't begin to tell you how excited I was to get this and receive it (I got called to a meeting the day of delivery, so sulked all day, then came home to find it had been delivered to a neighbour, so I danced for joy, but they were out, so I sulked a bit more. Then the neighbour dropped it off in the morning and I was happy once more!). I wouldn't like to tell you how many people I bored with tales of this box, of the ordering process, the waiting process, the delivery, etc. Excellent. I loved this box.

The final box I received this month came only today, which was good timing for this post! Back to my old friends at the lovely Latest in Beauty. They've launched the Collections boxes which means even more boxes even more frequently. My bank manager isn't happy, but I'm delighted! The first one was an Editor's Picks box, with Aveda products in it. I've never tried Aveda but I always hear good things.





The box contains:

• Smoothing Body polish - this smells really nice!
• Sun Care Hair and Body Cleanser - excellent for a beach holiday methinks
• Caribbean Therapy Body Scrub - there's something about body scrubs that screams pamper session to me, probably because of how I feel after using them. Hooray!
• Damage Remedy Shampoo, conditioner treatment and daily hair repair. Amazing! I have very dry brittle ends on my hair, and no amount of cutting seems to be helping at the moment!
• Caribbean Therapy Body Cleanser - unfortunately, this wasn't in my box. But Latest in Beauty being as wonderful as they are, within minutes of me e-mailing, they said they'd pop it in the post for me. Hooray!

Besides the Sun Care product, which I'm going to save in the hope of a winter sun holiday next year, the rest are being set aside for a few upcoming pamper sessions. Amazing.

So, those were my beauty boxes this month. The GlossyBox was a bit disappointing and I could have lived without it, but the others more than made up for it. Im already excited at the prospect of next month's boxes!

Did you get any of these? Have you tried any of the products featured here already? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

I've been following the lovely Kia's blog MAKE me UP  for a few months now and she's been quietly but diligently launching her very own beauty product. At the start of the month she announced her product, Moonie! Moonie's are natural muslin face cloths in a big round full moon shape. Kia even has her own face of the brand, the lovely Neil!

I couldn't resist buying a pack of Moonies. Kia sorted my order immediately and they arrived super quickly! I love the packaging, and now I have my very own Neil, which I'm super excited about!




Like I said, I loved the all-natural, recyclable packaging!




You get three large Moonies for £5.99, which I think is a really great bargain :)




And here's a Moonie unfolded. I love that the muslin is unbleached. The white commerical ones go grey and grubby looking so quickly, no matter how diligently you wash them.

The cloths feel really good on the skin, rough enough to exfoliate and wake your skin up, but gentle enough not to damage your face. I like to use these on days I don't use an exfoliator but still need a skin pick me up. Kia also has some helpful tips for other ways the Moonie's can be used so be sure to check out her blog post!

As for the lovely Neil, he is now the guardian of all my muslin cloths. I keep them in a glass jar I picked up in a charity shop for the bargain price of £1.75, gotta love charity shops :)



Moonies cost £5.99 for a pack of 3 and for a limited time include free super speedy delivery to the UK! You can buy them here.

Big congratulations to you, Kia, on the launch of Moonies, and I wish you every success in your business!

Im a sucker for beauty products and I'm a sucker for discounts. So when I found out about some great offers on at REN and Dermalogica last month I couldn't resist trying their products out. Aside from the products in last month's magazine freebies, I'd never tried REN before but I had heard amazing things. And I've never tried Dermalogica either.

First up, REN. I told you here about the REN offers combining 10% off your first order, 10% off with WIMH and the free Six of the Best trial set. That's what I opted for. The cheapest thing you could buy to take advantage of this offer was some muslin cloths, but when I saw the Kit for Blemish Prone Skin I decided to give that a whirl as I'm always on the lookout for the perfect products for my face. Along side this I received the Six Of The Best kit and I got to choose four super cute teeny weeny samples for free.



Here was my stash. I love that the tiny samples came in an envelope. I'm clearly easily amused!


And these are my tiny samples. As you can see I chose the Invisible Pores Detox Mask, T-Zone Balancing Day Fluid, F10 Smooth and Renew Mask and the Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask. The last one comes in the Six of the Best pack too but I'd heard so many good things I thought getting a little extra wouldn't hurt!

So far, in from Kit for Blemish Prone Skin, I've tried the mask and it was really good. My skin has been disasterous lately and this took the angry redness out of my blemishes and calmed it right down. My skin felt very different after using it. It was tight but not so tight that it felt like I'd sucked all the goodness out of it and looked much better the next day too. I've also tried the radiance renewal mask and I like how its left my skin, although I do find my skin is quite greasy the next day after using it.

Next up was my Dermalogica. The box looked like this:



And I liked that when you opened the flap it said 'this box isn't pretty, but it is recyclable'.



I like it when my packages talk to me. Yeah, I know. There are things one shouldn't admit in the public domain.




And these were my goodies! I went for the Clean Start Major Breakout mini kit again, because I'm always on the lookout for the perfect products for my skin. With this I received the Smart Mouth Lip Shine free, along with a Hydration deluxa sample kit, also free. I believe I had a voucher code for 10% or 20% off too.

I'm chuffed to bits with my haul and I can't wait to use up my current cleanser so I can get stuck into some of these to see how the work on my skin!

Have you tried any of these products? Or have you seen any excellent skincare offers anyway? Let me know in the comments!

I love reading empties posts on other blogs so I've decided to do one here. An empties post, incase you've never come across one before, is where you photograph all your used up toiletries and do a little review on how you found them and if you'd use them again.

I must warn you, this was an exceptionally boring month for me. I'm on a bit of a buying freeze while I use everything up. And there's a lot to use up!








Garnier Intensive 7 Day Moisturiser This was a 7 day trial, which I used on my legs. I already noticed that, when using the Garnier Gradual Tanner, that my legs were very soft feeling, so I was excited to try this now I'm on a tanning hiatus. This is a milky gel-like consistency with a fresh smell and it did help my legs feel smooth. It soaked in quickly, better that body butters etc that I've tried. Purchase again? Yes, I think I will!

John Freida Brilliant Brunette Liquid Shine and Enhancing Shampoos I had about three John Freida shampoo and conditioner sets on the go at once and this was the last of it used up this month (am I the only person who uses up the conditioner much quicker than the shampoo?). These shampoos are often on offer at Boots and Superdrug. The enhancing shampoo muddied up some highlights that I had last year, and to be honest it was better to use the enhancing shampoo when I was a red head as that faded so quickly! The Liquid Shine range was good though and there is also a Liquid Shine serum with glitter particles in it that is really nice for styling. Purchase again? The enhancing shampoo, no, the liquid shine, yes.

Regis Design Line Get It Pumped Shampoo I was persuaded to buy this by a hairdresser, who insisted on giving me a bouncy hair blowdry once (it was SO bouncy. Hah!). I don't tend to go for a lot of volume in my hair and to be honest, this did previous little for me. Not a bad shampoo, but not worth the price tag on my hair. Purchase again? No.

L'oreal Ever Pure Shampoo and Conditioner Sample This is a sulphate free shampoo and conditioner for coloured hair. I was so impressed with it when I washed and conditioned my hair, but the very next morning (I wash my hair at night normally), my roots were greasy looking, and I had to use dry shampoo on them. Thats supremely not good. I do have another set of samples so I will give it another try, and hope it's better the second time around. Purchase again? Not unless the second sample works miracles.

Imperial Leather Japanese Spa Shower Gel I've had this a while but only just started using it. I use the hand soap version of this sometimes and I like the smell. This is creamy and produces a lot of lather. The smell isn't especially lingering on the skin but its a budget shower gel so I don't mind. I've been showering extremely frequently in that short lived heatwave we had and using lots and lots of shower gel so this got used up in about a week! Purchase again? Not for a while as I have zillions to get through, but yes I would buy this again.

Mitchum Advanced Control 24 Hour Deodorant I started using this when I worked in a job where I was running around all day (even in a 30 degree heatwave, where I found myself on a farm!) and I swear by it. Its really good at keeping me fresh. I don't have such a physically demanding job any more but I carry on using it regardless. This was the unperfumed one so it doesn't interfere with perfume. etc. Purchase again? Yep, I already have!

Caudalie Vinosource Serum S.O.S I got this in a Glossy Box and I assumed I would only use it in emergencies as my face is combination leaning more towards oily. But its totally unlike any other moisturising product I've ever used. Its not remotely greasy and sinks in immediately. Its become a real cult product for me. Purchase again? I already have, but I cheated and bought up all the other 10ml samples on Ebay because that was cheaper than spending £29 on the 30ml bottle.

Not a very inspiring post and I'm really suprised I didn't use up anything else! I'll have to make a more concerted effort next month to use up more interesting products I suppose.

What products did you use up in July?

You know I can't resist pitting beauty boxes against each other! The Glossy Box vs Latest in Beauty posts disappeared for June but they're back for July!

This was a make or break GlossyBox for me this month. There's nothing wrong with the boxes I've had, per se, and I've definitely found some excellent products through them. But everytime I log in to review my products, or read blogs and I see the products that everyone else got, I am pretty much always disappointed and wished to get different products in my box. When I saw spoilers of the July box I knew that there were some amazing products on offer. And I wished and I hoped that I would get the good stuff!










And I DID get the good stuff, yay! My box contained:

• HD Brows Eye & Brow Palette - a fullsize with an RRP of £19.95. I received 'bombshell' which is supposed to be for blondes, but my eyebrows are very fair so this should be the perfect colour for me. I've got some eyebrow pencils but I haven't really mastered the art of defining my brows yet, so I hope this will help!
• Clynol Enrich Colour Shampoo - I've just recently dyed my hair again and so a colour-protecting shampoo is perfect for me.
• Muno Golden Glow - I'm loving gradual tanners and I love Monu so I'm very excited to try this. It says you can use it on the face as well, I'm not sure if I have the guts to try it there though!
• Jelly Pong Pong Lip Frosting - you notice this as soon as you open the box, it has a very strong, sweet smell. You can use it on your cheeks as well as your lips, and it works really nicely on cheeks. And the smell is to die for!
• Elizabeth Arden Visible Difference Balancing Lotion - its great to get a product for combination skin like mine. Unfortunately my dream product, Dr Nick Lowe's oil balancing day cream, is currently out of stock, so I am trying all sorts of products to tide me over!
• There was also a 3-step Elizabeth Arden sample set for combination skin, three small sachets of product.

I'm completely elated by my box this month. I had basically decided if I had another month where I wasn't fussed about the box, I would cancel my subscription. But now I've been suckered back in! I just hope August can be as good :)

Next up, the Latest in Beauty Editor's Picks box. These boxes are getting better and better as the months go on, I'm completely loving them.






This month I received:

• Love Your Skin Exfoliating Wash - this smells delicious and I love the packaging, really high end looking. This is a full size product with a £22 RRP!
• Weleda Pomegranate Night Firming Cream - I'm in the market for a new night cream so I'm looking forward to trying this.
• Weleda Firming Serum - I do love a good serum!
• Mavala mini nail polish in Liberty - I have one other Mavala polish and I love it, so this will be great to try and I do love a nude nail.
• Balance Me Radiance Face Mask - after being a bit disappointed by the face wash, but loving the lip salve and the body washes, I'm hoping this will be another winner.
• Melvita Micellar Water - I'm currently using one of these and I really like it, and you all know I love duplicates, especially for travelling.
• Batiste Dry Shampoo in Cherry - I'm a big dry shampoo lover and I like Batiste, its probably not my favourite but its still really good and I like the scents. A great one for travel.

Another excellent box from Latest in Beauty. A little more expensive that some of their previous boxes at £14.95 but totally worth it for the Love Your Skin wash alone!

Were you delighted or disappointed by GlossyBox this month? Let me know in the comments :)

When I'm not spending all my pennies on beauty boxes, I can usually be found browsing magazines for their freebies. I've been a Marie Claire subscriber for years , but they long since stopped sending the freebies to subscribers (but they TOTALLY did when I signed up. Its part of the reason why I subscribed! I really dont need a limited edition subscribers cover, I need freebies). This month I believe they were giving away lovely full sized Avon mascaras. Not that I would know *sulks*.

A lot of bloggers post about what the upcoming freebies are for the next month of magazines, which definitely helps you make the decisions about which ones to get. I decided for July I would allow myself two magazines. So imagine how delighted I was when I went to my local Sainsbury's to find that they have 2 for £6 on selected magazines, including the two I wanted. Bargain!




As you can see, I opted for Red for their REN goodies and Elle for their St Tropez gradual tanning sample.




The REN kit contains samples of Vetiver hand and body cream, an eye gel and a hydrating day cream. I'm excited to try these out, especially the eye gel. As you can maybe see from the photo, I opted for the light-medium gradual tanner, as I am super pale. I've tried out the Garnier Summer Body gradual tanner in the past and I liked the results, so I'm looking forward to sampling this as well, I know St Tropez have a good name in the fake tanning world.

If you'd like to give REN a try, after picking up the samples from Red, head on over to the REN website. You get 10% off your first order. But it doesn't stop there. Pop over to Whats In My Handbag and register there, its an excellent beauty website. Now, head back over to REN and choose any item that takes your fancy. I have decided to try out the Kit For Blemish Prone Skin. Add that to your cart, and choose your whopping 4 free samples from REN. Now go to your basket and add the code RENHANDBAG to the voucher code section. You will now have the Six Of The Best kit worth £20 for free! Not forgetting all the samples and the 10% off your first order. They're practically giving it away for you to try! The offer has been going on for a while so if you're interested then I suggest you move fast! I uhmmed and ahhhed for ages about it because I'm supposed to be saving lots of money at the moment. But, well, you know. Ok, I have NO excuse except I decided I'm worth it. Ha!

What magazine freebies did you pick up this month? What were your freebie winners and losers? Are you already a total REN convert?

Yep, so, I am very behind in beauty box reviews. I've yet to establish my rhythm with blog posts. As you can tell!

I've done Latest in Beauty vs Glossy Box reviews before, but as I have two LiB boxes to review, its not really very fair. But you are getting three beauty box reviews for the price of one post. Hurray.








June's GlossyBox contained:

• Glossy Box Beauty Brush - not the greatest brush I've ever owned but not bad as a backup.
• Yves Rocher 'Sexy Pulp' Mascara. Yves Rocher are a great brand, and I've used a lot of their products in the past, and used to swear by one of their moisturisers, so I was excited to receive this and be re-introduced to the brand.
• Three Agent Provocateur perfume samples, one of which I had tried before and wasn't quite for me, we'll see how the others pan out. I recall the perfumes are really expensive so if I'm not completely in love with them, I'm not likely to be buying them.
• Vichy Dermablend starter kit - I love this, I love the fact that there are so many samples to allow you to find the perfect shade for you. Haven't tried this yet as its full coverage and despite my skin not being great, I've been leaning towards lighter foundations and  BB creams because its been a bit humid lately.
• BM Beauty Summer Warmth bronzer. This looks too dark for me, but I'll give it a whirl. It might work as an eyeshadow if it doesn't as a bronzer.

Not a huge amount wrong with my box this month (I could have lived without the brush, but when you see the selection of samples, I always get a sense of disappointment. Other boxes contained tweezers by HD Brows (yes please! I'm long overdue a threading session!), a gorgeous nude nail polish by Me Me Me (can't have too many nude nail polishes in my eyes), Caudalie fragrance samples, and a Paul Mitchell conditioner all would have set my heart alight a bit more than the products I got. Money is likely to get tight for me soon, and I think my Glossy Box would be the first expense I'd get rid of if I have to start making big sacrifices.

Something I will only sacrifice if it boils down to food vs beauty boxes, are the Latest in Beauty boxes. Lets start with June's Editor's Picks Box:




Which contained:

• Carmex moisture plus tinted lip balm - this is definitely going in my handbag in my 'essentials' kit.
• Yardley 'Peony' sample - in spite of myself, I love this perfume. This is my second sample and though its very unlike anything I normally wear, its growing on me. I love Royal English Daisy, so when that runs out I might be persuaded to buy this!
• Melvita duo of rose miscellar water and a moisturising rose nectar cream - my first foray into miscellar waters and I like it. It makes my skin feel extra clean after getting all my makeup off (no mean feat!). The rose nectar cream is possibly a smite heavy for my skin, so I've been using it at night only. I'm not a huge rose fan, but I don't hate these products.
• Elemis pro-collagen body cream. I got another sample of this before, and upon using it, discovered it deposits fine glitter all over your body. I can't decide how I feel about that! Its not my favourite moisturiser in the world, so I will add this to a box of products I am collecting for a giveaway which I hope will happen when I have a few more followers :)
• 'Green balm', which I confess to not having used yet, but this is a multi-purpose balm, which I love having in my handbag.
• Percy & Reed dry conditioner, my third sample of this, and I love it. Much better than other dry conditioners I've tried (I should do a post on dry hair products soon, would anyone be interested? I've pretty much tried them all!)
•  Also in this box, but not pictured, was a self tan applicator mitt. A recent attempt to use gradual fake tan showed me that I am so pale I need to consider using a mitt to even apply gradual tan and this looks to be good quality.

All in all, I was really pleased with all these products, even the Elemis as I am happy to pop products into my giveaway box.

The other Latest In Beauty box this month was the Skincare Stars box. This was released in conjunction with You Magazine and I am such a fangirl, I wake up at an ungodly hour on the Sunday these boxes are released to make sure I get one!






The Skincare Stars Box contained:

• Etat Pur Miscellar Water - hooray! Another miscellar water! This is a full sized product which I will be trying out when I have finished the Melvita miscellar water.
• Melvita Naturalift Youthful Skin cream - I'll get stuck into this when my Melvita rose nectar is finished. Again, I think it'll be best as a night cream.
• Murad AHA/BHA exfoliating cleanser - I'm excited to try a Murad product as I've heard lots about them. I'll try this out when my current Korres cleanser is finished up.
• Balance Me Moisture Rich Face Cream - I suspect this will be too heavy for me but I'll try it as a night cream. I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the Balance Me products, the lip salve is wonderful, I liked the rose otto shower gel, but I tried a cleanser and a moisturiser before and they really didn't do it for me.
• Kiehl's midnight recovery serum - this is one of those cult products and I'm very excited to try it out.
• L'Occitane Angelica Hydration Cream - having tried Divine Cream and realising its not for me, I'm keen to see if this one is better suited!

I'm excited to try all these products, even if on the face of it (oh dear, worst pun ever?! I should take it out, but I'm leaving it in...) some of these products I wouldn't consider suited my skin type. Some of my new favourite products have come from beauty boxes and come from me being very skeptical about how they'd work for me, but trying them anyway and loving them.

In fact, I've been thinking about doing a post all about the products I've received in Beauty Boxes that I've loved and have become real winners and regulars in my skincare routine. Would you want to see that?

Did any of you get these boxes last month? What are your thoughts? Are you excited for your next round of beauty boxes? Please let me know in the comments :)