Pearl Lowe x Glossy Box April 2013

Glossybox 

April

IT HAS COME.

I have been waiting so long for this months Glossybox, I only got it yesterday at 5.30pm, not even outside my door - outside my block of flat's door?! (I started writing this like a week ago, only just got round to posting it!) Sometimes their delivery can be pretty good and pretty fast, I usually get my box a day or two after my dispatch email, however this month it forever just to get the email, but I'm glad I fiiinally got it. They also made us all wait even longer this month - I mean its nearly the end and we pay in the first week of the month! 

Moving on...

The box itself is gorgeous, I always love Glossy's packaging (even the packaging outside the box has Glossy logos all over it), but this month's box is the best one I've ever seen. I've kept all my boxes because they are amazing for storage - I put all my make up etc in them.

 

The box is peach in colour with white & black flowers printed all over, and on the bottom right hand corner is 'Pearl Lowe for Glossybox'. It is really sturdy as usual, and also it is black inside rather than the Glossy logo repeated all over. Anyway, what was inside?

Firstly, Glossybox's leaflet informing you on the products inside and also featuring interviews and tips. As it is Pearl Lowe x Glossybox, there is a interview with Pearl herself, who designed the box. The leaflet is basically a big piece of paper folded, so it makes a little booklet. Other beauty boxes have a proper magazine, but this is okay just to know what you've received. 

NIP + FAB DRY SKIN FIX BODY BUTTER - Mango

The choices were Pistachio, Mango or Coconut Latte but they have more choices on their website.

Price - £9.95 / 200ml

Product Link - www.nipandfab.com

Special Offer - 50% off on the website at the mo (link above) Full size for £4.95!

Sample Size - 50ml

Glossybox's despription - 

Winter can be tough on your skin. Now that Spring has finally arrived, it's time to treat your hands to an all-around recovery programme. Nip + Fab's ultra-rich Mini Mango Smoothie Body Butter. This indulgent, whipped body butter repairs dry and dehydrated skin with the 24-hour moisture-boosting ingredient Aquaxyl, which has been shown to improve the skin's water reserves, instantly improving the appearance of your skin.

Nip + Fab's description -

Their description is pretty much the same as Glossy's but they did add this:

Mango Smoothie Body Butter contains;

• aquaxyl™ 24h moisture + shine

• shea butter soothe + moisturise

• mineral oil condition + soften

I still don't know if mineral oil is bad or not but I have a lot of products with it and I don't seem to mind it. I have seen products promoting they don't include any mineral oil as if it's bad - I don't know! Feel free to tell me haha.

So down to the basics;

Packaging - 

Small (ish) round tub that is about the size of my palm. Simple sticker on front and back - orange, and simple block letter font. Screw on lid. On the back sticker it says 'Energises the senses with a fresh fruity scent' and directions. 

Application - 

Apply to clean, towel-dried skin after showering or bathing.

Scent - 

As mine was Mango, it smelt very mango-ey! Strong fragrance - but delicious. Comparing to the Alison Claire mango body cream in a previous Glossybox, this scent is much more gorgeous.

Appearance / Texture - 

Yellowish / cream in colour, very rich but not overly thick. Skin sucks it up like a mango smoothie!

Value for money - 

This is a good sample size, 50ml will last me a while and will definitely be enough for me to make my decision whether to purchase or not. This is worth £2.95.

I haven't tried Nip + Fab yet but I have been tempted! So this is a good way for me to try out the brand. This body cream sank in immediately and I can't stop sniffing myself! Also it's a great bargain at the mo with 50% off! Get in there!

Yves Rocher Nutritive Vegetal - 24hr Comfort Nourishing Cream

Price - £13.50 / 50ml

Product Link - www.yves-rocher.co.uk

Sample Size - 15ml

Special Offer - Enter code 5GLOSSYR35 to enjoy £5 off any order over £35 & free postage (Valid until 15th May) Also on the link above you can get the night cream to go with it for free!

I've bought from Yves Rocher before as they are always sucking me in with their deals and free gifts. I got a lovely purple bathrobe as a free gift which I wear all the time, along with a completely free translucent powder! 

Glossybox's description - 

Yves Rocher's Nutritive Vegetal 24hr Comfort Nourishing Cream is an absolute skincare essential! This hard-working moisturiser, containing Ash tree sap extract, Macadamia oil, shea butter and organic witch hazel water, intensely nourishes the skin, leaving it feeling soft and supple for a full 24 hours. What's even beter, this skincare must-have is completely free of parabens and colouring. 

Yves Rocher's description - 

Soft, supple and comfortable skin set.

The Comfort nourishing cream will immediately nourish your skin for 24 hours.
It also decreases skin discomfort and tightness.

Bonus + : A real cold weather cream without greasy effect.

Packaging - 

Small, yellow tube with white frosted screw on lid. Quite similar colours and font to the mango body butter actually. Nothing too special - I think the full size is a tub. with a yellow lid.

Application - 

Apply every morning on perfectly cleansed skin.

Scent - 

Fresh and quite florally. Very pleasant.

Appearance / Texture - 

A white cream. Turns balm-like whilst rubbing in. Feels smooth on skin. Leaves a small amount of shine but looks healthy; not greasy.

Value for money - 

15ml is a fairly small sample but good enough I suppose. The deal on Yves Rocher's website at the moment is pretty good, the day cream and night cream together for only £13.50. Might possibly repurchase after using for longer. 

The deal breaker for me with Yves Rocher is their free gifts! They definitely encourage you to buy more and more, quite naughty really. Especially as I've bought quite a lot of products recently! I can't help myself (E.L.F you're partially responsible!)

Balance Me Radiance Face Mask

Price - £18.00 / 75ml

Product Link - www.balanceme.co.uk

Sample Size - 15ml

Special Offer - 15% off this mask by entering GLOSSYMAY at checkout (Valid until 30th May)

Glossybox's description - 

Prepare your skin for that perfect dewy spring look! Balance Me's triple-action Radiance Face Mask works threefold: it cleanses, exfoliates and brightens thanks to a unique blend of purifying kaolin clay, skin-brightening fruit acid complex, ground walnut ahells and calming essential oils.

Balance Me's description - 

Benefit from our triple-action mask that deeply cleanses, exfoliates and brightens. We believe in good old fashioned multi-tasking and this mask is equally effective as an exfoliating face wash!
Ground walnut shells gently slough away dead skin cells and encourage cell renewal, purifying kaolin clay helps eliminate impurities and our fruit acid complex works on restoring the skin’s natural radiance. We have enhanced our mask with a bespoke blend of rosemary, palma rosa, lavender and Roman chamomile oils to help soften, calm and cleanse.

Packaging - 

Mini white tube with clear screw on lid. Purple accents & font.

Application - (According to Balance Me's site)

Smooth over cleansed face and neck, using circular massage movements to allow the ground walnut shell particles to gently exfoliate the skin. Avoid the delicate eye area. Leave for up to five minutes and then remove with damp cotton wool or a wash cloth. Splash face and neck with water and pat dry before applying one of our face moisturisers or oils. 

Scent - 

Strong, you can smell the clay. Not much else to say really.

Appearance / Texture - 

Clay-like, and smooth but with a slight grainy texture. Once on, it wasn't very noticeable. I just looked a bit paler. It dries fairly quickly, and washes off quite easily.

Value for money -

This sample size of 15ml is worth £3.60, so quite a lot for such a small size & considering you don't need to use that much, although they could of made it bigger.

I did like this face mask, but I don't really get all the hype. Then again, whenever I use face masks I don't seem to notice that much difference other than my skin feels clean and smooth. Maybe I'm purchasing the wrong ones?! I wouldn't pay £18 for this; firstly I couldn't afford it and secondly I couldn't justify spending that amount on something I simply thought 'meh' about.

Richard Ward Couture Hair Optimiser Style Reviver

Price - £19.00 / 150ml

Product Link - http://richardward.com

Sample Size - 50ml

Special Offer - For 20% enter GLOSSYBOX at checkout (link above)

Glossybox's description - 

The ultimate multi-tasker: Richard Ward Couture Hair has been designed for you hair's every styling need, giving you effortless, achievable and long lasting results. we've absolutely fallen in love with the lightweight Optimiser Style Reviver Spray with Wheat Protein and Kukui Oil from the Couture Hair range! Not only does it counteract frizz and increase shine, but it also creates amazing volume with the typical residue or stickiness.

Richard Ward's description - 

Couture Hair® has been designed by me to cater for your hair’s every styling need, delivering premium performance and giving you effortless, achievable and long lasting results.

All products in Couture Hair® contain:

• • AQUARICH® a unique advanced moisture compound that helps counteract frizz and damage and increase shine
• • Colour Lock technology to help your colour remain vibrant for longer and shine with health
• • Humidity Defence technology to cope with any weather’s air moisture content - hot & humid or damp & drizzly
• 
  
  hold factor:3
  Lightweight, non-tacky reviving spray with Wheat Protein and Kukui Oil to refresh and volumise hair between washes without residue or stickiness.
  
  
  Packaging - 
  A palm-sized bottle, with a spray/lid almost half the size of the bottle. It is a plain clear spray bottle (with cap) and front & back sticker with info on. The 'Couture hair' is in silver font. Also on the front sticker it says the 'hold factor' is 3/5, for normal/ fine hair. 
  
  
  Application - 

  Apply as desired to dry hair. Separate hair into sections and living each section lightly spray Optimiser from roots to mid-lengths, holding spray 15-20cm away. Comb through and then re-style / blow dry as usual. For me, I dried my hair, then sprayed, then dried with cool air.
  
  
  Scent - 
  After smelling straight away, I definitely noticed the alcohol. After a couple of seconds, it just smells like you average hair product/spray. Fairly strong scent.
  
  
  Appearance / Texture - 
  Peachy orange in colour. Very liquid, similar consistancy to water. Hair didn't feel particular softer or smooth after, but it did ease my frizz.
  
  
  Value for money -

  This bottle is worth around £7 (I think) which is pretty good considering Glossybox is a tenner (not including p&p). I have the same size Richard Ward Volumiser Root Booster from the Latest in Beauty advent calendar which alright but same as this, I didn't find it really did much for my hair. I found it weird that this product was to be used after you dry your hair & I just didn't really get the instructions.
  
  Yeah, this is a nice product to just have, but I wouldn't go out to buy such a thing, plus with the price it is and the results I got, I have no real reason to.
  
  
  Essie Nail Laquer - Geranium
  
  
  
  
  

Price - £7.99 / 13.5ml

Product Link - www.essie.com

Sample Size - Full size (13.5ml)

Glossybox's description - 

With spring having officially arrive (and it's about time!), it's time to break out the colours! Essie has provided an infinite pallet of shades for high-quality professional-looking manicures, and we've handpicked 15 vibrant, eye-popping, can't-live-without shades that will be sure to kick-start your style transition into spring.

Essie says - 

an award-winning dynamic red-orange burst.

DBP, Toluene and Formaldehyde free

Packaging - 

Essie's nail polish design is very sleek and elegant, a square shaped glass bottle, with a white screw on lid, with 'essie' embossed into the glass.

Application - 

Apply one layer of Essie Base Coat. Follow with two coats of Essie Colour. Finish with your chosen Essie Top Coat to prevent the colour from chipping.

The formula is gorgeous - very smooth and self-levelling. After one coat I could clearly see the white end of my nail through the colour. The second coat covered the nail much more, however not completely. 

Scent - 

Strong, standard nail polish scent. Wouldn't go sniffing this too much!

Appearance / Texture - 

Bright, corally red. Looks better on than in the bottle. As always, essie have got the formula right. Once dried, it is very smooth and glossy on the nail. My photo doesn't show the shade completely accurately, but its near enough.

Value for money -

This was the only full sized product in my box. £7.99 for a nail polish might seem a bit steep to some people, but in my opinion most nail polishes I've bought that have amazing formula & colour are usually above £7.

Why Glossy, why did you have to give me another red nail polish! I have above ten reds (ridiculous, I know) but I hardly ever wear red. It's such a standard colour, that it comes in all the collections etc, so I have loads. I just don't really like the colour. I don't wear any red clothes or accessories either. It's just not my thing. Also in a previous box, I got the red Nail Inc shade, rather than the pink shade which I would be more inclined to wear. I think they could of considered this and sent the people who got a red Nails Inc, a pink / different shade of Essie, and the other way round.

Although this shade is a brighter, 'coral' colour, I can't see myself wearing it that much, maybe more on my toes. I was looking forward to this product the most and just my luck I get this shade. To have another Essie nail polish in my collection is great though; my first Essie was the Matte Top Coat, which is pretty good, and then I bought a neutral grey shade, which looked different in the bottle than on my nails, but still nice. *Update* After wearing this colour for a few days, it really grew on me. As far as reds go; this is a lovely shade.

So that was my April Glossybox, please let me know what you got in yours as I'm always interested to know! I thought this box was lovely, very worth it and I have used / will use all my products. I loveee the box, hopefully they will do more beautiful boxes like this in the future, and keep up to this level. All the brands I have experimented with already, excluding Nip + Fab, so I knew of the quality, and they are quite 'luxury' brands, like Glossybox claims to have.