A Very Late Unboxing Of Glossybox UK - October 2020 Edition - The Beauty Tales - Midnight Fantasy*

Hi guys, and welcome to operation catch up part 1 zillion! Today I want to take you back to October, a time of falling leaves, Halloween,  pumpkin spice lattes, and The Beauty Tales edition of Glossybox UK.

There were two different versions of October's box, Enchanted Spirit and the version that I received, Midnight Fantasy. Glossybox are well know for their beautiful limited edition boxes, but I think that October's box is by far one of the best designs that I've ever seen from them.

In keeping with the whole mystical, fairytale, Beauty Tales theme, the Midnight Fantasy box was designed to look exactly like an old fashion book. Made of a gorgeous old book cover like, dark blue textured cardboard, the box lid features gold  foil embossed lettering, and a fairytale like illustration of a wolf howling at the moon, an owl, a fox, a tree, and mystical floral design.  The design carries on, onto the side of the lid which was designed to look like the spine of a book with the title "A Very Glossy Fairytale" embossed in gold.

The blue and gold theme carried on inside the box with a blue and gold interior, navy blue paper shred, a blue ribbon, and gold tissue paper.

As per usual the first thing in the box is the product information leaflet with contains a list of the box contents and a little bit about each of the products. It also tells you a little bit about the theme and the ideas behind the box, which in this case is all about the beauty tales, and the mystical ideas of eternal beauty, and as a result the box contains a mixture of products that were chosen to help relax and soothe the mind, and to transform the look and feel of the skin. 

AHC Essential Real Eye Cream For Face - 10ml - Deluxe Mini - Est. RRP £8.66

Now I'm going to be honest here, although I've had several months to try this product, I haven't actually opened it yet! To be fair this is something that is going to pop up more and more in these posts as time goes on. The plain and simple fact is that I have way too many skincare products to justify opening any more, so in future, if I don't need to open something skincare related, I won't. I currently have 3 eye products on the go as it is, so I'm adding this one to my to try pile

Just a bit of background on this one though, it's from Koreas's number 1 aesthetic skincare brand AHC. This is an eye cream but it can also be used all over the face as a hydrating and rejuvenating, vitamin and peptide filled facial moisturiser. 

I'm actually quite curious about this one because I love 2 in 1 products, and anything that can save a bit of time. I'm also pretty lazy when it comes to eye products, so applying 1 product rather than 2 sounds perfect. I'll definitely let you know how I get on with this in a future empties post. Glossybox quote a price of £8.66 for this 10ml deluxe mini size, the full 30ml size though is available for £26 exclusively from Look Fantastic.

Bubble T Bath & Body Star Dust Foaming Bath Powder In Rose - 100g - Full Size - RRP £5.99

Next up another product that I didn't / couldn't use. If you're a regular reader you should know by now that I don't have a bath tub in my house, so unfortunately I couldn't use this gorgeous rose scented foaming bath powder :( Don't worry though it didn't go to waste, I passed it on to one of my friends as a little extra in their Christmas pressie.

I think this scent may have been exclusive to Glossybox because I can't find it anywhere online. if you like the idea of a foaming bath powder though, you can buy the Fairy Dust Foaming Bath Powder In Lavender on various websites including Urban Outfitters, and direct from Bubble T where 100g pouch retails between £5 - £5.99.

Luna By Luna Lipstick - Pixie - 3.5g - Full Size - RRP $15 / £15

From something that I couldn't use to something that I most definitely can (at least when I'm not wearing a mask - wear a mask!), a lipstick! From New Jersey based company Luna By Luna, this is one of their bullet lipsticks in the shade Pixie.

The lipstick comes boxed and is packaged in a plain, navy blue, plastic tube with the brand name printed on the outside in gold.

The shade Pixie is a lovely bright coral shade, that to be honest if much more of a summer colour, then something that you would wear in October, but if you need cheering up no what time of year, it's a perfect happy colour.

With a slight vanilla scent and taste, this lipstick is super creamy and moisturising, and as you can it's very pigmented.

Being so creamy it did transfer slightly but the wear time wasn't bad, and it did leave a slight stain on my all be it very dry lips, when the initial glossy, creamy finish disappeared.

After having a look at the Luna By Luna website I'm pretty sure that I've tried something from the brand before (maybe a loose powder?, but I can't find anything in my stash or even a reference to the the brand on my blog, so if this "was" my first impression of the brand, then it was a good one. Pigmented, and super creamy, and moisturising,  and okay wear time, you can't really ask for more in a lipstick.

The only stockist that I can find for this lipstick is direct from Luna By Luna, where this full sized lipstick retails at $15 / around £15.

Illamasqua Hydra Veil Primer - 7ml - Deluxe Mini - Est. RRP £10

The next item is another make up item, or is it a skincare product? I'm never sure but I guess that depends on the primer itself. This is one of several primers that are available from cruelty free, top end cosmetic brand Illamasqua.

This is their iconic Hydra Veil Primer which is part hydrator, part primer. It contains micro algae, and vitamins C and B3, and it is designed to calm sensitive skin and reduce redness, in order to produce a calm and refreshed complexion, and a smooth and balanced base for make up.

Boxed and packaged in a small, plastic pot, this primer was quite unlike any other primer that I'd ever tried. Translucent in appearance it has a fresh clean scent, and it has a texture that very similar to jelly, that melts on contact with the skin.

On Application

Immediately After Application

After A Few Minutes

It immediately felt quite cooling on the skin but it quickly warms up to body temperature on application. It takes a minute or two to absorb into the skin, but when it does it almost feels as though there is nothing on your skin. My skin was left looking smoother, and more event, and unlike a lot of other cream and silicone based primers, it didn't leave me skin feeling greasy, heavy or sticky, it was just smooth and even.

Before

On Application

After

I have to say that over the last month or so I've really enjoyed using this little pot of brilliance. Thanks to the cold weather, central heating, and the obligatory face mask, my skin has felt a little bit drier lately, and this has definitely helped add a much wanted burst of hydration to my skin. I haven't worn a lot of make up lately but I've been using a little bit of this without foundation too, and when I have worn make up alongside this primer, I've noticed a more even finish and less patchiness of my drier areas such as the edge of my cheeks, and above my eyebrows.

I usually shy away from hydrating primers, preferring products with pore minimising and mattifying properties, but I was actually really impressed with this primer, and how well it actually worked on my skin, and I will definitely consider using this again, and trying out some of their other primers in the wider Illamasqua range.

Glossybox place a value of £10 on this 7ml deluxe mini size. I can't find this specific size anywhere online but both Look Fantastic and Illamasqua sell a 6ml size for £10, and NEXT Beauty also sell a mini pot with no size given for £8. The full 30ml size is available from various retailers for £34.

The Beauty Crop Stargazing Blush Duo - Orion Glow - 4g - Full Size - RRP £18

The final official item in the October's box was another make up item, and it was a product from another one of Glossybox's favourite make up brands, The Beauty Crop. I've already tried a few bits from this clean and animal friendly beauty brand including The Palm Balm Lip & Cheek Balm & Color in Mauve Wave, so I was pleased to have the opportunity to try another type of product.

Packaged in a beautiful celestial design, blue and gold cardboard box, this product is a powder blush duo that comes in pretty, but not very expensive feeling, star patterned octagon shaped compact.

The compact contains 2 talc and paraben free, cruelty free and vegan, star embossed shades of powder blush. You get a more matte warm, champagne, bronze peach shade, and a lovely, shimmery peach, coral shade.

Both of the shades are super soft, and silky, and as you can see the colour pay off is superb.

I'm wearing the shade on the right, the more coral shade (alongside the Luna By Luna lipstick) in the picture below x 

It blended really nicely into the skin and it wore well, it was a touch powdery and there was a little bit of fallout but for such a pretty and wearable colour, I can deal with that x 

Although selected items from The Beauty Crop are now available in Superdrug, the Stargazing Blush Duo only seems to be available direct from The Beauty Crop where it retails at £18.

Now normally that would be it, but like in the September box, the October edition of Glossybox also included a very welcome sweet treat.

Cadbury Darkmilk - 13.5g

Yes, the October box contained chocolate, and it was a 13.5g, not for resale sized bar of Cadbury Darkmilk.

All chocolate to me is good chocolate, but I must admit that I'm much more of a milk chocolate girl, but every now and then I do want something that little bit more grown up, but I don't quite want the full richness and bitterness of a bar of dark chocolate. If you feel like that too then Darkmilk is for you, you still get the creaminess that you would expect from a bar of Dairy Milk, but you also get more of that rich chocolatey taste due to the higher cocoa content - perfection!

This size of bar was marked not for resale which is a bit of shame because I do love mini bars of chocolate, but the normal 35g sized bar retails at around 60p

So that was a very, late unboxing of the October box. I loved the fairy tale, book style packaging, and whilst I'm not sure all of the contents stuck to the whole beauty tales ethic I was pretty happy with everything in the box. I was a tiny bit disappointed to receive yet another eye cream, but that was tempered slightly by that you can use it all over your face, and again I was a little bit disappointed to get a bath product that I couldn't use, but the primer was a real revelation, and I was really impressed with both the lipstick and the blush duo, and of course the chocolate! All in all for me it was a pretty decent box x 

If you're interested in trying Glossybox for yourself, then you find out more via my link x Please let me know if you have any questions on any of the items in this box, and I will see you soon with probably another catch up post x Thanks for reading x 

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