So, I'm back after another unplanned blogging break. I've been struggling a lot health wise over the last month or so, but some how I've managed to accumulate some energy from somewhere that's allowed me to be a little bit more productive, so I'm back today with another catch up post x
My Glossybox posts in particular seem to have gone right up the spout this year, and I'm now so behind with them that it's actually untrue, but I'm plodding on, and my aim is to try and get completely up to date by the beginning of January, but you know what usually happens when I make plans, so we'll have to wait and see.
So today I'm taking you on a journey, we're going to leave the dark night, and dull days of autumn, and we're going to take a trip back to the height of spring, and the freshness and newness of the April 2021 edition of Glossybox UK.
As with
March's box, the April edition also comes in the classic pink and black colour way, with the pink box, the pink tissue paper, and the black ribbon and paper shred.
As always the first thing in the box was the information leaflet which talked about the products and the theme of the box, which in April's case was "Woke Up In Spring" and according all to
Glossybox all of the products in the box were specially chosen to brighten up your day! but did they actually achieve that? Let's find out..
- 417 Serenity Legend Hydrating Dead Sea Bath Salts - 100g - Deluxe Mini - Est. RRP £2.17
Where possible I always like to try every product that I talk about in these unboxing posts, but every now and then there are products that I either can't use, or there are products that for whatever reason I've chosen not to use, and unfortunately for you there were two such products in April's box.
This first item was a sachet of bath salts from Dead Sea Salt based brand -417 (Minus 417). I've already tried a few skincare products from them (You can read my reviews here and here), but this was the first body product that I'd had from the brand and unfortunately I couldn't use it.
Yes, as you should know by now, I don't have a bath, and to just use it as a foot soak, in my opinion, would be a bit of a waste, so I'm passing this on to a friend to try, and hopefully she can experience some of the relaxing, soothing and nourishing properties of these vegan friendly, spa like scented bath salts.
Glossybox placed a value of £2.17 on this 100g sachet - according to -417 you need around 50g per bath so this should be enough for two baths. The only retailer that I can find is direct from -417, but they don't sell this specific size, they only sell a 500g sachet which retails at £14.
Sophia + Mabelle Eyeshadow Quad - The Aphrodite Palette - Full Size - Est. RRP £25 / $18
Next up the first of two make up products that featured in the box, and the first one was a an eyeshadow quad, from new brand to me, Sophia + Mabelle. Sophia + Mabelle are a Florida based, Peta certified, cruelty free make up brand that is designed to fit into the live of any person, no matter what stage of life they're at.
Packaged in a gorgeous floral designed cardboard box, the palette itself is really simple and basic, with its small square shape, and basic pink, and translucent pink plastic construction. Although it looks quite inexpensive the packaging quality wise, actually feels pretty decent, and it reminds me a little bit of the Colourpop quads.
The palette that I received was 'The Aphrodite Palette'. This pink themed palette contains a pale matte pink, 2 shimmery pink shades, and a matte almost charcoal, black, grey, brown shade.
As you can see from these pictures, the colour payoff, even on the palest, and the matte shades in really good. All of the shadows were really soft and smooth, and they were pretty easy to apply. There was a tiny bit of fallout which is understandable given the softness of the shadows. The dark shade was so pigmented that it did show a tiny bit of resistance to blending , but that was only because it was so pigmented and it was really easy to overuse, but it was nothing that a lighter application, and a bit more blending wouldn't fix.
This is the most perfectly applied or blended eye look that you will ever see, but I hope you can see just how pretty and wearable this palette is.
The shadows are of a really nice quality. They were nicely pigmented, fairly easy to apply and blend, and they wore surprisingly well, so all in all I was pretty impressed.
What I wasn't so impressed with though was the £25 price tag that
Glossybox put on this palette. I've had a look at the
Sophia + Mabelle website, and whilst they don't have this particular quad, they have a similar quad, in a plainer outer box, which retails at $18. Whilst the shadows are good, the palette is pretty small and fairly basic (For comparison the similar Colourpop quads are around $9), so I personally don't think that I could justify spending that sort of money on an eyeshadow quad like this one.
Feel Free Antioxidant Eye Contour Cream - 20ml - Full Size - Est. RRP £4.77
I know I've mentioned it in a few posts, but I'm pretty much reaching saturation point when it comes to certain beauty products in my stash, and one of those products in eye cream. So late last year, or was it early this year, who knows I decided to stop opening any of the new eye creams or gels that I acquired, and instead I vowed to try and use up all of the eye products that I've already opened - A good idea in theory but to be honest it's pretty slow going, and I now have another one to add to my 'to use' pile.
From Spanish natural and organic skincare company Feel Free, this antioxidant eye contour cream, contains hyaluronic acid, rice extract, aloe vera, and coffee extract, as well as lemon, mint and apple, and is designed to balance, moisturise, and reduce expression lines.
Obviously I haven't tried it yet, but I'll let you know my thoughts when I do. Although Feel Free do have an English website, in the UK we can't shop from it, and despite a little search online, I can't find this particular product anywhere but according to Glossybox it retails at around £4.77 for a 20ml tube.
dwtn Paris Liquid Blusher - 15ml - Full Size - Est. RRP £19.58 / €18
Next up another make up product, and this time it something for the cheeks. From Parisian based beauty brand dwtn Paris, this liquid blush cheek colour is made from 99% natural and vegan ingredients, including white marrube (white horehound) which protects the skin against pollution and blue light, as well as acacia gum, organic corn and black radish.
Packaged in a black and white, modernist design tube, this blush had a slightly thick, creamy texture and no discernible scent. At first glance the colour looks quite scary, its quite dark and very pigmented. It's a terracotta, dark brick red like shade, but it quickly and easily blends down to a more natural peach / bronze shade.
All you do is apply a few dots to your cheeks, it is pretty pigmented so it's probably best to start out with less and build it up. It was actually fairly easy to blend, I used a brush but I think I would have had a bit more control with my fingers.
I wore on top of both foundation and loose powder, and as you can see it did slightly disturb my base, exposing some of the natural redness of my cheeks, but there was no change in the texture, and they was no pilling, just a smooth natural finish.
I subsequently had a little bit of a play around and tried blending it with my fingers and a more tapping motion (not photographed) and my base pretty much stayed put, but I don't think there is a right or a wrong way to use this product, I think it depends on your base, your skin type and what type of look you're going for, so play around and have some fun, that's what make up is all about after all.
I have to say that I was a little bit scared of this at first, the dark brick shade was so dark, but by applying a small amount at once, blending it out and building up the colour, the resulting colour was actually really pretty and wearable, and even on my more oil prone skin it lasted nearly all day, without any of the clumping or balling, that I often experience with cream and liquid cheek colours.
All in all despite my initial argh! reaction I was actually really pleased with this product. If you fancy trying it for yourself, I believe it is only available directly from
dwtn Paris French website, where is retails at around €18,
Glossybox place a value of £19.58 on this full size tube.
Skin & Co Roma Truffle Therapy Morning Dew Ultra Gentle Botanical Face Cleansing Gel - 20ml - Deluxe Mini - Est. RRP £1.98
Finally, a skincare item and it's a specialist morning cleanser from a brand called Skin & Co Roma. Now i was convinced that I'd tried something from this brand before but I've had a little look, and it looks as though this is my first product.
Both vegan, and again Peta certified, this Italian founded brand is a botanical based, Mediterranean skincare and body care brand, that is based on the antioxidant properties of the Black Winter Truffle.
Truffle Therapy Morning Dew is a daily (morning) cleansing gel, that is designed to cleanse, uplift and brighten the complexion and protect it from environmental damage.
This sulphate free cleanser contains Umbrian Black Winter Truffle, as well as papaya extract, an AHA to minimise blemishes and improve the appearance and texture of the skin, as well as other botanicals including olive leaf, orange flower extract, lavender, cucumber, and calendula.
Packaged in a white and gold tube, the cleanser has a slightly runny, gel like texture, which is translucent yellow / light amber in colour. If you are a regular reader you'll probably already know that I'm pretty useless at describing scents but this one has me well and truly beat! At first it has quite a warm, nutty, almost coconut like scent, but add water and it seems to bring out more herbal, green and fruity notes.
You basically use this one like any other face wash, I usually wet my face and pop a small amount of cleanser into my palm before adding a little bit of water and working it into a lather on my face
The lather as you can see is really light and creamy. The instructions say to massage the cleanser onto the face in circular motions for around 1 minute to get the full antioxidant and AHA benefits, before rinsing.
It was really easy to rinse away, and my skin immediately felt and looked cleaner, brighter and fresher. It felt really soft and smooth, and it was left with almost a matte finish. My skin did feel a tiny bit tight, but it quickly subsided and there was no redness or dryness.
This was actually a really nice morning cleanser, the smell was actually really nice, if a tad confusing! It also left my skin feeling very clean and soft, and ready for the rest of my skincare and make up. I would definitely consider buying this cleanser again in the future and I'm also interested in trying some more products from the range.
Glossybox placed a value of £1.98 on this 20ml tube, unfortunately I can't find this particular size anywhere online, but the full 200ml size is available for around £22 direct from
Skin & Co Roma.
A little late I know, but that was my unboxing of the April 2021 edition of
Glossybox UK. Despite another eye cream and a bath product that I couldn't use, I still think that this was another decent box, despite my initial hesitation about the blush, I liked both of the make up items but the stand out product for me was actually the Skin & Co Roma cleanser. It left my skin feeling super soft, and looking brighter and more awake.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this box, so please let me know if you think it was a hit or a miss in the comments section below x Don't forget to to check out
Glossybox for yourself and I'll see you later in the week with an empties post x
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