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Review; Harrods Glossybox

Glossybox The Harrods Edition

You probably remember my post about the Harrods edition of Glossybox this month.
Well I received my box yesterday, and to be honest I was a little worried as lots of people had been complaining.
Why? Well they felt that they didn’t receive a box worthy enough to be ‘The Harrods Edition’ and in some cases I do understand and sympathise with those people as it did seem like they may have gotten the short end of the straw.
Me?! Well I am actually very happy with my box. I received the 3 items I had really been hoping for!

I received: 
+ Narciso Rodriguez – For Her Eau de Parfum
+ Molton Brown – Heavenly Ginger-Lily Moisture Bath & Shower
+ Yves Saint Laurent – Forever Youth Liberator Serum
+ Burberry Beauty – Miniature Lip Cover #4 Rosewood
+ Clarins – Extra-Firming Body Cream

I had really been hoping for the YSL, Burberry and Clarins items.
I wanted the YSL for my mum actually, as it’s aimed at older women so I don’t need it right now.
I will however be doing reviews of the Burberry lipstick and Clarins cream.
As for the rest, well I already have the exact Molton Brown shower gel at home, but this will be good for travelling and I do adore perfume samples as they get placed in my handbag for when I’m out and about, or travelling.

All in all I think I was very lucky with my box.
Next month will be my first ‘regular’ Glossybox so I’m looking forward to it!
For those in the States, Glossybox is coming to you soon too – click here.

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Review: Chanel Rouge Coco Lipstick

Chanel Rouge Coco Lipstick, Shade #31

Remember when I admitted to being a red lipstick virgin? Well those days are long gone, and I now have a variety of red lipsticks in my collection. So I wanted to do a small review on my favourite of them all, my Chanel Rouge Coco Lipstick, in shade #31; Cambon.

Swatch (click to enlarge)

Pros:
+ Great coverage
+ Easy application
+ Amazing pigmented colour
+ Hydrating formula, so it doesn’t dry lips out
+ The colour lasts for hours, unless you’re drinking/eating
+ Chanel counter staff matched the shade perfectly to my skin tone

Cons:
– Stains ever so slightly
– There’s never enough!!

Notes:
As you can tell from the photos I’ve already got plenty of use out of it…I just wish I had taken pictures when I first bought it. The pros largely out-weigh the cons. The staining on the lips is nothing more than a regular lipsticks, and I don’t mind being left with tinted lips afterwards as it gives a nice healthy look. I usually like to apply a little Chanel ‘Soin Tendre Levres’ (which is a lip care treatment) before I put on my lipsticks, but with this one it’s not really necessary as it’s moisturising in itself. Also, I have found that if I apply Carmex beforehand, it creates a lovely lipgloss-like effect, which you can see in my previous post here. As I also mentioned, the counter staff at Chanel are incredibly helpful and will kindly help you match any of their lipsticks to your skin tone/desired look. I think beauty fanatics know by now that there is a reason why the brand is so popular. I’ve been a fan of Chanel’s lipsticks for years and I would recommend them to anyone who is looking for a good quality, long lasting lipstick which is true to colour.

Pictures of me wearing the lipstick: 1, 2 & 3

bloomzy /

Glossybox Harrods Edition

Glossybox Harrods Edition

Some of you may have heard of Glossybox before, or similar companies. For £10 (plus p&p) a month you receive 5 new beauty products to try. This month Glossybox have teamed up with Harrods and are releasing a special edition box. Unlike previous boxes the contents of this one are not secret and have been released online and to press. This box will include luxury beauty products, such as: Burberry, YSL and Clarins. Check out a preview of the products here from Gh0stparties.

I haven’t subscribed to these kind of things in the past as I know I wouldn’t use half the items I was sent, even though I do think that 90% of the time they’re worth the money. However I was first in-line this morning when the box went live at 10am, and I ordered mine straight away! I just couldn’t resist such a bargain (still only £10!), and I’m pretty certain I will use all the products.
So expect a review once it arrives later this month!

You can subscribe to Glossybox here.
Be quick and you may be able to grab the March Harrods Edition!

Source; 1

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Review; Pop Beauty & Barry M

Pop Beauty; Twinkle: Electric Glimmer | Barry M; Red Glitter NP150

For Christmas I received some gorgeous nail polishes from the fiancé and family. They know just how obsessed I am with my collection, so thoughtfully they added a little something to it. I choose 2 of my favourites to review here. The reason I took videos as well as photos is because I found it hard to show the effect of the polish in just a simple photo – this being most true with the Pop Beauty polish.

The Pop Beauty polish featured in this first video has to be my favourite by far. I’ve not seen another polish like it. I can’t describe how much I love it! Pop Beauty offer some amazing shades and glitters in their nail collection. The bottles are attractive and come with 15ml/0.5floz, which is more than your usual bottle. It took a couple of coats for me to achieve my desired look, nothing more than a regular polish.Being a glitter polish it is prone to chipping more than a regular one. This did happen a couple of times on my thumbnails but was easily remedied by filling in the spaces, which surprisingly were not very noticeable afterwards. Even though Pop Beauty polishes cost a little more than your regular polish, you’re receiving some amazing, unique shades/glitters. I will definitely be buying more from their range – I’ve even made a wish list for my birthday.

Pop Beauty is available online and in selected stores.

Barry M offer a great selection of polishes and I own quite a few of them already. They’re cheaper than PB but then you receive a regular size 10ml bottle, and their shades are often copied by or from other brands. This means it won’t be as unique, but the quality and look is great so there’s no complaints here! This polish took about 3/4 coats to achieve an opaque, strong colour but I have found this with a lot of Barry M polishes.As mentioned before, glitter polishes are prone to chipping and the Barry M polish was no different. I did try to fill it in like the PB one, and it worked but was definitely more noticeable, which is probably due to the shade more than the quality of the product.

Barry M is available online and in most UK Boots & Superdrug stores.

bloomzy /

Garnier BB Cream Review

During September, Garnier were offering customers the chance to try out samples of their new BB Cream. I applied straight away, as I was so excited to finally see this product hitting the shelves.

The samples came very neatly packaged in a small fold-out pack, which included info on BB Cream and a money-off voucher. The pack came with three regular sized samples – I went ahead and potted one of the samples…

Not a bad amount, definitely enough for 2, maybe 3 applications.

On the brush…I used a foundation brush to apply mine, although a sponge would probably be better.

Before I show you the results I will quickly mention that I asked for, and received, the ‘light’ version of the cream. I consistently find it difficult to match foundations etc. to my skin tone so I was looking forward to seeing the outcome.

As you can see the BB Cream didn’t match my skin tone (check out the difference between my face & neck) and was visibly more yellow…even my fiancé commented on it.

Did it work?
Skin tone aside, let’s look at what Garnier’s BB Cream claims to do and whether I felt it worked or not.

“light texture that instantly melts into your skin”
“skin feels more supple, smoother, softer”

It was definitely light, but I didn’t feel like it ‘melted’ into my skin. In fact it kind of felt sticky, like a lotion that hadn’t dried properly. I disliked the feel and look so much that I applied a generous amount of powder on top to try and get rid of the sticky, greasy look.

However my skin did feel supple and smooth.

“sheer coverage; imperfections look blurred…your skin looks luminous, smoother and more even”

My skin did look smooth and it certainly evened out the redness around my cheek and nose area.

‘Imperfections’? Well I don’t feel my freckles are imperfections to be honest, but it didn’t cover them. You shouldn’t really expect this from a simple BB Cream anyway, but for those who might be interested in it for those reasons – sorry, it may not be the right product for you.

Overall
I wasn’t very pleased with the outcome. I think my opinion is slightly biased though, as I felt the cream was far too dark for my skin tone.

Don’t take my word for it though! Find out more at the Garnier website.
Those in the UK can still apply for a free sample here.