benefit Archives

bloomzy / April 12, 2018

A Rather Bazaar Beauty Box | Review

Bazaar Beauty Box by Latest In Beauty

Remember when beauty boxes were a thing? It’s been a while since it was popular for companies to charge us an arm and a leg for travel size samples; you were one of the lucky few if you found a rare full size product in your box. After the hype died down, I personally took to researching products and buying the full size versions. And I was happy. But then VA went and sent me a link to the latest ‘Latest in Beauty’ box. It included a collaboration with none other than Harper’s Bazaar – a brand that had won me over previously with their Birchbox collaboration. I couldn’t resist finding out more.

So what’s inside?

The limited-edition Spring/Summer beauty edit features high-end favourites from the likes of Laura Mercier, Elemis, Dermalogica, and many more.

Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant (full size)
Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder (full size)
MAC Prep + Prime Fix + (full size)
Aveda Damage Remedy Daily Hair Repair (full size)
Benefit They’re Real Mascara (full size)
Elemis Dynamic Resurfacing Day Cream (15ml travel size)
Caudalie Vinoperfect Brightening Essence (50ml travel size)
Fresh Vitamin Nectar Vibrancy-Boosting Face Mask (15ml travel size)
Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser (30ml travel size)
Alpha H Liquid Gold (50ml travel size)
Shavata Complimentary Brow-Shape (gift card)

Bazaar Beauty Box – final thoughts

This box is worth an incredible £224! But is it worth £50 (that’s the RRP) of your hard earned cash? Well quite frankly, yes it is. This box includes some amazing – and expensive – products. I already had plans to repurchase the Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant, and the MAC Prep + Prime Fix +. So straight off I’d saved myself £18, and that was without counting all the extra products that came in the box.

The amount of full size products is way more than most beauty boxes. And these are popular products, they’re not just cast offs from some company you’ve never heard of. I’ve already started using a few of the items, and I’m excited to try out all of the others (yes, all of them). £50 is a lot of money, but I am so glad I splurged on this.

You can purchase the Bazaar Beauty Box at Latest in Beauty.
Check out more of my beauty must-haves now!

bloomzy / March 16, 2015

Roller Lash is a Curl’s Best Friend

Last week I headed to Benefit’s Curl’s Best Friend Parlour for an evening of beauty talk with some of my fellow Birchbloggers. We were also joined by some of the Birchbox team who greeted us with cupcakes and cocktails – forget curl’s, this place was a blogger’s best friend! We mingled in the 1950-esque Noir Bar, surrounded by glamorous ladies, and a mirror that spouted cheesy compliments (yep, that’s a thing).

After some networking we were given a make-up masterclass by Lisa Potter-Dixon and Jessica Dinner. Lisa gave us some great tips on how to achieve the latest catwalk beauty looks, but it was the tips and tricks of the trade that I was after. Luckily the evening didn’t disappoint. Lisa told us several of her favourite beauty hacks, such as using Benefit’s Hoola to contour the sockets of your eye (to make your eyes look bigger) and using your lipstick as a 3-in-1 beauty tool (on your lips, eyes and cheeks!). After our mini masterclass we headed down to the salon to have our hair and make-up done. I tried out the new Roller Lash mascara, which Benefit claim to be made for people with straight lashes, and had some curls put in my hair. Unfortunately the make-up looked a little too harsh on me (life story of a pale person), so all photographic evidence has been burnt…and by that I mean deleted off my phone. I loved what some of the other ladies were having done though, especially Jpoppy’s gorgeous hair-do. All in all I got to meet some lovely bloggers and learn some new beauty tips, so I’d call the evening a success.

If you’re interested head over to Benefit and Birchbox to find out more about the new Roller Lash mascara.

bloomzy / July 15, 2014

Review: Birchbox July 2014 Beauty Box

Birchbox Beauty Box July 2014

Where did the love go? Yes, only a few months ago I was professing my love for Birchbox to anyone that would listen. However the last couple of boxes have left me feeling as though something was missing…then July’s box happened. It’s been a crazy mixture of squished boxes, poor customer service and everything in-between. Let me tell you what was in my box first though, before I bore you with my decision for finally unsubscribing from Birchbox.

Inside my box was…

Benefit – The Porefessional

Whish – Lavendar Body Butter

Balance Me – Wonder Eye Cream

Laqa & Co – Lip Pencil in Menatour

Models Own – Nail Polish in Rocket

Thoughts?
This month’s box was very underwhelming, but maybe I should first mention how it turned up in such a state…and completely by surprise! For the past two months I haven’t been receiving any dispatch emails from Birchbox, meaning I didn’t know if my boxes had been sent. Now this isn’t a terrible thing by itself, however the (always disgruntled) courier has delivered my box to other people in my apartments before, without letting me know. Therefore knowing when my box is on it’s way is helpful. Thankfully I have lovely neighbours who noticed the mistake and didn’t nab my box for themselves. Anyway, I mentioned that it turned up in a state. All of my products were ok, but I think I got lucky. Even so, this is really not the way you want your product to turn up or how you want to represent your brand. I did tweet and message Birchbox about both of these problems. In hindsight I should have emailed them, but when they asked me to message them on Twitter I thought the problem might be solved pretty quickly. However it took forever to receive any kind of reply from them, and they completely ignored the dispatch email problem. They did apologise and said they would investigate the courier situation though, so hopefully no one else will have this problem.

As for the contents of the box itself, I can honestly say that there isn’t one product I can be certain I’ll use. I did appreciate that some of the products such as the full-size Models Own polish (not a great shade) and the decent sized The Porefessional (shade is too dark) are well-known and loved products, but they’re also nothing new. The eye cream, nail buffer and body butter are products I have coming out of my ears (thanks to pr samples and beauty box products) and I haven’t heard anything about these ones that make me want to jump to use them. Finally, the lip pencil – the quality seems good but this shade is really not me. I plan to give everything away, minus the nail polish and the eye cream, in the hopes that I will eventually use them at some point. All in all July’s box left me feeling pretty “meh” and along with all of the other problems, I have decided to unsubscribe from Birchbox. Maybe if a future box takes my fancy I may start my subscription again, but right now I really don’t need anymore beauty products that I won’t use.
Sorry for the downer – check out my more optimistic Birchbox reviews.

You can subscribe or buy this month’s box at Birchbox.
Using my link will give you (and me) £5 worth of points to spend in the store.

bloomzy / March 9, 2014

Review: Lulu Guinness March ’14 Birchbox

March 2014 Birchbox in collaboration with Lulu Guinness

It’s safe to say that I was very excited for this month’s Birchbox. I’m a fan of Lulu Guinness and couldn’t wait to see what the collab would bring. This box was based around LG’s cheeky and fun outlook, with 2 products picked by Lulu herself. Her choices? Her favourite Benefit eye primer, and the monochrome candy that inspired her Spring collection.

So what else was inside the March box?

Benefit – Stay Don’t Stray Eye Primer

Dr Brandt – Pores No More Pore Refiner

Aroma Works – Serenity Body Oil

English Laundry No.7 For Her

Stick o’ Rock (Candy Rock)

Molton Brown – Rhubarb & Rose Replenshing Hand Cream

Thoughts?

It’s certainly a cute box this month, and I’m pretty happy with all of the contents – minus the candy rock, which I don’t eat. However the fiancé gladly nabbed it off me, so no tears there. At first look it did seem slightly underwhelming though as I was hoping for something that cried out “Lulu Guinness” slightly more than this did. I think I would have liked to see maybe a LG colour coordinated box, or some fun items that linked to her designs? Still, the packaging of the box was adorable and very fitting. I’m more than happy with the Molton Brown addition as I’ve been meaning to find a handbag-sized hand cream, and I love Molton Brown products. The two primers seemed like a bit of overkill, although I know one is for your eyes and the other face. I’m still looking forward to trying them both though. I adore the scent of the perfume, and as for the body oil, I could take it or leave it. All in all, I’ve discovered some new brands and products that I’m looking forward to trying, which is why I subscribed to Birchbox in the first place, so I’m happy.

ETA: This month’s box also included a discount code to use at Lulu Guinness, and a coupon for a complimentary makeover featuring the new Benefit Gimme Brow!

You can subscribe to Birchbox here – using my link will give you (and me) £5 worth of points to spend.

bloomzy / March 29, 2013

Review: Benefit Fake Up Hydrating Concealer

Benefit Fake Up Hydrating Concealer*

I hope this post isn’t too long after my mention of Fake Up at the beginning of the week.

I just didn’t want to release a review of a product before it was even available to buy in-store.

Not that I mind others doing it, but I know that if I like a review I want the buy the product asap.

Thankfully it will be released tomorrow, so here is my review of Benefit’s new hydrating concealer – Fake Up.

“This hydrating crease-control concealer – with Vitamin E & apple seed extract – hides dark circles & diffuses fine lines for a silky smooth, ultra-natural look.

Available in three shades, it’s proven to keep skin hydrated for 6 hours.”

Pros:

+ Gorgeous packaging

+ Matched my skin tone well

+ Darker shades can be used for contouring

+ Can be used on lips without drying them out
+ Outer ring of vitamin e & apple seed extract helped to hydrate skin

Cons:

– Only comes in 3 shades
– Wasn’t as hydrating as I’d expected
– Sat in the creases of my skin
– Does not blend well
– Came off during the day

Notes:
I was matched to Shade 1 – Light, which really wakes up my eyes.
The shade looked intimidating when first applied but the lady at Benefit blended it really well with my skin tone, paired with the hydrating aspect, it didn’t feel cakey or as if I was actually wearing any concealer at all. It’s a shame that when it came to me applying it myself it didn’t work out the same way. It didn’t blend well and it sat in the creases of my skin. Not a good look. I can forgive Benefit for only releasing 3 shades, even though it doesn’t seem like enough, because I was assured that they matched all skin tones. I can vouch for the lightest shade and say it matched my deathly pale skin (ok, maybe I’m being slightly dramatic) very well, which surprised me as it can be quite a task. However I can’t say whether all darker skin tones are covered in the next two shades. That said, the Benefit team told me that the darkest shade would compliment darker tones when blended correctly. There were a variety of gorgeous ladies at the event so hopefully some of them can leave their review links below if they come across this post?

You can buy Fake Up online here for £18.50.

Or you can purchase it from a Benefit store/concession.

bloomzy / March 25, 2013

Event: Benefit Fake Up

Benefit Event to promote their new concealer ‘Fake Up’

Last week I attended the final stop in the Benefit ‘Fake Up’ tour; London.

A bunch of bloggers joined together to learn all about the latest addition to the Benefit family.

I’m not going to say too much about ‘Fake Up’ as I have a review coming up on the blog this week.

The one thing I will tell you about it though, is that Fake Up is a new hydrated concealer that comes in 3 shades.

The event was held in the adorable Spitalfields store.

In attendance were the lovely PR and social media ladies and their head of make-up.

I thought it was lovely being able to meet the people I had been in contact with via email.

And of course it was wonderful to meet their head make-up, trend artist and brow artist – Lisa, who was amazing.

There were also demonstrations of the product, like how to get the best out of the concealer, and how to use the darker shades for contouring. Finally there was the chance to win various prizes throughout the night, and yours truly won my favourite mascara for answering the first question of the night!

I should also give a cheeky mention to the goodie bag, as I do feel that we were spoilt rotten.

We received a bag filled with one of each shade of Fake Up, so 3 in all, as well as the Hello Flawless compact (to celebrate it’s 1 year anniversary), which we were matched to at the event. I plan to review every product so keep an eye out!

Finally, I met some wonderful bloggers, so a big shout-out too all those lovely ladies!

Fake Up is officially launched in UK stores on 30th March.