December's bellabox

After losing all faith in sample boxes, I came across bellabox. I watched multiple reviews and 'battle of the boxes' videos on youtube and bellabox was always top ranked leading me to give one last box a go and sign up. I signed up just before christmas and did not expect to receive a December box at all, being so late and all, but to my surprise, a week later I now have my December bellabox. I am soo impressed with it. The bellabox feels more 'me', even down to the packaging. This months came with 4 great full sized products as well, really giving me a feel of what this beauty box is about.

Personally I have never tried fake eyelashes before and I am dying to give these a go. I have very short eyelashes and hate it, so I am very keen to get these on and have fuller lashes. I am a huge fan of nail polish and I change it every 1 to 2 weeks so the Ozotic nail polish is perfect for me.The best way to describe it would be like chameleon car paint, as the glitter changes from pink to orange to green. I used Sally Hansen's 'Black Out' as a base coat for this gorgeous glitter polish. I have De-Sol UV activated polish, but this one is definitely my new favourite. The Kosmea rosewater is something I would never buy myself, but after using it a few times now, I think it is something I could end up falling in love with. It smells great and the mist is really fine giving a great refreshing feeling. The Savior Faire concealer/powder set is a great idea for travel and to have in your handbag for emergencies. The concealer is very creamy and blends well but unfortunately it is a little too yellow for my skin tone. (Which is weird cause I do have yellowy undertones.) Once again, anti ageing cream seems to be a staple in these boxes. Elemis papaya enzyme peel is actually not a peel as the name suggests. You apply the cream to your face and it dries quickly, letting you continue on getting ready for around 10-15 minutes. After I washed my face off with warm water my skin felt smoother and my foundation seemed to glide on a little smoother.

All in all I am really impressed with my bellabox and can not wait until January.

Happy new year to all.

December's Glossybox

This month Glossyboxes theme was 'haircare' which I was pretty excited about before I got my box as my hair is always unruly and frizzy. Having those two key things listed on my beauty profile, I expected some sort of anti-frizz serum. My box took a lot longer to come than a lot of other peoples and I had already looked at the spoilers online, seeing the anti-frizz serum and hoping I would received it. Nope.. instead I received a strange box that I am really not happy with, making my decision to cancel my subscription and sign up for a completely new box - bella box. So lets see how that goes in the new year. I have heard great things about them and just by looking at the packaging and the brands, they look like they are more up my alley. Anyhow, here's what I thought about this months products in Glossybox.

I don't use hair products aside from anit-frizz serums, because most things just make my hair really grease and look terrible, this product is no different. The packaging says perfect for hair hair lengths.. I disagree.. I have fairly short almost to shoulder length hair.. and all this did was make my hair look greasy and stay in place when I pushed my fringe back. Disgusting. It is gloopy and sticky and feel horrid. Forbidden Euphoria by Calvin Klein scent is described as 'a tantalising top aroma of fruits such as sparkling mandarin. Also expects wafts of pink peony floral bouquets with touch of musks and cashmere wood.' Musk and cashmere wood at great scents and I actually don't mind this perfume. Great that it comes in a mini spray bottle for easy wear and can easily be put in a purse when going out. Apparently Glossybox decided not to use the beauty profiles this month as there were countless complaints about dark haired people like myself receiving this  John Frieda Go Blonder Spray. Not going to say anymore other than, I emailed them and apparently they are sending a replacement gift. I personally think this Clinique Turnaround Overnight Radiance Moisturizer smells like old crayons, even though it says fragrance free.. Just as a general rule, I will always pick fragranced over fragrance free creams, because usually (prime example being this cream) when they are fragrance free they usually smell really terrible and unappealing. Not sure if I really want my face to smell like old crayons, so I haven't got the confidence to try this yet. I am not really one to wear lip stick or use lip liner but I guess it is a good thing to have. Would have much preferred a nude colour instead of Premiere, a reddy colour in Gorgeous Cosmetics Lip Pencil, but oh well. It goes on very easily and is creamy which is great. But yeah, don't see this one being used much at all.

Anyhow, like I said before I have now canceled my Glossybox subscription and moved on to bella box, so lets hope better things happen in the new year.

December's I Love This Box

So, after receiving my Glossybox in Novemeber, I deleted my subscription to I Love This Box, not expecting to get the December one. By chance I must have paid for the December one before cancelling and got a huge surprise when both Glossybox and I Love This Box turned up on the same day. This months box impressed me, mainly because of all the organic products given. The Christmas theme was also amazing (something that wasn't attempted by Glossybox this month), they gave us each a decoration, coloured packaging, a snow flake pendant and a candy cane. Anyhow, here's what I think about this months products.

The Simply Organic Shampoo and Conditoner travel sized shampoo and conditioner set is just fantastic and I can not wait to try them out. I am a big fan of anything organic and natural so this gets a big thumbs up from me. They smell slightly cirtrusy which I personally find really refreshing in a product. Being very picky with fragrances I personally didn't think I would like Taylor Swift - Wonder struck, as it is described as 'a sparkling surprise of vibrant fruits, kissed by a bouquet of soft petals and a touch of sweet indulgence.' Now all of that sounded far to sweet and flowery for me, but upon trying it, it is actually quite nice but not something i would use regularly. Lip balm is something I can never get enough of. I love lip balm and have since I was a kid, collecting Lip Smackers with a friend. I personally love the Nivea range of balms, but not to pleased with the fact they still test on animals and use animal products in production of their goods. This Simply Organic Lip Balm gets a big thumbs up from me. It is citrusy, just like the shampoo and conditioner, and contains orange oil so smells great. It is not greasy or too thick and doesn't have a great deal of shine to it either. Loving this product!Gatineau Exfoliating body gel is very exfoliating as it contains both bamboo powder and jojobo beads, which most people may consider to harsh. The scent is pretty ordinary and doesn't do much for me. The Adorn face and body bronzer comes in the tiniest packaging I have ever seen and is just the cutest. It is toxin and cruelty free and is also vegan accredited which once again BIG THUMBS UP! I am loving the browns and golden colours recently and this is just another great product to add to my collection. It can also be used as an eye shadow and apparently can be mixed with moisturiser to create a tinted moisturiser, which is pretty cool. All natural and super shimmery, I love it!

Last but not least everyone got one of these cute little snowflakes also from Magnolia. They are sterling silver and just adorable. Mine is already on my everyday necklace.(which I stupidly forgot to take a photo of..)

Overall December's box was great and I was thoroughly impressed by all the organic and natural products I received! Lovely Christmas box with a great Christmasy feel to it!

Merry Christmas Everyone! 

Wedding Makeup

 Swatches from top to bottom: Loreal BaseMagique Primer, Hello Kitty Bronzer in Pashmina Ambre #06, Bourjois Healthy Mix Gel Foundation in Vanilla #52, Loreal Touche Magique True Match Concealer in Natural Beige #03

A few days ago I found out that if you have SPF/shimmer in your foundation, concealer etc, the reflections will bounce back from a camera flash and cause you to have what I like to call 'the dreaded ghost face'. I spent the entire day yesterday researching what foundation and concealers don't contain any SPF/shimmer so that in my wedding photos I don't have a case of 'the dreaded ghost face'. Finally I came to the conclusion of these four great products. The L'Oreal Base Magique primer is amazing and tops any primer I have used in the past. It smoothes my skin out perfectly and feels almost like velvet. I concentrate on places I get oily the most which is generally my t-zone. The Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation is by far one of the best foundations I have used and it pretty well matches my skin perfectly. It is a light - medium coverage foundation and quite long lasting. It feels like and even after wearing it for a whole day when it was 37 degrees, I didn't feel like my face was sliding off. I did have to apply some more powder to my more oily areas, but that is to be expected. The second L'Oreal product I bought, Touche Magique concealer is gorgeous. Not only is the packaging really neat and handy, it glides on and blends in beautifully, covering all those little imperfections like dark eye circles and red blemishes. Hello Kitty Bronzer is just the cutest thing, my fiancée actually seen this and wouldn't let me buy anything else (he secretly loves Hello Kitty) so lucky it is very smooth and ever so slightly shimmery. I am doing my own makeup for my wedding so hoping all goes well with the products I have selected.

Cappucino Froth

Mirenesse - Super Long Wear Gel + Brush Mineral Face Colour 20 - Cappucino Froth

(Sorry for the terrible looking gel pot! I was so eager to use this and was going out right after i got this and just HAD to try it) 

This stuff is amazing! I am seriously in love with it. So what is it? It's a mineral face colour and it can be used on pretty much any part of your face. Lips, eyes, as a highlighter, the possibilities are endless.. well maybe that's exaggerating, but really this new gel is so versatile. You use the little applicator brush (or your fingers) to apply this gel to your lips, eyes, cheeks and upon drying it turns in to a powder that is waterproof and transfer proof. Oddly enough after I put this on, I had a bit of a tiff with my dad and ended up in tears. Even after rubbing my eyes this make up remained in tact! It was so amazing! It is so easy to apply evenly and smoothly, weather you choose to apply it with the brush or your fingers. 

For more info on this great product visit:

http://www.mirenesse.com

Frilly socks

Just because they are super cute and I love them!

November's Glossybox

This month I am thoroughly impressed with Glossybox, who were previously beautybox (who I didn’t much care for) The box itself was delivered quite late, having to wait till the 29th of this month to receive my November box, which was rather annoying, but it was really worth the wait. The packaging is gorgeous and far more appealing than ilovethisbox, with the pale baby pink box with black stamp and lined inside with black. I was most impressed with the presentation and the ribbon which is actually long enough to fit around my head as a cute head band. Okay, so moving on to the products.

I love Bio-Oil and have used it for years for my lobes when I was stretching them and also on some stretch marks. Recently I have been using it on some scars I am trying to get rid of before I get married. So very happy to get my hands on some more of this stuff, and in a smaller bottle making it easier to travel with. I am not a fan of the anti ageing creams. I am only 20 and even though they always say that it makes your skin look great and glowy, I don’t believe that at this age I should be trying to ‘de-age’ my already young skin. I do enough cleansing daily for my skin to already be young. I gave Jurlique age defying firm and lift cream to my mum. Was more than thrilled to get LilyLovesPearl gentle facial exfoliant as I am a bit obsessed with clean skin, especially my face. This is a full sized product and comes in a great pump action bottle with the cutest packaging and is more of a gel with small exfoliating beads. LilyLovesPearl is a certified organic brand, which automatically made me fall in love with it. Anything all natural, organic and not tested on animals gets my okay. It smells funny at first until the lime takes over, so it’s a bit zesty. The

 Bobbi Brown cleansing oil

 was something my sister received in her box, but gave to me as she doesn’t use those sort of things. On first smell, I couldn’t smell anything, but now I believe it has a faint lavender smell to it. Feels nice, but not really in to using oils on my face as it makes me feel as thought I am putting more oils on my already oily face, instead of cleansing and getting rid of some of the oils. Works great to get stubborn makeup off of your eyes though as it is so gentle and almost scentless. I’m not really a lipgloss girl as I find they always bring to much colour to my already bright red lips, but upon receiving the colour ‘LA nude’ from Mirenesse 3D Forever I think it has converted me. It looks great on and gives just enough shimmer without looking over bearing. It’s not too sticky, which is another reason I am not a fan of gloss, I’m more of a balm girl. I haven’t got a blue nail polish that I am in love with yet, but Essie Smooth Sailing is really pretty. It is a lilac colour with a slight shimmer. It looks really deminy on and is once again of great quality. Essie is a great brand.

Overall I am so impressed and this has actually swayed me to keep my Glossybox subscription and cancel my ilovethisbox subscription. Loving the full sized products and all the little free gift cards and the discount cards.. Ohh annnd the cream on the cake? We got small packets of yummy pink jelly beans which my fiancee enjoyed! 

Metallic Flash

Terrible picture I know, but I have broken my camera and all I have access to is my webcam, my iphone and my mum's dodgey camera.. eeeek. Can not wait for christmas when I am getting a brand new camera! yay!

Anyhow this is my new favourite nail colour. Metallic Flash from Cutex - Quick and GO!
It's super fast drying (the packaging claims it dries in 45 seconds, I give it 1 - 2 minutes) and the brush is a new design thick flat brush so it is super easy to paint my nails super fast! Love the colour despite always hating metallic polishes. I think this polish has turned me around.

November's ilovethisbox.com

This is my first ilovethisbox and I am thoroughly impressed. Apologies for the hideous picture, I only had my iPhone available as my camera has decided not to focus anymore.. silly thing. 

Keratinology shampoo AND conditioner is amazing! LoveLoveLOVEE this stuff. It smells brilliant and with them both being full sized I was able to wash my hair for a week (and have half a bottle left) with them and I really noticed the difference. My hair was so smooth and shiny, so gorgeous that I am actually saving the remains of the product for  the week before my wedding. SO impressed with the POD liquid face tan, it is all natural tan and if I remember correctly organic too, so it automatically wins my vote. You don't need much to cover the entire face and neck area and the scent is just divine. Musty rose is the only way I can think to describe it, but oh my I am in loveeee with it! I have been searching for the perfect pale pink for a while now, and the Essie nail polish in French Affair is just an amazing colour. It goes on quite thick and is not transparent like most pale pinks and it's pretty quick drying. The polish itself is great quality as it lasted me almost 3 weeks before looking so shabby that I took it off. The organic natural eye shadow in 172 - Taupe by Nvey Eco looks great on as an everyday colour or a great base colour for building up and has a slight shimmer. I find it is best applied lightly all over the eyelid with a fluffy brush and then in the crease using a flat brush for a more toned look. I am not one to use the anti-aging creams. I live in fear that if I start to use them now, by the time I actually need them my skin will be used to the ingredients and they won't work, crazy I know.. But the brain works in mysterious ways sometimes. I gave the variety of face creams by Caudalie too my mum.

The sizes of the products is amazing, and it is great to see so many full size products and generous sample sizes. Waiting on Glossybox for the big decision! ilovethisbox or Glossybox?

My face cleansers, scrubs, toners, creams obsession.

So recently it has come to my attention that I probably am a little (okay, A LOT) obsessed with anything to do with cleaning and moisterising my face. Just so you get the jist of it, here's what I use regularly:

In the shower I use:
- Olay Total Effects Cleanser for Blemish Prone Skin
This gets rid of any make up I have missed before my shower so my face is clear and ready for the scrub. Olay is not something I would usually use but was given to me as a gift. It is really creamy with very small exfoliating beads. It spreads easily and does get off make-up quite well.
How do I feel about this product? 3/5

- Neutrogena Deep Clean Shine Control Scrub
This is my exfoliating scrub. I really like harsh scrubs, as strange as that sounds. I love the gritty-ness and how it makes me face feel really soft and smooth after washing. I use this scrub to eliminate some of my oily-ness and to control shine and keep my pores clean. It is super gritty and blue and smells pretty decent, anything that I am going to wash off (aside from my shower gel) I don't care much for scent usually.
How do I feel about this product? 4/5

- Nivea Visage Young Deeper Wash Scrub
I would never class this as a 'scrub', it is very gentle on the skin, probably because it is from the 'Young' set. I just love the cool, fresh, gel feeling after the harsh scrub. It feels and smells great and I always like to finish with this product.
How do I feel about this product? 5/5

Other products I use daily:
- Swisspers Facial Cleansing Wipes
Great at getting rid of makeup and dirt if I am in a rush and unable to do my normal routine.
How do I feel about this product? 4/5

- Formula 10.0.6 2 in 1 cleanser and toner
Aside from the strong scent, which is pretty horrid, I am IN LOVE with this product. It really gets deep down and gets all the dirt and bacteria out of my pores. I have noticed a huge change in my face since using this, my pores don't seem as big and my face is definitely smoother. I use this to get my make up off if it is minimal, or if i have done the full make up works, after the cleansing wipes to rid my face of anything left over before bed. I try to do this in the morning before putting on makeup and before bed. Sleeping with makeup on - yuckkkk.
*Keeping your eyes closed when using this is a good idea, as the scent is so strong it sometimes hurts my eyes.. sounds bad I know, but it really has done wonders for my skin. And never ever cleanse your eyes with this!
How do I feel about this product? 4.5/5

- Biotherm Aqua Source
As said in my previous post this stuff is great, I usually put it on after cleansing with the Formula 10.0.6.
How do I feel about this product? 4.5/5

- Bobbi Brown Cleansing Oil
I only use this on my eyes as it works wonders on tough mascara and eye liners and is very gentle. It is not very scented and feels beautiful on my eyes.
*Read my review on this late on in my November Glossybox post.
How do I feel about this product? 4/5

- Face the Day Tinted Moisturizer from Formula 10.0.6
This gives you a great lightly sun-kissed look and contains SPF15 so is an instant winner for me. Smooths on really nicely. All round great tinted moisturiser, aside from the slightly funky scent haha.
How do I feel about this product? 4.5/5

How in depth is your skin routine? What products work great for you?

clean sun kissed faces
nickyrae x

October BeautyBox

For as long as I can remember, I have been following countless UK beauty blogs and the one thing I was always really envious of (aside from the huge array of amazing clothing stores) was the amount of subscription beauty boxes they had available to them. glossybox, boudoir, feel unique, birch box, and so on. I had been googling endlessly trying to find an Australian version when one day I finally came across beautybox. I instantly subscribed, but was too late for the September box. Finally I received my october box, thrilled I ripped it all open without even thinking about taking photos and so on. Here's what I got anyhow:

Biotherm Aquasource Moisturiser: $59 / 50ml
I love this stuff and have used it ever since I received it. You don't need much to cover your whole face and neck and it feels great when putting it on. It's more like a gel than a cream and my skin always feel really moist after applying it. The only bad thing I would have to mention is the scent, it reminds of male after shave almost.

Calvin Klein (ck one shock for her and for him): $49 / 50ml
The little spray bottles this scent comes in is so great and cute, perfect for travel or in your purse when going to a night club. The her version is a little flowery for me, but still nice. The his version is uh-maze-ing! I sprayed it on my fiancee and oh my gosh, sooo good. We got two little bottles of each and I promised him when they are all finished up I will buy him a full size haha. I love it! He was also really excited to get a little something in my pressie.

Garnier (Body Intensive 7 Days Moisturiser) $6.95 / 400ml
I was a little dissapointed with this product as it come in those annoying plastic/foil packagings which are really the death of me when it comes to samples. I H-A-T-E those little wrappers. Aside from that, it is great and really very moisterising, it also smell really nice too, but is all to familiar with the shea butter and so on. I have far to many hand/body creams with the same smell, it urks me that someone hasn't put in the effort to make it smell different to other products, as scent is a really big thing for me.

John Frieda (Full Repair Full Body Shampoo & Conditioner) $15.99 / 250ml
I had high hopes for this set of shampoo and conditioner. They smelt great and the shampoo really worked well, but the conditioner did not 'spread' as easily as I would have liked. Now I have fairly short hair, barely reaching my shoulders and used half of the little sample in the first wash to cover my hair evenly.. I feel as if, if I was to buy this set, I would need to buy 2 conditioners to my 1 shampoo, AND that's on my short hair.. let alone medium to long hair. Overall it made my hair feel great and shiny but due to the conditioner issue, I don't really know if it would have made a huge impact over time as i could only get two washes in, sadly. Probably wouldn't bother buying the full sizes of this set.

Shiseido (Sheer Matifying Compact Foundation) $66 (refill) + $22 (case) / 13g
First off I'd just like to say I was mortified to see how much this cost haha! The little sample we got was so cute and once again really great for a quick touch up in a night club. It's smooth and creamy and is easy to apply wet or dry. I love when face products contain SPF15 or higher as I am so conscious about skin care and sunburn and the life long troubles that sun can cause for our skin. Over all great product but really way above my price range.

And that was the October BeautyBox, bit delayed I know, but I have been busy designing an entire webpage for AAA Water Tanks (my Step Father-in-law to be's business)

many kisses and hugs
nickyrae