My First Birchbox!

Hey Guys,

I recently decided to sign up to Birchbox as there have been many good reviews and the products seem to be amazing and there seems to be a good range of products. I was lucky enough to be in time to receive the Lulu Guinness Edition of the box which includes a beautiful designed slip (is that the word?) to go over the original Birchbox.

The slip has two designs front and back, both bold and fabulous. Lulu Guinness uses the black and white stripes throughout the box as she to includes a inscripted "rock" sweet in the same design. 

This is an overview of  what I received, there were a few leaflets including a special book that had Lulu Guinness' views and opinions on stuff. For a Birchbox virgin I found that the box and bag were super cute and can easily be used around the house again. 

So now the bit everyone has been waiting for, the products.

English Laundry (English Laundry Signature For Her EDP Spray For Women)
" Tap into the very essence of an English country garden with this beautifully fresh fragrance. Envelope yourself in top notes of rose geranium and creamy white flowers set against a woody spicy and musky tones"
I personally love this fragrance it only takes one spray to last an entire day, handy considering its a sample size. A cute essential for any woman's handbag. 

Dr Brant Pores No More (Pore Refiner)
"Targeting one of skincare's biggest issues, Dr Brandt's amazing Pore No More refiner gives a quick fix for oily complexions helping to hide pores, absorb oil and mattify shine. The silky smooth formula glides effortlessly onto the skin releasing microspheres which diffuse the light It also contains Tea Tree Oil for its essential antibacterial properties."
I do tend to suffer with bad pores but I don't have oily skin, I found this to be oily in itself but did give off the silky texture that every woman desires. Overall I prefer the Porefessional Face Primer in comparison. 

Korres Citrus Body Milk 
"With a nourishing and soothing combination of almond oil, aloe, shea butter and provitamin B5, this lotion will leave your skin feeling super-hydrated throughout the day. The lightweight formula's citrusy scent is the perfect morning pick-me-up ritual. Plus, there are no parabens, 
silicones, or other synthetics and the packinging is all recyclable".
This is in no way something I would think of buying I don't particularly like the smell of the expensive price tag.However it is always handy to have a travel size of anything and this is no exception.


Benefit Stay Don't Stray (Light/Medium)

"This little gem is foolproof way to ensure that your undereye concealer and eyeshadows stay put from morning to night. It comes in one surprisingly versatile shade that brightens underneath and above the eye. The lightweight formula blends in easily and won't clog the delicate skin around the eyes".I am a major Benefit fan I tend to have at least 3 of there products on my wishlist at one time. I find this Primer for the eyes and concealers to be effective, normally I would need to touch up or feel like the makeup is fading however with this product I am able to see a huge difference. Definitely on my wishlist.

Molton Brown Replenishing Hand Cream (Rhubarb and Rose)
"This luxury intensive hand cream not only smells temptingly sweet, it's instantly absorbed after application - so you can get straight back to what you were doing. White truffle extract ensures your hands stay soft, along with moisturising rose extract."
I must admit I am pretty bad when it comes to using any kind of cream so this gives me a push to use it more. Its nourishing and smells of summer definitely something to crack out when you need to give your hands some TLC.

So to anyone thinking of signing up to Birchbox I would suggest you do so, it is a cute little box that any beauty lover would enjoy and its super affordable!

Sign up here

The Beauty Scenario TAG

The Questions:

1. You have to get rid of all your foundations and you can only keep one high end and one drugstore, which do you keep?

This one is particularly hard for me I shop 95% based on drugstore mainly because I'm not rolling in money yet, so the ratio of high end to drug store is a tad biased. However the drug store foundation I'm picking is based on the length of time I've used it for, it was the first foundation that didn't apply to my dry skin and turn into skin flakes (ewww gross I know). So the foundation in question is GOSH X-Ceptional Wear Foundation in Porcelain, not only is it a perfect fit for someone with dry skin but it was one of the first foundations that had my skin tone. It is average on the price scale at £7.99 and can be picked up at your nearest Superdrug.
I only own two "high end" foundations in the shape of Benefits Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow! and Estee Lauders infamous Double Wear foundation. Out of the two I definitely reach for Benefit more, it blends better into my face and offers a complete coverage that both matches my skin tone and enhances it. The foundation itself is also packaged beautifully in fact it is something that can be put on display in any room. You can grab your own bottle at Boots and its something I would recommend. Estee Lauder foundation made my skin flaky and I believe that I got given the wrong colour foundation which didn't help my view, I see why people rave about this foundation but with my skin now it doesn't quite work. You can pick your foundation Boots both foundations retail in there 20's which is almost 3 times more than GOSH.

2. You go for an interview and the lady interviewing you has lipstick on her teeth. Do you approach the subject or ignore it completely?

I think in this kind of situation I wouldn't draw attention to the issue, I feel that if I was to do such a thing then the interviewer would feel self conscious and it may count against me. The least I would do would be to do subtle things such as licking my own teeth in a hope that they would do the same.

3. You're not feeling yourself and need a pick me up. Which lipstick do you put on to make yourself feel beautiful?

I don't tend to wear lipstick a lot and when I do it's dramatic, a simple red lip never fails to make me feel amazing, my ultimate favorite has to be Fatal Red by Maybelline. It's cheap and cheerful and I feel like it suits my complexion pretty well. 


4. You go back in time for a day to your teenage years, how would you do your hair and makeup differently?

I didn't actually start to wear make-up until I was at least in year 10 (or Sophomore year) but I definitely went through a stage of wearing things that were the complete opposite of how God intended me to be. I straightened the life out of my natural curls, dyed it almost black and wore foundation that was darker than I was. I would shake the life out of myself if I could and tell myself to stick to natural stuff, don't be someone else for anybody just be true to you.

5. You ask your hairdresser for a shoulder length Pixie Lott hair cut, but they hear wrong and give you a pixi cut. Do you a) Smile, say thank you, leave and call your mum hysterical b) Cry in the chair and things get awkward or c) Complain to the manager and demand a refund.

To be honest I would never ask for anything that short I am way to attached to my hair but let's say I do. In all honesty it would be the first option, I'm not generally someone who confronts someone or argues my mum however would march over there and demand that they fix it and give all my money back.

6. Your friend surprises you with a 4 day city break and you have 1 hour to pack. Which 'do it all' palette do you pack in your makeup bag?

Oh how I would love that friend! I don't tend to have a lot of high end makeup palettes in fact all of my palettes are affordable drug store brands. The MUA Undressed Palette is an amazing dupe for the Urban Decay Naked Palette so it combines all natural and glowy tones and shades to create both day and night looks anywhere. 

7. Your house has been robbed, don't worry everyone is safe, but your beauty stash has been raided. What's the product you really hope is safe?

I don't have one particular thing in my makeup products that I would think of straight away, I think out of everything I would choose to grab my Real Techniques Make-up brushes. I am proud of my growing collection they are by far my favorite brushes and super affordable!

8. Your friend borrows your makeup and returns it in awful condition. Do you a) Just pretend you haven't noticed b) Ask them to repurchase it or c) Secretly do the same to something of theirs

As I've previously said I am not one for confrontation and I doubt it would have been on purpose, I would just know to never lend them makeup again, I can't actually imagine any of my friends wouldn't repurchase or replace something that they would have messed up. 

Inspiration Blogger of the Week #3:

I have been a major fan of Sabrina for at least a year, not only is she an amazing blogger but she also has a youtube channel in which she creates videos on everything from hauls to tutorials. In fact her Youtube channel is what drew me into searching the web for her blog.

Now she hasn't posted much this year but her dedication to both her blog and her youtube channel is profound, not only that but she is down to earth and I've been particularly lucky for her to have tweeted me back (major fan girl moment trust me!)

Her tutorials are effortless and she combines not only high end products but manages to sneak in products on the cheaper scale in there, recently she created a Mila Kunis inspired make-up look using only Primark make-up from there new range. (click here to watch)

In general I cannot begin to explain and encourage you guys to check her out, her success along with her beauty (*crushing*) is on the up and I'll be privileged to watch her rise.

Her links:

Instagram

Blogger
Youtube

Blogger Inspiration of the week #2

Fashion Train, AKA Becca.

Becca has been one of the most inspirational bloggers of the past year for me, she doesn't just blog about one specific thing but it ranges from beauty products to outfit posts. Her outfit posts are by far my favorite type of posts that she creates, they have an amazing range from daytime to night time and half of the time it has me reaching for my debit card (Bad influence Becca haha).

I still remember when she retweeted me and when she likes my photos on instagram, trust me I had a fan girl moment haha! If I can be anywhere near as stylish and successful as Becca is then I will be an extremely happy girl. So if for some reason you read my post and have not glanced at Becca's blog, head over there now. You wont be disappointed!

*This is one of my favorite outfit posts that Becca has recently published, beautiful!

Where to find her:
Blog
Facebook
Instagram
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