Glossybox Review – April 2016

Hey everyone! It’s Glossybox review time; I received my April box this week, so let’s take a look inside…

Box Break Down:

– Next Make Me Beautiful Lipstick
– Leighton Denny Expert Nails Miracle Mist
– Studio 10 Brow Lift Perfecting Liner
– The Body Shop Oils Of Life Intensely Revitalising Facial Oil
– H&O Skincare Skindulgence

Next Make Me Beautiful Lipstick (Full Size) –  £8 RRP

I’ve never tried any of Next’s make-up range as I tend to steer clear of cheaper, retail branded make-up. When I saw this colour in my box (Simply Peach) I thought it was lovely, but on applying it I find that it’s definitely too pale for me, which is a shame. I also didn’t like how it looked after applying. It’s quite matte, but it looks a bit patchy in places. It also doesn’t have very good staying power! Overall, not a fan of this lipstick. Sorry, Next!

Leighton Denny Expert Nails Miracle Mist (Full Size) – £12 RRP // Studio 10 Brow Lift Perfecting Liner (Full Size) – £22 RRP

The Miracle Mist is what grabbed my attention as soon as I opened my box! Lovely full-sized product! I don’t wear nail polish very often as I hate waiting for it to dry, so this is kind of perfect for me. I’ve tested it on only one nail so far, and it did speed up the drying time a little. I’ll have to try it on a full set of nails sometime to see how well it fares properly.

I saw a lot of negative responses to the Studio 10 Brow Lift on social media so I immediately went to try it out for myself. I’m not sure why there’s so much negativity as I found it very creamy and lovely to apply, and it gave me the best brows I’ve ever had!  I don’t think it’s suitable for all hair colours like Glossybox claim (what about red-heads?) but I really love it as it’s perfect for my own hair colour.

The Body Shop Oils Of Life Intensely Revitalising Facial Oil (Sample Size) – £28 RRP // H&O Skincare Skindulgence (Sample Size) – £42.50 RRP

I was most looking forward to The Body Shop sample when I read about it last month! Unfortunately I haven’t actually tried it yet! I’m not sure how many uses you would get out of this little sample to see if it works either, BUT, Glossybox and The Body Shop have also teamed up to give Glossys £10 off a £25 spend online or in store and the chance to get a deluxe sample of The Body Shop’s new Sleeping Cream, so I can’t complain too much.

I’ve seen these balm-type make-up removers like Skindulgence before but have never tried them. I think I’m a little bit too lazy to ever use it (I prefer to just wipe a cleansing wipe over my face and be done with it!) but I will try it out sometime and see what I think.

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Thanks for reading everyone! If you’re a Glossy, what did you all think of your Glossybox? I know there’s a mascara (which I picked myself) in next month’s Glossybox so I’m looking forward to that!

Subscribe to Glossybox!
Subscriptions start from £10 a month (plus £3.25 p&p). They have different subscription options that save you money over a year, and you are free to cancel your subscription at any time.

Red
xx

Birchbox Review – April 2016

April has come around SO quickly! My Birchbox for this month arrived a couple of days ago, and I actually got the chance to sit down and try the products today! This month’s box design is a collaboration with Rifle Paper Co. and I have to say, it’s beautiful! I’m glad I chose the pink version as it’s much more happy and colourful than the green one, IMO. Also included with this month’s goodies is a 25% off voucher to spend at Rifle Paper Co. They have some lovely things on their website, but I was sad to see that they are an American company and so the shipping and possible customs charges might negate the voucher’s use a little. But still! It’s a nice gesture.

Box Break Down

– Benefit Cosmetics Dew The Hoola
– LOC One and Done Shadow Stick in Empress Me
– NUXE Huile Prodigieuse
– PARLOR by Jeff Chastain Touchable Curl Cream
– Kueshu Foot Care Cream

Benefit Dew The Hoola (Sample Size) – £22.50 RRP // LOC One and Done Shadow Stick in Empress Me (Full Size) – £8 RRP

I was excited to see a sample of Benefit’s Dew The Hoola in my box as I’ve been seeing Benefit advertise their new Hoola range for a while now! I’m not really one for bronzers or self tanning, but I was curious about this range. This is a little sample size, and you could probably get a few uses out of it depending on where you apply it! I tried it on my face, and it blends in well – maybe TOO well – as I was disappointed that it barely made any difference at all, and I have pretty pale skin. It has a tropical, pineapple-y scent, that reminds me of something from my childhood but I can’t remember what!
I wouldn’t go out and buy the full size of this, so at least that’s helped my decision!

LOC is Birchbox’s in-house make-up brand. I’ve always wanted to try a pencil-type eyeshadow so I was happy to get this in my box! It’s a lovely shimmery brown colour, which will go lovely with darker shades to create a smokey eye, or just as a light smokey eye on its own! It applies smoothly and wears well.

NUXE Huile Prodigieuse (Sample Size) – £17 RRP // PARLOR by Jeff Chastain Touchable Curl Cream (Sample Size) – £17 RRP

I’m a bit wary of this oil as I have oily skin to begin with, so putting oil on it seems a bit strange to me! This NUXE oil is a blend of six essential oils, plant oils and vitamin E, to give your skin hydration and a velvety sheen. You can use it on your face and body, or in the ends of your hair if it’s particularly dry. I have tried it on the back of my hand, and it does make my skin feel silky and gives a healthy glow! It also smells amazing. I’ll have to try it on my face at some point and see if it makes it even more oily or not, but if it does, I’ll use it on my body instead because the scent is gorgeous.

I was pleased to see that Birchbox obviously read the profile for my hair – I have very thick, curly hair (though it’s very short at the moment!) and I never know what to do with it. I’ve never heard of this hairdresser, but I’m always willing to give curl creams a go! Not sure how well it will work on my short hair, but I’ll have to find out!

Kueshi Foot Care Cream (Travel Size) – £12 RRP

This made me laugh when I opened up the bag and saw it. Why? Well, I walk home from work for lunch, and on the way home that day I had complained to my friend that walking hurt, and felt like the heels of my feet were burning! So to find this in my Birchbox when I got home for lunch was like a miracle! Haha! I instantly applied it to my poor, dry heels (not sure why they were, I usually have very good feet) and it certainly made a difference! I had much less pain the rest of the day, and my heels don’t hurt at all a few days later. I’d say that’s a win! I’m definitely going to keep using this, even though I never use foot cream usually.

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Thanks for reading everyone!

Subscribe to Birchbox – If you use my link, you can also get 50 points (worth £5) to spend in the Birchbox shop, which is awesome!
Subscriptions start from £12.95 a month (free postage!) They have different subscription options that save you money over a year, and you are free to cancel your subscription at any time.

Red
xx

My Melon Mix-up! Lancome Juicy Shakers Review

I’ve been seeing these things all over my Twitter feed recently! Lancome’s website describes them as such:

Shake shake shake, dab dab dab!! The newest lip revolution has landed! It’s time to ban the boring and get fruity with our new Juicy Shaker lip gloss.

Our ultimate lip gloss has a bi phased formula pairing nourishing lip oils with beautiful pigments for plump but natural looking, glossy lips. These nourishing oils contain sweet almond oil, omega 3 and cranberry oil. The healthy oils your lips lust after!

The cushion applicator feels soft to the touch, allowing the gloss to melt onto the lips. Like a sponge, the applicator absorbs just the right dose of pigment. The shape hugs the lips contours so you cannot go wrong. Thanks to the nourishing oils, the formula is non sticky and non-drying, making lips feel soft and kissable!

Sounds amazing! So I finally caved, and on Saturday I went to Debenhams to try them out. I ended up picking out a nice red colour called ‘Vanilla Pop’ that didn’t look too bright on my skin. Perfect! After wandering and spending more money than I should have on other bits and pieces, I paid for it all and went home happy. The first thing I wanted to try when I got home was, of course, the Juicy Shaker, so I tore open the box and shook it up like a mini cocktail shaker.

“Hm, that’s odd,” I said to myself as I looked at the colour. “Seems a bit brighter than I remember.” But hey ho, off I went and applied it onto my lips anyway. Oh. That’s not red. That’s… rather pink. I looked at the box and realised that the Lancome sales assistant had accidentally picked out Wonder Melon for me instead of my choice, Vanilla Pop! Ooooops!

Never mind. Mistakes happen, and I wasn’t upset by it at all. And the colour isn’t actually bad, due to the sheer nature of the oil (I actually really like it). And it smells like watermelon (WATERMELOOONE), which I love. So it worked out fine in the end! (It also means that I have to go out and buy Vanilla Pop sometime because damn, these things are addictive!!)

 

Anyway, onto the actual review: Shaking these things is a joy. I don’t know what it is about it but I instantly feel happy when I do it. I think it’s because I love seeing the oil mix together and become one solid colour. Ahh, so satisfying. I also absolutely love the little plush applicator on the end. It’s so soft and applies the product so well. It’s like a little fuzzy kiss. And of course, as I mentioned, the flavour of the oil itself is lovely. I didn’t actually sniff any of the others and I wish I had. I hope the Vanilla Pop one smells of vanilla because that’s my favourite scent! The colour is sheer, but it depends on how much you shake the shaker as to how much is distributed onto the sponge, and you could layer it a little to make it darker.

Me wearing Wonder Melon

At £18 each these are a tiny bit pricey for me to buy regularly, but I think mine will last a long time anyway so that’s not a problem! The problem is… me having some self control and not buying them all!!

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Lancome Juicy Shakers are available on Lancome’s website for £18 each, in 14 different shades.

Has anyone else tried them? What does yours smell like?

Red
xx

Birchbox Review – March 2016

Not content with having only one beauty box subscription,  I also signed up for Birchbox! I’d heard good things about them so thought I’d give them a go! The cool thing about Birchbox is that if you like any of the products you can buy them straight from their website! Here’s what I got inside my very first box – March 2016.

The first thing I saw when I opened up the brown outer mail packaging was this gorgeous little box with a wordsearch all over it, which turns out to be a competition to win £450 worth of beauty treats! I really should do mine, but I almost can’t bear to ruin the lovely box! Haha!
I LOVE the little drawstring bag that everything was inside too! SO cute.

Box Break Down

– Arrow Boost Colour Enhancing Lip Balm
– ModelCo More Brows
– Doux Me Comforting Face Mask
– Beauty Protector Beauty Cream Body Lotion
– NUDE ProGenius Omega Treatment Oil
– Number 4 Lumiere d’hiver Reconstructing Masque

Arrow Boost Colour Enhancing Lip Balm (Full Size) – £11 RRP // ModelCo More Brows Light/Medium (Full Size) – £13 RRP

Arrow is Birchbox’s own brand, so it makes sense that they’d include a full size! This little lip balm is really moisturising and leaves my lips feeling soft. It also changes the colour of the wearer’s lips according to their pH level! Mine turn a lovely pink! I love the slightly minty taste too! Sadly as it’s been in my pocket quite a lot it’s also been through the washing machine… oops! I think it’s still ok though!

I’ve heard of ModelCo before but I’ve never tried any of their cosmetics. I’ve also never used brow gel, so I was really excited to try this! Unfortunately I have quite dark eyebrows so the light/medium colour of this was a little too light for my brows, but I really like the idea of it and it did tame my brows quite a bit. I think I’ll look into getting a darker version of this, and this one can go to my mum who has pretty much zero eyebrows – we tried it on her and it worked amazingly!

Doux Me Comforting Face Mask (Travel Size) – £18 RRP // Beauty Protector Beauty Cream Body Lotion (Travel Size) – £10.90 RRP

Both of these products are Birchbox exclusives!

I’ve only used the Doux Me face mask as an exfoliator so far (another use for it) but it left my skin feeling really nice and smooth! It has little grains in that help to exfoliate and it smells good too.

Oh my gosh, the Beauty Protector cream smells SO GOOD. Seriously, guys. It’s so sweet! It’s like vanilla and candy floss and once I used it on my hands I wanted to eat them… which could be a problem…! I put it on a dry, itchy burn scar that I have on my wrist and it instantly moisturised it and stopped it from itching. Lovely!

NUDE ProGenius Omega Treatment Oil (Travel Size) – £58 RRP //  Number 4 Lumiere d’hiver Reconstructing Masque (Travel Sachet) – £36 RRP

I haven’t used the NUDE Treatment Oil yet but I hope to soon, though as I have oily skin I’m a little worried about putting more oil onto it! It says that it nourishes the skin so I’m looking forward to seeing what it does.

The description for the Number 4 masque says that it’s an SOS treatment for your hair. I’ve used half of my sachet so far and it really intensely hydrated my hair so it definitely does what it says! I did find my hair got greasier much faster than usual but I guess that comes from being so nourished!

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Thanks for reading everyone! Can’t wait for next month’s Birchbox! I already chose my box design… eeee!

Subscribe to Birchbox – If you use my link, you can also get 50 points (worth £5) to spend in the Birchbox shop, which is awesome!
Subscriptions start from £12.95 a month (free postage!) They have different subscription options that save you money over a year, and you are free to cancel your subscription at any time.

Red
xx

Glossybox Review – March 2016

I’ve only recently joined Glossybox and I was soooo excited when mine arrived in the post the other week! I think Beauty Boxes are a really great idea for people (like me) who want to try new skincare and make up products but have no idea where to start. Though I’ve seen some disappointment over this month’s box from others, I was really pleasantly surprised when I opened up the box and saw what I got!

Box Break Down

– 417 Catharsis Vitamin Mineral Shampoo
– 417 Catharsis Vitamin Mineral Conditioner
– So Susan Light Diffuser
– Luxie Rose Gold Large Angled Face Brush
– Hey Honey Good Morning Honey Silk Facial Serum
– Olay Regenerist Luminous Skin Tone Perfecting Cream

417 Catharsis Vitamin Mineral Shampoo & Conditioner (Travel Size) – £16.89 RRP each (Full Size)

I love that Glossybox sent both a shampoo and a conditioner – so helpful! Apparently “a combination of Dead Sea moisture balancing minerals, energising vitamins and essential oils” are packed into these! I’ve been trying them both for about a week now and I have to say… my hair feels so much better! I have very thick, coarse, curly hair, which always sticks up everywhere, but one use of this actually tamed it and it feels really soft. I might have to give the large sizes a go once I’ve ran out of these travel sizes.

So Susan Light Diffuser (Full Size) – £14 RRP // Luxie Rose Gold Large Angled Face Brush (Full Size) – £10.42 RRP

I’ve never heard of So Susan before, but this little illuminator and bronzer duo makes me want to check out more of their stuff! First off, it smells wonderful, which I discovered is due to the fact that it’s scented with dark cocoa and coconut. Probably not for everyone, but I really like it (and want to eat it). I found the darker shade just right for a nice subtle bit of contouring, and the highlighter is also subtle but nice.

I’m always happy to get new brushes, and this Luxie Angled brush is lovely! I’ve been using it a lot with my other contouring products and it’s really soft. Thanks Glossybox!

Hey Honey Good Morning Honey Silk Facial Serum (Travel Size) – £28.81 RRP // Olay Regenerist Luminous Skin Tone Perfecting Cream (Travel Size) – £29.99 RRP

Those of you that follow my Twitter know that I loved the Hey Honey serum literally the as soon as I tried it. You can use it morning and night after cleansing. The description says, “Infused with honey and propolis (two of nature’s most potent antiseptic and antibacterial ingredients made by bees), this light and luxurious serum replenishes and protects the skin, leaving you with a glowing complexion day after day.”
I definitely agree that it replenishes and protects the skin as my skin felt like it had been touched by the hands of angels the morning after I used it! Haha! I couldn’t stop touching my face. Will definitely be repurchasing in the large size.

I’ve never tried any Olay products before (GASP!) but it’s a brand I’m familiar with because my mum used to use it when she was younger. I still haven’t tried this one, but I’m really interested in seeing if it will start to reduce any dark spots on my skin with just the tester size.

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Thanks for reading everyone! I can’t wait to see what I get in April’s Glossybox… so excited!!

Subscribe to Glossybox!
Subscriptions start from £10 a month (plus £3.25 p&p). They have different subscription options that save you money over a year, and you are free to cancel your subscription at any time. I think that’s a pretty good deal!

Red
xx

 

W7 Cosmetics Review #1

Hi all, and welcome to my very first blog review! Woooo!

As you may have noticed, the title says W7 Review #1, and that’s because I have a second little haul of W7 to review. As there’s already enough in this post, I decided to split them into two, and that review will be along in a week or so!
Firstly I’d like to say thank you to my friend Lucy who procured the W7 testers for me – she works for a cosmetics company and these testers came with the W7 displays and she kindly gave them to me. The Photo Shoot foundation I bought myself. And now onto the review!

w7 Fashion Lipstick – The Reds – £3.95 RRP each (Full size)

Now, I’ve looked on the W7 website and some of the reds on there don’t match the ones I have, so some of these may have been discontinued. I can sort of understand why, as all of these reds look so similar that there’s barely any difference!
The colours that I have are: Scarlet Fever (on the site), Racing Red, Very Red, Bordeaux and Kir Royale (on the site).

As you can see they all look very similar except for the last two. They swatch very nicely though, and are lovely reds. My favourite has to be Bordeaux as I’m a fan of darker reds. Kir Royale seems to be the odd one out in the fact that it has a slight shimmer to it! They are nice and buttery and the colour lasts well too.

A shot of me wearing Very Red

W7 Fashion Lipstick – The Pinks – £3.95 RRP each (Full Size)

These pinks have a nice variety of colours. The ones I have are: Coconut Ice, Candy Dream, Negligee and Pink Shimmer.

Like the reds, they swatch nicely. These colours are all shimmery and in a way they remind me of colours you’d choose for a wedding! Pink shimmer isn’t so much my thing, but for those who it is a thing, these would be great additions to your collection!

A shot of me wearing Coconut Ice

W7 Lip & Cheek Stains – £4.95 RRP

If you’re looking at these thinking “They look almost exactly like Benefit’s lip and cheek stains!” then you’d be right! They’re pretty similar. The colours are: A Hint Of Bali, A Hint Of Rio, A Hint Of Tahiti (my inner Phil Coulson is screaming ;)) and A Hint Of Cuba.

Aside from Benetint (which I’ve swatched below), I’ve never used Benefit’s lip & cheek stains so I can’t compare the W7 ones to them! On their own, these W7 stains are very pigmented and I absolutely love them as cheek stains! I find that they go on and blend very easily and leave behind a lovely colour. I don’t care for them so much as lip stains because they have a very bitter taste to them which I didn’t like.

   

W7’s A Hint Of Bali is a bit pinker in tone than Benetint, which is more of a red. Benetint’s brush is stiffer and easier to control than AHOB, and I think Benetint’s formula is a little nicer, but honestly, if you’re looking for a MUCH cheaper dupe of Benetint I’d say definitely pick AHOB up and at least try it once.

w7 Photo Shoot Foundation – £4.95 RRP

I’d heard good things about this foundation already so I was excited to try it! I’ve been using the same Max Factor foundation for years and wanted something new. I have “Buff”, which is the lightest colour as I’m a bit of a ghost, and the colour suits me well, which I was happy about! There are only 5 other colours in this foundation, so not too much variation.
The bottle boasts 16 hours of budge proof wear, but I did find that after my usual 8 hour day at work it needed a bit of touching up when I got home, even with primer. I do have oily skin though so that may be a factor. Other than that, it felt nice on my skin and covered blemishes really well! I’m going to continue to use it until it’s all gone. My only gripe with this bottle is that it doesn’t have a pump, which means you either have to go all tomato ketchup on it to get it out or stick a skinny brush down into it and scoop it out. I’m hoping now that Revlon have gone the way of the pump with their Colorstay bottles, W7 will follow suit with this one.

w7 Glowcomotion Shimmer – £5.99 RRP (Full Size) // W7 Make Up & Glow Bronzer – £4.95 RRP (Full Size)

I absolutely love Glowcomotion! It’s a really lovely pigmented highlighter that you can use for your cheeks or even as an eyeshadow. I was very impressed with it. Obviously with the full size it comes in a compact with a mirror too!

I rarely use cream bronzers but thought I’d give W7’s Make Up & Glow a try and actually I do like it! It blends in nicely and leaves a good bronze colour. The full size one is a little bigger than the tester I have so plenty to use!

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That concludes my first W7 review! I hope you found it helpful! Has anyone else used W7 Cosmetics products?

Visit W7’s website for their latest products!

You can buy W7 from many places online such as:
Xtras
Fragrance Direct
Direct Cosmetics
And also in stores such as:
Asda, Next, House Of Fraser, TK Maxx and more!

Red
xx

Hi Everyone!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

My name’s Red and I’m a Graphic Designer from the East Midlands, in the UK.

After many years of hoarding collecting fragrances and cosmetics, I decided to finally dip my toes into the world of blogging so that I could share my olfactory (and other) obsessions with the web!

The name Scentpathy comes from scent (of course!) and empathy. Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another being (a human or non-human animal) is experiencing, and I feel that fragrances and scents are a huge part of this. Being empathic myself, I have a very tuned sense of smell, which is another reason why I love scents so much!

My blog is where I like to share my reviews, recommendations, tips and other ramblings about the beauty world. I’m also an avid cosplayer (Red Widow Cosplay on Facebook) so there may be a few cosplay make up tutorials here and there too!

I hope that you enjoy reading my ramblings and that you find some useful hints or that you’re introduced to new products and brands that you may not have tried before.

Feel free to follow me on my social media links at the side – I love to chat to fellow beauty lovers!

Red~