A Fatal Attraction to Cuteness

Glossybox

It was only a couple of months ago that I proclaimed on twitter how I would never use a beauty subscription service but this month I tested out Glossybox and I have a few new theories.

Glossybox is, as I said before, a service which one subscribes to in order to receive a box of sample-sized beauty products at random each month. This month, being Valentine’s Day, Glossybox  produced an appropriately love-themed box complete with candy hearts.

The full list of products I received is below (also included were some exclusive offers from activeskin.com.au and Proactive):

1. Carmex – Moisture Plus Lip Balm
2. Proactive – Deep Cleansing Wash
3. Face Of Australia – Mineral Lip Shine
4. Palmer’s – Skin Therapy Oil with Rosehip
5. Star and Rose – Floral Wonderland Emergency Nail Files (I particularly love these!)

When I look at the website, though, there seems to be quite a larger range of products listed under February so I’m wondering if there are variations on the one month? ie if there are 15 or so products  in total and a number of different boxes available. If that’s the case, I would be a bit annoyed if I was a regular subscriber and received something with products I didn’t like but could see on the site there were products I would have preferred more.

In any case, I think the concept is a good one if you’re into testing the market, don’t have particular beauty issues like sensitive skin, allergies or coloured hair or you’re just looking to spoil yourself each month without spending too much money. The subscription service only costs $14.95 a month, which shouldn’t break the bank for too many people, and you are guaranteed 5 high-end samples and delivery for this cost. I think at this price it could also be a cute gift for the girl who has everything – sign your friend up for a three-month subscription for a well-priced gift that arrives at her workplace each month. Easy!

In all honesty, I still don’t think it is necessarily something I would start subscribing to. At the moment especially because I am supposed to be saving but even despite that fact, I am not the kind of person who likes surprises and I’m quite picky when it comes to beauty products. Having suffered from acne and sensitive skin before I’m wary about what I put on it.

One of the best things that Glossybox is doing, in my opinion, is their website. It’s really interactive; offering subscribers Glossydots (which can be saved up and redeemed for a free box) for referring their friends and reviewing the products they received in the boxes each month. There’s also the opportunity to buy the products in full size with product information and pricing. You can receive tips on beauty and application advice and there’s a quick reference guide to all the brands available. 

Also launched this month is Glossybox Men, a quarterly subscription service with 6-8 products for $19.95. A well-groomed friend is currently testing this out for me so I will report back with his thoughts shortly.

In the meantime, tell me: would you sign up for a beauty subscription service? Have you already?

Learn more at www.glossybox.com.au

February 26, 2012 at 2:37 am 2 comments

Nad’s Body Wax Strips vs Nad’s Hair Removal Créme

I’m being a real tight ass at the moment because I’m off to Paris in a few months and the savings plan I set for myself when I booked the trip last year is not exactly going to plan. Like, at all. Instead of getting my legs waxed I thought I’d try it out myself at home (sorry, economy) but then I was overwhelmed with Nad’s products so I decided to do one leg with Body Wax Strips and one leg with Hair Removal Créme.

Nad’s Body Wax Strips are available for both dry and sensitive skin and each pack includes 28 wax strips, 2 sachets of Soothing Body Balm and 2 Soothing and Finishing Wipes.

I’m not a very experienced home waxer so I was pleased that the wax strips are easy to use. You don’t have to heat any wax up; just rub the strips between your hands then peel apart, place on and rip back. You can also reuse each strip by folding it in half lengthways, massaging the wax until it’s warm again and then repeating the above process until the strip isn’t effective any longer.

For the most part I was happy with the result from the strips, but I felt as though (and could see from looking at the used strips) that some hairs weren’t ripped out, but broken off. This wasn’t the case for the whole leg, but it was evident on every second go or so.

I was left with a lot of red bumps after use but this is to be expected and they’ve disappeared now. I just thought I’d point this out for first-time waxers in case they freak out!

For the other leg, I used Nad’s Hair Removal Créme in Moisturising. This also comes in ‘Sensitive’. Noticeable differences between this and other depilatory creams are the smell is not as strong as other brands and the créme is thicker. This is a simple and quick way of removing hair because the créme is ready to wipe off in around 4 minutes. I found the actual amount of hair removed was greater with this product but as we know, it has only slightly longer lasting effects than shaving.

A day after this test, overall, the leg I waxed feels smoother than the one I used the Hair Removal Créme on – despite the few broken hairs.

Nad’s Body Wax Strips retail for $14.95 and the Nad’s Hair Removal Créme is also $14.95/300mL and both are available from Coles, Woolworths, Priceline, Chemist Warehouse, My Chemist stores as well as selected pharmacies.

What’s your experience with home waxing?

February 25, 2012 at 3:00 am 3 comments

Covergirl Clean Sensitive Liquid Makeup

I’ve raved on here before about my ultimate foundation, Dermalogica Treatment Foundation, but I may have found a close second simply by accident.

Late last year I was about to run out of Treatment Foundation and I didn’t have time to get to a Dermalogica stockist so I thought I’d grab an emergency bottle of anything that looked good at Priceline to tide me over for the Christmas/NYE period. I actually spent a fair bit of time studying everything because I didn’t want to completely waste money and I decided on Covergirl Clean Sensitive Liquid Makeup.

I was wary at first because I HATE foundations where you need to pour the product out as opposed to pumping or squeezing it onto your hand. To me pouring it out creates so much waste and I’m exactly the type of person who is likely to splash it everywhere. I much prefer a thicker liquid or a mousse foundation rather than something as runny as Clean Makeup, but, from what I’d seen from the sample in store, I liked the texture.

After buying Clean Makeup, I noticed that bottle suggested applying one coat and allowing it to dry before applying another. I’m not the kind of girl who packs on that much foundation but after testing out these instructions, I totally understand what they mean. Clean Makeup provides very good coverage alone, but also works very well as a concealer on top of itself. Where some foundations won’t actually build up, I think Clean Makeup does a pretty good job of layering itself. So, if you are to try it, I too would suggest applying a coat and then another once the first one is dry. Over the past few months I’ve become better at pouring the foundation out so as not to waste too much, but I’d still love to see this in a pump-topped bottle.

The most interesting thing about Clean Makeup is the smell. It took me so long to work out what it was, and it’s cloves! Yes, like what you stick into a leg of ham. I’m not sure of the significance of cloves in makeup, do you? I thought perhaps it is to provide a cooling mechanism as it tends to treat the puffiness under my eyes, but I’ve certainly never noticed cloves in any other makeup.

As you can see in the photos below, Clean Makeup is pretty smooth. I’ve never felt any dryness or flaking – even after a whole day at work. It’s also good on extremely sensitive skin. I recently used some on a colleague who has a lot of allergies and whose skin reacts to the slightest changes in routine and she had absolutely no issues with it. Covergirl Clean Makeup is water-based and is oil and fragrance free for those of you who care about your pores clogging up. Sooooo that would be all of you. While I don’t think that Clean Makeup is improving my skin like Dermalogica’s Treatment Foundation I definitely haven’t noticed any redness or breakouts since first use back in December.

As you can see from the following swatch I probably could have gone a shade lighter and this might be one of the issues with Clean Makeup, it only comes in three shades: Creamy Natural, Buff Beige and Classic Beige.

Creamy Natural

Covergirl Clean Sensitive Liquid Makeup is $14.40. For stockists, please ring 1800 181 040

February 15, 2012 at 10:19 am 1 comment

Quick Beauty Tip!

I don’t know if everyone already does this. Maybe I’m telling you something you’ve been doing for years already but oh well.

Whenever I apply foundation and/or concealer I find that it doesn’t wash off thoroughly with just soap. That’s why I keep a bottle of inexpensive yet hard-working makeup remover by my sink to ensure all foundation, primer and concealer is removed from my hands before applying the rest of my makeup. Who wants sticky, streaky makeup brushes anyway?!

The best one I’ve found is Dove’s Foaming Makeup Remover which goes from a liquid to a foam in just one pump, doesn’t take much effort/scrubbing to get the product off and does a fine job. At $11.87 for 155mL you will get dozens of uses out of it and it makes makeup application so much quicker and easier when you’re not staining your towels and spending time trying to get that product off your hands. Obviously it can also be used to clean your brushes as it’s gentle yet, as I mentioned before, extremely thorough.

What’s your best tip for speeding up the morning makeup process?

February 7, 2012 at 11:35 am 2 comments

Australis Limited Edition Nail Colour – Flip Flops

I’ve just done a big cull of my old, old nail colours, in particular some blue hues so I was very happy to try out the latest nail polish from Australis, Flip Flops. Flip Flops is one of two new limited edition nail varnishes (the other being a red glitter polish called ‘Vampy’) in stores until July.

Initially I was a bit turned off because, despite loving the colour, the brush is really thin and it took me about 5 strokes to apply an even coat. Just when brands had started turning to thick, dense brushes I didn’t like this change back. After basically giving up on the overall application being neat, I was extremely pleased to find out that the nail polish dried quite quickly (I was sitting under an overhead fan, though) and actually cracked off my skin really easily. This meant I was left with just perfect colour on my nails and nothing left on my cuticles or surrounding skin. A happy result.

The colour is fantastic, like nothing I’ve ever owned! It’s got a subtle smattering of glitter which isn’t cheap-looking, just makes it look shinier overall. The blue is a real denim blue. It reminds me of that brand Fiorucci, remember them?

At only $7.95 it’s a fun colour for the remainder of Summer, Mardi Gras coming up in a few weeks or just if you love bright tips and it’s easy to track down at your local Priceline, Big W, Kmart or Target store.

I’ll try to put up a swatch of the other colour, Vampy, if I get a chance, too.

What do you think of bright nails? Do you prefer thin or thick brushes?

February 7, 2012 at 11:01 am Leave a comment

The Aromatherapy Co. Wild Rose and Vetiver Bath & Body Oil

A friend of mine, Rosie, was always the most prepared girl in my highschool year. She’s a Cancerian, meaning she’s organised, and in particular was always well-equipped in the health and beauty area with a school bag full of essentials. Hand cream, lip balm, tampons,  tissues, bandaids and yet not a Panadol or Nurofen in sight. Rosie swore by essential oils to cure anything and everything. From a headache to cramps to a sore throat; where most people would turn straight to medication, she’d always take a whiff from a bottle of oil.

Seeing this, and noticing how much better it is for you than popping a pill, I decided to adopt the same idea. Since then, I’ve always preferred to turn to natural remedies to cure what ails me. I was so excited when one of my favourite, pretty brands, The Aromatherapy Co., brought out a range of essential oils in the form of bath and body oils, candles, massage oils and pulse point products. My latest obsession is their Wild Rose and Vetiver Bath & Body Oil.

Although touted as a healer of skin conditions such as eczema, redness and inflammation, I’ve found that the Wild Rose and Vetiver Bath & Body Oil has been instrumental in helping me get a fantastic sleep every night. Originally, when I first started applying it to my eczema affected areas, I was having a far better sleep than normal but now I have started applying it to my pulse points for what is the best sleep I have had outside of a general anaesthetic.

The pulse points are:

• Forehead
• Behind the ears - for earache, sore throats or glandular problems
• Under the nose – to aid blocked noses and symptoms of a cold
• Temples – for headaches, fatigue or sore eyes
• On the wrists – for the menstrual cycle and the hell that comes with it

Not only are The Aromatherapy Co. helping keep this girl bright-eyed and bushy-tailed throughout the day, but they’re also a member of 1% FOR THE PLANET, an organisation which sees its members donate 1% of their annual profits to environmental causes. They also don’t test on animals.

For more information on The Aromatherapy Co. and their products check out www.thearomatherapyco.co.nz

What’s your best natural remedy for everything?

February 6, 2012 at 10:10 am 2 comments