Beauty Blog

It's Glossybox time! What a wonderful way to start this grey, dull Monday morning!

I was especially excited for this Glossybox as there was a lot of hype surrounding it: in our last box we received a card reading "Expect the Unexpected" and instructing you to go on-line each day over a period of time (you can see the card a little in the second picture, here) you would be given a letter, the letter was to be added to the Facebook group and combined with everyone else's letters to reveal a word that would give a clue to the identity of the 'exclusive, special edition' box. 

Now, my confession is that I forgot and didn't complete the clue - but the box itself was a collaboration with Harrods and contained products found in the store. On first sight I was slightly underwhelmed with the size of some of the products, as we are used to larger versions, even of the 'sample sizes' - however there *are* six items in this box and several of them are considered to be luxury products, which makes up for the smaller size of a couple of things!

Gorgeous white box and Harrod's mini magazine

List of Products

Valentino - Valentina: Eau de Parfum

Described as: "A daring and addictive, oriental, floral fragrance. A true feminine classic, twisted with the pure insolence of Italian ingredients." When I first sprayed this perfume (on the inside of my left elbow) I noticed a very light fragrance that, for me, wasn't particularly appealing. However, once the head notes had evaporated, the scent developed into the promised 'oriental, floral fragrance' which is much more to my liking. It is a rich, quite heady perfume - possibly not one that I would choose myself as I am not usually a fan of florals, however it would be nice for the evening and the tiny sample size makes it perfect for popping in a small bag on a night out.

Lancome: Hypnose Drama Mascara

A small sample size of a decent mascara product. Having worked for Lancome, I know that this is a nice product which delivers good colour and coverage for the lashes. The thickening effect is quite nice although the lengthening doesn't deliver as much as I would personally like in a mascara. However a couple of coats, applied to the outer lashes, does create a nice 'cats eye'  look, which is what I aim for with my beauty products, and the size is perfect for my small make-up travel bag.

SKII - Skin Signature

An anti-ageing moisturiser: I was a little disappointed at first with the size of the pot, however the product does fill the entire container, and it is a perfect size for popping into a toiletries bag when travelling. The cream applied smoothly and  easily, and left my skin feeling very soft indeed and lightly moisturised - the instructions say to then lightly tap the skin to allow the cream to penetrate deeper: I definitely felt more awake after this, and my skin was glowing, although whether this was down to the moisturiser or the blood rushing to my cheeks, I couldn't conclusively say :P

Clarins: Extra-Firming Body Cream

I haven't yet used this all over my body (I don't think there's enough product in the tube to cover my butt!) however the texture is rich and luxurious and the cream itself smells lovely. I used this on my arms and it did feel like a nice treat, although I don't notice any difference in the 'age' or 'firmness' of my skin - possibly with repeated use the product would be more effective.

Molton Brown: Vitalising Vitamin AB+C Bath and Shower Gel

I have used Molton Brown products before, and know that they are good quality shower gels: they are a slightly oily consistency which creates a good lather and smell beautiful. This one is a light, fruity scent and left my skin gently perfumed - I'm not sure which fruits exactly were included but rather than 'vitalised' I felt very relaxed and calm.

Shu Umera: Cleansing Beauty Oil

This was the one product I was slightly disappointed with: having heard a lot about Shu Umera I was keen to try it out. I only used a tiny, tiny amount of this, given the small sample size, which maybe affected the results - if I had used more, maybe it would have been better. I followed the instructions for cleansing, however I can't say that this worked better than any other cleanser I have used in the past. My skin did feel soft, as promised, however it also felt quite tight (as I have dry/combination skin - I followed this with the SKII moisturiser) The texture and scent were nice, though, as you would expect from a luxury product.

If you enjoyed reading this blog, why not check out my other Glossybox reviews, here...