Cohorted April Beauty Box

This months Cohorted Beauty Box is amazing, it has four fantastic items included, all of which I will be using. If you are present on Twitter, then you will know that these boxes are quite the conversational subject when they go on sale because the last three have, including this one, have all sold out! They costs just £19.99 but the contents alone add up to a huge £70!

So this month there are 4 full sized products within the box and all of them are for sale with Cohorted in their shop. What's more, each product is from a brand that you will have heard of or possibly even used something from and it is a good mixture of highstreet v's high end. This is one of the things I love about beauty boxes, the chance to try products you might never have thought of trying, the opportunity to try things you might not necessarily have heard of, the chance that you have wanted a product for a while and actually it isn't what you had hoped or it is more than you hoped for and of course the build up to that box arriving, the refreshing of the package tracking page and then the arrival.

So, inside my box this month is the bareMinerals: Heavenly Face Brush (RRP £22) made from goat hair, this brush is large, soft and features a blunt-cut brush head. 

On the skin it feels incredibly soft on the skin and I find it is great for giving that flawless look with liquid foundation and equally it is great for using as finishing brush too.

Ark Age Prepare Skin Purifying Masque (rrp £10) is next and it is described as being a cleansing masque for congested skin that will leave it feeling very refreshed. The masque is said to absorb excess oil, reduce the appearance of blemishes and pores for clear skin. Designed to be used once or twice a week, this masque uses Kaolin Clay which heals blemishes and prevents new ones from forming. Wild Water Mint reduces the size of enlarged pores and Anti-pollution Algae prevents skin damage from free radicals.

I have never used anything from Ark skincare but I do love a good facemask, so I am really looking forward to trying this.

Korres are one of my favourite brands for lip butters, so to find the Mulberry Vanilla Body Butter (RRP £19.50) in this box is a delight.  Made in Greece, this body butter is free from propylene glycol, synthetic dye, mineral oil, silicones and parabens. 

It contains shea butter, quince extract and a proprietary blend of sunflower, almond and avocado oils which moisturises and soothes the skin and is luxuriously hydrating. Having worn jeans, trousers and thick tights for the last few months, the skin of my shins is quite dry, so I need something that will soften and hydrate my skin and not only does this body butter smell absolutely beautiful, it is such a lovely cream, you can't help but love it.

The final item in this amazng box is from MAC and it is the Sheertone Shimmer blusher in Dolly Mix. When I first looked at this blush I immediately loved the shade, who doesn't love pink, but I did expect it to be too pink for my almost porcelain skin. 

However, having had a bit of a play with it, actually whilst it is really pigmented, if you use a stippling blush lightly, it does give a great transfer of colour, giving that natural flushed look add to which the shimmer is just amazing, it creates a nice glowy sheen on your cheeks.

I think this is an absolutely amazing box and my favourite of the Cohorted boxes that I have seen to date.  I love that there is a nice mix of products and all four of them are not ones I would ever normally pick up or choose, but now I have them, I am wondering why I have not picked them up sooner.  This is one of the first boxes for a long time that I have used all of the products and have not been left feeling disappointed.

Did you manage to get your hands on this box?  What do you think to the contents?

Tesco Beauty Advent Calendar - The Final week!

Well that's it, all the doors on my Tesco Beauty Advent Calendar have now been opened and this is the last of the contents from the final three doors:

Day 22

So behind day 22 we have a full sized tin of Aloe Vera Vaseline.  I have to be honest, im not a fan or user of the stuff but it already has a home so im not too worried.  That said, I do love the style of the tin!

Day 23

Day 23 brings this Triple Strength Renunail polish which uses ProSina Keratin Peptide to hep strengthen your nails. It is free from Formaldehyde, Toluene and Dibutyl Phthalate.  Now my nails are in need some TLC and this sounds brilliant, so am looking forward to giving it a try.

Day 24

The final door has this Natio Spa HandCream which is said to be suitable for all skin types. It contains certified organic and ayurvedic plant extracts to help soften hands and strengthen nails.  It also helps to reduce age spots and pigmentation to leave your skin and hands feeling silky smooth.  Natio Spa isn't a brand I have used a product from, so I am always pleased to come across something new and this is the perfect size for chucking in your handbag with a 20ml tube.

So that brings to an end my Calendar and I have to say I think it is brilliant.  I haven't been disappointed with any of the doors I have opened, even if it is a product I am unlikely to use which in this case is only the Vaseline.  Overall, this is everything from the Calendar:

I have detailed all of the products in the following posts:

Week one HERE
Week two HERE
Week three HERE

What do you think to this Calendar overall? Would you buy it next year?

Lookfantastic Beauty Box - October

I bought the September Lookfantastic Beauty Box which you can read all about HERE and I was so impressed, I ordered the October one straight away and it has already sold out. The box offers a great selection of handpicked, must have beauty fixes wrapped in a beautifully presented box and delivered straight to your door. The beauty box will always include a minimum of six products and will offer a selection of skin, hair, cosmetic and body products, catering to every kind of beauty lover.

This month’s box is filled with 7 beauty items and inside you will find some well known and high end brands such as L’Oreal Professional, Gatineau, Balance Me, This Works, Korres and KMSCalifornia and all for £15!

The first item in my box is the L’Oreal Professional Serie Expert Pro-Keratin Refill Shampoo and Masque. The Shampoo cleanses and replesnishes damaged hair for smooth, reinforced feel. Enriched with pro-keratin and incell, hair fibre feels strengthened and re-inforced. The Masque intensively replenishes damaged hair for a smooth reinforced feel. The formula creates a defensive shield providing day to day protection from external aggressors.

Secondly is the KMS California Free Shape Quick Blow Dry in a 75ml bottle. I have never tried anything from the KMS California range, so I am quite looking forward to this because if and when I do blow-dry my hair, it can often end up quite frizzy and and a static nightmare. The spray claims to reduce your blow drying time by up to 50%, reduce friction whilst conditioning lightly and provide heat protection, so essentially a three in one product.

Korres Citrus Shower Gel is next. I am a huge fan of Korres products so was really happy to see this as I haven't yet tried it. With claims of being an uplifting, clean and fresh scent with surprising tenacity. It uses wheat proteins and contains vitamin C and E, zinc and anti-oxidant enzymes to enhance the skin’s immune system, this is due to active aloe’s ability to stimulate collagen and elastin synthesis, which helps reduce the visible signs of ageing.

The next product is Balance Me Facial Expression Filler. I am a huge fan of Balance Me products, ive said it numerous times on this blog how much I love the brand, so I was delighted to see a product I hadn't yet tried in my box and it is a full size product which has an RRP £22. Said to be a hi-tech daily ‘natural botox’ fix for an instantly smoother-looking complexion, it is perfect for targeting fine lines on the forehead, above the lip and at the sides of the mouth and eyes.

This Works Sleep Plus Pillow Spray has made an appearance this month, there was a similar product in Septembers box, but this appears to be a newer edition. Said to act faster than the original spray it is a fast acting natural remedy to help restore healthy sleep patterns for restless sleepers and is clinically proven to provide a better night’s sleep. It contains a potent blend of Lavender which naturally encapsulates to gradually release aromatherapeutic benefits as you sleep. This edition has more of a lavender fragrance and does smell a little medicinal.

As I sometimes go through bouts of insomnia, I love to have products like this around so that should I need them, they are there.

The last product in the box is the Gatineau Paris Collagene Expert Ultimate Skin Soothing Cream . I am a big fan of French skincare, I think here in the UK it is very much undervalued. This cream contains high concentrates of collagen and elastin which helps with the appearance of wrinkles and uneven skin texture. Further ingredient’s are Tri-Collegen complex and Hyaluronic Acid for a smooth and plumped complexion. Putting all of those together your skin is said to benefit from an increase in elasticity, fine lines and wrinkles are visibly smoothed and the complexion feels velvety soft, smooth and plump.

 

I think yet again I have an amazing box and I will use every product, some I have heard of and some I haven't.  I love that the products are said to be sample sized but in reality they are much better than that, big enough to allow you a real opportunity to try and test things to see whether or not they work for you.  I have got Novembers box on its way to me because I have been so impressed and all for just £15.

Korres Guava Lip Butter

I finally have my hands on a Korres lip Butter.  I have seen a lot of bloggers blog about them and I really wanted to try them.  So today whilst in Waitrose getting some Strawberries (random I know but they were on offer), I remembered we needed some hand wash at work, so off I went down to the toiletries section when I came across as the Korres Lip Butters and they were on offer at £4.66 each instead of £7 – BARGAIN!!  So I stood there for about 20 minutes debating whether to buy Guava, Quince or Wild Rose and ended up with Guava.

I really like the packaging of this lip butter, it is like a maze of boxes that you have to work your way through until you come to your little pot.  The pot itself is a 6g tub and has a cream coloured lid which is similar to the lip butter you find inside the tub.  Korres say the following about this product:

“This buttery Korres Guava Lip Butter melts into your dry chapped lips & leaves a natural colour and scent, perfect to wear alone or underneath your favourite lip gloss for extra moisture.

The shea butter and rice wax in Korres Guava Lip Butter provides your lips with deep, long-lasting moisture and protects from the elements, leaving you with perfectly soft and conditioned lips that are good enough to kiss!

Guava is a natural vanilla shade that leaves your lips shiny and delicious.”

Well as soon as you put it onto your lips it absorbs itself with no problem and instead of clinging to your lips like Vaseline does, instead it does leave behind a shiny glint to your lips, totally naturally and it looks really nice, the texture is slightly thicker than your usual lip balm might be, but for me this just adds to how much it moisturises.  My lips feel lovely and soft when I put this on and hopefully in a week or two, with the help of Lush Bubblegum, my lips will be back to their usual kissable selves, the joys of having a cough and cold and the havoc and it plays on your skin.

The thing I like most about this lip butter is the fruity smell, really lovely and if you have tried the shower gel in the same flavour, it is just as wonderful.

Korres Lip Butters are widely available at places like Waitrose and online through Feel Unique, Look Fantastic and independent pharmacies.

Have you Tried a Korres Lip Butter? Do you have a favourite flavour?