December 2012 Christmas Joliebox Review

I had been waiting for this box to arrive for absolutely ages! It finally arrived yesterday at the crack of dawn by a courier. I didn't mind being woken up so much once I realised that it was my Joliebox that was being delivered.

I must be honest.. I haven't had time to read the Joliemag yet as I've been at work all day yesterday and today :( but I'm sure, going by the previous month's mags, this will be packed full of useful information as well as an interview with a well known beauty blogger.

This month's box is designed for Christmas (obviously) and the box itself is supposed to be reusable... to gift a Joliebox subscription to someone for christmas. Unfortunately, my box is just going to join the previous month's in a pile in my room.. I don't like anyone enough to give them the box!

The box is really pretty this month too! It's about time they had a nice pattern on them! I'm still not happy with the ugly brown box they're delivered in and not a nice pretty one like the Glossybox is.

I hadn't yet read any early reviews of this months box so I had no idea what was going to be in there, so this was a nice surprise this month!

I was veryyyy happy and surprised to see chocolate in there though!!

Although... mine had melted and wasn't shaped anymore, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I would have had it be properly formed and non melted and re-set.

So here's the contents...

Bellapierre Shimmer Powder, Dr Duve Hand & Decollete Cream , I Love Cosmetics Shimmer and Shine Lip Gloss in Strawberries and Milkshake, Agua De Colonia Concentrada, Color Club Insta-this Nail Polish, Olay Regenerist and YonKa

Pamplemousse.

 I have heard that many people bought this month's box just to get the Yon Ka body cream, as this is the full size and usually retails at £35.  I used this the day I got the box as a make-up primer. It worked wonders on my skin as it felt smooth all day and my make up stayed put! It also smells yummy- Grapefruit! Nom!

The I love... lip gloss was nice to see as I have the lip balm in the same flavour and I like wearing lip glosses. It smells and tastes delicious!

I'm not really one for shimmery make up as I hate feeling shiny.. only at christmas would this be acceptable.. luckily.. this is now! I got a purpely colour, so maybe I'll find a use for it or put in our giveaway pile!

I've always been a fan of nail varnish, so this was a lovely addition to my ever growing collection. I love this colour of blue, but my nails are looking rather worse for wear at the moment as I've had acrylic nails on for the past year and they are horribly thin and peeling. Once they're back to normal, I'll post what I've used to get them that way for all you who have/are/will suffer from the same predicament. It involves vitamins, nail varnishes and various other things.. but long story short, I can't paint my nails yet, so this will definitely be my first point of call once I can!

As I'm only 19, I don't really need to use Olay's anti-ageing creams just yet.. but hey.. I may as well fight wrinkles long before they start to appear! This has a nice, non-greasy feel and left my skin feeling fuller and nourished.

The vial of perfume was not to my taste, so I'm not sure what to do with it to be honest!

Finally the Doctor Duve.. again an anti-ageing cream will eventually come into use!

I scoffed the chocolate down like theres no tomorrow!!

What did you get in your Joliebox? What do you think of the contents of mine?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Jasmine 

xx

Superdrug Salt Spray

I have been lusting after the bumble and bumble version of this product for over a year now, but I could never actually justify buying it because its pricey and, until recently, I didn't like having messy hair. I saw this in Superdrug for about 2.00 and I thought why not.

It's really good for backcombing and giving volume, as well as the classic beach bum look. It's not too heavy but it did make my hair feel quite icky and dirty. I think it gives great texture and allows me to create looks that are the polar opposite of the usual sleek 'do I aim for. 

For the price, you can't really go wrong!

xoxo Kirsty

My New Love: Benefit the Porefessional

Last week in Boots as I was perusing the offers available on the Advantage Card machine I came across a voucher for a free make over at the Benefit counter and a free sample of Porefessional worth 8.00. Naturally I printed that babe off.

L'Oréal Elnett Satin Heat Protect Styling Spray

I saw the adverts for this and, like the sucker I am, went and bought it. It was 5.99 but at the time I bought it was 2 for 9.00 in Boots. Instead of treating myself to a new hairspray as part of the deal, I bought Jasmine one too. I chose the Straight for myself and Volume for Jasmine. 

How To: De-pot MAC eyeshadows

I very cleverly forgot to take photos as I went along so this is just a re-enactment. I finally bought my first MAC eyeshadow palette last weekend. I went for the 4 shadow palette because it looks prettier and it's actually possible to see the contents without opening the palette. It was 6.99 for the empty palette and eyeshadows are about 10-13 I believe. 

To do this you will need something sharp and a candle. As well as your palette and shadows obviously. 

How To Remove Glitter Polish

I adore having sparkly nails but they are an absolute pain in the bum to remove to I often avoid glitter polishes all together. I have finally mastered the technique for getting them off easily without scrubbing at your nails for hours, so I thought i'd share it with you :)

As you can see it was about time I removed it, it had chipped horribly.

Before

December 2012 Glossybox Review

I have been waiting for this box since about 5 minutes after i'd finished opening the November box. This months Glossybox was different from the usual pink and black, its the "Bejewelled Christmas" box. The outer packaging was black and white and the box itself was silver and shiny. I'm not entirely sure why its bejewelled but I guess it sounds nice. 

DIY 'Caviar' Nails Tutorial 2

This is a much less 'high maintenance' look that still looks lovely but doesn't require as much effort and actually lasted a lot longer for me. 

DIY 'Caviar' Nails Tutorial 1

Today Caviar nails are obviously black (apologies for the dodgy pic) tomorrows will be a little different, so don't forget to check that out. 

This is a really easy at home manicure that will not break the bank. It can be a little messy but it's definitely fun. 

NOTD: Models Own Red Alert. THE perfect red nail

Everybody loves a classic red nail. They go with almost everything and can add a subtle kick of colour to an otherwise plain outfit. I 'wear' red nails quite often because, quite simply, I love them. Rather than just the usual NOTD I thought i'd run through the products I usually use for the perfect red manicure. 

I used the Nails inc. Caviar top coat that came free in last months Glossybox (I really like it, and my Seche Vite has died). Kiss Diamond Hard base coat and Models Own in Red Alert. 

Obviously before I painted my nails I made sure I'd removed the existing polish and prepped my nails for a new colour. Not everybody likes the cuticle tool pictured above, it is quite easy to injure yourself I suppose but I have a pretty steady hand for things like that and I sterilise it regularly. Personally I just think that cuticles look gross. I have short nails at the moment and I'm keeping them that way until they toughen up and stop breaking all the time ( hence the base coat). I prefer a square edge to a round one, but it makes no difference to the technique or anything else for that matter! Remember to only file in one direction rather than back and forth to prevent nail damage. 

I paint a coat of base coat on and as soon as it's dry I paint the first layer of red polish. Two thin coats look better than one thick layer and is less likely to chip. After the second coat of polish was touch dry I painted on my top coat. I then sat for 20 minutes not touching anything until I was confident they were properly dry! The top coat is supposed to dry pretty quickly but I always manage to mess up a freshly painted manicure. 

what colour do you like to paint your nails?

xo Kirsty

Revlon Lip Butters: Worth the hype?

You may have seen that I bought this quite a while ago as I included it in a haul post. I had heard bloggers both sides of the atlantic going on and on about these so I decided to see what all the fuss was about. Normally I am a clear lip balm or a matt lipstick kinda girl so this wouldn't be a product I would go for usually. 

3D White Crest Whitestrips: Review

I bought the 3D White Whitestrips by Crest nearly 2 months ago on eBay. The large boxes can be very pricey, but you can buy a weeks supply for around 10.00. I am not happy with my teeth and I (like many people) would love to have whiter teeth. I am not keen on paying my dentist 100s to do it so I thought I'd give an at-home kit a bash. 

Aapri Exfoliating Facial Cleansing Pillows

I bought these in Poundland of all places, which isn't somewhere I would usually go to stock up on beauty supplies, but they were only 1.00 so I thought why not?

As a teenager, I used to use some incredible Neutrogena pads similar to these but you could actually put part of your hand inside like a tiny circular mitten to exfoliate with. I stopped using them because I think they were around 6.00 a box which was a lot for me then, plus Vanessa Hudgens was in the advert and that bothered me. 

I tried to get hold of some recently but they don't make them anymore, instead they are available as refill pads for the Neutrogena wave. I'm not buying it just so I can use those pads again.