December Glossybox Opening

Hey,

So, it's time again for beauty boxes and I thought that this month I would make a real effort to take some pictures before I get too excited and mess up all the pretty wrapping so I could blog about it! Also, since I only received my box today, this post is more of a first impressions of the products more than a full review! 

If you haven't heard about Glossybox before, it's basically a subscriptions service which every month sends out five sample sizes of beauty products for you to try and then buy full sizes if you really like it. I think it's a really good way to try out more products for cheaper- usually the cost of the items in the box adds up to much more than the £12.95 it costs. The only thing is you don't know what items are going to be in the box before it arrives so there's always a risk that you won't find anything in the box that you're interested in, but I think that this years December box is one of their best ever! 

 This month's box was a really pretty silver colour with a silver ribbon and black tissue with tiny silver stars. Usually the boxes are a pale pink with a pink ribbon and plain black tissue so I thought this was a really nice change for the Christmas box. Also included is the little note which explains the theme of the box (this one is the 'Festive Celebrations' to treat people for Christmas gifts or yourself for parties) and instead of the usual card it unfolds into a big sheet detailing the products and their full size costs. Also, we recieved some discount codes for other brands which have been featured previously as a little Christmas treat which I thought was really nice! 

The products inside when I opened the box 

 The first product I spotted in the box this month was the Anatomicals What A Complete And Utter Glosser Fruity Lip Gloss Tube because of the bright pink packaging. I really love the cool names that Anatomicals come up with for their products as it makes it a bit more fun and the packaging is always really bright and colourful too. I got the colour/flavour 'I Never Fake Strawberry Milkshake' It comes out as a very pale pink, if not clear and it reminds me of the smell of Strawberry Calpol medicine, but I'm not really a fan of strawberry scented things so I'm not sure about this at the moment! However I think someone who loves strawberry would love it. 

 Next up is the Rituals Magic Touch which is a whipped body cream, with cherry blossom and rice milk. This is a really generous sample size I thought, at 70ml (£5) and a full size is 200ml (£15). It's quite a thick white cream which sinks into the skin really well and doesn't leave any residue but makes your skin feel really soft and moisturized. I think my favourite thing about this product is the scent- it's quite floral but not overpowering. 

 As I mentioned before, sometimes you get a product in your box that you really just don't like or won't use and I think this MILK_SHAKE Conditioning Whipped Cream will fall into that category, for me at least. It's a leave in conditioner for your hair and is like a mouse, but the nozzle is designed to make it look like whipped cream from a can, and it's supposed to smell like that too. It smells, to me, like natural yougurt and it's actually made me feel quite sick just from spraying it onto my hand for a quick test. Now that might just be because I don't like the smell of dairy products to begin with, so I feel like I'm not giving it a fair chance but I can't help it! I'm not entirely sure I can bring myself to put it into my hair even! But that is totally down to my own preferences and not because of the actual quality of the product itself. 

This Seche Nail Lacquer is the thing that I got most excited about when I first saw it in the box as I'd heard that Seche were bringing out a coloured nail polish range as well as their famous top coats and I was dying to get some! This is a grey colour called ''Nouveau' and I really love it. It's a mid-dark toned grey and would be really nice if you wanted to wear a dark colour but didn't want to go all the way to black. I quickly applied it to one nail just to try it out and was amazed that it only took one coat for it to be almost fully opaque when most nail polishes would take at least two, if not three coats to get the same effect. Having said that I think I would apply two coats, just to be sure as I noticed that the tip of my nail seemed to have less colour but that isn't a big deal. I'm not sure what the staying power of the polish is, as I haven't had time to apply it properly but I'm hoping it chips less than my Seche Vite top coat, which as I've said doesn't seem to last a whole day with me! Also it comes in a range of 33 colours so there is bound to be a colour to suit everyone! 

The last product in the box was this Sleek i-Divine Palette in the Ultra Matte V2 colours. I'd heard of Sleek Make Up before but had never tried any of their products and I have to say this palette has left me pretty impressed. The packaging is really nice and all black, with a big mirror and a double ended applicator. At first I thought it was just the usual sponge applicators you get with most eyeshadows but I've just realised it's more rubberised, so I'm not sure what sort of effect that would give, if it's better than the sponge or anything. The pigmentation is excellent in this palette and there's a wide range of colours to create a variety of looks. Also it's only £7.99 for the 12 colours which I thought was a bargain especially since they're such high quality. 

Now for the maths before I move onto the last little bonus item in the box this month-

Cost of Glossybox (inc. P&P) = £12.95

Cost of the Items in Glossybox this month = Rituals Magic Touch (Sample) = £5
                                                                                    Sleek Palette (Full Size) = £7.99
                                                                                    Seche Nail Lacquer (Full Size) = £9.95
                                                                                    Anatomicals Lip Gloss (Full Size) = £3.49
                                                                                    MILK_SHAKE (Half Size Sample) = £7.40
                                                                     TOTAL = £33.83
                                GlossyBox Sample Saving = £20.88

The cost if I'd of bought all full sizes seperately = £36.22
                                             Saving with Glossybox = £23.27

Finally also included in this months box since it was the Christmas Edition was a bonus product of the Glossybox Blusher by Kryolan in the shade 'Glossybox Rosewood'. 

It's in a simple black compact with a clear lid featuring the famous GlossyBox crown logo and is a really pretty light dusky pink colour which I really like as it's quite an everyday blush colour and I think most people would like it. 

All in all I was really pleased with this months's box and think I'll use all the products except the Milk_Shake stuff, which I shall pass on to a friend who didn't receive it in her box to see if she likes it more than I do. That would have to be my least favourite product this month, with my favourite being either the Seche Nail lacquer or the Sleek Palette, but really they're joint first! 

If you received a Glossybox, what were your favourite products or did you get any different ones? Leave a comment below as I'd be really interested to hear some other opinions or other products! 

Lauren
xx