January '13 Favourites

Hey Everyone,

So, it's monthly favourites time again and this month I decided to do things a little differently and film a video instead of my usual blog post. It's the first one I've uploaded so it might not be the best but hopefully I did alright!

Products Featured

MUA Eyeshadow Palettes- http://www.muastore.co.uk/index.php/eyes/eye-shadow?cat=21 (they've recently had a huge sale so may be sold out of most things just now but they'll be back in stock soon hopefully!)

Nails Inc Nail Polish in Baker Street- http://www.nailsinc.com/nailpolish/baker-street-polish/1102/

Essie Nail Colour in Mint Candy Apple- http://www.feelunique.com/p/Essie-Nail-Colour

Essie Good To Go Top Coat- http://www.feelunique.com/p/Essie-Good-To-Go-Top-Coat-15ml

Lush Popcorn Lip Scrub- https://www.lush.co.uk/product/6080/Popcorn---25g

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey- http://www.boots.com/en/Revlon-Just-Bitten%C2%99-Kissable-Lip-Balm-Stain_1208067/

Rimmel Apocalips in Galaxy- http://www.boots.com/en/Rimmel-London-Apocalips-Lip-Laquer_1296026/

Scunci Bun Maker- http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scunci-490702U-Bun-Maker/dp/B00A0N2OPQ

Scunci Perfect Pony- http://www.amazon.co.uk/Scunci-490698U-Perfect-Pony/dp/B00A0N2OKG/ref=sr_1_1?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1359663160&sr=1-1

So, that's all of this month's favourites. Hopefully you enjoyed the video instead of a regular post from me- let me know in the comments either here or on YouTube what you thought and if I should make more or stick to writing! Also leave a comment or a video response if you want, about your favourites this month or anything about the products I mentioned.

Thanks for reading/watching!!

Lauren
Xx

Birchbox January 13- First Impressions

Hey Everyone, 

So, today was the day that I received my first ever Birchbox so I thought I would do a quick first impressions post about the box and the what I thought. As always, I haven't had time to properly test each product and links will be included where possible :)

Birchbox used to be in America only but it recently merged with Joliebox here in the UK and is now Birchbox UK. I never subscribed to Joliebox and stuck to just Glossybox but when I heard about the merge I thought I would give it a go as I've really enjoyed Glossybox and I wanted to see what the main differences were. It's the same price as Glossybox at £10 pus £2.95 P&P and I've subscribed for three months to start with as I thought that would be a good way to get a proper view on the box and giving it a fair try. 

The Box

Opened

The Products inside

 The first main differences between the Birchbox and the Glossybox is that Birchbox includes a little magazine in with each box which it says is designed to give you beauty inspiration before the next box arrives. I really loved this as it has loads of information, about products that aren't in your box and interviews and there's a nail art tutorial in this month's which is really well explained and simple. The product information is supplied on a seperate card. Also, the products are packaged in a reusable pink drawstring bag instead of the shredded paper which is much more useful and enviromentally friendly than all the paper which I really liked! Also the box it all comes in is very sturdy and can also be used for other storage. I think for these two reasons, I'm starting to like Birchbox more but we will see how the products compare over the next few months. Now, onto the products!

First up, and the thing I'm most excited about so far is the Fresh Sugar Rose Lip Treatment which is a really pretty tinted lipbalm type product which has SPF15 as well. I'v heard a lot of good things about this so I was really excited to try it but I think it's quite difficult to get a hold of in the uk. Birchbox claim that a full size is £15.50 but I'm not sure where it's available as I've only found American links. I'm very fussy about lip balms but this does seem to be really good and I like the tint to it, as I'd much rather wear a tinted balm than a lipstick. I was a bit worried that this would have a heavy rose scent to it, which I hate in lip products but it smells really nice and almost lemony. 

Next up is the KMS Frees Shape Quick Blow Dry which is a spray you spritz into your hair before drying and it helps to dry it faster. I've not had a chance to use this yet but I have high hopes for it and it smells really nice. It's also supposed to detangle, provide heat protection and is lightly conditioning. The full size product is £113.50 for 200ml and the sample is 30ml. 

 This is the Taaj Creme Mains Delhicates Hand Cream and is another product I was interested to try as I've heard really good reviews about other products from this brand but have never tried them. I'm not usually a fan of hand creams as I hate feeling like I have something on my hands but this sinks in really well and you only need a small ammount. It's got a subtle cinnamon scent to it which is unusual but I really like it. A full size is £10 for 75ml which is quite expensive for a hand cream I think, but I think it would last a long time as you only need a little. 

 This is the Teapigs Chamomile Tea Bag and is probably the thing I'm least excited about in the box this month, simply because I'm not a fan of flavoured teas, especially chamomile. There were also peppermint or superfruit ones available which I think I would have been more up for trying but who knows, maybe I'll be brave and end up really liking it! It's supposed to be good for  soothing anxiety and promoting sleep and relaxation which I am in desperate need of! Fifteen teabags cost between £3.49 and £3.99 depending which flavour you buy. 

 Last up is the Wei White Lotus Moisture Rich Eye Blend which is another thing I'm not too sure about. It smells nice and seems to be quite a thick cream but the full size product is £60 which is a tad out of my price range, especially for just an eye cream so I doubt I would repurchase this product, unless it's the most amazing eye cream I ever try! 

So, that's all the products in the Birchbox that I got and all in all I'm pretty impressed with the products and the box as a whole. Leave a comment below if you got a Birchbox, what was in it or if you've used any of the products before :)

Thanks for reading

Lauren xx

Glossybox January '13- First Impressions

Hey Everyone, 

It's GlossyBox time again (it seems to get dispatched earlier and earlier or is that just me?) and mine arrived this afternoon so this post is going to be mostly first impressions of the box and products. It was only dispatched yesterday so next day delivery is pretty good going! 

 This month the box is back to the usual pale pink boxes with plain black paper and pink ribbon after the special silver themed box last month. The boxes are really useful for storage (mine are currently home to my nail polishes) but I'm not so much a fan of the black shredded paper used to pack the products. Especially this month as I didn't think the inside of my box was packaged as nicely as it normally is- there was less shredded paper and it seemed to be packed upside down, when usually the sticker is on the top, this month it was underneath. Also I noticed that the larger paper fold out leaflet from last month's box has stuck, instead of the cards that used to be included detailing the products. I really like the change as it includes more extra information than before which is nice. 

When I first opened the box

The products in the box with not very much paper this month!

The products inside

This month's box theme is detoxing from the excesses of the Christmas and New Year period, with the products inside intended to help everyone get back into their usual routine and being a little more healthy which I thought was a really good theme and will most likely help a lot of people do just that, as well as finding some new products to add. So, let's have a closer look at the products included-

I'm going to start with this GlossyBox sleep mask, as it's not included on the information sheet and is just an extra little thing they've thrown in. It's a good idea and fits with the theme of the box but I'm pretty sure I won't be using it as the thought of waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to see terrifies me! (In fact, I recently woke up in the middle of a power cut and thought I'd gone blind because it was so dark but that would be a whole other embarrassing post!)

Next up we have the Elemis Fresh Skin Skin Glow Exfoliating Face Wash which is an exfoliating face wash designed specifically for those in their teens to mid-twenties to help nurture skin and prevent premature aging. It smells really nice and fruity, which is usually something that I like in face wash products although the exfoliating beads don't seem to be very big so I do wonder how well it would work as an exfoliator- I prefer to really feel like a product is doing something to my face. Having said that I was skeptical about the Dermalogica MicroExfoliant for the same reasons and that turned out to be amazing so I'm keeping an open mind for when I properly try this. The sample is 30ml and a full size is 100ml at £12.

Also in the box was a Jason Lips Bee Healthier Lip Balm which is a 70% natural lip balm made with beeswax, peppermint, aloe, shea butter and many other ingredients that are good for your lips! I've used an aloe vera gel from this company before as an aftersun/sunburn product and really liked it so I was interested  to see what the lip balm was like. Also, I'm just a bit of a lip balm addict so this was always onto a winner with me! You can definitely smell the mint in this, and also the shea butter smells a lot like chocolate to me, so this is like a chocolate mint lip balm. The mint definitely tingles your lips but not too much, like the beeswax Burt's Bees lip balm that this reminded me of when I first saw it. The lip balm is basically like most other lip balms- it applies nicely and is moistursing but I feel like it's one of the ones I will find myself having to reapply a lot more than other lip balms that I own. This one does melt really quickly as well which is nice, as it feels almost like a lip gloss and does leave a subtle gloss to your lips but with no colour or tint to it. It's a bit of a meh product for me, simply because I can be quite fussy when it comes to lip balms but for £1.99 for 4.5g it's not too bad really. 

Next we have the Duck Island Limited Body lotion in the scent mandarin and bergamont. Usually I don't like citrus scented products, especially orange scented but this is really nice and reminds me of orange calpol from when I was little. The bottle is really cute and I like the lid which is quite unusual but then everything starts to get a little odd from there on in. The lotion feels very thin, almost watery so I'm not sure how moisturising it would be and I'd feel like I needed to use a lot before feeling any real benefits. I've just been on their website for pricing and to get a link and discovered something very strange. In the Glossybox leaflet it says 2x250ml- £24.95 Shop at Duckisland.co.uk but I've just been on the site and unless I'm being incredibly stupid, you can only buy the small 30ml bottles in cases of 200 at a time and the larger 250ml bottles in cases of 20 at a time. Also there are various products (hand lotion, body wash, soap, hand wash etc) but they are all only in the scent of mandarin and bergamont, which is a bit of a bummer if you don't like it! If anyone can explain to me how this makes any sense, or knows where you can buy less than 200 or 20 bottles of this, please let me know in the comments!!  

Second to last, we have the Monu Aromatic Mask which I'm really excited to try as I love face masks and I've heard of this brand before but have never used any of their products. It contains lavender and rosemary which are what it smells mostly off, which I'm not usually a fan of but with this I think it will make it really relaxing to wear. It's quite a generous sample size at 30ml, when usually you just get one or two sachets but it's quite a hard plastic bottle and the mask is quite thick so may have to cut it to get everything out. I hope that the larger size (which is £24.95 for 100ml) doesn't have the same problem! 

Lastly we have the Premae Skincare Balance Rescue Face Tonique which is a face toner designed to reduce oil and pores, leaving your skin feeling fresh and plump. I'm not sure what to make of this really as I've never really used a toner in the past or really known what they're supposed to do if I'm totally honest! It doesn't even have really much a smell to it so there's not much really I can say. On first impressions this is probably the thing I was least excited about but even then, it's not definitely something I would never use like some of the things I've recieved in previous boxes. Also there's a bit of an issue with the price as Glossybox is saying a full size is 50ml and £27.50, whereas the website they supplied for buying the product claims a full size is 100ml and only £17.50... who knows?! 

I'm not going to work out the maths of the box this month because it's now twenty past midnight and I'm being lazy hehe (maths was never my strong point!) plus there's some issues with the full size prices as I mentioned, so I'm not sure I would be able to work it all out anyways!

All in all, I thought this month's box was one of the good ones and there wasn't a product that I definitely hated straight away, like the Milk Shake hair stuff that I mentioned from last month's box. However I do know that some people got other things in their box- for example my best friend Marion from BeautyGeek90 got all different products in her box and wasn't very impressed with it I don't think. 

Have you recieved your Glossybox this month? Is there anything you got different to me or have you used any of these products previously? Or can you explain to me what the hell is going on with the pricing of the Duck Island body lotion hehe!? Leave me a comment below =D 

Lauren

xx

Nuxe Rêve de Miel Lip Balm Review & Comparison

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't posted anything for a while but I'm hoping now that Christmas and the New Year is over I can get into a regular posting routine. Also I hope you all had wonderful Christmases and New Years! 

Today's post is going to be a review and comparison of the Nuxe Rêve de Miel lip balms which come in either a pot version or a stick version. They have rather long, difficult to spell names so forgive me if I shorten them for the purposes of typing them repeatedly! 

Firstly I'm going to talk about my favourite out of the two which is the pot version, or the Nuxe Rêve de Miel Baume Levres Ultra-Nourrissant Ultra-Nourishing Lip Balm (told you it's a long name!). 

As I've probably mentioned on here before I have a slight addiction to lip balms because my lips can get very dry especially in the winter, which is never a good look on anyone! It never seemed to matter what lip balm I tried, the effects would always wear off and I'd be back to square one and I just never found a lip balm that I loved enough to keep using (which also added to the problem). I first heard about this product in the summer after reading about it on Zoe's blog Zoella (here's the post where she mentions it) and even though she said it was amazing, I was a tad skeptical and a bit unsure whether it would be worth the whopping £9.50 price tag, although there is 15g of product which softens that blow! Finally I gave in and splashed out and I am so glad that I did! It's definitely one of the best purchases I've ever made and worth the cost for sure. 

It's a lot thicker than any lip balm I'd tried before and is a sort of yellowy colour with a really nice citrussy sort of scent. A little goes a long way but I usually apply quite a lot especially when I wear it at night and by the time I wake up in the morning it's still there which is great. I've only recently started to cause a dent in the top which is pretty good going since I've been using it since the middle of June last year. 

My main problem with the potted version is that it can be very messy and so isn't very practical for using when you're out and about and also that you have to apply it with your fingers. I've never been a fan of applying products with my fingers but I've solved that problem for myself by using a hand sanitising gel beforehand. 

The problems I have with the pot version seem to be sorted in the stick version so I was really excited to try this out to see if it was just as good as the pot version. The stick version's long name NUXE Reve de Miel Stick Levres Hydratant Lip Moisturizing Stick 
which £5.50 for 4g (although it's currently in the Feel Unique Sale at 20% off so it's £4.40 at the 
moment!) so it is cheaper but that's for a lot less product. 

 This is much more like the usual lip balms that I've used in the past and has a more shiny finish on 
the lips than the potted version which looks quite matte, so it's good for using on it's own without 
worrying that it looks odd. It's a much paler creamy colour than the potted version and also has a 
much subtler scent to it which is nice. 

My main problem with the stick version is that I feel like I have to apply it much more than the potted 
version. That might just be me being weird and just thinking that I need to apply it more when really 
it could be fine the way it is but I really like the feeling of having something on my lips so I'm always 
reapplying whatever lip balm I'm wearing more than I probably need to. The stick has (and this will 
sound odd) but a thinner formula and texture than the pot which I feel is less moisturising, but is still a
really good lip balm. 

So, in conclusion before I ramble anymore than I need to and start repeating myself, I think that the 
potted version is a better product for me and is worth the cost for the ammount of product and how 
long it lasts both on the lips and in terms of using it up. The stick is still one of my favourite lip balms 
but I don't feel that it's any better than The Body Shop Born Lippy Stick Lip Balms which I also love 
but which are cheaper and come in different scents and tints. Having said that, I would still 
recommend both of these Nuxe lip balms depending on how dry your lips are. 

I know I got a bit rambley there but when can I ever write a post without doing that hehe. Thanks for
sticking through to the end and like I said at the start, I'm hoping that the start of this year will be the 
start of a regular posting routine!

EDIT: None of the links I had embedded in this post seem to be working so here they are just in 
case!-

Potted Version on Feel Unique- http://goo.gl/vXJVP
Stick Version on Feel Unique- http://goo.gl/8sght
Zoe's Post featuring the pot version- http://goo.gl/u5JRn

Lauren
xx

P.S- My posts will now also be featured on glipho.com just in case you're interested!

Twitter- twitter.com/LaurenM26
Instagram Username- LaurenM262

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                                                                              

November Favourites 2012

Hey,

So, we're back around to the time of the month where everyone starts to post their favorite products/things from the previous month. I really like these kinds of posts (and the similar videos on Youtube) because you can see what products people have been loving and it helps if you want to get a few opinions on a product before you buy it yourself. As always, links are included wherever possible!

First up, I've gone slightly nail polish mental this month and they are a large chunk of my favourites and this is why. I went through a very long period of time without wearing any nail polish at all, because of my emetophobia (I was worried I would associate which nail polish I was wearing with being ill, if it ever happened. Sounds crazy but it just shows, when I say it affects every aspect of my life, i really mean it!) and it's only been the last few months that I've been gradually starting to wear it as regularly as I used to. These are the ones I've been loving the most-

Models Own Nail Polishes in Snow White and Juicy Jules

(L-R: Juicy Jules & Snow White taken with flash)

(L-R: Juicy Jules & Snow White taken without flash)

 These colours are currently what I have on my nails at the moment and I really love the combination- it's very wintery looking, especially the Juicy Jules glitter polish which reminds me of frost. The Snow White polish is just a basic white polish that is pretty much opaque after two or three coats. You get 14ml of polish for just £5 which is a bargain really, especially compared to some other brands such as Nails Inc or Butter London. Also if you purchase them from the Models Own website if you buy 3 polishes you save £3 and if you buy 5 you save £7 and the packaging they are delivered in is really nice too!

The Juicy Jules polish is what I really want to talk about though! At first glance, and even in the picture on the Models Own website, it seems to be just a basic silvery glittery nail polish but it's so much prettier than that. The glitter particles are really fine and circular, but when the light hits it just the right way either in the bottle or on the nails it turns almost holographic and instead of plain, boring silver it becomes rainbow coloured. I really love the look of this polish as it can be quite subtle or you could apply more or even mix it with a different size or shape of glitter polish.

I also mentioned these polishes in my recent Movember Favourites post, with more pictures of them on my nails rather than in the bottle. 

E.L.F Nail Polishes in Mint Cream & Fire Coral 

(L-R: Mint Cream & Fire Coral)

 E.L.F is another brand that I've recently been using a lot and I particularly love the formulas of their nail polishes. These are only £2.50 a bottle for 10mls and E.L.F quite often have special deals and codes which mean you can pick them up for even cheaper than that!

Mint Cream was one I recently purchased after seeing quite a lot of people wearing minty coloured nail polishes and really liking it. Normally I steer very well away from anything with even the slightest tint of green, and although I am still on the lookout for a slightly bluer toned mint polish, I fell in love with this colour almost straight away. I think this is about as close to green nail polish I will ever get to! 

I received the Fire Coral polish in a goody bag that E.L.F were doing a while ago with every purchase (they do these occasionally so keep an eye out for that, as well as the codes!) and again, it's not normally a colour I would have chosen if I'd seen it on the website but I instantly fell in love. It's a mix of red and orange, verging more on the red side I would say so is perfect for people like me who aren't a fan of bright bright orange but don't want a bog standard red polish either. 

E.L.F are currently running a discount code to celebrate their 5th birthday but it only last until 10.30AM on Monday 3rd December 2012, as it is only a 24hour code. It's a 50% discount for purchses over £30 so I will definitely be making a little purchase and I would reccomend you do too!! 

Nails Inc Kensington Caviar 45 Second Top Coat

I promise this is the last nail polish related item in this favourites post! I hadn't realised how many I actually had until I started to write!! 

I received this in the November Glossybox in a 4ml sample size worth £5 and I was really pleased to see it in my box as I'd wanted to try it for a while but wasn't sure if I wanted to pay £12 for a full 10ml bottle. After trying it a few times this month I will absaloutely be reurchasing it in a full size. I was using Seche Vite previously and I don't know if I was applying it wrong or something but I could paint my nails in the morning and have a guarenteed chip in my nails by the end of the day which I was not impressed with! If anyone has any tips for getting Seche Vite not to chip that I'm clearly missing, then please leave a comment! Anyways, Kensington Caviar is doing much, much better on the chip proof test! I painted my nails on Tuesday and it's now Sunday and it's only been today that I've got a real chip on my nails which is pretty good going! I currently have two of these mini bottles to get through, thanks to the free gift from Nails Inc after I spent above a certain ammount on their website and then I can definitely see myself purchasing the full size! 

Ok, onto products that aren't nail polish!! I thought that was never ending hehe...

Dermalogica Daily Microexfoliant

This was another product from the November Glossybox and at first, I admit I was a tad sceptical. It's a powder, rice based exfoliant which when mixed with water becomes a paste and you use it as any other scrub after that. I couldn't believe that a powder could exfoliate but I was definitely very wrong and this has quickly become one of my favourite ever products and not just for November! It's a very strange product to use the first time but it has a nice smell and texture to it and it leaves my skin feeling so soft and smooth and just lovely! The only downside I have to this product is it's difficult to gauge how much to use as it just pours out the top really quickly. It is expensive at £38.50 for 75g which I would pay because it is such a good product! 

Garnier Skin Naturals Pure Active Fruit Energy Daily Energising Gel Scrub

This is the face scrub that I've been using for the past few months (and there is also a gel wash which I haven't tried yet) and it's the best one for my skin that I've found so far. My skin can be quite oily (lovely I know!) but I also have patches of dry skin, especially across my cheeks and my nose. This is meant for use on oily skin prone to imperfections and it's definitely the best scrub I've found for my oily skin but I'm sure if I'm a fan of the actual scrub. After using it my face does feel a bit tight but once I apply moisturiser it's fine so that doesn't bother me. It has extracts of grapefruit, pomegranate and Vitamin C and has a really nice fruity scent to it. 

So, after feeling like I would never get to the end of this post i finally made it! Hooray!! I hope you enjoyed reading about my favourite things from this month- what have been some of yours? 

Also, my next post will be a review of The Body Shop 3-in-1 Honey and Oat scrub mask which has also been one of my other faves this month. Keep an eye out for that, it should be up sometime this week, if not the next few days! 

Lauren
xx