The naming and shaming is going to have to wait - Birchbox time!

Well, it is here. Actually, it has been for a week now but waiting for my 17 year old daughter to get her bum into gear as she wanted to do an "unboxing" vlog has just driven me mad so I thought I would go ahead and just get on with my blog. I was going to do a "naming and shaming" of my very old and horrendous beauty products but I have epilepsy and it isn't under control. It hit really hard last night, and this morning so I am making the most of being made to stay in bed.

Yep, I am VERY late to both the #bblogging scene and also the beauty box scene so I thought I would just jump in head first and order 3, this being the first. What struck me is how lovely it looks. Very natural and compact once out of the packaging. Whilst opening the outer packaging, a lovely magazine popped out:-

That was a totally unexpected surprise! Even more so that it mentioned one of my favourite bands, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. I am generally more of a metal fan, but they have a real charm about them. Anyway, more about the magazine. There is a little bit of something for everybody in it, fashion, beauty, music, holidays, lifestyle - you name it. Lovely. 

So - the box is opened and I am greeted by the following. I am not going to turn the SHHH.. card over in case anyone has subscribed for next month's box for the first time as I don't want to spoil the surprise.

This month's theme is "Jet Set" and it doesn't fail to live up to the name at all. Just look at what was waiting for me when I got into the gorgeous pouch waiting for me! 

For someone getting their first box I was like a kid at Christmas! I don't think my expectations were low, but I thought it was an awful lot of product for my money. Talking of products, let's move onto them.....

This caught my eye immediately. I must admit, I did a quick and dirty effort with my nails this morning only for them to be smudged when I had a seizure but I really hadn't got the inclination to start again, so please excuse the state of them. The reason that it caught my eye is that I am in a wheelchair and forever looking for the perfect hand cream as BOY do my hands take a battering and get dry. The only problem is that I hate my hands feeling greasy so am generally in a catch 22 position.

It smells absolutely divine and sinks in so quickly, moisturising my hands without leaving them greasy - I half expected the Hallelujah chorus to go off! Going to finish the tube as a little goes a very long way, but I think this is one for the wishlist. 

Just to add insult to injury, I have the world's most untameable hair. It is red, frizzy and no amount of straighteners, curlers, wands or blow drying will tame it into submission. I haven't had a chance to use this one yet, but it promises to protect and detangle, keeping my hair silky and glossy. If it does it will be a world first as I have spent a small fortune trying to keep my locks tamed - I really can't wait to use this. As I have to have my showers and baths supervised, I think I might just book myself in for a soak this afternoon if my husband isn't busy. 

At first glance, this gel eye liner had me a bit baffled. I am not one to use gel eye liners in the first place but being the beauty Luddite that I am, this one had me quite flustered. I had no idea how to even get into it, let alone try it. 

See - it wasn't that hard!! (after a few goes!). Even though I won't be using this, it has already gone to a very good home - my daughter's friend. She has pink hair and loves experimenting with her makeup and looks amazing in this. I am assured that it goes on incredibly well and lasts for quite some time. My eyes are a little crepey so I wouldn't feel confident giving this a try just for the sake of it, but maybe as my confidence increases, I might just give it a go one day.

This little box definitely had me intrigued for sure.......

This was a total case of "OMG" when I opened it! I am currently thinking of changing my skincare routine and have been looking for the perfect moisturiser. This smells absolutely divine, soaks into the face really quickly and leaves a finish that is almost as if a really good quality primer has been put on it.

It is pricey for a full size jar and I am not going to run out and buy the first sample that I am sent, but I know where to get it if nothing else comes my way.

(just to say, I am lucky and have normal skin, sometimes dry due to the combination drug therapy I am on)

Last but not least of my beauty samples - a powder blush sample. I got it in Swiss Dot.

It comes in a gorgeous little magnetic case, perfect for a small handbag on a night out. It was very tempting an although I haven't got any nights out planned, I just had to give it a whirl...

HOLY PIGMENT OVERLOAD!!! I think I went a little OTT with my first application. It is going to have to be applied very gently to get the required colour and it really does have staying power. I put this on a couple of hours ago to take the pictures for this blog entry and have washed my hands a couple of times since, and it was still there. I ended up using Pond's Cold Cream to finally remove it. Long wearing it sure is, you just have to layer it up as there is no way to layer down, other than to remove and start again. I love the colour I was sent and it is going nowhere. 

Finally, onto my lifestlye product - Chia. I have to be honest, I had never heard of this beforehand and was quite surprised as I am a vegetarian, borderline vegan. I was really grateful to the magazine that was with my Birchbox as I wouldn't have had a clue what to do with it. It was lovely to see a vegetarian and a vegan option in there too, as a lot of people aren't quite sure what to do with vegans where I am from! This is definitely going to be saved for the weekend for ........

One of these! (although I am going to up the banana and use almond milk instead of using honey and ordinary milk). It looks absolutely gorgeous. Definitely not going to waste at all. 

So there it is, my first Birchbox! The one thing I didn't see coming was my husband wanting to commandeer the gorgeous little bag that my things came in for his "nails". I was starting to wonder about the man I had married until he got that misty look in his eyes that he only gets when he is thinking of his shed. Yep, he wants to keep his metal nails in it! I am going to try and old on to it for a little longer though, I have told him that he can have it when I have used up everything in it (which at the rate I am going will be by the middle of next week).

As I was looking on the Birchbox website and browsing the shop, I came across a nail varnish that I just couldn't pass up on, so I am now waiting for my Color Club Blue Insta This. It is going to get one heck of a road test with my nails so I can't wait to see how it holds up to my normal GOSH nail varnishes. I always use Sally Hansen's Double Duty base and top coat but yet the longest I can get is about 4 days. Here is hoping it is going to be a bit longer, and I adore the colour.

I don't have anything else to compare this to with regards to beauty boxes, but one thing I am sure of - I am NOT disappointed in the least. All I can say is bring on August if this is anything to go by!

xoxox

A beauty find by D all on my own... Red Fox's Bottle o'Butter.

Both my gorgeous daughter F and myself have keratosis pilaris . With me, it has mellowed with age but F's is really bad at the moment (she is 17). To cap it all, we are mixed race which doesn't help either when looking for a good moisurizer.


I have been using E45 for years and I still have it but I am sure it is age that has made it soften. F has had all sorts of things off the GP for hers - none of which have worked.

As I don't want this just to be a "Ooh, what is in my Birchbox and Glossybox" type blog, both myself and my daughter will be looking at and looking for alternative stuff for us to use for varying things that affect both of us.


F has great skin but with tons of freckles. Although we are mixed race, there is more white in our skin tone, both of us having freckles. She has excessively curly dark blonde hair and I used to have the same but in red until I had radiotherapy 4 years ago. Now I have very thin dark red hair. Unfortunately for me, the long wanted poker straight hair still eludes me, it is a mass of frizz. My great, great grandmother's DNA shows itself in our body shapes and in a couple of medical ways.

Anyway - onto my personal beauty find! Nothing, and I mean absolutely NOTHING keeps my skin hydrated all day. I am on combination drug therapy and it wreaks havoc with my skin. I had been looking everywhere and trying all sorts to get that "24 hour" moisturizer.


I had been reading a beauty blog (should have bookmarked it instead of scribbling down the name of the produce) and wish I could link it up for you as it really is a great blog (and this is my first one). The lady writing the blog had keratosis pilaris and swore by Red Fox's Bottle 'o butter. I shuffled off to Amazon to buy some and it arrived last week.


First up, it came really quickly. In a plain old cardboard box. The packaging of the product had me in stitches. I paid £3.49 for 473ml (16 fl oz) and I think it shows that the money goes into the product, not the packaging. It is a bright yellow "bottle" with red and dark brown writing on it. I will take a picture when my husband gets up and post it up but if I start taking pics of moisturizer bottles and popping them on a blog he will think I am more insane than he already does. 

(Here is said picture - done after the weekly shop, the washing. You get the picture (no pun intended))



Onto the actual contents. First up, if you are a vegan then this isn't the product for you as it contains lanolin. Other than that, it is just the usual suspect with a couple of extras.

It smells absolutely gorgeous, very much like the Body Shop's "cocoa butter body butter" which is on sale at the moment on their website at £6.00 (down from £13 which is why I stopped using it years ago). I need to do my beauty on a budget and being a Mum of 4 (we have 3 boys along with my gorgeous F).

One thing that really surprised me is that if you are looking at something to throw on your skin and just 2 minutes later be ready to get dressed and go - this isn't going to work for you. If you want that 24 hour moisturisation you are damn well going to have to work with it with this stuff! It has to be really worked into the body and after a bit of trial and error, straight out of the shower is the best time for me. Normally my skin will suck up anything vaguely moisturising really quickly but not with this.

I genuinely felt a bit deflated after spending a good 10 minutes on moisturising myself but after about 6 hours it felt just the same as it did after I had done it. There is no "tackiness" to it at all either. 12 hours later, just the same. By the time I went for my shower the next day I am sure my skin was just as hydrated as it was after I had put my first lot on the day before. Needless to say - I have bought more, much much more!

I get quite ashy skin and this totally got rid of it. I am completely surprised and thrilled. If anyone else has used it, I would love to hear about what you think. I will update this post with pictures when the other half wakes up too.