Sample Boxes - Update

In about July/August last year there was a lot of hype in the Beauty world about Sample Boxes. This concept launched in the US with Birch Box which was a huge success.

The first box to launch here was Lust Have It.

Beauty Box launched next, which turned into Glossy Box. That was all a bit confusing, but as it turned out Beauty Box was Glossy Box all along.

And the last box that lunched (that I signed up for anyway) was BellaBox.

I recently decided to cancel all my subscriptions. This was due to a number of factors.

I wasn't planning on keeping them all when I started. I was going to test run then and make a decision on which one I was going to keep. I didn't think I would end all subscriptions though.

I also found that it was a bit of a hit and miss with some of the boxes. Some months they were pretty good and other months they weren't so crash hot. I think the boxes overseas are so great in the fact that they get full sized NARS, Stila and brands like that. So although we did get some full sized product it wasn't brands like those (which was one of the main reasons why I signed up).

Looking around my bathroom now I just have so many small sample sized products, half of which I'm never going to use, so I thought it was best to cancel my subscriptions and make do with what I have at the moment.

If I was going to go back to one it would either be Lust Have It or BellaBox because I liked their products the best and also felt that they were the best to deal with.

Nat xoxo

Lust Have it! – November Luxury Lust Pack

So after a little blogging break due to the never ending fun of Uni, I'm back and ready to blog!

When I got home Friday week I couldn’t believe that it was that time of the month already for my November Luxury Lust Pack! Where did October go?!

My box looked lovely this month! Clearly Australia Post found something else to play with this month took care of it this month.

And here is what we got in our packs!

RoC’s Complete Life NEW Technology Daily Moisturiser

Nude By Nature’s Lip Liner in Chique Natural Mineral Lipliner

Lancome’s Tresor Midnight Rose

Hawley International’s Miracle Shine 2 Step Miracle Nail Shiner

Keratase’s Nectar Thermique

I was happy with this box and I will use most of the products but I didn’t find it as exciting as the previous months. With that said, one 1st few boxes have been pretty damn amazing (especially the ABBW Box).

Enjoy!

Nat xoxo

Lust Have It! - October Luxury Lust Pack

Earlier this week I got a surprise in the mail. I got this month's Luxury Lust Pack! YAY!

I think Australia Post must have played soccer with it, but everything inside the pack was in tact (thank goodness). I was really happy with this month's box because we got some different products that I've been interested in.

Lancome’s Genifique Youth Activator – There has been heaps of hype around this serum and I really can’t wait to try it. It’s supposed to make your skin more rejuvenated, soft, smooth and more radiant.

LimeLily Cosmetics’ Cream Blush – I have to confess I’ve never heard of LimeLily before so I’m keen to get to know the brand a little bit more. What I have been told about the brand (since finding out that the LimeLily was part of Lust Have It!) are all good things, so I have high hopes!

Lush’s Honey I washed the Kids (soap) – I love Lush products! They are amazingly good and also smell beautiful. I can’t wait to give this a go in the shower.

Taut’s Collagen Orange Drink – This is something a little bit different. I have heard of this Taut Collagen Drink before but I’m yet to give it a go.

Kerastase’s Resistance Range (Shampoo, Unsure Treatment & Reconstructor Milk) – I love Kerastase products and I can’t wait to give this range a go.

So overall really happy!

I have been really happy with the quality of the Lust Have It Luxury Lust Packs. We have received some great products by some great brands.

If you want your very own Luxury Lust Pack (and for only $14.95 a month, you really should want your own!) pop over to Lust Have It's website.

Nat xoxo

Brand in the spotlight: Mirenesse

I first discovered Mirenesse a few months ago when I got a lip colour in the very first Lust Have It Pack and I discovered even more about it during the ABBW. I told you I would be banging on about the ABBW for a while!

We received a full size mascara in our ABBW Lust Have It Luxury Lust Packs and also got this beauty box of goodies from Mirenesse in one of our amazing goodie bags.

I think this was one of the highlights in the goodie bags because a) the packaging looked amazingly cute and b) the products looked really good. The box was full of Mirenesse’s new range Boutique M. And the products got were a) Rich Girl – Pearl Crush Trio Eyeshadow b) Closer – Tight Liner c) The Buzz – Vibralash 24hr Mascara d) The One – Viva Eternal Gloss e) The Fairest – Invisible Fill Make-up.

Rich Girl – Pearl Crush Trio Eyeshadow (I got Akoyo Pearls)

I have used these eyeshadows and they are great; they are highly pigmented and I also like that you can apply a small amount of water to your brush and the eyeshadow turns into a liner.

Closer – Tight Liner (I got Caviar Black)

This is an amazing eye liners because it’s like a pen. You literally draw on whatever line you want. So easy to use and it’s really long lasting, from morning til night.

The Buzz – Vibralash 24hr Mascara (I got Electric Black)

It’s a vibrating mascara! Pretty awesome huh?? I haven’t tried this out yet because I’m making my way through a few others, including another Mineresse mascara, but I will test it out soon. Mineresse became famous through their Secret Weapon mascara (which we got in our ABBW Luxury Lust Packs), so I’m keen to try this one out as well.

The One – Viva Eternal Gloss (I got Play Bunny)

I love this lip gloss! This shade is amazing, vibrant and not sticky (which is a biggie for me when using lip gloss). The pigment is really great as well so you don’t need to use heaps.

The Fairest – Invisible Fill Make-up (I got Airbrush Line Filling Mattifier)

I really like this product because it’s SPF 10 and has a really great texture. When I used it, it left my skin looking really good and my completion really even.

What I also liked about Mirenesse is that their products are free from talc, alcohol, SLS, parabens, mineral oil, propylene glycol, synthetic dyes, perfumes and they are animal cruelty free. So Mineresse is free from all the nasties. I’ve really started to take more notice of the ingredients in products, and it’s amazing how many of them contain things that aren’t good for you. So it’s great to see brands making “clean” products.

You can purchase Mirenesse products from their website.

Nat xoxo

Lust Have It – ABBW Luxury Lust Pack

We really did get extra special treatment at the ABBW. Part of said extra special treatment was a special Luxury Lust Pack from Lust Have It.

This is my 3^rd Lust Have It pack and I have to say I’m really impressed. I wasn’t sure what the Product 

Sample Boxes would be like here in Australia and I’m pleased to announce that they have really lived up to expectations.

We did get spoilt with our ABBW Luxury Lust Packs as they did feature some full size product. Here is the full list of everything in our packs:

Mirenesse Secret Weapon Mascara – Before the Lust Have It packs I hadn’t really heard too much about Mirenesse, but from what I’ve tested they do nice products so I’m really looking forward to testing out this mascara. I also really like that it’s tube mascara, which makes for really easy to remove. No more panda eyes.

OPI Lincoln Park After Dark – This is part of the Touring America collection. It's a really nice dark purple color; it looks almost black in the bottle. I really love OPI nail polishes so I’m really looking forward to testing this out. 

Pure Fiji Coconut Milk Shower Gel – We got this is our last Luxury Lust Packs and I really love this shower gel. It smells great and is really hydrating, so I like that fact that we got more of it!

Kerastase Elixir Ultime – We also got this in our last Luxury Lust Packs last month, but I haven’t tested it out yet.

Laura Mercier Foundation Primer – I have heard really good things about this primer so I can’t wait to try it.

Nougat Rejuvenating Hand Polish – I’ve never heard of Nougat before so I’m eager to try this product out plus it smells really good.

Dermalogica Skin Hydrating Mask – I recently found out that apart from my really oily t-zone, I have dry-ish skin so this mask should be really good for me. I also love Dermalogica products so this should be really good.

BIOEFFECT EGF serum – We got this in the 1^st Luxury Lust Pack and I have been using it for a few weeks now. I have to say it’s a pretty good serum. My skin has improved since using it and a little bit goes a long way. I’m happy that I got another one. 

I love my Muff! – These are feminine refreshing wipes. So the “Muff” really is what you think. Personally I think these are a good idea and I’ll give it a go. Not sure if I’ll blog about it though; it is a bit personal so might not be something I was to post on the Internet!

I think that was a pretty amazing Luxury Lust Pack since it featured a full size mascara and nail polish. 

I also did a YouTube video about this Luxury Lust Pack if you feel like checking it out!

Nat xoxo

Lust Have It! – September Luxury Lust Pack

This has been a big beauty week, 1^st Beauty Box and the 2^nd Lust Have It Luxury Lust Pack! And I have to say I’m just as impressed with this Lust Pack. In fact I might even like this pack more. Once again the packaging was really lovely…

In our packs this month we got…

Lancome’s Hypnose Doll Eyes Mascara. I love Lancome’s mascaras! I haven’t used this one before, but I have used the normal Hypnose mascara and it’s great.

Pure Fiji’s Coconut Milk Shower Gel. I haven’t tried this product out yet, but it smells amazing.

Kerastase Elixir Ultime. Kerastase do amazing haircare products, so I’m sure this is going to be just as amazing.

Urban Rituelle’s Flourish Organics Hand Cream. This hand cream is really great. I used it today and LOVE IT!

Nicole by OPI’s nail polishes. We got “Give Me The First Dance” which is a great silver colour and “Prized Possession” which is a vibrant purple. I’ve just painted my nails, but these are going to be the next colours! Spoiler Alert! Well if you count finding out the next colours that are going to be gracing my nails before I actually paint them a spoiler…

And that’s want was in our amazing Luxury Lust Packs! I was really happy with the 1^st box and I’m ecstatic with this one. So I really can’t wait to see what’s going to be in box number 3, but no doubt it’s going to be amazing.

Nat xoxo

Beauty-Box September 2011

So last month Lust Have It launched here in Australia, which was pretty exciting. And this month Beauty-Box launched it’s first beauty sample box.

I was pretty impressed. When the box showed up it was in a really cute pink postage box and the actual box was inside.

But enough about the packaging! Inside the box, the products that we got this month were pretty good. Quite a few of the products I’m looking forward to trying out/have already tired out.

 

So to break it down, this is what we got:

Shu Uemura - High Performance Balancing Cleansing Oil. I was really excited to get this and I tried it last night. It was fabulous.

Sally Hansen – Everyday Strength Medium Nail File. I’ve also used this and it’s really good! I’m forever losing nail files so will have to make sure I don’t lose this one.

Marc Jacobs – Oh! Lola! LOVE this fragrance. Marc Jacobs does such great fragrances. Well really Marc does great everything. It has a lovely soft floral scent. I’m really considering getting this for summer.

Playboy – Play It Spicy Body Spray. I don’t mind this scent too much, but it’s not really my thing.

Our Beauty Treat this month was Yves Saint Laurent – Beauty Sleep. This is a serum/treatment. I haven’t tired it yet but YSL do great skincare and make-up, so I’m really looking forward to testing it out.

And that’s it folks. I also did a YouTube blog on the box if you want to hear more about it or just see my lovely face.

Nat xoxo

International Beauty and Spa Expo

I’m a little bit behind in blog posts! This week has just been crazy; I’ve had so much to do and I can’t believe it’s Saturday night already!

So last Sunday, after the City to Surf, I went to the International Beauty and Spa Expo. It was pretty epic and there was so much there it was hard to take it all in (especially after a 14 km run too!), but I did manage to find out about some awesome things!

Some of these aren’t new to market, but I thought I would mention them because…well because it’s my blog and I can do whatever I want! JKS! I did think they were awesome and hopefully you don’t know about them yet so you can have an awesome “WOW” moment like I did last week.

Like my new fancy artwork?! I downloaded Gimp (like Photoshop, but free!). I may warn you now that there will be some armature Photoshop style images coming up over the next few week… I know you are excited, so am I!

First up is Naked Tan. I mentioned Naked Tan last week because we got Goddess Bronze in our 1^st 

Lust Have It packs. Now I found out at the expo that they are lunching a Bronzing Mouse! How exciting is that! And what is even more exciting is that they were selling them at the expo so I bought it.

See I really have gone crazy with the artwork!

I tried it out today and so far I love it. Because I’m so pale I have to be really careful with fake tanners since they have a tendency to turn me orange. But Naked Tan gives me a lovely natural color.

The second thing I discovered was Minx Nails. Minx is a new nail technology that uses paint strips and heat to adhere the strip to the nail. So kind of like the Sally Hanson strips, only better. I got my pinkie finger done an awesome gold.

What do you think?! Pretty kool huh?? A full set of these will set you back $45-50, but it’s quick and easy plus I’ve had mine for a week now and it hasn’t chipped or anything.

Third is the Beauty Pod. Now this isn’t new, but I haven’t tried it yet so I thought it was worth a mention. It’s a special sponge that is designed to apply foundation and concealed. If you haven’t heard of this one, maybe you have heard of the Beautyblender.

Anyway if you haven’t tired the Beauty Pod I do highly recommend; it’s fabulous. I don’t wear liquid foundation much, but when I do I like it to look natural and the Beauty Pod does a great job of making it look natural!

The final thing that I wanted to mention is Rae Morris’ launch of her brush collection. I had a look at these and they look AMAZING! 

However a set of 26 brushes will set you back $899. Personally I don’t have that much money to spend but you can be sure they are going to be amazing!

And That’s All Folks! Hope you liked my sassy artwork!

Nat xoxo