Monu Professional Skincare Hydrating Moisturiser SPF15

As part of June’s Glossybox (a monthly subscription beauty box) I received a sample sized bottle of Monu Professional Skincare Hydrating Moisturiser SPF15. Before trying this product, I had been using the same moisturiser for quite some time so I was looking forward to trying something new. Although I received a sample, a full 50ml sized bottle costs £29.95.

The product comes in a clear plastic bottle with a screw top cap. The bottle does have quite a lot of information printed on it in a light grey colour but it doesn’t look overly messy or too full. The bottle explains that this product is suitable for all skin types, has SPF 15 and that the moisturiser contains Vitamin E and Cassia Alata. There is also a more detailed list of ingredients on the back of the bottle. For a product that costs just under £30, I would have liked for this product to have nicer packaging.

As the bottle is see through, you are able to see the white cream inside. After unscrewing the lid, you can also see that the cream is quite thick and a quick smell which gives off a lovely, fresh citrus scent. The moisturiser looks and smells very appealing and that is without even putting it on my face! Unfortunately, the bottle isn’t very well designed in regards to getting the moisturiser out. While the bottle is full, you can easily give it a squeeze in order for some to pop up out of the top. When the bottle starts to get empty though like mine is now, the moisturiser stays at the bottom and is very hard to squeeze out.

During the summer I tend to get quite dry skin due to walking around in the sun so I really need a good conditioner to stop this from happening. This moisturiser is as thick as it looks in the bottle but when using on your skin, you don’t need to use as much as you may think. A little goes a long way with this one and it absorbs into the skin quite easily. While the thickness of the moisturiser is good in one way, it is not so good in another. After rubbing the moisturiser into my face, I have noticed that my skin is quite sticky/ balmy for a while afterwards. I have had to wait at least 15-20 minutes before applying my foundation which was quite annoying for me.

However, even with a few problems, I do like this moisturiser. After it has completely soaked into my skin, it feels extremely soft and my dry skin was cleared up in no time. I’m not sure if I would purchase a full size bottle though as £30 is a lot for a moisturiser, especially if you are unable to get into the bottom of the bottle. 

Premae Harmony Moisturising Balm

Every month I look forward to seeing what I’m going to get in my Glossybox, a subscription beauty box. In May’s box, amongst other items, I received a small tub of Premae Harmony Moisturising Crème Balm. This is not a brand I have heard of before nor did I really know what part of the body this product was for. I only received a small 10ml sample whereas the full size product is 30ml and costs a shocking £27.50. Considering that is only three times the size of my sample, I was expecting this crème to work wonders for that kind of price.

The crème comes in a small tub which is extremely basic in design. The sample design is exactly the same as the full size tub. Wrapped around the glass tub is a white label which has on it the name of the product ‘Harmony’ printed in black and with a yellow background. Underneath that is a description of the product as well as stating one of the ingredients. Now, if I was paying full price for this product, I would be extremely disappointed with the packaging. It doesn’t stand out, it doesn’t look overly nice and it definitely doesn’t look expensive.

This moisturising crème is also to be used as a primer, something which I have never used before on my face so I was very unsure about how well it would work. The crème also has ingredients such as lemongrass oil and aloe vera both of which sooth the skin. Unfortunately though, as soon as you unscrew the lid, it becomes clear that this crème does not carry the scents of the ingredients which was a massive shame.  

The crème itself is very thick in texture and due to the small sample size, I began to use it very sparingly. As this is intended as a moisturiser and face primer, I didn’t think the sample would last very long at all. However, even with the thick consistency, the crème goes quite a long way. You only need to use a little bit at a time and it softens up quickly as you begin to apply it to your skin. After applying the crème to my whole face, my skin did feel a little tight but nothing too uncomfortable and this did ease up.

After applying the crème, I then went on with my normal make-up routine and applied foundation. I do usually use a moisturiser beforehand but not one that also acts as a primer. I could definitely see the difference between the two different kinds of products. With this crème, my foundation went on a lot easier and looked a lot nicer. My skin had a flawless finish to it whereas sometimes, I can end up with some patchier bits on my forehead/ between my eyebrows. The crème also helped my foundation to look nicer for a lot longer than it normally does so because of this, I was impressed.

Although I did like this crème, I couldn’t justify paying such a price for it. I would, however, like to try different primers now so I could compare a cheaper one to this. 

Figs and Rouge Coco Rose Lip Balm

Due to being a subscriber of Glossybox, I get a box of random beauty products through my door every month. As part of the June box, I received a tube of the Figs and Rouge Coco Rose Lip Balm. Figs and Rouge is a brand I had never heard of before but I am always willing to give something new a try, hence me subscribing to a thing such as Glossybox. Although mine came with my monthly subscription, a full size (12.5ml) tube of this product costs £5.

The lip balm comes in a very loud and colourful tube which definitely stood out in comparison to the other products I received. This product comes in an aluminium tube which is mostly covered in a bright pink colour with pictures of little storks. There are also hints of yellow, green and black which feature on the lid and the printed text. Wrapped around the Figs and Rouge logo are the statements that this is a 100% natural and 100% pure product as well as the fact that it is moisturising and soothing. These are great claims that I was hoping would stand up.

In order to use the lip balm, the bright green cap needs unscrewing. After this, it is possible to see the glittery pink balm inside the tube. As the name of this product is Coco Rose I wasn’t sure whether to expect pink or a chocolate looking product but I did like the colour that it was. The balm squeezes out with ease so care needs to be taken when doing this as you could end up with it everywhere if you squeeze too hard. The balm is also quite thick in consistency. Sometimes, thick creams and balms can be tough to rub in but not this one. With just a tiny amount on the end of my finger, I was easily able to rub this into my lips and it was absorbed really well. If you do use too much in one go, your lips can end up feeling quite greasy which isn’t a nice feeling.

Something I wasn’t expecting with this product for it to not really have a particular scent. However, it does have quite a strange taste to it which I can’t quite put my finger on. It neither tastes completely of rose nor coco but I would say it does lean closer to coco. This isn’t a taste that I like though so quite quickly I was put off this product. While I didn’t like the taste, I did like how it looked and felt on my lips. The balm gives a lovely pink, glittery sheen to my lips which is a nice look if you don’t want something as heavy as lipstick or lip gloss.

Even though I didn’t like the taste of this product, I did stick with it to see what the results would be like. The lip balm is extremely moisturising and after a couple of days, my lips were a lot softer and smoother than they normally are. However, this lip balm is more expensive than what I would normally pay for this kind of product and I don’t think it works much better than a cheaper alternative. That, plus the fact that I didn’t like how it tasted means that it just isn’t a product for me. 

MeMeMe Cosmetics Long Lasting Nail Gloss - Graceful

As part of my June’s Glossybox I received a bottle of the MeMeMe Cosmetics Long Lasting Nail Gloss in Graceful. I had never heard of this brand before and I probably wouldn’t have picked the colour I got in a million years. If, like me, you have not heard of this brand before you can have a look and their range here: www.mememecosmetics.co.uk.

This nail polish retails at £5 a bottle.

The product comes in your average glass nail polish bottle with a black screw top lid. Although the bottle is quite basic, the design on the front is what make it looks nicer than it could have. The MeMeMe logo is printed in quite a swirly and feminine font even though the colour of it is black. Also, to the side of the brand logo and product description is a lovely black flower design which helps add to the feminine feel of the bottle. I do think that this bottle is a little nicer than some other nail polishes due to the finishing touches of the design.

The brush is nice and thick so applying to a whole nail only takes a couple of strokes and it also goes on very evenly. The nail polish itself is quite thick in consistency so you should make sure to wipe a little of the excess off the brush before applying to your nail. This also dries a lot quicker than I expected it to. The first thin coat dried within only a couple of minutes and when I say dried, I mean bone dry. No tackiness or anything. The second coat did take a little longer to dry but in total, my nails were properly drying within the space of 10 minutes which is quite impressive for a nail polish.

The shade of the nail polish I received is called Graceful and it is exactly how it sounds. Inside the bottle, it looks like quite a nice pink but that is not how it ends up drying on nails. As this one dries, it turns into a barely there pink – think of a French manicure kind of pink colour. As I had acrylic nails for a long time, my nails are in far from perfect condition and this nail polish shows off all of the bad bits. The colour, more than the nail polish itself, just isn’t for me. However, as I liked how quick drying it was and how easy it was to apply, I think I would have been much happier with a different colour which is a shame.

At £5, this is a pretty good nail polish but if light colours aren’t your thing then I would advise staying away from this one.

Jelly Pong Pong Fairy Lashes Mascara

In May’s Glossybox came a full size mascara from a brand I had never heard of before. I love trying out new mascaras, especially as my eyelashes are so long but not curly at all. The mascara in question is called Fairy Lashes and it comes from the brand Jelly Pong Pong. Although I got this in my Glossybox, it retails at £15 so definitely not a cheap product.

The mascara comes in a wonderful looking light blue box. This is slightly bigger than the mascara itself but quite a lot wider. The front of the box gives the Jelly Pong Pong logo, the name of the product and the website address. The side of the box gives a description of the mascara and instructions on how to use the product. As mascara packaging goes, this is definitely one of the nicer boxes. Some mascaras don’t even come with a box at all so this was a big plus to begin with. If I were to see this on a shelf, it would definitely catch my eye.

Inside the middle of the box sits the mascara which can be pulled out easily. I was expecting this to be a similar colour to the box but instead, it is housed in a lovely, dark purple tube. The tube has the Jelly Pong Pong logo on it as well as the name of the mascara printed in a lighter purple so it contrasts nicely and is easy to see. After unscrewing the lid, I was extremely happy to see a regular application wand. I hate those new plastic applicator wands so my first impressions of this product were great.

However, while the packaging and wand were impressive, not much else was. This mascara has a combination of both blue and black pigments in order to give an intense black colour to your lashes and after application, my lashes were extremely dark. Unfortunately though, my lashes looked terrible. The mascara comes out really thickly after pulling the wand out of the tube and even after wiping some off before applying, my lashes looked extremely clumpy and stuck together. It took me a lot of work with an eyelash brush and a clean mascara wand to fix the mess that this mascara made. Jelly Pong Pong claim that this mascara makes eyelashes thicker and curvier but still keeping them light and soft but I cannot say at all that this is true. My eyelashes were extremely clumpy and heavy and it barely curled them at all.

Even though I wasn’t completely happy with how my eyelashes looked, I still went to work with this mascara on as I just didn’t have time to reapply everything and start over but I couldn’t wait to get it off once I got home. This mascara is also water resistant which makes it an absolute pain to remove. Even by using face wipes, this came off in massive clumps that stuck to my face and were really annoying to get rid of. It took me a good 10-15 minutes to get the mascara off compared to the usual couple of minutes it takes with my normal No. 7 mascara.

With a hefty £15 price tag, this mascara just isn’t worth the money, especially as it doesn’t live up to the claims it makes. 

Headline Colors Nail Polish - Spotlight

In my first Glossybox (a monthly subscription for beauty products), I received a Headline Colors Nail Polish. Headline isn’t a brand I had heard of before but probably because it is so new. At the minute, 2 collections are available to buy which consist of The Spring/ Summer 13 Catwalk collection and the 12/13 Autumn/ Collection.

Each nail polish costs £9 and can be bought from: http://headlinecolors.com/shop/

As I got this product through Glossybox, I had no choice over the colour I received but I did get the Spotlight colour. The nail polish comes in a small, square glass bottle which is see through. The bottom of the bottle has the Headline Colours logo but nothing else which makes the packaging quite plain. The lid is made from black plastic which is a nice contrast with the clear glass.

The colour I received is a silvery purple kind of shade which can be seen easily in the bottle. After taking off the lid and revealing the brush, it quickly became clear that this nail polish was quite thin in consistency. However, Headline advise to ‘Apply two thin coats to clean nails’. As I painted on the first coat, I could instantly see just how thin the liquid was. The first coat was extremely streaky and at this point I was not at all impressed with how it looked on my nails.

Luckily, the second coat looked a lot better. Instead of the thin, streaky colour that I had before, the second coat gave my nails a wonderfully shiny metallic finish. I have never had a nail polish that is so different from one coat to the next but I was really pleased to see that the finish had improved a great deal. I also really liked the finished colour. Although the nail polish looks more silver in the bottle, it ends up more of a metallic lilac after the final coat.

While I really like the colour of this nail polish, I cannot say that it is worth the hefty £9 price tag. I painted my nails at about 8 or 9pm at night but by 10am the next morning, they were chipped… a lot. My nails looked terrible and I hadn’t done anything particularly harsh in order to cause the chipping. None of my other nail polishes chip this easily and they are all a lot cheaper than £9. The nail polish is also really easily removed, which is a good thing in this case. I couldn’t wait to get it off after it looked so bad.

Unfortunately, while this new range does do some fantastic colours, I just cannot recommend it due to it not lasting even 24 hours. 

July Glossybox

July's Glossybox has finally arrived!! I'm not sure why this month's box came so late into the month but I was still excited when it turned up. This month's Glossybox is titled 'Seaside Splash' and contains summer must haves for face, lips, hair and nails. 

This month, we get something a little different from the usual pretty pink box and instead, the box is a lovely turquoise colour with coral and starfish pictures on. I really like this box even though it doesn't match the others now but it is bright and cheerful. 

This is what my box included this month:

1. Ciate London Paint Pot (Full Size 13.5ml £9)
2. Anatomicals Spray Misty For Me Facial Spritz (Full Size 100ml £6)
3. Pukka Ayurveda Radiance Serum (Sample 10ml worth £6.40)
4. Alterna Haircare Bamboo Style Boho Waves Tousled Texture Mist (Sample 25ml worth £4.60)
5. Coola Mineral Face SPF 20 Rose Essence Tint (Sample 7ml. Full size 50ml is £29.99)

Overall, I'm pretty happy with this month's box. The only thing I'm not so sure of is the Coola sample. It is supposed to be applied every 2 hours while in the sun and as the sample is only 7ml, it won't really last long enough for me to decide if I really like it or not. I think I'd be lucky to get one day out of the sample. Other than that though, I'm quite excited to try a new nail polish and especially the facial spray as I work somewhere that gets extremely hot during the day. 

How is everyone else liking their boxes this month?

June's Glossybox

I know it hasn't been long since I posted about May's Glossybox but I got it really late in May so I didn't have to wait long at all until my next box came. Unwrapping a box with unknown contents is pretty exciting for me and I always love giving new products a go. 

Inside each Glossybox, there is a leaflet explaining the products inside the box and also what theme the box is. This month is the 'Summer Looks' Glossybox. 

Although a 'Summer Looks' box, this month is comes with black tissue paper and black shredded paper inside. I really would have loved to have seen a brighter colour that actually looked like summer instead of something so dark. But, regardless of that, here is what I got this month:

1. Figs & Rogue Coco Rose Lip Balm (Full Size £5)

2. Monu Professional Skincare Hydrating Moisturiser (Sample. Full Size RRP £29.95 50ml)

3. Huile Prodigieuse OR Multi Purpose Dry Oil (Sample. Full Size RRP £34 100ml)

4. MeMeMe Long Lasting Nail Gloss. Shade: Graceful (Full Size £5)

5. Helen E Cosmetics Eye Shimmer. Shade: 26 (Full Size £5)

While a really nice box full of things I have never heard of or used before, it definitely isn't the best box I could have gotten. Considering this is supposed to represent summer, I don't think it does at all, save for maybe the moisturiser which has SPF 15. I do always love a new nail polish but mine is a very light pink colour which I probably wouldn't have ever bought myself. Even so, I do look forward to trying out some new products and hopefully there will be a gem in there somewhere. 

Better late than never.... May Glossybox

May's Glossybox was the first to come from my new and exciting subscription. Now, I know it is the end of May and I probably should have waited to start from May but I wanted this one. I was so excited when the doorbell rang and I had a parcel waiting for me. I was so excited to receive my first Glossybox and couldn't wait to rip it open. After opening the outer box, I was so pleased to see a wonderful pink box. I don't know what others do with their boxes once the products are out but I know I can make use of mine every single month. 

Removing the lid was a very exciting experience. Inside was a lovely parcel wrapped in Glossybox birthday paper and tied with a bright pink bow. I do love good packaging and presentation and Glossybox get this spot on. Inside, the package was filled with bright orange paper shredding with my products hidden inside. 

I have read other blogger's posts about their boxes this month but I still couldn't wait to look at the products myself. Here's what I got:

1. Jelly Pong Pong Fairy Lashes Mascara (Full size RRP £8)

2. Fleur De Figuier Body Lotion, Shower Cream & Fragrance (Samples)

3. Headline Colours Nail Polish (Full size RRP £9)

4. Premae Harmony Balm (Sample RRP £27.50)

5. Beautiful Movements Cosmetics Prime and Create Mixing Medium (Sample RRP £20)

6. Gossybox mini nail files

I couldn't be happier with the contents of my first box. I love a new nail polish and I'm so excited to give this mascara a go. I also really like the idea of the primer which I can't wait to try. Look out for my reviews of these products!