Sunday 11 November 2012

She Said Beauty Box - November

Happy November! I can't believe it's only 43 days until Christmas. I really do need to start my Christmas shopping and as usual don't know where to begin.

Festive panic aside, I was very pleased to discover a mid-week treat at the Post Office in the form of my November She Said Beauty box:



You can tell from the ripped tissue paper that I was extra keen this month. After last month's slightly disappointing offering I was curious to see whether or not this one was any better.

Let's take a look inside:


1) So...? Brit Body Spray - I remember the So? series from my days at school where we were all gassing each other in the girls' toilets with aerosols, Impulse anyone? This can be snapped up at a bargainous £1.99 in most high street drugstores. The scent itself is quite hard to describe, but I'll cut it short at fresh, floral and light. This sample is an excellent size for the handbag.

2) Redken Smooth Lock Shampoo & Conditioner -This looks to be the revamped 'Smooth Down' range which I've already tried and loved as a fan of smooth, sleek manageable hair. I do like Redken products and think that they're great for when you want to spend a little more on giving your hair a treat. That said I'm very much looking forward to using these. The full size bottles cost £11.85 and £13.40 respectively and can be found in salons nationwide.

3) Murrays Manicure Matchbook Nail Files - Well these are very cute aren't they? There's not much you can say about minature nail files really! These will also be finding their way into my handbag.

4) Weleda Wild Rose Smoothing Night Cream - This cream contains oil from organically grown Rosa mosqueta seeds which apparently aids the regeneration of the outermost layer of the skin overnight and helps soften fine lines. Rose can be a bit of a Marmite smell (love it or hate it), but I've always been a fan even if it does remind me a little of my Grandma. I've not tried any products from Weleda so I'm looking forward to giving this a try. The full size (30ml) is available for £14.95.



5) Makebelieve Enhance Sunbeam Bronzer and Blush - Now this is definitely the product that stands out this month due to its sheer size! I'm pleased that this is a shade that compliments my skin tone and it gives me a subtle glow which is much appreciated on these cold winter days. The coupling with the kabuki brush is a nice touch, but I prefer my MAC kabuki as it's slightly denser. The one offputting thing about this bronzer is the bulkiness of the packaging. It's so cumbersome that I'm going to depot it into a palette or other container as soon as I can in order to make it more portable. This is the full sized product and retails for £15. This more than made up for the cost of the whole beauty box!

6) Yardley Royal English Daisy Eau de Toilette - Ahh, the obligatory perfume sample. This is a fresh, floral fragrance that actually does smell of sunshine, I love it. I do think it's more of a spring/summer scent though and would be more inclined to use it when I can get out there and enjoy the actual sunshine! 50ml of this fragrance retails for £9.99 and 125ml at £14.99 which isn't bad at all.
 

Overall, I am very impressed with this month's offering. A full size product worth more than the box itself and not a sachet in sight. Keep it up SSB and you'll have some very happy subscribers!


Did you receive this box or a variation of it this month? What did you think?

Sunday 4 November 2012

Boots No7 Foundation Match Made Service

Very recently Boots launched their new No7 Foundation Match Made Service instore that is designed to help you choose exactly the right shade and formula for your skin. I've never been 100% confident when deciding myself and have always ended up with an arm full of swatches so I thought that this would be right up my street (and it is, literally. I love my town!)




 The range of foundations has been expanded to suit several different skin types, ages/conditions and coverage preferences. The shades extend across this range so if at any point you want to try a different type you can without any worry of colour inconsistency.

The first thing that the assistant did was remove a little bit of the makeup I was already wearing (along my jaw line) with a cleansing wipe to ensure accurate results. She then rested this gadget on the clean area where it scanned my skin:


It very simply came up with the name of the foundation shade that matches my skin (Calico) and I was asked a few questions about the my skin type, preferred coverage and if there were any particular skin issues I'd like to address. I was very impressed with how thorough the assessment was! At the end I was best matched to the Stay Perfect foundation:




This sounded like exactly what I need. A long lasting, medium coverage formula with a matte finish and SPF 15. .I had no hesitation in sealing the deal and I have been very happy with it's performance so far.

At the counter after my little assessment the assistant gave me a vouched entitling me to £3 off the foundation (RRP £14) just for going through the matching process. I thought this was a great little bonus!

Overall I'd highly recommend this service. Although No7 has a seemingly more mature demographic (my Mum loves the brand) I really think that this is paving the way for the future of foundation matching. The experience was fascinating and I've come away with a product tailored exactly to my needs.

Let me know your thoughts if you've tried it!