My Little No Filter Box

I was really happy to see My Little Box come through the door this month and to my surprise, the items were packaged in a #NoFilter cosmetic bag instead. This will really come in handy for holidays to store make-up and toiletries in. It’s a plastic material too which is really easy to clean and came packed with some excellent goodies this month. I especially like that every month we receive a card print, these would be great for building up a gallery wall. This month’s quote was “You were born to be real, not to be perfect” which I think is a really nice phrase.

We received a perfume sample this month, Deep Euphoria by Calvin Klein. We received a mini roll on which is easy to apply and small enough to pop in your handbag. It has a lovely floral scent with light top notes of lilac. The lasting power is great too and doesn’t need topping up too much throughout the day. The full sized 30ml bottle costs £34 which I think is quite reasonable and something I would definitely consider purchasing.

I was really impressed to see a familiar brand in ‘Laura Mercier’ with the blemish-less foundation primer which retails at £30. This product claims to make pores disappear, evens out skin tone, brightens and offers coverage all at once. The texture is smooth and creamy and this applies to the skin really nicely. It did a good job of keeping my make-up all in one place so I can’t really ask for much more! I don’t think I would spend this much on a primer personally but I will enjoy using this item.

One of the My Little Beauty items was this lovely nude nail varnish. One coat is enough just to brighten your nails in a natural way or you can build this up if required. It is a nice pale colour, dries quickly and doesn’t chip right away so what more could you want?

I love the My Little Beauty Selfie Foundation Brush. This brush is the ideal size just to pop in your handbag or makeup bag. It works well with liquids, loose powders, compacts and cream brushes. It’s super soft on the skin and easy to grip and hold. A good all-rounder if you ask me.

It was interesting to see this Beauty Notebook this month. At the front of the book is some make-up tips, how to create a natural look and some other top tips. There are plenty of lined pages at the back for notes and the pages at the front can be torn out if you don’t want them in there. I am not yet sure what I will use this for but I am sure I will find a home for it.

The lifestyle item this month was a Smartphone Ring. I really like this! You can use it as a mini tripod to prop your phone up or use it to take selfies without fear of dropping your phone. I really like it and when I get a new phone I would love to get another one. I need to see if this is something you can buy?!

Overall another great box.. or should I say bag? What do you think?

She Who Dares Fragrance Review*

I love trying out new scents so when I was given the chance to try one from the brand She Who Dares I was excited to see what it was like. I was kindly sent some samples of the fragrance Dalliance and Eminence which I thought were both lovely but my favourite of the two was Dalliance.

I was sent a full bottle of this gorgeous perfume and I have been wearing it daily since and have received multiple compliments. I was in the queue at Boots and the lady behind even said “your perfume smells lovely” – that’s never happened before! Firstly, how beautiful is the bottle? One I am proud to display on my shelf amongst the others. I love the shape, it’s not like any other bottle I own and it’s been very carefully designed this way for a reason. The colouring on the bottle is cream and gold and this reflects the pure, innocent and light heartedness of the Dalliance woman. The curves on the bottle echo the femininity and confidence of a woman. The bottle is then topped with the She Who Dares iconic rose lid. The rose itself is a symbol of recognition for the women that receives it. The name Dalliance means flirtation and compliments the fun and flirty notes in the fragrance.

Dalliance is a fruity and floral scent that lasts on the skin for hours on end. The top notes are jasmine, tuberose and magnolia with pears at the heart of the scent and a musky base note. The She Who Dares founder, Rachel Lowe MBE is proud to support UK business by sourcing every component of the fragrance from packaging to ingredients all from Britain. I think that is a really great ethical way to create perfume and something to be proud of.

The She Who Dare’s Dalliance Eau de Parfum retails at £32.00 for a 30ml bottle and can be bought exclusively at Jarrold and from She Who Dares.

*I received this perfume free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way. Please see my disclaimer for more information.

Have Fun Every Day with Desigual Perfume*

My favourite thing about trying new perfumes is the bottle design. I am drawn to testers with nice looking bottles and when I was given the chance to try Fun by Desigual I knew this was a bottle I would have definitely picked up.

Desigual, the fastest growing, worldwide fashion brand have just launched three new long awaited fragrances, Sex, Love and Fun and I received 50ml of the Fun fragrance.

The design is exactly what it says on the packaging..Fun! The circle shaped bottle is brightly designed with a rainbow of colours and a funky vintage style matching cap. "Have fun everyday" has been printed onto the sides of the bottle and it makes me smile every time I pick this up. The other fragrances also have this quote on the side matching their respective names.

Fun is cheerful, fruity and light. The fragrance is long lasting and I received many compliments wearing this. The predominant notes are blueberries, nashi pear and white peach with background notes of passionfruit, violet and peony. The base notes sandalwood and bright teak. The scent was created by Christoph Raynaud who has also made fragrances for Paco Rabanne.

The new Desigual Sex, Love and Fun fragrances are available at The Fragrance Shop.

*I was provided with the Desigual Perfume free of charge in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way. Please see my disclaimer for more information.

So...? London*

I've always been a lover of the So...? Body sprays so when I was contacted about trying the new fragrance range, I couldn't wait to receive my item. The So...? range was well loved by me and all of my friends back when we were teenagers and I have continued to buy body sprays from the range ever since, they almost feel nostalgic.

I received the So..? London fragrance which is a solid favourite of mine having tried all of the other couture scents in various stores. The scent is really unique to any other perfume I have used before and is fun and refreshing.

The perfume starts of smelling quite fruity and slowly fades throughout the day to a sweet scent.

The website describes the top notes of this scent as grapefruit, mandarin and apricot. The heart notes are jasmine, rose and violet and the base notes are described as sandalwood, vanilla and musk. The vanilla scent is definitely something that lingers on your skin throughout the day and I really like that.

The bottle design is simple but sleek, and I really love the outer packaging, it instantly catches my eye. I love that it is ombréd too, it has a very modern feel.

These perfumes are really affordable and have a long lasting scent so you really get your money's worth. They're a great addition to have in your handbag and it's nice to keep topping up your scent while you're out and about.

The So...? perfumes are available in many supermarkets and drugstores here in the UK, but for a full list, head over to their website. The 50ml Eau de toilette is just £9.99.

*I was provided with this perfume free of charge. All opnions are my own and I was not influenced in any way. Please see my disclaimer for more information. Thank you to Bloggers Love for giving me the opportunity to be gifted this item.

L'Occitane Samples Review

I recently had the pleasure of receiving a lot of beauty samples from the company L'Occitane (thanks to my friend Kelly's excellent advice) and I would ideally love to review them all, however I received so many, I decided to split them up into mini reviews.

The first product I tried out was the Precious Night Cream, as I was writing this up in the evening. This full size product is £49.00 and is one of L'Occitane's best sellers. This cream claims to reinforce skin regeneration, corrects deep wrinkles and improves skin firmness. I mainly wanted to try this to see if it would even out my complexion overnight.

This cream went on really well and was nice and thick, which is how I like a night cream to be because you know it will sink in overnight. I'll be honest it has a strange scent to it, a bit like white emulsion paint but after smearing it on the smell soon went away.

After using this cream, I woke up and my skin was hydrated and soft, thumbs up from me.

That same morning, I also decided to try out a couple of other products. First was the Relaxing Hand Balm at just £12.00 this is a really good price.

 This hand balm is enriched with shea butter and essential oils so not only smells amazing, it's super nourishing too.

It made my hands feel soft and smooth and had a lovely clean scent to it which lasted on the skin for ages.

The third and final product I tried out was the Eau Ravissante Fresh Cologne, at £37.00 full price.

This had a floral scent which reminded me of summer. Not only can this be used as a cologne, this can also be poured into bath water, or soaked onto a handkerchief and used as a calming method, which I think is fantastic.

Overall, I am very impressed with the L'Occitane samples that I have tried so far, and I will be definitely giving the other products a trial in the near future, so stay tuned for future reviews :)

July 2012 She Said Beauty Box

Hello. It’s that time of the month again (no, not THAT time) where my She Said Beauty box comes through my door. It doesn’t seem like long ago since I received my last box so I was pleasantly surprised to come home to this!

I hadn’t seen any spoilers so didn’t have a clue what to expect. Since looking on the website and at other reviews, it looks as if everyone has very similar products and there isn’t too much variation between boxes, which I think is fair. I have had a chance to use a few of these items, so here is what I think.

White Glo - Professional Choice Toothpaste - Full Size £4.07
I actually already have this at home, so for me this sample wasn’t that exciting. This toothpaste does help to make your teeth whiter over time but you really need the full size item to give you enough to do this. This also tastes powdery so may not be to everyone's taste but I think it’s alright. I’m actually off on holiday in a couple of weeks so this is ideal to take for the week, and saves me buying a sample size.

Balance Me - Rose Otto Intensive Lip Salve - Full Size £12.00
I was slightly disappointed by receiving this product, as I had literally gone out and got glamour magazine last week which contained this same free gift. This lipsalve is alright, nothing special I would say but it’s good to have in your handbag for those times when your lips are dry. I think this will come in handy in the winter.

Redken Colour Extend Radiant -10 - Full Size £19.99
This product claims to provide 10 essential benefits to your hair. I am trying to fade the current dye out of my hair so I don’t want to try this out yet, but I have sprayed it and think it smells nice and feels like it will be light and nourishing. I will be dying my hair soon and will definitely try this product out.

Papier Poudré – Rachel Powdered Paper - Full Size £7.96 for 6 x 20 leaf booklets.
I have wanted to try blotting paper out for a while as I often get an oily t-zone throughout the day. I used this after my foundation in the morning and could definitely tell by the look of the paper that it had soaked up something, unfortunately I think this may have been my make-up. The paper gave a powdered look to the face but seemed to lift some of my foundation away. I will try using this before my make-up to see if that makes a difference, but I think to be honest, this does nothing my normal setting powder doesn’t do.

Absolutely Flawless Nail Foils  - Full Size £1.90 (32 foils)
Before I saw these foils, I saw the little postcard with all 130 designs on. There were a few I liked the look of but I seem to have received one of the less exciting designs. I have used nail foils before and they only lasted a couple of days but these ones are so cheap, I think they will be worth it if they only last that long. I haven’t used them yet, I thought I would put them on for my holiday, so will let you know how I get on.

4711 – Eau De Cologne - Full Size £17.00
When I first opened this, I was telling my mum about all of the products I have received and when I mentioned this she said, ‘’ooh that will be nice I’ve heard of that’’.. I immediately thought oh no, this must be old, and I personally think this is a more mature fragrance. The bottle it came in however, was absolutely adorable and looks cute sitting on my shelf.

Overall, I would say this months box is so-so. There wasn’t really anything that I was majorly excited about, but at the same time I think I will use the majority of these products. Looking forward to next months.