I Can't Believe I Just Did That!!

Did I say moratorium on spending?

Yea. I lied. I would like to say I forgot, but it's the same kind of forgetting you get when you are actually on a diet but you eat a cookie. For breakfast.

I didn't go crazy. Promise. I just spotted something that I could not (did not want to) resist. My buyers remorse level is very low. Maybe a 1.

I was looking at the latest beauty boxes around, just to see, you know. I know if I said I would not be buying, I should not be looking so I would not be tempted. Anyway.

I spotted the Look Fantastic "The Birthday Edit" box. It said there were 7 products worth £72. I never actually believe the value bit, to be honest, but regardless, I was interested so I checked out some unboxings and reviews on YouTube and decided to spend the £15 on a once-off box.

There were no surprises in the box (because I looked it up), but I am quite pleased with everything in it. I think it was genuinely worth the money I spent. I am really looking forward to trying every single product, which is a real rarity for me, as I usually find that I would never use more than half the things I get in these boxes.

There was a good balance of makeup and skincare, with a pretty makeup brush added as an extra gift.

Here's the run down:

Eve Lom Cleanser & Muslin Cloth; Christophe Robin Cleansing Volumizing Paste; Hikari Tonya Eye Shadow Quad; Decléor Hydra Floral Anti-pollution Hydrating Gel-cream; Illamasqua Gel Sculpt in Silhouette; Look Fantastic Unicorn Eyeshadow Brush

First Impressions

The Eve Lom Cleanser smells of cloves. It is a popular balm cleanser, a so-called cult hero product, or whatever. That being said, the first ingredient is Paraffinum liquidum (mineral oil), I am not a fan of putting petrolium byproducts (mineral oils) on my face generally, but it is just a cleanser so it may not be so bad and may still be worth a try. The tub itself also has these ridiculous instructions to open and close your pores. *eye roll*. They are holes in your skin, they cannot open or close. they don't have little muscles that can do that. The hot water on the cloth may help loosen excess dirt trapped in pores, and I suppose that cold water at the end could invigorate the skin and increase circulation? or just feel nice. Point is, it's nonsense. I'm still going to try it though.

The Christophe Robin Cleansing Volumizing Paste is rose scented so it smells lovely. It claims to be of 85% natural origin but there are some interesting sounding chemicals in the formula. There are no parabens, colourants or any of the real nasties, though. It has a gritty texture, which is probably from the sugar (second ingredient). It is designed to give thickness and volume to fine hair, so I am not completely sure if I would get much use out of it, and shudder to think of what the outcome would be because, quite frankly, have you seen my hair?

I am not familiar with the Hikari Tonya Eye Shadow Quad or the Hikari brand. I have swatched it and I am loving this quad. The texture is velvety, the colours are strongly pigmented and they seem to be really blendable, so I am very optimistic. There is a matte highlight, two shimmers and a dark matte shade. The coppery shade looks quite orange in the picture but it looks gorgeous on my skin. I can't wait to tiptoe out of my comfort zone and try it out!!!

To be perfectly honest, the Illamasqua Gel Sculpt in Silhouette is the reason I bought the box in the fist place. The brand is exquisite and even as a mini, the quantity of product is a lot. It is a gorgeous creamy contour stick type of thing (What a way with words I have). It is not thick or sticky. It slides on the skin smoothly and the colour is very buildable so it seems quite versatile. My contouring/highlighting skills are limited so I am super excited to play around with this little gem.

Decléor is a beautiful, Essential Oil-based French brand which I cannot afford. So I am looking forward to using the Decléor Hydra Floral Anti-pollution Hydrating Gel-cream very, very sparingly. It has a nice, light texture and soaks in quite quickly. It is quite heavily scented though, so it may not be your thing. I will give it a whirl and decide how I feel about scented skincare, as at present, I don't really have a preference either way.

What can I say about the "unicorn brush" it's pretty, it's a bit gimmicky, it's soft. It's a brush. I will use it.

Final thoughts:

I would absolutely recommend the Look Fantastic "The Birthday Edit" box and the Look Fantastic website. I would definitely fit this into the winner category! Well done Look Fantastic!

Do you buy beauty boxes? Which ones do you like?

Let's talk in the comments

Bye.