Violet Box October 2014

Hi all,

I'm Back!  Sorry for the lack of communication for the last couple of weeks, we've been a sick household.

My Violet box rocked up this morning!  They were claiming it was an 'all about lips' box, but i'll let you make up your mind about that.

Haughty Cosmetics Lipgloss-$23

This was the sneak peek for the month.  It's supposed to look like a lipstick but feel like a balm, with a lipgloss shine.  It smells divine, like chocco-mint-vanilla!  It's all natural, and for each one purchased they donate 50% of the proceeds to domestic violence.  Mine's Pull It Together, a plummy-pink.

Designer Brands Lipstick-$9.99

Mine's Pink Rouge.  For those outside Australia, DB is a cheap brand.  It's ok quality, but nothing to write home about.  I'm not overly impressed finding it in my VB.  This is supposed to be moisturising, blah, blah, blah.  It's a lightish pink, and i'm not sure if i can pull it off yet, so it may be going to my mum.

Designer Brands Lip Pencil-$4.99

More of it!  At least i'll use this colour (Fuchsia Rose).  But it's still DB!  They send out full sized eyeliners for free, FGS!

Wotnots Wipes-$1.95

Yep, you're seeing correctly, VB have included Wotnots wipes yet again.  They even have a price for a 5 pack now.   This brand has been done to death, they send out samples themselves, and all the boxes have included them multiple times.  Enough already!  When they bring out something new, send it out, until then let it die a quiet death.

PHR Leave-in moisturiser

Yep, a sachet sample.  Meh.  It sounds interesting, but i won't use it all at once, and storing it once opened is a PITA.  Brands, take this on board, If Arbonne can do their samples in little tubes, so can you.  You're not winning anyone over with these.

Eslor Introductory Set

As above.  These are fairly expensive full sized (the day cream selling for $85), but there may be 2 days use in these, they are annoying to use and i'm not going to base a big purchase off a sample this size.

Haughty cosmetics, DB lipstick, DB lip pencil

As you can probably tell, i'm not overly impressed with the box.  We've gone from a box of all full size, to a box with mainly samples.  I can't wait to try out the Haughty lipgloss, the DB stuff will probably get used, the others are meh!  I'd expect this type of box from the other big 2, it feels like there hasn't been a whole lot of thought put in to most of it, and i don't know how you can call it 'all about lips'.

Oh well, can't win them all.

What do you think?

RedPawPaw October 2014

Morning lovelies!

I'm Home!  Spent a lovely week away catching up with our families and friends.  I had a shipping notification for my RPP box on Wednesday, and expected to find a card for it in my letterbox.  But a very naughty delivery person had thrown it over my front gate (it was locked, it's the only way in to our yard)!  Luckily it's unscathed.

Redpawpaw is a grocery subscription box, $5 plus postage (postage depends on where you live, i pay $12, so $17 all up) for a box that is worth $30+.  I know last month i had someone comment that i didn't go in to the price and politics of the box, as with any of the boxes on the market you need to do your research to see if the box is a fit for you.  Look at my past reviews, i have bought every RPP box they've put out (this is number 5), plus i've had things to say when they changed the box up.   If you think it suits you, then go for it, if it doesn't then don't.  But i write these mainly to give people an idea of what is in the box i receive, and roughly how much it is worth (i don't use sale prices, i use the full price Woolworths online have).

My Box!!  I must admit, i like the fact that the consumables are separated from the cleaning products. 

Kellogg's All Bran Muesli-RRP $5.50-full size
Vetta High Fibre Spirals-RRP $2.15-full size
Be Natural 4 bars-RRP $4.40-full size
Dolmio Pasta Bake sauce-RRP $4.07-full size  I love that RPP have sent out meals the last 2 boxes, so pasta and sauce.  Means when you go to make it you have everything on hand.

Schweppes Dry-RRP $6.22-sample size $1.55  I honestly thought this was alcoholic at first glance :p
Masterfoods Perfect for Chicken-RRP $2.74-full size
Lipton Yellow Label tea 10 pack-RRP $1.60-full size
Lipton Passion Raspberry tea-RRP $4.17-full size
Finish Power & Pure-RRP $17.08-full size

Total=$43.26

This box is perfect for us, we will use everything out of it.  However i don't think it's the best box RPP have done.  Sending out a dishwasher product as the main item is risky unless you are ensuring that it is only sent to people who own a dishwasher.  I'd be peeved if i had received the box and didn't own one, without that product the box is worth under $30, and i can see there will be complaints over it (we use our dishwasher daily, so it's the perfect thing for us).

Have you got your RPP box yet?  Is it the same or different?

Empties September 2014

Small empties post! 

Natural Compatibles foundation-i loved this, but i don't like the fact i have to go to a salon to buy it.  Plus it was on the expensive side (i won a $100 voucher from the company, i got this, a lip pencil, a gloss and an eyeshadow). 
Schwarzkopf Shake it Up hair colour-this has been taken off the market.  I still have 3 stashed away, but i love the colour and how easy it was to use.
Nivea CC cream-nah, stung my eyes.  Not for me
Nuxe oil-am i the only person out there who doesn't like this?  I hate the scent
A'kin Rosehip Oil-i'll stick to my Human Tested stuff for the moment
Elusyion Primer-very, very old
Idole D'armani-i love this, but still have a couple of samples here

Plus i've done a stash clear out.  When this posts i'll be off visiting my family (scheduled post), so i'm taking things i don't use/are the wrong colours (from boxes) up for my sister and nieces to go through.

Nice to have a bit more room in the drawers, and i like seeing them get used instead of sitting here.

Polished London Nail Polishes

Morning!

As you are probably aware, the Sept Violet Box included a Polished London nail polish.  Well, after trying it out, i thought i would give you my thoughts on it.

This is the nail polish straight after application.  It is gorgeous and glossy, and with 2 coats is opaque.  This is 2 straight coats of the polish, no base or top coats.

This was after 3 days.  It starting chipping within 12 hours, and was unwearable after 3 days.

I do plan on trying it again with the appropriate base and top coats, it is a gorgeous nail polish.  But it doesn't live up to their chip proof claims.  And it is relatively expensive ($8) for something that chips easily.

Have you tried the Polished London nail polishes?  What do you think?

Boe Professional

Hi!

Boe have released a new range, Boe Professional. Boe Professional sits at a higher price point then the old range, but has a much wider range of products and gives you the option of being able to try some items before buying.

As you can see it is a much more expensive looking range.  It includes everything from makeup bases and foundations, right through to nail polishes and lip balms.  It is presented on a stand instore (compared to the bins that the $2 range was in) and has testers available so you can get the right colour for you.

I found a stand at my local Big W the other day, and i grabbed a nail polish ($4.95) and a Big XXX Kiss lip gloss ($7.95?  roughly).  As you can see the range does retail for more then the original line, but is still on the higher end of the cheap spectrum.

Let's start with the nail polish.  This is supposed to have an extra wide brush, but it is no wider than a Bourjois nail polish (i was using a 1 second per nail Bourjois polish the other day, and i think it was wider).  This is slightly wider than a normal polish, not enough to necessarily make painting you nails any easier.  It's an easy to use polish, you definitely need 2 coats, 1 is very sheer (i did Miss A's toe nails in this in the last hour).  Want to know my biggest bugbear about this, and why it's a disappointment?  It Stinks!!!  Honestly, it smells horrible (actually, it smells cheap and nasty).  I don't know if BYS have changed their formula recently, but this smells like a BYS nail polish.  I don't know if it's going to fade, but i can still taste it at the back of my throat as i type, and Yuck!  Just for that i wouldn't buy another one, but if that type of thing doesn't bother you then it is a nice nail polish. 

Oh, and 1 more thing.  Doing the bottle up tightly means the lid is off centre on the square bottle.  Having them square doesn't feel safe.  Small thing, but it pee's me off.

Let's move on to the lip gloss.  This i like.  Unlike the old range this has no real scent to it, which means it is usable by a larger number of people (whilst i liked the old floral fragrance, i know it wouldn't suit everyone).  It's in the colour Crystelle, a pretty coral that has a pink undertone.  It also has an extra big doe foot applicator, close to a cm wide!  It's huge, not necessarily the neatest way to apply a gloss, but you can make it work.  The gloss is non sticky and the colour, whilst not overly vivid on the lips, lasts for ages (i was wiping colour off 5 hours after i applied it, and i had eaten with it on).  It's fairly moisturising and doesn't feather.

So, what do i think of Boe Professional from what i've tried?  I think it could do with some tweaks.  Firstly that nail polish needs some work, the smell is over powering, and the brush width could be increased.  On the same line the applicator for the gloss could be trimmed down slightly, it is slightly too big.  But it is lovely to see the brand evolve and change, and can't wait to see what they do next.

Nani Liquid Matte lipsticks

Afternoon all!

I'm going to take you on a trip to the most budget of budget conscious beauty purchases, the ebay cheapie!  Surely you've all browsed the beauty section of ebay and wondered what the products really were like.  Well, in the name of science, I'm testing them out!

Whilst browsing said beauty section for liquid lipsticks about a month ago i found these lip ' glosses'.  The store i bought these off had 12 different colours, and they sold them for $1.26 each (i have another colour on it's way, the store i bought it off has 36 colours and sell them for $1.37).  They say that these are waterproof and a velvet matte finish.  I was sold, and bought 2 (and as i mentioned, i have another coming, a beautiful dark red).  #01 is a blue based bubblegum pink, #06 is a darker blue based pink, which is metallic (as strange as it sounds, it's a metallic matte).

These are the 2 original ones i ordered, #01 (lighter pink) and #06 (darker pink).  They do come in a box, so they are presented nicely.  The packaging doesn't feel overly cheap, at least not as cheap as you would expect from the price tag.  It's a see through tube with a black top, so you can see which colour is which.  They have a doe foot applicator.

As you can see they go on like a liquid lipstick.  They are very easy to apply, and have a great colour pay off.  They are unscented, and aren't as drying as some matte products (an application of lip balm before application helps).

The only complaint i have is they take a little while to dry.  #01 here is completely dry, but #06 is still wet in some of the thicker areas .  You need to apply a thin layer (a thin layer takes 2-3 minutes to dry, the picture above had been drying for about 5 minutes), but because of the colour payoff this really doesn't affect the product.  Once these are dry, though, they won't feather.  Actually, they won't budge (the advice from the seller is that you are going to need olive oil or make up remover to take it off.  I didn't find it that bad, but needed to scrub fairly hard to get it off).  You can get some wear from eating and drinking, but it is very minimal.  They are one of the more comfortable mattes i've tried, it doesn't cling to dry patches and doesn't seem to settle into lines and creases.

For the price you can't go wrong with these.  They are a cheap and easy way to embrace the matte trend, and there is a colour for everyone. 

36 colours available here.

Beauty Heaven Beautorium

Morning!

Have you all heard about Beauty Heaven?  It's a 1 stop shop for everything beauty related, and your input earns you points that can be used towards items at the 'beautorium', which is held a few times a year.  There are also competitions and other exclusive opportunities.

A few weeks ago i saw a call out on facebook for people to complete a survey about the beautorium, and the first 400 would receive a goody pack in the mail.  I jumped on the chance, and was lucky enough to be one of those 400.

It was all wrapped up like a present in blue tissue paper.  Is it just me, or does a company doing this make a parcel seem extra special?

The contents: 6 vagisil wipes (?), sample size Dr Lewinns day cream moisturiser, sample size QV Face gentle cleanser, a Lady Jayne Tangleze, sample size Neutrogena Hydro Boost water gel and a sample size Schwarzkopf Essence Ultime omega repair shampoo.  Not too bad for doing a survey.

If you haven't already join Beauty Heaven

Dr Hauschka Body Wash

Hi All!

I was contacted a few weeks ago by Janet at Dr Hauschka, wondering if i would like to try out their body wash, and i jumped on the opportunity!   Now i first discovered Dr Hauschka a good 5-6 years ago, they were sending out samples of some of their products (i love samples!) and i registered to receive some.  Those products were amazing, but they were so hard to get my hands on (back before i had a visa debit card and before paypal was widely accepted) that i put them to the back of my mind.  Fast forward to a VB earlier this year and the inclusion of a sample size body wash, and this email from the company, and i remember why i loved those products way back when.

Dr Hauschka products were first launched in 1967.  There are skin and body care ranges, a full cosmetics range, plus hair care and accessories.  Everything is organic, the company is ecologically responsible, synthetic free and they don't test on animals.  Everything i have personally tried has been amazing, and the products i was sent are no different.

This is my bottle of body wash, Lemon Lemongrass.  It was a choice between this, Lavender Sandalwood, Rose or Almond, but i love anything lemongrass!  Ingredients are:

Ingredients: Aqua, Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil, Coco-Glucoside, Glycerin, Decyl Glucoside, Alcohol, Persea Gratissima Oil, Pyrus Cydonia Seed Extract, Sodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Disodium Cocoyl Glutamate, Xanthan Gum, Citrus Limon Peel Oil, Cymbopogon Flexuosus Oil, Parfum*, Limonene*, Citral*, Geraniol*, Linalool*, Citronellol*, Farnesol*, Citric Acid, Hectorite.
*from natural essential oils

First and foremost, this smells amazing!  Like an old fashioned lemonade with a lemongrass undertone.  Really, really amazing.  If you hate lemon then it proabaly isn't for you, but i love it.  A small amount goes a long way, and it becomes the softest lather when using it.  It does a great job of moisturising your skin, my hand has been flaring up recently (eczema), and since using this it has calmed down significantly.  This is retailing on their website for $26, and is a 200ml bottle.

I was also sent a Oval Cleansing Sponge.  From the website

Made from unbleached cotton cellulose, this cleansing sponge is ideal for cleansing with Cleansing Clay Mask and removing make-up with Cleansing Milk. Usage Moisten the Cosmetic Sponge before using it to make it swell. The porous fiber allows for quick drying, keeping it hygienic. You can wash the Cosmetic Sponge in the washing machine at 60 °C.

It comes looking like a wafer, very thin and hard.  You really wonder what it's going to do with it.

Add water, though, and....

Tada!  You have a sponge.  It does harden between uses, but not back to the original state and softens as soon as it touches water.

I honestly didn't think i would love a sponge, but i don't know what i did before i had this.  It is amazing!  The first night i had it i ran it over my face before i cleansed, and it came back grey!  It does an amazing job at exfoliating your skin, and makes cleansing so much easier.  And all for $9!

Finally there was a product catalogue.  I don't think i've ever seen a catalogue like it.  There was advice, info about the company, details on every product including usage, all printed on beautiful paper with amazing photography. 

If you ever get a chance to have a look through one, jump on it, you won't regret it.

Thank you so much to the lovelies over at Dr Hauschka for inviting me to try these out!