Happy Birthday Glossybox!!

Glossybox turned 1 a couple of weeks ago & they have been celebrating like crazy. (If you follow Glossybox on Twitter or Facebook you'll be well aware of all the festivities). 

Cue the anniversary box!! 

I actually signed up to Glossybox a month ago with their anniversary box in mind (I figured it would be a good box to pop my Glossy-Cherry with). I actually ended up signing up in time for April's box (no complaints about that :) ), but have been looking forward to the anniversary box regardless.

The Anniversary Box:

Nice touch: special, anniversary gift wrap.

Packed full of goodies!

The Products:

NOBLE ISLE Summer Rising Bath & Shower Gel : Full size 250ml, £20

Noble Isle is a new company promising to bring you 'Britain in a Bottle', with scents capturing different areas of British countryside. From what I've seen of this company's website I can't wait to get my hands on more of their products.

Summer Rising is a lovely sweet yet fresh scent, fruity without the zing. It's is intended to capture the scent of Cornish Hedgerows. This is my kind of scent, combining Elderflower; Gooseberry & Orange Blossom for an uplifting, awakening shower experience.

LOLITA LEMPICKA Eau de Parfum & Si Lolita : £65 & £63 respectively per 100ml

To be honest I'm not entirely sure why these samples were in the box...neither of them are new releases as far as I can tell & I'm sure I'm not the only one who always seem to have a collection of perfume samples which have been slipped into bags during cosmetics purchases. I swear you only need to brush past someone on the street who's sister's dog's previous owner's cousin's wife works in beauty to have a handful of perfume samples thrust upon you. I resent them being presented to me in a box I'm paying for the privilege of receiving.

They're both lovely scents, quite fresh & sweet, the Eau de Parfum the sweeter of the two, but I don't like either of them enough to purchase them. Am I the only person who's NEVER once been inspired to buy a perfume from a sample, despite receiving crazy amounts of samples over the years?

APIVITA Express Beauty Mask with Cucumber : £3.50 per Sachet

Apivita express masks exclude synthetic ingredients & replace water with green tea infusion to enhance the antioxidant action. The cucumber mask is for intense hydration & aimed at normal/dry skin with first signs of ageing. I found this mask a little bizarre, I'm only really used to using clay based masks, so the milky, oily texture took me by surprise. Whilst on the face there was a strong smell of cucumber (shocking(!)) & Aloe Vera, I did experience discomfort in the form of stinging all over the lower half of my face, but I do have quite sensitive skin. Once washed off skin did feel softer & a little more hydrated. I'm used to seeing more of a difference from using a mask & I don't feel this mask offers enough improvement for me to want to use it again (My MAC cleanse off oil leaves skin much softer & more hydrated than this 'intense hydrating' mask did, which speaks volumes).

OSMO Berber Oil Hair Treatment : Full Size 100ml, £19.99

This is an Argan Oil based hair treatment intended to nourish dry/damaged hair whilst providing heat protection & reducing drying time. This is the product I was most excited about when I opened my box. I've been wanting to try an argan oil treatment on my hair for a while (but had promised myself I wouldn't buy any new hair products until I'd used up the mountain I already have) & am forever searching for something to sort out my dry, brittle, damaged mane (Never, ever replace your entire hair care with boots essentials 2in1 Shampoo/Conditioner, no matter how skint you are...that stuff marked the death of my hair 4 years ago!!). I am completely sold on the smell of this oil, it takes you by surprise & it took me a while to pinpoint the smell, but I think it's somewhere between the smell of the hearts & cola bottles you get in Haribo Starmix! No joke, it smells of sweeties, there's hints of cinnamon too. The texture took me by surprise too, I was expecting the texture of baby or olive oil but it is very viscous. Berber oil can be smoothed on to dry hair to sleek it out & add some shine (use sparingly though!!) or distributed through damp hair to improve body & movement. I must say I didn't notice a dramatic difference in drying time when used on damp hair. I think I expected a miracle with this when it comes to the condition of my hair, & whilst I think it did probably improve the appearance & condition a little, I didn't notice that much of a difference, but my hair is like the desert of hair. I reckon best results would be seen with slightly damaged/dry hair & would push it back into the 'normal' spectrum.

ELDORA Handmade lashes in H140 : £4.25 per pair

Same company, but a slightly (only very slightly) more wearable set of lashes than I received in last month's Lux Box. These bad boys are pretty OTT, although I did purchase & wear a lot (once should have been more than enough!) a very similar set about 18months ago (My going out make up look was very glamour-model-esque back then). These lashes are made from human hair (presumably not eyelash hair), so are nice and soft. I'm definitely going to try & use them at some point just so I can test out the application & wear etc of Eldora lashes, because their range is so extensive & reasonably priced, but not sure when. I'll have to try and arrange a big West-End night out...they might go down okay at Playboy Club, I guess. I'll give it a go.

This is what the (almost identical) pair I used to own looked like on...very, very OTT!!

GLOSSYBOX Compact Mirror & Birthday Balloon

A Glossy Box Compact Mirror & Balloon were included in the box as birthday treats, which I thought was a really nice touch. The compact found a home in one of my handbags & the balloon was instantly blown up & has been floating around my room since.

All in all I wasn't blown away by the month's box, I thought the balloon & mirror were lovely touches. I was expecting something really special from the anniversary box & I think including perfume samples is a complete let down for any box. I absolutely love the Noble Isle product & I feel, along with the Berber Oil, these are the kind of products that beauty boxes are all about, discovering new, mid-higher end products. The lashes & mask were 'meh', Eldora have been featured in a few beauty boxes of late, so aren't really anything new any more & the mask was nothing to write home about, both alright products & fine for a regular box, but I expected something more than these for a special, anniversary box.

Miss Sarah x