Birchbox - March 2018

This months Birchbox’s theme is Mindfulness which I am all about. I absolutely love the tag line it came with of ‘Be present not perfect’ and know it’s definitely something I need to work on more myself. This box is all about taking time out and looking after yourself so with that in mind, let’s see what came in the box!

Blaq Peel Off Mask - RRP £14 for the full size

I love a good face mask and especially a peel off one! This one is targeted at stressed skin and works in 15 - 20 minutes. I can’t wait to give this a go as my skin is definitely in need of some TLC just now.

Benefit BADgal BANG! Volumising Mascara - RRP £21.50 for the full size

Now this was undoubtedly the item which I was most excited about in the box. If you watch any beauty YouTube channels then you will have probably seen the massive launch which a Benefit held for this new mascara. They really hyped this up so I couldn’t wait to try it out and was beyond disappointed when I did. Admittedly I haven’t got on amazing with benefit mascaras (love their other products though!!) but I really hoped this one would be different. However, it is quite possibly the clumpiest mascara I’ve ever tried, so bad that I actually had to take it off before leaving the house which was extremely messy given how wet it was! I’m going to wait until it dries out a bit more and then give it another go.

Absolution Le Nettoyant Pureté - RRP £26

Took me a while to find out what this product is but apparently this is a natural cleanser which is great for sensitive skin. I love a good cleanser and also up for trying out a new one so excited to give this a go.

R + Co Badlands Dry Shampoo Paste - RRP £22

This is a dry shampoo paste....?! My mind is blown. I’ve never heard of a product like this but love how compact it is. I really hope it works well as getting rid of greasy hair and I’m also hoping that since it’s a paste it’ll give great volume (the main reason I use dry shampoo!). I’m going to wait until a day when I don’t necessary need to leave the house in case it goes horribly wrong.

Rituals Sakura Foaming Shower Gel - RRP £4.50

I love Rituals bath products and know that this one won’t disappoint. The shower gels which I’ve used in the past by Rituals all provided the best foam and smell beautiful so this is a very welcome addition to my collection.

Let me know what you think of these products and if you received a Birchbox too!

Thanks for reading

Iona x

Bloglovin'- TheLittleLassie

Twitter- ionaTLL

Instagram- thelittlelassie

Youtube - TheLittleLassies

Tweet

Morning and Evening Skincare Routine

I did not realise until writing this post how many Simple products I'm currently using but turns out that most of my morning and evening skincare routine is by them! It's not overly surprising though as when I'm a bit on a budget Simple is my go to skincare brand and one which I'd recommend to anyone who's starting out in the world of skincare. But let's see what else I use...

Morning

So my morning routine is kept very simple and quick as I don't often have a lot of time spare. In the shower I will use a face scrub/wash of sorts and then, after fueling up on breakfast, I make a start of my skincare. I always start with a cleansing water and I'm currently using the Garner Micellar Cleansing Water. This has been my favourite one for a long time and is always my go to. Especially when the bottles are so huge and therefore last ages! I then follow with Simple Soothing Facial Toner. After a swift cleanse and tone I will then use a serum and have recently discovered the Simple Hydrating Booster. I started using this when it came out at the beginning of Winter and haven't gone a day without it since. It is exactly what it says and gives your skin a boost of hydration which mine definitely needs during the colder months. My final step is to moisturise with a light moisturiser. Simple Hydrating Light Moisturiser is a perfect product for the job as it's light on the skin, soaks in quickly and make-up sits beautifully on top. 

Evening

As soon as I'm home from work I head straight into my bathroom and take my make-up off. I love to use either the Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser or the Simple (surprise surprise) Oil Cleanser which I've actually just used up which is why it's not in the picture. If my skin then feels tight then I'll pop on some moisturiser at this stage but if it doesn't then I leave me skin naked and able to breathe. When it's finally time for bedtime I get down to business with a bit more of a busy skincare routine. A lot of products from the morning routine appear again so the main difference in the evening is I like to use a thicker and more nourishing moisturiser. Often I use oils and recently finished the Neal's Yard Beauty Balm which I absolutely LOVE (and you can read about here) but at the moment I'm back to a cream and I'm absolutely loving the Pixi Beauty Sleep Cream. I've also written a post about this product here which will tell you all about my thoughts on it. I will then follow on with an eye cream and currently using the Boots Time Delay Anti-Aging Eye Cream. My eyes can be very sensitive with eyes creams (including the Simple one!) but gets on well with this one from Boots which is also very affordable so a winner!

And after all that I'm ready for bed, to then wake-up and do it all over again! I actually really enjoy skincare routines so if you have any product recommendations for me to add into mine then please let me know!!

Thanks for reading

Iona x

Bloglovin'- TheLittleLassie

Twitter- ionaTLL

Instagram- thelittlelassie

Youtube - TheLittleLassies

Tweet

Pixi Beauty Sleep Cream

I recently ran out of my beloved Neal's Yard Rose Beauty Balm (which you can read about in my post here) and then found this product in my drawer so have been trying it out for the past couple of weeks. Pixi Beauty Sleep Cream is a welcome addition to my evening skincare routine as I've really been enjoying using it. 

First off, I love the packaging. There's something so simple and quite old fashioned about it which I love. The cream itself is very buttery and absorbs into the skin quickly. It feels quite light on the skin which is a nice change from using oils which can feel a bit heavier and take longer to sink into the skin. Even though it feels light on the skin there’s no doubt that it’s working hard over night as my skin feels so nourished in the morning. This Beauty Sleep Cream also has a slight lavender smell which I also enjoy but I realise it may not be to everyone's taste. 

Overall I have really enjoyed using this cream and will continue to do so. However, the one down side is that the pump has let me down a couple of times. I don't know if the texture of the cream is too thick in the tube but I often find I have to twist the pump off and squeeze the cream onto my hand instead. Not a big issue and I can still use the cream but just a slight annoyance. 

So far the skincare which I've tried from Pixi is this Beauty Sleep Cream and the infamous Pixi Glow Tonic (which I LOOOOVE!). Let me know if there's any other Pixi essentials I need to be trying!

Thanks for reading

Iona x

Bloglovin'- TheLittleLassie

Twitter- ionaTLL

Instagram- thelittlelassie

Youtube - TheLittleLassies

Tweet

Glossybox - February 2018

For some reason with this box the card lists more items than what you receive so I think it was a real pick 'n' mix situation but I have to say I'm really happy with the items I got and wouldv'e chosen the same products from the list had I had a choice - thumbs up for Glossybox getting it bang on yet again! Let's see what I got...

Ciate London Gelology Top Coat - RRP £6.00, £9.00 for the full size

This is such an adorable mini which I can't wait to try out. I love top coats which leave a gel finish to your nails as I find this helps them last the longest. This states it provides 10 days of high shine gloss which would just be fab!

Steve Laurant Nude Pop Lip Tint - RRP £17.00

This brand is popping up quite a bit in beauty boxes at the moment and I'm not complaining at all. The packaging of the products are beautiful and this lip tint is no exception. With a rose gold lid and a glass jar there's really not much to complain about. I've tried it on and the colour on me is more coral than nude but I still really like it. It did clump slightly on the dry bits of my lips but after buffing them down a bit it settled into a really nice shade. Can't say it felt over moisturising but at the moment my lips are really dry so maybe on a normal lip day this would be sufficient to keep them going.

Studio 10 Beauty Makeup Mist Glow-Plexion - RRP £14.00, £26.00 for the full size

I love a good setting mist and use one every day. Although on a daily basis I use the L'oreal one, my skin reacted the best to the MAC one and really improved with daily use of it. I'm hoping that this one will be much the same to the MAC one and bring some glow to my skin to help it look brighter and younger.

Icona Milano Emotion Allowed Mascara - RRP £15.00

I've already used this mascara once since getting my box and has to say I was impressed. Usually I like to let a mascara dry out a bit before using it as I really don't like the whole clumping together and 'spidery' look. However, this didn't clump lashes together too much and really did lengthen and hold the curl. It's also waterproof - hence the emotion allowed - and stuck around all day without the slightest hint of flaking or smudging.

Sleek Makeup Diving Eyeshadow Palette in Storm - RRP £8.99

I actually had this exact palette before so when I received this I dug out my old one. It had a cracked mirror and was extremely dirty and a couple of the eyeshadows were completely used. The fact I still had it however to me shows how much I liked the palette so I'm very happy to have a brand new clean one to replace it with. Sleek is also a drugstore makeup brand which I think is very under-rated and is great quality for it's price. If anyone was starting out in makeup I would 100% recommend checking out this brand and especially the eyeshadow palettes!

I think the item I'm most looking forward to using is the Ciate top coat but I'm also SO happy to have the new Sleek eyeshadow palette. If any of you have reviewed your own Glossyboxes or any beauty box subscriptions then feel free to leave a link below as I love reading about them!

Thanks for reading

Iona x

Bloglovin'- TheLittleLassie

Twitter- ionaTLL

Instagram- thelittlelassie

Youtube - TheLittleLassies

Tweet