I'm back! and now a Mrs!

I've not been on here for a little while as I've been busy getting married! I will be posting more on here now since I have a little more time....well on my days off (since my job moved so more commuting and we now have a little pet pygmy hedgehog which takes up my evenings).

I'll be posting shortly reviews of my March and April Glossy boxes and my wedding make up kit (Elizabeth Arden products).

Mr and Mrs Stacey

February Glossy Box

Normally I don't moan about what I get in my Glossy Box... and I won't but I am a bit disappointed which is the only time I have been since subscribing to the box.

I wasn't very well today as was in when the postman brought my box. It seemed light and I really didn't feel well so left the box on the bed and went back to sleep.

This afternoon I opened the box and was a bit hmmmm.... on seeing the first product... liquid soap but then it did say 'magic' liquid soap so thought it sounded interesting.

I think GB knew that this was going to be a bit of a 'hit or miss' box and had put a card in saying 'expect the unexpected' and tells you to go to the website on 24th Feb to find out about a mystery box... so I think this was put in to keep being subscribed.

The items I go were:

Duwop Venom Gloss - It comes with a warning that it may cause a tingling sensation... which I love! I've had lots of plumping glosses and the tingles show its working. I've not tried this yet but will be tomorrow. The worst 'tingle' I had was from an a Sally Hansen extreme plump which felt like I had carpet burn on my face! Its a nice colour too so can't wait to try this.

Dr Bronner Magic Liquid Soap - Worth £1.99.... hmmm high end I don't think so but I will try this if I can swap it for another smell as I have a migraine and this is Rose scented which usually gives me migraines (florists looked at me oddly when I kept saying I didn't want roses in my wedding bouquet as they gave me a migraine). So I've put a post on Beauty Box Swaps - http://www.facebook.com/GlossySwaps to ask to see if anyone is willing to swap for another smell (not citrus as that also causes migraines, and not lavender as my fiance isn't keen) so I will wait and see. I really want to try this out though so hope that someone is willing to swap. It has so many uses so really would like to give this a go.

Paul Mitchell Super Skinny Relaxing Balm - Intense hydrating treatment for my hair.... can't wait! Want to keep my hair in tip top condition for my wedding in April so will definately be trying this out!

BM Beauty Pure Mineral Eyeshadow - I have the grey colour and it looks really good and I quite like mineral makeup so can't wait to try this (with my Bare Minerals brush hehe) I don't have any eye like colours so this will be great for a smokey eye.

Como Shambhala Invigorating Body Lotion - Not tried this yet... mostly because of the smell as it sounds like a clash of smells to me and worried it'll push my migraine over the limit! I also don't need any body lotions at the moment as Waitrose mistakinly gave me 2 full size Nivea lotions in my weekly shop (which I have told them about) but they're not wishing to collect them (I'm too honest so had to tell them!)

I will try out the products this week and report back on my blog.

I haven't taken any photos as not feeling great but will hopefully post pictures of the products soon.

Some people got false nails instead of the BM eyeshadow which I was a bit annoyed about but then my nails are long (thanks to OPI) and they're probably longer than the false nails! Also I'll get more use from the eyeshadow.

I'm not sure what else other people go but will have a look once more blogs are posted.

If you want to swap my rose Dr Bronner soap for either Peppermint, Eucalyptus or Almond please leave a comment or get in touch via twitter @saraleighuk

Christmas Time, Glittery OPI

I received some OPI products for Christmas to add to my nail varnish collection, this included the OPI Nail Envy duo (original and matte) and two of the new Muppet Collection OPI's, both Miss Piggy ones (Excuse Moi and Divine Swine).

Excuse Moi is a pink polish with small glitter particles and when I got it I thought it looked red but now it's on it does look pink. I used a base coat of 2 coats of Nail Envy Matt, a coat of pale pink polish, 2 coats of Excuse Moi, then a top coat of original Nail Envy. I put the pale pink coat on to help remove the glitter later so it didn't get as stuck to my nails as usual (leading to scrubbing the glitter off).

Divine Swine is a pink polish with pink glitter and sliver hexagons. This doesn't give an opaque coverage and next time I use it I will put a coat of coloured polish under it as I ended up having to do 3 coats of the polish to give a good coverage. This was mega hard to remove due to this but it is such a lovely polish and hard wearing.

December's Glossy Box

After waiting very patiently and not sneaking a peek at any other blogs, I finally got my December Glossy Box on Thursday.

I even drove home from work before going to my parents to see if the postman had been as I really wanted to get my Glossy Box.

I wasn't disappointed at all! It was a great box and was red and Christmasy!

Unfortunately I haven't taken any photos as I opened the box round my parents and took the products out to use and forgot until today that I was going to review them.

In the box I received:

Cargo Cosmetics Classic Lip Gloss
This is described as a non sticky, high-shine, great wearing lip gloss. It felt nice to wear and wasn't sticky, although I still kept putting my lips together and pressing them as I always do with lip gloss. You can still feel it's there but it's not sticky, although other lip glossy I have aren't sticky either (although hair still manages to stick to my lips whether lip gloss is sticky or not!). I liked this product but wouldn't go out of my way to buy it as it's similar to others on the market but was a nice size to carry around. I don't wear much lip gloss or lip sticks but with the current weather I have been wearing lip balm (an Avon one that I have on my desk at work) or my new Elizabeth Arden tinted 8 Hour Cream stick. I don't drink enough so my lips are always dry but especially now with the heating on all the time and the cold wind outside.

Deborah Lippmann - Razzle Dazzle Nail Varnish with Stripped to Go Sachet
This was a lovely reddy/purply/pink glitter nail varnish with a nail varnish remover mitt. I gave the varnish to my sister as she likes nail varnish, especially glittery ones and she didn't feel well so cheered her up with this (I did open my box round her house too lol). I gave the nail varnish removed sachet to my Mum as she could keep it on her to take off her polish if it chipped, but also because it was lavender scented (my fiance hates the smell of lavender...even though he loves the smell of the Molton Brown pillow spray which has base notes of lavender lol).

FAB Face Cleanser
This came out of the tube a bit like toothpaste as it was stripped (white and clear) and is described as a mild, nourishing cleanser that's ideal for all type. Calms redness and reduces skin reactivity with regular use. I found this to be very mild and didn't dry my skin out at all and felt very gentle to use. I would definitely think about buying this again (apparently Boots sell it) as it's a nice night time face cleanser that won't wake you up as it doesn't have any tingling or strong smell, it's just nice and gentle. 

Nouveau Lashes - Noir Mascara
My favourite item in the box so far. When I opened it the box was very expensive looking and more like opening an expensive pen than mascara. The tube is very esthetically pleasing although I got a greasy fingerprint on it straight away than I rubbed off (funnily enough from having the lipgloss on my finger... as you do). My favourite mascara is L'Oreal Volume Million Lash as it makes lashes thicker and really opens your eyes. I've tried other mascaras but nothing has made me stop buying my L'Oreal mascara...but then this came along....and it will share the top spot along with my L'Oreal masara.

The reason I like this mascara is that it gives great length and curl, rather than thickness, so is a great daytime look or when you want a more natural look. It isn't clumpy or flaky and doesn't make my lashes hard at all and is great like contact wearers like myself. I am even thinking of wearing this for my wedding as it didn't irritate my eyes at all.

Rituals Foaming Shower Gel
This is what made my box to heavy and is a full size shower gel that comes out as a mouse, a bit like shaving foam. Radox use to do something similar which I loved, but not sure they still do it (I usually use Boux Avenue, Molton Brown or baby shower gel now).

The scent I received was T'ai Chi (White Lotus and Green Tea) which is nice and clean smelling and reminded me of L'Occitane products (due to the smell). I've not used this in the shower yet as I have a head cold so have been using my Molton Brown Warming Eucalyptus to clear my nose and head, but my Mum tried this on her hands and it made them really soft so I'm really looking forward to trying this out.

Overall this has been a great box and I'm pleased with the products I've received and the scents. I saw that some people got Blink & Go mascara or eye shadows instead of the Nouveau Lashes mascara, and a range of different creams instead of the cleanser but I'm so so so pleased I got what I did.

It was definitely worth £12.99, especially since the mascara on its own was worth £14.99!

Can't wait for the January box now!

Update on Percy & Reed Products

Two weeks ago I got the Percy & Reed products to review for Glamour Magazine and I've been using this for the last two weeks (I put my L'Oreal Shampoo and Conditioner away for a few weeks)

I do like the products but the last few applications I've been left with areas where my hair still feels soapy or gets greasy very easily. I try to wash the shampoo and conditioner out fully and even when I have, after drying my hair I still find areas of my hair feel like they have a residue on them or strands of my hair separate as if it's greasy. I think I will carry on using the Percy & Reed products but use them in conjunction with my L'Oreal Shampoo & Conditioner, swapping them every few washes as if not the Percy & Reed products seem to build up.

I think the reason for the build up is that the shampoo is so thick so it's hard to distribute and you really have to wash hard to get it out of thick hair or it won't budge.

I'm not overly impressed with the dry shampoo & conditioner either. I tried it on Wednesday morning when I needed to wash my hair but was going to do it later in the day as had a few things to do in the morning, but it didn't really do anything. I followed the instructions of spraying it onto a brush for best results but that just gave me a white hairbrush that I then had to wash as the powder wouldn't go. I then had to spray it onto my hair and rub to get the white marks away.

I like the no oil hair oil which is basically just really a serum but does help tame my hair. I tried the texturising spray but that didn't seem to do much at all but may be because my hair is so thick.

I saw that Percy & Reed were on QVC on Monday (just gone) but I forgot about it and only remembered at 6pm and it had already been on. I was hoping to watch to see how they used the products. I'll carry on using them and hopefully get better results over time.

Glossy Box ... hurry up December box!

Really want to see what's in the December box and this time I am going to try and not to search online to spoil the surprise.

If you would like to try Glossy Box for yourself click here: Glossy Box


It costs £12.95 at the moment and that includes postage via Royal Mail and you get on average 5 times each month. You can also cancel at any time so if you only want to try it the once, you can!

I really think it's worth it as I've been able to try lots of different products over the last 2 months and I've been able to share them with my family.

GlossyBox also give you discount codes for some of their products if you want to buy the full items.

Some people don't like the fact that most boxes come with a fragrance as one of the products. I only had one in the last box and although it was a bit heady for me (I did like it but bit migraine inducing) I was able to give it to my Mum who really liked it. Most of these fragrances are not readily available on the High Street, only online/high end stores, Harrod etc so it's a great way to try new fragrances

Percy & Reed London Hair Products

Just got home to find £100's worth of Percy & Reed products by my front door for me to review for Glamour magazine!

It does make me a bit worried though...has someone been spying on me as I have really had hair today and a random bit of fringe just hanging down.

In the box I received:

• Percy & Reed Splendidly Silky Moisturising Shampoo 250ml

• Percy & Reed Splendidly Silky Moisturising Conditioner 250ml

• Percy & Reed No Fuss Fabulousness Dry Shampoo 150ml

• Percy & Reed No Fuss Flawlessness Dry Conditioner 150ml 

• Percy & Reed Frightfully Firm Session Hold Hairspray 250ml

• Percy & Reed Wonderfully Wavy Texturising Spray 150ml

• Percy & Reed Quite Frankly Flawless Finishing Polish 

• Percy & Reed Smoothed Sealed & Sensational Volumising No Oil Oil Thick 60ml

 

The average retail rice of each item is around £14 which isn't bad. The packaging is really simple and classy with pictures that look similar to the images on Dainty Doll the Nicola Roberts make up range.

The smell isn't overpowering so you can still wear your favourite perfume without them clashing. 

I tried the shampoo, conditioner, oil and finishing polish (it was a toss up between sleek silky hair and texturising spray... but I'll try that out on Sunday).

I found the shampoo quite thick and needed a lot for my thick long hair (I went back for another handful) which was a bit disappointing as this pack was for thick hair and means ha I would get through this really quickly. 

The conditioner was thick but silky and spread easily through my hair. I left this on for 2 minutes as directed and my hair felt silky smooth after.

The oil feels like Frizz Ease and I had to use more than the 2 pumps suggested, but again this is due to my hair length. It didn't feel oily or sticky which was nice. My hair was silky soft once dried and had a healthy shine to it. 

My hair is very thick and after drying, if I don't straighten it, it goes a bit flyaway and a bit Kristal Tipps.

I would have straightened my hair but to be honest... I was too tired and I'll be going to sleep soon (been a long week). I did use the finishing polish however which did help the puffiness of my hair.

So far I am liking this brand and it's products, the only thing that I'm not to keep on is the amount of shampoo I need for my hair, although I may try and mix it up with a bit of water in my palms before I put it on my scalp. Another thing would be the stockists of these products as I usually buy my shampoo and conditioner from Boots or with my weekly food shopping but I do buy my styling products online as you don't need to buy them as often so I'll see how I get on with continual use and how the other products.

I do definitly like the idea of a dry conditioner to go with the shampoo. I don't use dry shampoo a lot but it is a life saver especially if I've come home from work with a migraine and gone straight to bed and really should have washed my hair, the next day I can give it a quick spray and not feel like a chip pan!