Lifting the Lid... January GlossyBox

Now I may seem very behind with my beauty box reviews but as I say I do like to try everything out thoroughly so that I can give a review of the box as well as mini reviews of the products in the box. 

 

The Price

  With the GlossyBox you receive 5 high-end samples for £10.00 per month plus £2.95 p&p bringing it to £12.95 per box per month. Like all the other boxes you can cancel at any time but it is worth noting it is on a direct debit basis. Website - here.

 The Packaging  
After the red Christmas Glossy box in December I really wasn't expecting another themed box (Valentine's Day Edition), so this was a nice surprise! I think having different coloured and themed boxes is a really good touch for Glossy Box as it does make them stand out from the rest. Though it would of been nice to see a products that were more Valentine's day related.

The Products 
Eyeko Skinny Eyeliner in Emerald Green, Clarins Extra Firming Day Cream, Clarins Extra Firming Night Cream, FAB Body Moisturizer, Murad Hybrids Skin Perfecting primer.

Murad Hybrids Skin Perfecting Primer 

(full size - £29.00/30ml)
Then I first tried this out I was quite surprised to see that this was a tinted product and it did seem quite dark. But once this is rubbed into the skin the tint isn't really noticeable at all, well it looked quite similar to a tinted moisturiser on my skin as I am fair but I'm sure for most the tint wouldn't be there at all. I have found I have been using this quite a lot instead of foundation on days that I haven't been wanting a full face of makeup. It just gives a nice glow to the skin and makes it look even and radiant, even when it's not. I have also tried this under foundation and feel that my foundation applied nicer. This is pricey for only 30ml but if you are wanting a more sophisticated in between to foundation then this would be perfect. 

Eyeko Skinny Eyeliner (full size)

(full size - £9.50)
I feel firstly I must admit my feelings on the re-branding of Eyeko - I don't like it basically. I think when any company decides to re-brand/change their products they have to be careful and remember to keep some similarity. But clearly Eyeko have decided to change their image completely from something really fun and unique to something entirely different. 
As for the eyeliner, it is okay and it does last on the eyes 
but hmm, I am just not sure about it... it's just nothing special really and I think for £9.50 full price it needs to be. Sadly just another green eyeliner to add to my collection. 

FAB Body Moisturizer

(full size £10.00/226.8g)

I think for most people this would be quite a bland product with it being unscented but this was definitely my favourite product in the box and I have now used it all up! For me this felt so fresh and light on my skin but really hydrating which is my ideal formula. Also I was quite pleased to see the price of this as £10.00 for over 200ml seems pretty good for such a lovely moisturiser. This is now on my 'products to buy' list for summer!

Clarins Extra Firming Day & Night Cream 

(full size - £46.50-£48.00/50ml)

Not really too keen on receiving two products from the same brand in one box but oh well! Sadly I couldn't fully enjoy these as they are just too hydrating for my combination skin (I really would of loved to see Clarins Flash Balm instead) so I have been using both creams as a neck/chest cream at night and so at least I have been using them. But of course can't judge how good both creams are though I am pretty sure anyone with more mature skin would really enjoy these. 

 

Positives 

 For me the main highlight of the box was the FAB body moisturiser as this isn't a product I would of been able to try out at this size or even a product I would of imagine liking so much. I also really enjoyed the Murad primer though I won't be purchasing it due to it not really being within my budget for that type of product.

Negatives 

My main criticism with this box is that is contains 4 skincare products and only one makeup product which isn't very balanced at all. Also I think the Valentine's day theme with the products being pamper products it a bit weak as they aren't products I would associate with pampering myself.. I would of maybe liked to of seen a sample of a face mask or a relaxing bath product maybe. 

 

Overall I didn't dislike the box but nor did I love it. I just think the contents could of been thought out a bit better with less skincare and been more Valentine's day related. 

Fee xo.   

NOTD - Cherry Blossom Nails

As promised... better nails today! 

I thought as it is feeling more and more like Spring I would do some Cherry Blossom inspired nails because they will be in bloom soon enough and they are quite pretty indeed! I really do love blossom trees in spring but for some reason in the UK we don't make a big deal of them... were as in Japan is it a different story all together!
 
As with most of my nail art this is super easy (though you all tell me if don't seem easy!) and I really do mean it, especially with my secret weapon which I shall reveal below!

If I was being a bit critical I would say I could of used a lighter blue shade for the base as it is a bit too vivid and maybe also drawn the branches on slightly thinner for a more dainty look. 

But over all for my first attempt AND not looking at an image whilst I did it I am fairly pleased! I think these would be ideal for April/May when it is finally spring as they are fun but also quite elegant looking nails. Plus the colour combination goes really well together I think.

Yep, you guessed it! I used a rubbish eyeshadow applicator (that we all hate and throw away) to create the flowers.

So first you need to paint your nails, I chose Models Own Jade Stone but you could use any light blue or a pale pink or nude. Then once that is FULLY dry you can draw on your branches. I used my L'Oreal Super Slim eyeliner but you would use any eyeliner that is really black or a black nail art pen. Again may sure this is fully dry before creating the flowers or else you will lift off what you have already done. 

Next it is time to create the little flowers. With your nail polish brush with not too much nail polish on (I used Natural Collection Hibiscus) lightly dab a small amount on the eyeshadow applicator. Then you just have to dab small random splodges on to each nail - if you do find you apply too much to one nail you can turn over the applicator and dab a bit to soak up a bit of the excess and make the splodge more flower like. 

To give a bit of dimension to the flowers I repeated the process but with less nail polish with Revlon Nude Chic. I didn't clean the applicator just added a bit of nude polish and it was fine. Then before it was dry I added a clear top coat. 

See, I told you it was that easy! 

You can view all the other nails in my 30 Days of Nails Challenge - here. 

Fee xo.

NOTD (yesterday) - Gradient Pastel Glitter Nails

Arghhhh, no. Failed my nail challenge!! Well kind of! But at least I am posting yesterday's nails and not just skipping them.. though I wish I could as I really don't like these nails. 

Yesterday was a bit of a rubbish day, I'd had no sleep and was feeling just blurgh... so I was lacking all inspiration. But them I decided I wanted to do pretty gradient nails but then realised I had no sponges (normally I use the foam No7 makeup sponges cut up) so I tried kitchen towel and it just didn't work. But at least I tried! 

However I do like the idea and the shades in this manicure, so when I do get some sponges I think I am going to re-attempt this and I'm sure the gradient will look a lot smoother which will look pretty! 

As for the shades I used I didn't in fact use Barry M Mint Green but Models Own Jade Stone... this is actually how tired I was yesterday! Also as you can see I used Collection 2000 Hot Looks Dynasty (a really good range if you are looking for budget nail polishes) and a glitter KIKO nail polish that I have forgotten the number of!

 Going to try and do something a lot more fun and nail art-y for tomorrow/today's nails (it's currently 3am as I write this)! But we shall see!

Fee xo.

NOTD - The Luck of the Irish ♣

Firstly thank you to all that commented on my Stop! Grammar Time post. I really do appreciate all your kind words and it has made me feel really supported which is a nice feeling as I had been feeling frustrated by the whole thing for some time! 

Anyway, on to today's nails!

 I thought I would do something to celebrate St. Patricks Day and even had the idea of using the green glitter to create little shamrocks but it was just too time consuming and so I gave up?! I also think I may have gone for the wrong shade of green as Barry M Mint Green isn't very green really! Even though it is green, hmmm!

As for the glitter this is a JRB glitter nail polish in shade 172. Sadly I can't find this anymore but if you search for 'JRB Nail Polish' on eBay there are so many different glitter nail polishes for around £2.50 including p&p. I think my favourite shade has to be the JRB Cerise Mix Glitter (here) which I would buy if I hadn't of just purchased some amazing Meteorites polishes (also on eBay). I really am obsessed with glitter nail polish aren't I?!

If you are a fan of glitter nails and want a bargain definitely search for - Saffron, JRB or Meteorites glitter nail polishes on eBay! 

I kind of wish now I had spent the time creating little 3 leaf clovers with the glitter nail polish (with the help of a tooth pick ofcourse) but I know it would of taken me forever and a day. Much like the time when I decided to find a four leaf clover in Ireland. I did it... but it took forever!!

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend and have a lovely Mother's Day tomorrow! 

Fee xo. 

Stop! Grammar time

I have decided to listen to my own advice of "it's your blog, write what you want" for once! I am always telling people this when they are pondering whether to write about something a little different or if they are considering placing adverts on their blog and don't think people will approve. Because I really feel that is the main beauty of blogging - it is your space and you can write and do as you please... to a point of course. 

I have had Makeup Savvy and been beauty blogging for little over 2 years now and can 100% say that I truly love it. I love beauty products, I love taking the images, I love coming up with post ideas and writing them down in my little red polka dot notebook, I love all the friends I have made through beauty blogging and the daily chats I have with other beauty bloggers. I could go on but I think you get that I love most aspects of blogging! 

But there are also things I don't like. Like my constant confusion between different image file types, receiving so much junk email, HTML, the drama that goes on between bloggers on twitter, how bloggers honesty is constantly questioned if they receive PR samples etc etc. However I can put all that to one side as it really is just the nature of blogging. But there is one thing that I really dislike and that is when readers (most bloggers themselves) pick out flaws in others or try to correct them on mistake. I dislike seeing it and I also dislike it happening to me. 

We all have flaws and my flaw in the blogging world is my grammar. It's as simple as that. But hey ho... it is not the end of the world! I think my content is quite good and I love taking nice, clear images of products and giving honest reviews. Yet on quite a regular basis I receive comments and e-mails highlighting that my grammar is on the poor side. Sometimes it's in a 'I really do love your blog, but...' way, other times it's in a 'your grammatical errors piss me off' way, but however it is phrased my heart sinks a little when I read it as I just don't know how to reply or how to even react really.

 I could reply with why grammar is my down fall, explaining how in high school I had a drama teacher for an English teacher who made it her personal mission to 'bring me out of my shell' which did the total opposite and resulted in me dreading English lessons and learning practically nothing for 3 years. But what is the point? The person that commented on my grammar wouldn't care and it would only come across as being very defencive. OR I could apologise for the bad grammar (which I have done in the past) and thank them for highlighting which areas I need to change. Then re-edit the blog post, messing up the HTML in the process, and correct the mistake. But again that person still wouldn't be happy, they wouldn't go back, re-read the post and nod in approval. They just don't want my bad grammar to exist.

 But the truth is I never reply because if I did I would be with 'I DON'T GIVE A SHIT (but please take this in the nicest way'. Which of course wouldn't be received well at all!

Some people are more helpful than others and have suggested things such as writing my posts in Word which would obviously help or get someone to proof read them (not sure anyone would want to do that daily?!). But at the end of the day this would just make the process of writing a post even longer, when as I say it doesn't really bother me if I have the odd mistake here and there in a blog post. As long at it is legible then I am happy!

Do I have a conclusion? No, not really... I just wanted to get this off my chest as I have received countless comments and emails now and have never actually mentioned it here on my blog. I guess I just wanted express my sadness and dislike for people that do pick flaws in others. I won't be cliche and say that flaws are what make people unique but it is part of being human - we all make mistakes, we all have flaws and that is just the way it is.

So in a way there is a conclusion to my little rant.

 If you are someone that notices my spelling mistake or grammatical errors, or if you have previously left me a comment or sent me an email about it. Please do try to care less and remember that there are much bigger problems in the world than a blogger with a passion for makeup incorrectly using 'were/where' or typing 'should of' instead of 'should have'.

I really do hope this hasn't come across as too negative. I just felt I had to get this off! 

Fee xo. 

NOTD - Polka Dot Bow Nails

After 15 days of painting my nails I woke up today out of ideas and lacking inspiration. But as I was applying my makeup and using the new-ish L'Oreal Super Slim eyeliner I had a bit of a light bulb moment of using the liner for a bit of nail art as the nib is quite precise.

I decided to go for bows and polka dots for ease and trust me this is easy! The bows can be done with either a nail art pen or an eyeliner pen (easier to use) and the dots can be achieved with the end of a bobby pin/hair grip and some black nail polish or a dotting tool/nail art pen. 

But if you still don't believe me about the bows then scroll down to see how to draw the bows in 4 easy steps. 

 

For the base nail polish I applied two coats of Models Own Champagne (£5.00 - ASOS) which I hadn't used in so long (Topshop & Max Factor do similar shades). Next it's on to the bows which as you can see below are pretty easy to draw on. After drawing on all five bows and the liner hadn't fully dried (you have to be quick though) I placed on the little Nail diamonds which are from Stargazer (£2.50 - Stargazer site). If you are too slow you could apply a clear top coat once you had finished your nails and place the diamonds on then as of course the top coat makes them stick properly. But of course this is optional and can be totally skipped!

 I then added the polka dot with the Models Own/Wah Nail Art Pen which I rate and I don't rate at the same time - the tip/dotting tool is great and does the job (this is what I used for the dots) but the brush inside to achieve lines and different shapes etc is just SO rubbish. I think I have had around 4 of these pens now and all the brushes have fallen out. After the dots it is important to leave them to full dry and then you can apply a clear top coat as you do not want the bows to wash off!

They really are that easy! But it you do feel like you struggle with anything nail art related then it is worth practising drawing the bows and getting the dots the right size on a sheet of paper before you start. It is surprising how much it helps actually!

On a bit of a side note but still very much nail art related, the founder of WAH nails - Sharmadean Reid has wrote her very own nail art book - The WAH Nails Book of Nail Art: Fashion at your Fingertips which includes 25 nail art tutorials! The book is out 1st April 2012 for only £6.79 on Amazon (here - also you can look inside the book) so I have pre-ordered the book for a little giveaway to mark the end of my nail challenge at the end of the month!

 I am officially half way through my 30 Day of Nails challenge now and I really do feel like I need to thank you all for the wonderful comments and tweets I have received. It has been so so lovely and I am so pleased people are enjoying it! 

So thank you!

Fee xo.