Just The Way You Are // Birchbox January 2020 Nails

Yes, it is mid-February and I'm finally posting January's Birchbox nails. This was my second attempt and to be honest it just seemed hopeless but I finally ended up with something that I like. I also seemed to have found a way to do perfect quartz nails without sharpies or gel or layering a ridiculous amount of polishes. 

I attempted to free-hand this look the first time round and it was an awful, lumpy mess with bad colour matching. The smoosh peach and white just kind of ruined it due to the peach being too strong. 

This time around I decided to use a sheer peach polish for the marble and I ended up discovering the way to do quartz with one easy stamp. When you smoosh a sheer polish into a thicker one, the polish kind of disperses and becomes proper see-through creating that layered look that quartz does so well.

February's box may be just as late as well now seeing as how Hermes decided to deliver it to my old address instead of work. I've sent some postage money off to my dad and he's redelivering it for me. I'm seriously thinking of cutting this subscription, especially since I really don't need anymore products. 

Polishes/Tools used:-

- Cuccio // Verona Lace (off-white)

- H&M // Peach and Quiet (sheer peach)

- MoYou London // One and Only (light pink/peach)

- Twinkled T // Liquid Gold (metallic gold)

- Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy // Diamond Top Coat

- MoYou London Stamping Plates // Crystal 07

Ready, Set, Glam // Birchbox December 2019 Nails

Ahhh this is so late. But, if you've read my New Year post you'll know that December was a weird one for me and I took a bit of a break so I've just got round to doing Birchbox nails! I also missed November as well but that was a Frozen 2 box and I'm not sure if I even want to do something on that design as it wasn't very inspiring to me.

Anyway, I actually really loved the December Birchbox; it came in a beautiful navy velvet-like bag with rose gold detail. There are actually two looks that I could do for this box and I'm still torn over whether or not to do both...maybe I will later on. This one was super easy and quick and would've been perfect for my Christmas party if I hadn't have procrastinated so much last month.

I'd say my favourite item from the box was the Rituals shower oil as it came in my favourite scent; ritual of Ayurveda. I don't actually use it in the shower; I use as just a body oil on pulse points because it smells so good.

Polishes/Tools used:
- Essie // Surrounded by Studs (deep navy)
- Barry M Liquid Chrome // Razzle Dazzle (pink chrome)
- Mavala // Glam Show (rose gold glitter)
- Essie // Platinum Finish Top Coat

Reach For The Stars // Birchbox October 2019 Nails

Well, it took me three attempts but I finally managed to do some nails for this months Birchbox that I'm happy with. The first two were just too busy and so I scaled it back, reduced the mustard and violá! It's cute, not as cute as the box but still cute. The items this month though... I want to do nails based on pretty much every item. The brands went all out with their packaging...apart from the shower gel.

I was super happy to get the Lumene cocktail oil as it looks amazing, smells amazing and feels amazing. I haven't started using it yet properly but my skin really loves Lumene products. Also, when you shake the oil to mix it together, it creates this amazing ombre of yellow to red bubbles as it separates again and I just have to get this look on my nails somehow.

Then there's the goggle eye mask which features a cute shooting star and moon design similar to the box and the moon pad; whose packaging is more exciting than the product. I have quite a few rolls of space foil so I'll have to finally give foils a go instead of cowering in fear.

Back to the nails though. Here are the fails:

Eurgh. That first one looks like I cut out some stars from a hi-vis jacket and stuck it on my nails. Not to mention the awful colour matching and splattered paint that was supposed to be clouds. As you can see I left the clouds out in my final design as I just couldn't get them to look right. The second one was a creative design because I used a sharpie to create the background and acrylic paint for the moon and clouds but...yikes...I need to seriously get some good acrylic paint and get some good painting skills. But it led us to the good nails:

Simple designs look so much better than trying to cram everything on the box on my nails. I also reduced the mustard and increased the gold. Also, I have a new background! I liked the purple space glittery background I've had for a few months but every background I've ever had has always been light. I noticed that the dark green and gold jungle vibe has been in for a while now and spotted this amazing jungle wallpaper in Wilko's and then some items were on sale in Dunelm so I decided to switch things up for the winter.

Anyway, that's probably it for normal nails now, I need to go off and finally do some Halloween nails before I just forget completely. I just keep getting distracted by Minecraft. I've started binge watching Mumbo Jumbo on YouTube and his adventures on the HermitCraft server and all I want to do now is build redstone contraptions in Minecraft.

Polishes/Tools Used:-

- Ciaté // Total Eclipse (dark grey/blue)
- H&M // Cantaloupe (mustard)
- Barry M Liquid Chrome // Bright Lights (gold)

- Barry M // Matte Top Coat
- Nicole Diary // 052 Plate (Moon), 039 (Hollow Star)
- Harunouta // L081 Plate (constellations)
- Born Pretty // L087 Plate (constellations + stars)

Sweet Simplicity // Birchbox September 2019 Nails

I was debating all September if I should post this or not and I finally decided to because why not. From a far it looks great but up close you can see the dodgy stamping and bits that didn't pick up properly. I also didn't quite have the right colours or stamping patterns to pull this off but it looks almost right.

I used one of MoYou London's new Mexican plates for this look and I thought it would be so easy to recreate the box with the plate but it took an age. At least around 90 minutes as I stamp, removed details, then stamped again. This isn't particularly a look I'd like to recreate due to how tedious it was. The pinkie finger even ended up being hand-drawn with a dotting tool because I just couldn't take stamping on those tiny little details anymore.

I almost cancelled Birchbox this month as well, mainly because I really need to start saving for a house deposit but when I saw Octobers box I saved all but this subscription just because I love the box designs so much and love recreating them.

Beauty Box Review // Birchbox August 2019

Oh  my glob, this months Birchbox is hella cute. Last month I was serioulsy debating cancelling but when the designs are this cute and the items are much better; I don't think I will. This was a fantastic box to end the summer months on and I already know exactly the plate I'm going to use to get the design on my nails.

Absolute New York // Glow Balm in Rose Gold
6.5g Full Size - RRP £3.94

Another Birchbox exclusive, this one I don't mind so much because it's full size and I actually quite like it. I am a hoe for rose gold though and this is a delicate shimmer cream. It does rub off super easy and can look just like a glitter on your face after a while but I've never known a cream highlighter to not do that. 

Nuxe // Insta-Masque Exfoliating + Unifying Mask

15ml Sample Size - RRP £5.85 (based on £19.50 for 50ml)

This may be a sample sized but it's a decent sample size for Nuxe and I do love me some Nuxe. This smells wonderful; like their new Florale range. It's a pink gel formula with extremely fine powder in it to gently exfoliate. I also like how they mention on their website that it's quick and easy to use in the shower; always a plus in my book. 

Balance Me // Hyaluronic Plumping Mist

5ml Travel Size - RRP £6

I was surprised to find out that this is the travel size as I chose a 10ml version in a previous Latest In Beauty box but even more surprising is what Balance Me claims this does. Not only is it supposed to be an 'intense shot of hydration' but you can use it to fix your makeup?? The spray on this thing does not deliver a fine mist. Oh no, it feels like a hose pipe of concentrated liquid straight onto your face. This would ruin your makeup, not set it. Instead I use this as a toner as it's said to help combat hormonal spots and I need all the help with them.

Anatomicals // Great British Flake Off Summer Strawberry Scrub

50ml 'Full Size' - RRP £1.50

Anatomicals is this strange European brand and to me it feels like if Ikea had a skincare range. It's very weird with amusing slogans and their website doesn't work...or well they've replaced it with aliens right now...anyway, this is a body scrub. It scrubs your body. It smells nice and isn't to harsh. I don't know what more to say.

Love Beauty and Planet // Tropical Hydration Coconut Oil & Ylang Ylang Shower Gel

100ml Travel Size - £2.50

I always enjoy seeing shower gels in boxes because who doesn't use shower gel? These types of items always get used immediately and I'm happy to say that this one smells very nice. It's not Sol De Janiero; nothing is but it's a pleasant tropical/fruity scent that lathers up well and feels quite silky. The price full size isn't bad either. I also like that their bottles are recycled, cruelty free and vegan.

// Box Contents

// 2 Full Size, 2 Travel Sizes, 1 Sample

// £19.79 Estimated Box Worth

Holy hell, that's the lowest estimated worth I've seen on a Birchbox. In the 2 years I've been subbed, I've never seen it go below £20. Considering the box cost £12.95 it's not great but I have enjoyed the variety in the products this month and they are all practical things that I use on a daily basis (except for the highlighter). I hope Birchbox try to increase their box worth as they're getting very low.

Birchbox

P&P £2.95

Monthly - £10

6 Months - £60

12 Months - £110

pssst...the sneak peak for next month is a Benefit Lip & Cheek Tint in either Posietint or Lovetint...is this 2006? I've not used a lip and cheek tint since I was 14.

Summer Lovin' // Birchbox August 2019 Nails

Oh man do I love this box design. I think this is quite possibly the longest I have spent doing a nail design as well; it took me a good couple of hours trying to get the pattern just right. I love how it turned out and this is now my favourite look I've done so far. I literally can't stop staring at my nails and I kind of wish I hadn't worn a peel off basecoat so I could wear it for longer but I'm glad I get to keep the peelies. I can always do this again. I actually really liked how the pattern looked with just the gold and peach/pink shades so I think I'll do that.

I would've loved to have gotten the ombre effect in some of the patterns but that's beyond me right now. I tried and originally had a base that was a faded mix of orange and pink but it didn't look all that great so I stamped over it.

How I did it:-

I picked up the pattern off the Moyou Arabesque 06 plate using the gold polish and filled in random holes with the gold on each nail. I then took my time and filled in the rest of the stamp with the remaining colours. This was time consuming and took way longer than I thought it would as sometimes you can touch the design a little too much with the dotting tool and disturb the design. Once you've finished with the reverse stamping, I applied some liquid latex, let that dry and then applied a layer of topcoat to my nails. After letting it dry for around 30 seconds I then stamped on the design and applied a layer of matte topcoat after clean up.

Polishes/Tools Used:

- Born Pretty // #1 (gold)

- Nails Inc // Peach Tease (pale peach), Hot Fuzz (coral peach), 
- Sally Hansen Hard As Nails // Giant Peach (pink peach)
- Jessica // Bohemian Rhapsody (navy blue)
- Cuccio Colour // Water You Doing? (deep violet)
- Mavala // Coral Bay (dark pink coral)
- Barry M // Matte Top Coat

- MoYou London // Arabesque 06 Plate

Beauty Box Review // Birchbox July 2019

Deary deary me. What a sad sorry box we have this month. If I was less than impressed last month, July's box did nothing to help alleviate those sentiments. It's a shame as there were some good products that you could've received but I feel as though I got the duds. I would've loved the glamglow cream, the percy and reed fragrance and lumene skin tint but no. I got an 11ml sample of body lotion and a pillow spray that smells like paxo stuffing.

The box as always is cute though and I got some good nails out of it, but I'm seriously having to evaluate if I should be spending £12.95 a month to get nail art inspiration.

Floss Beauty // My Everyday Eyeshadow in Tokyo

Full Size - RRP £12.50

I actually forgot to choose what shade I wanted but I wasn't bothered either way as they were extremely similar with being a champagne nude and the other a soft coral. I ended up with Tokyo which is a pink champagne shade. It's shimmer to the extreme and I've also been using it as a highlighter. It is genuinely a lovely shade with great pigmentation. I tend to just apply it with my fingers and then use some orange shades from the ABH Soft Glam palette with it. I'm very surprised as this is my favourite item in the box, but that's not saying much as the other items aren't exactly great. This is also another item that is exclusive to Birchbox...most of their fullsize items for the past few months now have been exclusives from brands I've never heard of. 

Marcelle // Xtension Plus Curl Mascara

4.5ml  Sample Size - RRP £7.67 (based on £14.50 for 8.5ml)

I had high hopes for this as I'm completely in love with the Marcelle BB cream (it's my holy grail BB cream) but it falls short. I do like that it has a small curved wand making it easier to get into the corners but the formula itself does almost nothing. I can see some slight lengthening but for the most part two coats doesn't really do much. It's no Ciaté Wonderwand or Too Faced Better Than Sex. There isn't any clumping though so it's got that going for it.

This Works // Deep Sleep Pillow Spray

5ml Travel Size - RRP £6

I think I've recived this about 10 times now and I'm sick of it. I've had it in Glossybox, Look Fantastic, Pink Parcel, Powder Box, Latest In Beauty...every beauty box subscription I've had, this has been in it at some point. I'm dreading the moment we get a full size version in FabFitFun...I know it will happen. Anyway, I hate this stuff. It's not relaxing; it smells like cooked chicken. It just makes me hungry and then I get annoyed because it's bedtime and I can't eat anything. I'm just sick of seeing it in boxes and I want them to give it a rest.

Palmer's // Coconut Oil Body Lotion

11ml Sample - RRP £0.15 (based on £5.49 for 400ml)

I actually can't believe this is in here. This should have been an extra item not an item in the box. It even says on the back of the sample "compliments of palmer's" meaning that it's a free sample. If this had been a 50 or 100ml sample I wouldn't have been as angry but 11ml? This didn't even cover my entire body. I have nothing against Palmer's because I love their products; they're great quality for a fantastic price and this moisturiser is no exception but I'm extremely disappointed in Birchbox for sending this as an item. On their insta they're defending it by saying they "love sending out trial sizes for discovery" but literally everyone in the UK knows what Palmer's is. If you've ever been in a Superdrug or Boots, you know Palmer's. Their cocoa butter moisturiser is one of the best smelling moisturisers in the world. This sample size was pretty pathetic though; especially given that the full size of 400ml is only £5.49.

Percy & Reed // Oh So Smooth Frizz Fixer

50ml Travel Size - RRP £7.00

Eh, this is ok. I generally like Percy & Reed hair care products and this smells nice. It's also nice to have an actually decent sized sample as well. I used this on my graduation to try and keep my hair in check as it was a particularly humid day and it went well. I didn't notice my hair getting any bigger and it kept it smelling nice. The only problem is that your supposed to brush this through dry hair and well I have semi-afro hair; once it's dry you don't brush it or it turns into a complete birds nest so I'll never really be able to tell if it works properly or not. 

// Box Contents

// 1 Full Size, 2 Travel Sizes, 2 Samples

// £33.32 Estimated Box Worth

This box was not the best and it hasn't helped in my wavering decision to cancel this subscription. I think I'm going to leave it one more month but if it doesn't improve it's going to go; even if I love the boxes because it's £12.95 that I could be spending on nail polish. I get that it's supposed to be a sample box but if the Feel Unique Pick 'n' Mix can offer better stuff for £3.95 and Look Fantastic can offer infinitely better items than I don't know why this one can't do better. The samples have just been too tiny and I'm sick of all the 'exclusive' brands.

Birchbox

P&P £2.95

Monthly - £10

6 Months - £60

12 Months - £110

pssst...the sneak peak for next month is the balanceme Hyaluronic Plumping Mist Spray that will be in every box. I got a 10ml sample from LIB once and the photo is showing an even smaller sample; why am I not surprised?

Born Unicorn // Birchbox July 2019 Nails

Whew man, this month is just flying by. It doesn't help that my new 9 to 5 day job is well a 9-5 day job. I don't know what it is but I just have zero time to do anything. My alarm goes off at 7, I get home at 6 and then I'm in bed by 10. At my old job I used to work 10pm-6am and I had so much time. I would go to bed at 7am, get up at 2 and then have the entire day. This is only the second time I've managed to do my nails all month :( I was really hoping to complete the Clairestelle8 challenge this month as well but hopefully I'll get into a rhythm soon.

Anyway, onto this months Birchbox nails with photos using my shiny new graduation lens:

ooooo ahhhhhhh, look at the shiny holo detail! I'm so happy that I can finally take beautiful close-up shots of my nails. The lighting may be a little yellow for these and I tried my best to correct it but holo is best under small LED lighting and my lamp is not daylight toned like my light boxes are.

I really want to do this again but with a multi-pastel ombre underneath instead like on the leaflet that comes with the box. I also really love how the accent nail turned out with the negative space/holo ombre and stars. I want to do that again on all my nails.

Polishes/Tools Used:-

- A-England // King's Road (soft lilac/grey holo)
- OPI // Tinker?Thinker?Winker? (silver holo)
- OPI // Alpine Snow (white)

- MoYou London // Olive Tree
- MoYou London Plates // Scandi 10, Princess 11

This Is The Life // Birchbox June 2019 Nails

Ah this box! It's so cute and it's given me so many ideas for mani's. I had such a hard time trying to decide on just a couple of things to do. I eventually decided on making the sunsets the feature but I may do another look attempting to recreate all the little notes (it may require some freehand painting, but practice makes perfect...)

Anyway, you can check out the full unboxing here (there's also a video) but this post is just for the nails!

The sunset scenes were an ombre of four different shades; Bohemian Rhapsody, Cool Cucumber, Raindrop and then the aptly names Catch The Sunset for the pop of pink. I've been wanting to use the mountain stamps from this Haranouta plate for so long as well. It almost looks photo realistic...from a distance with no glasses on. The palm tree were then from Summer Vibes 3. I then used Tropical 36 for the other two nails with the shades First Kiss and Dream Holiday (the plane is from BP 124 though).

I just love sunset mani's though. The hint of green I added almost helps it look space like as well. I toyed with doing some freehand painting to include little post-it notes and other details seen on the box but I'm going to have to practice my painting more. Plus I just ordered some proper nail art brushes off Nail Art UK from Mitty so perhaps it'll be a little easier.

Polishes/Tools Used:-

- Sally Hansen Colour Therapy // Well, Well, Well (slight off white)
- Jessica // Bohemian Rhapsody (dark denim blue)
- Sally Hansen Colour Therapy // Cool Cucumber (dark forest green)
- NYC In a New York Minute // Raindrop (pastel blue)
- Cutex Care + Colour // Catch The Sunset (coral pink)
- MoYou London // First Kiss (pale pink), Dream Holiday (cerulean), 

- Born Pretty // 3 (black)

- Barry M Hi-Shine // Plumpy Top Coat
- MoYou London Plate // Tropical 36, Summervibes 03
- Harunouta Plate // 17
- Born Pretty Plate // BP-124

Beauty Box Review // Birchbox June 2019

Oh man this months Birchbox is so unbelievably cute. I love the colours, the scrapbook vibes and the whole 'adventure' theme just makes me want to go on holiday. This is based off  the new 'Memories' collection from Paperchase and I took a peek at the collection...it's amazing. To be honest I would've preferred a box full of that collection than what I actually received.

I guess it's not too bad but, face wipes? Really? The box does fit a travel theme though with all the mini sizes but I'm just not overly excited.

If you prefer watching unboxings; check out the video! Otherwise keep on scrolling for the text version:

Lip Stix in Plum // Laritzy
3.6g Full Size - RRP £20

This is not worth £20. It's $20 on their US site which is about £15; I still wouldn't pay that for this thing. It's strange how often I see this brand in Pink Parcel, Look Fantastic and Birchbox yet it's extremely difficult to get hold of in the UK. Why advertise here? Anyway, I'm getting sick of choosing red or plum lip shades from Birchbox now. Why can't they feature a nice nude? I went for the plum as I hate wearing red lipstick and it's ok as an all over lip colour and makes my eyes look brighter but I would never wear it by itself. Instead I mix it will some lip balm and wear it as a light tint which looks much better in my opinion.

Gimme Brow in Neutral Light Brown // Benefit

1.0g Sample - RRP £7.30 (based on £11 for 1.5g)

This isn't even the travel size, it's a sample and there is barely any product inside it. I don't know why they couldn't have included the actual travel size which is sold by Benefit for £11 as it's only 0.5g more. For something described as 'neutral' as well I find it to be a warm and red looking on my skintone but I did like the natural look it gave my brows. If I could find an actual neutral shade I would probably purchase this.

Cucumber Soothing Facial Wipes // Yes To

10 Wipes Travel Pack - RRP £1.99

This is such a cop-out product to receive in a beauty box. I don't mind it femfresh wipes in my Pink Parcel because that makes sense but if you're going to include wipes at least make it the full size pack because they don't cost more than about £5 anyway. The pack of 30 is only £3.99 so why skimp on us Birchbox? I would never use face wipes to remove my makeup anyway so these will get used as hand wipes or to wipe down surfaces but there are too many reviews online saying these wipes left their faces red, burning and itchy. Yikes.

Invisible Colour Everyday Glow Gradual Tan Lotion // MineTan

30 Sample - RRP £2.69 (based on £17.99 for 200ml)

I already have another 30ml tube of this thanks to Look Fantastic a couple of months ago and I still haven't used it. I always buy self-tan products with the intention of being bronzed but then get put off by the having to exfoliate first, tan with mits, thoroughly wash hands so I don't end up with tan hands and then try not mess up bedding...I have never heard of this brand and apparently it's Australia's no.1 tanning brand; I thought that was Bondi Sands? Or do they just pay influencers more? Anyway, I do prefer gradual tan products more than wham-bam-now-your-tan products so I will try my best to give this a go. It does smell really good; it's slightly sweet and feels moisturising. I was surprised to see that it's just a white cream. Perhaps I'll actually like it?

Anti-Pollution Shampoo with Aquatic Mint // Klorane

25ml Sample - RRP £1 (based on £8 for 200ml)

And last is a tiny shampoo sample. It does smell incredibly good though and I kind of like mint in my shampoos as makes my scalp feel all tingly. I will let this one off though as it's a clarifying shampoo, so I'd only use this about once a month so this sample will last me a good 3/4 months. I hope this is a really good shampoo because £8 is a great price for clarifying shampoo.

// Box Contents

// 1 Full Size, 1 Travel Size, 3 Samples

// £32.98 Estimated Box Worth

If we took away the £20 RRP of the Laritzy lipstick all of the other samples would literally cost the price of the box. I honestly do not believe that lipstick is wrth £20 and my Feel Unique Pick'n'Mix ended up as a better beauty box this month and that only costs £3.95. This has been the first month in almost 2 years where I've seriously thought about cancelling but I love the box designs and even though they send out tiny samples, they do send out some strange products that I've ended up loving. If the Benefit Brow was full size instead, the shampoo was a 50ml sample and the MineTan was 70/100ml sample then this would have been a fantastic box as I actually quite like most of the products. I just don't know why I'm paying £13 for tiny samples though.

Birchbox

P&P £2.95

Monthly - £10

6 Months - £60

12 Months - £110

pssst...the sneak peak for next month is a choice between two different Inc.credible sheet masks.