BEAUTY BOX: Latest In Beauty // Style Awards 2019 Box 2

So I already bought a Style Awards box last month when it was released, however you could only buy one. Fast forward to earlier this month and they allowed subscribers to purchase another box at £25 instead of £30. They've now reduced it even further to £20 until the 31st May but it's slim pickings now. Since I have time now though, it's back to beauty box blogging for me! I've actually really missed it.

Vinylux Duo // CND 

2x 15ml Full Size 

£6.95 Individually or £15.75 for both

I'm a little disappointed in the formula on this one. CND are supposed to retail at £10 each but the formula is like a born pretty stamping polish. It has this dull shine to it and is still a little streaky after two coats. However, these polishes have been designed to only work with each other. The top coat is nice and glossy but does take a while to dry. Both of them are described as 'chip resistant' and are supposed to become stronger as you wear it. I never tend to wear polish for more than a couple of days because there is too much to wear and too little time so chips don't bother me but for the price, I'd rather buy cheaper polishes like Barry M or H&M that have better formulas. The shade is nice and bright though.

Scent-sational Protect Conditioning Mist // Aussie

95ml Full Size

£9.99

I was sorely tempted to add this to the first box as I love Aussie products (and my hair loves them too) but other products won out. The idea of a hair mist is great. I remember years ago Chanel brought out a 'hair perfume' but that's £44 and this is a tenner. Plus, most Aussie products are 3 for 2 at Boots or superdrug so you can always get them cheaper. Aussie products always smell fantastic as well and after I've been cooking Tikka Masala; a hair mist is desperately needed. This one has more of a deep, nutty, earthy scent compared to the sweet conditioners but I still can't stop sniffing it. The size also makes it perfect store in your bag. Definitely worth a tenner.

Good Girl EDP // Carolina Herrera

7ml Sample Size

£10.36 based on 50ml for £74

Perfumes are a huge weakness for me and after learning that this was a deluxe sample size (and came in a hella cute bottle) and I added to the box immediately. I had no idea what to expect but they were low as most 'designer' perfumes I've tried all smell the same; horribly floral and bitter. I think Armani Si is one of the few that I love. I am happy to report though that this is a beautiful scent. It comes in a small box with velvet on it and the heel bottle is great if (like me) you love collecting unusual perfume bottles. Straight away there is citrusy grapefruit notes but then it gives way to warmer scents like vanilla and chocolate. I'd say this is definitely a sexy smell and if it weren't £74 I'd have bought it already. Alas, I'm only a lowly junior software engineer right now and not particularly earning enough to warrant spending a months petrol on one bottle of perfume....one day though.

Nourishing Coconut Body Butter // Soaper Duper

200ml Full Size 

Discontinued

I'm not the biggest fan of Soaper Duper; I find their scents to be very strange and not pleasant (the tuberose hand cream made me gip) however I liked the Yuzu Fruit & Fig body butter I got in the LIB Spring Heroes box (which has also been discontinued) so I thought I'd give this one a try. I think this may have gone off though because it's sort of solidified to this jelly consistency and smells like plastic. I'm not impressed. It's a good thing its been discontinued. I'm annoyed I wasted a choice on this though.

Moroccanoil Treatment // Moroccanoil

25ml Travel Size

£13.45

I love this stuff, it's fantastic. I first used it last year in the LIB Grazia edit and ran out pretty quickly. I use this after my conditioning spray and my hair is just super soft and frizz free afterwards. I can see it leaving fine hair greasy though so it's more for those with thick course hair.

Discovery Set // Floral Street

8 x 1.5ml

£14

I already have 5 of these Floral Street samples thanks to the Feel Unique Pick 'n Mix so passed up on adding it the first time but I'm starting to run out of the Ylang Ylang Espresso and Wild Vanilla Orchid. At first I loved the Ylang Ylang Espresso but thought it was a bit too masculine but now I don't care anymore because I love it. I'll be asking for this for my birthday. It also layers great with Wild Vanilla Orchid. Out of all the scents I'd say Black Lotus is the one I like the least but Floral Street are the only floral perfumes I like due to how sweet they all are. 1.5ml vials get a bad rap as being tiny samples but they are more than enough to figure out if you like the scent.

// Number of Items: 6

// 3 Full Size, 2 Travel Size, 1 Sample

// Estimated Worth: £61.70

At £25 this was a great way to try out some expensive perfumes but two items were duds for me. The Good Girl perfume is still available along with all the nail polishes (including the Kure Bazaar and OPI) but most of the items left are small sample sizes so I don't really feel it's worth £20 anymore. Keep your eye out on LIB though as they are releasing a new Summer edit next month (they're usually quite good) and hopefully the Style Awards edits will continue to happen every April as they're a great way to try out super expensive items.

Latest In Beauty Style Awards

SPOTLIGHT SWATCH: Kure Bazaar // Hope

Spring is finally upon us! That's why I chose this beautiful teal green shade to go in my Latest In Beauty Style Awards box. There were quite a few other nail polish options to choose from but they were either red or coral red so I went for this (y'all know how I feel about red polish).

The Style Awards box is now one of my favourite times of year. It started last year and it's a special one-off curation of crazy insane products. You can pick 6 for £30 this year and all the products are items nominated in the The Sunday Times Style Awards. Most of my items were full size including an SPF face cream that retails at £92...yep. I love this box.

As this is a swatch post though, I'll chat about this polish first before a quick note about the other products.

Kure Bazaar // Hope

This lovely palm leaf shade is perfect for upcoming palm leaf mani's (shocker). I don't have a green shade quite like this and I'm always looking to expand on my green collection. This shade is very runny and I was a bit shocked as I'm used to just loading up the brush. Don't do that with this one or it'll flood. Clean up was simple enough but it does stain the cuticle area and my brushes are now bright green. Not even my pure acetone got rid of the stains on my brush. So make sure you wear this with a peel off basecoat or a really good base as it will stain the nail really bad after a days wear.

Even though it's quite a thin consistancy it stamps really well. Just load up the plate and perfect palm leaves. It isn't all that great on dark polishes but it works really well on top of white. I was very surprised.

I had never heard of this brand before but they are a french brand that aim to make sure their polishes are made up of 85% natural resources. Their website just says that all their polishes are "non-toxic" but no specific term such as 3-Free. I'm assuming they are at least 3-Free though as I can't smell any of that pesky Formaldehyde (John & Ginger state that they are 10-Free though). They have some beautiful colours though; especially in the pink/orange range, it's a shame they're £15 each though (that's more than my fav Nailberry!). They're also not stocked on any 'mainstream' websites but Lovelula, John & Ginger and Naturismo stock them in the UK.

//Other Products

As for the other products, here was my 'haul'

- Isle of Paradise Medium Self-Tanning Water (200ml Full Size - £18.95)

- Lumene Invisible Illumination Watercolour Blush in Coral Bloom (15ml Full Size - £22.50)

- CND SolarOil Nail & Cuticle Care Pen (2.5ml Full Size - £9.99, a review is coming soon!)

- NaturaBissé Diamond White Oil Free Brilliant Sun Protection (30ml Full Size - £92...I know right?)

- Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution Lipstick in Pillow Talk (1g Sample Size - £6.85 based on full size)

So including the polish I got a £165 box for £30. Not to shabby. LIB is a great subscription though in general as their contents are full size more often than not.

Latest In Beauty Style Awards Box

SWATCHES: Jessica // Tease, Confident Coral & Cherrywood

So I received these three beauties in this months Latest in Beauty box. I don't normally talk about this box here because they rarely feature polishes (the last time was these three Morgan Taylor polishes; incidentally my introduction to that brand) but I was happy to see these in the line up this month and dutifully waited until they were added. 

Basically LIB works like this; you can pay £9, £15 or £18 a month and that will enable you to choose either 3, 6 or 9 products from their line up of around 150 products. They add something new everyday (sometimes more than one product if it's the same brand). I've been subbed on and off for around 2 years now and have recently gone back up to the 9 product sub as I like ordering things I'm about to run out of like face masks and hand creams. They also have some ridiculously priced items up for grabs and every box I make is at least worth triple the price.

I only have two Jessica shades right now and love both of them so I snapped these up straight away.

Tease // Pale Dusty Pink Creme

Oh man this is a beautiful shade. This is one of those perfect nudes that will literally suit any skintone. Also, thanks to it's glossy almost gel-like shine, it's perfect in just one coat. If you prefer a little more colour you can add a second coat (I'm wearing two in the swatch) but one is just as good. I feel this would be a perfect wedding shade as well and I can imagine some light lace stamped on top in an off white.

Confident Coral // Bright Orange Red Creme

This is an amazing bright shade that's slightly sheer but in a good way. Unfortunately I don't feel it quite suits my skintone as I prefer cooler toned shades but I don't hate it because of that. I'll definitely be able to use this in Halloween mani's. I think this would work for some great bright summer looks; miami vice style. 

Cherrywood // Deep Blood Red Creme

Now this is my kinda red. This is practically identical to Dangerous Affair by Ciaté but a lot shinier. It needs at least two coats but every layer just adds more depth. I kinda love how all these shades are slightly sheer. It makes me want to try them out over a black base coat with a white design stamped on top to see if it produces that sheer colour look like some Jelly polishes do.

// Verdict

Such a great selection although I'm not sure if I should be calling them cremes due to the sheer factor. It does make me desperately want their new Tea Party collection though but they're £9 each on NPD *ugh*. 

Latest In Beauty

SPOTLIGHT SWATCH: Fashionista // Nailberry

When I saw that this months Latest In Beauty Special Edition box had a Nailberry shade going I bought it immediately. It retails at £28 but if you made a box in February you got a £5 off voucher for it. I believe you get £5 off if you make a box this month as well. It's well worth it as you get 15 items and several full sizes. Considering Nailberry go for £14.50 alone (and are rarely on sale), this box is absolute bargain. 

You could receive two different shades and I got Fashionista which is the most beautiful berry shade I've ever seen. I'm so in love with this colour because it goes with anything (my jumper choice was pure coincidence lol). I'm not really one for wearing shades by themselves but this I would wear all day, every day. I love my Cuccio but Nailberry is really fighting to become number one in my heart. I now have 3 Nailberry polishes and it's just not enough. You can't even get them cheaper on eBay as most sellers start at £10 for them. At this point in my life I really can't be spending £10+ on one polish so I have to make do with receiving them in boxes. 

I'm wearing two beautiful coats and no top coat (it's unbelievably shiny) and it makes feel like some uber chic sophisticated lady going for brunch...and they serve champagne at brunch. It just makes me want more Nailberry; once I finish my degree I need to get a job where I can afford to buy Nailberry #jobgoals.

Anyway, I'll go into the box in a little more detail as it was a really great special edition. I noticed in one of their emails they've two more Grazia edits coming up and they're usually amazing but quite pricey.

My favourite items so far (other than Fashionista) have been the Natura Siberica hand cream (gotta love some hand cream), the Nuxe face cream and surprisingly the Soaper Duper body butter. I've hated every product I've tried from them so far so I was surprised that the body butter smells nice and feels good on the skin. The floral perfume samples from Yardley also threw me off because I detest floral perfumes but these are super sweet and layer nicely with each other.

Ones I'll be giving away include the dry shampoo; they always make my scalp itch like crazy and the Molten Brown body wash (their stuff just smells like bleach to me). I've also already had the CYO illuminating cream in a previous box and it's far to light for me but it does give a nice glow.

Overall, it was a nice selection of new items from many different categories that I highly recommend!

Latest In Beauty Spring 2019 Edit

Nailberry - Fashionista