Birch Box

It had been a few months since I last treated myself to a subscription box, so when I spied that Unidays were offering 50% off the October Birch Box, I decided to sign myself up for the month.  I did however make a rather silly mistake, as I signed up for the 50% off box on October 31^st, and then was charged on the 1^st of November again for the next month’s box.  I wasn’t that fussed though, as both boxes looked really pretty, and there was a few bits and bobs between the two boxes that I was keen to try out.

October

So I’m not going to lie, there was only really one product that I was interested in when I signed up for this box – the This Works Deep Sleep Pillow Spray.  I have recently become a fan of the stuff, so I was really keen to stock up on it to tie me over till Christmas.  Sadly I didn’t receive this in my box, however I did anticipate this as I did the order, seeing as I was ordering on the last day of the month.  If I’m totally honest, there wasn’t really anything that wowed me in the box – other than the styling of the actual box itself.  Inside contained a facial mist spray, hair oil, eye brow brush, a sheet mask, a lipstick crayon and an aroma therapy shower gel.  Not to sound snobby, but these are all items that I either buy myself a regular basis and have plenty to keep me going, or items that I tend not to both much with.  The facial mist does feel great on my skin, the lipstick crayon is a gorgeous colour and I love the way the hair oil makes my hair smell (like a hairdressers) however I probably won’t bother much with the other items.  I’ve got a brow brush, and the mask is not cruelty free, so this box wasn’t a winner for me.  I did however LOVE the design and drawer style of the box, and I have it nicely displayed and in use in my room. 

November

Seeing as I had no idea what to expect in the November box, I was actually quite excited by what might come.  The delivery was as quick as the first one, only taking a few days to arrive after the payment was taken.  Again though, sadly the contents were not items that I was thrilled by.  Now don’t get me wrong, they are all great products, just not stuff that I go mad for.  My November box contained another facial spritz spray, a leave in hair conditioner, a lipstick primer, BB cream and a facial moisturiser.  All great products, all cruelty free, just these are not the kind of items that I had hoped to receive in a monthly subscription box.  I’ve been loving the Nuxe moisturiser which I’ve been using under my primer, and the lip stick primer does work a treat – however it’s not something that I think I will bother with when I run out of the sample.

I like to keep my routines pretty simple, and so adding extra bits and bobs really complicate things for my and clutter up my toiletry bag!  None the less, I will be using up all of the products above over a period of time, however for the time being I will be cancelling my Birch Box subscription – as this beauty box is not the one for me.

Did you treat yourself to any of the above boxes?  Were you more thrilled with the contents than I was?

Until the next one,

November Favourites

Can you believe that December is here already?!  I’ve been longing for this since summer, and now that it’s here it’s all going too fast - I’m two doors into my Yankee Candle advent calendar, let’s stop for a minute people!   

It’s been a while since I did a favourites post, so here is what I’ve been loving this month.

I treated myself to the Zoella Gingerbread and Vanilla Fragrance set back in October after watching loads of Vlogs online about how amazing it smelt, and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since it arrived.  The body cream smells absolutely amazing, like good enough to eat!  I like to apply this throughout the day for a spicy little pick me up, especially now that the colder weather is upon us.  The fragrance spray smells so amazing too, it’s like Christmas in a bottle and it’s perfect!  I’ve been using it most days to get me into the festive mood, and now that December is finally here, I have a funny feeling that I’m going to bleed the bottle dry before the 25^th!

I think that my absolute favourite product right now had got to be the This Works Deep Sleep Spray.  I never thought that a sleep spray would actually ever do anything… but this one?  I think it is the absolute BEST thing that I have ever come across.  Again, I treated myself to a sample bottle of this and the Stress Less roll on oil back in October, and I’ve been using them both ever since.  It works great for those days when I’ve had a super busy day at work or a horrible day at uni – I simply use a few pumps on my pillow and jump into bed.  Now I’m not saying that the stuff puts me straight to sleep, because that is not the case at all.  What I am saying though is that I have the best nights sleep when I use it – I sleep the whole night with little to no disturbances, and I feel so refreshed in the morning when it’s time to get up.  I’ve put this on my Santa list because I’m obsessed, so obsessed in fact that I picked up not one, but two copies of last months Marie Claire magazine – simply because you got a sample bottle with each mag! 

At the start of November I started to feel really stressed out with all of the uni work that I’ve got going on.  I had read online that essential oils are meant to be great for calming you down, so I ordered a peppermint roll on oil and ylang ylang roll on for a couple of quid off of Amazon, just to carry around on me whenever I’m at work or in class.  Although I’ve not been using the ylang and ylang one much, the peppermint oil has been life changing!  First of all it’s so refreshing to use throughout the day as a nice little pick me up.  I love minty smells, and so it’s really nice when you get a whiff of it as you’re going about your day.  Secondly, I think that it works really well for me whenever I’m feeling super stressed or a little anxious. I apply it to my pulse points, then I like to sit with the lid off of the bottle for a little bit, just so that I can inhale the minty goodness.  I like to concentrate on my breathing when I’m doing this, and normally this works really well for calming my nerves.  Finally, I love using this when I’ve got a headache.  Again, I just find the smell really soothing and I enjoy the tingly feeling that it gives my temples. 

And there we have it, these are the products that I’ve been swearing by this month!  They’re all kind of feel good products, which is actually quite nice for a change – as it’s important to take some time out sometimes and just look after yourself!

What have you been loving over the last couple of months?

Until the next one,