Birchbox Review and First Impressions

Price: £10 + £2.95 p&p (Monthly) Available: Birchbox

I've been hearing and seeing many great things about Birchbox so I wanted to test it out for myself to see if it lives up to the hype and is worth the money. For those who don't know what Birchbox is, it is a monthly beauty subscription box that comes with 5 beauty products. It is a great way to test and try new products that you may not of heard of or simply can't afford or get your hands on.

For signing up when I entered the promo CULT I was able to get a extra item. I was also able to choose the actual design of the box for this month as they were doing a collaboration with Papier. Which was pretty cool as it just made it more personal, I went for the darker design as I liked the colours a lot more. You also get a card explaining what the products are and what they are for and how to use them which is handy if you are a beauty newbie. So lets talk about some of the products.

The first item was this little eyeshadow trio by POP Beauty. It is a mini version of the full palette which has 10 shades. I've never used any products from them so this was a first. The colours of the shadows are lovely and great if you want a natural smokey eye look. I did test this product out as I am a sucker for eye shadows. I did swatches of the shadows first they all had great pigment from the swatches and felt soft and creamy. 

The image above shows the look I managed to create and I was really disappointed in the pigment. I guess I was just expecting more from what I got from the swatches. There was a bit of kick back but that doesn't bother me that much. I think for a natural look they are fine but I have so many palettes that are much better and give a better pigment. I'm not wowed and I won't be buying the full palette anytime soon.

This item was the item I was looking forward to most. I don't own any spectrum brushes, but I've wanted some for the longest time as I've heard great things and there collections just look so beautiful. So when I saw the Spectrum Marbleous C06 eye contour brush I was very excited. On first impressions the design of the brush is beautiful and the actual brush feels so soft, I wish I could let you all feel how soft it is. I have used it once and it blended my eye shadow so effortlessly. It has become one of my favourite brushes and I now realise I really need to save up and buy a full set of brushes by Spectrum.

Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse is a multi-purpose oil to hydrate and restore hair, face and body. I haven't tested this out and I'm not really sure if I will. I'm not great with products like this, so I may give this away.

Keeome Hydration Mask Therapy is a hydrating face mask that is perfect for tired skin. I haven't used mine yet, but I am saving it for when my skin is looking a bit tired to see if this mask really does what it says. 

Beaver Professional Daily Moisture Conditioning Spray is perfect if you have dry or damaged hair. You just spray it on to damp hair and massage in to condition it. I haven't tried this yet as my hair leans more towards greasy than dry. But I will keep this for when I start dying my hair crazy colours again and it just needs some help.

As I mentioned I got an extra item for entering the promo code CULT, which was this Smith & Cult lip lacquer. The colour is beautiful and I couldn't wait to get it on my lips. There is a slight smell of vanilla and when I say slight, I mean barely any scent. When applied to the lips, there wasn't actually much pigment which I was really disappointed with, as I really loved the colour. It feels thick when applying but once it settles on the lips it feels light. It's not sticky and gives a glossy finish. Personally I'm not a huge gloss fan as I never have luck with them. This product I did like but not love, as the only issue is the pigment and mine seems to have a tiny leak if I don't stand it up.

Would you recommend this?

Birchbox is a little more expensive than love me beauty because of the postage and packaging but you get a lot more product for your money than love me beauty. You don't get to select the products like you would for love me beauty but you get a little sneak peak for next month's and if you want to know well you have to buy this month's to find out. Also you are likely to receive full size items in birchbox. I would recommend Birchbox for any beauty fan whether you are new or a professional. It's a great way to discover new products and is great value for money. 

Primark PS Pro Oval Brushes Review

For the longest time now I wanted to try some oval brushes as I've heard great things about them, especially the Artis ones. The thing is, I've been using a beauty blender for so long, I don't know how I would cope going from a sponge to a brush. I also didn't really want to pay out for something that I'm not even sure I will like. So I had a look around and I saw Make Up Revolution did some at a decent price but, when I went to buy some they had sold out. I took this as a sign from the make up gods to just forget about it. But on a recent trip to Primark, I found some oval brushes in there PS Pro range, and I couldn't argue with the price so I grab one of each size they had in store. 

I believe the PS Pro range is the better quality of Primarks beauty range. I will be honest I don't really have high expectations for these brushes as I've bought some in the past from Primark and they have never really worked for me or wowed me. These brushes are smaller than some of the oval brushes I've seen which I like cause I'm not really sure how the big ones cover the whole face especially around areas like the nose. Also I don't know if Primark do any other sizes, these are the ones my local Primark had in stock. 

All these brushes have dense bristles and black plastic handles. It says high definition result  suitable for liquid and powder on the package so I assume that is what they claim from these brushes. So I will talk through each brush individually and give my views on each one. 

Small

Price: £2.50 - £3.00 

So this is the smallest of the 3, I tested this out on concealer, mainly under my eyes. It didn't do a bad job, but I felt it just moved the concealer around and not set it in the skin like a beauty blender does and I need full coverage on my dark circles. I won't use this again for concealer but I think it could be good possibly for a contour especially if you have a small face. Personally for me, it is not narrow enough for a nose contour. 

Medium 

£3.50

The medium brush I tested out on contouring. I'll be honest I am no contouring expert and having the same skin shade as a ghost, it's not the easiest for me. It applied the product evenly and blended the product well, without making it look patchy and horrible. I was pleasantly surprised on how well it worked, especially on carving out my cheekbones. 

Large 

£4.00

Out of the 3 brushes I used, this is my favourite. I used it for applying my foundation and I have to say I was so impressed. It applied my foundation evenly and made it look flawless like a beauty blender would. I used the same amount of product I would when using a beauty blender and the foundation covered my whole face. This is going to be my go to foundation brush when I'm in a rush (really didn't mean for that to rhyme) or if I am too lazy to dampen my beauty blender. The only flaw with this is the neck is a bit flimsy so you need to place your finger on the back of the brush to make it more stable. 

Overview

All these brushes are all easy to use and you can't argue with the prices. I said I didn't have high expectations of these brushes but they have really impressed me and showed me that just cause it's not a label with a big price tag, doesn't mean that it is going to be a terrible product. The only flaw with these is I just think the neck on these brushes need to be stronger and maybe different sizes and shapes of these brushes if there aren't any. If anyone knows if they do more sizes and shapes please let me know. 

Would you recommend these products?

Hell yes I would! For the price they do an amazing job, especially the large brush. They are perfect if you are just like me and just want to try out oval brushes or you want to save some pennies. If these are the quality of products Primark are bringing out these days, I am going to have to test out some of there other products.