Beauty, Bargains and Beyond

The great thing about beauty boxes is the opportunity to try out brands that you have never heard of before. One such brand that I have tried out recently is AFYNA which is a new organic skincare range founded and developed by Sara Young. Sara is an experienced spa therapist and she has created products that penetrate quickly into the skin, which use certified organic ingredients combined with powerful bio-extracts. AFYNA is hand blended in Cornwall. I chose to receive the AFYNA Organic Detoxifying Scrub as part of my  You Beauty Discovery box and I am really glad that I got to try this product out. It’s a gentle organic detoxifying gel that uses apricot kernels to polish away dead skin cells. It contains 5 essential oils juniper berry, grapefruit, cypress, cedarwood and rosemary, which helps the body detoxify and reduces the signs of cellulite. The Organic Detoxifying Body Scrub costs £17 for 100ml. You apply this scrub to your body before a bath or sh...

Here's a quick review of the November 2014 You Beauty Discovery Box.  I picked the Magnifibres Brush-on False Lashes (this is full size and RRP is £21) and Skin & Tonic London Steam Clean Cleansing Balm (15ml worth £8.10).  I can't wait to try both of these products and will post a review when I have used them.  I also received a couple of sachet samples of Merumaya products and a sachet of Aduna Baobab Superfruit Powder. The other options available were: Rituals Hammam Delight Shower Foam Himalayan Detox Salts by Therapie Roques O'Neil Argan Organics Regeneration Anti Wrinkle Cream Bourjois Cream Blush Green People Pencil Eyeliner Invisibobble The Traceless Hair Ring Once again I think You Beauty Discovery  offered some good choices considering the box only costs £6.95 including postage.  You can read my review of last months You Beauty Discovery Box here . Leighlee I bought this box with my own money

I just thought I would post about the You Beauty Discovery Box October 2014. The theme this month is Handbag Heros – luxury beauty products with a distinct, powerful and effective quick-fix approach to looking good and feeling great. Everyone received the following: Gold Collagen Forte (50ml worth £3.60)  – a new anti-ageing liquid beauty supplement that contains hydrolysed collagen enriched with a unique blend of antioxidants (Q10, acai berry, pomegranate, lycopene, L-Carnosine and resveratrol) to protect against the oxidative stress.  Cowshed Perfecting Night Serum (2ml worth £3.20) – The ultimate all-in-one anti-ageing treatment. The innovative serum-in-oil hybrid is bursting with natural active ingredients and essential oils that work wonders on your skin while you sleep, so that you wake up with a firmer, brighter and smoother complexion. I chose the following 2 items to be included in my box: Crystal Clear Intense Anti-Ageing Serum...

I have just received the September  You Beauty Discovery Box and as You Beauty Discovery is now a year old, it’s the birthday treat box. Everyone received a discount of £25 off your first order with Hello Fresh (I haven’t decided if I will make use of this yet). We also received two soothing Crabtree & Evelyn tea Bags – Classic Afternoon Tea and New Green Tea with Blackberry (I really wish that beauty box companies would stop putting tea bags in their boxes as not everyone drinks tea). There is also a little face sponge, which may come in handy for applying foundation on the go.  As a birthday treat everyone also received a full size tub of Toni&Guy GLAMOUR Volume Plumping Whip(90ml worth £7.19). This gives your locks body and bounce from the roots (again not a product I will use as my curly hair has enough body and bounce already). Now onto the products that I chose: Eyeko Hydrogel Eye Patch (2 sachets containing 2 eye patches in ea...

Here is the August 2014 You Beauty Discovery Box.   The theme of this months box is Summer Essentials and here is what I chose: Gazelli Triple Youth with White Oil Duo (worth £19.50) Gazellis luxury discovery set is the perfect one-week introduction to the Triple Youth range and includes an Ultimate Firming Serum (5ml) and Intensive Age-Repair Cream (5ml) to give your skin the ultimate rejuvenation. Justbe Hydrating Serum (worth £11.65) An intensely hydrating serum that provides an instant feeling of skin firmness and improved elasticity. Scented with orange blossom which in addition to being a wonderful natural toner has a balancing effect on emotions. Apply a couple of drops to cleansed skin morning and night. I am really into anti-aging products, especially serums so I was really happy with the items that I picked and I can't wait to use them. Other options included: Peggy Sage Nail Polish summer collection or nude collection Rose ...

This months You Beauty Discovery Box is a travel themed box.  I have to say that the options were not great this month, but I am still happy with the 2 items that I picked. Here's what I received: I picked Tan Organic Oil Arganic Body Oil (£24.99 for 100ml) - this is a multi-purpose dry oil and I am really loving argan oil products at the moment.  They really do work wonders on my hair and skin, so I am looking forward to trying this out. The 2nd product that I chose was L'Oreal Mega Volume Miss Manga Mascara (full size worth £8.99).  I like L'Oreal mascaras and this one promises mega volume.  I haven't tried it out yet as I have too many opened mascaras on the go at the moment, but I will report back when I have used it. Everyone received a sachet of Egyptian Magic All Purpose Skin Cream,  a 2ml sample of Agent Provocateur Fatale Eau de Parfum (which is very sultry and peppery, rather nice actually) and a 50ml Dove Men +Care Pro-Moisture Shav...

The choices for You Beauty Discovery Box this month were so good that I had to get 2 boxes.  Here's what I received. I chose: dr.organic Moroccan Argan Oil Hair Treatment Serum - this is full size (100ml) and costs £14.99 GlamGlow Supermud Clearing Treatment 10g x2 (worth approx £13 each) GlamGlowYouthmud Tinglexfoliate Treatment - 15g (worth £15) I also received the following in my boxes: Lizi's Granola - Treacle & Pecan 40g  & Original 50g Charles Worthington Moisture Seal Hair Healer Leave-in Conditioner Sachet 2x10ml (includes a £2 off coupon for Charles Worthington range in Boots) Divine Legs Tinted Body Lotion - 2x5ml The other choices were: Philip Kingsley - Elasticizer Percy and Reed - Eau My Goodness Shine & Fragrance Spray Batiste - XXL Plumping Powder Elemis - Pro-Collagen Marine Cream Manuka Doctor - Mini Hero Kit Burts Bees - Facial Cleansing Towelettes with White Tea Extract Fake Bake - 60 minutes Self Tan L...

I have received another great beauty box from YOU Beauty.  There were some great choices, but for me it was a bit of a no brainer, so I went for 2 cleansers.  Both were full size products and individually they are worth more than the subscription price for the box.  The box has a Best of British theme and here's what I received. The first product that I picked was The Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter.  This has been on my wish list for a while, since it was featured on the Beauty Mouth blog .  This is 90ml and costs £12.   Its suitable for all skin types.  I also received a Muslin Cleansing Cloth from the Body Shop worth £2.50.   The second product that I picked was BeautyLab Glyco Face Wash.  This is a skin refining oil-free 5% glycolic foaming gel with triggered release technology that removes impurities, unclogging pores, refining and cleansing.  I have not come across this brand before so I am interested in ...

Well here is my first beauty box review of 2014.  I received my YOU BEAUTY Discovery box this week and here's what I received: I chose the Organic Pharmacy Purifying Seaweed Clay Mask 5ml - I have always wanted to try this brand and I love face masks so I was happy with this pick although I wish it was bigger than 5ml because you need to use a product a few times to really find out if it works for you.  I will give this a go and report back.  This mask is a   must for all skin types but especially congested and skin prone to spots and blackheads. I also chose the Essie Repstyle Magnetic Nail Polish.  I love Essie polishes so I couldn't pass up a chance to receive another one to add to my collection.  I am not a fan of magnetic polishes so I will just use this as a normal polish as it is a great metallic colour.   I didn't get  to choose the colour that I received, but I was happy with the silvery dark blue colour that I r...

I recently subscribed to the YOU BEAUTY Discovery Box.  I like the fact that it only costs £6.95 per month including postage and you get to choose the 2 main items that will be in the box.   There was a good selection of products to choose from including a Nailberry nail polish, a FACE Stockholm creme lipstick, Oriflame Wonder Lash Mascara, Murad Osmolyte Tonic and Maddi Alexander bath & body oil.    I chose moa the green balm (full size 50ml) which is worth approx £10.  I chose this item as I have bought it before and it is great for dry patches on my skin.   I also chose Neo Stem Anti-Accelerated Aging Serum. This is an active serum against signs of lipoatrophy and premature aging.  I am really into serums at the moment and thought this would be a good one to add to my stash to try out.  This is a full size 30ml bottle and is currently for sale at M&S for £59, so this is amazing value for such a cheap beauty box.  I can'...