My Experience with LoveLula

We've seen a couple of beauty subscription boxes around here already but I've been really interested in trying some more recently. (For more info click *here* for my post about LoveMeBeauty and *here*, *here* and *here* for my various posts on Birchbox. I've been toying with GlossyBox and I'm definitely going to try it out one day but, for now, I've gone for LoveLula. For two main reasons:

1. It's a smaller box - I don't see a lot of people hyping it in the beauty community, it's something that needs to be tested and talked about.

and 2. Their values are amazing. They pledge to provide a box full of high quality products that are sustainably sourced, that aren't full of chemicals, that aren't tested on animals and they fully support promoting lesser known brands and small companies. It's just ticking a lot of the "yes please" boxes for me.

I signed up with LoveLula with my first box being the March 2016 box. I've received 2 boxes from them now and it's a nice, clear set up. You can pay monthly (which I chose to do) by direct debit, or can buy 3 or 6 boxes at a time (to be dispatched monthly), I should note that unlike some other box subscription services, there is no discount for ordering multiple boxes at a time. The boxes are always dispatched around the 10th of the month and both boxes were on time, packaged nice and securely and all of the products have arrived 100% in tact.

The stand-outs in the March box were the Skin Blossom Gentle Cleansing Milk (a lovely creamy cleanser that leaves skin soft and hydrated) and the Turbliss Bioactive Peat Mask (which seems to just draw all the impurities out of my skin, love). The March box also contained 3 mini Urban Veda products, the Facial Wash, Exfoliating Facial Polish and the Day Cream from the "Turmeric + Botanics - Radiance" range. They also included sample sachets of the John Masters Organics Blood Orange & Vanilla Body Wash and the Madara Sun Flower Golden Beige Tinting Fluid. So the box was made up of a full sized cleanser, a 3 step skincare routine, a face mask and some extras and everything seemed to have a place.

By comparison, the box I received in April didn't seem so well thought out in terms of the range of products included. The April box contained another 3-step minis collection from Urban Veda (again the Facial Wash, Exfoliating Facial Polish, and the Day Cream, just this time from the "Neem + Botanics - Purifying" range. Another good sized Skin Blossom product - this time the Nourishing Face Moisturiser, a (seemingly) full size of the PHB Ethical Beauty Natural & organic Brightening Eye Gel and a Barefoot SOS Repair + Renew Light Moisturising Lotion. So while the products are still nice, I feel like the Urban Veda stuff is nearing on a repeat (and a month later? So soon!) and then an eye cream and 2 big moisturisers? Even if one had been specifically a night cream it might have worked? I'm not sure.

The boxes are £12.50 including shipping (which seems to be the price that most beauty boxes are) and the boxes seem to contain at least one full sized item and one deluxe sample each month in addition to trial sizes. They also include a 20% off coupon for the brands included in that months box. The boxes 3-6 month subscriptions are also available outside the UK with an additional charge of £5 shipping on each box.

All in all I've decided that I'm going to continue my subscription with them for now and will keep you updated on the products I get and how much I like the boxes going forward.

November Favourites

So with the 30 Lips Challenge over I'm back to my usual schedule of Monday, Wednesday and Friday posts (because as much as I love writing posts, a post everyday when you work full time is just really difficult to keep up with). And despite my manic lip-product-testing extravaganza, I still managed to find a few products I've been using and enjoying pretty consistently this month.

So my absolute favourite of this month has to be the Steven Klein for Nars One Shocking Moment Blush Palette, I did a dedicated review post to this in late October when I first got the palette which you can find: here. All in all, I love it. It's everything you need for colour complexion colours from contouring/highlighting, bronzing and there's a good selection of blush colours in there too. Everything else in my cheeks drawer this month has been feeling pretty lonely since this hit my collection.

Another pick from the Steven Klein for Nars collection that I've spent the month falling in love with is the Single Eyeshadow in "Stud". This is an absolutely amazing shade and it's quite unique as well. It's a wearable cool taupe shade with flecks of glitter running through it that I can imagine looking great on most skin/eye colours. I just love how it's so wearable but it still manages to have that "wow" factor about it too.

For skincare I've been gravitating to a lot of exfoliating products and I've been using the Pixi Glow Tonic at least every other day, it's gentle enough to use morning/night but still leaves the skin feeling smooth and it still manages to have a light, pleasant scent to it. I can see this being a staple in my skincare stash.

When i want something that packs a bit more of a punch for exfoliation, I've been going for the REN Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask. This mask doesn't smell the best and it doesn't have the "pampering yourself" feeling because it's so gloopy and sticky on the skin, but as soon as I take it off my skin feels amazing. If I use this before I go to bed I see a noticeable difference to the look and feel of my skin the next day and I've just been really impressed with this product lately.

And finally, since November is my birthday month and I generally have a lot going on, I like to take a bit of time off to pamper myself, get my Christmas shopping sorted and generally sort my life out a bit, and since I've been having a couple more lazy morning than usual this month I've made a dent in my Sarah Chapman Skinesis Morning Facial. I think it's a bit heavy to wear under makeup but if you're having a day in the house or you're going to be doing your makeup later on in the day this is lovely. It smells great as you massage it into your skin and just gives a nice amount of hydration and glow to the skin. Facial oils are a winter skincare essential for me and this is a really nice one.

October Favourites

I can't believe October is pretty much over already (I know this is a bit earlier than I normally post my monthly favourites but that's the way the schedule fell due to other posts I've got lined up). I've been testing out a few new bits this month and I think I've found some good picks for this one.

On the make-up front, I know I gave these an honorary mention last month but I just wanted to mention that the Fluer De Force Lip Gloss has been a true favourite this month, I've worn the shade "Written In The Stars" at least twice a week since I picked it up and it's just a great fuss-free everyday neutral.

With me keeping it simple on the lips I've been going for a bit of a stronger look on the eyes and have been gravitating towards my Charlotte Tilbury Colour Chameleon in "Golden Quartz for Hazel Eyes Day" it's a great rusty bronze with golden shimmer that seems to give a subtle hint of green to the lids and I love the uniqueness of the shade. The formula is great too, nice and quick to apply and lasts well.

My final makeup favourite for the month is the Bourjois Sourcil Precision Eyebrow Pencil. I have the shade "07 Noisette" and it's a great eyebrow pencil. It's a bit waxier than other formulas and I find that I don't need to use a brow gel with this one as it's got a little hold to it and my brows aren't particularly unruly. My only bug-bare with this is that the brush on the lid is a bit pants, if they swapped that out for a good spool-y brush this would be perfect.

Possible TMI here: as it's been getting a bit colder I've been finding that my feet have been getting a bit gross looking/feeling. I've been popping on the Soap & Glory Hell Genius Amazing Foot Cream under my socks on a daily basis and it's sorted out any dryness or general winter-woes pretty quickly. A great SOS product.

For skincare I have two new favourites, one high end and one budget. For high end I've been loving the Skyn Iceland Pure Cloud Cleanser. It's a lovely, cooling creamy cleanser and while it can be used both day and night I find that the cooling sensation is just exactly what I want in the morning to wake me up.

My budget skincare find is the Nspa Oil-Free Moisture Gel, this is an insanely good product. I'd moved on to using oils instead of moisturisers 9 times out of 10 because moisturisers just weren't cutting it for me. Having oily but dehydrated skin made it really hard for me to find something hydrating enough but that wasn't too heavy or greasy to wear under makeup but this product has it down. It's a nice hydrating cream that sinks in almost immediately.

And there we have it, I still can't believe how fast this year is going.

September Favourites

Another month down and its been a good one this month both for finding new favourites and rediscovering old loves that I'd forgotten about. With it being the end of skint-tember, not everything will be high-street this time around but there's some affordable products in the mix. An honourable mention needs to go to the Fleur De Force Lipglosses, I love these at the moment but haven't had them long enough for them to qualify as a monthly favourite but I didn't want to leave them out.

A couple of products I found when testing affordable products for Skint-tember are the L'Oreal Le Blush and the Maybelline Master Drama Khol Liner. The blush is a nice peachy pink that's easy to apply and just brightens up the complexion and the texture is lovely on the face, I wouldn't necessarily have picked this up if I hadn't been trialling products specifically for the posts for last month (one day I'll show you how the blush drawer has gotten out of hand since the blog) but I'm really glad I did because this was a nice affordable find.

I've been picking up a few pieces from Maybelline's Master range lately and it seems to be a line of on-point releases from what I can see. I discovered the Master Sculpt Contour Palette last month and that went straight into a favourites post and this month I picked up the eye liner from the range and again it's shot straight to the top of my love-list. It's a nice strong black eyeliner that wears well but is creamy to apply.

On the topic of the Maybelline Master Sculpt, I may have been cheating this month. Birchbox sent me a small size of The Balm's Balm Desert Bronzer/Blush and I've been liking this for a contour shade lately. It's a bit deeper than the Maybelline so I do have to be a bit careful but it's been nice for popping in my makeup bag when I'm on the go.

I've also shelved my long-loved L'Oreal Pure Colour Shampoo for a while. I ran out a few weeks back and when I went for a repurchase I couldn't find it in stock anywhere, so after a few moments standing at the display in dismay I decided to try the Ever Strong from the same range. The Pure Colour is marketed for "Flat, Coloured Hair" and the Ever Strong claims to be new and is for "Fine, Flat Hair and Delicate Scalp" and it's still sulphate-free from what I can see so good for the colour too and I think it's my new favourite. It's just so much better for giving texture and volume to the hair and I like it a lot.

I've recently been investing in some nice quality brushes as well. I've been using a set I picked up from Frauline for the last few years and they were a great, affordable starter set for me but they've gotten a bit old and need replacing and I've decided to slowly start switching them out for really nice ones (if anyone wants an update on all of my recent brush buys let me know and I can do a post on that). After finally picking up a MAC 217 I don't know how I've managed without one for so long and I'm tempted to go back and pick up this brush in duplicate. It's makes eyeshadow application so easy and if you don't own this brush and you're into eyeshadow, I'd recommend giving it a go.

A re-discovery this month has been the Aromatherapy Associates Bath & Shower Oils, I particularly like the "Relax" and "De-Stress" sub-ranges and will more than likely be picking up a full size of some of these soon. I've been saving these oils for special occasions but I've decided I need to just get using them because they're lovely. I like the miniatures set because I think it contains a mini of all the ones in the range and you can sample which ones you like best before you buy. And if you have a small bath like me you can get 2-3 baths out of each bottle. They're also a great size for travel.

And finally, I wanted to throw in a random favourite this month. My boyfriend and I have made our way through a marathon of most TV series' by now and we decided we wanted something new to do together and decided on getting an xbox game to play. He's really into gaming and I've been known to have a dabble at things here and there. So after much deliberation, we decided that the Lego Games range would be a nice way to introduce me to gaming as they're aimed for a younger audience and generally a bit easy. We picked up Lego Jurassic World a few weeks back and it's been great, the two player is good and there's lots to do so you get a lot of game time for you're money, we've also recently picked up Lego Star Wars so we've got some variation and hopefully I'll pick up some Xbox skills and we'll be able to get something more difficult next time but we're really enjoying it so far. If anyone has any game recommendations for next time we're all ears.

August Favourites

It's favourites time again, I swear, these posts come around way too fast, I can't believe summer is almost over (especially since we haven't really seen a single day of sunshine here in Manchester). It's a bit of a weird bunch this month and not much on the affordable end of things, but never fear, the high-street posts are coming! So here's my favourites from August:

Firstly, I'd not used many eyebrow gels so I was excited to try the Anastasia Clear Brow Gel and it's really nice. I don't have particularly unruly brows, they're quite good and stay where they should be but I always notice the colour I put through them when I do my makeup fades throughout the day and this gel seems to have helped my other products last a little longer in my brows.

Another high-end make-up favourite this month has been the Esteé Lauder Double Wear Light Foundation. I have combination skin and my make-up generally breaks down pretty quickly in my t-zone where I get a bit oily and I've fallen out with my Revlon Colourstay Foundation because it's just been looking a bit heavy lately. The Esteé Lauder has been really nice because it's a relatively light coverage and it doesn't feel too heavy on the skin but it sticks around for a really long time, especially when set with a powder.

I've also been loving the Clarins Pure Melt Cleansing Gel this month, it's really similar to the Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel in texture but without the rose scent so if that was something you didn't like about the Oskia you might want to try the Clarins. I've had a mini bottle for ages but just took the plunge and picked up the full size (because if there's anything I need in life, it's another cleanser).

The final two things this month are a couple of products that I've really enjoyed using together: the Maybelline Master Sculpt contouring product and the Charlotte Tilbury Powder and Sculpt Brush, which I've been eying up for months now. The Maybelline is nice because I have really pale skin and a good contour shade is something that I've really struggled to find but this one is cool enough to use as a contour and comes in a light enough shade that it doesn't look crazy on me and the Charlotte Tilbury brush makes it really easy to place the product in the right place.

May Favourites

So it's that time of the month again, and I don't mean that time of the month. Monthly favourites are back for my May instalment and I actually really struggled this time around. I realised I was still loving a lot of products that I'd already featured in previous favourites posts and that the newer things I was loving are things I've picked up really recently and so don;t really think I could call them monthly favourites. But anyway, let's get cracking.

So I'll quickly skim over the repeat offenders: still massively in love with the Maxfactor Creme Blush in "Soft Pink", can honestly say that every time I've worn make-up this month, I've worn this, I just love it. Same for the NUXE Reve de Miel Lip Balm, just can't get enough of that sweet lemon-y hit of hydration before I go in with my make-up. Although I'm really in a brow-testing phase at the moment, I seem to keep coming back to the Soap & Glory Archery Brow Pencil in "Hot Chocolate" every time so that has definitely earned a second mention on here and do I even need to mention the Oskia Renaissance Cleansing Gel..?

Okay, new stuff only from this point onwards, I promise. Let's kick of the newbies with my absolute favourite product that I've tried recently: La Roche Posay Serozinc. Seriously amazing stuff. Within a day of using it my skin was noticeably clearer and less bump-y in texture and I've seen my blemishes fade to practically none existent since I've started using it. I just can't get over how much it's affected my skin, very impressed.

Now here I might be cheating on the "new products" part as I mentioned the By Terry Ombre Blackstar in "Misty Rock" last month, but in the posts I wrote about the By Terry eyeshadow sticks I mentioned being disappointed with the shade "Brown Perfection", so I'll prepare to eat my words. When I first tried it, I was putting it all over the lid, smudging with my finger and noticing most of the colour transfer off during this "blending" process, since I've switched to blending out with a brush, or simply using it like a liquid liner for my looks and it is seriously lush when used properly. I really like the colour on my not-quite-blue-not-quite-green eye colour.

A throwback perfume I've been using a lot this month is Daisy by Marc Jacobs, a lovely light floral that I've been wearing to work in recent weeks. It's such an appropriate work scent since it's light and pretty but not too sweet or sexy. I dub this scent the blazer of the fragrance world: pretty for work but casual enough to wear out too.

And that's it for this month, sorry it was a bit of a short and sweet edition, I've just been staying faithful to products for a change this month and didn't want to bore you by harping on about the same things over and over again.

Speaking of talking about the same things over and over, have I mentioned the Oskia Renaissance... Kidding. See you on Wednesday!