My Little Creative Box: October

October's My Little Box will be my 8th and final. Whilst I am still enjoying receiving them I can't really justify the cost anymore as £15 a month isn't that cheap considering I  get items or products that I don't want or need. I'm making a conscious effort to buy less 'things' and stopping my subscription will definitely help, though the message on the bag does weirdly echo my sentiment. 

I also want to apologize that my review is so late, college has been a bit of a nightmare lightly. This was my first box to arrive late which didn't help either, as though it said it had been dispatched on the 7th I didn't receive it till the 23rd and they are meant to be delivered between the 10th and 20th each month. I often read on Instagram that people's boxes arrive late but I guess I've just been lucky before. 

As you can tell October's theme was 'Creativity' however I'm not sure that the items in the box portrayed this. The Tote Bag is lovely and very useful to me but I think if they were aiming for creativity they should have sent a plain tote and some fabric pens. Similarly the Tech Jewelry wasn't that creative but also happened to be quite useless and not something that I was really interested in.

The Magazine was rather boring as ever, they always fold out to be giant posters so that it's just photos on the one side and they usually have 2-3 articles including a hair or makeup tutorial and an interview with people that I rarely know.

The beauty products were also unfortunately similarly disappointing. I found the Talika Photo-Hydra Moisturiser to be quite rubbish, especially considering it costs over £40 a tube usually, it has a gorgeous gel consistency which feels so smooth on your skin when you apply it. It absorbs really fast which seems great, but immediately after, your skin just feels dry again, I've taken to putting two moisturisers on now because of this. The tube also felt rally empty before I'd even used any. The other annoying thing was that I also received a My Little Beauty Night Cream in October's box which though lovely, it is slightly pointless to give 2 moisturisers in one box. The night cream is super thick and creamy and feels lovely when you apply it to your face, it's definitely too thick to use in the morning. It absorbs fast and leaves your skin feeling very hydrated too unlike the other one. The final beauty product is an AINY Oil for hair or skin. I've used it in my hair and it's nice but it feels 'wetter' than the Mark Hill one I usually use. I know that's a strange thing to say but I feel like as a result it makes my hair feel greasy thought it hydrates my hair just as well. It also feels really nice when used on the skin as a moisturiser. However once again the fact that I already got two moisturisers in this box makes it quite annoying that this is also basically just a glorified moisturizer.

The fact that I was quite disappointed with this box helped with my decision to end my subscription but the main fact really was the cost. When I consider that I've spent £120 on these boxes now I definitely feel like I've made the right choice. Not to say that I haven't enjoyed many of the items I've received.

What's your opinion on monthly subscription boxes?

Paris is always a good idea...

First- OMG. This is my 300th post, how is that even possible?! It's been a hella fun ride here on my little blog and I love having an outlet for my creativity and ideas where I can just be myself, so I really hope ya'll enjoy reading as much as I enjoy photographing and writing these posts!
Anyway...
Anyone else  a little obsessed with Paris? It just looks so pretty and chic and fun. Paris is one of the places I most want to visit (along with Istanbul and Marrakech FYI). I digress. I wanted an interesting way to display photos on my wall and this idea popped up on We Heart It ages ago. So I ordered some photos and found some blue tack and got sticking. I think it turned out really pretty and the little cloud print that I got in the April My Little Box looks super cute next to it too. If you're gonna give it a go make sure that you have plenty of portrait pictures as I was a little short so ended up having to use some old quote prints to fill in the gaps.

My Little Fashion Box: September

I thought this month's theme was a little boring and vague in all honesty, I felt the box lacked it's usual feeling of 'togetherness' in the way all the items are explicitly linked, however the items themselves were of great interest to me. The item I was the most excited about was probably the La Roche Posay Hydreane BB Cream. The brand itself made me excited as I always hear such good things about it, but the fact that it was a BB cream also greatly excited me as I've been thinking lately about trying some lighter coverage products. Unfortunately I found a similar issue with this product as with many BB creams, which is that they tend to not really agree with my oily skin. However the product itself is lovely and I'm sure on a less oily skin it would be much better. The coverage is light and breathable but evens out the skin tone well, plus it smells fresh, is easy to apply and lasts all day as long as I remember to powder. I also received another Keratase product this month to my disappointment. It was the Couture Styling Laque Noire Hairspray which I am yet to try but I haven't really liked any of the other products from this range that I've received. It's a super strong hold hairspray, so I'm not sure I'll have a lot of use for it, but the size should make it good to travel with if nothing else. From the My Little Beauty range I got the Red Dingue Lip Colour which I had high hopes for as it looked like a more blue toned red in the tube, however it turned out to be a more pink toned red which was a slight disappointment to me, as this made it very similar to the So Susan lip colour that I received last month. On the plus side the product itself is lovely, the formula is great as it dries matte, similar to the Bourjois Matte Rouge Lipsticks and is very long lasting as a result.

I was also very excited to find the Alfa.K Nail Decals in my box this month, they are simply gorgeous and sooooo easy to apply. All you have to do is press the plastic sheet against your nails and they come right off. Beautiful nail art in no time at all. I think they look absolutely gorgeous used as an accent nail paired with my new Illamasqua nail varnish in DWS which I picked up for the bargain price of £3.99 in TKMaxx. I would definitely recommend them to anyone. I was slightly less pleased however with the American Vintage Scarf  as I don't really wear scarves, whilst the pattern is pretty it's not something I would wear (I mostly only wear monochrome and not many patterns) and it's strangely small for a scarf so that it barely fits around my neck.

It was rather a mixed bag this month but I am quite pleased. For the price you can't really complain, I would have paid £15 for the La Roche Posay BB Cream alone, so overall it's definitely good value for money and really does bring excitement to my week when I open it. More than that I love the anticipation of it arriving, photographing it, writing about it, trying out all the products for the first time, writing reviews on them. For me it's not just about receiving the products themselves, is about the experience as well.

My Little Gypset Box: August

My little box posts really are my favourite posts to photograph even when as with this particular box I don't loveeee the contents. Also I apologize for how late this is going up but It arrived late anyway then I was on holiday and then I got rather busy so sorry. I knew when I saw this theme that it wasn't gonna be one of my favourites but I'm still quite pleased. I was disappointed in the non-beauty items this month, whilst I liked the Hair Bobbles and they are useful to me (there was 4 but I'm currently wearing one!), I really didn't like the Bag. Whilst it had a pretty pattern on it, I just don't think I'll ever use it. However I did really enjoy the beauty items this month. The print was also really cute and I liked the quote. I got a Korres Body Milk to add to my growing collection of body moisturisers that I've received from My Little Box. It smells so nice and makes my skin feel lovely and soft. From there in house line I received a beautiful Bronzer Compact. How cute are those little yellow umbrellas?! Unfortunately the bronzer does look a little orange on my skin, but to be honest, almost every bronzer does. It has a lovely large mirror and also I like the fact that it is quite matte. I do however love the So Susan Colour Hybrid lip and cheek tint. It's a gorgeous colour and it buffs into the skin really well. However you have to make sure to only use the tiniest bit because it really is rather strong. Unlike a lot of double use products it isn't super drying on the lips either so can genuinely be used on both the cheeks and the lips.

I'd still recommend this subscription even with the occasional disappointing product because overall the quality really is great.

July My Little Box: My Little Roadtrip Box

Once again I'm finding myself wanting to type about how this is my favourite box that I have received but since I start nearly every My Little Box post with that, I'm instead going to tell you how after 5 boxes I am still consistently loving the items I receive and highly recommend this subscription service. I honestly think the two things that make this subscription stand out is the fact that you don't only receive beauty products which I think could get boring quite fast, particularly if they aren't items you would use and secondly the fact that so much thought is put into the theme of each box each month. 

This month was themed all around traveling and road trips and was so up my street because I have a serious case of wanderlust. I want to go everywhere and see everything, I really don't understand why you wouldn't. Top of my list are Istanbul, Paris and Marrakech at the moment. 

The first product in the box was the Garnier Micellar Water which is one of the few high street micellar waters I haven't tried so I was pretty excited to find that. A good makeup remover is obviously a travel essential and micellar waters are so much better then wipes, though they may be easier to transport; they're so much more effective and don't dry out your skin like wipes do.

From the My Little Box line I received a gorgeous After Sun Sorbet. A good moisturiser is always necessary when travelling and this one just smells so amazing, reminiscent of sun lotion and thus smells just like holidays to me. It's a gorgeous gel consistency that is so cooling on the skin and really is very moisturising.

When I first saw the Essie Nail Polish I wasn't too sure about the colour (DJ play that song) as I'm not usually a fan of pinks/purples but when I tried out I really liked how bright and summery it was. It's a nice change to the usual pastel colours for summer.

For the non-beauty items My Little Box have partnered with Bic to provide a Bic Stylus Pen which is super useful for when I'm switching between researching things on my tablet and writing notes on actual paper (Writing things on tablets and phones is never quite as satisfying for me). They also send a super cute Postcard Book which you can write about your travels in and then post home to yourself full of memories or maybe send to a friend to let them know all about your adventures. I'm heading to Edinburgh with my family later in the summer for the Fringe Festival and think this is a great idea for then because I can write about all the shows I see and all the tourist-y things I do and then post it home to myself full of tickets and other little mementos and stick it into my Smash Journal when I get home.

The Flash Tattoos were an excellent on-trend addition to the box and as you can see in the photo above I wore the bird ones on my collar bone (Inspired by Tris from Divergent! )when I attended a party and they stayed on remarkable well and lasted for almost 2 days. I cant wait to use the others over the summer, especially the wave one.

The last non-beauty item in the box had me beyond excited. Although I'm not actually going anywhere but Edinburgh and maybe London over the summer, I had been lusting after all the gorgeous travel organisers in Paperchase so when this Travel Organiser landed on my doorstep how could I not be ecstatic. It has loads of pockets perfect for keeping your passport, plane tickets, maps, attraction tickets, currency, any mementos that you pick up along the way plus anything else at all really. It also came in the cutest little box that said 'never stop exploring',  the packaging in these boxes is just so cute I always keep it but I just don't know what to do with it!

The Magazine was once again a big fold out poster which I'm not a huge fan of, though I'm not a huge fan of the magazine as a whole, I personally don't find it that interesting to read except for the odd article. The interview this month was quite interesting though I miss the old style of magazine that I got in my very first box which was a proper glossy style magazine.

Once again I'm going to recommend this subscription service if you're looking for a regular delivery of exciting beauty and lifestyle items that won't disappoint! 

PS I did not realise how long that was, congrats if you stayed till the end!

June 'My Little Box' Unboxing

Of the four boxes that I have received, I think this may be my favorite, which is such a relief after the disappointment of last month's Provence Box. I love the idea of a holiday in the French Riviera and I just love the turquoise and blue tones in the box, the products themselves are also lovely, though I do usually get caught up in the packaging and presentation.

The rather strange thing this month was the Foldable Plant Pots that came in the box, they have pretty designs printed on them but are altogether rather random, not that I'm complaining because my succulent Friedrich (I like to name things okay? Okay.) needed a new home as he was currently living on my desk in a red christmas plant pot. The larger one I'm using as storage to organise all my body lotions, face masks and scrubs etc in  my bathroom. By organise I of course mean that I just plonked them all in there.

The second lifestyle product which I absolutely adore are the Sarah Lavoine Sunglasses. Unfortunately My sister also took a liking to them and I actually had to steal them back from her in order to take these photos! Though I guess I probably should let her have them since I already have like 5 pairs of sunglasses. They look black in these photos but they have a purplish brown tinge to them and the shape of them is just so pretty.

The first beauty product was a Loved by Sarah Lavoine Nail Polish in a beautiful dark blue turquoise colour, it's opaque in one stroke and lasts without chipping for a few days.

From there in-house beauty range I received the My Little Beauty Sea Salt Body Scrub which smells like the sea and makes your skin feel so soft. As a sidenote it also tastes like the sea, don't ask how I know.

When I saw the Loreal Keratase Keratine Thermique Hair Milk I was a little upset because I got a Keratase product in the first box and it was a very disappointing conditioner. It did nothing for my hair but make it feel weird, however I have been putting this on my hair whilst its damp and then waiting till it's dry to straighten it and its feeling and looking quite healthy for now, so we'll see.

The My Little World Magazine was lacking the usual nail tutorial which was disappointing and the rest was pretty average as usual. Once again it was a fold out poster this time adorned with pictures of a woman frolicking on the beach making me insanely jealous. 

So although that look a bit of a turn at the end, I was really pleased with this box overall. Of all the subscription boxes I've looked into, this definitely seems to be the most consistently interesting and useful one about.

May My Little Box Unboxing

I've been meaning to write this for ages now, oops. But to be honest I was a bit disappointed with the May My Little Box, whilst the theme did seem interesting the products weren't great. But saying that, May's box came with my favourite of the My Little Beauty products which was an Amazing Eyeshadow Crayon in a beautiful metallic brown colour that looks great with my blue eyes, it lasts well and is super pigmented and is great if I just want a sweep of colour over my lid which I can then blend in with a brush. The other beauty products that came with it were from L'occitane, which are  a brand I've never tried due to the price and have to say I wasn't particularly impressed with them, whilst all the products smell great and have gorgeous packaging they weren't particularly interesting or special for me. I gave the Rose Hand and Nail Cream to my friend because she loves rose flavoured things and I have been using the Verbena Leaf Soap daily to wash my face and it has a lovely citrussy smell and feels nice on my skin. However the Shower Gel and Body Lotion I haven't really used, I think I'm going to save them for a trip because of their size, but they are right about the shower gel, it smells so summery and just like holidays somehow. Moving on to the lifestyle products, I was very disappointed in the Magnets and have given them to the charity shop as I won't use them yet liked the Golden Cuff. Though I elected not to use the embroidery string as I think the gold looks perfectly elegant and pretty on it's own. The highlight of the Magazine this month was the nail art though I haven't tried it as it looks rather hard! The rest of the magazine was quite boring though really, and the poster that it folds out into was pretty useless.
Overall it was quite a disappointing box and if next months is similar, I may have to unsubscribe.

April My Little Box Review

So this month's theme was the My Little Dream Box, I thought this was a much more interesting theme than last month's. I loved the design on the box and the little cloud with the quote will look so cute on my wall next to my Eiffel Tower. The theme is honestly the thing I love most about the box, the fact that everything ties together just makes it so much more special in my opinion. And the bags, the little drawstring bags are just so adorable! I really need to find a use for them asap (along with the boxes).

Each month you get one beauty product from their in house beauty range, 2 beauty products from other affiliate companies (which come in the little drawstring bags), 2 lifestyle products and a magazine. The magazine has interviews with interesting people from around the world and always includes a nail art tutorial. This month it was a tutorial for ombre nails which I love doing plus the magazine folded out to make a giant poster of a girl and a peacock.

I still haven't decided if I like the Cowshed Wild Cow Invigorating Body Lotion as it has a really strong ginger smell which whilst invigorating as the name suggests, is just rather overpowering. However it made my skin feel super soft and smooth when I tried it out.

Loved by Lou Lesage Rouge Balm is a very sheer red lipbalm which will be perfect for keeping in my school bag for when my lips need a little something. It feels moisturizing on the lips, if a little sticky but leaves a nice natural sheen and tint.

The Bonne Etoile Necklace came packaged in the cutest little paper cloud that had been sewn together with the quote ' Once upon a dream...' printed on it. It was so exciting to open! Its such a pretty little necklace and I love the fact that it's in French because it means that not everyone can read it. My only complaint is that I would prefer it if it had a black cord because black is basically the only colour I wear.

The second lifestyle product this month was a very cute Stamp and Ink Pad, it has 12 options on it, 4 of which are in French which I had to ask my friend to translate! They range from 'To Do' to 'Wow!' and 'Merci Beaucoup'. I'm not entirely sure what I'll be doing with it, but it should be useful for scrapbooking :)

I used the My Little Beauty Repairing Hair Mask straight after I opened the box and was quite pleased with it, it was definitely one of the better hair masks I've tried as it left my hair feeling clean but nourished however it wasn't a 'wow' product. Nothing will ever compare to the Mark Hill hair mask I use though. However it does smell lovely, quite sweet but fresh, very shampoo-ey if that makes sense, quite a typical smell.

So overall I'm still very pleased with the service that My Little Box delivers and can't wait for next months. What's your opinion on monthly subscription boxes?

My Little Box: March

So I've been looking at monthly subscription boxes for a few years now, I think the concept is so exciting, getting sent a bunch of surprise products each month to try, all at a greatly reduced price usually.The main reason I've never signed up for one before is because I've never found one that I thought was really good value for money and had interesting products in it. Cue My Little Box, the thing that first interested me in this box was the gorgeous illustrations on it, I think it's great that everything is linked together through the illustrations. I also loved the fact that rather than just getting beauty products you also get a lifestyle product or two each month. But I think the most convincing factor was that their partner brands are so good, for example L'oreal, Carmex, Nyx, Essie, Elizabeth Arden and Bourjois. So I took the plunge and waited 2 weeks for my box to arrive, I tried to avoid spoilers but I couldn't resist checking the instagram tags (Oops), and I have to say I was rather pleased.

In the box I received a Wonder Woman themed sticker sheet, the magazine which comes with every box, a rather cute 'I believe I can fly' T-Shirt, a L'oreal kerastase conditioner, a Caudalie Paris hand cream and a lip and cheek stick form my little beauty.  The sticker sheet isn't amazing, but I'll probs stick them on my school journal as they're quite motivational which I always need at school :) The T-Shirt I like and will wear and the magazine I found to be rather interesting. I thought it was gonna be really boring but I actually found it very interesting I especially liked the Philol Article and the quotes pages. Moving onto the products, the conditioner I have used once and found it to be disappointingly average, but I'll keep using it and see if my opinion changes. The hand cream smells absolutely amazing and makes my hands feel lovely and soft but no more or less so then any other hand cream I've used. And finally the lip and cheek stick, I'm not really a great believer of multi use products, I'd much rather have two good products then one sub-par one. and whilst I love the colour of this as a blush the formula is absolutely useless as a lipstick.

So there we go, that's my opinion on everything. Whilst it doesn't sound like I'm very pleased with the box  overall I actually am and I'm very excited to see what I receive next month.

PS you can use the promo code FIRSTBOX to get your first box for £11 instead of £14.95