Boohoo nude lustre lipstick set | Review

Clothing brands releasing makeup is a fairly new but suddenly common concept, with Boohoo being one of many to introduce a highly affordable range on their website. Even Boohoo itself is a new concept to me, as in the past, before their curve range, I haven't had any success with their clothes. Then, when aimlessly scrolling the other day for new autumn clothes, I came across this gorgeous set of 4 nude lipsticks for just six pounds, so they went straight into my bag, especially as they resemble the KKW nude range. Having never tried any boohoo makeup (you know how we are always late on the trends!) I was so excited to see what these were all about. 


The set comes with 4 gorgeous nude lustre lippies, which have beautiful matte nude packaging which makes them look really expensive. Every man and his dog also has a Boohoo discount code too at the moment, so if you want 20% off like we did just head to any love islanders instagram and you'll probably find one. You're welcome. 


 Sorry about my gross nails. 


Although a couple of the shades look the same they all swatch differently, meaning the set provides a lovely range of nude tones. In the picture above, the swatch on the left actually really reminds me of MAC Brave, one of my fave lipsticks, so the set is definitely worth the money.

 The only  thing I will mention is that these don't have shade names, which makes  it impossible to know which one you are picking up, with all packaging looking the same. Besides that, these are gorgeous and for the bargain price tag, I cannot complain! 

 We also thought that you would appreciate us sharing these pics of our needy pup interfering when we were getting pictures, haha! She's always wanting to steal the show! I think the lipsticks have her approval too ;)




Have you tried any Boohoo makeup? Or any other makeup from clothing brands? Let us know. 

 Natasha & Emily x 

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Operation Christmas Child Boxes | A way to give a little bit more this Christmas

I know what you're all saying, 'It's only October, why are you mentioning Christmas!?' Well, for starters I believe that it is NEVER too early to think about the best (in my eyes) time of the year, and what I am about to share is definitely something that takes planning ahead. Ever since I was about 12, it has been an annual tradition of ours to put together shoe boxes containing a variety of items which will be sent away to children who are less fortunate than ourselves, of a selected gender and age. Through the 'The Samaritan's Purse', you can send items to a boy or girl of either of the 3 age ranges:  2-4, 5-9 or 10-14. This year we will be doing 3 shoe boxes, one for a boy aged 5-9 (the one that I have photographed for this post), one for a girl aged 5-9 and another for a girl, aged 10-14.  For years I have wanted to blog about this amazing charity, but the early November deadline always creeps up on us and we never get the chance to put the post together before that year's deadline. So without further ado, here is what we are packing in our boxes this year.
Toiletries:

 I think that toiletries are a vital to include, since a lot of the children will not have access to simple essential items such as soap and toothbrushes. Therefore I like to make sure I include these sorts of things every year. A good tip with this is to buy multipacks and then spread them across the boxes - for example, I bought a 5 pack of Primark toothbrushes for 75p, which I have then distributed across the boxes. It works out so cheap, yet to a child who has the bare minimum it will feel like they have won a small fortune! I also collect the little freebies from hotels that I visit throughout the year too - for example, the two packaged toothbrushes you can see at the top of the picture were from a hotel I visited earlier this year. Again, it will mean the world to these kids and you have literally paid nothing!

Sweets:

 Another thing that I always make sure to include is a packet of sweets, as they are the only item of food that they actually allow you to ship away in the boxes. One thing to note though, if you are to do any boxes yourselves, is that the best before date must be at least the March of the following year, just to account for the shipping time. I have also just seen on the website that this is actually the last year of being allowed to send sweets out, so just a warning in case you were hoping to pack a box next year!

School supplies:

 I think that school supplies has to be one of the most important things to consider when packing these boxes, because at the end of the day we'd be nothing without education. With this, I again bring out the multipack trick; I will tend to buy a big bag of pens and pencils, and then split them across each child's box. These exercise books were also only about 30p from a local bargain store, and the pencil case also came with some stationery inside it, again for only about 30p! It will make all the difference, and hopefully leave you feeling good, without even slightly breaking the bank. 

Fun stuff:

 Amongst all of the essentials, it is also important that you include something the child will really thoroughly enjoy, and so usually I like to make sure I include some crayons and a colouring book. The charity also recommends that each box contains a 'wow' item, which would be anything from a stuffed toy or a barbie doll. This year my Grandma has actually knitted a few items for me to include, including this little snowman, which they will hopefully love.




To pack your own shoe box, all you have to do is simply fill a medium sized shoe box with any of the recommended items (click here to see them), wrap up the box with some Christmas wrapping paper, and then download and print off a label from online (click here) to select the gender and age you wish to send your box to. You can then pay for the shipping online here and print and insert the barcode they supply, and then drop off to your most local drop off station (find your local drop-off here). It really is as simple as that! You will also receive an email at the start of the year informing you about where the box has been sent, which I always find makes me super happy.

 I hope you enjoyed this different post today, and I hope to have inspired some of you about how you can make a difference without spending tonnes. Please let us know if you are doing a box this year - I would love to chat to you all! 

 Thank you,

 Natasha & Emily x  
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September Birchbox Product Reviews 2018

It is a common thing over here now that at the end of every month we review our Birchbox products that we have been enjoying, rather than doing an unboxing post, as this way we are able to share our thoughts on all the brands that we have been sent. Last month we did this over on Believe In Bumble's blog (here) as part of our monthly collaborations, but this month we are back, and ready to share our thoughts on everything we've received.

This month our box contained the NUXE multi purpose dry oil, the Eyeko brow liner in Medium, the Benefit Gold Rush, Marcelle City Anti pollution moisturiser and the Klorane Mango conditioner, which we have tried over the month. Before getting into the reviews of each products, I must say that this one was probably the best Birchbox yet for us, as it had a variety of skincare and makeup, unlike some previous ones that have mainly been skincare.

 NUXE Huile Prodigieuse Dry Oil: 
When I first opened the Birchbox at the start of the month this product immediately intrigued me, since I'm not really a user of oils or anything like them. This is meant to be applied to either the skin or hair to add a sheen and make them look healthier and stronger. They claim 'Six essential oils, plus Vitamin E, leave face, body, and hair soft and silky' and 'microscopic flecks of golden shimmer deliver a subtle glow', which I would agree with. The reason I usually avoid oils is because they can leave a horrible sticky residue, which this doesn't at all. After striaghtening my hair I have been applying this to the ends and it makes it look immediately smoother and less dry and dead, something I really need right now as I haven't had a cut in weeks! Overall, this one was a win win. 

Eyeko Brow Liner in 'Medium': 

This one also had me really excited, especially since eyebrow products are quite rare in Birchboxes. Straight up though, this is the complete wrong shade for me, and in fact probably anyone. As you can see from the swatch below it looks almost khaki green...and I'm unsure who has khaki brows? No judgement though. 


I appreciate that this probably could work for maybe blonde or silver hair colours, but for me as a brunette it was unfortunately a miss. Such a shame, as Eyeko is a great brand. I did apply this though to see how easy it was and it is a great product which was really easy to apply, but the shade was just wrong unfortunately.

Benefit Gold Rush



This is probably my favourite from the box, as it is something I've wanted to try for a while. As a poor student spending 20+ pounds on a blusher is something that is quite unattainable, so having this sample was perfect. As usual, Benefit didn't disappoint; this smells gorgeous, looks gorgeous, and is the perfect colour. As it is a sample it didn't come with the gold sheen spray over the top like the full size, but this isn't and issue for me as I've heard that this makes no difference and is purely for decorative reasons anyway. Love love love.

Marcelle City 24hr Anti-Pollution day and nigh cream: 


This claims to 'shield skin from pollution and environmental stressors, while repairing, hydrating and reviving the complexion for a bright and radiant glow', which is really interesting to me, having never really thought about the effect of pollution and such on my skin. To be honest, though I find it really interesting, I cannot comment on whether this does do that, as I didn't really find that pollution as such effected my skin anyway, but it definitely does give the complexion a radiance. This also has a gorgeous consistency, and for someone use to using Nivea, Garnier or Simple, I can definitely tell that this has a more luxury price point. The consistency reminds me of the Body Shop body sorbets, sinking in IMMEDIATELY which I stan. Again, this was amazing!

 Klorane Nourishing Conditioner with Mango Butter:


 This is 'rich in fatty acids that replenish and moisturize dry, brittle hair' which sounds dreamy if you ask me. Got to love some enticing science haven't you. Or maybe I'm just nerdy.
After using this, my hair did indeed feel amazing and the scent is gorgeous. Anything Mango scented is going straight in my baaaa-sket. One of our other Birchboxes had a Klorane dry shampoo in which we also loved, so it looks like this brand might be a new favourite for hair care! 
Did you have a Birchbox this September? What did you think of the products this month? Let us know! :) 

 Natasha & Emily xx 
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