SheSaid Beauty Box | August 2012

The August SheSaid Beauty is my 3rd beauty box and I've been enjoying them so much that I recently signed up for a 6 month subscription while they were running a special 50% off offer.

If you're interested in signing up yourself then you can follow the referral link below and it can help me on my way towards getting a free box!

https://www.shesaidbeauty.com/invite/JKWWS

In each box you receive 5 sample products, and one 'bonus' product (so technically you receive 6 products). Often 1, or sometimes 2, of the products are full size and are worth quite a lot more than the box itself costs (£9 a month +p&p). There is a little bit of variation between the boxes that people get so read on to find out what I got in my August box and a brief rundown of what I thought of each item.

My first thoughts on the box were that it was quite messily packaged for a change and looked as though there hadn't been much care into packing the box. I understand there must be some poor soul who has stand around and hand-pack each of these boxes and mine could well have been last in the pile at the end of a hard day, but still it could've been better than opening the box in excitement and just seeing the products messily thrown inside and a lump of straw chucked on top of them. 

White Glo - Professional Choice

A tooth paste? In a beauty box? Well that one surprised me. I've not tried this yet because I think its the perfect travel size and I'm saving it for a little holiday in October that is currently being planned. However, I have read other people's reviews on this box and every single one have said they were impressed with this toothpaste and saw a noticeable difference in the whiteness of their teeth even with just this sample size which makes me excited to try it out.

150g Full size product costs £4.07.

Balance Me - Rose Otto Intensive Lip Salve

This cute little lip balm has taken its place right on my bedside table now; I love every single thing about it ..except for the scent. It's not actually an unpleasant scent and I can put up with it, it's just that 'rose' is not something to my personal preference. The packaging is adorable and it keeps all of its promises to 'plump hydrate and smooth'. This was the only full sized product in the box and 10ml tube retails at £12.00 (See what I mean about some of the products being worth more than the box?).

Redken - Color Extend Radiant-10

This product really caught my eye when I opened the box as I've been wanting to try out some Redken products for quite a while now and I have recently purchased myself a couple of full sized bottles. It's in an adorable little 30ml bottle and I've nearly used it all up already. This claims to have '10 essential benefits for coloured hair' and I don't know about a full 10 benefits but it definitely has made some improvement to the condition of my hair and I will be buying the full size bottle. 170ml costs £19.99 as a limited time introductory offer.

Papier Poudre - Rachel Powdered Paper

These are something that I first of all thought that I would never get any use out of. Despite actually having really oily skin I just thought that these sort of blotting and absorption papers wouldn't be very effective and would just rub away make up. I tested these out once on a really hot and humid day last week while I'd been wandering around in the sun all day, I got home and looked in the mirror to be greeted with a super shiny oily forehead/nose/general T-zone, and I spotted this little booklet on the side so picked it up to give it its premier trial. This instantly absorbed the visible oil on my face and it even leaves a slight trace of powder behind to leave an extra matte finish. I do like these but I'm not sure if I would repurchase this particular brand; I may try the Kleenex version now though. A pack of 6x 20 leaf booklets costs £7.95.

Absolutely Flawless - Nail Foils

Eugh. These are cheap and you can really, really tell. Plus, £1.90 for 32 foils and we received 16 foils in our box? - Oh thanks SheSaid that's so generous of you. In general I never really liked the whole nail foils craze; I tried them out once about 2 years ago and sure they looked great, but they were just far too fiddly for my liking and I didn't like trying to blast a hairdryer onto my hands and nearly burning myself just to melt the glue! I'd much rather just paint my nails and wait for them to dry than spend the time cutting out the foils to match the shape and size of my nails. The foils that I received were an imitation of the 'crackle' effect that everybody loved a couple of months ago but I feel that's had its day a bit now. The box included a card with all the other designs available from the Absolutely Flawless brand and I wouldn't wear a single one of them. Sorry, definitely not a winner from me!

*Bonus 4711 - Eau De Cologne

Of the 3 SheSaid boxes I have received and the 3 perfume samples that came with them, I have not liked a single one. I would rather not receive perfume samples full stop to be honest. To start with how UGLY is the packaging of this bottle? And the smell.. eugh! I don't know anybody that would like this. Again, not a winner. A full sized 100ml bottle costs £17.00.

Overall, the Redken and the Balance Me products are a love, the powdered papers are okay, the tooth paste is still yet to be trialed, but the nail foils and the perfume sample are a no-no!

Again, if you're interested in signing up for your own box for £9 a month (+p&p) then follow the link below to sign up:

https://www.shesaidbeauty.com/invite/JKWWS

♥