BeautecoBox July 2013

BeautecoBox* - £10 + £2.95 Delivery

BeautecoBox just seems to get better and better every month. The July box is probably the best beauty box I have ever received. Out of the three menus available, this month I opted for box 2 which contained four full size products and only one sample. You have to admit that's pretty incredible for the price! Like I've said before they really do have those ratios down to a T and it's so brilliant to be able to try out some new products properly instead fiddling about with tiny sample sachets.

Artdeco Soft Kajal Liner
I'm not really into pencil eyeliners as I think they make my eyes look smaller (something I definitely don't need!) but this one is really nice. It's so soft and ready to use without having to warm it up on your hand first. I always end up stabbing myself in the eye with stiffer liners when I'm tightlining but I can do it with this one no problem. It also smudges out really well for a smokey eye. It's very pigmented and seems to last a long time on my eyes.

Artdeco Eyehadow Base
I normally go for the Urban Decay Primer Potion or MAC Painterly Paint Pot if I want a neutral eye primer but both of those have been pushed aside for this little pot of wonder. It sits so nicely on my eyelids and stops creasing completely. My eyeshadows last incredibly well when I use this and it helps to boost their pigmentation too. In the pot it looks like a sparkly beige cream but it appears matte once applied. I normally apply it with a MAC 239 brush and then use the same brush to pack on my eyeshadow. This has worked it's way into my everyday makeup bag and it's definitely my favourite eye primer at the moment.

Pukka Radiance Serum
I'm a big fan of the Pukka Castor Oil so I was interested in trying some more of their skincare products. This is a light yellow serum that contains aloe vera & manuka honey to soothe & refresh the skin as well as gotu kola & lemon balm to tone & brighten the complexion. It is an organic ayurvedic formula so it has a very herby scent which might not be to everyone's taste but I quite like it. The texture is a bit thin & watery but after a little while it made my skin feel super soft which must be down to the manuka honey. I didn't notice much difference in brightness or radiance but this is a nice serum if you want something to soften and soothe your skin.

Neal & Wolf Harmony Intensive Care Treatment
I've tried this product before and even featured it in one of my monthly favourites posts a few months back. I absolutely adore this conditioner so I was more than happy to receive a new bottle. This stuff instantly transforms my hair from dry & damaged to soft & smooth. It's one of the few products that can make my bleached hair look healthy and it works so much better than many of the more expensive hair treatments that I've tried.

Neal & Wolf Elevate Volumising Lotion
With all the oils and treatments I use in an attempt to restore my hair, it can get a bit weighed down & look flat. As soon as I tried this lotion I was instantly impressed. My hair actually had some volume for once! This product makes my hair feel thicker and look fuller. The effect lasted until I washed my hair again a few days later. Best of all, it didn't affect my hair in any other way. Most of the other volumising hair products I've tried either dried out my hair or made it feel sticky & horrible. With this, my hair just feels like hair but with added body. Really great stuff!

All in all, this was another brilliant set of products from BeautecoBox. Not only did this box have loads of full sized products but I actually really liked them all and will continue to use everything in here. The Artdeco Eyeshadow Base is a complete must-have product for me now and Neal & Wolf are fast becoming one of my favourite haircare brands. I think this particular box has sold out now (no surprise there!) but you can subscribe to BeautecoBox for £10 a month plus £2.95 delivery with no minimum subscription term. Visit the BeautecoBox website to find out more.

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Superfacialist By Una Brennan Vitamin C+ Skin Renew Cleansing Oil

Superfacialist Vitamin C+ Skin Renew Cleansing Oil - £10.99

I've waxed lyrical about how much I love the Superfacialist Rose Miracle Makeover Facial Oil quite a few times now. My one problem with the product is that it runs out incredibly quickly. I've been using it twice a day since April and have gone through one bottle per month. What was supposed to be a cheap but actually good alternative to some of the more expensive cleansers I've tried was costing me £15 a month and I was considering going back the Emma Hardie Cleansing Balm just because it lasts a lot longer. Then I went into Boots a few weeks ago and spotted a new Vitamin C collection in the Superfacialist range called Brighten. The first thing that caught my eye was this Vitamin C+ Skin Renew Cleansing Oil. It was £4 cheaper than the rose oil for 170ml more product. That's such a crazy bargain, I immediately dismissed it as surely it had to be made from crappy ingredients to cost so little. I opened it up, cringed at the huge hole in the top and had a whiff of the orangey scent. Based on the strength of the other Superfacialist products, I decided I still wanted to try it out so I went back a few days later and bought a bottle.

The first time I tried it I figured maybe if I pour it out carefully then it'll be okay. Alas a huge gush of oil appeared in my hand and I ended up smothering my face in the stuff. The packaging design of this product is just incredibly disappointing. Whoever decided to not include either a pump or bit of plastic with a smaller hole is an idiot. Thank god I'd only just finished my bottle of the rose oil and could decant it into that. Seriously do not buy this product unless you have some kind of pump bottle to use with it instead. Packaging aside, this oil is a surprisingly good cleanser and my combination blemish-prone skin has had no adverse reactions to it!

This product is intended to be used as the first step in a double cleansing routine. It takes off makeup with the greatest of ease, doesn't make my eyes go foggy and really clears out my skin. Oil cleansers are ace if you get blocked pores, especially if you're prone to blackheads. The Vitamin C+ Skin Renew Cleansing Oil contains olive, grapeseed, rosemary, cucumber and - everyone's current favourite - rosehip oil as well as Vitamin E & C. The texture of this is very light and fluid, probably more so than the rose oil. The colour is lighter too. I wouldn't say this is particularly brightening as the name suggests but my face is left with greater clarity & less redness. The orange scent is quite pleasant and as I know many people dislike rose scented products (why?!) this is a good alternative. The main difference between this oil and the rose oil other than the price is how it leaves my skin feeling. The rose oil is part of the 'Hydrate' collection and it definitely does hydrate my skin more than this one. The Vitamin C oil makes my skin feel really clean - almost squeaky. It doesn't strip my skin or make it feel tight at all, just less hydrated than the rose one. After completing the rest of my skincare routine I can't really tell any difference so I guess it doesn't matter in the end. Both do a brilliant job of cleansing my skin so I'm happy to use either one. I think I do slightly prefer the Rose Miracle Makeover Facial Oil but for the price you really can't complain about this product. Just don't forget to buy a pump!

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Rio Ultrasonic Facial

Rio Ultrasonic Facial* - £59.99

For the past couple of months I've been testing out this nifty little gadget. You might know Rio for their Sonicleanse which is a Clarisonic dupe but they've recently relaunched their Ultrasonic Facial which is another brilliant facial cleansing system. This gadget provides you with two different treatments. First of all it cleanses & gently exfoliates the skin. Then it is used with a serum to lift & firm up the entire face. The interesting part is how it does this. The Ultrasonic Facial works by using tiny ultrasonic vibrations delivered through the blunt metal blade. I know that running a blade over your face sounds a bit scary but the treatments are very gentle so it doesn't hurt or anything. The high frequency vibrations just feel a bit funny and make a weird high pitched buzzing sound.

During the deep cleansing phase you hold the Ultrasonic Facial with the buttons facing outwards so that the blade can glide over your face at an angle. You simply wash your face as normal and then turn on the mode that uses continuous ultrasonic waves. Then you move the blade all over your face working outwards and upwards. When the blade comes into contact with the water on your face the vibrations cause a super fine mist to appear. Dead skin cells are then collected on the edge of the blade so it's almost as if you're gently scraping away a layer of skin. I've found this mode works well if you use a cleanser that lathers up slightly so you can see which parts of your face you've already treated. When I first tried using this I have to admit I was slightly disappointed. I had high hopes for the deep cleansing mode but it didn't really make a difference to my blemishes, blackheads or pores. Instead it made my skin feel softer and smoother which obviously isn't a bad thing, just not what I was expecting. It did make manual extractions a lot easier though.

The treatments work best if you do the deep cleansing mode and then follow it up with the sonophoresis. I didn't think that I would be that impressed by the sonophoresis as my skin isn't particularly saggy or wrinkly but this is where the machine really shines. After cleansing you apply some of the collagen serum all over your face. You then turn the machine round so the blade lies flat against your skin and slowly glide it upwards & outwards. This mode utilises pulsing waves which really pushes the serum deep into your skin. This helps your skin to absorb all of the product in the most beneficial way. The ultrasonic waves also boost your circulation and this plumps up & tightens the skin. This treatment is really amazing. I don't have any wrinkles yet but I'd say I have noticeable fine lines on my forehead and my nasiolabial folds are quite prominent. With just a few glides of this over those problem areas, the lines immediately disappear! It's quite incredible to see. The effects only last for a few hours but hopefully with continued use they'll be a bit more permanent. I've found it also works brilliantly around the jawline to firm up my many double chins.

I can't say I'm a huge fan of the collagen serum provided in the kit because the texture is rather sticky. I think it does help with the lifting effect but I just don't like how it feels on the skin. I've tried using the Ultrasonic Facial with other serums and I think it works just as well with them. It goes particularly well with my much loved Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair. This really gives my skin a boost as the serum is absorbed deeply into the epidermis. Even though both treatments are incredibly gentle on the skin, my face is left looking a bit red for a few hours afterwards. So I'd recommend using this only once or twice a week just before bed. One unexpected effect I've experienced from using this is reduced scarring. Like I say it makes my skin look red but once that redness fades away, so does the redness from my post-blemish scarring as well. As a result my face looks clearer & brighter as well as feeling firmer & tighter. So although I thought this was more of a blemish clearing treatment to begin with, it has actually proved itself to be a highly effective treatment for fine lines, sagging & scarring. I think inventions like the Clarisonic have proved that beauty gadgets aren't just gimmicks and the Ultrasonic Facial is one I can see myself using every week from now on.

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