Shockwaves Volume Mousse Review

I was lucky enough to receive a free bottle of Shockwaves Volume Mousse from being a member of BzzAgent. BzzAgent is a service where you can try products for free as long as you submit a review and tell friends (honestly) about the product. Anyone can sign up and it's free to join. In the past few months, BzzAgent have sent me a bottle of the Optrex Eye Reviving Mist, the TREsemme 7 Day Smooth shampoo, conditioner and serum, a Santa Maria Mexican fajita kit (which was delicious by the way!) and now the Shockwaves Volume Mousse! You can buy the Shockwaves Volume Mousse at Superdrug for a reasonable £2.75.

Like many of you, I have fine hair and often struggle to create volume (I only ever blow dry my hair with my head upside down!). I have tried rather a few hair products in the past with the hopes that I will suddenly get thick luscious look-at-me locks but mostly I have been disappointed. So I was looking forward to trying a new product that might go someway to fulfilling these hopes. 

To apply the mousse, I first towel dried my hair after a shower. I then dolloped a plum sized amount of Shockwaves volume mousse in my hand (the instructions don't specify how much to use so I just guessed!). I patted my hands together and tried to evenly distribute it by running my hands gently through my hair. I then brushed my hair to disperse the mousse even more. To finish I put my head upside down (definitely optional!) and then blow dried my hair and gave it a final brush through.

The results were pretty good. My hair definitely had more life and 'ooooomph' to it, whilst also remaining smooth and shiny for most of the day. I was also pleased that my hair didn't feel crunchy like it can with some mousses and sprays. The final test was receiving the stamp of approval from my boyfriend - a compliment on my shiny voluminous hair! 

Overall I was grateful to Shockwaves for the sizeable boost to my flat fine hair! 

July Birchbox - Sun, Sea and Sand

Birchbox is a monthly beauty box subscription service. It is yet another beauty box I am subscribed to (I'm a little obsessed with beauty boxes!). The service costs £10 (plus £2.95 postage) each month and every box contains at least 5 beauty samples. There are also variations between the boxes depending on the information you enter on your beauty profile.

July's theme is Sun, Sea and Sand. My box contained:

1. Whish Three Whishes Lavender Body Butter (£14.50 for 150ml from Birchbox)
2. Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream (£20 for 15ml from Birchbox)
3. LAQA & Co. Sheer Lip Lube Pencil in Menatour (£14 from Birchbox)
4. Benefit The Porefessional (£24.50 from Birchbox)
5. Models Own Glitter Nail Polish in Aqua Splash (£5 from Birchbox)
6. Filosofille 4-Sided Nail Buffer (I couldn't find this product online but there were other products from the brand available at Selfridges)

I was first drawn to the purple LAQA & Co. 'Lip Lube'. Purple lip colour is definitely for the adventurous and I had never tried it before. I didn't think it would suit me but it actually looked great on! Although it had a yummy peppermint smell to it I did resist trying to eat it.

I was really pleased with the Models Own nail polish colour. It's a beautiful aqua colour with silver speckles of glitter in it. I'm looking forward to trying it next time I change my nail polish. I will also be using the emery board as its a nail essential.

The Whish Body Butter had a lovely lavender smell to it and it wasn't greasy like a lot of body butters can be. It's a great product to apply after having a shower or a bath to keep your body moisturised and smelling good.

I already had a bottle of the Benefit Porefessional which I often use as it's perfect for hiding large pores so I was happy to get a refill! I loved the box it came in (unfortunately it's only a picture of a Porefessional action figure!).

I tested the Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream by rubbing a small amount underneath each eye and it was soaked up in no time. I couldn't really notice any results because you probably have to use it daily for a few weeks before you see the benefits. Another great smelling product in the box, this one smelt like cucumber! I'm sure with a name like Wonder Eye Cream it will do wonders!

The box even contained some cute themed cards with beauty tips on the back. Overall I enjoyed this month's Birchbox and am intrigued to see what other people got in theirs! 

Lips: Bold vs Nude

Even though I don't often wear lipstick I somehow seem to have accumulated rather a few! So this week I decided to put two of them to the test. I went for two opposites - Bold vs Nude.

The first I tried was the L'Oreal Infallible 24H Lip Colour in Flawless Fuchsia which you can buy from Boots for £9.99. I was drawn to the beautiful bright pink colour on the side of the bottle. 

The second is the Illamasqua Glamore Nude Lipstick in Rosepout which I received in the Latest in Summer Glamour Edit Latest in Beauty box (see my earlier post). You can also buy it from Illamasqua for £18.50. 

I applied the Illamasqua nude lipstick over lip balm to keep my lips moist. The nude lip colour created a modest look which looked great with fuller eye makeup. The only down side was that it rubbed off quite easily so it would be a good idea to keep it in your handbag! 

I applied the L'Oreal lip colour by first using the colour brush and then once that dried I applied the lip balm that is included on the other side. The resulting colour is gorgeous and really brightens up your face. I was also very impressed with the stamina of the L'Oreal lip colour. I popped some on in the morning before work and by the afternoon, it had only rubbed off a little around the edges. This was even more noticeable when I tried to wash it off my arm (after the photo shoot) and ended up having to scrub it off with a makeup wipe! With this bold lip look I wear more subtle eye makeup, usually just eyeliner and mascara otherwise it would be an overload!! 

If I had to choose between the two looks I would definitely go for the bold lips as it looks more playful and lasts longer. Although it's hardly fair to compare an infallible 24H lip colour to a normal lipstick.

Will you be going bold or nude this summer? (I'm talking about lipstick of course!)

Summer Beauty is Here! The New Summer Glamour Edit Latest in Beauty Box

Latest in Beauty is different from the other beauty box providers in that they do not provide a monthly subscription box. Instead they offer two types of beauty boxes. The first is one-off limited edition beauty boxes that are hand-picked by beauty specialists. The second is a build your own service where you can design a beauty box yourself from a wide range of options.

I'm a bit of a beauty box junkie so when I saw there was a new limited edition Latest in Beauty box out, I put my order in immediately! The new limited edition box is the summer Glamour Beauty Edit which contains products hand-picked by Alessandra Steinherr, the Beauty Director for Glamour magazine.

Just 3 days later, I got home from work and found a nice shiny package waiting for me! The very nicely wrapped box contained 8 full size products, along with 1 sample size for just £16.95 (free P&P).

I only had a brief look at the box contents before I bought it. Imagine my surprise when I interrogated the box and was confronted by a full size Illamasqua Glamore lipstick - which alone is worth more than the cost of the box itself! 

The box contained:

1. Illamasqua Glamore Lipstick (full size - £18.50 from Illamasqua)
2. Toni & Guy Volume Plumping Whip (full size - £4.79 from Boots)
3. Crabtree & Evelyn Nail Lacquer (full size - £6 from Crabtree & Evelyn)
4. Bourjois Cream Blush (full size - £7.99 from Boots)
5. Magnifibres Brush-on False Lashes (full size - £21 from Magnifibres)
6. DHC Deep Cleansing Oil (30ml - £21.50 for 200ml from Selfridges)
7. Rimmel Sun Shimmer Instant Tan BB Skin Perfector (full size - £6.99 from Boots)
8. Velvotan The Original Tanning Mitt (full size - £1.50 from Tesco)
9. Hawaiian Tropic Satin Protection Ultra Radiance Sun Lotion SPF30 (full size - £5.99 from Hawaiian Tropic)

Total = £75.99

To top it all off, there was also a leaflet with offers for Magnifibres (£5 off), Illamasqua (20% off), Rimmel, Strip, Hawaiian Tropic and Crabtree & Evelyn (£5 off).

You can purchase this box from Latest in Beauty. Unfortunately, unlike Glossybox which has an international presence, Latest in Beauty currently only ships to the UK.

All in all I would highly recommend the summer Glamour Beauty Edit box as not only is it fantastic value for money, it contains a range of high quality products that I am excited to try this summer.


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