It’s November, it’s getting colder and duller here in the UK, but it also means that it’s time for another beauty box unboxing round! As always Look Fantastic was the first to arrive and this month the theme was “Hygge” which means finding comfort and cosiness in life’s simple pleasures. And if you are reading this blog chances are you agree that cosmetics are indeed one of life’s little pleasures!
The Look Fantastic box also always comes with a small monthly Beauty Magazine that has a little more information about the products contained and some other featured products, and a travel size, but full edition, of the ELLE magazine. This beauty box is such an amazing value for money. To subscribe to Look Fantastic and get £5 off your first box click here.
This month’s box contained 6 products of which 3 were full size and 3 were travel size.
Let’s have a look at the products in more detail. These are short reviews that cover first impressions and experiences from using the products. For full reviews, including ingredient analysis and if I would recommend a product or not, check out: Beauty In-depth Reviews & Ingredient Analysis (all articles here). Bear in mind that these are my personal opinions and that beauty is a very personal thing, we all have different skin, requirements and biological build which can influence things. What worked for me might not work for you and vice versa, please leave your comments below
Espa Smooth & Firm Body Butter
If you read any of my bodycare posts you’d know that I am very critical of body products as they are rarely as good ingredient-wise as face skincare and it’s not right. The rest of your body is skin too that needs equal treatment to be healthy, it’s not just about wrinkles and looks.
This body butter is a white cream with a citrusy scent of low to medium strength. This type of scents can feel awakening so perhaps not the best product to use after your night shower. The texture is great, the cream is thick enough to feel like a butter but it also spreads easily. Sadly, the cream left an oily residue behind though, even on my super dry legs!
The product leaves the skin feeling moisturised and soft and although it contains a lot of ingredient goodies, most of them are found after the ingredient Phenoxyethanol which is usually found in quantities of 1% or less. That’s not always a bad thing, you don’t always need a large quantity of an ingredient to be beneficial but it can also often be an indication of a not as effective as it sounds product, something that you can only really gauge if you use it for a long period of time.
This 30mL tube is a travel size and it costs around £8.33. The full size, 180mL, product comes in a jar (which is not great for skincare) and costs £50.00. SCORE = 7/10
This Works Deep Sleep Pillow Spray
You are supposed to spray this on your pillow before you go to bed and it is meant to calm you and help you not only fall asleep but also have better quality sleep.
It smells very calming, a bit like lavender products but not just. It’s not a bad smell but it can be annoying to some people, including me, to have a strong smell in the bedroom. So annoying that it might actually keep you awake. However, there were also times when I found it calming and soothing. It depends on the mood, but I think that overall you will have to use it every day and slowly associate this with calm and sleep before it really works. So, you could create a psychological trigger if you create a bedtime ritual around it.
I have had one night of amazing, haven’t slept that well in years sleep, the first time I used it actually, but since then I wasn’t all that impressed, so it might even have been a placebo effect.
If you have troubles with your sleep, I feel you and I know that “anything” is worth a try so see if it works for you. This 30mL spray is a travel size which lasts for 12M and costs £8. The full size, 75mL, costs £19.50. SCORE = 6/10
Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse Riche
This multi-purpose oil is meant to nourish your face, skin and hair. Ignoring that our hair is dead when outside the follicle, and therefore there isn’t much nourishing we can do, means that this is mostly a skincare product or hair styler.
The product feels oily on the skin although it is more of a dry oil, not as slippery and fatty as some oils. Ingredient-wise there are definitely some goodies but overall, I can’t say that its impressive enough to consider adding to your skincare. This product would essentially be used as a serum of some sort or even a moisturiser and it just can’t compete really with some of the amazing, ingredient-wise, serums and moisturisers out there.
It also has a light oil with fragrance type of scent that is neither particularly pleasant or unpleasant. This small 10mL bottle is a travel size which lasts for 12M and retails for £4.50. The full size, 100mL, retails for £29.50. SCORE = 6/10
So Eco Konjac Sponge
I enjoyed using this sponge but I can’t say that I would purchase it. It is fun, it is different, but it is also not necessary. You can easily wash your face without a sponge which can also sometimes cause more friction on the skin than wanted.
As far as I like the environmental aspect of it being made of 100% biodegradable vegetable fibres, I do question whether it is environmentally beneficial to use products that are not needed. I’m not talking about going minimalistic, let’s live a little, but still there are certain things that just don’t add that much, and I personally don’t feel that sponges do. Not to mention that sponges are excellent substrates for bacteria to grow on, providing not only the scaffolding but also the moist environment needed.
Anyhow, I do like that this brand is committed to planting 1 tree per 100 products sold and I also liked the shape and feel of the sponge which is also cruelty-free. This is a full size product which retails for £7. SCORE = 7/10
Dr Botanicals Hemp Infused Natural Nutrition Moisturiser
This moisturiser is very mediocre. It works ok, moisturises the skin for a while and even contains some good ingredients. Would I recommend using this as your main day/night cream? No. I feel like I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but I guess this is more of an indication of the quality of most cosmetics out there than me repeating myself.
Although there isn’t something wrong with this product, there are nowhere near enough ingredient goodies in it to be worth your cash. Not to mention that it even contains a green dye so it’s all more showy than it should be.
This 30mL tube is a full size which lasts for 12M and retails for £12. SCORE = 6/10
Skimono Beauty Hand Mask For Intense Nourishment
Hand masks are slowly but surely becoming a beauty must. If you think about it, our hands are the skin that we use the most, to do any activity must be done, so why are we not taking extra good care of them? Hands are also one of the tell signs of ageing so even if you hand skin is perfect, there is still reason to take care of it and give it some love.
These hand masks are like gloves that you place your hands in and wait 20-30 minutes. The gloves have two layers, an outer plastic layer and an inner cloth type layer that is soaked with all the good for your skin ingredients. As soon as you put your hand in, it will get wet and the glove will stick to your skin.
The gloves are fairly large so they would almost definitely fit all. Once your skin gets wet and the glove sticks to your hand, the gloves won’t feel as huge anymore which makes them a little more comfortable.
I did get annoyed quite quickly with them because as your skin gets wet it becomes wrinkly, warm and sweaty and you start feeling like you want to take them off. However, if you last those 20-30 minutes it will be worth it, as your skin will be super wrinkly but eventually soft and renewed. I just had a fresh nail varnish done, 10 minutes before using these, and it was still intact afterwards. Extra points there.
These hand masks contain shea butter, Alo Vera, hyaluronic acid and other normal skin conditioners.
The only question is, why the hand mask? The ingredients contained can easily be found in good hand creams so why do we need to spare those 20-30 minutes? What makes this mask extra special?
Before I get all sciency, there is evidence of some ingredients being absorbed better through inclusion (wrapping up your skin with something) so that might be one reason. But even if there is nothing that special about this, it was a pleasurable and fun thing to try and my dry hands were deeply moisturised. SCORE = 8/10
Overall, this month’s box felt a little mediocre. It wasn’t bad but neither super exciting. However, as always, I thoroughly enjoyed trying out all these products and that is the point of beauty boxes. To try out different things, figure out what works for you and have some fun on the way.
Initial box score, in terms of products and first feelings = 7/10
Overall box score after product testing (average of product scores) = 6.7/10
Star product = Skimono Beauty Hand Mask For Intense Nourishment
To subscribe to Look Fantastic and get £5 off your first box click here.
Did you get this month’s Look Fantastic box? What did your box contain? What did you think of the products? Have you tried any of the products listed? Let me know your experiences!
For all the details on how Cohorted, Glossybox, Look Fantastic and Birchbox performed in 2018 and which one is worth your money, check out “Battle of the Beauty Boxes – Conclusions from the 2018 Unboxing and Reviews on Birchbox, Glossybox, Look Fantastic and Cohorted”.
For general subscription box reviews see the: Birchbox, Glossybox, Look Fantastic and Cohorted general review posts. For help on how to choose the right subscription box for you check out “Which Subscription Beauty Box is right for you?”. You can also see pictures from all beauty boxes (2017-current) on my Pinterest beauty box board.
I am not affiliated with any company or brand. These are my views and experiences.
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hi do u have knowledge on hair and hair science too?
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