September Boudoir Prive : Review

Hi all, I'm sure by now you've seen a million other reviews on this month's Boudoir Prive box but I still wanted to share my thoughts on the box so I hope you don't mind another post on it!

I got mine a little later than most people, it turned out that it had been left with a neighbour. They hadn't bought it round and the postman did his usual trick of not letting me know that it was there.

My box...

I'm sure by now that you are familiar with the concept of Boudoir Prive. You pay £10 a month and they send you six high end samples in a beautifully packaged box. They categorise their samples into six sections, of which you will receive a product within every month. The sections are Skincare, Lifestyle, Make-up, Bodycare, Fragrance and Haircare.

The theme for this month's box is Les Indispensables, things that are absolutely necessary, essential.

The contents...

Skincare - Colbert MD Nourish Eye Cream

They say : Colbert MD, the skincare used daily by HRH Kate Middleton and Sienna Miller, brings you a new impressive Eye Cream which rehydrates the skin around your eyes and reduces puffiness and dark circles. Apply around and under your eyes morning or night.

I say : I haven't gotten around to trying this yet but if its good enough for her royal highness I'm sure its good enough for common old me! It doesn't really have any smell to it which is good, I personally don't like scented products for use around the eye. No matter how good this is I can say for sure that at £90 a pot I won't be re-purchasing! I'm pleased to have received this little pot of luxury as I would never normally be able to try something so expensive.

The price : £90 for 15ml (!)

Bodycare - Tropic Skin Body Smooth

They say : We love this 100% natural Body Smooth from Tropic Skincare, founded by the Apprentice's Susan Ma. Enriched with nourishing Sea Minerals, Jojoba and Macadamia oil, it smoothes and hydrates skin wonderfully. Rub onto dry hands for 20 seconds, rinse with warm water and pat dry.

I say : The first thing I noticed with this is the scent, it is very overpowering. I'm not really sure I like the idea of using this on my hands because they will probably stink for the rest of the day! Its not an unpleasant smell, its very nice and fruity, but its just so strong that I think it will linger and start to become annoying!

The price : £19.95 for 200ml

Haircare - Macadamia Hair Repair

They say : This oil treatment, suitable for all hair types, will make your hair visibly smooth, frizz-free and shiny. An amazing product to repair your hair after the damage caused over the summer. Apply to either dry or wet hair, focusing on the ends. Use as an overnight treatment for best results.

I say : I was really pleased to receive this as I have heard some rave reviews about it. The smell is nice and subtle and I like the promises that it makes. Its also a full size 10ml bottle which is always good :)

The price : £5.75 for 10ml / £29.95 for 125ml.

Fragrance - Agent Provocateur L'Agent

They say : This seductive scent will turn you into the centre of attention and will make you feel sexy, mysterious and captivating. A new, classic scent for ladies by Agent Provocateur. Apply the perfume to bare skin, focusing on your pressure points.

I say : I really do wish that these perfume samples were a little bigger and in nice miniature bottles, but we can't have it all! This perfume is very strong! When smelling it from the bottle it is too strong for my liking, however a tiny dab of this on the wrist is actually quite pleasant.

The price : £70 for 100ml / £50 for 50ml

Make-up - Cargo Cosmetics Boogie Nights Eye Pencil in shade 02 Blue

They say : Make your eyes pop with this stunningly wild eye pencil from Cargo Cosmetics. A perfect shimmery pencil for day and night wear. Draw across upper eyelids. For extra impact, apply to your lower lids.

I say : This is a lovely colour and I do like the glitter, I'm just not sure if its me. I haven't worn blue eyeliner since I was about 14 and wearing blue eyeshadow, blue eyeliner and blue mascara. It just brings me back to my 'chavy' days!

The price : £13 for a set of five

Lifestyle - Zoya Nail Polish in shade ZP575 Jem

They say : Add a beautiful touch of shimmer to your fingertips with this nail polish from Zoya's new Smoke & Mirrors Collection for Autumn/Winter 2011. Apply a base coat and up to two layers of lacquer before finishing with a top cat.

I say : This nail varnish looks lovely and I like the fact they that provided the swatches of all the other colours in this collection, although I did wonder if Zoya were being very clever and using the knowledge that bloggers write about these boxes as a bit of free advertising...

The price : £9.98

Free gift - Mai Couture Blot & Bronze

This month's boxes were sent out later than expected due to Hurricane Irene, as an apology they said they were going to give us a present, this was it, two blotting papers. I don't mean to sound ungrateful as they didn't have to send anything extra but it would of been nice to have more than two sheets of this!
Anyway, the blot & bronze sheets claim to eliminate excess oil without disturbing your makeup. The pigmeneted paper deposits a hint of golden colour to even out skin tone while the refined shimmer gives the skin a radiant glow. The result is an oil-free sun-kissed complexion. The photo of my hand was taken after rubbing the sheet across my hand, as you can see it does have a nice shimmery bronze to it. When dabbing this onto my face it did remove the oil but strangely didn't deposit any of the bronzer. I'm not sure if this is because my skin is too oily? It certainly didn't leave me with a sun-kissed complexion.

Overall Verdict

Anther thumbs up to Boudoir Prive. I'm pretty sure that I'll be using most of these products.

Week in Photos #29 / Week in Post #14

I'm posting my week in photos and post in the same post today because, well why not really! I'm ready to do them both so thought I'd do them together.

This week has been...

GIFTED - Spencer's parents went to visit relatives in Switzerland, they bought us back these delicious chocolates and this adorable cow magnet! He now has pride of place on my fridge!

YUM - The Weight Watchers microwave meals never fail to impress me! This is the Chicken & Lemon Risotto meal which is 9 Pro Points of pure deliciousness! 

PAPPED - Spencer and I visited his brother back on the bank holiday weekend in August where we attended the local food festival. Leighton (Spencer's bro) came to visit this week and bought this paper with him, that is Spencer and me sat on the picnic blanket in the newspaper!

L-R Charli, Leanne Marie, Catherine, Me & Sadie (my friend)

 FUN - I attended a fashion show in Cardiff on Saturday which also meant getting to meet some fellow bloggers! All the girls are lovely and it was so nice to meet them.

Catherine and I

 ENTERTAINING - After the fashion show Catherine, Sadie and me went into town, these boys from Scotland kept us entertained with their cracking dance moves!

MESSY - We then got quite drunk....

Other goings on that weren't photographed included my hair dryer catching fire yesterday, as a result I had to go out with wet hair, thankfully I was going up my auntie's for a few drinks so didn't have to be seen in public! We had a lovely time celebrating my auntie Lizzy's birthday with a few drinks and I feel surprisingly fresh after two nights on the pop in a row!

Week in Post...

 The 17 Magnetized polishes, my new love! You can read my post about them here.

 Some lovely Faith boots from eBay. These were described as 'only been worn in the house' unless her house is filthy and has very hard, uneven flooring that is a complete lie. I don't mind though, I paid £30 for them and they're lovely.

 My September Boudoir Prive box, post on that to follow.

A free sample of Dove conditioner.

I hope that you've all had a lovely week :) Have you been up to or received anything nice?

17 Magnetised Nail Varnishes - All Shades

I have been very eager to get my hands on 17's range of magnetised nail varnishes since I first saw pictures of them. It was love at first site. I set a reminder in my phone for the launch date and waited (not so patiently). They were due to be launched on the 21st September, I checked boots.com on the 20th and to my joy they were available! I ordered all four shades to be delivered to my house and spent all day today hoping that a) they'd been delivered and b) the postman left them with a neighbour instead of taking them to the depot. I came home to a card from a courier saying I had a parcel next door, it was them, I was very happy!!

They come in four shades. Grey, Blue, Green & Lilac all of which are lovely deep shimmery colours.

 The magnet pulls off to reveal the paint brush.

After applying a base coat, one coat of each colour and holding the magnet over the nail for roughly ten seconds straight after application.

As you can see they come out amazingly! I'm so in love with these polishes right now its crazy. They look different in every light and have the most amazing shimmer.

The one problem I will say is that the instructions aren't very clear. The instructions simply say to apply the nail varnish and hold the magnet above while still wet, then paint a top coat when dry. I figured out that the magnet came off the top when I attempted to remove the top. I found that it worked best while holding the magnet in place for ten seconds above each nail. I did one nail at a time.

If you apply the nail varnish on thickly and tilt your head to the side to watch the action you can actually see the nail varnish being pulled up towards the magnet - so clever!

I honestly cannot recommend these polishes enough, yes the instructions weren't clear but when you figure out how to use them they are very easy to use, the effect is memorising and they are very reasonably priced.

You can buy them in selected Boots stores or on-line and they are priced at £5.99 each. They are currently on offer for 3 for 2, which I annoyingly missed out on as the offer started the day after I bought them, serves me right for being so impatient I guess!

After I finished playing I painted all my nails green. (serious photo overload but they are just so pretty!)

with flash

Aren't they adorable?

Have you tried any magnetised nail polishes?