Emily Ellen

Monday, July 27, 2015

Chocolate Cookies // Recipies

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Cohorted Beauty Box July 2015 // REVIEW

I’ve tried a lot of different beauty boxes over the years, and so far my first Cohorted box has impressed me the most; and one I will be purchasing every month.

I had so much trouble trying to order the box last month, as the site crashed over and over again, and by the time it was back online all the boxes has sold out. I was really disappointed by this, but tried again this month and was lucky enough to get July’s Cohorted box. This month the boxes didn’t sell out even nearly as quick as the previous months, it seemed that they had added more boxes available to buy. I hoped that this wouldn’t affect the quality of the items in the box, but I fear it might have slightly…

July’s Cohorted Beauty Box Contained;

> Diego Dalla Palma Palette
> Flora by Gucci Perfumed Body Lotion> St.Tropez Gradual Tan Plus Firming 4 in 1 Lotion> Nails Inc Matte Polish in ‘Gatwick’

Diego Dalla Palma Palette | RRP £25

This palette by Diego Dalla Palma is my favourite item within this months Cohorted box, and one that I’m really impressed with. It contains 6 eyeshadows, a lipstick and an eyeliner – a beautiful collection inspired by Snow White & The Huntsman. This isn’t something I would usually pick up myself, however I actually love it and know I’ll get use out of everything within this palette – and I think that’s the beauty of these kind of boxes. The lipstick, which is aptly named ‘Wicked Queen’ and is worth £15 alone, can be picked up separately from here. It’s a bright, blue toned red, which is great for making your teeth look whiter, and would look lovely on all skin tones. This has very quickly become my favourite red lipstick, due to its gorgeous shade, high pigmentation, comfortable formula and great wear time. The 6 full sized eyeshadows included in this palette are also right up my street, with 3 shimmery shades, and 3 mattes – perfect for both a day time or night time look. I love how they’ve named these shades – Snow, Shield, Mirror Mirror, Fairest, Destiny and Battleground, as they fit really lovely with the theme. A black eyeliner is also included, named ‘Dark Night’, which has a long wearing formula and is soft enough to apply comfortably, but also hard enough to get a good, defined line. This palette retails for £25, which is more than the cost of the Cohorted box, but if the contents were sold separately, it’s actually worth over £100, which is incredible value.

St.Tropez Gradual Tan Plus Firming 4 in 1 Lotion | RRP £20

I’ve never actually faked tanned before (shock, I know), but it’s something I’ve been wanting to try out recently, so I was glad to see this St. Tropez lotion within this month’s Cohorted box. It’s a gradual 4 in one tan, which is said to help with tanning, toning, firming and moisturising your body. I’m trying to lose some weight at the moment, as well as toning myself up so this again, has come at the perfect time. St. Tropez are one of the biggest players in the Tan ‘game’, so I think it’s a great brand to be included within the Cohorted box. I’m impressed that it’s a full sized bottle (150ml) and is worth £20 – considering the box itself is the same price, so you’ve already made your money back with this product alone. I’m really looking forward to giving this a try, I’m hoping it will give me that summer glow that I’ve been yearning for.

Nails Inc Matte Polish in ‘Gatwick’ | RRP £11

I’m a huge fan of anything matte, whether that’s lipsticks, eyeshadows or sports cars, so I was excited to see this nail polish from Nails Inc within the Cohorted box. This bright, hot red shade is from their London collection, and is named Gatwick – after the airport, which is the one I actually usually travel from. As all matte shades, this won’t last as long on your nails as a regular nail varnish, as the consistency is completely different. It dries really fast, so you need to be quick when applying so you don’t get streaks, but again this is another general trait of matte nail varnishes and isn’t specific to this Nails Inc polish. You’ll only need two coats of this as it’s really pigmented and is fairly thick. I really love this shade and the finish, so I’m looking forward to wearing this, and pairing it with the Wicked Queen lipstick from the palette also in the Cohorted box.

Flora by Gucci Perfumed Body Lotion | RRP £7.50

This Gucci body lotion is my least favourite item within the Cohorted box, and one that I’m actually really unimpressed with. Firstly, mine was really dirty, and seemed like it had been sat in a box in mucky, dusty box in a warehouse for years – I don’t think that matches up to the ‘luxe box’ that Cohorted offer. Secondly, this size lotion isn’t actually available to buy alone, which makes me think that they’ve just separated all of the perfumes and the accompanying body lotions from a gift set (like this) and sent those out. Since there was no sample of the fragrance, I think that defeats the object of the lotion, as it’s supposed to be used to layer up the scent. I’m not a huge fan of body lotions anyway, and I don’t like the scent of this at all, it’s too floral and over powering for me. Unfortunately Cohorted, I’m not impressed with this product and won’t be getting any use from it.

I’ve got mixed opinions on July’s Cohorted box, I really can’t make my mind up on it or not. The box itself retails for £20, and this month’s it is worth over £63. That is great and all, but I don’t think that it compares to a lot of the previous boxes, usually worth about £90. Don’t get me wrong, I really love the palette, and I know I’ll use the nail varnish and the St. Tropez tan, however I just don’t think that this box matches up in terms of quality and products to the previous months. Cohorted have had a lot of complaints about how quickly the boxes sell out, and how they’re aren’t enough available to everyone. I fear that they may have compromised the products inside this month’s box, so there was more available to sell. Good business for them of course, but not as good for me as the consumer. I’m going to try and get my hands on the August box and see how that compares, I honestly hope that this month has just been a blip, but we’ll have to see…

What do you think of July’s Cohorted box? Would you have been impressed with the contents? What’s your favourite beauty box?

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Real Techniques 'Bold Metals' // Review and First Impressions

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Soap and Glory Solar Powder Bronzer // Review

Soap and Glory is one of my favourite drugstore makeup brands, and I loved every single product I’ve ever tried from them so far. The Soap and Glory Solar Powder Bronzer is a product I’ve loved after for quite some time, but was put off purchasing it incase it was too dark for my skin but I decided to bite the bullet and buy it as part of their 3 for 2 offer. The Solar Powder Bronzer is £11 and is described as being a multi-shade shimmering bronzer and highlighting brick and is available in just one shade. The packaging has just recently been changed in the last month to a plastic compact which is great news, but I have the original packaging which is made from cardboard which isn’t ideal as it gets very shabby, very quickly so the new plastic compact would be a lot better.

The Soap and Glory Solar Powder Bronzer is divided into two sections, with one half of the powder being a dark shade of bronzer and the second half of the powder is a lighter shade. In the middle of the powder, there is a raise S&G which has a metallic pink overspray which makes the powder look stunning.. there’s no doubt about that, but I hate oversprays as they wear off so quickly so in my opinion, they’re completely pointless. The darker shade within the powder is completely matte, and is a warm orange toned bronze shade, whilst the paler shade is a light tan with golden shimmer. I was surprised by the shimmer in the lighter shade, as I’ve read so many reviews saying that it was a matte bronzer, but it definitely isn’t matte as you can see from the swatches so I’d perhaps skip this bronzer if you don’t like shimmery bronzers.

Both shades of the powder are very smooth and buttery soft, with the lighter shade being the softest.. they’re both so pigmented, and you only need to tap your brush into the powder lightly to pick up enough product for your whole face. Even though the darker shade is quite warm toned, I think it works well as an all over bronzer to warm up the complexion but I like to use a fluffy brush like the Real Techniques Blush Brush for a subtle bronzing. I personally don’t like shimmery bronzers as I don’t find them very flattering, so I use the shimmery pale shade as a blush rather than a bronzer, and it looks really pretty and reminds me of Benefit’s Rockateur. I think this is a lovely bronzer, and it’s such great quality for a drugstore product but I’d really like Soap and Glory to create a matte version, as it would then tick all of the boxes to be the perfect bronzer