Discovering / The Dark Lip

I'm naturally very fair, I have pale skin and am extremely blonde. I've never felt adventourous enough to opt for a dark lip colour but this all changed this Halloween. As part of my costume I wanted a bold lip. I dressed as a cat so thought a nice red would finish off the costume for me.

Trawling through my make-up collection I found that I do not own a red lipstick! Not even in those cheapy palettes I was given as a youngster (and just haven’t parted with due to my hoarding ways). I eventually came across this Ted Baker lip gloss/cream pen from a Ted Baker Christmas Gift set I received a few years ago and it has ignited a love of darker, burgundy and plumb lips within me.

I have always loved the look of deep plum lips on other people, especially at this time of year, and actually I think this suited me! It isn't a colour that I'd normally wear, I tend to stick to more natural shades that I know definitely won't wash me out, bu this lip colour looked lovely! The only problem is that it was a limited edition and can no longer be bought, so I'm on the hunt! I must say I prefer lipsticks to glosses (my 19 year old self would gasp in horror!) so if any of my lovely readers have a recommendation for me, please let me know in the comments.

And to the pale girls of the world who have stuck with nudes and pale pinks for years... be adventurous! Go and try that Pillar Box red lippie or deep purple shade you've fawned over from afar. You never know, you might find your favourite new shade! And if you don't want to waste money on a shade you think you might hate on you, go head to a beauty counter and ask to trial a few. I'm now embracing darker lips and sooo encourage you to do the same!

Do you love a dark lip? Or have you shied away? And again, please leave me those recommendations... I'm on a mission!

November Birchbox - Cosy at Home

My November Birchbox (bought here) has arrived, I had to hold myself back from trying everything right away so I could take some nice pictures for you all! If you haven't heard of Birchbox, it's a monthly beauty subscription box. Every month I pay £10 (plus P&P) and a box full of lovely goodies is delivered to my door. There are loads of different subscription boxes out there, and each one is affiliated with different brands. Birchbox is personally my favourite, they send me brands that I either already love or am eager to try and unlike some subscription boxes I'm always happy with my monthly selection. The downside to beauty boxes is sometimes you may not like the products, but I've always liked at least 4 out of the 5 beauty products in my box and really think it's value for money. Especially if you're a beauty junkie who wants to try new things without committing to the full price item!

So onto this months Box. The theme for the November box is 'cosy at home', it's getting colder and we tend to spend a lot more time indoors, so November is the perfect time to have a bit of a pamper! Here's what Birchbox picked out for those cosy at home days!

Dr Jart+ V7 Turnover Booster. Full Size 50ml Worth £32.

When I first opened this I was frantically looking all over the packaging to try and figure out what it was, a full size skincare product? Amazing! (Regular readers will know how I love me some skincare!) But I couldn't actually work out what it was for. After turning to the handy Birchbox sample info card, I found that this is basically a lightweight gel serum. Phew.. serum, I know what to do with that! It's a gel formula that quickly turns into liquid on the skin and absorbs pretty easily. I am left with a slightly sticky residue for about 10 minutes, but as soon as I apply a moisturiser on top, all is fine! The only thing that confused me slightly was a few day's later when reading the sample info card again, it said to follow this product with toner and moisturiser.. huh? Use toner afterwards? This is not how I've been using the product... maybe this is why I had a sticky residue! There's no direction on the actual packaging of this product to say you should use a toner afterwards, but this is what Birchbox recommend. I personally had no problems when I left it on under my moisturiser and it feels such a waste to take it off with toner so I've been carrying on doing it! I've used this in place of my usual serum and although I wouldn't say my skin looks any different, it seems to be doing the same job that my current serum of choice does, so I'd say a pretty good product! I'd love to hear from anyone who has been using toner after this to see your views on it.

Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle Leave in Conditioner Sample.

Ok, onto a product I have no confusion over using, I can't find an amount in mls for this so it's difficult to give you a proper idea of it's worth, but the full size product is 236ml and worth £14 (I'd take a guess that this is approx 30-40ml). I really like this leave in conditioner, it does exactly what it says on the tin and smells gorgeous, I could actually still smell it the day after I washed it which never normally happens! It is great at detangling my hair making combing through a doddle. This could possibly replace my Aussie favourite.

OPI Nail Lacquer Turn on the Haute. Full Size 15ml Worth £11.95

This sparkly silver nail polish is perfect for those pamper sessions. I love spending a bit of me time painting my nails and this shade is perfect for the upcoming party season! OPI is a great brand too so this full size polish was very happily received this month! The other two colour options were A Grape Affair, which was a deep purple shade or Coca-Cola Red, all of the colours are part of OPI's limited edition Coca-Cola collection.

 

Lord & Berry Mini Bronzer in Sienna.

I really love the colour of this bronzer, I'm all for the matte shades and not a fan of too much glitter in my bronzer so I thought this was a win. My only quibble was the tiny size! It's quite hard to get the colour on my bronzer brush with such a small sample. I suppose Birchbox have done their job though, as I definitely want to purchase the full size product of this! This is £19 for 12g.

English laundry Signature for Her EDP Spray Sample.

Ok, so from the sound of this I thought it was going to be terrible, I mean, English laundry? It really doesn't sound like a perfume I'd opt for, but boy was I wrong! I love this perfume! It's much more floral and sweet than I was expecting with a musky undertone. This little sample is perfect for weekends away. It's slightly on the expensive side for perfume at £60 for 50ml, but do remember it's an Eau de Parfum and not Toilette. I'm sticking this one on the wish list for when my sample runs out. (Apologies for the out of focus picture, I really need a macro lens!)

Drinkwel Multivitamins
Finally onto the lifestyle addition to the box. I have to say this is usually the item I'm disappointed with. I would say my blog is as much lifestyle as is beauty so I'm not biased against products like this, I just never find them very exciting and can normally take or leave them. Not gonna lie, this falls into that category. These are basically vitamins for people who drink. Apparently they help your body recover from those gruelling drinking sessions. I love a good night out and to enjoy a drink but I really don't feel these would do anything for me. As long as I eat well and have plenty of water the day after a night out, I'm fine. You can buy these vitamins for £39.99 a bottle if you happen to be interested. Another option for subscribers this month was chocolate, think I'd have preferred this! Did you hear we're running out of chocolate?!

Anyway, I'm quite happy with this month's Birchbox, two full sized items which I'll definitely use, a great leave in hair conditioner and the discovery of a (teeny tiny) bronzer I want to go out and buy! As I've said, I have never felt that I've wasted money on a Birchbox and the products you get are always worth well more than the £12.95 for the box and delivery. The two full sized items alone come to £43.95 this month!

As an added bonus, Birchbox give you rewards points, and if you complete surveys or refer friends you get points to spend on their full sized products! You get 12 points per month from simply subscribing (£1.20) and a further 5 points (50p) for every survey completed (£3 a month if you review each product), then you also get points if you buy products from their online shop!

With that said if you'd like to join up and use this link we'll both get £5 worth of points to spend in the online shop... and I'll be on my way to a full sized Lord and Berry Bronzer! :)

What do you think of this month's Birchbox? Do you subscribe to any beauty subscription boxes?

Guest Post / Kimamely Loves...5 Holy Grail Products

Today's guest post is from the lovely Kirstie over at Kimamely Loves, she will also be one of my December Advertisers and I'd so recommend for you guys to go and check out her blog! She writes some great beauty posts and you may want to join in her "Comment Revolution #5aday"! Thankyou for the awesome post Kirstie, I definitely have my eye on a new addition to my beauty kit now!

If you could rescue 5 items from your current makeup stash from a burning building, what would they be?

1) NUXE Reve de Miel Lip Balm // £9.50

This is just the ultimate lip balm for me. It is rich and hydrating, smells amaze (like a hot toddy FYI) and keeps my lips chap-free right the way till morning. It just so happens to be the most expensive lip balm in my stash (ByTerry Baume de Rose so isn't happening at £38!), but it kicks Vaseline and Baby Lips' assess. Rather than creating an oily film, I find it really sinks into the lips to deliver a hit of hydration. I use this at night before going to bed and also post-lip treatment before applying a lipstick. Also, I am loving the new macaroon-inspired coloured packaging, and seriously need to get my hands on the pink one, it's just the cutest!

2) theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer // £16

Highlighter is fast becoming my favourite step in my makeup routine, and it is 99.9% down to this baby. This was kind of an impulse purchase, as I fell in love with the swatch, but I haven't looked back since. This is a seriously lust-worthy golden shimmer highlighter which is so finely milled and looks beautiful on the cheekbones. It is also delivers such a pop to your look if you apply a small amount on the inner corners of your eyes. This is a cult beauty favourite of current times, and there's no denying this baby of its trophy.

3) Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Pink in the Afternoon // £7.49

Now let's start this off by saying I am not a lipstick person. I love buying them, sure, but day-to-day I just haven't found the formula for me. Well, not until discovering this one! I first saw this gorgeous neutral pink shade on Beth's blog, Birds Words, and I fell for it pretty instantly. The packaging looks and feels way more luxe than its drugstore price tag, and the shade is something to swoon over. It is a beautiful everyday pink that works perfectly with just about any makeup look. But it is the formula that really does it for me. I just find it so moisturising and comfortable on the lips, whilst still being pretty long lasting. This is such a gem of a lipstick!

4) My MAC Pro Palette // £45 (with 4 eyeshadows)

Now this is kinda cheating as it is technically four products. If you aren't familiar with MAC's Pro Palettes, you can buy refill eyeshadows to custom fill either a 4 or 15 pan palette. They also have a similar system for blushes. This is my first experience of MAC shadows and I have found them pretty dreamy to use. My colour selection has been spot on for fall (go me!) and have been using this most days this season. In my palette, from top left, I have Cranberry, Blackberry, All That Glitters and Satin Taupe. You can create so many looks with this selection, but my standout shade has to be Cranberry. It is so richly pigmented and unlike any other shadow I own.

5) MAC 217 Brush // £19

The holy grail of all eyeshadow brushes. I became the proud owner of a 217 this past birthday and yep, I definitely get what all the hype is about. It's a does-it-all beauty that makes any shadow look flawless. Makes me feel like a proper pro!

For more posts like this, check out my blog, kimamely.blogspot.co.uk and follow my twitter account @kimamelybeauty. Thanks for having me Cece!

The DIY At Home Facial

At the beginning of winter I like to treat myself to a facial. This gets rid of any dead skin I have and makes a good base for my Winter skincare routine. With Christmas just around the corner I can certainly think of a few places our money may be better spent so this handy at home facial treatment can mean we're thrifty and have lovely smooth skin to start the season.

1. Tie your hair back from your face, wear a headband to keep your hair out of your face and your products out of your hair!

2.Wash your hands with antibacterial soap, you don't want any bugs on your hands transferring to your face.

3.Cleanse, I like to double cleanse using Soap and Glory's Peaches and Cream Cleanser, I have already written a post about this gorgeous little cleanser here, I simply use it twice to make sure I'm shifting any of the unseen impurities that could potentially be left over after my makeup removal.

4.Use a toner to get rid of any leftover product on your skin, I'm currently using The Body Shop Vitamin E Toner.

5.Exfoliate, you don't have to do this step but I like to use an exfoliating product at least once a week, I have this super effective Aapri Exfoliating Face Cream. It can be quite harsh so I use it once a week max but I notice the difference in the surface of my skin straight away. It makes it incredibly smooth. As part of this step you could use a face brush or Clarisonic if you have one for a deeper cleanse. Be gentle so you do not pull and tug at your skin. Otherwise just massage the exfoliant into your face in gentle upwards circular motions.

6. If you have used an exfoliant, use a clean facecloth in iced water to remove product, do this twice to make sure you have all the product off and pat dry with clean towel. This will close your pores so you don't clog them when you apply your moisturiser or facial oil.

7. Facial Massage is the part of a facial I usually enjoy the most, being pampered by somebody else and feeling all lovely and relaxed. I didn't want to miss out on this by having a home facial so I went on the hunt for a nice facial massage I could do myself. I found this video here by Lisa Gusto. In all honesty, I don't know if I'm convinced that some of the movements in the video will help keep wrinkles at bay and my skin looking young, but I am by no means an expert and Lisa's skin looks Ah-mazing! So I am more than willing to give it a try! On top of this, its just a really nice, relaxing and unwinding facial massage which is all I really need! I use my Body Shop Beautifying Oil to perform my facial massage, I always clean it off at the end so my skin doesn't become too greasy. You may want to use a flannel to remove it but I just used some Micellar water on cotton pads.

8. Apply your favourite moisturiser and eye cream, I'm currently using Botanics All Bright Moisturiser and either the Benefit It's Potent Eye Cream or Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream... then relax with some cucumber slices or damp cotton pads over your eyes...bliss!

How would you perform an at-home facial? Use some steam maybe? Let me know in the comments how you love to pamper yourself!

The Liebster Award

I'm really pleased to have received a Leibster Award nomination from Brooklyn at A Fond Memory, I didn't expect to receive any award nominations or tags from other bloggers for a while, so thanks very much to Brooklyn, I'm excited to get involved.

I've seen previous bloggers liken this award to a chain mail and have therefore declined to do it, but I think it's quite a cool way to get involved in the blogging community and meet other bloggers, especially since this award is designed for bloggers with less than 200 followers. So I'm happy to take part and hope those of you I nominate aren't offended by it.

The rules for the Liebster Award are:

1. Answer the questions sent to you.
2. Nominate 11 other bloggers with less than 200 followers on twitter.
3. Ask them 11 of your own questions.
4. Notify them of their nomination.

Brooklyn's Questions to me:

1. What is your favourite thing about blogging?

I think it's meeting like-minded people with similar interests and being able to share ideas and tips. Not all of my friends are interested in beauty, photography or travel, or they may be interested in one area but not the others. I like being able to use my blog to connect with people who love these things on a similar level to me.

2. What made you start blogging?

Well I've previously started 2 blogs, waaaay back in my teen years, I went through a phase of making and selling cupcakes and started a blog about it, but I quickly got bored of it as it turned into more of a chore than an enjoyable hobby. Fast forward 6 years and I decided to start this blog about things that I already love to do on a daily basis, that way I won't get bored of what I'm doing. I've always enjoyed writing and a period of sickness off work and the resulting boredom is what really made me get started!

3. What is the thing you find most challenging in running a blog?

Probably finding the time to write and edit posts and do all of the photography, it's time consuming and sometimes difficult to fit into my daily routine.

4. What is your biggest inspiration?

I'm just excited about life. I love travelling, I love beauty, I love reading, I love spending time with my friends and I love trying new things. I just think life inspires me, the people around me, the things I love, and the motivation to do as many of the things I love as possible.

5. What is your biggest fear/pet peave?

By far my biggest fear by far is spiders! I know it's a phobia, I know it's irrational, but I hate the creepy (not so little) buggers! They move way too quickly, it is not natural and I just can't bring myself to go anywhere near them! My pet peave is probably rude or impolite people, it just doesn't cost anything to be nice and a bad attitude can really have a rubbish effect on someone elses day. It really isn't hard.. so be nice!

6. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

I have no idea and that is what I love about life. If you'd asked me this 5 years ago I would have painted a completely different picture to how my life actually looks today and I'm so glad my life is how it is right now. We can't predict the good or bad things that will happen to us or the opportunities that may come our way, life is random, exciting and beautiful... I wouldn't want it any other way.

7. What are your go-to everyday makeup products?

I've done a holy grail post here and am in the middle of doing 'my daily makeup' post, so please check back for that or follow me via bloglovin or twitter for my blog updates.

8. Do you feel self conscious without makeup?

Yes I do, over the years as I've experimented with makeup I fell in love with using it and coming up with different looks so I began wearing makeup everyday. One day I went into work with just my usual eye make-up on and everyone said how ill and tired I looked! I'm very fair skinned and probably looked like a ghost. The thing is people have gotten used to how I look with makeup on and I'd rather not hear their comments when I look 'like death'. I also look about 12 years old if I put nothing on my eyes. So I'd say I am self-conscious without makeup, it isn't that I don't like the way I look without it, I just prefer the way I look with it on and so it seems, do other people!

9. What is your favourite item of clothing?

This one is sooo hard! I love clothes and shopping for new outfits and there's so many of my clothes I could never part with; so I'm just going to go with what I wear most out of everything which is plain old light denim blue skinny jeans. Not the most exciting thing I own by far, but they are a firm staple in my wardrobe.

10. Who do you aspire to be (in terms of bloggers/youtubers)?

I wouldn't say I'm aspiring to be like anyone else as everyone out there has a totally different style and personality. But my favourite blogger/youtuber that I watch is Lily Pebbles, I just really enjoy reading her posts and watching her videos and being around my age I relate to her content a lot more that some of the other bloggers I read.

11. If you could only shop at one clothing store, which would it be?

Ooooh, this is a very close call between Topshop and River Island. I'm going to say River Island because looking through my wardrobe I think I have more stuff from there, however when I walk into Topshop I never leave without wanting something where River Island can sometimes have an off day.

So onto my questions...

1. If you could pick a superpower what would it be?
2. What is your favourite makeup brand and why?
3. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
4.What's your favourite time of year?
5. What's the most disappointing product you ever bought and why?
6. If you could only wear one item of makeup for a whole week, what would you choose?
7. Are you an early bird or a night owl?
8. What career would you choose if you could be anything in the world?
9. What's your favourite food?
10. What's your favourite outfit?
11. Who is your favourite person in the world?

 And the bloggers I'd like to nominate are:

Corrine at Lady Ellumina Fashion
Sarai at Sarai87
Claire at Lovelace & Daydreams
Kerry at Style La La
Sophie at The Bird Song
Sophie at Styles by Sophie
Brooke at Brooke Elise Beauty
Madame Lucia Blog
Olivia at Olivia's Beauty Blog
Lucy at Lost in the Lipstick Aisle
Justine at Life is Short Buy the Makeup

I look forward to hearing your answers ladies!

The One and Only Tag

Choosing my 'One and Only' beauty items is definitely a toughie for me, I have so many products that I love and tend to switch it up quite a lot. However I am going to try to be selective for you having received this fun tag from the lovely Megan at Silk and Ivory. Megan is a gorgeous Aussie girl living in Brisbane with a really cool blog, I loved her recent skincare post and would encourage you to go and check her out! So... onto the hard part.

Primer

 

Benefit Porefessional Primer has quite recently taken pride of place in my primer favourites category, it makes such a smooth base for my foundation to go on and isn't greasy or sticky in the slightest. Plus I adore the Benefit packaging, it's just so pretty! This one is a sample I recieved in a Birchbox, but I have just ordered the full size as this one's nearly fun out!

Foundation

I use MAC Studio Fix Fluid, I do find it quite hard to get the exact shade that's right for my skin tone and currently mix two shades together (NW20 and NC15), but I love the coverage and probably quite weirdly the smell! I think it's really important to use a foundation with SPF as well and this has SPF 15 which throughout most of the year is fine for the UK. 

BB Cream/Tinted Moisturiser

I don't really bother with either or these, purely because I like a fuller coverage and if I'm not leaving the house I just give my skin a day off!

Blush

I was given this as a gift and love it, the packaging is gorgeous and the colour is perfect for me, it's the Talbot Runhof for Art Deco tri-coloured Blush Couture. I think this works great on my pale complexion but also builds up beautifully when I'm wearing false tan. It's no longer available on their website as it was an Autumn/Winter 2013 special collection, I might actually cry a little when this runs out. If any of you know of a good dupe, please let me know. 
  
Highlighter

I use MAC Prep and Prime highlighter pen daily to hide dark circles and highlight my nose, but for nights out I'll also add in MAC Soft and Gentle Mineralize Skinfinish, it's a little too glittery for daily use but I for evenings I like to highlight the C around my eyes and just under my brows. 

Eye Palette

By far my favourite eye palette is the MAC warm neutral palette, I'm now realising I have A LOT of MAC in my favourites, but this is probably my all time favourite MAC product. I remember seeing it in the airport when it was first released, it's 15 shades of neutral browns, golds and pinks and I absolutely adore it. You can create so many looks from this, it's a little pricey at £65 (I got mine for £55 in duty free) but when you consider the price of an individual refill eyeshadow is £10, its a massive bargain!

Eyebrow Product

I currently use Benefit's Brow Zings and then comb through my brows with a spoolie. I have been recently looking at different blonde pencils to use as an alternative, I've never moved onto anything else purely because this has lasted me AGES but recently I've felt it's a little too dark with my Blonde hair. If you guys have any suggestions on eyebrow products for light blonde hair let me know! 

Eyeliner 
 

I actually use the dark powder out of my MAC Palette as my eyeliner applied with a stiff straight brush. If I'm headed to a special occasion I use the MAC Pro Longwear Eyeliner and then to deepen the colour and define the line I go over it and fill in with my usual dark eyeshadow. 

Mascara

My old faithful Bourjois Volume Glamour Ultra Black Mascara has stuck with me through thick and thin, it never flakes off onto my face and makes my lashes look really thick and dark, can't complain at that! I've curretly ran out of this so unfortunately don't have a photo for you guys but you can see it here.

Lipstick

This is probably the one I change around the most, I'm currently loving my Laqa & Co Bees Knees Sheer Lip Lube Pencil, it's basically a chubby lip pencil in a gorgeous coral colour, I know it's Autumn now and the berry shades are coming out, but I can't quite let go of this one just yet. 

Lipgloss

Another no-no for me, I hate anything sticky that my hair attaches itself to, so I tend to avoid lipgloss!

Brush

I can only choose one?!! My brushes are mainly a mixture of Bare Minerals, MAC and Real Techniques, but I love trying new ones. If I had to pick one I'd probably go for my Real Techniques buffing brush which is part of their Core Collection. I love how it buffs foundation into my skin, it gives such a flawless finish and doesn't soak up too much product like some brushes I've used. 

Crush

  
This one wasn't hard at all! Dan Osborne from The Only Way is Essex is absolutely gorgeous!


Phew! Now I've managed to work my way through that one, I'd like to tag the following ladies to tell us their One and Only's too, can't wait to see what they come up with!

Megan from Child of the Universe

Emily from Emily Burrows

Natasha from Her Name is Tasha

Ffion from A South Wales Blog

Angela from The Sunday Chapter

Becky from Just Becky



Love Cece Xx

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October Birchbox

One of my favourite time's in the month is the day my Birchbox lands on my doorstep. Although I'm always naughty and look at the sneak peek preview, you still never know exactly what selection of products you're going to receive.

As October is breast cancer awareness month, Birchbox has teamed up with CoppaFeel, an amazing charity who will remind you when to check your boobs for the signs of breast cancer. I'm a busy girl and something like this is so easy to slip your mind so I think CoppaFeel's reminder service is a brilliant idea to make sure we're checking ourselves regularly.

So onto the box itself...

Pixi Shea Butter Lip Balm - Full Size
I got this in the colour raspberry, it feels so luxurious on my lips and keeps them hydrated for ages. The colour is a little bit too vibrant for me but I just rub it in a little with my fingertips and it seems a bit more subtle. The formula is lovely though and I can definitely see me buying this product, maybe just in a different shade!

Shaveworks The Cool Fix - 60ml
I LOVE the idea of this. It's a cool gel that treats red and irritated skin caused by shaving. I have sensitive skin and it often gets red and irritated when I shave so if this works it'll shortly be a bathroom staple for me! Just apply the gel to the skin once it's dried post shave. Birchbox recommend applying the gel AM and PM to clear up ingrown hairs and red bumps, or every other day to keep them at bay.

KMS California HAIR PLAY Dry Wax - 150ml
I've never really wanted to achieve the 'second day hair' look. I like my hair to feel fresh and clean so this product just doesn't do it for me. It's a hair wax in spray form that you spray onto towel dried hair intended to give you a tussled textured look, might be great for somebody who always gets flyaway hair, one of my best friends hates her hair the day she washes it.

Meaningful Beauty Cindy Crawford Glowing Serum - 8ml
I love face serums and always try to find time to add it to my daily skincare routine, especially in winter. So this arrived just at the right time for me! It leaves my skin looking glowy and bright and smooths onto my skin really easily. Apply this to your face and neck after cleansing and before your moisturiser.

Balance Me Cleanse and Smooth Face Balm - 40ml
I'm a big fan of Balance Me products, made with 100% natural ingredients and always smelling so lovely. This oil based cleanser does not disappoint, it exfoliates and cleanses, it leaves skin feeling soft and moisturised. I've never used an oil based cleanser before but I'll definitely be sticking with this one for a while, it gets rid of all my makeup and impurities in a flash. This one is applied to a dry face, after massaging it into your skin you apply warm water and continue massaging before removing with a facecloth, it's a mini facial in a bottle!

Birchbox Lipstick Pen and Little Pink Bag
As always there's a little extra treat and I love this months. I received a little pink bag which I'm using to take my essential on-the-go products out and about with me, and the Lipstick pen which is just so cute, I've popped in in my handbag with my diary.

I'm really happy with my October Birchbox, I love getting to try out lots of new products without having to commit to the full sized versions. I think the Balance Me cleanser is my favourite, however if the lip butter was in a lighter colour they'd have been on par! Are you a Birchbox subscriber? What do you think of this month's products? You can sign up to Birchbox here.