Beauty in a box

So today my entire twitter/facebook/blogger feeds have been full to bursting of you gals out there gleefully singing all about your delivery of this month's Glossy Box. In recent months, I've seen dozens of Beauty Boxes being launched, and so many of you are completely in love with the idea, and always so pleasantly surprised with your Box of Choice. But being the sceptic that I am, I thought I'd do a little more research into the many options available - and whether they're really a beauty investment, or pennies down the down.

What's it all about?
To put it quite simply: You pay a small monthly fee, and in return receive a sneaky box, full of testerpots, miniature, and sometimes full-sized beauty products, most of which you might have never thought of buying yourself - either they're too expensive, too niche a brand, or (like me), you hate the idea of buying a product that you've never tested before. (I always feel cheated when I've spent money an a product that breaks me out/dries my skin up/or is just generally lacking in quality.)

Glossy Box by Glossy Box (£10 + £2.95PP)
Specifics: 5 miniatures per box, no subscription, rewards system for reviews and recommendations
Brands: Shu Eumera, Burt's Bees, Illamsaqua, Liz Earle, Molton Brown and other unknown, niche brands.
Reviews: "The beauty of beauty boxes is that...if you do like what’s included – a huge percentage is taken off what you’d normally pay for the product itself." (Scarlett London) "If you’re a beauty junkie and love trying new things then this will be ideal." (Elle UK)
Rating: ★★★★✰

Beauty Box by She Said Beauty (£9 + £2.95PP)
Specifics: 5 samples per box, no subscription, online review and tester community
Brands: Elemis, Mischa Barton, St Tropez, Yardley London. Mainly popular, well-known, but (in my opinion) not luxury brands.
Reviews: "So in conclusion, I'm not wowed..." (The Girl About Town) "There is only one product I can use..." (Makeup Temple)
Rating: ★★★✰✰

Jolie Box by Jolie Box (£10 + £2.95PP)
Specifics: 4 - 5 samples per box, no subscription
Brands: China Glaze, Talika, KMS California, Yardley, Jane Iredale, and other generally unknown brands.
Reviews: "Good value for money and unusual brands included so you’re bound to discover something new every month."... "24 brands on board so far... means less brand variety">(Elle UK)
Rating: ★★★★✰

Amarya Beauty Box by Amarya (£10 + £2.50PP)
Specifics: 1 fullsize product and several trial size samples per box, exclusive offers and competitions.
Brands: Green People, Dr Hauschka, Cowshed, Weleda, Kae. All products from high-end natural and organic brands.
Reviews: "if you dont like the main product or it is not suited to your taste then there is not much else in the box" (Dainty Dollymix)"Amarya offers the UK's best selection of natural and organic beauty products">(Talk Perfection)
Rating: ★★★✰✰



So overall, after a lot of research, I'm pleasantly surprised by what's included with some of the boxes. I won't, however, be subscribing to any of them any time soon, as, being fussy, and unwilling to take the risk of paying for a box full of products I might never use. So I'm probably going to use a little more convincing.

Have any of you had any really good experiences with Beauty Boxes? Any of them stand out to you as the best out there? Get in touch if you have any comments.

Hope you're all enjoying the amazing weather!

heteroheroine

Sunday Beauts

A beautiful, drizzly, windy Sunday. Windswept and wild, we hid under the cover of the oak trees, while the pups chased their tails, sticks, squirrels and each other.
Later, running along the beach, to the landscape of a deep blue sunset, I dreamed of faraway places.
Tomorrow, life begins again. But for today, I have the sunset, the rain, and beautiful company.
Bliss.

got bangs?

Fresh starts start with new hair.

Bang bang.

Got me some new hair stylings, to perk me up for my mega-busy, uber-productive week off.

Today has been full of packing, primping, posting, and generally being an organisational nerd, so to finish it off, my evening (post-crazy-gym-session) is looking to consist of Mad Men, present-wrapping, and catching up on the latest Vogue (which will involve perving on covergirl LDR). Oui.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Ciao for now!

xoxo

Sunday snapshot

Today has been one of those beautifully chilly, seaside days. One huge excuse for oversize knits, and endless cups of tea. Parfait!

SUNDAY SNAPSHOT. Urban Outfitters top, H&M shorts.

A busy weekend of Ebaying, cleaning, and sorting my blog
equates to scruffy hair and a less-than-practical outfit apparently.

And now for some shameless plugging. After another bout of sorting, snapping, and uploading, I'm having a mass wardrobe clearout, so if you're in the mood for a bargain, head over to my ebay shop :)

Hope you've all had a lovely weekend. What did you get up to? I'm DETERMINED my next weekend will be a quiet, relaxed one. Phewwwww.

xoxo

Nouvelle Annee!

Bonjour, and welcome to 2012!

If you're anything like me, you're already knee-deep in dreams for how this next year will be. But a fresh start must start realistically. Throw away those unachievable resolutions, and overestimated goals, and start with the simples: a healthy balance of a nutritional diet and guilt-free treats, regular exercise and lazy days (we need these for our wellbeing too!), and of course, a lovely mix of the people and things that you love. 
All of these things together make for the happiest and healthiest you that you can be.



Here are some of mine:

TRAIN MORE. TRAIN HARDER.

Pure and simple. My work schedule hasn't been the greatest thing
for my exercise routine, so I'm gonna get back into it, regardless of weather, times, plans.
Fit it in. Stop making excuses.

CLEAN OUT MY CLOSET

Get rid of the junk, and get me some serious DREAM PIECES.
Expect a mass ebay auction, or ten.

HONE MY SKILLS

Write, write, and write some more.
And then when that's done, write again.

KEEP DREAMING

One great thing I've learnt this year is to never give up on your dreams.
This will be the year I work harder than ever to make mine happen.

MAKE THE MOST OF MY LOVED ONES

Spend more time with those who make me happiest,
and less with those who don't. End of.

What has the last year taught you? Anyone made any life-changing decisions, or aiming to change anything in your life this year? I'd love to hear your stories.

Wishing you the very best of luck in 2012.

hetero heroine

xoxo

sunday snapshot: one

08:00 - Rise and shine. Waking to the sound of birds and feeling of contentedness. 8 hours sleep works a treat.
12:00 - Train times with good friends. Catching up and hatching plans.
13:00 - TGI Fridays. Jack Daniels chicken. Rum. Lost hat. Near tears.
15:00 - Bath christmas market. Losing myself in the sights and sounds and smells. Trinkets, cider, mince pies.
16:00 - Buy replacement hat. Almost the same, but not.
19:00 - Home with the boy. Parfait.
21:00 - Bedtime, Beyonce, and Beautifying (clay masks, body butter, and manicure FYI)




Excusing the hat incident, not a bad sunday. How has your weekend been?
xoxo

Neat things

Okay, so Im an absolute freak about arranging things; desks, drawers, cupboards. When I was at school, I would even have to have my pens and pencils arranged in neat arrangements on my school desk. So I thought I'd share with you all some of my favourite little spaces (mine and otherwise).

My wardrobe - sharing with my boy means my little wardrobe space is compact and simple.
Sectioned into garment type and style. Not my best work.

Hanging wardrobe sections make my entire life miles easier.  Tights, Belts,  Skirts, Vests.
All neatly arranged in their own lovely little square

Bountiful Books: the perfect example of organisation in small spaces.
Your past in books displayed for all to see. Beautiful.

Dressing tables of dreams = rows of rouge and layers of liner.  'mazin.

Sweetie Jar, Cookie tins and piles of antiques crockery.
The minute I move into my own place, I'm filling my kitchen with this and more.

A girls dream, organised in row upon row of colour-coordinated foot heaven.
 

And of course, there's this one. Nevermind the mess - this ones purely for aspirations purposes.
Thank you Miss Bradshaw.

xoxo

Idle hands

They say the devil makes work of idle hands. I'm currently sat on a train on my commute to work (job 1 of 2), blogging on my phone, because, after working two jobs for five weeks, and only four days off, I've no time for my faithful laptop, blogger, gym, or any of my favourite pastimes. Never before have I felt less idle.
I'd love to hear from any of you out there with similarly busy schedules, and know of any tricks or tales that might help me to make time for blogging. I know there are loads of you there who are even busier than I am, so get in touch :)
In other more positive news, while working two jobs has been a little crazy, I've had some amazing times, and had so many new ideas flung at me. From the beauty and skin care tips at one job, to the amazing range of inspirational clothes and stylings with the other. All of which I'm sure I'll be sharing with you all over the next few weeks thanks to this wonderful iPhone app.
So keep tuned in. And for the meantime, here's a few little things I've already put on my want list for payday

From top:
River Island bear mittens
Zara woollen coat with fur collar and belt detail
River Island brown leather tassel flats
Want Want Want

winter warmers

It's my first day off in seven days, and I'm ill. Blergh. So I've wrapped up in knitted tights and a cosy cardi today in a last ditch attempt to get this cold out of my system. I don't know about any of you, but when I'm feeling rubbish, I find the best thing to do is dress a little girly - makes me feel that little bit less gross when I'm all sniffly. This one (below) is a new favourite of mine. I bought this old Topshop dress from a thrift store for £5, and worked a little magic on it. Cue shortened hemline and cute ribboned belt to add a girly edge.

Black Dress, Topshop (bought at a thrift store for £5)
Shortened hem, and customised with ribbon belt detailing

Red Lentil, Chickpea, and Chilli Soup, Recipe avail. at bbcgoodfood.com
Perfect for cold, horrible days - the warming chilli is great for that dreadful winter cold

Chocolate Brogue Boots, Topshop £38
I'll be purchasing these very shortly in a bid to get ready for the winter.

Grey Cable Socks, ASOS £7.50
I'm gonna get stocking up on these. Perfect over tights, under jeans, or with cute winter boots.
Versatile to the max.

Get the look: Sky Ferreira

WIW: Fashion Child

Career. Six letters, two syllables, one little word. And yet it holds such huge importance to so many of us. And as you may know, I recently graduated from university, and the culmination of three years of solid work (well... equal parts work and play I should probably say) has come down to a series of job application upon job application, in the hopes of starting my very own C word. 
Well, anyways... I managed to - after many an unrequited application, and unsuccessful interview - bag myself the chance to interview at one of the top fashion establishments in the UK for a Junior Writer position. While I should have been all bundles of glee, the three build-up to the interview turned me into a bag of nerves as I attempted to deliberate upon an aspect of the interview that I knew, given the company's prestige, I would be immediately judged on - the outfit. What the hell do you wear to a fashion interview?! The choices seemed both bountiful and bewildering, and turned my usually usual happy-go-fashion mind to mush. But after a couple of near nervous-breakdowns, I got my act together, and settled on this little ensemble:

I combined my statement schoolgirl chic with grownup tailoring and sheer fabrics.
This gave my personal sense a style a chance to shine through whilst still looking smart and keeping on trend with the new season pleats.

Blue/Gold Watch Pendant, Accessorize £3
A favourite piece of mine, I bagged this little beauty on sale recently and have been wearing obsessively ever since!

Navy Pleated Skirt, Motel £10
Another sale bargain. After a little bit of customisation, it's my new FW11 staple!

Nude Chiffon Draped Cardigan, Miss Selfridge £35
I finished my outfit off with this cute nude cardi, to add a touch of luxe to my simple items.

I didn't get the job due to the sheer amount of applicants, but I would advise anybody to try your hardest for any interview you get. If they're like this one, the company's magnitude and prowess mean that just being interviewed for a position is a worthwhile experience in itself. Take it as an opportunity to learn.
Here's a couple of the things I've learnt so far about interviewing:

• Dress smartly. Yes it may be a fashion establishment, but they still want you to look interview-appropriate. Think interview attire with an edge, or top trends teamed with smart shoes/jacket/skirt.
• Research research research. Always make sure you can come up with at least three great facts about the company. And I don't mean '___ sells clothes' - think more '___ won this award'.
• Don't let a harsh interviewer belittle you. They're probably just trying to wear you down to see how passionate you really are, and judge your reactions to criticism. Be strong. Answer firmly, and be careful to keep your defences up without seeming argumentative. This will ensure they see you as a strong and capable, but respectful candidate.
• Ask questions. Remember, this is a chance to see if they're right for you too. Don't be afraid to ask what they can give to you. Job prospects are vital if you want to climb the career ladder.

Have any of you got any interviews coming up, and scared to death? Is there anything substantial you've learnt from an interview? Keep me posted!


Hope you're all having a good week so far! :)
Ciao for now
xoxo

Trend Report: My Fair Lady

My Fair Lady by leahroxanne featuring bow shoes