Another month gone, and another follow up post on last month’s GlossyBox – I feel like I left this one a little late. I’m pretty sure the April box is going to arrive in a day or two, but it’s better late than never. March’s box was just a regular pink box in terms of packaging, and inside we had four full sized products, and a deluxe sample set. You can see my un-boxing and initial thoughts here.

First off is the NAOBAY Moisturizing Peeling. A little bit of a strange title as it feels like there should be another word on the end there but we’ll go for it. The box card describes this as a ‘peeling milk’ – and then gives a little more detail – that NAOBAY is a Spanish “eco-brand.” This is a full size, face wash style tube with a screw cap, it’s 100 ml which is a pretty good size and it’s priced at £13.71. It’s not the most overly priced facial thing we’ve ever had and it does seem like a nice little face item. The thing it does remind me of the most is the St Ives Apricot scrub (I used this in my teens, I think a lot of people did) – it has a light, sort of single cream consistency, and lots of very small exfoliating sandy particles. It has a nice but a bit un-placeable ‘beauty product’ type smell. Using it wise you seem to be able to either use it as a light creamy exfoliator if you lack time or patience, or leave it on as a ten minute face treatment to get the full skin softening effect. My sensitive skin seems quite happy having this on, and I do feel lightly exfoliated and clean while not feeling like it’s dried my skin out. You can find things that are more exfoliating (as this did feel pretty gentle) but this seems like you can use it pretty regularly instead. I’m kind of on the fence in terms of full price purchase. On the one hand it’s always nice to find things that don’t react to my face, and it’s not that pricey for how nice it is, but on the other hand it hasn’t wowed me in a true sense.

Next is the Essence Lash Princess Volume Mascara. Essence is a repeat GlossyBox brand for me, but I actually do like to see them in my box – they’re very nice and really affordable. This is a full size, black mascara with an interesting wand, it’s a very modern curvy twisty shape (the box card describes it as a ‘cobra’ shape) but the bristles feel more like an older style traditional mascara wand than the newer seeming silicone ones. It’s in a nice big, ergonomic tube with a grippy silicone pattern on the wand end – it’s 12 ml full and costs £3.30 – which is a very good price. As I think I’ve mentioned before, I do like good cheap mascara – as I feel less bad about throwing them away (since you’re supposed to throw mascara away pretty quickly.) The wand does actually work really well at coating and fanning out the lashes to create a really lovely volume-y spider-y look. The tip is also pretty good for getting the little fiddly end bits of the lashes. Formula wise it’s…alright. I did notice with mine at least that it was a little bitty, almost, but not too bad. Also while it’s not waterproof (and washes off nice and easily, which I actually appreciate) it wears pretty well over a day for such a cheap full price. If I ever run out of mascaras – which admittedly seems unlikely – I’d definitely buy more of these.

The deluxe sample set that I received was an Dove Advanced Hair Series Youthful Vitality Shampoo & Conditioner set. This set is aimed at repairing and improving the appearance of longer, weaker hair which is a nice idea. Both the shampoo and the conditioner are 50 ml a piece and usually are 250ml bottles that retail for £5.99 – making these samples worth about £1.20 each or £2.40 for the set. They are a nice little set, they both have very silky and moisturising formulas that aren’t very heavy, and I’m certianly more impressed with these that I have been with previous GlossyBox items – looking at you August 2014’s Elasticizer. But like the NAOBAY while it’s not that expensive, it isn’t cheap either, and doesn’t work particularly better than my current brand – Tresseme – which is a bit cheaper per 100ml. So in the end I don’t have much to say, and I don’t think I’d re-purchase.

We’re back to the rest of the full sized items now with a ncLA Nail Lacquer – mine is in the shade ‘I Only Fly Private’ or ncla073. This is a kind of bright but pastel-y pink orange colour (colour isn’t my strong point) and is another larger size more premium price nail polish that I’ve come to expect to like when I get them. This one is no exception. You get 15 ml for £13, and the formula lists on the back all the things it’s free from – formaldehyde, DBP, toluene, camphor, and animal testing – which is always nice to see. Like the Ciate nail polish I’ve had before, this has a lovely highly pigmented formula, so that if you wanted to you could get away with one quick coat. It’s pretty quick drying, but what I found is that when you put on a second coat, it actually seems to go on less smoothly over it’s own nail polish, which is a bit strange. I like the springy, summery colour. The polish also wore pretty well, chipping only a bit on my dominant hand after day and a half or so wear. It’s a nice introduction to a nail polish brand, and like with Ciate, once you’ve tried them I can see the appeal.

Finally, we’re at the item I was most hoping to receive/looking forward to – and that is the Sleek MakeUP Pout Paint, mine was the shade ‘Pin up’ or 157. I haven’t gotten anything from Sleek before this and I’ve heard lots of really good things about that, which is why I was anticipating it so much. The Pout Paints are cute little paint style containers, and the selling point is that they’re very customisable. So each shade can be worn either lightly, which produces a very matte, pretty lip stain. Or building up more and more layers to create a more pigmented, but still pretty matte lipstick look. Or put on all in one thick layer which is more shiny and glossy (not my kind of look, but so what, it might be for other people). The colours are also apparently very blend-able between each other as well, so with a small selection of primary colours and a black and white, you can create a pretty wide variety of shades. I think this is a really cool idea, and while I don’t have any other shades to test this, I can see it working pretty well based on how well the one I have now works. Length wise it wears longer as a dried on stain rather than a more full look, and admittedly doesn’t last super long. Full size it’s 8 ml and costs £4.99. Given the cost and how well they work I’d definitely be tempted to get more.

So, this was another really lovely box from GlossyBox, and another set that works pretty well used together. I think out of all the items I’m most impressed with the Pout Paint and the Mascara – which shows considering those are the ones I’d be pretty sure to re-buy. The nail polish is pretty nice, and the face mask/milk nice enough. Against all of those the hair items feel a little more run of the mill, but it is actually really nice to get this kind of mix of items, some make up, something for skin and something for hair. The total box value was £37.40, which is a pretty decent value, and is in line with the regular month to month value rather than the one off more pricey boxes you seem to get less often. April’s box should be here soon, and I’ll be doing another un-boxing then, Until Next Time.