Glossybox July 2015 Vive La France Review

So I am probably a little late on this review but given just how lovely this months edition of Glossybox was, I couldn't pass up the chance to share it with you all! If you aren't familiar with Glossybox, it is a subscription service that sends out a box full of lovely goodies (4-5 products) each month based on your beauty profile. They use a wide range of brands from those that are well established to brands that have only launched recently.

After the last couple of month's boxes being a tad disappointing, I was a little bit ambivalent when I found my Glossybox waiting for me when I got in to work. All of that changed though the moment I opened the outer packaging and was greeted by an absolutely stunning limited edition box. 

This month's edition is based around all things French and the box itself was designed by fashion illustrator Jamie Lee Reardin who has previously worked with the likes of Balmain and Dior. I'm sure you can agree from the pictures above that the artwork is really striking and has certainly made this box one to keep. Every inch of the box is covered in beautiful drawings in Jamie Lee's iconic style and there are even more lovely images inside on the product cards! 

The products themselves are also in line with the French theme and apart from the well known Yves Rocher, are all new and exciting discoveries for me! Glossybox have also mixed things up a little this month by including a very chic little makeup bag to use on your travels. While I wouldn't necessarily want "lifestyle" products every month, it was a nice little change up for the box in this case and really complimented the whole design.

Teoxane Cosmeceuticals Perfect Skin Refiner | Sample worth £14.34

This was the first product that caught my eye as it was recently featured in Vogue as one of their top hydrating formulas. It includes a number of wonder ingredients such as hyaluronic acid to moisturise and 10% glycolic acid to exfoliate. Glycolic acid is a powerful alpha hydroxy acid (read more about it in my previous post here) and I have had good results from products that contained it in the past. It also includes N-acetyl glucosamine that is known to stimulate the body's own production of hyaluronic acid. The brand itself is quite an interesting one to me as it is marketed as a "cosmeceutical", which essentially means "cosmetics with biologically active ingredients purported to have medicinal or drug-like properties". Supposedly they are able to do far more than traditional products so I'm pretty eager to see the long terms effects from using Teoxane's offering. There has been a lot of talk in the beauty world lately about these two ingredients so a combination of the two is something I'm really looking forward to trying. Double whammy? Yes please!

 

Lollipops Lip Balm Délicieuse | RRP £4.15

Ok, I will just come out and say it, lip balms are boring. Yes they are no doubt an absolute beauty staple but I'm never going to be found jumping up and down out of excitement for a new one. That said, I can appreciate a good one from a bad one and this is definitely the former. When I first saw the pink tube I initially thought it was my makeup nemesis, the lipgloss (I have a severe aversion to the sticky, overly shineyness that makes me feel like I'm reverting to a 12 year old). Luckily though, it was just a nice little inoffensive lip balm. To be fair, it is quite the treat for the lips with vitamin E to soothe and a number of antioxidants to keep my pout in tip top condition. It also seems to sink in quickly so I think it would be a handy base for matte lipstick if you were in a rush and didn't have that much time to wait between lip balm and lipstick. 

 

Yves Rocher Comme Une Evidence | Sample worth £6.13

Oh how I love a good perfume. Lots of people get the grumbles about perfume samples in beauty boxes but personally it's one of my favourite things. Anyone who knows me will be aware that my bag is usually filled with a handful of different sprays and perfumes and I love to change them up regularly. So for me this is perfect as we haven't had perfumes in a Glossybox for a while. This one in particular is an elegant, floral fragrance with notes of patchouli, bergamot, lily-of-the-valley, rose and jasmine. The scents of lily-of-the-valley and jasmine hit first with the smokeyness of patchouli in the background. The patchouli has obviously been added with a very light touch as it isn't overpowering at all, though the rose seems to have been lost which is a shame. It's certainly a perfume that I will enjoy wearing of an evening and since the sillage isn't overly strong, perhaps also to work.

 Noxidoxi Enhancing Serum Base | Sample worth £20.75

Last but not least for the beauty products was a serum from Noxidoxi containing a CRC6 moisturising complex which penetrates deep down to hydrate skin cells as well as looking after the surface of your skin. It combines anti-inflammatory agents and antioxidants to create a barrier against the environment and keeps your skin looking fantastic no matter where you live.

Unfortunately my search for exactly how it protects the skin came up empty so I'm not entirely sure what to believe. I stumbled across a number of people stating it can even protect your skin from the effects of cigarette smoke. Considering that it is the very industry I work in, I am really curious to find out what the scientific backing is of that claim so I will persevere in my research! Granted though it doesn't explicitly state that on the brand website so perhaps it might be a result of information being taken out of context. In the meantime though, it has a nice light consistency, sinks in quickly and leaves skin feeling soft and smooth, so just from that view it seems like a pleasant product to use.

Glossybox Exclusive Travel Pouch | RRP £3.99

This unique offering from Glossybox will certainly come in handy to keep all of my many eyeshadows, eyeliners, mascaras, moisturisers, serums etc etc together and in a stylish way no less. I do wonder if they would actually allow this to be used through airport security but it is so pretty that I would certainly be willing to try!

This month's box has been a real pleasure and has made me fall in love with Glossybox all over again. I will use every single product in the selection and am excited to see what the long term benefits will be from using such high-end skincare. Perhaps I will suddenly transform into a trés chic Parisian with skin to die for overnight....one can dream!

If you are tempted, the July Glossybox is still available from www.glossybox.co.uk for £10 plus P&P but I can't imagine they will be hanging around for much longer!

What did you think of the July Glossybox? Is it tempting you to sign up? Did you get the same selection as me or something a little different? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!