August Jolie Box

Hello Chaps!

It's time for another Beauty Box... I feel like they're coming out of my eyeballs at the moment. It's getting a tiny bit laborious doing these posts - not because I don't enjoy it, but rather because my dodgy internet connection means it's even more time consuming trying to write them. I should point out that by 'dodgy' I don't mean that I'm shadily pilfering someone else's wireless, just that my computer lives on the opposite corner of my house from the wireless router. I could probably do it on my MacBook Pro, but I'm not sure the old girl can handle it! Plus, all my blog folders are stored on my shiny new PC. Meh.

ANYHOO this post is all about the August edition Jolie Box. This is my third Jolie Box to date (I've been seriously lax about doing these reviews for aforementioned reasons) and this time I received a pretty box in various shades of pink and green.

 Is it just me or are the beauty boxes including naff cop-out self-branded gifts as filler? I also think it's a bit cheeky of Jolie Box to state that you will receive 4-5 samples. This basically means 4 samples and some cheap-arse toe separators with the Jolie Box logo on. Does anyone still use toe separators? I have fairly small feet and I find them excruciatingly painful to use, they force my toes far wider than they are ever meant to spread! I don't ever use them so they go in the bin. 

Everybody has some sort of a gripe with beauty boxes, and the reality is yes you are signing up for a monthly subscription where you don't know what you're going to get and yes you aren't going to get the same as Sally from round the corner who got 'much better' goodies. Both GlossyBox and Jolie Box bandy about the terms 'Deluxe' 'Luxury' and 'Exclusive' when sometimes your box feels anything but. Often it seems as if more thought goes into their box design!

ANYHOO X 2 let' get on with it shall we?

Dr Bronner's Pure Castile Soap 'pillows'

I received a bottle of this mysterious stuff in a Glossybox a few months ago, which I still haven't used. Something about this stuff really bloody annoys me and I've not even tried it! I seem to have already made my mind up that it's a load of gimmicky nonsense. It keeps being touted as an 'A-list favourite' and somehow I can't quite imagine Victoria Beckham lathering up with one of these. I'm not even sure what the hell it's meant to be, hence why I keep referring to it as stuff! I HATE the preachy weirdness on the packaging as well. This stuff really pisses me off and I don't know why. I am not going to flannel wash myself just to try it. I'm really irritable just writing about it!! I got three samples in Unscented Baby Mild, 18-in-1 Peppermint and Citrus Orange. The paper packs are a nice touch but not very practical. What the heck do I do with these? Anyone? Please enlighten me!

Phil Smith Be Gorgeous Dry Clean Revitalising Dry Shampoo

Why can't you people give your products sensible short names!! I'm really moody tonight, sorry :( I'm about to run out of the mammoth-sized can of Batiste so this is a welcome product, as it's a fairly good size. I gave it a little spritz, and I like it so far. It doesn't look powdery or chalky, but if I run my fingers through my hair there is a slight powdery feeling residue. It's not as obvious to me as Batiste but I do have bleach blonde hair so whiteness wouldn't really show up on me anyway, unless I'm deliberately trying to disguise some root regrowth, hehe! It feels lighter than batiste too and smells great. Unfortunately, (and typical of my luck) I seem to have a faulty can, as the aerosol is a little stuck and is gently hissing away :(

So Susan Cosmetics Lip Cushion

What a pretty box! *yay for girly packaging* I know that's not the point of the product but *yay*

I love lip goodies so I was really excited to see this. I've never heard of So Susan, but I spotted their info on the side of the box claiming to have Cruelty-free, Green and Integrity commitments, which can only be a good thing.
When I initially opened the box I was un poco disappointed to see a tiny little pot, but the product is actually not a bad size. The gloss inside looks and smells exactly like the kind of thing you would have received with Shout Magazine when you were a tweenager. Once applied on the lips it does feel okay - It's pretty difficult to pick up any product using my finger, and even using a brush it only manages to build up the teeniest tiniest hint of colour as it's totally un-glossy, un-glittery and invisible. Unfortunately, it's nothing special formula wise, which is a shame, as the colour in the pot looked really promising.

So Susan Cosmetics Face Palette

Again, this looks lovely on the outside but smacks of teen magazine freebie on the inside. Also, mine was a little tatty and grubby on the inside before I'd even swatched it. The 'illuminating cream' and 'highlighting cream' are really just huge concealers to me. It would have been much nicer to have a cream shimmer/iridescent highlighter in the vein of Jemma Kidd Dewy Glow All Over Radiance Creme. When I've lost my summer colour I'll give them a go as concealers, as they're not too bad in consistency/coverage, and the swatches I did on the back of my hand stayed put for a while.
The 'eyebrow sculptor' is anything but - three brown shades, two of which were shimmery (yes, shimmery!) with not-too-brilliant colour payoff. The middle colour is more matte and is the only shade that could be used to fill in brows, but it was the least pigmented and very difficult to get a good swatch of. I'll give it a go with a decent angled brush. For the other two however, I think if used as eyeshdow in the crease and applied with a decent brush that might be a different story, as the coppery colour and the brown with iridescent green shimmer are lovely looking shades. The brush it comes with is completely useless as expected, but the tweezers were a surprise win for me, they made swift works of some very short hairs when I tried them. I won't be using the majority of the products in this palette for what they were intended for, which is a shame. I really wanted these So Susan products to be good, but first impressions tell me they are just a little bit too disappointing with nice ethics and pretty boxes. I'll give it a go though, with continued use I could see myself changing my mind.

Jolie Box Leather Hair Styling Lace

*Pffffffffffffffffft*

In all seriousness, my hair is too short for this nonsense. And there's no instructions. I want instructions and I'm too lazy to go on YouTube :P

All in all, this box was a little disappointing. When the best thing in your box is a broken dry shampoo, that's saying something. I'm not ready to cancel my Jolie Box subscription just yet, as my first two were pretty good, but this month's box was a real let down.

Are you subscribed to Jolie Box? What did you think of August's box?

Sticky Kisses!