Holiday Edition: December Birchbox

Hope you’ve all had a good holiday filled with delicious food and time with your friends and family. And I hope you’re enjoying the last few days of 2016! Bring on 2017! In other news, a few weeks back I went to a meet up with Birchbox UK. It was a gorgeous get-together with other bloggers and they even had a manicurist from Nails Inc. there polishing up our nails! The raspberry cocktails were flowing (a way to my heart) with loads of beauty products – how could you not enjoy yourself? I was able to create my own Birchbox and was also gifted the December Birchbox: 2016. I’ve got to say, its one of the best ones I’ve gotten yet!

Inside the December Birchbox this year, you will find: a full-size Ciaté London eyeliner, a Benefit beauty treat, and three other products. It’s always such a nice treat (every month) having beauty products delivered to your door. They’re usually travel-size so you can test them out before making the plunge into buying the full-size. Of course, not every product will suit everyone – so it’s nice to have options. My Birchbox came with the Ciaté London Fierce Flicks eyeliner, the Benefit Bad Gal Lash Mascara, a tube of dr. brandt PoreDermabrasion, the Elemis Hydra-Nourish Night Cream and a Percy & Reed Perfectly Perfecting Wonder Balm.

Out of all of these products, hands down the Ciaté London Fierce Flicks eyeliner has got to be my favorite. I’ve purchased a few liquid eyeliners with a felt-tip and they’re extremely easy to use. Tip: store them with the felt facing downwards & thank me later! The black liquid lasts throughout the day and stays in place. It’s perfect and precise for the girl who wants a perfect flick without a mess. I mean, after all, who doesn’t love a kickass cat eye?

I think I’m the laziest person when it comes to hair. I’m not lazy, I just mean that my hair is flat. It does absolutely nothing. My hair just dries (extremely quickly) and is stick straight. I am pretty sure the only reason why I even own a straightener is to curl my hair or to flatten down a cowlick. If my hair had a bit of volume to it, I’d be thrilled. But that’s where products come in.

I am enjoying the Percy & Reed Perfectly Perfecting Wonder Balm. I won’t say it’s a holy grail product, but it is a nice add-on for my hair routine for a bit of oompfh. Now, I’ve never heard of this brand or product before – which is what makes Birchbox so great. It is a leave-in balm which helps with moisturizing hair, giving it definition and claims to have high humidity protection. I can’t wait to give it a go in Florida, because Lord knows it’s humid where I’m from! But for Ireland weather, it seems to give your hair that extra boost of shine and softness. To apply: use about a dime size amount and run through damp hair. Give it a shot of heat with your blow dryer and voila – effortless!

For my personal-made Birchbox, I picked out the following: the Bliss Fabulous Foaming Face Wash, Living Proof Restore Instant Repair, Balance Me Radiance Face Oil, LOC One & Done Shadow Stick and a Laura Mercier Souffle Body Creme.

I really am not a huge fan of vanilla to be honest because I totally don’t want to smell like a desert. However, this year I feel like I’ve picked up quite a few products with an underlying scent of vanilla. One of my favorites so far is the Laura Mercier Souffle Body Creme in Ambre Vanille. It’s gorgeous and silky without leaving your hands/body feeling oily. Its filled with notes of Tangerine, Coconut, Almond, Amber, Vanilla Beans, Brown Sugar, Sandalwood I loved it so much that I picked up the eau de toilette and its great for long lasting scents – but more on that in a later post. I will have to go purchase the full-size of this cream because the cap is broken, so it’s limited to sitting on my desk.

I hope you have a happy New Year and I’ll see talk to you next year!