Betrousse Organic and Natural Beauty Box Review

Betrousse are the market leaders in France for their beauty kit concept. They have been established in France for the past five years and only entered the UK market about 5 months ago. 

Not another beauty box on the market I can imagine you thinking - Hang on! This is a beauty box with a difference.  The Betrousse boxes contain ALL full size products plus you can see what is in the boxes before you buy.  They have a  few different boxes on sale at the same time so you can pick which one (or two!) you like the most with hefty discounts. You can visit their website here where you can get £3 discount on your first box.

This Organic and Natural Beauty Box retails for £17 and the contents are worth a whopping £72 - it contains 5 full size products. The box was sent to me to review - all opinions are my own and truthful!

The box is much bigger than the usual beauty boxes.

Delivery was fast, the box reached me within a few days of being dispatched from France.

Pink tissue paper hiding all the goodies!

5 Full Size Products

A brief description of the products and a welcome to Betrousse

A list of the products, sizes and prices.

Fro Her - Aloe and Honey Hair Mist

Lightly mist hair before combing to reduce breakages. This is 200ml and retails for £10.99.

This smells like fizzy sweets! I have tried it on my hair and it's lovely and light, doesn't leave a greasy residue or weigh my hair down. I just brush it through and it leaves a nice scent. It is over 96% natural, which is very different than all the sprays I currently use!  The aloe vera leaf juice provides hydration so I am looking forward to seeing if this does make a difference to my coloured hair. 

Forest People - Luminous Serum Eyes and Lips Contour with Borage Oil and Rosehip Oil

Formulated with precious oils to reshape and brighten the eye area and lips it is rich in Omega 3 which firms and tones the skin tissue.  Hemp oils reactivates micro circulation and reduces puffiness and dark circles. Rosehip oil acts as a barrier against fine lines while it revitalizes and evens skin tone. The bottle contains 14ml and retails for £31.00.

This does sound like a miracle oil - I need help with my fine lines, dark circles and puffy eyes so this has its work cut out! It is absorbed quickly into the skin and a little goes a very long way - one drop does both eyes. I haven't yet tried it by my lips, my eyes show far more aging signs so they are getting the oil!

Lothantique - Bath Salts

A gorgeous glass bottle that contains 600g of salts and retails at £10.00.

In the box is either bath salts or bath/shower gel. I would personally be happy with either as they always get used up. I love the design on the bottle, it will look lovely in the bathroom. My hubby spotted these as soon as I opened the box and tried to claim them for himself! They smell very scented so you would only need to use a small amount in the bath.

Reve De Provence - Organic Olive Oil and Lavender Soap

The soap is 150g and retails for £4.99. 

It is made with plant oils, enriched with organic olive oil and essential oils. It does not contain parabans, synthetic colouring or animal fats. I love the colours in this soap, it looks handmade. The scent of lavender is strong but not overpowering. I personally love the smell as it reminds me of my Great Nan who always kept lavender soap by the sink. Sadly she is no longer with us but the scent of lavender brings back lots of very happy memories. 

K Pour Karite - Hair Mascara Dark Brown

This is a product I have never seen before (well apart from other Betrousse reviews I have seen!) hair mascara to cover grey hairs. Although I can remember an incident with hair mascara when I was a lot younger. It was pink. Hmmm.

The mascara contains 15ml and retails for £12.95. Now I do have grey hair starting to come though at the temples, oh the joys of getting older, but I would never have thought to use a hair mascara to cover the regrowth plus I tend to wear my hair down most of the time as it is at the awkward inbetween length. 

I tried this out and it does actually cover the regrowth quite well! It took a few minutes to dry then I brushed my hair and you really wouldn't be able to tell. I don't know how well it would cope with rain though! I will keep this for any days that I do wear my hair up and I see the sheen of silver poking through (much better than me reaching for the tweezers!)

I really like seeing what is in the boxes before you buy, the subscription beauty boxes were brilliant to start with but we are seeing a lot of repeat brands, items, differences in box values, items that are unsuitable for skin type etc and I sometimes feel like its a waste of money spent on items that I won't use. Also some of the samples that I have received are too small for me to judge whether or not I like the product, which won't be the case with these full sized products.

I am really pleased with the customer service too, I have had lovely emails and quick replies to my questions about Betrousse. I have seen a few reviews online and it looks like I am not the only one who is loving these new boxes!

They have four boxes for sale at the moment and you can find them on the Betrousse website.

Have you tried a Betrousse box yet? Do you think boxes where you can see the contents before you buy are a good idea?

Angelica Nail Colour - Brit Pop Glitter Polish Review

Look at this gorgeous polish! Brit Pop by Angelica Nail Colour.

Wow! Look at all that glitter! 

Brit Pop 

This was definitely the polish I was most excited about when I opened the package, I love glitter polishes. 

Absolutely packed full of multi-coloured glitter.

One Coat

Two Coats 

I love this polish! It is absolutely packed with glitter and is so bright and colourful. It dries quickly and is not too gritty although, as with all glitters, it needs a top coat. Angelica Nail Colour in Brit Pop is sold in Primark in the UK for £2.50 per bottle and contains 10ml of varnish. For £2.50 this is an absolute steal!

Angelica Nail Colour are in the process of setting up their website, but you can also find them on Twitter and Facebook. They sent me this polish for review.

Thank you to Sandy Godfrey for this picture of her holding her bottle of Leighton Denny Over the Rainbow. Brit Pop seems like a very good dupe to me!

What do you think? Have you tried this brand before?

Angelica Nail Colour Polish - Angel and Gloss Top Coat

Angelica Nail Colour asked on Twitter for beauty bloggers that would like to review their products. I sent them my blog link and was made up when they picked me!

The polishes are sold in Primark in the UK for £2.50 per bottle. The bottles contain 10ml of varnish.

Angelica Nail Colour are in the process of setting up their website, but you can also find them on Twitter and Facebook.

These are the four bottles they sent me

L-R

Gloss Top Coat

Brit Pop - Review

Angel

Sweetie Pie 

I really like the bottle design,  it feels nice and chunky and definitely not cheap! 

The brushes are good too, just the right length and the bristles are a lovely thickness.

How pretty is this colour! 

One Coat

Two Coats

Lots of pics now trying to show you how pretty this polish is, it looks like fairy wings!

I then used the Gloss Top Coat

You can see how the top coat makes the polish more shimmery - gorgeous! 

I was very impressed with both the Angel polish and the Gloss Top Coat. They are a dream to apply, quick to dry and an absolute bargain at £2.50 per bottle. I will definitely be keeping an eye out next time I am in Primark for this brand. 

I think this colour would look amazing over other polishes as you would need quite a few coats for it to be completely opaque on its own. I'm going to try it over the Sweetie Pie polish that they sent me (review to follow then I'll link it here).

Angel looks to be a great dupe for Models Own Indian Ocean - you can read a great review on it on Lucys Stash.

Have you tried any of the Angelica Nail Colour polishes? What did you think? 

Nina Ultra Pro Spun Sugar - Raven Cosmetics

I was sent this polish by Raven Cosmetics to review. I have not heard of this brand before - Nina Ultra Pro and it is not a shade I would have picked up as I tend to like bright colours and pinks but I do like to try new things so this is a new brand and a new shade!

The polish is Toluene, Formaldehyde and DBP free.

The shade I was sent is Spun Sugar. 

One Coat.

Two Coats. 

Two Coats.

The formula is really nice and applies streak free, because of the light shade you can still see some of the nail line in the pics but it is not as visible in reality. It's actually a very pretty shade and perfect for work on the days I have meetings - full on glitter doesn't always go down too well! 

The drying time is average and the polish lasted about 4-5 days without chipping.

You can find the Nina Ultra Pro Range on Raven Cosmetics website. If you join her Facebook page you can find discount codes and limited special offers. 

Have you tried this range before? Or purchased anything from Raven Cosmetics?

REN Haul - Six of the Best and Combination Kit

I got all these goodies delivered last week for a bargain £10.80!

This was my first order from the REN website - they offer a 10% discount for your first order. The only product I have tried from REN is the Glycolatic mask which I loved so I'm looking forward to trying more of their products.

I chose this combination skin kit, which retails at £12.00 (10% discount made this £10.80).

The kit contains 15ml T-Zone Balancing Day Fluid, 25ml T-Zone Mayblossom Control Cleansing Gel and 15ml Invisible Pores Detox Mask.

I used discount code RENHANDBAG to get this six of the best kit, worth £20 for free! 

I really like the way the products are packaged and they are good sized samples.

25ml Mayblossom Balancing Cleansing Gel

25ml Jojoba Micro Bead Invigorating Facial Polish

10ml Omega 3 Night Repair Serum

15ml Glycolactic Skin Renewal Peel Mask

15ml Frankincense Revitalising Night Cream

3ml Active Radiant Eye Gel 

Plus I got to pick 4 free samples and delivery was free too!

Once I have finished the skincare products I am using at the moment I will be moving onto these.  The products I am most looking forward to trying are the Night Repair Serum, the Radiant Eye Gel and the Jojoba Micro Bead Invigorating Facial Polish.

Have you tried any REN products before?

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain Rendez-vous

I have a slight addiction to lip products. Namely pink lip products. So when I heard that Revlon were releasing the Just Bitten Kissable balm stain range I couldn't wait to get my hands on one (or two!). I love my Revlon lip butters and have all the pink shades so popped along to Boots (Boots and Superdrug currently have Just Bitten on offer for £5.99) fully intending to pick up one of the pink shades.....

However...

The local Boots had sold out of all the pink shades so I ended up being a bit more adventurous and getting Rendez-vous. 

It's a bright orange/coral colour and completely out of my comfort zone! 

The bottom twists to push the "crayon" up. There is a lot of product and I think this will last for ages! The balm smells minty which is a nice touch. The colour applies well, no dragging and is very pigmented. The only thing I didn't like about it was its lasting power, I needed to reapply this frequently. I also found it didn't stain my lips evenly leaving a stain only around the edges which made me look as though I had been eating something orange!  

I'm glad they had sold out of the pink shades, making me pick up Rendez-vous.

 I have so many pink products that I would never have got around to using it! 

I went to another store and swatched all the colours as I want another one whilst they are on special offer.

Top to Bottom

Rendez-vous

Romantic

Crush

Honey

Lovesick

Cherish

Darling 

Outside in the shade. 

Artificial Lighting in store.  

Outside in the sunshine. 

I took this after the swatches had been on my hand for an hour.

As you can see the colours fade quickly, but they do leave varying degrees of stain.

Have you picked any of these up? What do you think?