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Birchbox Goodies // August 2017


I think this might possibly be my favourite Birchbox design so far! Anything vaguely mermaid-related and I will be all over it like a rash. This month, everything is mermaid-themed; from texture spray for those beach babe locks, down to the beautiful scale design on the box itself. All the heart-eye emojis! In this box I received a Loc One and Done eyeshadow stick, a sugar texturizing spray from Number 4, a Merci Handy hand sanitizer, some Sebamed mattifying cream, and of course the pinnacle of every mer-babe - a brush from Spectrum Collections! Read on to find out what I thought!

Spectrum Collections Glam Clam A05 Brush

Well I'm not even going to bother reviewing this one; in my opinion Spectrum brushes are honestly the best (and most beautiful) brushes available - they're super soft, really affordable and so easy to work with! I actually already own an A05 brush so I wasn't really sure what I could do with this one but it's always handy to have a spare and this actually works really well with my Benefit Hoola Quickie Contour Stick! This particular brush is from the Glam Clam so you can't buy it in this colour as an individual brush, but their single brushes are still really pretty!

Loc One and Done Shadow Stick in "Rock Steady"

I have to say I'm not a huge fan of this as an eyeshadow - this particular shade is too dark to just use as a lid shade - but it works really nicely as a liner for the lower lashline. I had a go at using it in a look which I'll leave down below, I used it on the outer corner but to be honest it was quite difficult to blend out so it didn't look as good as I'd hoped it would.

Number 4 Sugar Texturizing Spray

I was pretty impressed with this little spray! I've used a few texturizing sprays before but I've always found they either make my hair look really matted and generally a bit gross or they don't last long. I've never heard of sugar cane being used before either. You can use this on damp or dry hair, I personally think it works better on damp hair but it works well either way. The only thing I will say is that it did make my hair feel a bit dry, so it might be worth using a serum with it as well.

Merci Handy Antibacterial Hand Cleansing Gel in "Coco Rico"

Well I wasn't expecting to get a hand sanitizer in my box but again I'm quite impressed with this one! There's not really a lot to say about it other than the smell - I find normal hand sanitizers have quite a harsh alcohol smell to them but this one smells so lovely! There's loads of different flavours to choose from as well so this is definitely going to be a new handbag staple for me!

Sebamed Clear Face Mattifying Cream

So I don't really think this is necessarily a product that I need in my routine - I have combination skin but although my T-zone is a bit oily, it's not really a huge problem that needs addressing. I haven't really noticed much of a difference after using this, but I don't know if that's just because my skin isn't especially oily. It looks quite matte when you first put it on but to be honest it doesn't really last throughout the day. It does feel really nice when you put it on, it's almost like a moisturiser so it doesn't make your skin feel really dry like a lot of mattifying creams do.

So this is the final look I came up with (I also used the Number 4 texture spray for my hair). I used the Loc shadow stick alongside a matte brown for the crease and a gold shadow on the lid. 

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