Birchbox Goodies // August 2018

Can someone please tell me where this summer has gone?? I can't believe August is nearly over - in just over a week I'll be moving back to Birmingham ready to start my second year of drama school! Excuse me while I try and hold on to the last few weeks of decent weather before we all end up windswept and soaked with rain! Luckily, this month's Birchbox has plenty of products to help us feel like we're still enjoying the heatwave. They've teamed up with Etsy for this box and have enlisted 10 of their sellers to create 10 beautiful designs! My box was created by The Lovely Drawer and it's so cute - it really reminds me of like a funky animal print! In this box, I received a Dirty Little Secret eyeshadow crayon, a CLÉ Cosmetics lip powder, a pomegranate face mask from Dr.Botanicals, a Luseta conditioner and a Rituals foaming shower gel!

Dirty Little Secret Eyeshadow Crayon in "Fetch"

RRP £10.50

So I've actually used this more as a highlighter than an eyeshadow to be honest! I absolutely love the colour, it's a really pretty pinky/gold shade which looks so good on the highpoints of my face - I did try it as an eyeshadow but I feel like the colour payoff wasn't that great on my lids and if I'm honest, I have other shadows that are a similar shade and are much more pigmented. I do really like it as a highlighter though: it's really creamy which makes it easy to blend out and it's perfect for a really subtle glow!

CLÉ Cosmetics Melting Lip Powder in "Red Cherry"

RRP £15

Well, this is probably one of the weirdest lip products I've ever tried, but I did end up really liking it! It starts off as a powder and then as you apply it to your lips, it turns into a cream formula. It took a bit of getting used to and I did find I needed quite a lot of product to get a good coverage, however, once I did it was so pigmented and I absolutely love the shade! Can't go wrong with a bright pink lip for summer!

Dr Botanicals Pomegranate Superfood Regenerating Sleeping Mask

RRP £14.90

So this product is designed to be used overnight and is supposed to give you a glowy, hydrated complexion. I have to say, as much as I liked it I don't think I'd purchase this again, purely because it didn't really do anything my other moisturisers/face masks have done for my skin. It feels a bit tight when you put it on, but my skin did feel really soft the morning after using it. A lovely product and definitely a brand I'd consider buying from again, I just prefer the other products I've used!

Luseta Beauty Keratin Smooth Conditioner

RRP £19.00

I received a hair mask from Luseta in another Birchbox from a couple of months ago, so I was pretty excited to try this as I really liked the mask! I have quite frizzy hair so I find that keratin-based shampoos/conditioners work best for me and really help with smoothing my hair and making it lovely and shiny, which is exactly what this conditioner did! I loved the smell and my hair felt really soft, however, like with the face mask I do feel that my current (cheaper) conditioner does just as good a job, so I probably won't be buying a full-size version.

Rituals Happy Buddha Foaming Shower Gel

RRP £8.50

Another brand and product that I've already tried: I got a Rituals shower gel in my December Birchbox and although I wasn't a fan of the smell, I did really like the formula. I much prefer the smell of this one and I still really like how nourishing and moisturising this is for the skin, but again it doesn't really do anything that would make me want to spend that kind of money on a shower gel!