Lookfantastic’s monthly subscription box always brings a smile to my face when the postie delivers it to my door – who wouldn’t love a box full of new beauty products to try for a fraction of what they’d usually cost? Worth £55, April’s box costs £15 if you want to buy it as a one off or, if you sign up for a monthly rolling subscription for 12 months it’s only £13.
Containing six products – and sometimes seven if the brand includes a complimentary gift, as it often does (beating that of Glossybox’s five products per month for £13.50) – the box is perfect if you love trying out new products or simply wish to switch up your beauty routine. April’s box is packed full of skincare goodies that’ll leave your face, hands, body and scalp feeling super hydrated.
Plus, it contains a product that MUAs and beauty buffs swear by for cleaning their brushes. Fancy a bit more of a beauty haul? Lookfantastic’s Travel Edit contains a whole host of sun-ready products worth £105 for £30 here, meanwhile M&S’ Made for an Icon Beauty Box worth over £130 is currently on sale for £24.
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Happy to spend a little more? Space NK’s Everything Shower Edit is £70 and includes brands like Alpha-H, Sol De Janeiro, Living Proof and Aromatherapy Associates.
Firstly, the products come packaged in a recyclable cardboard box bearing the Lookfantastic The Box logo. The box is filled with tissue paper to protect the products and add a touch of luxury. Inside the box comes five deluxe-sized products which are absolutely perfect for popping in your carry-on bag when travelling, as well as a full-sized make-up brush from Spectrum Collections – a brand I’ve wanted to try for a while.
Covering all bases, the contents of the box features a L’OCCITANE Shea Butter Hand Cream, L’OCCITANE Shower Oil, Peter Thomas Roth Waterdrench Mask, The Nue Co Supa Thick Scalp Serum, ISOCLEAN Makeup Brush Cleaner with a Spray Top and full-size Spectrum A05 Blusher Brush. As a complimentary product, the brand also included a 1.2ml sample of the Mugler Alien Extraintense Fragrance.
With some of the products inside costing £10 and up, the box is well worth the £15 you’d pay – especially as the scalp serum is the exact same price as the full box. Although three of the products stand out to me personally, and are potentially the simplest ones.
Firstly the £4, 35ml L’OCCITANE Shower Oil. It’s a best-selling formula for a reason, and having tried it before in a previous box, I have stocked up on it since. It smells glorious with a sweet almond scent.
Secondly, it transforms in the shower from a silky golden oil to a milk-like lather that leaves my skin velvety soft and smelling lush for some time post-shower. Thirdly, its size means it’ll be a welcome addition to my wash bag on my next trip.
Next is the L’OCCITANE Shea Butter Hand Cream, worth £10. Quite simply, it does the job of transforming dry hands (I suffer with this quite a lot, especially on my knuckles) and has a lush smell of jasmine and ylang ylang to accompany it. It’s fast absorbing too and doesn’t leave your mitts feeling too greasy after application.
While this Spectrum Blusher Brush, full size, is only worth £8 on Lookfantastic, it’s one I’d been wanting to try for ages but hadn’t got round to treating myself. Knowing the hype around the brand and the celebrity backing, I wasn’t surprised that the quality of the brush on my relatively sensitive skin was amazing. The bristles weren’t harsh and didn’t feel too stiff when applying blusher. In fact, they felt super soft and really flexible – something my cheaper brushes definitely don’t have. Maybe it’s the nudge I needed to upgrade my current makeup brush selection?
The ISOCLEAN Makeup Brush Cleaner with a Spray Top is another brilliant product inside the Lookfantastic April box. We’re all guilty of leaving our make-up brushes for weeks on end without giving them a good old clean as, let’s face it, it’s a bit of a faff to do it with soap and water alone.
This make-up brush cleaner does all the hard work for you and is simple to use. Just spray onto some tissue – or the brush itself – and rub the brush on a surface you’re happy to get dirty in circular motions and watch the make-up melt off your brush.
With just a little bit of spray on the tissue (as I didn’t want to soak it, not knowing the powers of the spray), it cleaned my blush/bronzer brush rapidly and also showed me how much was actually stuck in the brush’s bristles.
The only downside I experienced with the spray is that it does not smell that nice. To be completely honest, it has a pungent chemical scent that irritated my eyes a bit. But I won’t ditch it just yet. I’ll give it another go and be more careful when I spray it next time.
The Mugler Alien Extraintense Fragrance is a great size to pop in your handbag on a night out but having had limited social plans since I got the box, I’ve not wanted to waste it on sitting at home – although having a quick spritz, the fragrance is divine with sweet vanilla and floral jasmine scents.
While I’ve not tried the Peter Thomas Roth Waterdrench Mask or Nue Co Supa Thick Scalp Serum just yet – waiting for a TLC evening – I’m excited for the hydration boost many shoppers who’ve got their hands on the LF box have praised. One person said: “First box and the face mask was my favourite, it left my skin so hydrated. the brush and brush cleanser were also very good too. would probably buy a bigger version of the face mask.”
Another added of the entire contents of the box: “I love this month’s beauty edit especially for Spectrum brush and L’Occitane. I will use all products.” Although they did note: “Wish scalp serum was more to know the results.”
Someone else found the box ideal for stocking up on travel minis and said: “Fab little box to look forward to monthly. Usually at least one full size product in each box! Perfect for a gift or for stocking up on minis while travelling.”
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