Ally Aldridge Beauty, Body Care, Makeup, Pip Box, Skincare

Review: The Pip Box (March)

What is it?

The Pip Box is a beauty subscription box with a selection of cruelty free products.  A donation from the cost of the box goes to an animal friendly charity (This month is Animal Free Research).  The box contains a selection of five products – skincare, body care, makeup and occasionally a sweet treat too.

Cost:  £13.50 (+£3.95 P&P) subscription, UK

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The Pip Box (March) Unboxing ?

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How to get a free box?

In each box is a card encouraging consumers to share their pictures on social media.  They then choose a winner to get their next box free.  Last month, they chose my February pictures and I got my March box free.

What was in my box?

The box came with an information card to tell me all about the products inside and their value.

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Dr Botanicals:  Tropical Invigorating Cream (website RRP £29.00, Sheet lists price as £44.00)

Dr Botanicals is a London based vegan skincare brand and made from pure natural ingredients, paraben-free and no harmful preservatives.  They pride themselves on their products being kind to your skin and animals.

The cream is really light but moisturising and sinks in fast. The tropical smell isn’t strong and reminds me of grapefruit but that’s not listed as an active ingredient.  These are:

  • Elderflower:  to protect the skin from free radical damage
  • Chamomile Flower Extract: to heal and soothe irritated and damaged skin
  • Tiara Flower Extract:  to deeply nourish and purify the skin

I’m still really enjoying their day cream from last months edit too – click here to read.

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Saturated Colour:  Make Me Matt (website and sheet RRP £8.00) and Moisturising Lipstick – Naked Pink (website and sheet RRP £7.00)

This month I got two products by Saturated Colour.  This is a UK brand (Essex), cruelty free and vegan friendly.  The brand is affordable and they products have great colour and some clever ideas.

The Naked Pink lipstick is a gorgeous colour that would suit almost anyone.  It is a daytime pink and you could wear it to work.  The ‘make me matt’ is a clever product that can turn any lipstick matt.  If you have an old favourite that is the perfect shade but want it to be matt, then this is for you.  I think it is genius.

Her are some pics and swatches of the lipstick, Make It Matt and Lip Lock (another Saturated Colour product for longer lasting lip colour).

Top pic: Make it Matt (over lipstick)

Middle pic (L to R): swatch of lipstick alone, lipstick with Make it Matt, lipstick with Lip Lock, lipstick with Make it Matt & Lip Lock

Bottom pic: Naked Pink Lipstick

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Okko Skincare:  ‘Try me’ Natural foot balm stick (£21.00 RRP for 50g on the website, £3 on the sheet for 4.5g ‘try me’ size)

Okko Skincare use natural and organic ingredients in their products.  They are proud of their balms in a stick format as this enables you to throw it in your bag without the risk of spills.

I was impressed go easily the stick was to apply to my foot. It instantly turned into an oil. I used it straight out my morning shower but think this would be better before bed to allow the oil more time to penetrate. It has a nice smell and I’d be interested in trying more of their sticks.

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Raw-Ganic:  Refreshing Aloe and Green Tea Facial Wipes (£2.99 on the sheet and website)

Raw-Ganic is an English brand (Oxford).  The brand uses natural and organic ingredients that are environmentally sustainable and affordable.  It is vegan and cruelty free.

I like these wipes. I’ve used them to remove Make-up before bed and in the morning. I also tested them on removing the searches from my arm and it came off easily, even the swatches with Lip Lock. I’m thinking of putting them away in my overnight bag or next to my bed for when I’m too tired to take my makeup off with a full cleanse.

Would I recommend?

I am a regular subscriber to The Pip Box and never been disappointed by the contents.  It was really rewarding to get my box for free and goes to show that the company really do care about their customers.

I’m starting to grow a nice collection of Saturated Colour and Dr Botanics products and I am interested in buying more. I like being introduced to new brands I may not have discovered otherwise like Okko Skincare and Raw-Ganic both organic brands with great ethics.

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Ally Aldridge Beauty, Body Care, Skin Organics Box, Skincare

Review: Skin Organics Beauty Box (March)

What is it?

Skin Organics Clean Beauty is a subscription box with a selection of non-toxic, cruelty-free, organic and natural products.  These may be skincare, body care or beauty products.  Their aim is to help you discover clean, green and cruelty-free products and brands.  They dispatch on 20th of the month.

Cost:  £19.00 (+£3.95 P&P) subscription, UK

I decided to try them out since the products that they are promoting are by the sort of brands I really want to use more of.

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Unboxing my first Skin Organic Box ?

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What was in my box?

The box came with a piece of paper with ‘Rebalance’ on it.  I’m wondering if this is the theme of the box but as I’ve not had one before I’m not sure if there is always a sheet of paper with ‘Rebalance’ written on it.  On the other side, it has details about the products inside and discount codes.

Apothaka face oil

Apothaka:  Rejuvenating face oil – normal/combination skin (website RRP £19.50, Sheet lists price as £19.95)

This oil has been shortlisted for the Beauty Awards 2017 and featured in Vogue.  It arrived in a blue organza bag and a personalized card from the owner of Apothaka.  I have normal to combination skin so this oil is perfect for me.  It is very moisturizing and I’ve only tried it before bed – I’m not sure my make up will stay on it.  It reminds me of Antipodes Divine Face Oil – which is one of the best face oils I have ever used.  I really like this oil. I’m going to continue to use it and see how my skin gets on.

NK naturals cleansing balm

NKnaturals London:  Delicate – Healing Cleansing Balm (website RRP £25.00 for 60ml, Sheet lists price as £15.00 for 30ml)

This balm arrived in a black box but as soon as I saw it I was excited to use it.  It reminded me of my Moa Balm and has a similar texture and colour. However, this seems more ‘delicate’.  I have used it for removing my eye makeup and it is so gentle it hasn’t irritated my eyes at all. My skin has never felt so soft after cleansing.  I’m going to see how my skin reacts to this as I use the pot up but on first impressions, I’m won over!

It smells like honey and lemon.

The Salt Parlour Scrub

The Salt Parlour:  Calm – Salt and Sulphur Scrub (Rose and Shea Butter) (£15.00 RRP for 200g on the website, £5.90 on the sheet for 60g tin)

This tin looks lovely but as I am not a fan of scrubs I thought about giving it to my husband’s best friend who loves scrub and the anchor theme makes it a little more masculine as you think of the marines and sailors but… I don’t think he’s going to get this one.

As soon as I opened the box, the delicious scent of this scrub caught.  I had to sniff everything in the box to figure out what smelt so good.  I decided to give it a go and found that it doesn’t scratch the skin, it scrubs and melts.  It’s full of nourishing ingredient so my skin didn’t feel dry.  This scrub is for keeps!

It’s a beauty shortlist winner and the wooden spoon that came with the box is for scooping it out so you don’t need to use your fingers.  It also has tiny rose petals in it and you can see all the natural ingredients.  I’m not sure my photo has captured how beautiful this product is.

Northburn bath salts

North-burN:  Revive – Luxury Bathing Salts (Orange, Lavender and Palmarosa (£4.00 on the sheet)

I thought the wooden spoon was for the bath salts but it was for the scrub.  I haven’t had a chance to use the bath salts yet but I was looking to buy some so I am really pleased this was in my package and I will keep it ready to try in my cupboard for a special occasion.

Beauty Kubes

Beauty Kubes – Organic shampoo for normal to dry hair  (£1.00 on the sheet)

The ‘Kubes’ are about the size of a sugar cube.  You crumble them in your hand to make a powder, add water to make a paste and then rub it into your hair to form a lather.

I’m not a massive fan of products that I have to make up myself – I’m lazy.   So, I never would have bought it myself.  However, I actually found it incredibly simple, fun and it lathered up quickly.  At first, it felt a little crumbly on my head so perhaps I didn’t get the paste quite right but it soon worked into a lather and didn’t matter.

Would I recommend?

I am really pleased with the contents of the box. I can see myself using up all the products.  I am considering repurchasing the cleansing balm, facial oil and even the scrub!  The Kube was fun but I’m not sure it is my thing and I’ve not yet tried the bath salts.

All the products meet the promise of clean, green and cruelty-free – so if that’s something you desire, this is a great box for you.  I’m going to continue my subscription; I think that says it all.

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