Birchbox x Millie Mackintosh July 2016 | Review

Hands up who’d like a never ending summer?

Well, we aren’t likely to get one in tis country, and apart from the odd sunshiny day, so far Britain’s summer has been dark, damp and chilly.

So what better way to inject a little summer cheer into your life than a box full of beauty treats?

July 2016 Birchbox is a collaboration with Millie Mackintosh, formerly of trash reality show Made In Chelsea and now full time slasher (you know... model/fitness guru/Instagrammer/whatever.)

I’ve always loved Millie’s style ever since her MIC days, so although I cancelled all my box subs ages ago when the contents started to get a bit predictable, I signed back up after seeing her Birchbox collab.

The box arrived looking gorgeous with its stunning watercolour print, and I was very intrigued to see what goodies lay inside.

LOC X Millie Ultra Gloss Lip Pencil Bohemian Rose

£9.00

Lip products are my number one favourite item to receive in beauty boxes. Mainly because I really like to try new brands and formulations, and there aren’t many colours that I wouldn’t wear.

I’m also wild for anything in a crayon format as it makes life so easy and they’re great for travelling with.

So this gloss pencil was designed by Millie herself. I’m a big fan of her lashes and general approach to beauty which seems to be a natural glamour, so I was expecting to love this....and I do!

The shade is really pretty, a universally flattering mid toned pink. Its also very comfortable to wear and leaves your lips feeling hydrated.

A beautiful product for summer- easy, breezy and gorgeous.

John Frieda Luxurious Volume 7 Day Volume In Shower Treatment

£9.99

Alongside the full size LOC lip crayon, this months Birchbox also contained a full size John Frieda hair treat, either this or the Anti-Frizz Primer.

I really like John Frieda products so I was really pleased to see something from them in the box, especially as I had never tried this treatment. As someone obsessed with thickening products, I can say that the In Shower Treatment is right up my alley and I’m so excited to test it out.

It contains protein and keratin to build up the hair volume and condition. You wash and condition as normal, pop some of this on, leave it for a couple of minutes then rinse.

The heat from your blow dryer then activates the ingredients and locks in lasting volume until the next time you wash. I

ts easy to use and promises a full look that goes the distance. The pump bottle is also easy to use and neat. I’ve always gotten great results from John Frieda products so I’m expecting amazing things from this little turquoise bottle.

Nails Inc Nail Varnish in Old Bond Street

£15 at full size

Next up, a polish from Nails Inc which is another brand I love. Birchbox seem to have read my mind this month.

I’m not a massive nail polish person and I’m not into nail art or anything, but I do collect Nails Inc polishes and if I fancy a colour change I paint them over my gels.

At first though, I really wasnt sure about this colour. Its a deep indigo purple and its not a shade I would pick myself. All the polishes I saw in other peoples box reveals were pink, which I would have preferred. But this colour has sort of grown on me.

For one thing, its not a shade I have in my collection at all. For another, it could look cool on toes or with the right outfit – against something white it might really pop.

Beauty boxes are all about trying new things, after all, so Ill give this a go and who knows, it may just become my favourite shade of the summer.

Caudalie Polyphenol C15 SPF20 Anti Wrinkle Protect Fluid

£29 at full size

Another exciting item, as I’ve wanted to try Caudalie skincare for a while having heard good things. Plus, I find it really hard to track down decent moisturisers in a travel size for when you go away, so this is perfect.

The formula uses resveratrol, an anti-oxidant found in grapes, to fight wrinkles. There’s also Vitamin C to stimulate cell renewal and battle pigmentation, hyaluronic acid to plump and hydrate and a decent SPF to boot.

It has all the key ingredients to make a brilliant day cream. For some reason, I had always assumed Caudalie was really expensive, but if it lives up to all the promise, £29 for the full size is not bad at all.

I’m very keen to sample this and discover if it could be my holy grail day cream.

Vasanti Brighten Up Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator

£26 at full size

This isn’t a brand I’ve heard of before, but its always good to discover a new line of skincare.

Again, Im pleased to receive a facial exfoliator as that is a product I use a lot and would want to take away with me and finding decent travel sizes is really hard.

I also like that this is an exfoliator without being a gritty scrub, as I don’t like the feeling of those on my skin. This uses papaya enzymes to deep clean, smooth and brighten.

The micro crystals slough away dirt and dead skin cells and aloe vera and coconut hydrate. Strangely, I’ve tried a papaya enzyme exfoliant before from Elemis and I really liked it, so Im looking forward to using this one as well.

Lord and Berry Smudgeproof Waterproof Eyeliner

So this was a bonus item for signing back up to the box and you cant go wrong with a black eye pencil, can you? You know you’ll always have a use for one.

I have tried Lord and Berry many moons ago, and I didn’t get on with them very well, but I’m prepared to reconsider if this does what it promises to do.

I really like the idea of this being waterproof. I’ve lost count of the times my liner has smudged out by lunchtime and I love the idea of having the softness of a pencil with the staying power that normally only comes with a gel or a liquid liner.

Verdict

This months box is a blinder! I had genuinely lost interest in this and Glossybox and the products I was receiving were more miss than hit. There were just too many repeats or things I had no interest in.

But this box was tailor made for me, with a great mix of items, brands I’ve wanted to try alongside brands I love and all the essentials for a great summer.

Nice one!