Bella Box vs. Lust Have It!

With the craziness of December last year I never got around to doing my monthly beauty subscription box posts. This year I'm looking at saving money and using up a lot of what's in my makeup and beauty collection so I'm going to unsubscribe to one if not both boxes - at least for a little while. So basically this post is going to outline the pro's and con's of each box and hopefully with your help it'll make my decision to unsubscribe from either box a little bit easier.

I'll start with Bella Box (pictured is the contents of December 2012's box)

Pros:

• Affordable Price $15.00 per month 
• Monthly membership is available and you can unsubscribe at any time 
• Always include a great amount of quality products
• Bellabox has a great rewards system 
• Great brands including Australis, Benefit, Bioderma, Bobbi Brown, Sally Hansen etc.
• Comes in a great box that can be used for storage later on  
• Their online store has great variety 
• Ships early in the month - usually arrives 2nd/3rd week at the latest 

Cons: 

• Shares some of the same brands as Lust Have It which can result in double up's (not their fault but has happened) 

Lust Have It (also picture is their December 2012 box) 

Pros: 

• Affordable price $14.95 
• Usually contain 5 samples in each box 
• They also have an online store which you can buy products featured in their box 
• Also have a great range of brands including Lush, Laura Mercier, NYX, Benefit, Batiste
• Have VIP presents for annual members
• They seem to be expanding and fixing their business  

Cons: 

• Have had product issues for the past couple of months, products in boxes have been sub par
• Come in a makeup bag - not a huge issue but I have so many they're just going to waste at least you can use boxes for storage
• Their samples haven't been as generous as other boxes 
• Shipping - they seem to constantly be having shipping issues, boxes almost always arrive in the last week for me or sometimes even on the last day of the month. 

So as you can see I've discovered more cons for Lust Have It than Bellabox but on the other hand I have thoroughly enjoyed a lot of Lust Have It boxes. I think they just need to go back to how they were at the beginning. I know each brand has a lot of different pro's and con's and I'm sure I've probably missed some. So at this stage I'm torn on wether I should stay subscribed to Lust Have It, Bellabox or either of them.  

What are your thoughts, who would you choose? 

Obsessed: Candles!

Starting in 2013 I wanted to start incorporating a few other lifestyle things we are interested in including non fashion and beauty products we are obsessed with. So to kick off our new 'obsessed' posts is my current obsession with candles! 

I burn candles a lot, becuase I love the scent filling up my room,  I just think it makes the room feel nicer as a whole. My current favourites have been these three (note: pics were obviously taken before using them) The Lucia damask rose and cypress, Slatkin & Co frosted cupcake and cranberry pear bellini. 

First of all there are a couple of diffences between these candles, the Lucia one is actually soy and here is an article on why soy candles are a lot better than wax candles. Not only that, but this candle smells gorgeous, it's made wuth 100% pure frangrance which means the scent will completely fill up your room. Another plus for this candle is the fact it burns really well, for a little candle it has a really long burning time of 20 hours. I also love the packaging of this candle, the little box is so pretty and I love the simplicity of the actual candle. The Lucia candle is available here at Sapone Soap

The other two Slatkin & Co candles smell ridiculously good, you've probably heard a lot about these if you watch some of the American youtubers. Once again the scent of these can fill up a whole room, my particular favourite is frosted cupcake because it's so sweet and smells delicious. Unfourtunately they're very hard to get your hands on here in Aus but you can try eBay because I've definitely seen them on there before otherwise befriend an American and hope they might send some your way.


What is your favourite brand and scent of candle? Can you recommend some to me?

*The Lucia candle was sent to me, but in no way does it affect my opinion of this product. My reviews are 100% unbiased. 

Best of 2012!

(Megan's favs)

(Katelyn's favs)

What were your favourite products of 2012?

"What I got for Christmas" 2012!

I have seen a few of these posts getting around so I thought I would share what I got for Christmas. I know it's already the 4th of January, but it's better late than never, right?

As you can see I did pretty well for myself this year. I also got a few things that aren't in the photos (ironing board, tripod, cash etc.) but these were the main things. I was very happy with all the gifts I received.

You may notice, I got a video camera! I was super excited when I opened it because I have wanted a new one for such a long time. I can't wait to start making more videos for you.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and got everything you wanted. If you have done this post feel free to leave a link in the comments so I can check it out as I love seeing what people get given because I'm nosey like that.

What was your favourite gift this Christmas?

Pop Basic

With so many beauty boxes out there it sometimes seems like fashion is missing out, that's why I was so excited to hear about Pop Basic, a fashion service that releases monthly micro collections. Every month they will release their three piece collection which will include one basic and two trend items, and a bonus beauty or lifestyle surprise from one of their partnering brands.

The prices of the micro collections will range from $50 - 100 for the three items and surprise gift with free shipping worldwide.  You are also able to opt in each month when the micro collections are released - and you can purchase items individually.

If you sign up here you can score yourself a $10 credit before their launch. 

I honestly can't wait for Pop Basic to launch, I'm excited to see what they come up with. Below are some pictures of their first micro collection look book, I love the polka dot shirt and could definitely see myself pairing that with lots of different outfits.



Another really cool thing about Pop Basic is that they include a style guide which is entirely created by the Pop Basic community. To be included in the style guide you can create looks using Polyvore, I made a look using the polka dot shirt and I'm very happy with how it turned out - this is totally something I'd wear.

Would you wear the outfit I created? What do you think of Pop Basic will you be signing up? 

*Pop Basic did approach me, however I am not being compensated for this post I honestly think it's a great idea and I wanted to share it with you lovely people