July BellaBox Unboxing

This month's box is aptly named 'Beauty Wanderer' and is all about travel.

Fitting since July quite the popular time for us Aussies to head overseas to escape the Winter weather. This month's bounty consists of travel suitable products - all of which I would consider a suitcase necessity.

Here's what I got:

ModelCo Shadow Stick in 'Costa Rica'

Despite looking like a mini tampon (sorry), the slide-up container is incredibly convenient. The creamy eyeshadow glides over the eyelid wonderfully and is easily blended out. This shade, with it's touch of shimmer, is the perfect inner eye highlight when building a smoky eye. For such a light shade, I was actually surprised by how pigmented the formula is. Being both buildable and crease resistant, it also looks great on top of powdered eyeshadow for that extra pop, and also doubles as an excellent highlighter for your cheekbones and brow bone.

RRP: $39.00 (Pack of 4)

Nuxe Cleansing Milk with Rose Petals

This has such a luxurious name.

I've tried several creams and milks over the years and they have all left an unpleasant waxy coating on my face, even after rinsing with water. This one feels great on my skin and rinses clean though the directions say you can just tissue it off. It has an rich, smooth texture and claims to cleanse and remove make-up while protecting the skin from dryness with a non-oily finish. I found this to be super gentle on my sensitive skin, which was left feeling very smooth, and nourished, minus those tight, dry spots around my nose and mouth which have always been an issue for me. As far as the make-up removing properties, it isn't great at removing eye make-up of any kind - even the non-waterproof variety. I'd recommend using a good micellar solution beforehand and following with this as a facial cleanser, rather than make-up remover. The 'Rose Petal' line is geared toward more "mature" skin but I think it would be great for sensitive skin of any age. I'm not a huge fan of rose scents, however in this product has only a light, mild rose smell - it's clean and pleasant and does not bother me at all. 

RRP: $26.99

Bioderma Atoderm Intensive Soothing Emollient Care

This claims to deeply nourish skin, restructuring the barrier, leaving it soft and moisturised and more resistant to atopic skin conditions (eczema etc.). The texture is thick, creamy and there is no scent, making it perfect for sensitive skin. On top of being sensitive, my legs have always been dry and unbearably itchy and no matter how much cream I slather on, nothing has worked long-term; I tried this last night and it instantly calmed the irritation and stopped the itch - heaven. The cream was instantly absorbed deep in to my skin where it's needed most and didn't leave a waxy or greasy residue. It spreads out so easily, a little bit goes a long way. I'm definitely buying myself a full sized bottle as soon as possible. This is actually a Godsend.

RRP: $32.99

Palmolive Body Polish Shower Gels in 'Passionfruit' & 'Strawberry'

These adorable 45mL bottle are the perfect size for my gym bag.

I love how natural Palmolive has gone with their body polish line - each bottle contains real fruit extracts, which equals antioxidants, and gritty seeds, which equal great exfoliators. These are somewhere between sugar scrubs, and regular shower gel - they are far more gentle than a rough sugar scrub, but far more effective at exfoliating those cells than a regular gel. These lather up so luxuriously and my skin was left feeling smooth and moisturised. The smell? Ah-mazig! They smell so good I could eat them (note: do not eat shower gel), and the cheerful scent follows me around all day.

RRP: $6.79 each

Neutrogena Make-up Remover Cleansing Towelettes

I've always tried my best to avoid make-up removing wipes. They're sticky, they sting, they strip your skin.. they're not fantastic. I rarely need wipes as I have gotten pretty good at washing my face before bed every night but I've always got a pack on my table on the rare occasion I'm feeling too lazy (read: drunk). These wipes are far more gentle than any other brand I've tried, and are pretty decent at removing make-up. The wipes themselves are soft and the slight residue they leave behind feels like a lotion, not greasy or sticky at all and absorbs quickly, leaving my skin unexpectedly soft and moisturised. These are scented, however, so it can be a bit scary around the eyes if you're sensitive to that kind of thing. Despite the scent, these didn't necessarily sting my eyes (although a bit of scrubbing was required to remove my waterproof mascara). I could feel a tingle, but there was no unpleasant burn. Best of all, a tenderness I had noticed around my eyes when using other wipes wasn't present at all.

RRP: $7.99

Essie Nail Polish in 'Haute in the Heat'

Another nail polish to add to my ever increasing pile. Essie is by far my favourite nail polish brand, so it's always a welcome addition to my BellaBox. The colour I received is what I could best describe as raspberry. It's a bright, hot pink that would look fabulous during the Summer.
RRP: $8.95

BONUS: Compeed Blister Patch

not photographed

RRP: $12.95 (Pack of 5)

All in all, I definitely enjoyed this month's box. It came in wonderful time considering I'm going away in three weeks, I don't doubt that most of these samples will make their way in to my luggage, and anything left over will surely become a gym bag/handbag staple.