I do have to say that the last few monthly beauty boxes have been brilliant and have introduced me to some brilliant products that I would happily buy again. This month was the same and featured some brands that I have come to love, but there were a couple of products that just weren't quite right for my beauty needs. This isn't to say that they aren't lovely, but they didn't deliver the results for me personally.
Luckily, the majority of the box hit the nail on the head, so definitely made up for the slight disappointment. Anyway, without further ado, here's what I thought of May's offerings:
Laidbare DIY! Two-in-One Cleanser and Toner
To start with, this product smells so good! It is great for using in the morning as it has a lovely fresh scent that really wakes you up. It has a gel-like consistency that means you only need the smallest amount, but it isn't stick and melts into a soft lather really easily so goes across your skin well. It also feels as though it is giving your face a good clean so your skin feels fresh and bright afterwards, but is still soft and doesn't feel stripped.
The product says it removes makeup, including eye makeup, which is does really well and easily. However, using it to remove my eye makeup was a big mistake as it stung so so bad. If you have sensitive eyes, do not try this at home, as getting rid of touch waterproof mascara is not worth the pain - I learnt my lesson after one try.
In terms of the toner, it did leave my pores looking more toned than if I just use a standard face wash, however, the results weren't on par with my dedicated toner. When I use both together, the results are great and leave my skin looking and feeling amazing. I have also felt happy to skip toner afterwards when I'm in a rush or before bed because I know this product is definitely doing something on that front. I'd happily buy this cleanser and toner again, especially as I've still got an almost full tube left despite twice daily use and it only costs £6.99.
Ogario London Styling Mist
The idea of a simple spray that gives natural hold and volume is one that I can get on board with, but I've been let down by products before so wasn't overly hopeful. This Ogario product totally did as it promised, though, so now I'm a little bit on love with it.
You give it a shake to activate all the ingredients and spray it on clean, towel dried hair before styling as normal, which is simple enough. I still used my usual serum on the ends and a heat defence spray for straightening to ensure my ends didn't get dry and my colour was protected, but I avoided hair spray or creams. The result was that my hair felt lovely and light, looked and felt soft but didn't have loads of flyaways or frizz. I used it before both letting my hair dry naturally and blow drying it and I still got a good level of hold that wasn't stiff, as well as controllable volume.
I now have to plait my hair loosely before bed as the length means it can get super knotted. I've found that since using this spray, when I wake up in the morning, my hair has a lovely natural wave to it that holds throughout the day without going mental so I don't feel like I need to straighten it. Combined with the fact that there is less product in my hair, I also don't need to wash it as often, which is ideal for maintaining my colour.
I'm really hoping I get to try more Ogario London products in future boxes - especially a hair masque - as this product has made me really happy.
PHB Ethical Beauty Gentle Moisturiser
For starters, you need the tiniest amount of this moisturiser as a little bit will cover your whole face and your neck. I got a full-sized pot and I have barely used any so far, meaning you'd end up paying just £16.95 for months worth of moisturisation, which is pretty amazing. The moisturiser sinks into your skin and doesn't leave it feeling sticky, which makes it a great makeup base. I found that my skin felt fully moisturised all day without getting greasy, even in super hot weather.
It also smells great, which is a nice plus early in the morning. So many moisturisers designed for sensitive skin just smell like chemicals as they have no added fragrance. While this one doesn't have any added fragrance, you can still smell the natural shea butter and a touch of fruitiness from the apricot, which is lovely but not overpowering. This just underlines the fact that PHB Ethical Beauty is all about the best natural ingredients with no added nasties, which I'm a huge fan of.
I'm still happily using this moisturiser and will be for a while. You can also get a few different variations for different skin types, so I think I may give the brightening moisturiser a try in the future.
John Masters Organics Lavender and Rosemary Shampoo
This time around, I knew what to expect with this shampoo in terms of lather, mostly that it won't foam up much at all. I always rinse and repeat when washing my hair as I like to leave as long as possible between washes, which means oils and products can build up. Just as with the last John Masters shampoo, the first application resulted in zero lather at all, while the second produced a small amount of bubbles. This makes it hard to tell if I've managed to clean all of my hair and kind of makes me want to shampoo it a third time - although I didn't as that would strip it way too much.
Luckily, after rinsing my hair out the second time, it did feel nice and clean and my scalp felt fresh, so I know it did it's job. My hair - as well as the bathroom - also smelled amazing, with the lavender and rosemary scent being floral and earthy all once.
Unfortunately, when I combined it with the final product in my box on one wash and my usual conditioner on a second, it just didn't do a lot for my hair and I was left with ends that felt really dry and just generally unmanageable hair. This is probably totally down to the fact that the shampoo is not the right option for my hair and nothing against the brand - I've tried other products from John Masters and they've been great. I'd like to try other hair products from this brand that are more suited to me needs in order to give a better review in future.
John Masters Organics Citrus and Neroli Detangler
This conditioner smells great, especially as I'm a big fan of neroli as a fragrance due its uplifting properties. It's also silky smooth, although not as thick as my usual conditioner so I felt like I needed to use extra to coat my hair completely. I also ended up leaving it in for a few extra minutes because of this, in order to get as much moisture from it as I possibly could.
When I used it with the above shampoo, the results left a lot to be desired. In fact, my hair felt so dry once I had left it dry naturally, that I ended up touching up my colour so I had an excuse to wash it again and to use a treatment. I tried it again with my colour-safe and moisturising shampoo and the results were a little bit better, although not on par with what I usually use. My ends weren't quite as dry but they still felt more brittle than usual, however, my scalp felt clean and my hair didn't get as greasy as quickly.
Again, I think the main issue is that this product isn't right for my hair. While it says suitable for all hair types, it's hard to make a conditioner that is great for greasy and dry hair, which is why it has taken me so long to find the products I use now. John Masters does have conditioners and hair treatments that seem more suited to my hair type so I would like to try these, while I'm sure others will get on a lot better with this one than I did.