I am a big fan of beauty subscriptions and I recently heard about Latest In Beauty - this company offers pre-made beauty boxes (similar to Birchbox or Glossybox) and they also offer a Build Your Own Box service from a selection of available products. All of these boxes can be purchased without subscription and I will link the website below for you have a look for yourselves.

I chose the Build Your Own Box service for my first order; you can choose how many items you would like to include, either 3, 6 or 9 items. The price differs depending on how many items you choose but you can view the product selection first so you can always change your mind depending on how many of the products appeal to you.

For my first box I chose 6 items - I found there to be a really wide choice of products/brands compared to other similar companies I have used where they seem to only have a few brands stocked at any one time. The selection includes a range of make up, hair, fragrance, bath and skincare products, as well as some men's grooming products which I think is a nice touch. They had a mix of familiar brands and some brands that I had not previously seen; some may see this as a negative but I am always interested to try new things.

So, let's get unboxing! The box itself is really sturdy and I always find a use for these boxes - if you're a beauty hoarder like myself you'll be grateful of another hiding place for your extensive collection! On opening the box, I saw a mountain of packet samples as well as my selected samples safely nestled in shredded tissue paper.



Firstly, the packet samples were a complete surprise but again, a nice touch. I received no less than eight packet samples of the MeruMaya Melting Cleansing Balm; this is described as a gentle cleansing milk which removes make up and impurities. As I have dry skin I usually love cleansing milk as they feel very rich and hydrating so I am excited to give this a try and with so many samples I can even pass a few on to my friends and family.

I also received four packet samples of dr.organic's Dead Sea Mineral Bio-Plasma Mud Mask. This claims to be anti-aging and rejuvenating whilst removing excess oil and impurities. It is also free from parabens, fragrances and harsh preservatives. I will definitely give this a try as I am a huge fan of mud masks and I am always keen to try organic products when possible.

I also received a packet sample of the Emma Hardie Protect and Prime with SPF 30. This is not a brand I am familiar with and I've not had much luck when trying new primers but it's still a nice bonus and I may give it a go to see if I can break my primer curse!

Now, to get in to the samples I chose for myself - I got a little bit over-excited by all the packets back there. The first two products I chose were Rituals Foaming Shower Gel Sensation in the scents Organic Rice Milk & Cherry Blossom and Fresh Eucalyptus & Rosemary. I absolutely love Rituals bath and shower products and have been a loyal user of their Foaming Shower Gel range. The rice milk scent I have in a body scrub and it is a beautiful and gently sweet scent so I already know how much I will love this first shower gel. The second, however, is totally new to me and does certainly have a good eucalyptus scent - definitely not a sweet scent which I know not everybody likes so this is a good alternative if you prefer a fresh scent for your body wash. I, however, am not very picky when it comes to different scents so I'll no doubt enjoy using both.



The next item I selected is the COLAB Dry Shampoo in a floral fragrance. I use dry shampoo quite regularly and I am always on the look out for a truly outstanding one to get me through Glastonbury Festival. This one does have an incredible smell to start off with and also is marketed as being sheer and invisible which is perfect for my dark hair - anyone else with dark hair will know the pain of a dry shampoo turning your roots grey!



Sticking with the hair products, I also received the Invisibobble Traceless Hair Rings - if you've not seen these, they are basically snag-free hair bobbles where the band is spring shaped so it grips your hair without pulling it or leaving kinks. Now, I have extremely thick hair which pretty much does what it likes including eating normal hair bobbles alive and attaching itself to anything I put near my hair, so, snag-free hair bands are absolutely essential to my life. I am very much looking forward to putting these to the test - I've had a quick play around and they do secure my hair very well but we'll see how they hold up to a full day in my straw-bale hair.



Moving on to make up, I received a Pixi Lip Blush in the shade Youth which is very classic light pink. The packaging is very cute and this is a full sized product (the Rituals and COLAB products are decent 50ml sample sizes). The colour doesn't swatch well and I think for anyone with a strong natural lip colour this probably wouldn't show up. It does have a nice feel but generally not that impressed with the colour compared to other lip stain products I have tried.




Finally, I ordered a candle in an orange and clove scent. This is only a small candle but I love those wintry scents so I couldn't resist. It does smell absolutely delicious but the wax hasn't been poured very well as you can see where the wax is breaking or coming away from the sides of the glass. Not a huge issue for me but if I had bought this as a gift I wouldn't feel comfortable giving this to somebody.



Overall, I am impressed by Latest In Beauty so far, particularly with their choice of products and that they offer different price points and no subscription which means you only pay for what you know you want. They do carry some great brands and they seem to update their product selection regularly which not all services offering a build your own box option seem to do. Whilst I am disappointed in the quality of a couple of the products, these are more issues with the brands themselves and I don't mind trying something out even if it's just to find out that it's not for me, that's just the case some times. I think I will be checking back on the LIB site and ordering again at some point in the future if they continue to stock great brands like Rituals and COLAB.

Thanks for reading, have a great day.

NSB x

See for yourself at the Latest In Beauty site.