She Said Beauty November: Useful Enough.

I feel like my harshness towards my first She Said Beauty was a little bit hasty as to be fair to them they seem to have made it up a little bit to me this month. At first glance this box doesn't look particularly exciting or innovative, but saying that, I think I've got some really useful products out of it and have definitely found a couple of things that I would be likely to repeat-buy.

Then again, given the slight delight with this month's box and the disappointment with the last one, I'm incredibly on edge as to how next month's box will turn out. I definitely wouldn't recommend bulk-buying subscription boxes unless you're really certain of what you'll get out of them because, especially with She Said Beauty, I found there's little chance of getting out if you aren't completely satisfied.

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[Yardley: Royal English Daisy Eau de Toilette]

After the praise above, I guess this conflicts it a bit but this perfume was pretty gross. I really don't like this kind of applicator anyway but the perfume itself is not that nice. There's not really a specific smell I feel like I could put to it, but it kind of just smelt like alcohol, and certainly not daisies. At £14.99 for a full-size 125ml bottle, I would hardly say it's luxury and although I don't like it, for that price I would expect a full-sized version that She Said is so well-known for.

[Murray's Manicure: Matchbook Nail Files]

These were a bonus item in this month's box and although my nails are really short at the moment - thanks to being a past-nail biter and having not really gotten the hang of cutting them properly - they're sure to come in really useful once my nails are long again!

[Weleda: Wild Rose Smoothing Night Cream]

I got this cream as a sample in a Glossybox when I was still subscribed, and I really liked it then with the only real downside being the price tag. Rose things will never grow on me, but this cream is great, especially as it lasts for ages considering the size of this sample.

[Collection 2000: Primed & Ready Smoothing Make Up Primer]

This is the stand-out product for the whole box for me, I would have shown it on my face but it's been super blotchy lately and although it works really well I don't have enough confidence to show you a before picture. Considering it's a drugstore brand and only £5.99, this is an amazing primer and I'll definitely be getting it again. It's smooth, matt and lightweight and has a similar application to Benefit's Porefessional only with a much more purse-friendly price. It definitely makes a difference to applying my foundation and I'd recommend it to anyone, even over the more expensive Stila One Step Correct that I got last month.

[Redkin: Smooth & Lock Shampoo and Conditioner]

I can let tiny samples slide every time if I never get another sample like this again. These really do demonstrate the poor value for money of beauty boxes sometimes, these could easily have come slipped into a magazine, hardly luxurious, this was good shampoo and conditioner though. My hair was left feeling light but there wasn't much in the packet, only just enough for all my hair, which isn't exactly long at the moment so how it would have worked when it was longer, I don't know.

[MakeBelieve Enhance: Luminize Skin Highlighter]

I don't really use highlighters as a standalone product because I find it easy enough to pick up concealers that double up as highlighter, plus this one was kind of useless, it just sort of blended into nothing, I wasn't a fan and I'm not sure what else I can really say about it.

[So...?: Brit Body Spray]

This is a little nostalgic for me as I remember Impulse being 'the one' when I was 15, and although this is pretty strong, it's quite nice for what it is and useful to pop in my bag if I'm feeling particularly stingy with my perfume.

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So, I suppose I'm still left a little disheartened with this month's She Said box, even with the miracle find of Collection 2000's Primed & Ready, did any of you receive this month's box, I sure hope you had a little more luck than I did.

She Said Beauty October: Fingers Crossed

Under normal 'beauty box' circumstances I would have shown the individual products I received, but given the poor quality of this month's 'She Said Beauty' box, I haven't really bothered. I subscribed to She Said Beauty as an alternative to Glossy Box as I finally had some pennies and really felt like I could afford to have beauty boxes again. I'd also read and heard great things, and in magazines not just on my favourite blogs so I was pretty disappointed. Saying that most reviews I've seen of this months box are hardly shining, here are my thoughts on this months offering:

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Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Lotion - Don't get me wrong, this is a brilliant product and one I've used before, the texture is lovely and it smells great. It's actually great quality for a drugstore product, but that's exactly what it is. The reason I subscribe to beauty boxes is to try new things, and while they wouldn't necessarily know that I've tried it, it's not particularly luxurious, particularly when they could have been a little less stingy and just stuck a full-size bottle in.

Myvitamins Total Acai Berry - Another product I've tried before, it's quite a nice idea to load customers up on vitamins as the nights draw in and the inevitable annual flu bug makes the rounds, but I thought it quite an odd thing to stick in a beauty box despite the antioxidant properties.

B. liv Off With Those Heads - I've done a classic review mistake and haven't actually tried this one yet, I'm very skeptical about it though as the sample is tiny and doesn't seem big enough to do a proper test. Blackheads are something that I have problems with though so it will be interesting to see if it works rather than just stinging like some other products I've tried.

Biao Rejuvenating Night Creme - I actually received two of these in my box. I think the sachet samples cheapen this product slightly though, I don't see why I should be paying what I am to get it when it could easily be picked up as a sample elsewhere - but that's the trick of subscription boxes sometimes, isn't it? I don't actually think this was much nicer than the usual CleanStart night cream I use and was actually quite greasy so I don't think I'll bother with my second packet anyway.

Cellnique Advanced Bio Renewal Masque - This demonstrates the issue I had with Glossbox, it's not really something that's appropriate for my age. Maybe I should start worrying about these kind of things but I'm just not ready to take the plunge. The sample provided was so tiny that I was completely put off even bothering.

Amy Childs Fragrance by Jigsaw ESL - I don't see the stigma of 'celebrity' perfumes as I'm a believer that if it smells nice, it just does. I'm a little irked by this selection though as Amy Childs isn't even close to someone I have the tiniest bit of admiration for. That aside, the perfume has some lovely fresh, citrus tones but is a little stronger than something I would normally go for.

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I didn't want to come across as too negative for my first She Said Beauty review, but I can't help it when I feel so much more disappointed than I ever did when subscribed to Glossybox.I just don't really know where to begin, it doesn't seem as though it was really thought out at all and although the quality of the products is good, over half of them are just so tiny that it's hardly even worth trying them out as they're unlikely to give a fair result.

I feel pretty gutted that I signed up to a three month subscription now but I'm hoping that the next box will really blow me away. You do get quite a lot of products for your money though, I just hope it's bigger and more relevant to me next month.