The November Love Lula Beauty Box

This month's box was top - and bottom - heavy on the exfoliators 😜as befits this time of year

THE PERFECT V GENTLE EXFOLIATOR


The inclusion of this had mixed comments on the Love Lula beauty group. Some thought it was silly and frivolous, others thought it was a good idea and pointed out that it could always be used for multi-tasking. I first reviewed the Perfect V brand here. They are a luxury Scandinavian brand catering for that often neglected part of the body, the bikini line. The exfoliator makes sense. Exfoliating is a good idea before shaving or other hair removal, but how many ladies (or indeed gents, let's not be sexist in this era of manscaping) bother? 
The cream is white, fairly scrubby and not very perfumed. It's gentle as the name suggests. I used it on my bikini line and under my arms and I liked it. The instructions suggest using 2-3 times a week to prevent red bumps and ingrown hairs. Now Love Lula subscribers will have no excuse for a shoddy bikini line this winter 😊

Ingredients: Aqua (Water), Cetearyl Alcohol, Hydrogenated Jojoba Oil, Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis (Sweet Almond) Oil, Glyceryl Stearate, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Glycerin, Coco-Caprylate, Glyceryl Stearate SE, Cetearyl Glucoside, Vaccinium Myrtillus (Bilberry) Extract, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Benzyl Alcohol, Potassium Sorbate, Glyceryl Caprylate, Octyldodecyl Myristate, Sodium Stearoyl Glutamate, Xanthan Gum, Saccharum Officinarum (Sugar Cane) Extract, Capparis Spinosa Fruit Extract, Tocopherol, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Extract, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Salicylic Acid, Hippophae Rhamnoides Fruit Oil, Sodium Phytate, Acer Saccharum (Sugar Maple) Extract, Rubus Chamaemorus Fruit Extract, Vaccinium Myrtillus Fruit Extract, Citric Acid, Rosa Canina Fruit Extract, Sambucus Nigra Flower Extract, Vaccinium Vitis-Idaea Leaf Extract, Sorbic Acid, Sodium Benzoate

ALTEYA ORGANICS ROSEHIP OIL

A rosehip oil is always going to go down well with me, I love the stuff. And Alteya have a great track-record of gorgeous products. This isn't any different. It's a lovely, light, non-greasy oil that's equally great under make-up as it is at bedtime. My product of the month.


URBAN VEDA FACIAL POLISH

Although Urban Veda has a lot of fans and is now stocked in Waitrose, sadly their ingredients don't agree with me. I've been outspoken about Urban Veda's green credentials before. I don't believe a company who uses skin sensitising chemicals like MI (Methylisothiazolinone) and MCI (Methylchloroisothiazolinone) should be calling themselves a natural beauty skin care line and I wouldn't recommend it for those with sensitive skin, although of course everyone's different. I'll pass this on to someone else. 

NATURA SIBERICA HAND CREAM

I have a sneaking admiration for Natura Siberica. I don't know if it's their jazzy packaging, their fabulous prices or their exotic Siberian ingredients. I haven't used a huge amount of their stuff - just the shower gel and some of the baby range - but I've been happy with it. I've also given some of the range as gifts.
This lovely tube contains sea buckthorn oil, amaranth oil and cranberry seed oil. 

Their ingredients are not as green as I would like and there is some synthetic parfum in this, but it's a good cream to use overnight and what a great stocking filler.


REN GLYCOL LACTIC MASK

While Ren are hit and miss with their ingredients, apart from that, it's their parent company I have issues with. 
While I was looking at an article about the Unilever takeover, I read this quote from Ren CEO Antony Buck: 

"Unilever is a great company with great principles..."

😂😂😂😂

When I stopped laughing and picked myself up off the floor I realised that money really does talk and for former small companies like Ren and Pukka tea, ethics just do not come into it when the big boys come calling.

I guess I'm digressing from the review. 

Ren have a good recycling ethos and I appreciate how they seem to have stuck to their guns, but I wonder how long it will be before they enter the Chinese market. I can't see past their parent company, so sadly I can't review this one and will pass it on.

Ingredients: Aqua (Water), Glycerin, Polysorbate 60, Lecithin, Lactic Acid, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Ribes Nigrum (Black Currant) Seed Oil, Citrus Limon (Lemon) Fruit Extract, Xanthan Gum, Vaccinium Macrocarpon (Cranberry) Seed Oil, Maltodextrin, Sodium Lactate, Carica Papaya (Papaya) Fruit Extract, Ananas Sativus (Pineapple) Fruit Extract, Glyceryl Caprylate, Passiflora Edulis Fruit Extract, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Fruit Extract, Parfum* (Fragrance), Citrus Nobilis (Mandarin Orange) Peel Oil, Citrus Grandis (Grapefruit) Peel Oil, Citrus Tangerina (Tangerine) Peel Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Flower Oil, Alcohol Denat., Benzyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Potassium Sorbate, Tocopherol, Hippophae Rhamnoides Oil, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Extract, Sodium Bisulfite, Citral, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool * 100% Natural Fragrance - Parfum 100% Naturel

In summary, this month's box was a mixed bag and for many, it hit the spot. While two of the products didn't do it for me, the other three more than made up for it and I enjoyed using them.



You can subscribe to the Love Lula Beauty Box here

*I review the beauty box as part of my role as a member of the Love Lula Accredited Blogger Programme. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.