I’ve always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with beauty boxes. I think the concept is great – an accessible way of trying new brands and products without having to shell out for the full sized versions of all them. However, of the many that I’ve bought over the past few years I’ve built up a pretty substantial drawer of mini products that are unused, often receiving multiples of the same one, and only being wowed by one or two of the contents. The key to a good beauty box is for every product to count – otherwise, you might as well spend the equivalent amount of money on one or two products that you know you are really going to love.
‘The key to a good beauty box is for every product to count’
With this in mind, Marks & Spencer have launched their summer beauty box, and after the success of last year’s summer offering and their ever popular beauty advent calendars they were definitely on my beauty radar. Worth over £115, the box is available to purchase in-store 
or online for £15 when spending £40 or more on clothing, beauty or home. The maths on paper adds up in terms of value, especially considering how easy it is to spend £40 in store at the time of year…..school uniform, summer essentials, the latest insta must have dress……
The box contains a curated collection of 10 summer must haves, all of which are skincare and beauty brands available at M&S and, whilst most are travel sized, they are all big enough to get a decent road test and form an opinion on whether you’d purchase again.
I’m always surprised at the range of beauty brands that M&S now stock, with new ones being added all the time, it really is one of my ‘go to’ places for beauty and skincare shopping. The summer beauty box reflects this with big name brands such as Rodial, Ren, Living Proof, This Works and Emma Hardie. I was particularly pleased to see Shay and Blue included in the line up. A boutique British perfume house, this brand creates the most gorgeous scents which rival other big name perfumeries in terms of longevity and creativity. The scent included in the box is Cherry Blossom (10 ml) and it really is summer in a perfume – perfect for brightening up even the greyest of summer days (as we’ve been having lately!)
Other products which caught my eye include the Skyn Iceland Eye Gel patches which have an amazing ability to depuff and reduce redness – particularly useful if you are suffering with hay fever this year, and Rodial’s Vit-C brightening sheet mask – already lined up for my Sunday skin self care this evening!
There’s an SPF from Ultrasun (25ml), one of the leaders in the sun cream market and Living Proof Perfect Hair day Dry Shampoo (92ml)– a brand I’ve talked about before and love due to the fact their products really live up to the claims on the tin. Being almost 100ml, this is a great summer holiday product which would easily last a couple weeks with regular use. Another long 
term favourite brand is Ren, who’s refreshing Atlantic Kelp Shower Gel (100ml) is included. I’ve used Ren skincare over the years and love their results-led formulas that work well for all skin types but particularly sensitive skin.
Throw in a nourishing face mask from M&S’s own award winning beauty line Formula Skin (15ml) and a Vitamin C boosting moisturiser from Emma Hardie (queen of cleansing balms) and you’ve got all the skincare bases covered. Last but by no means least there’s This Works Perfect Legs Skin Miracle (30ml), a colour boosting tinted serum for legs which improves skin appearance and texture and the most gorgeous radiance boosting liquid highlighter (full size) from Rosie for Autograph – this really is an all star line up with no filler!
‘An all star line up with no filler’
The products come in a brightly themed box which screams summer and is available in store and online now! The most important question – is it worth it? It’s a definite yes from me – given the overall value of the products, £15 for this box really is a great purchase if you are planning on shopping in M&S over the summer. Given the sell out of their beauty advent calendars my guess is that they won’t hang around for too long so if you have your eye on one I’d be quick! I for one will fully enjoy my summer beauty box…now, we just need some sun!
Jess X
~ This is a collaborative post and I was very kindly gifted the M&S Summer beauty box with no obligation to review. All opinions are unbiased and my own ~
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