Beauty fans can get No7, Shiseido and Elizabeth Arden products for £4

With Easter in our midst, those of us who don’t – or can’t (hello, my lactose-intolerant friends) – enjoy typical chocolate eggs must settle for something else to celebrate the occasion. Thankfully, there are a plethora of other options that are equally as exciting, especially for the beauty fans amongst us.

With many well-loved brands launching beauty Easter eggs or Easter boxes filled with products from well-esteemed industry big names, it’s a treat that can be savoured long after the bank holiday weekend is over. Like the Glossybox Easter Egg or the Charlotte Tilbury Immediate Skin Revival On The Go Set.

As a beauty writer, I have the pretty delicious job of testing out some of these goodies, and this year I managed to get my hands on the Boots Easter Beauty Box (£55).

With 14 products inside, valued at around £276.88, that’s a saving of £221.88, equating to about £4 a pop. Considering Elizabeth Arden, Cosrx, Fenty Beauty, BareMinerals, and more are inside, it’s quite the steal – especially for those who’ve always wanted to try these brands but can’t quite afford them.

First things first, the beauty products come neatly packaged in a pastel-coloured box, decorated with flowers. Inside, I found tissue paper, which adds an element of luxury, underneath which lay the products.

It’s important to note that while there are 14 products, six are travel – the Shiseido Vital Perfection Advanced Cream, Rituals of Ayurveda Body Cream, Kerastase Resistance, Leave-In Conditioning Treatment Milk, Fenty Beauty Mini Grip Trip Mattifying + Blurring Primer, Elizabeth Arden Retinol and HPR Ceramide Rapid Skin Renewing Eye Cream and the Sol De Janeiro Body Badalada Vitamin Infused Body Lotion.

The Sol De Janeiro Body Badalada Vitamin Infused Body Lotion, like any of the brand’s products, smells divine – gloriously tropical and holiday-inspired. It left my skin nice and soft, too, thanks to its vitamin-infused formula. Similarly, the Rituals of Ayurveda Body Cream is a lovely, lightweight cream that smells heavenly and leaves a lovely, silky smooth finish.

I haven’t tried the Elizabeth Arden Retinol and HPR Ceramide Rapid Skin Renewing Eye Cream yet, as I’m currently battling sensitive skin around my eyes and don’t want to aggravate it with retinol. However, I’m intrigued to see if it’ll make a difference to my crows’ feet and lines when I do.

As for the Shiseido Vital Perfection Advanced Cream, its lovely scent is potent, and it leaves my face looking dewy and hydrated, and feeling super soft. I would have liked a bit more direction on the moisturiser’s packaging, as I had to Google whether it was a day or night cream, but that’s a small gripe.

Because the Elizabeth Arden and Shiseido are 5ml and 15ml, respectively, they’ll have to be used sparingly. Plus, the box contains several face moisturisers so users won’t be without, such as the full-size First Aid Beauty Hydrating Dewy Gel Cream Moisturiser with Hyaluronic Acid + Ceramides.

As a fan of First Aid Beauty, I knew this product was going to slot neatly into my current skincare routine and, upon trying it out, gave my skin a refreshed, plump and dewy finish – and didn’t seem to clog up my combination skin, which is always welcome.

With two eye patch products to revive tired-looking eyes, I tested out the Cosrx The Peptide Collagen Hydrogel Eye Patches, saving the single packet of Patchology Serve Chilled Rosé Eye Gels for a rainy day.

With 60 patches inside, they will last a good while, and when applied to my eyes, they were immediately soothing and cooling. Enriched with four powerful peptides and collagen, the patches work to reduce puffiness, hydrate, and revitalise the under-eye area.

While I didn’t notice a significant difference after the first use, my eyes did appear brighter, and the skin around them looked more alive. I’ll use them regularly and hopefully see more of a change.

Trying out the Fenty Beauty Mini Grip Trip Mattifying + Blurring Primer, the primer inside is light pink and looks to be swirling around the container. One pump of the stuff was enough to cover my face, and my skin did appear smoother and more evened out – plus, not as shiny.

Although it might need time to set before applying foundation, I applied my go-to bareMinerals Complexion Rescue Luminous Skin Tint Stick a few minutes after the primer. I found it pilled underneath – not a good look. So keep that in mind.

The No7 Pro Artist Powder Blush in the shade Pink is a lovely product, too, and while it’s quite pigmented and was rather vibrant on first application, it blended out easily and was toned down with a brush – a sponge works too.

For the lips, the box contains the Iconic London Lip Plumping Gloss in the shade Nearly Nude and the bareMinerals Dewy Lip Gloss Balm in the shade Soul – both of which are gorgeous.

The plumping gloss is a lovely nude shade that rivals (in tone) Charlotte Tilbury’s Pillow Talk Big Lip Plumpgasm. While it doesn’t have the same strong prickling sensation of Charlotte’s formula, it does leave a minty tingle that gives lips a lovely shape – although I must say I didn’t see much difference in the ‘plumpness’ of them.

As for the bareMinerals Lip Gloss Balm, its formula is really nice to apply and is similar in texture and finish to the Clinique Almost Lipstick – although its colour is much brighter and gives the lips a healthy pop. Its formula, too, is nourishing and doesn’t leave them feeling dry – as some lipsticks can do.

I followed this base with the £29 Bloom and Blossom Get Drenched Hydrating Face & Body Mist. I believe that a face mist is a staple in a skincare arsenal, and this one is a lovely multitasking option that hydrates, tones, soothes, and firms your skin.

As a full-sized item, it’s such a good addition to the box, not only smelling unreal and seriously zesty but also rejuvenating the skin, leaving it feeling taut. While I tried it as a setting spray, I’m excited to use it as a refreshing pre-makeup prep or simply as a pick-me-up throughout the day.

One product I was intrigued to try was the Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse® Florale Multi-Purpose Dry Oil. As a sceptic when it comes to oils (I don’t enjoy the feel of them on my skin), I was intrigued by its ‘dry oil’ description. But I needn’t have been worried as once applied it almost instantly seeped into my skin – ie, not leaving that greasy residue – and instead gave it a nice shimmer.

I’ve not yet tried it on my hair or face yet, but am excited to see if it can give my frizzy curls a dose of shine and softness… I’ll report back.

All in all, for its cost, the Boots Easter Beauty Box is a real steal and is perfect for beauty fans who particularly adore skincare. Personally, I would have liked to have seen a little more variation – maybe a mascara in place of another body cream and an eyeshadow in place of the face cream – but that’s if I’m being especially picky.

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