On Beauty…boxes

Oh yeah, I have a blog thing. Hi.

Lately I’ve been getting way into beauty products and make-up. I blame it on my obsession with nail polish. Nail polish is a gateway that leads to harder things like lipstick and eyeshadow. I’ve been watching beauty vloggers on Youtube, is the stage I’m at. Beauty vloggers, guys. I devote a portion of my time to watching people talk about how to apply make-up, will spend 15 minutes at a time sitting through an entire haul video*. What have I become?!

Anyway, a thing that I keep coming across on my beauty vlogging voyages is the beauty sampler box (I’ve also come across this concept while cruising the food blogs, but I digress). Essentially, it’s a subscription service on a month-by-month basis — usually in one, three, or twelve month increments — and each month, you receive a box filled with around 5-6 beauty products, often sample-sized, but sometimes there are a few full-sized products in the mix. It gives you a chance to try out different brands and products to find out what you like or want before splashing out the cash for it. Birchbox and Glossybox are the big names in the US and Europe respectively, but alas! they’re not available in Australia.

I did a little bit of research, and found that there are a couple of different options available here, such as Lust Have It, I Love This Box, Bella Box and Beauty Basket. Although the Australian boxes are slightly more expensive than their American/European counterparts ($15 rather than $10), I was already enamoured by the idea of getting a bunch of beauty products in the mail.

So I signed up for a Bella Box. It arrived a couple of days ago, and I think it’s pretty rad.

The June Bella Box had seven products, two of them full-sized, so I consider that to be good value for money. This month, the theme was “Winter Escape”, and the products focused on battling the winter blues, so there were quite a few moisturising products (because as we know, cold weather equals dry skin and chapped lips). Here are the things I got in my Bella Box:

I could go into photoshop and number/label these all fancy-like, but I can’t be bothered.

Olive Leaf Drops: the first thing here is four individually-wrapped menthol drops, to be used — I assume — as a preventative measure against sickness. These came with an informational card, and it apparently has “400% more antioxidant power than the equivalent amount of Vitamin C” which means nothing to me, but I suppose that’s impressive.

I am sucking on one now in order to review it. I’m not a big fan of the taste, but I can feel some soothing menthol action, so that’s a plus. Probably not a product I’ll be buying again, though.

Kiss Nail Dress: these are something I’ve been meaning to try out for a while. My slight obsession with cosmetics began when I started painting my nails, and since then my nail art has become more and more ambitious. Nail polish strips are an expense I could never really justify, so I avoided buying them, but I guess I have no excuse not to try them out now.

The pattern I got is called “Corset” and it’s a neon-glittery tigerstripe french tip. Not a pattern I would buy myself, but I’m still excited to try it out. The set comes with enough strips to cover your finger- and toe-nails, and a small emery board, which is nice.

Fan di Fendi perfume: The only bottle of perfume I own was a Christmas gift given to me three years ago, and there’s still a decent amount in there. What I’m saying is, I don’t use perfume that often. This is a small sachet of perfume that I assume can only be used once. I prefer my perfume samples to come in small vials, so I can smell before I have to use it, but whatever. Probably gonna seek this perfume out in a store to see if I like the scent before opening the sachet and unleashing it on my room.

The POREfessional: Benefit is one of those brands that I see in Myer and swoon over its packaging, so I was excited to get a sample of Benefit’s The POREfessional pore balm. It’s a lightly tinted cream that you use to minimise the effect of your pores. I have visible pores, but have never really looked into hiding them, because I’m pretty apathetic when it comes to skin care.

The sample that came in the box is really tiny, only 7.5mLs, but you only need a small amount to get the job done, so it’s a fair amount. The first time I used this, I was kind of amazed at how well it worked, and have been similarly impressed every other time. It’s lightweight and oil-free, so it feels like I don’t have anything on my face. It was something I considered buying, until I looked up the price — $53 a pop. Nice try, Benefit.

Pure Fiji Body Butter: I can’t tell the difference between moisturiser and body butter; I use them both in the same way. Pure Fiji’s body butter is good. That’s really all I can say about it. I use it when my skin gets dry and needs a little hydration. My sample came in Orange Blossom, which is a nice scent. Good.

Pure by Phytocare Papaya Ointment: I am really impressed by the packaging of this particular product, because I’m a sucker for packaging. Besides the nail polish strips, this was the only other full-sized product in my Bella Box, so it’s unfortunate that I don’t really like it. This can be used to soothe and moisturise any cracked or irritated skin, but I’m not a big fan of it’s scent, so that puts me off actually using it. Tragique.

Gatineau Aquamemory Moisture Replenish Cream: this is a hydrating cream for your face and neck, and has a light, fresh scent. Really good for when you get flaky dry patches on your face, which tends to happen a lot in Winter. Please don’t tell me I’m the only one. Anyway, I just looked up the price for the full product and almost wept. Not gonna even put it here. Trust my favourite products to be ridiculously expensive.

The Box: you know how how children tend to ignore the toy and play with the box it came in? yeah, I never grew out of being that child. The Bellabox is made of a nice, sturdy cardboard, and while it’s a little on the small side, it’s still a good size for keeping cosmetics or little trinkets in.

I only signed up for a month, but I’m definitely going to continue with this subscription service. I think it’s excellent value for money, and even if I can’t afford the full-sized products of the samples I liked, at least I know what to get once I’m rich. Or have a full-time job. Whichever comes first.

 

* If you don’t know what a haul video is, you are a better person than I.