Before I comment on the contents I must give my thoughts on the furore going on over on Facebook regarding delivery of the boxes. Here's what their website says about dispatch:
There are also some allegations that Joliebox were 'lying' about the day of dispatch because Royal Mail delivery takes less time than the.....well Joliebox use TNT post who state the following in their terms of service:
"2 day service - Mail collected (day 0) and no less than 98% of total volumes delivered to Royal Mail on the first working day following collection (day 1). Royal Mail aims to make delivery on working day 2 of 95% of total volumes received from TNT Post UK Ltd. 3 day service - Mail collected (day 0) and no less than 98% of total volumes delivered to Royal Mail on the second working day after collection (day 2). Royal Mail aims to make delivery on working day 3 of 95% of total volumes received from TNT Post UK Ltd."
I'm unsure which service Joliebox use and I know, I know, Glossybox use Royal Mail tracked,with the same £2.95 charge and I have asked Joliebox why they chose TNT. I can't remember which service they used when they launched but I know they had problems. I'll update you when they respond. The boxes were dispatched on Friday 17th February and mine arrived 3-4 working days later, just like it says on their website; so I'm more than happy with that. Phew! Right then, so onto the box. As per the photograph at the top of this post we were promised "The Beauty Box Re-invented in February". Exciting eh? Well, don't get too excited because it's the same matte black box we received in December but the endless shredded tissue paper (I say endless because little strands of it seem to turn up everywhere!) our products are inside a black drawstring bag. For packaging the bag is nice enough, it reminds me of one of those semi-disposable bags you get on airlines with your socks and things inside. It also fits perfectly on your head for fancy dress but I'll spare you a photo of that ;-) Onto this months products:
The theme of this month is 'Nice and Natural from top to toe' and the menu card promises 'some replenishing and natural treats to comfort you during the frosty weather'. No sign of frost here in deepest darkest Wiltshire right now but I don't want to tempt fate by saying there won't be again this year!
1. Jane Iredale Just Kissed Lip and Cheek Stain in Forever Pink
At first glance I thought this was a pleasant enough pale corally balm type product and swatched some on my hand about an hour ago. It appeared a pleasing pale pink and I rubbed it off, well what I could rub off as it did indeed provide a stain. I'd already slathered it over my lips in a balm type manner and forgotten about it until I passed a mirror - Eek! It'd only gone an transformed itself into a rosey pink....unfortunately my balm application is pretty slap dash so I looked like a cross between Pennywise the Clown from Stephen King's IT and the lead singer of The Cure from back in the day......(good job I'd removed the Joliebox bag from my head by then I suppose). It then occurred to me what it reminded me of......those color change lipsticks? Do you remember the ones that looked green in the tube but turned pink on your lips? I checked the description on the card and it states 'an all natural multi-purpose stain that adjusts its color to your mood and temperature'. (If you're a geek like me and want to know the science behind this you can read all about it here). So a real blast from my youthful past but this one has Olive butter, Avocado butter, Rose and beeswax too!
The full sized product is 2.3 g and retails at £17.99. I have no idea how much is in this sample but it's pretty small maybe a third full size?
2. Lavera Basis Sensitive Organic Hand Cream 20ml
I've already used two of these from my Latest In Beauty boxes and I do like it. Especially the smell, I adore the smell....it reminds me of something I just can't quite put my finger (no pun intended) on what it is. If you know let me know. This retails at approx £1 3. Macadamia Deep Repair Masque 30 ml sachet
Now Joliebox describe this as 'full size' and to be fair you can purchase this 30ml sachet for £3 but I think it stretches expectations somewhat. That said, I 'll definitely use this soon as it's a perfect product for my thick, coarse , frizz-prone locks. 4. Kimia Rejevenating Facial System 1ml/3ml
I'd never heard of this UK brand before, nor have I ever seen a product like this before. There are two steps 1.You pat a few drops of the facial oil (small vial) into your skin. 2. You spray six pumps of the Hydra-Activator into you hand and apply. (Is it just me of does Hydra-Activator remind you of a line from Greased Lightening?) Anyway it smells absolutely divine and feel great on the skin. Apparently this is Victoria Beckham's favorite. The full sized 30/100ml retails at a whopping £74 which mean this 'not for resale sample' is a notional £2.46's worth. You can read more about it here. 5. Taaj Himalaya Micellar Water 100ml
This Ayurveda brand is new to me too and has the unusual twin city branding of 'Paris - New Delhi'. It's a French Pharmacy Caudalie-a-like Cleansing Water with extracts of Chamomile and Green Tea. I think I'll get to work with this now to remove my clown lips! I can only find one UK outlet for this product and it retails at £8.60 for 500ml here. So this gives an aprox value of £1.72 As promised, new subscribers also received the Joliebox Concealer brush we recieved in our last box back in December. So my overall thoughst on this box? Well to be honest the first thing I did was start adding up the 'value' of all the products (approx £8.16 plus the value of the Jane Iredale) and it was only when I was scrambling around looking for a lipstick the approx same size of the full sized Lip and Cheek Stain to compare the sample and approximate the value that I stopped myself and ask why I'd signed up to Beauty Boxes in the first place. Sure, I was enticed by the very high value of the early boxes from both Glossybox and Boudoir Prive but I also really enjoy trialling a selection of products I wouldn't always purchase myself. Again, there is a lot of disappointment online regarding both this box and the Glossybox - As you'll know from my review of Glossybox I was disappointed with this month's offering and value... However, I've decided I really love this box! It's definately worth more than £10 (let's approx £13.60 minimum if the Jane Iredale is a third of full size?) and I'll most certainly use all the products. Laters Peeps! Love Lainey xxx
