I love a good subscription style beauty box - you would have seen on CM my monthly Lust Have It unboxings, and if you're a long time reader you'll know I've tried a lot that they offer in NZ. Quite a few have shut down, which is disappointing, but there are new ones cropping up. I found out about My Monthly Beauty Box NZ from Instagram, as I think they had followed me and saw they were offering a subscription service, where you could do it as a one off for NZD $29.95 with free shipping. Naturally I wanted to try it and review it for the blog, but also out of my own curiosity, Unfortunately it has left me really disappointed and I've got a few issues with it...
The Beauty Box is part of a larger group called MonBox, who offer similar services like a PetBox and a ChocBox. They promised the 'hottest beauty products', saying they get them at heavily reduced prices - I won't lie when I read that, I thought it seemed a little suss but I still wanted to give it a try. As I signed up for the one off monthly subscription, I received the 5 products wrapped in tissue in a hessian bag, however, if you sign up for the 3 month or 12 month commitment, they come in a nicer box.
They had given a sneak peek on their Instagram that they were going to have a NYX lipstick and something from Revlon inside, which sounded pretty good to me! But when I opened the bag I was really underwhelmed. Unlike other subscription services this one came with no card with product information or pricing on it, so I did a little googling to find out more on the products. It would seem that all of these are older, discontinued products and I found them all listed on All Cosmetics Wholesale for really cheap prices. I'll talk about this more in the product break down below.
Essence Smokey Eyes Set in 03 Purple Maniac | USD $0.99
It was exciting to see an Essence product in the mix, I won't lie. Although they are on the cheaper end of the scale, things I've tried from them have been really good quality. This set contains a powder eyeshadow and a cream, liner type product on the other side. The pigmentation of the shadow is good, but the liner isn't very opaque at all, and I can't imagine it working well on the lid. After some Googling I found that this came out in 2011, and is definitely not made anymore.
Revlon Baby Stick For Lips + Cheeks in Sunset | USD $4.95
I thought this product might redeem this box, as Revlon is a great brand but this product is actually very terrible (and I don't say that about many things). I don't know if these got released in NZ, but I've never seen them before and apparentely they came out in 2013 in the US, retailing for USD $10.00. The shade I got literally has no pigmentation to it, and might work well for the lips as a balm, but I wouldn't put it near my cheeks.
Playboy Pick-Up Liner in Are You A Playmate? | USD $1.99
Who knew that Playboy brought out makeup?! This liquid liner seems to be really good though, the pigmentation is great, and it left a pretty intense stain on arm and hand after I swatched it, that lasted for 2 days (with scrubbing and showering!) The moss green colour isn't ideal though.
POP Beauty Lid Liner in Bejeweled Bronze | USD $1.99
Out of all this products this is definitely the stand out and one I will actually use. The colour is gorgeous and the formula is creamy and seems to glide on well. The tip of mine was broken off but there is still plenty of product left to use.
NYX Diamond Sparkle Lipstick in 06 Sparkling Rose | USD $2.49
NYX do some great lip products - the Matte Lipsticks, Butter Lipstick and Glosses are all fab, but sadly the Diamond Sparkle Range just isn't for me. The actual lipstick itself would be nice if you liked a frosted finish. It's got good pigmentation, and the colour is a baby pink with a silver glitter through it.
So overall the products aren't that great and as they are all listed on ACW, I can't help but have the suspicion that's where they must buy them in bulk and use them for the bags. Adding up the USD prices, it comes to $12.41, which converts to about NZD $19.00, and even with shipping included I don't think it's worth the $30 price tag you pay for it at all.
I know this review might sound harsh, but I spent NZD $29.95 on this box for products of a much lesser value and I feel a little ripped off. I don't want any of you to be left disappointed if you want to try it, although I really can't recommend this at all. If you want a good quality subscription box, Lust Have It or even Goodie Box would be a better option.
Have you heard of this service? What do you think of the products inside?
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