Currently I only subscribe to three beauty boxes, Julep, Beauty Box 5 and Topbox and of the three, only BB5 and Topbox are 'mystery' boxes. I may not be thrilled by Julep every month, but I know what I'm getting. With BB5, I may not know exactly what I'm getting but they always have at least one or two products that are in EVERY kit, but with Topbox? Topbox is always a gamble and after my great haul last month, I should've known my luck might run out this month...
At first I was REALLY EXCITED to see the Murale Topbox tube. I had seen some awesome offerings in boxes on people's Instagram reveals (this blog has one of the boxes I wanted) but unfortunately, it was not to be. My box contained three fairly small samples and three of the four samples were anti-aging products. Sigh.
To make it clear, my beauty profile doesn't mention ANY concerns about aging, so I was a bit disappointed to open my box and to find these products in it.
Before you jump to defend anti-aging products, I have to say that I have fairly healthy skin in my final year of my twenties and I have MORE THAN ENOUGH anti-aging samples from other beauty boxes to last me well into my thirties, I DON'T NEED ANY MORE!
I also understand that Topbox is a gamble, I fully support that, I just wish THREE of the FOUR products weren't essentially the same thing. But let's get to the products, shall we?
IN APRIL 2014 I RECEIVED:
- Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel Sensitive 7ml sample
- Natura Bisse Diamond Extreme Eye 0.07oz sample
- Yves Saint Laurent Forever Youth Liberator Serum 7ml sample
- Ojon Revitalizing Mist Original 25ml deluxe sample
The Juice Beauty Green Apple Peel claims that it exfoliates, brightens skin tone and firms the skin and that it is formulated for sensitive skin. It has a faint smell of apple. I may keep this one just to try. It costs $8 for this sample size at Murale.
Natura Bisse Diamond Extreme Eye sample is a micro-sample in my opinion. It claims to be an eye lifting treatment, so a basic eye-wrinkle serum. I doubt if I even used it that I'd see any difference with only 0.07oz to use. The Makeup Alley reviews are pretty mixed and I can't find a price per oz on their website, it's not even for sale anymore? Oh well. The best I can find is that maybe this sample is worth $18.45 CAD. Yeah. Really. 25ml costs $231 at Murale. YEAH. REALLY.
Yves Saint Laurent Forever Youth Liberator looks like something else I've received from them FOR FREE at a beauty counter, but in a different colour bottle. Apparently 1 oz is $155 USD which means this sample is worth $38.75 USD? Yeah, sure. If anything these samples prove that these products are ridiculously over-priced for people desperate and well-off enough to reach for them. Oddly, despite being in the Murale box, Yves Saint Laurent products aren't sold at Murale.
My favourite product this month is the Ojon Revitalizing Mist Original, a lightweight detangler that smells a bit like Argan Oil, but doesn't leave the hair greasy or heavy. My current detangler is just a few spritzes away from my empties pile, so this is a welcome addition. The full size of this product costs $27 and this sample is valued at just under $4.
The fact that the most useful object in my box is valued at $4 is a bit hilarious to me. *It really highlights how overpriced anti-aging products are. *
How cost effective was this box? This month's Topbox cost me $13.56 and resulted in ALLEGEDLY $69 CAD in products (I laugh). My savings? $55 this month. Hah.
I think that no matter what, next month I'm hoping the Privé offering is something good or I might have to revisit my Topbox subscription, I emailed them to hopefully flag my account as NO ANTI-AGING products but we'll see...
Topbox is a monthly Canadian beauty box subscription, for an invitation put your email in the comments or contact me, and join the waitlist today!