Lou's Reviews || JolieBox || June

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

If you have not dipped your pedicured toe very deeply into the world of beauty blogs, you may not have heard of Jolie Box. It is, in a nutshell, a beauty subscription service, where for £10 plus £2.95 p&p, you will be sent a little parcel of product samples. The samples promise to be miniatures or full sized (not piddly little sachets) and spanning across a range of items. So you could have hair, skin, cosmetic or fragrance items. You never know what you will receive and it is a gamble. If you like surprises, this will be right up your street.

I am very fortunate and was sent this box complimentary for review purposes but as always, my opinions are not swayed by a freebie and are honest.

I won't give you a run down of every item in the box as I think I am perhaps a little late and you will have seen a dozen of these already, but I will tell you a few things about my overall feelings towards the June box. Good plan? I hope so.

I liked the orange packaging. I'm not gaga wild for orange (unlike some...Zoe, we're all looking at you here), but this pleased me. It's summer after all and if you can't embrace a sturdy orange box now, when can you? I will shortly be doing a blog post on what I do with my empty subscription service boxes. Does that thrill you? Haha.

I was actually very impressed with some of the contents. The Yon-ka Pamplemousse (say 'pamplemousse' over and over and you can't help but smile) cream was perfectly matched to my skin type which Joliebox had previously enquired about. I think that beauty boxes would do well to customise the boxes a little as a big problem with them is receiving something unsuitable to your needs. I appreciate that this must be an administrative nightmare, not to mention an extra cost to the company, so was impressed that JolieBox gave it a whirl. I am thoroughly enjoying the L'Occitane Angelica Hydration Cream too. The little green pot is darling and the smell light and fresh. 

Unfortunately the lipstick and the nail file didn't float my boat. I thought the lipstick packaging was cheap feeling and unsightly and the colour wasn't to my taste. Saying that, colour preferences are never going to be the same for every customer so it might be something you love. The nail file was just a nail file. Handy. Haha, how much can you say about a nail file?

I have tried out the Institut Esthederm UV inCellium Spray (a pre-tanning treatment to prolong your tan) but can't be sure it did anything (that I noticed anyway) so I don't feel I can really give an opinion on it.

I love that JolieBox provide a little magazine pamphlet and that inside the box they products are secured in a little baggie so there is no mess. This month there were also some money off vouchers and discount codes included so that was an added bonus.

All in all, a pleasant box. I think if I had paid the £12.95 I would have enjoyed the concept of having those items send in beautiful box to my door and discovering them at home, but if I saw the exact same products in a little bag in a shop, I don't think I would part with my £12.95. What I am trying to say is that with this king of thing you are half paying for the experience rather than the beauty products. A lot of the time a full sized item in these boxes is valued at more than £12.95 so you are getting your money's worth, but the question is, 'Did you really want that product anyway?'.

I suppose it all boils down to whether you enjoy suprises, packages and discovering new things in a risky way. Oooohhh that's starting to sound very 50 Shades of Grey! Haha.

What are your thoughts on this particular box? Do you have any overall thoughts on beauty subscription services?

Toodlepip!

xx

This month my Ultimate Advertiser is Confessions of a Secret Shopper. If you would like to know more about advertising on Sprinkle of Glitter, check out my 'Sponsor' page up at the top!

Boudoir Prive Beauty Box

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

Boudoir Prive is one of the many lovely beauty boxes currently on the market and I have spent the last few months enjoying and reviewing them. You may have seen my YouTube videos on them HERE and HERE, but today I have a new one for you.

Boudoir Prive costs £10 a month plus £2.95 P&P and for that you are presented with a sturdy powder puff pink box and 5-6 luxe samples beautifully presented within it.

Packaging and presentation is a big deal to me, so Boudoir Prive tick all my boxes. How do they get the ribbon so neat? I've tried to recreate it for previous photographs and failed miserably. This time I snapped as I opened, so you could feel the full force of girly bowness.

Inside this months box were 5 lovely items (I know you can see 6 but there were multiples), a little green organza bag (that's being recycled for a bit of Christmas wrapping! Tehe) and a pamphlet which gives you all the product information and retail prices (for those of you who like to add up the total value and relish in the savings).

(That is literally how the products were when I opened the tissue paper. Considering they have all been chucked about a fair bit in the post, that's pretty impressive, non?)

 

I'm yet to fully test the products but what I am most excited about is the Studio Makeup Rich Hydration Lipstick. I had the Studio Makeup Liner in a previous box and use it daily, so I have a lot of faith in this brand. Also, the lipstick has a really unique way of opening, sort of like a push pop (I shall have to show you it in a video soon).

I know a lot of people struggle with the beauty box concept because they don't like to receive sample sachets of hair products or mini vials of perfume but I really don't mind this. Although there have been smaller samples (sachets and vials) in beauty boxes, there are usually other larger things (like a full sized lipstick or nail polish) to balance it out. Also, these sachets are quite big and you do get four, so I don't feel I am being swizzed or missing out.

I'm really glad of the information sheet provided. It provides bitesized snippets on what the items are and what you should do with them. I also like that the prices are included. I have another beauty box to review which didn't provide prices and that irked me a little.

All in all, I am a big fan of Boudoir Prive. I love the box, it is wonderfully presented, they have introduced me to new brands that I wouldn't otherwise have tried and liked (eg. Studio Makeup) and the bits and bobs that don't quite suit my taste and happily received by my Aunties or Sister (thus upping my brownie points rather substantially haha).

I think £12.95 a month is a great price for a perky little treat each month and is something nice to look forward to in the post. If you mosey on over to their website you'll see it's very easy to sign up, and if you change your mind after a couple of months, you can cancel your subscription with only 14 days notice. I wish gyms and phone contracts were as easy as that! The website also has a really good blog which I have enjoyed reading through this morning and suspect will be reading a lot more of tonight once Baby Glitter has gone to bed.

Are you on the Beauty Box Bandwagon? Which is your favourite?

Toodlepip!

xx