This month's Bella Box box was slightly different to the previous ones I've received. There was no actual box this time. The items were tightly packed inside the outer cardboard packaging, with the smaller items inside a cute little makeup bag, which I just know I'll use. How do I know that? Because just yesterday morning I was rushing around my bedroom frantically trying to find a suitable carrier for some makeup items I wanted to take to work. But more on that in a future post. At least this time the items weren't rattling around inside the box - they were tightly packed so they couldn't move. And, boy, were there a lot of them! There were no high-end brands, but BB seemed to have made up for them in sheer quantity. So let's have a look:
You, Me & Everybody Shady Lady Daily Face Milk, full size 75ml.
Recently I've seen a few mentions of this brand doing the rounds of the beauty blogs, and I was curious about it, so I was glad to receive this facial moisturiser. I like the image of the brand, it seems fun and fresh. Most daytime moisturisers only come in SPF15, but I only ever use SPF 30 - I'm a bit paranoid about the sun - so I'm glad to see that this one ticks that box. I'll definitely use it after I've finished my current moisturiser (Nivea Face Veil, for the interested). The only niggling thing is that I couldn't find out whether it's tested on animals.
Conscience time: You Me & Everybody is part of Symbion, which in turn is part of the Zuellig Group. Those are some big hitters in the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. Some YM&E products are not tested on animals, but I couldn't get confirmation that this particular one isn't.
Carmex Moisture Plus SPF 15+ Lip Balm, full size.
I had to laugh when I saw this! Just the other day, I finished up a Carmex Lip Balm I'd received it in my December 2011 Glossy Box. It was such a great product - the first SPF lip balm I've ever used that didn't taste disgusting and kept my lips moisturised. I'd been planning on buying a replacement this weekend. Now I don't have to!
Conscience time: Carmex is a family-run brand from the U.S. From the website "No. We have never tested on animals – we test on our family members instead!"
Neutrogena Ageless Intensives Deep Wrinkle Eye Cream, full-size 14g.
Neutrogena is on my 'no-buy' list because of their animal testing status. Even before that though, it was a brand I was never really interested in, so I've never actually used any Neutrogena products before. I'm already happy with the performance of my Paula's Choice Retinol Serum, so I will just put this aside and perhaps use it when my PC runs out.
Conscience time: Neutrogena is owned by Johnson & Johnson, who test their products on animals.
Neutrogena Deep Clean Gentle Scrub, sample size 15ml.
This product isn't listed on the card, so I have only the information on the tube itself to go on. It's an exfoliating scrub and contains BHAs. I've read that things like BHAs and AHAs are only any good if they're in a leave-on product, not one that you wash off. But I'll put it in my queue to use anyway. It also has that annoying warning on the back that some products have: "If you experience dryness and irritation, use less frequently." I'm sorry, but if I experienced dryness and irritation, I'd stop using the product altogether! My skin is too precious for that. Just sayin'.
Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Night Renewal Cream, sample size 15ml.
I do love Palmer's products: the rich formulas are great for my skin (including my eczema!) and both the cocoa butter and olive oil variants smell great. However, for some reason this one has a 'fresh white lily fragrance' which is a bit off-putting. I don't like using highly fragranced products on my face, so I'll just have to see how I go with this one.
Conscience time: Palmer's is not tested on animals.
Ulta3 Nail Polish in Mulberry, full-size.
Ulta3 seems to be everywhere now! For $2.50 or less, they have better-than-expected staying power, so no wonder they're the biggest selling nail polish brand in Australia. When I first opened my box last night, this colour looked like a disappointingly drab purplish brown, I have to admit. But in natural light the gorgeous mulberry purple/marone really comes out, and I love it! I've been resting my nails this week, but I'm seriously considering this colour as my first choice when I break the drought.
Conscience time: I've heard conflicting reports as to where Ulta3 is from, and whether they test on animals.
Almay Get Up and Grow Mascara in black, full-size 6.2ml.
I'm all for longer, stronger lashes, so I'll put this in my queue to use once my current mascara goes off. (Cos let's face it, you never get to the end of a mascara before it goes off, do you?)
Conscience time: Almay is owned by Revlon, who do not test on animals.
Elgon Professional Primaria Nourishing Silk Hair Mask & Bath of Life Shampoo, sample sachets 15ml each.
This brand of hair products comes from Italy. The 15ml sachets may or may not be just enough to cover my long, thick, crazy hair. I'm always up for a bit of hair experimentation though, so I'm looking forward to using them.
Conscience time: Elgon Professional is an Italian brand. I could not find information about their animal testing status.
Givenchy Pi Neo for Him, sample sachet.
The included card instructed me to give this to my man, and tell him about the new BelloBox for men, which I duly did. He wasn't interested at all! He'll use face wash if I buy it for him, but that's about it. Plus, he's extremely wary of scents ever since the time he used a tester at a perfume party and somehow the chemicals reacted with his skin and made him smell like dog do-do! So, nice try at marketing your men's box, BB, but in this case it sadly didn't hit the mark.
Conscience time: Givenchy is a French fashion house with a fragrance and beauty arm. It is not tested on animals (which I have to say is a nice surprise, because in my experience, most perfumes are).
Summary: I think Bella Box really nailed this month's theme of Essential Beauty Buys. The range of products from different categories was good - skin care, sun protection, hair, nails and makeup. None of the products are from luxury brands, but the sheer number of products made up for this, with 9 products (10 if you count the hair sachets separately), and an impressive 5 of them being full-sized. This bumped up the overall value of the box to just over $80. There's only one product that I can't see myself using - the men's fragrance - so I'm glad to say that I'm very pleased with this month's Bella Box.
Total Value: $80.49. Cost of Box: $15.00. Benefit: $65.49
Rating: 8/10
