August Boxycharm Unboxing

August 27, 2018

August Boxycharm Unboxing

What a month it has been since my last Boxycharm unboxing, especially in the beauty community. We’ll get into that as needed a little bit later. What’s important right now is acknowledging my three year Boxycharm anniversary. I didn’t think it had been that long, but it has! Three years of being surprised with new products every month. It’s been wonderful! Now, let’s get into some mini reviews of how last month’s products worked out for me before getting into this month’s situation.

~Farmacy Beauty Bright On Mask~ This was definitely more hydrating on the skin than what I was expecting, so it’s not my favorite. It feels good and rinses easily, but it doesn’t clean my pores like my favorite clay mask and that’s what my skin needs. I would have also liked to see more from the color changing aspect of it. The purple and green are both pastel and it was difficult to tell when the colors have changed.

~Chella Beauty Tantalizing Taupe Eyebrow Cream~ Ughhh, this product frustrates me so much! I loveee the actual cream, but I hateee the packaging. This has given me nothing but good brow days and doesn’t need to be set with anything. I just can’t stand actually applying it. The angled brush isn’t my favorite and the packaging makes it incredibly difficult to get any product out of. If they changed the packaging and provided a more dense brush and/or spoolie, it’d be one of the best brow products ever.

~Note Cosmetics Luminous Silk Compact Blusher (Desert Rose)~ The pigmentation is amazing with this blush! It has about average wear time and is easy to blend in. The packaging is a little bulky and talc is the first ingredient, so I don’t use it too much. But if neither of those bother you, it’s a great affordable option.

~Crown Brush Fuego Eyeshadow Palette~ As you might have seen in my review and tutorial that I did featuring this palette, it’s not my favorite. I think they should change a few shades to create a wider variety of looks and the quality needs to be more consistent. I would have also appreciated a straight mirror...

~Wander Beauty Unlashed Volume & Curl Mascara~ I love this mascara! Lashes are my absolute favorite part about makeup and it takes a lot for a mascara to really impress me. This has been one of my new favorites. The formula has almost a gel-like consistency so it’s very easy to work with. It lasts all day without flaking and provides a ton of both volume and length.

There were a lot of hits and misses in last month’s box, but I hope those brands can look at the reviews and make some improvements. I’m telling you, I would love to see that eyebrow product in new packaging. I’d never have a bad brow day again! The theme for this month’s box is Life of the Party. It came with another fold out note card with nine beauty influencers pictured on the inside, only one of which I actually recognized. Is that bad?!

After being introduced in the July box, Wander Beauty has another product included this month as well. These are their Baggage Claim Gold Eye Masks. We received a set of three in the box, which is a $13 value. These masks are supposed to brighten and hydrate the under eye area while also reducing the appearance of dark circles.

The system behind these seems very scientific. Each mask is made up of three layers: gold foil on the outside to retain heat and prevent evaporation of the serum, an elastic middle layer to allow the masks to better adhere to the skin, and a third cellulose fiber layer that condenses and delivers hyaluronic acid, aloe leaf extract, and lavender oil to the skin. It’s suggested that they sit for 10-15 minutes. I’ve been wanting some new eye masks recently, so I’m really happy these were included. Eye masks are such a luxurious experience!

I don’t know whether to be happy or concerned about unboxing this ncLA So Rich Cuticle Oil ($18). I had one in the past and I really enjoyed it while it lasted, but it ended up in a fails post because of the packaging. Apparently there are different scents of these. The one I had previously was Dark Almond and this one is Lollipop Lollipop. However, it doesn’t smell like a lollipop. The product description on the brand’s website described it as sweet marshmallow lollipop. Marshmallow is exactly what this smells like, it’s delicious!

Had I not previously tried this Becca Ever Matte Poreless Priming Perfector, I would probably be a little more excited about it. I bought this exact product (the $15 travel size) while I was testing primers before my wedding. Because it’s such a high-end product, I had really high hopes for it but I actually ended up not liking it very much at all. I even thought about returning it, but it’s just been sitting in my drawer for almost a year instead.

This claims to provide 12 hour shine control while also minimizing the appearance of pores. While I appreciate the limited ingredients (only 9!), I found it to be very uncomfortable. It didn’t control my oil as well as I was hoping it would and the application process was a little different. This applies almost like Elmer’s glue and can sometimes be difficult to layer other products over top of it. I had multiple occasions where I had to remove my makeup and start over because it caused my foundation to apply patchy.

This next product comes from a brand that I’ve never heard of before. It is the Bang Beauty Gel Eyeliner in the shade Chocolate. It comes with .12 oz and retails for $22. That’s pretty pricey considering how much I’ve been loving my $3 Elf Cream eyeliner in the Coffee shade lately.

This claims that it can be used as an eyeliner, as an eyeshadow base, or in the eyebrows. I’m glad to hear they market it for other uses because it swatches extremely dry, so I’m not sure how it’s going to work as eyeliner. It’s also very light and more of a taupe to be considered “chocolate.” I’m thinking this might be better in the brows.

Okay, now onto what made me really disappointed. Let me start by saying I got my box very early in the month, before all this beauty drama started, and I was already upset to see this name included in the box. This is the Laura Lee Los Angeles Party Animal eyeshadow palette.

In case you don’t know, Laura Lee is an incredibly popular beauty Youtuber. She’s been around for years, but she’s never been someone I supported. I got a bad vibe the first time I ever watched one of her videos and I’ve stayed away from that whole community surrounding her ever since. I’m a huge believer in that the truth will always come out and a person’s true colors will be shown. That’s exactly what’s happening to Laura Lee right now.

There’s plenty of information out there, so I’m not going to get into it. I’ll just say I was disappointed to see that Boxycharm would even consider collaborating with her to begin with. Apparently she had a large influence on all the products included in this month’s box. Boxycharm did come out and make a statement to distance themselves from her name. I just don’t get how anyone didn’t see this coming years ago.

Keeping in mind that I got my box before the drama, I already wanted to throw this palette at the wall. Dramatic, I know. But what in the world am I supposed to do with these colors? I get that I’m a beauty blogger and I’m “supposed” to be all about creativity when it comes to makeup, but that’s just not me. I like nude mattes with a few glam shimmers. I don’t want pinks or yellows or blues. Sorry, but that’s just not realistic for everyday wear for the average person.

While the palette does feel very sturdy and there is a large mirror, I was incredibly disappointed in the actual quality of the eyeshadows. Buttery, creamy, pigmented formulas is what I’m looking for and this is not it. These are some of the most dry, powdery, patchy shadows I’ve ever swatched.

Thinking about how this was created by a huge beauty influencer, you’d think the quality, pigmentation, formula, etc. would be what we’ve all been looking for. But coming from Laura Lee, what else would you expect?! Anything to make a quick buck. It does only retail for $19, but I’ve seen better quality in $1 products. Not to mention that every shade stained my fingers…

The last product in the box is the Smashbox Be Legendary Liquid Metal lipgloss in the shade Petal Metal. It retails for $24 and claims to provide a mirror-like shine with a heavy metal, fierce-foil finish in a single coat. The applicator is nothing like I’ve ever used before, it has a precise pointed tip with a dip to hold the product. It also claims to optically plump the lips with its depth of color and feel lightweight with its thin-film technology.

As far as the single coat claim, I do think that can work if you apply enough. I tend to build everything up in thin layers. The color is what I’m not really sure about. I think would be absolutely stunning on the eyes or even as a highlight, but I’m not into the whole metallic lip trend. It does swatch extremely smooth, though, so I might try it just in the center of my lips.

The total value for this month’s box is $111. Not the most impressive numbers we’ve ever seen, but still an amazing deal. Out of the three years that I’ve been subscribed to Boxycharm, this is definitely the month I’m the least impressed with. Between the metallic lip, the already dried out feeling eyeliner, the inconsistent primer, and the eyeshadow palette, it’s definitely not a box that I’m super happy about.

I am looking forward to testing the eye masks and I do love the scent of the cuticle oil, although I already know I won’t be able to get it all out because of the packaging. I do still recommend Boxycharm because of my previous three years of experience, I just think they could have done a lot better this month.

~Mani Monday~

I’ve been eyeing this KL Polish Lumiere shade in my collection for a few weeks now and I have kept choosing other shades. But this week is finally the week. It’s a beautiful dusty mauve pink shade that’s just one of those colors you don’t have to think about. I didn’t really like this formula in my original review of the brand, but it’s actually been lasting a lot longer with my new favorite base coat (find out what it in on Wednesday).

The brush does make these polishes incredibly easy to apply, but they have raised their prices which I don’t appreciate. They’re now $9.50 a piece and I stand by my original recommendation to only purchase them on sale unless you’re looking for a very specific shade. Otherwise, there’s nothing that special about them to justify the price.