Violet Box October 2013

 CONTENTS:

• 1x Bodyography Every Finish Powder (Full Size)
• 2x APIVITA Face Mask (Sample)
• 1x Savoir Faire Lipgloss (Full Size)
• 1x John Plunkett Cosmeceuticals Super Wrinkle Cream (Sample)
• 1x Be A Bombshell Eye Shadow (Full Size)
  
  

   

  BODYOGRAPHY EVERY FINISH POWDER ($59.95AUD RRP)

   

 I was super excited to open up this month's Violet Box to three full size makeup products and was especially excited about the Bodyography powder. However, my excitement was short lived as when I opened up the box, powder spilled out everywhere.

I contacted Violetbox via their support team on October 30 (the day I received it) and they advised that they would send out a replacement to me on November 4th. Up until now I still haven't received a replacement, hence why this blog post is so late because I was waiting on them to send a new one before doing this review. 

This is a point where I have to say that Her Fashion Box are far more superior in their Customer Service skills. I find that Her Fashion Box respond to you immediately and send items out to you via Express Mail if you should have a problem with one of the products in your box or if an item is missing. I feel that waiting almost two weeks for a replacement is a little ridiculous.....

 The product itself isn't too bad, pigmented enough but doesn't apply too heavily, but I'd be careful of where you apply this as it is super orange. I'd most likely only use this as a highlight and very minimally. Also, since this did not travel in the post well, I wouldn't chuck this in my hand bag as I could imagine this breaking and spilling everywhere.

I don't think I would ever buy this product as I can get nicer highlight colours for much less than the $59.95 price tag and the fact that it broke so easily is something else to consider. I had such high hopes for this brand so to say that I was disappointed is an understatement.

If you received this from Violetbox in your subscription box I'd love to know your thoughts on the product and the brand itself.

 

APIVITA FACE MASK (TWO DOSE SACHET $7.90RRP)

 

This is the type of face mask I prefer, good old creamy masks that you lather on your face and wash off.

APIVITA is a Greek cult brand of face masks based on ingredients found in a Mediterranean diet. The sample I received was an 'instant lifting' mask with red wine and seaweed extract.

While I couldn't tell much of a difference in my skin appearance I did feel that I was still pampering myself and it felt nice on my skin.

Still, this sample size was not enough to sway me to buy this product again but it's definitely one of the better ones I have received in a sample box thus far.

 

SAVOIR FAIRE LIPGLOSS ($25.00AUD RRP)

Macro shot

The Savoir Faire lipgloss comes in five different shades with a signature scent and flavour for each shade. I received the clear one in Dazzling which has a vanilla scent/flavour.

Upon opening the gloss the smell isn't too overpowering BUT when you apply it you can taste the super sweet vanilla immediately which automatically makes me not like this product as it's just too sweet.

The gloss doesn't appear as shimmery on the lips as it does in the bottle, which was quite disappointing and wasn't worthy of a picture as it looked like I just licked my lips and had slobber all over my mouth.

 For something made in China (listed as Made in PRC), I feel that a $25.00RRP price point is over the top and unwarranted. Combine the fact that this gloss is super sweet and not thick enough, this is definitely one item that I can go without.

Certainly, there are products that are Made in China that are quality items but their pricing point reflects that, for example NYX and Sleek to name a few, and I just feel for $25.00 for this gloss is just too expensive for what you get.

 

 

 

 

 

JOHN PLUNKETT COSMECEUTICALS
SUPER WRINKLE CREAM (50g $28.95AUD RRP)

 

This Super Wrinkle Cream is incompatible with my skin type. I found it was a little too rich for my liking so this definitely wasn't a winner for me. Even though it wasn't good for my face I found it really nice for my legs as they were super dry from being out in the sun. Needless to say, I won't be repurchasing this once I run out.

 

BE A BOMBSHELL EYE SHADOW ($18.00AUD RRP)

 

 Be A Bombshell was started in 2011 by a woman named Tonya Thompson and has garnered 'cult' status with lots of people raving about their products on various forums so it's no surprise that the brand has made its way to Australia.  They stock a full range of cosmetics to do your whole face and also have a beauty club where one of their consultants will create a monthly look based on your profile and will recommend products for you to purchase at special prices.

On first inspection, the packaging of the product is quite nice and looks professional (although I'm really not a fan of their logo and text) and has a similar feel to MAC eyeshadow packaging. Despite the Bodyography powder arriving smashed to pieces, this eyeshadow was still intact which is great as I hate it when you spend money on products and they don't hold well with travel.

Macro shot: Money Money

 The colour I received was Money Money which is a smokey green shimmer eyeshadow with specks of gold throughout. This is a colour that I would DEFINITELY wear especially once I start getting darker in the summer as this shade looks amazing against tanned skin.

On application this shadow is quite pigmented and silky smooth. The eyeshadow also blends really easily and has great longevity but I find the colour holds/appears better with a primer.

This eyeshadow actually exceeded my expectations and I actually really like the product, however, I don't think that I would buy from them as I currently use Inglot Cosmetics Freedom System which has a collection of over 200 colours in various finishes for only $10AUD per eyeshadow pan and that's something that just can't be beat where as Be A Bombshell only has 22 colours available, not to mention that their product price point for something made in China is too high. I'd much rather buy an eyeshadow from NYX/Sleek that is much cheaper and has the same amount of pigmentation in their product.

The other thing I wanted to address was something I came across on the Be A Bombshell About Us section on their website:

"I realized that I could use the same manufacturers that produce high end cosmetics with the same quality and pass fabulous products on to you at a lower cost!" - Tonya Thompson (Founder)

I'd LOVE to know which high end brands manufacture and produce their cosmetics in China. I feel that this is just PR spin to make their cosmetics seem more high end than they really are.

Overall this month's Violet Box was good but I really felt let down by their customer service skills and am really quite disappointed with them. I've seen a preview of December's box (although we haven't received November's box yet) so here's hoping they have better and exciting brands to come!

Preview of what's to arrive in the December Violet Box as posted on their Facebook page.

Her Fashion Box August

When I first opened August's Her Fashion Box I was so blown away with what we received! This was the first time that I really thought that HFB was DEFINITELY a keeper and that I would subscribe to their services for the long haul!

Here's what we got:

• 1x Fashion Scarf
• 1x Fashion Belt
• 1x Ardell Brow Perfection Stencils
• 1x Ardell Brow Defining Kit (full kit)
• 1x MeMeMe Beat the Blues Highlighter (full size)
• 1x L'oreal Mythic Hair Oil (travel size)
• 1x Press & Go Press on Manicure
• 1 x Lash Curler (extra gift) 

As an added bonus for responding to their July survey I also received a Honey & Beau pouch which was featured in the July box. It says on the little slip that I received a different print but I got the same one as the one in July which I don't mind because I LOVE this print - it goes with everything!

 

FASHION SCARF ($24.95)

I'm not really a scarf person so I won't be wearing this while out and about. It's interesting to see that in the catalogue it's in black and white but the actual scarf is in colour. Not quite sure where they were going with this....definitely a fail for me.

 

GILDED GRACE BELT ($24.95)

I actually really like this belt and because it is stretchy it fits us plus size girls. Definitely one to wear over a dress or a peplum skirt/shirt/dress.

 

ARDELL BROW DEFINING KIT ($24.95) &
BROW PERFECTION STENCILS ($9.99)

As I am a makeup artist I'm always so particular about brows so I was absolutely ECSTATIC to see this appear in the box. After attending many many workshops I find I'm quite good at free handing brows but I've never tried stencils so this was an interesting experiment for me.

The kit came with a brown palette with three colours to custom blend and a natural highlight shade, a duo brow brush and a brow grooming pencil (wax) to help keep your brows in place.

For my experiment I decided I would try using the stencils to see how easy it would be for the everyday consumer to use.

The stencils come with four different shapes: Delicate, Elegant, Glamorous and Classic.

 I actually found it quite hard to use these stencils as there was too much plastic at the bottom of the stencil and found it was hard to position on my face whilst holding it at the same time as placing the brow product on to my brows. I think with practice this would become easier. I also would have preferred for the stencils to come in maybe two designs but in different widths (ie; thin/medium/thick) as not everyone has the same brow height.

Overall I found it to be quite fiddly and it took me longer to do my brows with the stencils rather than freehand.

The other thing that I did not like was the consistency of the powders as I felt they were a little chalky and I had to load my brush up quite a few times just to get a bit of colour on the brush.

I really thought I was going to be won over with this brow kit.....BUT unfortunately it didn't sway me in its favour. I definitely prefer doing my brows freehand.

(L) No product (R) Brow Stencil

 

MEMEME BEAT THE BLUES HIGHLIGHTER ($18.95)

 Anyone who has seen my beauty work knows how much I LOVE highlighters and illuminators as I think they add extra dimension to the face and I just love the dewy skin look, so when I saw this I almost jumped out of my seat because I am always looking for something new to add to the kit.

UNFORTUNATELY, it was a mega let down. Once you rub this in, all that it leaves behind is glitter. No shimmer. FAIL! I can see that they tried to match this with Benefit Cosmetics' High Beam but unfortunately it falls short of achieving the same results.

All the little flecks in this image is glitter. As you can see there is no shimmer/reflect

 

L'OREAL MYTHIC HAIR OIL

 After using Moroccan Oil a while back I have really been turned off hair oils as I find it just builds up in my hair and then eventually causes my fine hair to just be so limp and lifeless that I gave up on using oils. I do, however, like using them on special occasions on a night out and I want my hair to look glossy but I tend to stay away from using it everyday which seems to work well for me.

Mythic Oil smells quite nice, not too overpowering, and is really thin in texture so it didn't weigh my hair down. Even though it feels nice in my hair I didn't find anything super amazing about this product so I probably wouldn't go out and buy another bottle once this one has finished. Generally I find most hair oils to be about the same and haven't found anything that wowed me yet.

I would love to know if you have found a hair oil that has worked miracles for you! Comment below.

 

PRESS & GO PRESS ON MANICURE ($14.95)

 I have pretty strong nails and so I generally don't need to apply fakes nails/gels/acrylics so this product didn't excite me (not to mention that I'm not a HUGE fan of pink). I really would've LOVED it if they included one of the more arty looking designs in this month's box.

I opened it up just to see what sizing was like as it states that there are 12 sizes included in the packet so that you would be guaranteed to find a fit. Unfortunately, these nails were not wide enough to cover my nail beds so even if they had sent a design that I liked I wouldn't be able to use it except for on my pinky nails.

All in all I feel that August's HFB had great impact on unboxing but once I actually tried the products I wasn't actually all too happy about them. Still a great subscription box but I think they need to think bigger and better when it comes to the cosmetic lines they include in the box.