All posts filed under: Subscription Boxes

Kawaii Must-Haves: BDJ Box, Jan & Feb 2015

I typically spend most of the working hours at home, since I work freelance. This past week has been crazy hectic because my family’s gallery is participating in this year’s Art Fair Philippines. When I got home one day from setting up, I think, this huge package was greeting me! I figured it was a BDJ Box because they’re usually quite generous with their mailings. 🙂 The BDJ Box for January-February 2015* is called “Kawaii Must-Haves.” If you didn’t already know, kawaii is the Japanese word for “cute.” The contents of this box are must-haves for you to be kawaii, apparently. I was pretty excited, not only because I want to look cute as frak, but also because I love Japanese beauty products. The box was hefty, and it was also filled with papers and stickers. Aside from the usual information card for the products, there was also a mini magazine that’s filled with tips, photos, and coupons! Here’s what subscribers should expect from the Jan-Feb box: In no particular order: Bifesta Cleansing Lotion (300ml, …

Unboxing: Le Métier de Beauté Beauty Vault VIP December 2014

Le Métier de Beauté is a bout just as good as it gets when it comes to eyeshadow formulas. For the December box of their Beauty Vault VIP subscription, they sent out two exclusive VIP program eyeshadows in nameless shades described as “Deep Emerald Green” and “Shimmery Sand-White,” a festive selection for the holidays. I always appreciate it when I get eyeshadows from LMdB, simply because they make some of the best that I’ve tried. They are triple-milled, which is perfect for layering and blending together. Some of the shades I own have questionable pigmentation (especially the dark mattes like Noir), but the formula is perfect for building up the color and blending with other shadows without looking muddy. The Shimmery Sand-White shade can go on a little bit thick/chunky, so a light hand is probably all you’d need with this. The Dark Emerald Green is so beautiful and iridescent. It reminds me of beetles, for some reason. Blended together, you get a silver shade that has a slight green undertone. I’m looking forward to …

Unboxing: BDJ Box x Covergirl for December 2014*

For December, BDJ Box partnered up with Covergirl, delivering five products to take your look from day to night. Here’s what’s inside the December 2014 BDJ Box*: TruBlend Liquid Makeup* (Php 645) TruBlend is a full-coverage foundation that comes in a whopping 21 shades. I got a shade that seems too light for me, but it blends in well. TruBlend Pressed Powder* (Php 425) This pressed powder is a lightweight, silky-smooth powder with shine-control. It doesn’t clog up the pores and is designed to work with the TruBlend Liquid Makeup. I got the shade “translucent light,” which I thought would be fine, but pressing it in with the sponge gave me quite a heavy coverage that was too light for my skin tone.

Birchbox - Vanity Affair

Picking Apart Birchbox’s Limited Edition Vanity Affair Box

‘Cause that’s how I roll. I mainly wanted this Birchbox Vanity Affair Box ($98) because it had a Birchbox-exclusive MAKE Colour palette called Calypso that had eight eyeshadows (!) which I don’t believe has happened yet. They usually have a lip color mixed in with the shadows. Anyway, the palette itself ($40) is available on Birchbox, but I was interested in a lot of the items in the Vanity Affair box, too. After a lot of deliberation (like weeks, OK?), I gave in. I figured I could pick the box apart and give some items as gifts. So, this post isn’t technically an unboxing, since this is an incomplete box. I set aside three items for gifts: the Maison Caulières Perfumed Bath Oil (which sounds awesome but I don’t have a tub), the Stephanie Johnson Tinseltown Jewelry Tray (which I know someone else will enjoy more), and the TOCCA Eau de Parfum Margaux (which I think my grandma will like a lot).

Unboxing: BDJ Box for November 2014 (Benefit exclusive)

The day I got back from Seoul, I was surprised to see a very welcome blue box that I’ve been accustomed to expect BDJ Boxes hiding within. I was correct! Thank you to the BDJ Team for always thinking of me. 🙂 I really, really appreciate it, especially because I think I’ve witnessed a real substantial growth of the company as a really supreme sub box service. The November 2014 BDJ Box* is a Benefit exclusive, which means that all of the products from the box are from Benefit Cosmetics. There have been quite a few Benefit exclusives, and of the two I’ve received so far, I think I like this one more! The box is an “early Christmas gift” from BDJ Box—a selection of items from Benefit’s Sweet Shoppe! There is a mix of skin care, makeup items designed to bring out your natural beauty, and end-of-the-day sloughing off of products. There is even a body oil mist—something I’ve never tried from the brand.

Unboxing: Le Métier de Beauté Beauty Vault VIP November 2014

Hey everyone! I just got back from Seoul last night, and came home to a bunch of beauty stuff that came in while I was away. (Oops.) First up in this accidental series of unboxings is the Le Métier de Beauté Beauty Vault VIP sub box for November 2014—essentially an LMdB makeup bag with two Dualistic Lip Pencils (Nudité and Rouge) and two sample packets, the Revitalizing Anti-Aging Day Crème and the Rejuvenating Anti-Aging Night Crème. I already have the lip pencil in Nudité, and I was happy to get another one of it. Rouge is also an interesting color to have. As far as lip pencils go, these are two pretty standard shades that will get a lot of use from me. As for skin care, I generally have had really, really great experiences with Le Métier de Beauté skin care. It introduced me to retinol, which is something I swear by now. That said, I will probably pass on these items to my mom, as I already have a bunch of great skin …

Unboxing: Le Métier de Beauté Beauty Vault VIP September and October 2014

I’ve been running behind on unboxing posts for the Le Métier de Beauté Beauty Vault VIP, a monthly subscription box for the brand. (Not that anyone looks forward to these, amirite?) They are on their second year of the program, and I’ve got to admit that it just keeps getting better! For a subscription program that requires subscribers to pay upfront for the entire year, expectations are understandably high. Luckily, we’ve been getting awesome products (see other unboxing posts here), the only hitch being their sometimes slow and inadequate responses to customer service queries. For September, the second month of the sub as shipments start getting mailed out in August, the product is the Peau Vierge Anti-Aging Complexe, a tinted base that provides “sheer natural-looking coverage for instant smoothing and perfecting.” It can be used as a standalone (very sheer!) foundation or as a luminous base under other foundations.