April’s box is here already! It actually arrived on April 2nd, but I’ve been so busy, I haven’t found the time to blog about it yet. March disappeared so fast, and suddenly it was April and there was another fun box in my mailbox. The box is about gearing up for Spring and celebrating Earth Day this month with some eco accountability. They also talked about their beauty product container recycling program in conjunction with Terracycle which is something I hadn’t heard about before! Really a neat program and a great way to encourage recycling. We’re lucky enough that our program at home takes all kinds of plastics, so I can recycle almost everything and almost always fill the recycling bin before the trash bin. Anyway, onto the box!
- Suntegrity 5 in 1 Natural Moisturizing Face Sunscreen – 50 mL / $45 – (Sample is .25 oz, 7.39 mL, value of $6.65 by volume, or sample tube on website is $4.95) I am all about what this sun screen stands for! Physical blockers vs chemical blockers, absolutely! However, I would prefer it just being a sunscreen instead of being a BB cream as well. I still haven’t found a BB/CC cream I like since I don’t use foundation practically ever and don’t like the way it feels on my face. If it were just a sunscreen, I’d be fine with that, but all the extra functions that I don’t need/care for are lost on me (I’m usually running around getting dirty and have no need for a BB/CC cream on a daily basis – I pretty rarely wear makeup anyway). The tint I was given was “Light” which matches really well with my skin tone, but, it still feels bizarre on. I’m SO picky about what goes on my face if I’m using it all over because anything that feels like it’s there bothers me to no end, and at this point, I’d still stick with my SPF moisturizer over a BB cream like this. It just feels too thick and plasticky much like other creams that do the same thing. I am glad it was included as a sample though in my quest for a good everyday face cream, but it misses the mark. Make this in a moisturizer without the tint and I’d be far more interested!
- Portland Bee Balm – .15 oz / $2.99 – (Product is full size, full value!) LOVE the formula, don’t like the mint (but I don’t like mint in general, so..). It’s a thicker balm and really sticks around for a while which is what I like about beeswax based balms. I definitely prefer natural beeswax over mint, so I might have to try that out. Still, this will get used up in short order since the mint isn’t too overpowering and seems to fade away quickly, and I love the fact that they support beekeeping and beekeepers.
- Preserve Razor – 1 razor & 2 blades / $8.50 – (Product is full size, full value!) My first thought was, “Wait.. a razor? Weird..” But that quickly changed into, “Hey, a razor, made of recycled yogurt cups that can be recycled too!” Really a neat product to include in the box this month! It’ll no doubt be used, and I’ll probably end up keeping this in my travel bag since the packaging doubles as a case to keep it clean and dry. I didn’t get a chance to try them on my legs yet, but I can see this getting a good bit of use over the summer. Such a smart product all around. It looks like refills run around $5 for four cartridges which isn’t too bad either.
- Modern Minerals Mineral Eye Shadow – .17 oz / $12.50 – (Sample is .035 oz, value of $2.57) I’m already a fan of Modern Minerals eye shadow from another box, but this color, Starry Night, is out of this world! It’s an amazing metallic blue-purple that seems to change colors depending on the light and I cannot wait to use it for a nice evening out. I’m actually a big fan of the smaller container since I go through eye shadow pretty slowly, this is the right size to try out fun, wild colors without having too much hanging around.
- Gressa Treat Renewing Polish – 50 mL / $38 – (sample is 7.5 mL, value of $5.70) I already love Gressa for their lip colors, and the second I opened this container, I loved them for their skin products too because this smells AMAZING. I had to try it out right away and it’s amazing. Between the oils that smell so good, the coarseness of the scrub that REALLY exfoliates well, I’m impressed! A wee little bit goes a long way, so I can see this being worth the cost.
Overall value comes to around $25 depending on how you count the Suntegrity sample. It’s a rather low value for the box, but I’m happy with the contents and it still more than covers the $19 cost of the box. I’ll try everything for sure and will definitely use up the Gressa Treat in short order, plus the eye shadow sample that REALLY knocked my socks off. What’s really best is being introduced to new products I wouldn’t have found otherwise. I’ve been able to recommend products to friends who are looking for better alternatives, and that’s great – even if something doesn’t work perfectly for me, it might be just the thing for someone else.