Just over a month ago I received my Summer 2014 Luxe Box by Loose Button. The only thing I don't like about this subscription is that you get a box once every season (once every 3 months), but there's always such anticipation in the air when it's the month of shipment!
Upgrades and add-ons become available roughly a month before Luxe Box starts shipping out its boxes. While I love the element of surprise and don't usually go for the upgrades because you know ahead of time what samples you will get, I did choose the Anchors Away upgrade this time around. The Achors Away upgrade cost $4.00 (CAD) and it guaranteed: a Nicole by OPI nail polish (I Shop Mintage), two glass beads by Joseph Nogucci, and a Teeez eyeliner, all in addition to 4-5 unknown products.
Let's take a closer look at all of the products this month after the jump...
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What is Luxe Box?Luxe Box is a seasonal subscription service that provides you with 7-8 trial size beauty and lifestyle products.
- Frequency: every season/3 month
- Membership:
- Quarterly -- $26, every 3 months
- Semiannual -- $50, every 6 months
- Annual -- $96, every 12 months
- Contents: 7-8 trial sized samples
- Shipping:
- Cost -- FREE (shipping & handling are included in the price. Taxes may depend on your location. I am in Mississauga and I did not have to pay anything extra.)
- To -- Canada ONLY via Canada Post
- International Shipping
- US subscriptions seem to have been available for a limited time some time ago; it may be brought back.
- There IS a mailing list that you can join that will notify you when international shipping becomes available for your country.
A kind thank you to anyone who would like to use my referral link in signing up for Luxe Box.
Previous Luxe Box reviews:
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When I received the email with the tracking number for my Luxe Box on June 16, there was also a note about how everyone was getting a free gift of Crest 3D White Whitestrips and toothpaste. I've always wanted to try whitening strips, so I was pretty excited about this!
Upon opening my box, I discovered that there were three kits that each included a packet of two strips and two packets of toothpaste. There was also a $1 coupon for Crest mouthwash. Just these 3 kits alone (valued at $5 each) make up for more than half of what I paid for this box!
The whitening strips are a bit tricky to put on and the instructions are probably not as clear as they could've been. Nonetheless, I did try one packet. In terms of the whitening strips, I didn't really see any significant results (but that could've been because I didn't put them on properly). I did really like the toothpaste, and there's enough in a single toothpaste packet for 2-4 uses.
Anyways, moving on to the rest of the products. Here's a first peek inside the box:
To see the descriptions of each product, you have to login to loosebutton.com and check your dashboard. Here were the samples I got:
* All the prices are in Canadian dollars. *
1 | IRIS Lampwork Glass Beads (Joseph Nogucci)
(FULL SIZE: $30 for 2 beads)
(Links to product: Karen Bead | Carol Bead)
You know, compared to Pandora, which sells glass beads for $40+ each, Joseph Nogucci certainly has some of the most affordable bracelet beads/charms I've ever seen. The average price is $15 (there appears to be a promotion going on right now, so most beads & charms are $13).
I laughed at the tagline:
These beads were actually what pushed me to get the Anchors Away upgrade. I've got a Chamilia bracelet (which is cheaper than Pandora, but is still up there) with a few charms on it, so I thought that whatever beads I got in my box would be a nice addition. Besides, the Joseph Nogucci bracelet accessories are "all fully compatible with all major worldwide brands of beads & charms."
The colours I got were nice - I think they are the Karen and the Carol beads. The only thing I didn't really like was that they were two different sizes - the Karen bead (pink one) is slightly bigger than the Carol bead (with the flowers) - but I think I can live with that.
2 | Color Assure Sulfate-Free System (Nexxus)
(Sample size: $2.00 (2 x 5 mL & 1 x 9 mL) | Full size: ?)
(Link to products)
At first I saw this and I thought: "Shampoo? Score!" Then I realized that this was a three-step system for colour-treated hair.
I've always wondered what it would it would be like to colour my hair, but I've never actually went ahead and coloured it, so I can't actually judge how well this product preserves colour-treated hair. On the other hand - it's still shampoo, so I'm sure I'll use it anyways. After all, the main difference between shampoo/conditioner for colour-treated hair and regular shampoo/conditioner is that the former is gentler on the hair and doesn't wash out the chemicals that make up the hair dye.
3 | I Shop Mintage (Nicole by OPI)
(Sample size: $3.99 for 3.75 mL | Full size: $10.99 for 15 mL/0.5 oz)
(Link to product)
I Shop Mintage is a new addition for 2014 to the core colours of Nicole by OPI. While I did expect this polish to be in my box and I know that it wouldn't be the full-size version, I didn't realize that this was going to be a pretty puny sample! For a point of comparison, this sample is very close to the size of my nose:
In the bottle, I Shop Mintage reminded me and my friend of Julep's Kam. I Shop Mintage is a light mint green crème, while Kam is a spearmint crème. Here's are the swatches of the two side by side:
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| Artificial lighting |
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| Direct natural lighting |
4 | KP Duty Moisturizing Therapy (DERMAdoctor)
(Sample size: $10.00 for 30 mL/1 oz| Full size: $38.00 for 4 oz)
(Link to product)
Are you puzzled by the picture of the chicken on the packaging? I was!
After looking at the details of this product, everything suddenly made sense - the chicken is there because not only does this product promise to help with the appearance of parched skin, it also helps combat rough chicken bumps (for example, keratosis pilaris). There's an overwhelming amount of positive reviews on the product page from people who swear by this lotion, so if you're suffering from keratosis pilaris, redness, or any other kind of skin condition, it might be worth looking into this product.
I can't say that I've got any rough chicken bumps on my skin, but my hands do tend to get pretty dry, so I'm glad that I have something to combat it.
As a side note, this product contains alpha hydroxy acid (AHA), which may increase your skin's sensitivity when you use it. This means that wearing sunscreen is very important and so is limiting sun exposure while using this lotion and for a week afterwards.
5 | Mysterious Crystal Eyeliner in Lovely Lapis Lazuli (Teeez Trendy Cosmetics)
(FULL SIZE: $19.00 0.3 g)
(Link to product)
In the past few months I've been distancing myself from black eyeliner and experimenting with different colours instead. So far it's been going well and I'm really liking this eyeliner, which has a light blue shade and is full of micro glitter.
You have to be really careful not to let this eyeliner come out to far because the tips have broken off twice now.
I find that I typically don't go for anything other than a liquid eyeliner because it's much easier to draw a cat eye with a thin tip than it is with a crayon-type eyeliner. Luckily, only yesterday I found out that this eyeliner actually has a built-in sharpener! Tip - always read the packaging since that's how I discovered the sharpener a few weeks later...
I'm pretty excited to use the sharpener since it'll help a lot in creating a little wing with the eyeliner. In addition to the built-in sharpener, there's also a little smudge tool for creating a smokey eye. I haven't actually used this tool, but I'm not sure how effective it would be since it's pretty difficult to smudge this eyeliner - it's pretty stubborn even when removing the swatch from my arm!
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| L - natural lighting | R - artificial lighting |
6 | Angled Tweezers (Loose Button)
(FULL SIZE: $13.00)
Loose Button (the maker of Luxe Box) seems to send out a product of their own from time to time. While some people might not like the idea of tweezers sent out in a beauty box - I love it!
It's about time that I replace my old tweezer. Plus, this seems to be a pretty sturdy and high quality tool.
7 | Introductory Collection (Eslor)
(Sample size: $15.00 (4 x 5 mL) |
Full size: Soothing Refiner and Cleanser | $30 for 60 mL
Replenishing Scrub | $30 for 50 mL
Comforting Mask | $41 for 50 mL
Soothing Cream | $70 for 50 mL)
(Link to products)
This was the one product that I was most disappointed to see in my box - mostly because I received this same sample in my June 2014 Beauty Box 5, the review of which I have yet to put up. This says something either about BB5 or Luxe Box.
I haven't used any of the samples yet, but on the bright side - I do have more product to test now.
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|| Total Value: $92.99 (CAD) ||
(w/o Crest 3D White Whitestrips)
As always, I'm pretty excited to receive Luxe Box. Despite the disappointing repetition of the Eslor Introductory Collection, I think that this was a pretty good box and the Teeez eyeliner is definitely the winner in this bunch! I can see myself using pretty much everything, and compared to the Spring box, the Summer box has a much greater value, which is awesome.
The next shipment date is September 15 for the Fall box, which seems so close but also so far away! To remind everyone of the upcoming season, there's a photo on my Loose Button dashboard that brings this overwhelming wave of nostalgia over me - fall is my favourite season and it was also the season last year during which I received my very first Luxe box. Needless to say I'll be anxiously waiting to see what kinds of goodies Luxe Box brings to my doorstep in the fall.
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| As seen on LooseButton.com |
If you're in Canada and would like to use my referral link to sign up for Luxe Box, you can do so here.
Thank you kindly for reading! -A.~
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