January’s Bellabox – New Year Small Changes

So it’s that time of the month again – Bellabox time 🙂 I think Bellabox has some new ideas planned for the new year, hence this months ‘theme’. Bellabox has changed their packaging from a hard cardboard box that could be re-used to a more flimsy box which is a bit disappointing. I do like the saying on the box though – Be beautiful, surprise yourself 🙂 So that’s something 😉

The ‘big ticket’ item in this months box was the Model Co full sized mascara. Everyone who has a subscription with Bellabox received the mascara this month. Let’s see what else was in the box of goodies!

Broken down:

Avene Soothing Moisture Mask – RRP for 50ml $41.95 – 5ml sample. I like Avene products. Not only are they a trusted French brand, they make products targeted to solve particular problems. Dehydrated and irritated skin is what this moisture mask targets. It should be lovely to try out.

Avene Hydrance Optimale Rich Hydrating Cream – RRP for 40ml $52.95 – 5ml sample. A hydrating cream for both day and night. I have so many face cream samples at the moment I’m not super excited to try this, though I’m sure it’s nice! I might pass this onto my mum 🙂

Vaseline Aloe Fresh Daily Body Lotion SPF 15 – RRP for 200ml $7.68 – 25ml sample. A really fresh hydrating body lotion with the added benefit of an SPF – perfect for summer. Also, not bad, smells like melon, so super fresh!

Scandalous Rock Chick Wave Spray  – RRP for 150ml $17.95 – full size. From what I can tell this like a sea salt spray, meant to give your hair texture without leaving your hair feeling weighed down or ‘crunchy’. I use these types of sprays a lot because I have very fine and limp hair. It means little styling time is needed to give your hair some body and a kick to it 🙂 I’ve never heard of this brand before (the product is made in the UK so maybe it’s popular over there?) so I can’t confirm that it really does have a ‘cult’ following. My current KMS sea salt spray is almost finished, so I will give this spray a fair go 😉

*Update* – I have tried this wave/sea salt spray and I’m not very impressed. The first and most noticeable FAIL is when you spray the product – it doesn’t come out like a fine mist (or any kind of mist) it shoots out and lands on one spot on your head. How are you then supposed to distribute the product? I’ve only used it once, but this one fact alone makes it terribly frustrating to use. It means you get chucks of product throughout your hair. Once distributed, the texture is ok – I don’t get as many waves as I do with the KMS sea salt spray, so the hold isn’t very strong. It is light weight, not counting the parts of your hair which are drenched in product. I won’t be using this product again… 

Banana Boat Everyday SPF 30+ – RRP for 400g $21.00 – 15ml sample. You can never have enough sunscreen right?! As a kid I used to sing the Banana Boat Jingle (Banana Boat – Sunscreen protection – Banana Boat – It’s 30 plus!  lol) I wonder if it could be a cheaper alternative for my Bioderma Photoderm SPF 30 Sun Spray. Maybe, maybe not. Either way, it’s always handy to have a sachet of sunscreen lying around!

INM Natural Manicure Pedicure Nail File – RRP $1.75 – Full Size. This is one of those old school nail files (that feel like sandpaper). I’m not to impressed with this, plus I now use a glass nail file which is gentler and more sturdy (my beagle seems to be attracted to flimsy nail files and they get torn into a bazillian pieces in seconds). So hey, pet toy!

Model Co Fat Lash Volumising Mascara – RRP $20 – Full Size. This was the ‘big ticket’ item in this months box. I have seen some good reviews about this mascara so I didn’t mind trying it out. I love the hot pink packaging and I’ve come to like the fibre type mascaras because they are so easy to remove (as opposed to wax based mascaras). I love big mascara brushes – usually volumising mascara formulas have big brushes and this is exactly what this one has!

The bristles on the tip make getting your outer lashes super easy to get and coat. The bristles are similar to what you find on synthetic small brush but it’s just an extra large version of those regular wands.  I did try out this mascara as soon as I received it (and I received it yesterday) and look, it’s not what I would call a volumising mascara. It’s definitely lengthening and you can layer and layer without it going chunky and too clumpy (they actually recommend you coat one eye of lashes and then let that coat dry before doing another) which is very impressive. I do have long lashes already, so volume is what I want. It’s no Dior Blackout mascara but it’s nice 🙂 No smudges or flaking either. Here’s a look at a before and after!

So how do I sum up this months Bellabox? I thought it was pretty average. I seem to get a lot of Avene samples and I like the brand, don’t get me wrong, but I would like to try other brands (otherwise it’s just repetitive and I want to try out new and exciting brands!). If the sea salt/texture hair spray I’ll be happily surprised, otherwise it will just be a waste. The brands do seem to be a bit cheaper than others previously sampled (especially when you get them time and time again) so that is disappointing. The most ‘luxe’ products sampled are the Avene samples and while it’s a decent ‘pharmacy’ brand, I wouldn’t call them luxe. Model Co seems to be pretty hit and miss, so at least this time its not to bad.

I have been thinking about trying the Violet box – it is a little more expensive (somewhere between $20 to $25 a month while Bellabox is $15 a month) but maybe just getting it for a few months wouldn’t hurt my bank account to much 😛 especially if the samples are even more ‘luxe’. Do you get any sample boxes? How did you rate this months Bellabox if you get them?

This is post 99… so we know what post 100 will bring (GIVEAWAY!) 😀

Join me on Facebook to stay updated with all the antics!

Catch ya next time 😉

Beauty Bee~

Please follow and like us:

#January #BananaBoat #INM #Avene #ModelCo #Vaseline #Scandalous #Bellabox