I received my Bellabox in the mail yesterday morning yay! Bellabox is basically a makeup promoting "agent" that sends you 5 makeup samples each month in a beautifully decorated box. Brands I've received since January include: theBalm, Taylor Swift's Enchanted, Justin Bieber's Girlfriend, Lanvin, Dr Ci.Labo, MOX Botanicals, e.t.c. Best thing is that----- you only have to pay $19.95 to get all of that each month! How worth it right?
Bellabox Singapore turns two this month and dayum, their goodie bag this month is many times of the size of the usual package I received for the past few months. So, of course I was anticipating much more from this huge grey paper bag below!
.
.
.
.
Un"bagging" it: Cosmopolitan Magazine, Cosmo pads (lol srsly cosmo mag/cosmo pads) and Cosmo bag-LOL I KID, Bellabox this month came in the form of makeup pouch in a toned copper colour.
The contents inside the copper makeup pouch: Foundation Primer/Perfume Sample/Mask/Vouchers/Nail Polish/Renew Cream
I always love their colourful post-card sized introductory messages of the products every month!
Product #1: Laura Mercier Foundation Primer Protect SPF30/PA++
Rating: 3.5/5
Oh come on, you won't be expecting anything lesser than awesome from Laura Mercier's face products. I've actually a bigger tube of this from the Laura Mercier Flawless Face Kit I purchased earlier on this year which includes the primer, tinted moisturizer, concealer+pressed powder and a few brushes and powder puffs/sponges.
It is pretty lightweight and gives my skin a smooth finish to make applying the rest of the makeup easier! However, it does not work as well on my T-zone as Singapore's weather is really hot and humid and the lightweight properties of it can't protect against my oily skin/sweat, especially the area on my nose. Hence, it would be perfect to use in other countries, just not Singapore. I swear Singapore is the best place to go bare faced as your makeup will just run in less 4 hours with the sweltering heat we are under everyday.
The primer is a light ivory colour and fades into your skin colour after applying. It has no smell/fragrance.
Product #2: Elizabeth Arden Untold Eau De Parfum Spray
Rating: 4.5/5
You know the feeling of smelling a certain perfume when you step into a perfume store yet not knowing what the scent is? Untold gives me the answer to that. Absolutely adore its floral scent and I shall purchase it at the airport after coming back from Europe in December! Thank you so much Bellabox for giving me a sample sized bottle for easy carry!
Product #3: Jacqueline Burchell Nail Polish in Baby I Am News
Rating: 4/5
The bottle reminds me of Nails Inc.'s packaging. Anyway, there's nothing not there to love about this nail polish. I love the colour, the applicator, the time taken to dry and the consistency of the glitter in the nail polish. The polish is in the shade of a glittery baby pink. I painted it on top of OPI's My First Knockwurst and its effects are ah-may-zing. Definitely purchasing more colours from her line! The best thing is that it's researched and developed in Singapore! *starts singing patriotic songs loudly*
Product #4: Sexy Look 4D Mask
Rating: 4/5
I'm not sure why is this mask named Sexy Look... oh wait the brand of this mask producing company is called Sexy Look, uhm ok..... But anyway I'm really satisfied with this mask. It's allllll about the detailing as there are special ''ear extensions'' for you to hook the holes onto your ears and stretch the mask fully and nicely over your face.The mask also extends up to your neck and you can hook the holes at the ends of the strip to your ears too. However after a while, I found it really painful and a little itchy on my ears at it was hooking onto it really tightly and I was feeling really quite uncomfortable. :/
Other than that, it was fine! My skin felt really refreshed, bouncy and 'q' after application and patting the remaining product into my skin and 15 minutes after removing the mask, my skin feels really soft and supple! I would be happy if they removed the neck part and give me just the ear hooks along with the face mask. I like masks to be fuss free, thanks! The mask smelt really good though, like some pearl-ish light scent.
Product #5: Whisper Cosmo Heavy Day
Rating: 3.9/5
Is this some sorcery or what? I got to test this pad out immediately as my period came a day after my Bellabox arrived (a little TMI here, sorry) I honestly won't think this pad would work on my kind of heavy day as when I say heavy, its really damn heavy. This pad would prolly work on the second, third or fourth day when the flow is lesser.
Anyways, the plastic wrapping of the pad is in a cheery yellow-orange colour which might make your period days seem less gloomy. The surface of the pad has all these holes that makes the moisture seep in so that it would not leak that easily. Hmm, I am highly skeptical that this would work and am prepared to see a pool of blood when I stand up....
I wore it around for 4 hours on my second day of having my period and surprisingly.... it did not leak! The moisture all seeped through the holes and all of it was caught so yup!!! Thumbs up for that! However my flow on the first day was much more than today's so..... I'm not sure if it would still work.
Product #7: Indio Cosmeceutical Renew Cream
Rating: 2/5
I really didn't think much about this product and it didn't prove me to be wrong indeed! Everything about this product was just horrible, I felt no tingling sensation as it was supposed to be described in the card, and the smell of the cream while I was exfoliating my face was unbearable. It smelt really chemical and alcoholic? I just didn't like it.
Overall, I would rate this box 23/30 (rounding up all the scores and ratings a little). Of course it would be hard for all products to satisfy my needs but I thoroughly enjoyed this month's Bellabox. Always looking forward to the next month's samples! :)
Stay hipsterrrific,
Ming Rui L.