Memebox - Superbox #41 - My Cute Wishlist review and unboxing

You all know I'm a sucker for a subscription/beauty box. Combine that with my curiosity and fascination about Korean beauty products and cosmetics, add Memebox offering to send me a box to review, and you have one very happy camper!

Have you heard of Memebox yet? They are the most popular beauty box in Korea! A while back, they started offering boxes to the US and other countries, as well!

Memebox isn't really like the other boxes we have now, For one, they're not really a sub box - you order boxes from them individually, and they do not offer a recurring subscription. They offer several different types of boxes! I'll explain a little bit about each box before I show you what I received!

Memebox Global: This is their "signature" box - it contains a range of products (skincare, cosmetics, haircare, body care, all fair game) and you receive 4-8 deluxe and full sized products. I'll say that most of the boxes I've seen reviewed have had closer to 8 products in them, with great sizes, and they are always a great value! I need to snag me one of these soon. THe downside is that you have to order these WAY in advance, they sell out quickly!

Memebox Special: These seem to be like the global boxes, with full and deluxe products, but they revolve around a theme! Some of the themes currently available are masks, tea tree cosmetics, Beauty 911, and Green Food Cosmetics (there are many more, too!) 

Superbox: A superbox is a box with ALL full sized products! They also go by theme - some example themes have been The Honey Box, Makeup Edition, Yogurt Cosmetics, and Holika Holika. These are great if you're looking for full sized products. The box I received is a Superbox!

Luckybox: A Luckybox is a mishmash box containing favorite products from previous boxes. They make a great introduction to Memebox for people who are curious, or if you want to see some of the goodies you missed out on!

The prices vary on most of these boxes! Memebox Global is $23 (plus shipping). Superboxes and Special boxes vary by theme, with most falling between $23 and $32. Every box I've seen from them has been a great value and I am pretty excited to try out some more.

Now, onto the box I received!

When Memebox said they were sending me a box, they did not tell me what the box would be! So, I was really excited and couldn't wait to see what was inside when I received that cute pink bubble mailer!

I opened it up to find that I had recieved Superbox 41: My Cute Wishlist! As a huge fan of cute packaging and products, I was overjoyed. Here's how Memebox describes this box!

We've searched and scoured through the Korean beauty scene to find you all the beauty things adorbs and irresistibly cute! From miniature beauty trinkets to cute face makeup kits and skincare potions, these precious little beauty finds will make you "oooh" because of the trademark Korean charming packaging and "aahhh" because of how cute it makes you look. Carry around these beauty treasures wherever you go and make your friends green with jealousy.

Sounds good to me! Immediately, I noticed how great Memebox's info card is - it has photos of each item as well as pricing, a description, and directions for use. This is great because the directions on the packaging of many of these products is, obviously, Korean!

See all that cuteness under there? Here's what's inside!

Etude Missing U Hand Cream - This is made with organic olive oil and shea butter. It comes in several varieties, each container shaped like an endangered species, and in four different scents! This fairy penguin contains cream scented like baby powder! I adore this. It is so cute, I love penguins and the idea of using cosmetics to raise awareness for endangered species is awesome. The handcream is nice - easily absorbed, leaves my hands soft, and the baby powder scent is soft and fresh and not overpowering. I want to collect the other 3!

Beauty People Snow White Special Edition Season 2 - This is a set of 5 creamy, shimmery, eye pencils in an adorable tin. These are in the shades Glimmer Black, Glimmer Brown, Glimmer Bronze, Glimmer Gold, and Glimmer Beige. I am being honest when I say these are some of the nicest eye pencils I've ever tried! They are so soft and creamy and very pigmented. These swatches were a single stroke with light pressure! And, once they set for a few seconds, they did not budge, even with repeated rubbing and some water! I really love them and have been using them most every day!

Pure Smile Neco Punch Point Pad in Lemongrass and Hibiscus - These pads are soaked in Vitamin E, Collagen, Hyaluronic Acid, and arbutin and they work to moisturize and control excess sebum and secretions. These are so cute. They're like sheet masks, only they're spot treatments. I've been using the lemongrass ones on a trouble area on my cheek, and I like the fresh feeling it leaves me with! They smell amazing, too.

Kokostar Split End Therapy - This is a treatment with 8 amino acids that helps prevent breakage and static electricity, as well as to protect the hair and mend split ends and damage. It is meant to be a ponytail treatment that you tie on with the included (adorable) hair band. My hair is currently too short for a pony tail, and while I'm sure you could use it another way, I think I'm actually going to save it until my hair grows out a bit so I can get the full effect. Really excited to eventually try this!

Etude Sweet Recipe Candy Stick in Sour Lemon Candy - This is a glossy lip balm/tint with a sheer color that moisturizes and contains sugarcane and sugar maple! This one, lemon, doesn't have too much tint, really just adds a hint of color, and is nice and soft and slightly glossy. It has a light lemon scent, which I love! I like the cute shape - makes it easy to pick out of my bag easily. I'd be interested to see if the other flavors have more color to them, but I really like this!

Pure Smile Muddy Girl mud pack in Red Clay - This is a mud mask that soothes, purifies, smooths, and moisturizes. It also comes in a charcoal version, but I got the Red Clay. I tried it and I really liked what it did for my skin - it made it feel nice and clean and refreshed, but not at all dried out. I'd like to get my hands on some more of these! I'm a sucker for masks.

a;t fox Creams - These are three different creams - Lifting Cream, to firm and lessen signs of aging, Water Gel Cream, to moisturize and lock in moisture, and Whitening Capsule Cream to hydrate and brighten. HOW CUTE ARE THESE? I love the little cupcake pots, and even after the creams are gone, I will be finding something else ot use them for. I like all three of the creams! The Water Gel cream is great - not too heavy, I like using it in the mornings. The whitening cream is a gel, and it feels nice on the skin. It's too early to tell if it brightens, but so far I'm liking it. I like the lifting cream in my undereye area, it has a great consistency and keeps that area feeling nice and moisturized. I am really impressed with all three and want to try more from the brand!

As a little bonus, they also sent a cute little pencil sharpener, which I can always use!

Overall, I'm kind of in love with this box! Not only is everything absolutely adorable, but I love the range of products - hair, facial skincare, hands, makeup, lips...such a great mix. I have honestly been using everything (except the hair treatment, but I will get to that when my hair needs it!) almost daily and it's all so great.

This box was sent to me for free, but it costs $23 and if I had paid for it, I would have felt like I got an amazing deal. This box is out of stock now, but they do sometimes restock boxes, and there are also new versions of the Cute Wishlist. If you like what you see, you can order boxes at memebox.com! 

What do you think? Have you tried a Memebox yet?

*Disclaimer: This post contains products sent to me for review purposes. I was not otherwise compensated and all opinions are my own.

Kara's Way - May (first!) Box

A couple of months ago, I learned of a new beauty subscription service that was preparing to launch. I'm sure you all know by now that I am a sucker for these services, so I decided to look into this one. It sounded great, so I jumped to try it out.

Kara's Way is an eco-friendly, natural subscription service! Their monthly boxes cost $15 , and consist of 5-10 handpicked organic, vegan, or natural beauty and body care samples. They include a combination of makeup, skincare, body care, and fragrance.

I read an interview with the founder, and she said that she has very sensitive skin and eczema, so that gives me hope that she will be truly picky about the products she shares. I'm trying to reduce the chemicals I use on my skin and body as much as possible, and services like this can prove priceless when it comes to discovering new things. The founder stated that she wanted to focus heavily on up-and-coming indie brands, which is awesome and right up my alley.

One cool thing about this service is that they will not post your box's contents until the next month. This is pretty awesome for people like me, who love to be surprised, yet can't help but peek at the spoilers. Maybe I'll actually get a chance to be completely surprised by my boxes with this one! The other cool thing is that literally 10 minutes after it was delivered, I had an email talking about the contents...it seems like they might have it set to send it when your tracking is updated to delivered. Awesome.

As this is the first box, I don't yet know if everyone is going to get the same box each month, or if there will be random selection or customization. I do know that I received a nice variety of products at a good value.

I love the eco-friendly packaging. Instead of an inner box, the shipping box is lined with tissue paper (big sheets, great for reusing) and the goodies are wrapped in tissue paper as well.

Love the cute little tag and the ribbon! The tag is seeded with wildflowers, which is an adorable touch. I'm so going to plant it tomorrow!

I'm glad this eco-friendly company walks the walk when it comes to packaging

Opened up, I found a cute little pile of goodies. A couple of these things were wrapped up like little presents, cute!

The first thing I pulled out was this Cucumber Witch Hazel toner from Thayers. This is a big bottle for a sample! This is an alcohol free toner that contains aloe vera and non-distilled witch hazel extract. It promises high levels of therapeutic tannins. I need a good toner, and I cannot wait to try this! Alcohol based toners can be so drying, so this one sounds great.

A 12 oz. bottle retails for $9.95, so this 2 oz sample is worth about $1.66.

Next, I found a full sized keeki lip shimmer stick! It is made of all organic, food grade ingredients and natural minerals. It contains beeswax, cocoa butter, coconut and sunflower oils, peppermint and vanilla oils, mica, iron & titanium oxides. I tried this and I love the texture, nice and soft and moisturizing, with a slight cooling feeling from the mint but not what you'd really call "minty". So cute. I got the color Sassy, which is a golden honey color. 

I love the oblong shape! It will make this easy to identify when reaching for a balm. The label and branding is just adorable, as well.

This shimmer stick is full sized and it retails for $6.99.

Next is Daily Active Sunscreen by beyond coastal. I am super pale, I burn incredibly easy, and so a good sunscreen is a must. This one sounds awesome - it contains aloe, shea butter, and vitamins C and E to keep the skin healthy. Excited to see how this works out for me!

This 1 oz. bottle retails for $5.99.

In this cute little organza bag, I found 3 samples from Native Touch. This is basically a 3 step skin ritual for feet or body- a DreamCatcher soap, a Blue Corn Sugar scrub, and a Rooting Bear Rub salve/moisturizer. These products look really neat and are made of great ingredients. I'm really excited to try the sugar scrub on my body and the salve on my cuticles and feet!

I opened the scrub up to check it out and it looks amazing - grains of sugar and lots of visible seeds for scrubbing, with a nice citrusy scent.

The samples aren't labeled for size, but the full sized soap is $6 for 4 oz, the scrub is $20 for 16 oz, and the rub is $14 for 2 oz. While I can't estimate the value of the samples, I can say that they are definitely a good addition to the box.

I am familiar with the La Fresh makeup remover wipes, but I have never tried either of these, so I'm excited to. One is an oil free face cleanser wipe, and the other is acetone free nail polish remover. I love products like this to keep in my purse and for travel, so convenient. I love that they are biodegradable and include healthy ingredients. 

The face wipes are $9.99 for 30 and the nail wipes are $9.99 for 18, making the face wipe worth about .33 and the nail wipe worth about .56. 

I was really excited to find this sample of Naturelle D'Argan argan oil! I love argan oil for my hair, and this is a decent sample size, and contains antioxidants. I love that this is good for your skin AND hair, most products I have tried have other ingredients making it too heavy for the face. I'm excited to see what this does for my skin! It promises to fight aging and sagging skin and combat free radicals.

A 1.7 oz bottle retails for $48.99, so this .27 oz sample is worth $7.78!

And finally, a full sized polish from Honeybee Gardens. This seems cool - it is a water based polish! And even cooler - it removes with rubbing alcohol or grain alcohol. I love the pink color and the idea of NOT putting harsh solvents on my nails, so if this works for me I will be a happy camper.  It does have some different tips for usage and application and removal, and upon receiving your box, you receive a link to that information. I am excited to try it! One polish retails for $9.99.

All in all, this is an impressive first box! I love how truly green it all is, and how healthy all of these products are for my body. This is a $15 dollar subscription, and if it keeps up like this I'd say it is definitely worth it! This box has a value of approximately $33, and that doesn't include the three Native Touch products. Definitely a great value.

If this looks good to you, go sign up at https://www.karasway.com/. 

Note: I received a free box for review. I was not otherwise compensated and my opinions are 100% my own.

Love With Food March box!

So, I was really excited to check the mail today and discover that I'd gotten my Love With Food box!

 If you haven't heard of it, Love With Food Best Bites is a subscription service similar to Birchbox that sends you 5 or 6 gourmet food samples a month.  Similar to BB, it has a points system to earn free credits, and each item in your monthly box is discounted 40 percent, should you choose to buy the full size.  It costs $14 a month, and offers a variety of sweet and savory snacks.

In my opinion, the BEST part is that Love With Food donates a meal to food banks for every box sold.  So you can actually feel good about snacking!  If this sounds good to you, join Love With Food by clicking HERE.  If you enter the promo code "FBFAN" at checkout, your first month is free.

Anyway, onto the box.  The box itself is small and sturdy.  It was packed full of treats!

Like many others, it came with a cute little card that lists the contents.  This month's box is supposed to be good hiking/nature snacks!

The thing I'm most excited to try is the jerky!  We got Southeast Asian Charcuterie by Little Red Dot Kitchen in Pork and Turkey.  "On-the-go savory, sweet, & smoky".  Interestingly enough, the package suggests that these are tastiest when heated!  I'll give it a try. A half a pound of this is $10.95.

Organic Popped Fuji Apple Chips by yogavive, naturally flavored with strawberry.  Each bag contains a whole apple, and they retail at $6 for 10 bags.  

Update:  I'm eating these right now, and they're delicious!  Crispy but not hard, light, and the strawberry flavor is light and not at all artificial.  I will probably buy these. Mmm.

Fig Bars by Nature's Bakery in Whole Wheat Apple Cinnamon.  This is a good sized bar!  They are 100% natural fig cookies blended with a variety of fruits, and they retail for $6 for a box of 8.

73% Cocoa Dark Belgian Chocolate with Coffee by New Tree.  Rich dark chocolate infused with coffee.  These look so good!  They cost $14.50 for a pack of 20. 

Hemp Hearts by Manitoba Harvest.  These can be sprinkled on salad, cereal, and yogurt or eaten as a snack. I also got a $1 off coupon, as pictured below.  It doesn't list a price for these.

 

And finally, Organic Energy Bars by Kate's Real Food.  There are four of these little guys in the box.  Flavors are:  Peanut Butter Chocolate Trail Mix (this comes in milk and dark chocolate)

Dark Chocolate Cherry Almond, and Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate with Flax and Hemp Seeds.  It doesn't list a price for these, but they come in a box of 12.


 Update:  I tasted Griz, which seemed to be the Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate.  It was GOOD.  It didn't have that gritty texture like most energy bars do, it just tasted like a chewy, really well done granola bar. Yum.

In all, I'm pretty excited about this box, and these are all things that I'm excited to try.  I'll update with my reviews as I taste the contents.  For a free month, you can't go wrong with this!