little white truths

Royal Nature The Original Soothing Blemish Balm SPF30 PA++ (RRP $43 for 40ml; received full size)

Well look at this, another BB cream - my favourite! It's funny, no matter how many BB/CC creams I accrue, I'm still just as excited to receive them.

This one is apparently known for its gentle, soothing formula that's enriched with calendula, chamomile and portulaca extracts, cypress essential oil and a special 'Angel's Tear' complex. It aims to relieve and brighten the skin. YAY!

UPDATE: See above swatch - unblended below and blended above. I have to say, I'm HEARTBROKEN that this product is far too pale for my face. Boo foo boo. Maybe I could wear it on my wrists?!

I've tried it a few times now and it's a really lovely product: it smells nice, blends well and just feels good for your skin. You can tell it's a high quality product and if it wasn't so pale, I've no doubt I'd be in love with it. Unfortunately it's so pale, that I can't even set it aside for winter in the hope that it will be a better match then.

What I'll do for now is hang on to it (I can't bear to give it away, that's how good a BB cream I think it is), in the hope that I get something that's too dark for me in one of the boxes I still have coming so I can mix them.

So sad. So so sad. Ha.

Cheek Room Two Colour Lip Gloss (RRP $12 for 8ml; received full size)

This dual lip gloss apparently provides a liquid lip colour with the intense, long-lasting hold of a lip stain and the shine of a gloss. The result is meant to be waterproof and smudge-proof, with no fading or transferring. It's described as pigmented and opaque with a matte texture, without being sticky.

I'm intrigued, and I'd be surprised if this product managed to do all that! I'm keeping an open mind however and am looking forward to using it - I just need to finish off a gloss or two I have open first.

UPDATE: This has to be one of the most ridiculous products I've ever come across. I've looked at other bloggers' views on this, and that opinion seems to be unanimous. 

It is not pigmented and opaque, nor is it waterproof, smudge proof and transfer free. It's a gloss, not a stain, and the two colours mix themselves together whenever you move the applicator in and out of the tube - so it will end up looking like a bit of a mess. 

Having said this, it's an ok clear gloss to keep your lips hydrated, so I will use it. I really don't understand how Cheek Room could have expected this product to live up to all those claims. My golly! I've done a full review here.

Shara Shara Creamy Dual Auto Eye Stick (RRP $9 for 1.4g; received full size)

There were four colours you could have received - gold khaki, pink brown, burgundy and brown. I received #3 Celeb Burgundy, which I'm not too happy about (though I haven't seen the actual colour yet) since I can't imagine using that colour around my eyes - but let's see! At least I've nothing else like it (probably for good reason ; ) ).

It apparently contains an eyeliner and an eyeshadow in two colour shades that can be mixed and matched. I'll be interested to see what this one's like. If it doesn't suit me, I'll pass it on to someone I think it will suit.

UPDATE: This is without question one of the worst (and possibly the worst) products I've ever used - it's so bad that I won't be adding it to the presents or swap pile.

I wouldn't normally wear burgundy eyeliner because it doesn't suit me, although the peach 'eyeshadow' does suit me (see swatch below) but is too glittery for my tastes.

Look at that - I lined my eye heavily and put heaps of the shadow on so the colours would show up, but by the time I went outside and took the photo (all of about three minutes), it had wiped itself off and the shadow had slipped straight into the crease! Ridiculous.

Bbia Downy Cheek (RRP $12 for 3.5g; received full size)

You could have received Downy Pink or Downy Peach in this - thank golly I got the peach! As we know I go nuts for anything in that colour range and pink seriously doesn't suit me (plus I've seen a photo of the pink version, and man is it pink. Like lollies that Barbie might eat).

It's a cream blush that aims to give a natural flush of colour, and can be worn over or under powder to sculpt and highlight your cheeks. Yay. Sounds good. Love the colour.

UPDATE: I've done a full review of this product here, so for this post I'll just say a few things about it. It's a really beautiful pale peach, and it shows up nicely on my wrist but not so well on my face (which is darker) - see below:

I've also found that it's not really buildable - so I can't make the colour stronger by layering it - because it starts to look visible and a bit slimey. It also sits in open pores pretty badly, so you end up with little peach dots on your face.

I think it would look much better on those lasses with paler skin that don't have open pores. Having said this, it does add a nice barely there flush and you can beef it up a bit by adding a coloured highlighting powder over the top.

It's Skin Babyface Young Girl Gel Eyeliner 02 Purple Black (RRP $13 for 5.5g; received full size - brush included)

I've taken two photos of this (above and below) but I haven't taken the packaging off just in case I can't put it back on nicely - I'm not sure whether I'll keep this. I have eye gels in both these colours and really don't need it. We'll see.

Apparently when these are applied together they create a younger-looking, lovelier effect on your eyes, and the card says you can also apply it over or under your favourite lip products?! Might be a typo, although whacky lip colours are certainly on trend at the moment.

The packaging of the eyeliner is quite cute, although I'm not sure that calling something 'young girl' is a good idea - doesn't sound very appealing to a 34-year-old ; )

UPDATE: Here's a swatch, first:

I don't know what's going on with this product, but the purple gel has all but dried out. I've looked at other blogs and others have noticed this too, so it could just be a formula problem. On the other hand, the black is almost too creamy and you wind up with heaps of product on the brush if you're not careful.

What happens with the purple is that you get little dry blobs (like pilling on wool) when you apply it, because it's so dry. The black fares better but it's certainly not the best gel I've used.

The purple is hard to apply and the black is easy. Both colours last well and I still have the lines on my wrist today, even though I took this photo yesterday.

The product is ok. I'm annoyed about the purple.

Shara Shara Glitter Pearl Powder (RRP $7 for 2.2g)

You could have gotten pink, bronze gold or champagne gold - very happy I didn't get the pink one (I got GL01 Champagne Gold).

Apparently this has glitter pearls that shine and have a silky, long-lasting radiance. It can also be used as a highlighter. I'll be interested to see how this looks on - as we know I don't like noticeable glitter. The applicator is meant to control the amount you use, and the product is buildable.

If this looks too sparkly on me, it's destined for the presents or swap pile.

UPDATE: Well, this doesn't deserve to be in the presents or swap pile, so I'm giving it to a friend with two little girls who can use it as fairy dust or wet it and use it as paint/face paint. I don't know why it was included - it's cheap and tacky. Blurgh.

Verdict

I'm still trying to work out how I feel about this box. While it's a good mix of products and I'll use most of it, everything except the BB cream is rather cheap, yes? I don't buy beauty boxes to wind up with a $7 glitter powder or a $9 eyeliner - if I wanted that, I'd go into Priceline.

The total RRP value of the box is $108 (including the free gift) or $96 without it, and in my experience $23 Memeboxes normally hit at least the $150 mark, so this one's significantly lower.

While price doesn't always impact quality, it does often enough and this box seems designed for young teenagers (that's the impression I get, anyway). Why would I reach for a $12 cream blush in cheap, uninteresting packaging when I have bundles of more fancy items I could use, ones that make me feel special just by putting them on? I've found that beauty boxes normally include at least a few 'special' items, and this one has only the BB cream (plus the free gift, which isn't part of the box itself). I'd have expected more.

Still, I'll keep an open mind. The best product is the BB cream and also the free Cellbydate essence (thank golly that was included) - and these are the only items that feel like they're 'for adults'. It may be that some of the products are great, despite being at the cheaper end of the spectrum, so I'll definitely update this post once I've tried things and let you know what I thought.

Did others receive this box? If so, what did you think?