little white truths

So this looks like a nice splash of products. I have to say, that black jewel scrub and the one with the girl in glasses turned me off this box a bit, since the packaging looks rather twee and cheap. It was probably the sight of those two items that made me put this aside on Monday and review Oil Therapy instead.

Of course, you can't judge a book by its cover - but things like the packaging and price of items do tend to raise suspicions. Having said this, I've been pleasantly surprised by products often enough, so let's hope that's the case here.

Beauty Firm Rubbing Jelly Scrub (RRP $7 for 60ml)

This one actually looks quite interesting - when you take it out, it has a pop cap with an applicator of silicone jelly bristles. It could be quite fun to use.

According to the card, this jelly scrub features a super skin-smoothing blend of argan oil, apricot seeds and panthenol to gently polish and moisturise dry and calloused elbows and heels. It features a bristle pad to gently yet effectively loosen up dead skin to reveal brighter skin underneath.

To use it, you turn the brush to open the product, squeeze out the scrub formula and massage over heels and elbows. If I like the bristles, I may well keep the container once the product's done and re-use it.

I'm happy with this inclusion because I don't have anything like it.

UPDATE: Full review here. In short, this scrub is cute and decent enough, but I think it's more gimmicky than anything else. Plus $7 for a 60ml body scrub is a little steep I reckon. Still, I'm enjoying using it - despite the fact that I'm not using the brush that much (I prefer my shower puff) and I'm not confining using it to my elbows and heels because I'm lazy and don't want to be reaching for any more products than I need to when I shower (!).

ddung Family Peeling Gel (RRP $18 for 120ml)

Hmm, one of the suspect products - and why does it call itself a family peeling gel I wonder?! ; )

It's apparently a facial peeling gel that's enriched with aloe vera leaf, grapefruit, centella asiatica and chamomile extracts for soothing and smoothing out the skin. It aims to exfoliate away excess sebum, impurities and dead skin cells to reveal clearer, brighter and silkier skin.

To use, gently massage the peeling gel over your clean face, rolling away dead skin cells and dry patches with your hands. Rinse off with lukewarm water.

Look, I'll definitely use this (despite the 'ddung' thoroughly thought-through brand name) to see how it fares. It's gone to the bottom of the pile however, because I have a bunch of masks to use first.

UPDATE: Well, we have a new contender for the worst product I've ever received from Memebox - and indeed the worst product I've ever used. Full grumble here ; )

What can I say? It's a very very strange item: it squeezes out like a gel, then when you apply it to your face it kind of turns to a weird, hard jelly texture, then it pills - leaving little bits on your face (like dead, peeling skin) that are sticky and incredibly hard to remove. So hard to remove that, for the few times I trialled this on my face before banishing it to the shower to use as a body wash, I couldn't scrub the dregs off for the life of me and still felt them when I got to applying my makeup - even after double cleansing and toning.

On top of that, it achieves absolutely nothing. A rubbish product. Don't go near it!

ProYou S Special E/B Creamy Peel (RRP $48 for 50g)

This is the most expensive product in the box and the one that caught my eye - purely because I've received quite a few ProYou products from Memebox now and I'm glad I can slot this in with those and use them together. Unlike with eg makeup, skincare products from the same brand can work in concert - so it's often good to group like products if you can.

This is described as a creamy, 'gommage' exfoliator that erases away all dead skin cells, blackheads and sebum piled up in the skin. It's gentle and works to softly roll away skin impurities because cellulose exfoliates roughened skin texture. It aims to have skin feeling much softer, smoother and brighter.

To use, you gently massage the creamy peel formula all over your clean face. Rinse off with lukewarm water.

I'm looking forward to trying this, although I've got so much skincare from different brands sitting there waiting to be used, that I mightn't get to ProYou for a while!

UPDATE: This was the hold-up product in terms of being able to update this post because I had another like product that I wanted to finish first. I've used it a couple of times now and I'm looking forward to using it more and developing a firmer view of it.

What I can say is that my first thought was 'this isn't going to do anything' but I don't think that's right. Because it's a cream, I haven't used any peel like it - so the texture was unexpected and to start with it felt like a moisturiser more than anything else. But I could tell even after the first use that it was having some impact: my skin looked and felt smoother and brighter afterwards. I'll do a full review once I've used it for a while.

Also, I'll be moving on to the other ProYou products I mention above reasonably soon, so I'll be able to see how this works in concert with other items from the same brand. Hopefully my skin benefits from the change in routine.

Tonymoly Gold Black Sugar Mask (RRP $7 for 100ml)

I've put this one straight into the bathroom, since I have nothing like it and I'm about to finish both a face scrub and a mask.

It's apparently an effective facial exfoliator that's formulated with nutrients from black sugar, gold and honey extracts. It's meant for occasional use and aims to remove excessive dead skin cells, oil and skin impurities piled up in the pores.

To use, spread it evenly over your wet face after cleansing and gently massage into the skin. Rinse off after 10-15 mins.

This one sounds like fun. I'm ignoring the $7 price tag and hoping it's a good product ; )

UPDATE: Full review here. I'm loving this product! It's a mass of brown sugary goodness and scrubs really well. It might be too harsh for some but I love a full-on scrub. Plus it's fun to use, smells delicious and feels wonderful on your skin. It's in my top five products received from Memebox, and it's one of the few I'd consider purchasing. Yay to that.

Pure Smile Jewelry Scrub Amethyst (RRP $10 for 100ml)

This is a scented body scrub that's made from black sugar, shea butter, jojoba seed oil, gylcerin and amethyst powder extracts. It aims to clear skin of impurities and keep it smooth and healthy. I've got two other body scrubs to use first before I get to this one, so it may be a while before I can review it and update this post (just letting you know!).

I'll try to get over the tacky look of this item and approach the product with fresh eyes. At least the idea of it is a little different.

UPDATE: I cracked this open last week and I'll do a full review at some point, but for now I'll say that I'm liking it more than I thought I would. In terms of scrubbing action, it does a better job and contains more scrubby matter than the heel/elbow scrub above, so I prefer it in that sense. It can feel a little scratchy if you're not careful but, again, I don't mind that because I prefer a harsher scrub.

Pureplus+ Skin Freyia Foot Peeling (RRP $12 for 2x20ml)

I'm glad I read the instructions for this first, because I was going to chuck these on today.

According to the card, these masks will, 3-4 days after application, gradually start to peel off dead skin from your feet. Not a good look at the engagement party I've got on Saturday, since I'll likely be wearing sandals!

To use, you put the masks on both feet after cleansing. Leave on for 1.5 hours and then wash off gently with soap. Dead skin should start to peel off within 3-4 days, and will all be shed within a week.

Sounds interesting. Wonder whether these actually work. Might make this a Sunday night project so my feet are ready for next weekend.

UPDATE: Before I used this, a lovely lass on FB warned me to be careful because her feet peeled for ages after use. This was good to know because I had a couple of big events coming up and I didn't want scaly feet appearing through my sandals.

In the end, however, this did absolutely nothing for me. There's been no peeling whatsoever, nor any indication that my feet are in any better or smoother shape than they were prior to use - and it's been over two weeks since I gave this a go. Hmph.

Verdict

This box was pretty good. The total value was $102 for $23 outlay, which isn't bad - although I've had much better value boxes than this one.

I'm most interested in the heel/elbow product with bristles, the sugar mask and the ProYou peel. I'm looking forward to trying everything and updating this post with my thoughts. I'll likely do a full review of each product as well.

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