Boxycharm July Edition

Is there anything better than a beauty subscription box? Knowing that each month, a beautiful box stacked with different products and beauty brands will turn up at your door, is a very, very exciting feeling! I think it may just be the best thing anyone has ever invented – for us beauty lovers anyway. Let me tell you, buying beauty and skincare products every month is a spendy habit, and believe me, it’s difficult to stop. Like really, reeeaallly difficult! So when you can spend the same amount of money you would’ve paid for just one product, on a beauty subscription box that includes five full sized products, is there really even a debate? And this brings us to Boxycharm…

For my South African readers, Boxycharm is an American subscription box and the monthly fee is $21, which is around R280-R300, depending on what the exchange rate does of course. Think about that for a second. R300 for five FULL SIZED products! Are you feeling my excitement? Anyway, there is one irritating thing and that is Boxycharm doesn’t ship here – but do not fear. Aramax Global Shopper is where this problem gets sorted out. Once you’ve signed up, it gives you a list of their office addresses in different countries that you can put as your shipping address. Then once the product gets to whichever Aramax Global Shopper office you’ve chosen, let’s say New York for instance, they will then ship your parcel to your address here in South Africa. How handy is that? It costs R200 to have it shipped to your door in South Africa! So basically, you’re spending between R400-R500 on five beauty products a month. Don’t forget, they’re also brands that aren’t available to us here, so it all works out pretty reasonably.

But enough of the numbers now, I wanted to share my first Boxycharm with you! I signed up around the middle of July and I got it about two weeks later. The products change every month and it’s like receiving a surprise birthday present monthly! I’ve been stalking their Instagram everyday for sneak peaks of their August box. I honestly feel like a little kid at Christmas!

This is what was inside July’s box…

Crown Brush Fuego Eyeshadow Palette

In every month’s box they do variations of one or two products, so not everyone will receive identical boxes. For July, the variation was this Crown Brush palette and a Tarte Cosmetics skin mist. I received the palette, which I was so excited about! These colours are just my go-to no matter what the occasion is. The shades are rich, warm browns, burgundys and burnt orange, plus a couple of lighter ones. They’re a mixture of mattes and shimmers, which is so perfect as a travel palette because you have a good variety then! I’m really looking forward to playing around with this palette some more and seeing the different looks I can create! The retail price of this palette is $29!! (around R390)

Dr Brandt No More Baggage

This is an eye de-puffing gel. Anything that promises to take away dark circles and make the under eyes look alive and youthful is enough to have me sold. When I first tried it I was very positive because the actual product is an orange gel – orange is what you colour correct the dark under eye circles with! So naturally I couldn’t wait to see how it worked. On my first application I think I put too much because my skin felt a little tight, so afterwards I just put a tiny bit under my eyes and it left my skin feeling a lot better. I have to say though, I can’t give proper feedback yet because I’ve been pretty bad at applying everyday and every night, so I need to up my system to be able to see the desired results… Its received really good reviews though, so I will keep going! The retail price is $42 (around R560)!

Wander Beauty Unlashed Volume and Curl Mascara

I was so excited to try a product from Wander Beauty! This mascara is firstly in such a pretty tube. I love the maroon with the gold writing, it’s so fancy! The wand though is what makes this mascara awesome. It curves in a half moon shape, so if you twist it up as you apply your mascara, it’s able to really get a hold of your lashes and curl them to the max! It’s especially amazing for someone like me who has dead straight eyelashes (don’t even get me started!), and I always forget to use eyelash curlers. This mascara is like an eyelash curler and mascara in one, it’s very handy! Overall, I’m super impressed with it and would love to try more from them! It retails for $24 (around R320)

Chella Beauty Eyebrow Crème

This is kind of like a pomade, and I’m always down for a good pomade! The shade is taupe, and it has an angled brush on the one end and the actual product on the other end. The lid screws off and the product is inside. I love that there is a good angled brush attached, it makes it such a useful travel product! The taupe shade is quite a universal colour I think, because it can be built up really dark or it can be applied very lightly for a lighter brow. In something like a beauty box, all the products need to be usable by a large group of diverse people, so by using a shade like taupe that can be easily darkened or lightened makes it easy for everyone to love. The product is so smooth, meaning it blends so nicely when brushed through with a spoolie. This gives the brows a really natural finish, which I love. It retails for $26! (About R350)

Note Cosmetics Luminous Silk Compact Blusher

Out of all beauty products, blush is my least favourite. That’s not saying I don’t like it! It’s just not the first thing I would spend my money on. In saying that though, without blush we look like washed out weirdos. This blush from Note Cosmetics is a very peachy shade. It’s gorgeous, and let me tell you: it is the most pigmented blush I have ever used, it’s insane! When I say a little goes a long way, please believe me! When applied (sparingly!) it gives a beautiful, natural colour to the cheeks. You can make it very dramatic if that’s what you prefer though, but because I’m so pale, I feel like over doing my blush draws all the focus there, and I’m not one for bright red cheeks voluntarily. This retails for $11.99 (about R160) and is perfect if you’re more on the darker side, as the pigment is unreal.

The total price if you had to buy each of these products separate comes to about $134 (R1790) and you literally don’t even pay half of that with Boxycharm! I’m sorry, but I’m honestly obsessed and so excited. I really didn’t think I’d ever be able to hop on the beauty subscription train because so many places don’t ship to South Africa, but Aramax Global Shopper has made it so easy! (It sounds like this is sponsored! But it’s not and truthfully I just want to share this exciting option with everyone)

For my South African friends, here is a referral code to use if you want to sign up for Boxycharm too and enjoy the beauty box subscription life 😉 – Lauren/-OOMECPWX. It’s applied at check-out.

What are your thoughts on beauty subscription boxes? Do you think they’re worth it?