This is I believe the second ever Whole Foods Beauty bag. It’s not heavily advertised and is only available in stores for a limited time, coinciding with their Beauty Week promotion. This isn’t really a subscription item since it’s a one-off thing, but I’m pretty happy with the value since the bag only cost $15!
- evanhealy Rose Geranium Facial Tonic – 1 oz / $8.50 – It smells really nice! I’ll admit I don’t usually use products like this, but I can see stuffing it in my bag for a quick pick-me-up on a sticky hot day. It’s not overwhelmingly floral either – I think the geranium tones down the rose so that it smells more earthy-natural than a flower shop.
- Burt’s Bees Sunset Cruise Lipstick – .12 oz / $9 – At first I thought, oh no, a coral color. Corals just don’t work with my skin tone, but this tips just close enough to berry that it’s actually something I’d use this summer. The formula is really moisturizing and isn’t sticky or drying like other lipsticks – I’d almost go as far as saying it’s more like a heavily pigmented balm than a lipstick which I rather like.
- Trilogy Rosehip Oil Antioxidant – 30 mL / $41 – (Product is 10 mL, value of $13) I took the value off the full dollar value on Amazon.com since Trilogy didn’t list it on their website. If I had gotten this 10 years ago, I would’ve scoffed – oil on my already oil slick of a face? What time can do to a gal! Now I see oils like this and just about jump for joy since my face more resembles the Sahara than a plate of french fries. The oil doesn’t have much of a scent to it, and just a small drop goes a long way, so the value is pretty good. To see if it actually has an effect on wrinkles, I’d have to use it for a good long while, but even if it doesn’t make a visual difference, the oil keeps my dry skin at bay and that’s enough to make me happy!
- Weleda Skin Food – .34 oz / $3.50 – I’ve gotten this as a sample before, and while I like the ingredients and effectiveness, I can’t get past the fact that it smells like industrial orange-scented cleaning products to me. I’ll still use it on my feet, but this just isn’t a product I’ve come to like even after getting repeat samples of it. It’s a shame, because it does work, but the scent is a total deal breaker for me.
- MyChelle Perfect C Serum – .5 oz / $44 – (Product is .17 oz, value of $14.96) It smells sort of vinegary which makes sense being that the active ingredient is L-Ascorbic Acid. I’m always skeptical of these anti-aging claims products make, but the ingredient list is really solid, so I’ll still use it!
- Mineral Fusion Lash Curling Mineral Mascara – .57 oz / $18.99 – YES! Another cruelty free mascara to try. I’ve had SO much bad luck with mascaras that make my eyes puffy and itchy and clog up my eyelids, so I tend to try and find more natural oriented mascaras that don’t contain some of the ingredients that are known irritants (cyclopentasiloxane, I’m looking at you). It’s not as thick as other mascaras, but it really stuck to my eyelashes and created a thick effect in one application. Usually mascaras in the crunchy-granola category require two applications to really build up, but this was definitely heavy enough in one. Once it dries, it doesn’t feel heavy on either. Super pleased with this!
- Acure Pore Minimizing Facial Scrub – 4 oz / $12.99 – (Product is 1 oz, value of $3.25) It’s a pinkish red colored scrub that I’m worried may stain clothing since it’s clay based. This is definitely going for use in the shower, but I do like it as a nice scrub. It smells really nice and is just about the right texture – not too coarse, not too mild.
- derma-e Purifying 2-in-1 Charcoal Mask – 1.7 oz / $19.50 – (Product is .5 oz, value of $5.73) The small container probably has about two masks worth of product in it. That said, it’s a nice charcoal mask since it exfoliates while you wash it off, giving double the value. It also didn’t feel drying like some other clay masks.
- Dr. Hauschka Soothing Cleansing Milk – .34 oz / $4 – This smells SO good. It’s a cleansing milk, so it doesn’t foam, but is really nice and gentle and smells like lavender. The result is that washing my face with this, my face feels hydrated instead of stripped clean and I really like that.
- Riji Green Organic Cotton Bag – 1 bag / $11.99 – The outside of the bag reads, “hello, beauty,” and is a dark grey color while the inside is a pretty red and yellow print with a brightly colored tassel on the zipper pull. It’s really a nice bag and it may replace my current travel cosmetic bag, it’s just that nice.
Overall value including the bag is $92.92! Pretty damn good for the cost of $15. The real winner, for me, is that mascara, but I’m definitely going to use up everything. Trilogy is a new brand as is evanhealy, so I got to see new products from favorite brands as well as some altogether new brands which is excellent. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for this bag again next year!