Tag: <span>Vegan Cuts Beauty Box</span>

Vegan Cuts July 2017

July’s Vegan Cuts Beauty Box arrived on time as usual, but slow blogger is slow.  I wasn’t entirely impressed with this one since it was a little off the mark for the kinds of products I like (I find natural deodorants completely ineffective and don’t take baths, so..), but there were enough keepers to make the box worth it in the end.

  • Moon Souls Lunar Soak – 4 oz / $11.95 – (Product is full size)  The soak is salt based, scented with mint and eucalyptus, two of my least favorite scents, so this is an automatic pass for me.  I can’t stand eucalyptus (it smells like those gross cough drops that make my stomach turn) and mint is a nope too.  I don’t terribly enjoy soaking in a bathtub with my dead skin cells and dirt anyway, so this just wasn’t a good fit from scent to product type.
  • Green Tidings Lavender Deodorant – 1 oz / $7.99 – (Product is full size)  The scent is nice, but I’m not even going to bother wasting time on yet another natural deodorant with the same ingredients when none of them have worked long enough to be worth using.  I mean, what’s the point of a deodorant that lasts maybe a maximum of 4 hours before needing to be reapplied if you’re routinely out of the house for 8+ hours at a clip?!  I can’t exactly be taking breaks to go reapply deodorant in the middle of photographing a wedding, and being stinky while working isn’t an option.  Hard pass for me.
  • The Wonder Seed Facial Scrub – 2.7 oz / $14.95 – (Product is full size)  I love a good scrub!  The ingredient list on this is really amazing too.  The scrub doesn’t foam up, but works into a creamy base that has a good, coarse salt in it to scrub.  After rinsing, my skin felt moisturized instead of dry and tight, so that was pretty awesome.  The scent isn’t overwhelming either – light and clean.
  • Leeanni Eco 3 in 1 Revolution Light – 4 oz / $29.98 – (Product is .5 oz, value of $3.75)  This is a moisturizer, toner, and serum all in one and can even be used to remove makeup.  It feels rather weightless on and would be a great daytime moisturizer.  There’s no discernible scent, and it did make my skin feel soft.
  • Terre Mere Mineral Bronzer – 9 g / $54 – (Product is 2.5 g, value of $15)  The color sent in the box is “Sunstone” which comes out as a more orangey tone on my skin.  It’s also got a shimmer to it, so this is never something I’d use as a bronzer since sparkly skin isn’t my thing.  It will make a great eyeshadow color though, and it’s super pigmented, but I couldn’t see using this as a bronzer without feeling like a glitter bomb went off on my face.
  • Goddess Garden Sunscreen Lip Balm – .15 oz / $3.99 – (Product is full size)  The scent is “Orange Vanilla” but there’s really not much of a scent at all, at least not to me anyway.  Still, a lip balm with a physical blocker instead of a chemical blocker is awesome and something I’ll definitely use!

Overall, the value of the box value comes to $57.63 which is great for a box that costs $22.95 on a month-to-month basis!  Even without the two products I’m passing on, the box cost is still covered.  I do love this box for the most part, but am definitely not into natural deodorants or bath salts/soaks.  They did add a note that the bath soak can be put in a muslin bag in the shower and used as a steam bag at your feet or hung from the shower head, but I found the scent so unpleasant that I wouldn’t use it anyway.  Oh well, one of my friends will love it, I’m sure!

Vegan Cuts June 2017

June’s Vegan Cuts Beauty Box arrived over a week ago, but I’m finally posting it now!  June’s theme was, “Uplifting Beauty,” so I expected aromatherapy sort of products, and it definitely delivered!  There is a repeat company from last month, Little Moon, but it’s a different product in a different scent, so that’s totally fine with me.  There are two items that are misses (the lip product and body cream), but everything else is great!

  • Little Moon Mineral Bath – 382 g / $16 – (Product is 28 g, value of $1.17 by volume)  The scent for this bath salt is “Beach All You Want” and was the scent I was interested in after looking at the company last month.  It almost smells a bit like Tang, but the sandalwood and coconut make it just a bit more interesting than just plain citrus.  The product card mentions that this can be used as a shower scrub as well which is something I hadn’t thought about doing with bath salts like this!  I’m not really into baths, so that’s a great way to repurpose these scrubs.  Looks like I can add the salt mixture to coconut oil to make a really nice scrub too!
  • Jing Ai Lip & Cheek Glo – .15 oz / $10 – (Product is full size)  The color is “Pink Chiffon.”  I was SO excited about this until I put it on and it looked like I had colored my lips with pale pastel pink chalk.  The formula is so great, but the color is a COMPLETE miss.  It’s lightly lemon-lime scented, and I seriously do love the formula, but the color.. ugh.  It’s unwearable.  I may be able to use it to layer over darker reds to bring them up a little or add a pearly pink shimmer, but as-is?  It’s a nope.  I’m just too pale to be able to pull off such a chalky pink color.
  • Sade Baron Body Cream – 2 oz / $9.00 – (Product is full size)  The scent is “Jasmine” which is my all-time most-disliked scent.  I did give it a quick try in the spirit of fairness, and I do like the formula, but the jasmine scent is a total deal breaker.  I really loathe smelly florals like this.  It’s a shame, because the company does have other scents available (Lavandin!!) and even an unscented version, but this scent is a complete pass for me.
  • Clarisea Powder Exfoliant – 5 oz / $14 – (Product is 1 oz, value of $2.80)  The scent is “Lavender” and this smells SO good – it’s an herbal lavender instead of a sweet, soapy lavender.  The idea is that you add a little to your regular face cleanser to add an exfoliating boost.  The scrub is finer than a coarse sugar or salt scrub, so it’s a little gentler on your skin.  I did give this a try already, added to my usual cleanser, and it was just the right level of scrub without being too harsh.
  • Adoratherapy Mood Boost Spray – 10 mL / $30 – (Product is 8 mL, value of $24 by volume)  What cute packaging!  This came in a neat little slide box with the spray nestled inside a foam insert.  The scent I received is “Awake” which is a blend of  organic lavender, frankincense, patchouli, rosewood, tulsi, neroli and cinnamon.  This is a really fun scent!  Cinnamon can sometimes overpower everything, and you can tell the cinnamon is there up front, but it’s tempered by the other ingredients and blends into something that really does smell energizing.  I totally dig it.
  • Earthly Body Miracle Oil – 1 oz / $11.99 – (Product is .34 oz, value of $4.08 by volume)  It’s a blend of soybean, avocado, hemp, apricot, jojoba, tea tree, eucalyptus, and rosemary oils meant to be used anywhere your skin needs a little boost.  Some of the suggestions include dry feet/heels, nails and cuticles, stretch marks, etc.  It mostly smells like tea tree oil, but that’s pretty pungent stuff, so it’s going to take over wherever it’s used.  A wee little drop does go a long way, and this will be great to stash away for dry winter skin.

Overall the value comes to $51.05 which is great for a box that costs $22.95 on a month-to-month basis!  I’m a little bummed that the two full size products were misses for me, but that still leaves me with my cost covered, and I do really love that Adoratherapy spray scent.  I’m glad that they suggested the mineral bath can be used as a scrub because I’m definitely going to do that.  Even with the two misses, this was a pretty good box, and there was a nice variety of products!  Looking forward to next month!

Vegan Cuts Cosmic Beauty Haul

Vegan Cuts has had some neat specials recently and one of them was this Cosmic Beauty Haul featuring 17 beauty items for $45 which was a really great value.  It’s not part of the regular monthly subscription, but is a special one-off promotion.  There may be some available still if you click the link here.  I’m just going to list the items and values here without reviews since there are a lot of items and it’s too much to try them all right away and report back with honest impressions of them all.

  • Yes to Tomatoes Detoxifying Charcoal Facial Wipes – 30 wipes / $5.99 – (Full Size Product)
  • NCLA Nail Wraps – 1 set / $16 – (Full Size Product)
  • Briogeo Rosarco Milk – 1.75 oz / $9.00 – (Travel Size Product)
  • Eden Peppermint Tea Tree Shampoo – 8 oz / $8.99 – (Product is 2 oz, value of $2.25 by volume)
  • DermOrganic Intensive Hair Repair Masque – 3 oz / $6.99 – (Product is 2 oz, value of $4.66 by volume)
  • The All Natural Face Lip Gloss – .43 oz / $4.60 – (Full Size Product) Color is “Frosted Berries”
  • Nubian Heritage Patchouli & Buriti Soap – 5 oz / $4.99 – (Full Size Product)
  • Goddess Garden Bright Eyes – .5 oz / $17.99 – (Full Size Product)
  • Herbal Transdermal Deep Pore Mineral Toner – 8 oz / $15 – (Product is 2 oz, value of $3.75)
  • Gleam Lip Radiance – 5 g / $12 – (Full Size Product) Color is, “Uncontrollable”
  • DeVita Soft Lines – 1 pencil / $14.95 – (Full Size Product) Color is, “Absolute Obsidian”
  • Clarisea Deep Pore Detox Activated Charcoal Exfoliating Mask – 2 oz / $14 – (Product is 1 oz, value of $7 by volume)
  • Andalou Naturals 1000 Roses Day Cream – 1.7 oz / $24.95 – (Product is .4 oz, value of $5.87 by volume)
  • Terre Mere Large Angled Contour Brush – 1 brush / $32 – (Full Size Product)
  • Modish Polish – .45 oz / $12 – (Full Size Product)  Color is, “Control Freak”
  • The Ariel Company Cupid Lip Scrub – .3 oz / $9 – (Full Size Product)
  • Vegan Cuts Cosmic Beauty Bag – $10?

The total value comes out to $172.05 by my calculations.  The advertised value was over $190, so it’s a little bit off, but still an incredible deal for the $45 cost.  I wasn’t sure how to account for the value of the bag, so I may be a little low on that, plus the Gleam Lip Radiance was on sale at half off since it’s a discontinued/clearance item, so  depending on how you count those (full retail vs current price), you’d get closer to the $190 advertised value.  Either way, the value comes out to almost 4 times the cost, and that bag is pretty cute, so it’s totally worth it in my book!  The big winners for me are the hair masque since it looks like it’s perfect for my curly hair, the nail polish, bag, and Briogeo Rosarco Milk (already a favorite!).  I love these special one-off boxes as a neat treat-yourself sort of thing, and it’s nice to get a selection of products without subscribing to a regular monthly box.  While I do subscribe to Vegan Cuts Beauty Box, these are products I hadn’t yet seen since I’ve only gotten one box from them so far, so this was great since it had old favorites and brands that were new to me.

Vegan Cuts Beauty Box May 2017

I decided to try out a new box, the Vegan Cuts Beauty Box, and this month was my first box.  I’ve known about this one for a while, so when they ran a 6th birthday  special last month, I hopped right on!  While I may not be vegan (I still eat meat, but for the most part it’s from local farmers that I know and trust who run smaller scale farms), I do make an effort to buy only  cruelty free beauty products and find that vegan products are a little gentler on my skin.  May’s box is themed, “Beauty and the Beach,” and features summer go-to beauty products.

  • Salis Skincare Blackhead Removal Mask – 2 oz / $14.99 – (Product  value $7.50 per product card, possibly 1 oz?)  Three simple ingredients create a unique mask that is meant to remove blackheads and make your pores look smaller.  You’re supposed to use this as an overnight treatment on problem areas, and the added sulfur means that it will no doubt make a great acne treatment too.
  • Little Moon Clear Mind Mist  – 2 oz / $6.30 – (Product value $3.15 by volume)  The scent contains eucalyptus, grapefruit and rosemary, but I don’t like eucalyptus at all as a scent, so to me, it smells more like Vicks VapoRub and cough drops rather than anything that would make me feel alert and focused.  Huge pass for me, but I know I have a friend who will like this.  The company does have a “Sleep Comes Easy” mist that’s definitely more my speed though with bergamot, chamomile, lavender and lemon, and “Beach All You Want” is coconut, sandalwood, and tangerine which sounds perfect!
  • Nubian Heritage African Black Soap – 5  oz / $4.99 – (Product value $3.49 by volume)  This soap came at just the right time!  I usually use a charcoal soap on my face and it was just about done for, so this is a welcome replacement.  The soap smells delightful, mostly like shea butter I think, and contains oat flour and tea tree oil to help clear up breakouts.  My skin is usually dry, but I like a soap like this to give my face a solid clean before applying moisturizers, and the tea tree oil helps keep those occasional breakouts in check.
  • Luxie Dreamcatcher Foundation Brush – 1 brush / $20 – (Product card says $20 value, but I can’t find this online)  The brush is the #510 foundation brush in the Dreamcatcher color which is this pretty bluish purple.  I’ve gotten a couple of Luxie brushes before and love them, so this is another great addition to my brush arsenal!
  • Lauren Brooke Cosmetiques Eyeshadow – 1.8 g / $14.50 – (Full size product)  I’ve gotten a couple of things from Lauren Brooke before, so I’m happy to see this show up in the box!  The color is a really lovely matte dusty rose or orchid kind of color.  The formula goes on perfectly matte and smooth, and the color works  really well  for a light, every day sort of look.
  • Pair’d Beauty Dry Shampoo – 2 oz / $6.00 – (Full size product)  Okay, I’m not into dry shampoos, but this is a wet, dry shampoo, if that makes sense!  It’s a liquid instead of a powder, so there’s no need to brush it into my hair to distribute it, so no ruining my curls.  The scent is “Sweet Cali Orange” and contains just four ingredients – water, maize, ethanol, and essential oils.  I’m going to have to give this a solid try out as a second-day-hair product.  My hair doesn’t ever get greasy (it actually gets drier and drier the longer I go without washing it), so I don’t need the maize to soak up oil, and I’m a little concerned about the ethanol further drying out my hair and making frizzies.  So, the jury is out on this one so far.  The scent is nice though!

Overall the value of the box comes to $54.64 which is well above the cost of even a month-to-month subscription at $22.95 per month.  I did have some trouble finding some of the product values since the product sizes weren’t listed on the products themselves or found discrepancies between the product card and value on the manufacturers’ websites.  The only thing that I’m passing on out of this box is the Little Moon mist, but everything else I’ll use or at least give a fair try.  The big winners for me are the brush, black soap, and eyeshadow for sure.  It’s funny, the box has been sitting at my desk most of this week (it arrived.. Tuesday I think?), and the soap smells SO nice, I almost want to leave it at my desk a little longer!  Anyway, this was a great first box from Vegan Cuts, and I’m looking forward to next month!