Picnic of Pretty

Beauteque Monthly July BB Bag Review

After a reading a lot of reviews and watching many unboxing videos I’ve decided to jump into the Kbeauty subscription box community and the most exciting box to me, of the multitude out there, was the Beauteque BB Bag.

What is the Beauteque BB Bag?  The BB Bag is Beauteque’s themed monthly subscription service that features mainly Korean beauty and lifestyle products.  They promise to deliver a minimum of six full size products with a value of $65-85 every month to your doorstep.

The value of the bag is based on USA pricing and will be higher than the Korean pricing  and may be higher than the pricing on Amazon or other retailers.  The main attraction of the BB Bag, though, is the curation which is usually on point.  The staff at Beauteque are very good at choosing items that stick to the month’s theme and cover a wide variety of products.  A caveat, the items tend to lean more towards skin care as opposed to make up so if you prefer the latter you may not enjoy this bag so much.  Another thing to consider is that BB Bags seem to always include sheet masks as one of the full size products.

Monthly cost breakdown:

Month to month:       $24

Three month:            $24

Six month:                 $23

Twelve month:          $22

The BB Bag ships to most countries for a flat shipping fee:

USA:               $3.95

Canada:          $6.95

Europe:          $8.95

Australia:       $9.95

New Zealand:            $9.95

Japan:             $9.95

Hong Kong : $9.95

Singapore :    $9.95

For more information on the BB Bag and how it works visit: http://www.beautequemonthly.com/bbbag

Onto the July Bag:

This month the theme of the bag was Picnic of Pretty and featured items that you would use “to look and feel your prettiest for a perfect day at the park”.  The products in the bag definitely followed the theme, though I think most of them would be best used after the picnic.

The bag was a nice and cheery yellow rubbery material.  It can be immersed in water and would be perfect for taking to the beach.  Not onto the contents:

Secret Key Aloe Soothing Moist Toner

There really isn’t much to say about a toner, it’s a toner, we all have them (and if you for some reason don’t then go out and get one right now).  This one is great for summer because of the aloe extract.  Aloe extract is fantastic for soothing burns on the skin (goodbye sunburn) and also for moisturizing dry skin.  It’s a great product all around and can also be used in medicine, especially for sore throats.  I’ve added it to my routine because I spend time out in the sun almost every day and I don’t want to ruin my skin.  I’ve been using it in conjunction with my Herb Day Aloe cleanser by The Face Shop. 

As a note, the other option for this toner was Witchhazel which is better for oily skin.

Yeon/Jeju Hallabong Special Peeling and Pack Mini 4 Set

This is a cute set containing four wash-off masks: one Energy Peeling Gel; one Ghassoul Pack; two Energy Live Packs.  These little masks are the perfect size to take with me when I’m travelling so I’ll be saving them for my next trip which is coming up in October.  I’ll try to do a small review on them at that point.

Etude House Milk Talk Body Wash

I was very excited to see an Etude House item in the bb bag since I’ve heard so much about it online.  I got a body wash which I don’t exactly need at the moment but I’ll see how I feel about putting it in the rotation.  It’s a decent sized product, coming in at 200ml, and we’ll see how long it lasts when I start using it.  I got the milk scent which smells like baby powder.  I like it but it may not be for everyone.

Holika Holika Golden Monkey Glamour Lip

This is a three step mask for the lips.  It consists of a scrub, a gel mask, and a honey treatment and is meant to clear up chapped lips.  This looks to be best saved for winter when lips get dry.

Tony Moly Crystal Blusher

I really like this.  It’s just a simple blush but the colour is perfect for my skin.  It goes on very smooth, doesn’t look fake, and has just a bit of shimmer to light up the complexion. 

Blending Brush

Beauteque often includes a lifestyle product in their bags the majority of which are beauty accessories such as eyelash curlers or make-up brushes.  This one is from their own line and is meant for blending the make-up to give it a flawless finish on your face.  I rarely layer my make-up enough to need that so I’ve re-purposed it as a mask brush.  I blatantly took this (frankly genius) idea from Harlot Beauty.  The brush is firm enough to comfortably put on my clay mask and is very simple to clean.  I’ve been doing this for two months now and it’s so much easier and less messy than doing it with my fingers.  I also get a much more even distribution of the mask on my face so I highly recommend using this brush for that. 

I love this bag.  For the first one that I receive it’s exciting, full of large items and things that I would never have known about or thought of trying.  This is why I decided to jump into the subscription pool, the ability to try things I would not have the chance to otherwise.  I’ll be keeping the subscription going for as long as my funds can stand it.

Nandemobox Kawaii August Review

I was so excited to open my mail box and see a delivery slip for a package, I knew that it was my Nandemo Box than had finally arrived.

What is a Nandemo box? Nandemo means anything or everything in Japanese and in this case is the name of a subscription service that offers two distinct boxes straight from Japan.  These are the Snack Box and the Kawaii (Cute) Box.  The company also runs an online store where you can buy a multitude of cute things made by the SAN-X company.  

The monthly Kawaii box contains 6 - 8 cute things ranging from accessories to stationary to plushies.  Sometimes they will add a snack as a bonus item.  The box ships on the 20th of the previous month and arrives by the middle of the subscription month.  You need to subscribe before the 15th to receive the NEXT month's box.  If you subscribe after the 15th your first box will come in two months.  

There are four subscription options: a recurring monthly subscription, and non recurring subscriptions of 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months.  The price per month is $35 USD and shipping is free.  The 6 and 12 month subscriptions are a little bit cheaper per month than the 1 or 3 month subscriptions.  You can cancel any time on the website by logging in to your account and clicking unsubscribe in your settings.  

If you would like to subscribe to the Nandemo Kawaii box here is the link: http://www.nandemobox.com/kawaiibox/

I am a giant fan of cute things so after I found out that there are such things as subscription boxes full of cute stuff I started looking for one that would suit me.  Nandemo stood out because of its value and the lack of a shipping fee. I also liked that they had a nice variety of products and that they weren't all Rilakkuma.  I ended up signing up at the end of June which qualified me for the August box so I'd been anticipating this box for a really long time and was so excited to open it and it finally came!  It DID NOT disappoint, I was in a continuous state of aww the whole time.

Let's start with the box itself.  It was absolutely beautifully packaged and the description card had my name hand-written on it.  It's a small gesture but sweet.

The first thing that caught my attention was the Gaji Gaji Purple Zombbit Plushie.

I love zombie plushies of any kind, there is something inherently cute about them, especially when they are small. This one gets the distinction of a place on my desk.  

Next is the featured item.  In this case it is the Zombbit Pouch. 

This is a very well made pouch which looks to be water resistant. The inside has one large compartment plus a small pocket on one side.  It's 5 1/2" by 4" and it keeps its shape very well.  It looks to be perfect for holding feminine hygiene products during travel or when going out.  It would also be perfect for holding your liquids when flying or for carrying some snacks while at a convention or on a trip.

The item that I put to use right away is the Sumikko Gurashi Cup.

This is a small hard plastic cup that I'm using to store toothbrushes.  It's the perfect height to put in the bathroom cabinet.  It would also be very nice to have as a bedside cup as it looks and feels very sturdy and would probably survive quite a few knocks from people trying to find the snooze button in the morning. 

The second Sumikko Gurashi item is pack of Flake Stickers. 

I love stickers.  The description card says that they can add cuteness to any letter or envelope but psh, as if I'd share such cuteness with others.  These will go onto my notebooks and accessories.  I'll probably even try to put one on my work pass.

Next we have three Rilakkuma Panda Series items.  The first is a set of small lined memo pads which are in a cute box holder.  The holder also has a stand for a pen inside it which makes it extra useful. (It is now standing on my desk waiting to be used, very convenient.)

The second is a small notepad which is perfect for carrying with you in your purse.

The last item in the box was a pen.  It goes very well with the memo pads and small notebook.  It's fine tipped and writes very nicely without any air bubbles in the ink.

I really had no idea what exactly to expect in my Kawaii box so all the items were a surprise!  I especially love the Zombbit plushie and pouch, something about cute zombies gets me every time.  I don't know if I will keep the subscription for a very long time, there is a certain point where you reach a critical mass of cute things in your home, but I will for sure stay with it for a few months at least.  I'm already very excited for the September box.  If you like what you see here go check out the Nandemobox website:  www.nandemobox.com

*The Nandemobox was purchased by me and all views expressed here are my own.