Unboxing Beauty

As I am very unhappy with NMNL and also Sephora Beauty Boxes, I have been looking around to other boxes to fill that void.  I love eco-friendly and organic products ~ my first love! ~ but they rarely have bold makeup products.  I stumbled across Nourish Beauty Box thru My Subscription Addiction and wondered how I missed this beauty box before!  I have tried a lot of eco-friendly beauty boxes and either they were not for me or they went out of business.  The only eco friendly boxes I have today are Kloverbox and Yogi Surprise Lifestyle Box and this latest box from Nourish Beauty, complements them beautifully.

Nourish Beauty Box will contain four full sized eco-friendly, vegan, paraben free, cruelty free and organic bio-natural skincare and makeup products monthly.  The boxes start out at $29.95 and can be as low as $26.65/monthly for a 6 month subscription.  I recommend for USA addresses to use this link here for the $29.95 as it includes shipping.  For International readers, use this link instead, as it is less expensive that on their main site ~ free International shipping at $34.95/monthly.  I am not sure why they have two different price settings, but hey, you save a couple of dollars using that alternate link.

Informational Card

Seraphine Botanicals Basil + Beet Vegan Eyeshadow Palette  This palette is what pushed me over the edge to subscribe.  This is a quartet of botanical-enriched eye shadows, made with basil leaf and beetroot extracts, along with Phyto-Pigments ~ these are naturally occurring pigments derived from plants.  There are only three pigments that are present in plant leaves. Basil contains yellow carotenoids and green chlorophylls, while beetroot produce red and pink shades from anthocyanins.  These are all shimmer shades, but they are not glittery or in your face shimmer.  You can create a beautiful smoky eye look or a daytime look ~ you can make this as natural or dramatic as you like!

These shades are so soft and creamy for powder shadows ~ so be careful when you apply your brush to the pan and don’t press down too hard.  You will make a dent in the palette!!  Start by layering the shadows on your eyes to prevent fallout and to gauge how deep you want to go with the colors.  These blend beautifully too ~ I don’t know how they got these to be so creamy, while retaining a powder finish. I will have swatches after the Peony Matte Lipstick.

The two “lightest” shades are very similar in real life ~ one is more of a brighter and lighter shade and the other is more darker and deeper, but they both are a rose copper shade.   The third shade is a deep brown with reddish undertones.  The final color is a major surprise and I love it ~ it is a gunmetal grey with steel blue undertones ~ this is just stunning!

Seraphine Botanicals has an example of how to wear these shadows ~ you can see how dramatic they can be!

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These eye shadows are 100% natural, vegan and are free from mineral oils, parabens, phthalates and gluten.  They are 100% cruelty free, never tested on animals and GMO-free.  I am impressed with the ingredients list as it is pretty short and sweet! .5g RV $24.95

Vegetable-Derived  Natural 

Ingredients:  talc, mica, ethylhexyl palmitate, magnesium myristate, silica, kaolin, ocimum basilicum (basil) leaf extract, beta vulgaris (beet) root extract, sorbic acid [+/- (may contain:  titanium dioxide (CI 77891), iron oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499)]   

Peony Cosmetics Lips Of An Angel Matte Lipstick “Brutal Kisses”  When I saw the name of this lippie, I immediately thought of Buffy and Angel and their love story.  Yeah, huge Buffy fan here, but I was more of a Buffy-Spike shipper.   Brutal Kisses is a lovely warm toned deep peach shade.  It is made with  carnation, chamomile and water lily floral extracts ~ which are known to have soothing, repairing and anti-inflammatory benefits.  This is a nice matte crayon and it applies smoothly without tugging.  I view it as a semi matte, as it never really dries down to a hard matte finish, but stays creamy on my lips.  It isn’t long lasting because it is so creamy and moisturizing, but it is a beautiful color and it has a nice tropical fruit scent to it.  100% cruelty free, no animal testing, free from gluten and parabens.  1.8 grams RV $16.00

Vegetable-Derived  Natural 

Ingredients : isododecane, ethylhexyl palmitate,euphorbia cerifera (candelilla) wax , oleaeuropaea (olive) fruit oil, silica dimethyl silylate, silica, theobroma cacao (cocoa) seed butter, nymphaeaalba (water lily) flower extract,dianthus caryophyllus(carnation) flower extract, chamomillarecutita (matricaria) flower extract, fragrance, sorbic acid (acidum sorbicum). [+/- (may contain) mica, titanium dioxide (CI 77891), iron oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), D&C red no. 7 calake (CI 15850)] 

Clean Haven Naturals Happy Brushes Foaming Makeup Brush Cleaner  I needed one of these!  I just ran out of my makeup brush cleanser recently and this is a nice organic version ~ hand crafted and etsy shop powdered, Clean Haven is an indie brand that specalizes in natural, organic home and beauty products.  All of their products are made with 100% pure essential oils and this cleanser’s preservative is a natural, chemical-free and paraben free ingredient that will help moisturize and prevent bacteria and microbes from corrupting this water based cleanser.

An all-natural broad spectrum preservative that protects against bacteria, yeast, and mold. Leucidal Complete is the first of it’s kind to provide effective protection from antimicrobial peptide ferments. Now you can have complete protection for water-based formulas as well as oil-based. Leucidal Complete incorporates easily into your formulations at room temperature. If you have used Leucidal Liquid, you are going to love the complete version.  Leucidal Liquid is fermented with lactic acid bacteria (leuconostoc kimchii) then another anti-microbial is obtained from fermenting Cocos nucifera (Coconut) with Lactobacillus.  source 

This foaming brush cleanser smells beautiful!  They only list sweet orange essential oils, but I can swear I am smelling grapefruit ~ they do make a grapefruit version, so I wonder if I got that?  The plastic pump bottle is BPA free and has a nice cap to keep it secure.  To use, press the pump and deposit the foam into your hand; Just swirl the brushes in the foam and rinse.  Repeat until the water runs clear when you rinse the brushes.  Re-form the brush head and then leave them on a towel to try.  This is safe enough to use weekly!  50 mL RV $6.99

Ingredients: purified water, coconut oil, potassium hydroxide (no remains after saponification), palm kernel oil, olive oil, hemp oil, citric acid, vitamin E oil, 100% pure therapeutic grade essential oil (sweet orange), leucidal complete (a natural, paraben-free preservative)

Nourish Nails in  “Celebrate Life”  Every month, Nourish Beauty Box will include one of their own products  ~ Nourish Nails Polish.  Nourish Nails is an eco-friendly, vegan and natural water-based nail polish, formulated free of   formaldehyde, toluene, DBP, formaldehyde resin, parabens, xylene, camphor, mineral oil, phthalates, sodium lauryl sulfates, gluten, phenoxyethanol, lead, nitrocellulose, GMOs and animal-derived ingredients. Whew!  One of the down sides (or maybe an upside!) with water based nail polishes is that they tend to peel off my nails quickly.  I usually use both a base coat and top coat to handle that, but they do not last as long as other polishes.  I normally use water based polishes on my fingers, because I am a nail polish peeler and my manicures usually do not last that long normally.  I do not recommend water based nail polish for your toe nails.

This is a beautiful metallic golden brown ~ perfect for fall! The swatch above is just one coat, so you can get full coverage quickly.  I love this color and I will be using this on my upcoming vacation. 15 mL  RV $12.50

Description: The ultimate, ultra gentle nail varnish formulation with a revolutionary water-based resin that creates a high shine coating that is both air and water permeable. This allows for oxygen and water to reach the nail bed to help nails stay healthy, stronger and to help reduce discoloration. The unique nourishing formulation provides a super high-shine coat, long-lasting color and a fast-drying finish.

Vegetable-Derived  Natural  

Ingredients: water, styrene/acrylates copolymer, acrylates copolymer, PPG-2 butyl ether, sorbic acid   [+/- (may contain) mica, titanium dioxide (CI 77891), iron oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), manganese violet (CI 77742), blue 1 lake (Cl 42090), red 6 lake (Cl 15850), red 7 lake (Cl 15850), red 33 lake (Cl 17200), red 28 (CI 45410), yellow 5 lake (Cl 19140), yellow 6 lake (Cl 15985), red 40 lake (Cl 16035)]

Final Thoughts

WOW.  I am totally impressed by September’s box! Unlike some Beauty Boxes, I will use all of these products and I love that Nourish Beauty isn’t afraid to embrace bolder makeup ~ eco-friendly and organic doesn’t mean that I wish to embrace the “no makeup” makeup look!    I love all of the products, especially the Seraphine Botanicals palette and Peony Cosmetics matte lip crayon.  I paid $29.95 and received a retail value of almost $60.00.  This box is a bit more expensive than other beauty boxes, but it contains all full sized products and the quality is amazing.  Sometimes, it isn’t about quantity, but quality and I also love that these are new brands and items to me.  I believe September’s box is still available here  They do not have coupon or promo codes, alas, but I think that if you are looking for organic, eco-friendly products, I think this might be the box for you.  I am staying on this subscription for now.