Violet Box: Just Another Beauty Sub Box??

 Beauty subscription boxes are all the rage at the moment, with a new one popping up every few months it is hard to keep up. The newest box on Australian shores is the Violet Box. Priced a little higher than Bellabox ($14.95), the team at Violet Box charge $23.95 per month, and promise in return, high end samples. After a lack lustre few months with Lust Have It who is priced similarly, I decided to sign up just to see hwat the first couple of boxes would be like.

There was certainly a lot of intrigue surrounding this new box. The site had been collecting subscriptions for a few months before releasing the first box, yet refused to reveal any of their partners, so subscribers were basically signing up blind. I was quite reluctant at first. After all, I am reasonably happy with my Bellabox subscription and this one was $8 more per month. I decided to wait until the first box was released just so I could review the brand partners before signing up myself.Whist I was on holiday the last few weeks, my first box arrived (second Violet box release).

My first impressions were good. The box is a thick black cardboard with a purple ribbon, I thought it looked elegant despite the box being useless for storage ( I LOVE Bellabox for this purpose!). Upon opening the box, the items were nestled in purple tissue paper, so naturally I put the card explaining the products aside (no cheating!) and dove right in to the five items lying within the tissue.

The first product in the box is the ModelCo SHINE Ultra Lip Gloss ($18) which is a full sized product (Thankyou Violet Box!). I received the colour Striptease which in the packaging appears to be a shimmery peachy pink gloss, however upon swatching, this gloss is very sheer but will work well over lipsticks. It has a delicious fruity scent which I love and an adorable mirror on the side of the tube for easy application. The applicator itself is a spongy doe foot applicator. I can see myself getting along very well with this product! Sidenote: Is anyone else in Australia completely confused by ModelCo's brand image lately? They have always been reasonably high end sold in David Jones etc, but recently I have noticed their products being sold in Coles and Woolworths?? Are they repositioning? If anyone knows please enlighten me.

The next product I received is the Aphelia Peomy 9+5 Advanced Beautifying Eye Cream in a deluxe sample size. I am not familiar at all the with Aphelia line, but according to Violet Box this cream contains "mutivitamins and powerful antioxidents to fight fine lines and reduce puffy eyes and dark circles". This product is not really scented at all, it has that "cosmetic-y cream" scent if you know what I mean. I am open to trying out this cream although full price is steep at $69. I also noticed that this cream DOES contain a few parabens (hmmm....) and lately I have been trying to keep it fairly clean with my skin in that regard. The sample also came with a product code to receive $10 off when you purchase at their online store.

I received another full size product in the box, although this one is more like a two in one. Catalina Geo Long and Deep Mascara ($31.50). I say this product is a two in one, as I received a full sized mascara AND a refill! Hooray! Again I am not familiar with the Catalina line but the mascara appears to be water resistant and contains nourishing ingredients such as vitamin B5 and E to repair damage and hydrate. The wand itself has thick short bristles which taper off at the tip to help reach those pesky inner corner lashes. I am keen to try this product although I have a few mascaras on the go at the moment which I will endeavour to use up first.

Left to Right: Golden Quartz, Coral Pearl

Left to Right: Golden Quartz, Coral Pearl

The Adorn Cosmetics Eye Create Intensive Shadow shade and Eye Create Matte Shadow is the next product I received, which consisted of two sample pots of loose shadow. These loose shadows are non toxic and organic so perfect for girls who are looking for more natural makeup. I am not sure why it has "Matte" in the description, as the two shades I received Golden Quartz and Coral Pearl, are super super shimmery. If these are supposed to be matte shades then Adorn have failed miserably, however I suspect this is more of a typo in Violet Box's side. None the less, I really like the Golden Quartz shade. It is a very neutral mushroom kind of hue with lots of sparkles. The pigmentation isn't too bad either although not really groundbreaking. The Coral Pearl confuses me a little. For a start, this is kind of a goldy shade in the tub, not coral. Also, while shimmery like the Golden Quartz, the pigmentation is almost non existent. It is a very very sheer colour that I will probably use for shimmer purposes more so than shading etc.

The final product I am quite exited about, as it is a product I have been wanting to try for sometime but cannot justify the hefty price point. It is the St Tropez Bronzing Mousse! I am really not too sure how far this product will go considering the size of it versus skin surface area, but it might be good for a spot tan when I am just tanning my arms or my legs for instance. If I REALLY like this, I will consider maybe purchasing the full size given I am not as tanorexic as I used to be, it probably will last me some time. It has received so sooooooo much hype in the beauty community, I can't help but be curious!

All in all, while not overly familiar with a lot of the brands in this box, I am pleased overall being that I received 2-3 full sized products (2 x of the mascara with the refill). I think I will continue with the subscription next month and see how it goes.

Jen xox