Other beauty boxes take note; this is by
far the best beauty box of the year. It was filled with everything you needed
for a top to toe look including shampoo and conditioner, perfume, face masks,
mascara, lip gloss, makeup brushes, skincare and nail polish. Where all the products great and lived up to
their expectations? No way! But there was so much variety and it gave me a
chance to try so many products that were once on my curiosity list. That is the
reason why I adore The Parcel, there is so much variety, you get great value
for your money and you can never be bored with one of their boxes!
The total value of the full sized products in this box came to $69.95 and thats excluding all the samples that were included.
Trilogy Make-Up Be Gone Cleansing Balm
I was once a hardcore user of The Body Shop
Chamomile Cleansing Oil and absolutely loved it. The only reason I stopped
using it was because the packaging wasn’t tight enough and the oil would leak
all through my bathroom cupboards and over everything. I considered buying the
Chamomile Cleansing Balm instead but didn’t like the fact it was in jar
packaging and you had to dip your fingers into it. So when I received the
Trilogy balm I was so excited to give it a go and immediately ran to the
bathroom to take my makeup off.
It works the same way as The Body Shop
cleansing oil by dissolving makeup gently off your face. The Trilogy version is
blended from pure plant oils including rosehip, coconut and sun flower oils. It
was semi solid but as soon as I started rubbing it into my dry made up skin it begun
to dissolve all my makeup away like magic. It even tackled my waterproof
eyeliner and mascara really well and worked just like The Body Shop
alternative.
Once I was certain it had all been dissolved I took a warm face
washer and begun to gently wipe it away and I kid you not I had not one speck
of makeup left on my face; it was so wonderful. I patted my face dry and
touched my skin and it felt incredibly soft, fresh and looked beautifully dewey
without feeling congested. But then my eyes begun to hurt and by hurt I mean
stung. My eyes started watering and my vision went a bit blurry. I assumed I
had used too much around the eye area and rinsed it again. But the next three
times I used it the exact same thing happened. Now its not like you’re not
meant to rub this into your eyes/eyelashes, you are. That’s the entire selling
point.
During my whole time of using the cleansing oil from The Body Shop my
eyes never reacted like that at all. It was incredibly gently. I just think my
eyes might be a bit sensitive to this one product. Besides from the eye
dramatics, I loved this product! It felt extremely luxurious to use and left my
skin makeup free and feeling amazing, but I don’t think I would purchase this
due to the eye sensitivity issues and might return back to The Body Shop
version. Sample Size. Cruelty Free.
Zoeva 227 Luxe Soft Definer Brush
This was the item I was most excited about
receiving because I have been eyeing them off ever since seeing the beautiful
rose gold set plastered all over Instagram. As a brand I liked what Zoeva had to offer. The affordability and the vegan options. Like Real Techniques, all the
brushes are labeled so you know exactly what they are for and how to use them.
The brushes psychically look like dupes for the MAC brushes but cost around
half the price.
When I opened The Parcel up I didn’t see this until I pulled
all the other products out because it was laying flat at the bottom and I think
I let out a little squeal when I saw it. I received the 227 Luxe Soft Definer Brush,
which was just pure perfection because I have really had a hankering for more
eyeshadow brushes lately. This brush is a flat oval shape and it was absolutely
divine to apply eyeshadow with all over the lid and up into the crease with
such precision. I used this with the shade ‘Naked’ from the Urban Decay Naked
palette and I was blown away with the results.
While Zoeva does have vegan
brushes available, the 227 brush much like the MAC eye brushes are made using goat
hair. Some people consider goat hair eye brushes to be cruelty free because
unlike brushes that use mink, sable, horse or squirrel fur, goats aren’t killed
in the process they are just shorn. But that doesn’t make it any less cruel
does it? You don’t know what conditions the goats are kept in. They could be
happy free-range goats that are happy to get a hair cut or they could be kept
in an appalling Angora rabbit situation.
Side note: If you haven’t heard of Angora
rabbits please Google it so you can make fashion conscious decisions. I only
discovered it after I purchased two jumpers online from Topshop and once I pulled them
out of the bag I couldn’t believe how soft they were. I looked at the label
that said something along the lines of ‘100%
Angora’ and Googled it to see what this heavenly soft material was and actually
cried when I saw the results. We need to make more conscious decisions when
it comes to our purchases and what they are made of. The Zoeva brushes are absolutely
divine from what I’ve tried so far but it would be best to stick to Vegan
options to make the world a little less painful for those who
don’t have a voice. Full Size. $17. NOT CRUELTY FREE.
Maybelline New York Color Elixir by Color
Sensational in Petal Plush
The selling point of the Maybelline Color
Elixir is that it has the nourishing care of a balm, the shine of a gloss and
the colour pay off and pigment of a lipstick. A year ago you couldn’t open
Instagram or a magazine without seeing these babies advertised. They were being
pushed in our faces everywhere until, like most new beauty products they just
dropped off the map once the PR craze died down. I never felt the need to buy
them when they first came out but I was excited to see it in The Parcel because
it is always fun to receive something you wouldn’t normally buy yourself but
have heard a lot of hype over.
At first glance the colour I received was spot
on and would fit right in with my other makeup. It was a soft baby pink colour
that I was hoping would give out that English Rose vibe once applied on my
pout. Now all this hype plus the company describing this as being a
three-in-one product had my hopes sky high and when I finally applied it they
came crashing down. The colour was less English Rose and more 90’s frosty pink.
While it applied nicely on the lips it didn’t feel nourishing like a balm but really sticky like the lip gloss you try to avoid and it also certainly didn’t have the
pigment of a lipstick.
If I had never seen all the hype or read the description
of the product I probably thought this would have been an okay lip gloss that I
would have used up eventually, but it certainly didn’t live up to all its expectations.
It is very shimmery, sparkly and pale. I use foundations that are in the shade
0.1, which isn’t even a full shade number, that’s how pale I am, and this gloss
was extremely pale on me. So anyone with tan or dark skin might want to avoid
this shade because it might wash out his or her complexion a bit. I will keep
this lip gloss but it might only be used in very small amounts and as a top
coat for other products when I want some 90’s throwback nostalgia. Full Size. $17.95.
TESTS ON ANIMALS.
Maybelline New York The Colossal Pumped Up
Volum’ Express Mascara
Before I switched to cruelty free
cosmetics, Maybelline was my brand of choice for everything mascara related. At
the moment the ModelCo Fat Lash and the Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes are my two
Holy Grail cruelty free mascaras of choice. They are like a Wonderbra for your
lashes and make them look like falsies, which is what I was hoping to find
after ditching the Maybelline The Falsies mascara.
I haven’t opened this
mascara yet so I can’t go too in depth but if it’s like other Maybelline mascaras
it will be good. I’m not going to deny that a product is good just because it’s
not cruelty free. The Colossal mascara features Maybelline’s biggest brush and
a formula with twice the collagen to supposedly deliver super massive lashes.
I
will keep this mascara as a back up and use it once my Tarte one is finished
but after it is done I’ll go back to using my cruelty free options again. The
Parcel is an amazing box but they could totally take it to the next level by
curating a completely cruelty free box. They could have so many different brands
to feature and the need for a good quality cruelty free box really is a gap in
the Aussie beauty market that needs to be filled. Full Size. $19.95. TESTS ON
ANIMALS.
Paula’s Choice Vitamin C Spot Treatment
Everything that I have tried from this
brand I have absolutely loved. I love the ethics behind the company with it being
more science and results based, cruelty free and the skincare information they supply is absolutely wonderful.
For the past two months my skincare routine has
been 80% Paula’s Choice products. I haven’t written about this yet because I
want to complete this routine for at least six months to give a more in depth review
but so far the results have been wonderful. So when I saw this little sample
hiding among the others I did a little happy dance that there was another new
product for me to try out. It is 25% stabilized
Vitamin C and isn’t to cure pimples but
to help heal marks on the face such as the ones they leave behind as well as
brown spots and wrinkles not only on the face but on the neck and chest as well.
I’ve used this once since I’ve received it only to make sure I don’t breakout (I
didn’t) and it has got me really excited to get this into my routine. It is
quite thick and you use it by tapping it into your skin as the last step with
your skincare. Now all my breakouts are 99% gone I’m hoping this will be a
great way to reduce the post acne inflammation marks left behind. Deluxe
Sample. Cruelty Free.
Lonvitalite C4 Coconut Milk Hydrating &
Nourishing Face Mask and C3 Collagen Firming & Wrinkle Removing Red Wine
Mask
I have received so many of these from other beauty
boxes and always find them such a treat. I wouldn’t buy a full packet myself
because they don’t really claim to do what they say (firm the face and remove wrinkles)
but they are great for pamper sessions and give a nice hit of hydration to your
face. There are quite a few different ones but the C4 Coconut Milk is my
favourite because it smells so darn delicious and is super hydrating.
A lot of
people aren’t a fan of cloth masks because you pretty much have to lie straight
down with them on and there isn't much room for activites . My
only issue though is that I have to grab the nail scissors and cut a few extra
slits around where my nose, eyes and mouth would sit in the mask because
sometimes they can be a bit out of proportion to your face.
Like the Maybelline
Color Elixir don’t listen to all the hype and claims from the product and just
take these masks at a face value for some extra pamper
in your life. Deluxe Sample. Cruelty Free.
Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Water
Color
This is my first Sally Hansen nail polish and I’m
pretty impressed. The colour is true to the bottle and one coat left
my nails such a bright shade of blue. The colour itself is perfect for summer
and I can’t wait to see if this lives up to its claims.
The Complete Salon
Manicure Range is meant to combine a base coat, strengthener, treatment,
colour, top coat, chip resistance and a gel finish all in the same bottle for
up to 10 days wear. I very rarely wear nail polish because it gets all grotty
and chipped from working at the bar, so I’m excited to see how this polish goes
up against the beer taps and bottle openers. Full Size. $14.95. TESTS ON
ANIMALS.
Swisse Deep Sea Hydrating Mist Toner
The only product from the Swisse skincare
range I have tried has been the micellar water, which is now a staple in my
skincare routine and I have written about it here. So when I saw this little mini
spray toner in the box I was really happy and hoping it would be a 10/10 just
like the micellar water was.
This toner contains aloe vera and sea minerals
among other goodies and this really is a great hit of hydration for your face.
Once you spray it on it feels like you’ve taken a dip in the ocean and your skin
is instantly soothed and cool. This is great for using as a toner or to refresh
your skin on warm summers days and is such a good little egg of a product. Deluxe
Sample. Cruelty Free.
Michael Kors Rose Gold Perfume
Michael Kors is a brand you don’t usually
see in a beauty box and it was great to be able to try out one of the perfumes
from the Gold Collection. I received Rose Radiant Gold that is a really rich
scent. I usually love light floral fresh type scents and usually stay away from
the heavier ones. But I sprayed this on before I went to work and had people
asking what perfume I was wearing because they loved the smell. It does smell
very luxurious but still feminine. I wouldn’t know how to begin to describe the
smell so I looked online and found that for all you perfume buffs out there
that the notes are vanilla, tiare and cassis. Sample Size. TESTS ON ANIMALS.
Elizabeth Arden Superstart Skin Renewal
Booster
I received a small sample sachet of this
last month in Elle Magazine and was pretty disappointed with the results. When I
first tried out this product I had no idea what it was meant to be or do and
now I have received a deluxe sample I still have no clue. What are you? A
moisturiser? A serum? The description is as follows: “This lightweight
treatment is clinically proven to restore the appearance of the skin’s surface
layer for supple, smooth, more radiant looking skin’ and is to be applied
before serum or moisturiser". This is probably one of the more vague products I’ve
used. Maybe the small one use sachet wasn’t enough to see the results from it
or maybe I’m just not in the right age group or skin type to use this, but I’m
still going to give this bigger sample a shot and try to go all Nancy Drew on
this product. Deluxe Sample. TESTS ON ANIMALS.
OGX Argan Oil of Morocco Shampoo and
Conditioner
I love a good shampoo and conditioner
sample and this one looks like an absolute gem. It’s infused with Moroccan
Argan Oil and is meant to protect hair from UV rays and heat styling while
leaving hair healthy and shiny. I’ve only ever tried to coconut shampoo and
conditioner from this brand and it was really lovely, so I’m excited to give
another one of their products a go. The products are also free from parabens
and sulfates. While OGX used to be a cruelty free brand there is talk that they
are now testing on animals, which if true is very disappointing. On their
website they state that they are still cruelty free, so I might have to add
this to my Nancy Drew list of things I need to do a bit more research on.
Deluxe Sample. Animal Testing Policies Unknown.
