Beauteque Bag January 2016

First BB bag of the new year is here! Took a couple days longer to arrive than normal which I put down to the fact the bag came in a box this month rather than the less bulky packet it usually comes in, but I’m just happy to finally receive it because this was the one I was most excited to have. It’s just full of cuteness.

What is a Beauteque Beauty Bag?

This is a monthly subscription service from the US-based online Asian beauty retailer, Beauteque. Their BB bags feature 6-8 full size products comprising a mix of Asian skincare, makeup and lifestyle items. They are mostly Korean beauty products but also occasionally originate from Taiwan, Japan, China or America. Each bag is usually valued about $60+ (£40+) but you only pay $24 (£16) per bag. Including shipping charges to the UK ($8.95) I pay £21 in total.

For more info on the subscription service or to sign up, go to their website here.

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This month’s theme is Winter Wonderland.

This month’s bag:

Last month’s bag was gold and this month’s is silver. It’s a thinner material than the previous one but still satin-like material. I really like this makeup bag because it’s much bigger, comfortably fits all the products inside it and not as tacky looking in my opinion.

This month contained 7 items. The toner and pocket bunny mist both came well bubble wrapped and everything survived the journey to me.

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1. A’Pieu Color Longwear Shadow Stick (Value: 11.50)

Use: Long-wearing, smudgeproof and waterproof eyeshadow. Twist up stick to apply.

This could come in various shades and I got this in PK04 which is a shimmery pinky-peach shade. This is really smooth and easy to apply and does have really good lasting power. I tried to wash and rub off this swatch and it wouldn’t budge for ages until I scrubbed hard at it.  I had hoped to get a neutral, copper or golden colour though because this shade unfortunately doesn’t suit my skin tone at all and I rarely wear pink shades of eyeshadow. This price is also extremely marked up because you can find it on IBBI for about $3.

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2. Eye Brow Clip (Value: $4.50)

This month’s lifestyle product is tweezers and while I have one already, I could always do with another so I don’t mind that this is included. I’ll think I’ll use one for flipping over cushion compacts and the other for tweezing hair.

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3. Nature Republic By Flower Lip Scrub (Value: $8.99)

Use: to exfoliate your lips and remove flaky skin. Dampen lips, squeeze out a small amount and rub onto your lips with your finger. Rinse it off and pat dry.

I was super happy to get this in the bag. I’ve been wanting to try out more lip scrubs because mine are always dry and peeling. So far, I really like this. It contains mango and flower extract, vitamin A to nourish the lips and carotene to boost elasticity. I think the tiny beads that exfoliate are made from walnut so it’s not overly abrasive on the lips but effective enough to remove dead skin. It’s creamy, smooths over the lips easily and doesn’t leave an oily film behind. It’s not super moisturising so your lips can feel dry and raw after it if they’re already chapped, so I’d recommend applying a lip balm after. (Found this online for about $3-4).

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4. Scinic All Day Fine Pore Toner (Value: $22)

Use: Apply with a cotton pad after cleansing to a clean face.

I love this toner! My favourite product in the bag by far. I’ve used this both morning and night for the past 5 days and it has really helped to control my oily t-zone. It contains aloe, grapefruit and green tea to calm the skin plus oak apple, ivy and kollanut extract to tighten up pores. I’ve never used a toner quite like this because it actually contains powder at the bottom which absorbs excess sebum. It tends to settle at the bottom and you shake it up to mix it before using. It doesn’t leave a greasy finish, but absorbs quickly and doesn’t dry out the rest of my face despite the alcohol content. Also love its peppermint smell. (Found this on IBBI for under $8).

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5. Tony Moly Pocket Bunny Mist (Value: $15)

Use: Hold 6-10 inches away from face and spritz throughout the day when needed.

I’ve seen this face mist on many blogs and it seems to be quite popular which isn’t surprising because it is just the most adorable looking thing. I don’t typically use face mists and I wouldn’t have chosen to buy this particular one if it hadn’t been in the bag so I was initially excited to see the preview spoilers include the pocket bunny. However, I was disappointed because I received the Moist Mist which is for moisturising rather than the Sleek Mist for controlling oil production. I don’t have trouble with dry skin during the day because my normal skincare does the job well enough so I won’t really get much use out of this. I also don’t like the smell very much. It has a sickly sweet perfumed scent to it. Since it’s not suitable for my face I think I’ll use it to moisturise my dry legs.

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6 & 7. Ladykin Affinitic Snail Cream Minature (Value: $4 x 2 = $8) 

These are also super cute! Snail creams that come in the shape of snails. I’ve seen the full size of these Ladykin creams that come in a whopping 100ml size but I didn’t realise they had these tiny minatures. They are a lot smaller than I thought they’d be and hold 5ml of product. It’s more like a deluxe sample than a full size product really, which is probably why they provide both types. No complaints from me though, because I’m happy to be able to try both first to see if it’s worth purchasing the larger size.

Pink shell – Moisturising

I’m so enjoying this cream. I think I’ll even purchase the full size when I’ve finished this. It contains 80% snail secretion filtrate, to improve damaged skin, increase softness and restore skin’s elasticity. It also contains Adenosine for anti-wrinkle and Vitamins A, E and C. I actually thought the blue would work for me better initially because this might be too moisturising (includes shea butter) and make me more oily. Surprisingly it controls oil very well, yet is moisturising enough to make my skin extra soft, smooth and supple. I really really love how it makes my skin feel. I can even wear it under makeup with no problem.

Blue Shell – Whitening Moisturiser

The consistency of this blue one is very different to the pink shell. It looks transparent and gel-like in the pot but when you touch it, it’s extremely slimy as you can see from the picture above. I put off trying this for a few days because the consistency made me hesitant but then I finally took the plunge and slabbed it on my face. You have to be more careful with this because it’s so ‘stringy’ it can leave a mess trying to get it out. This claims to bring dry skin back to life and the bamboo leaf extract brightens the skin. Green tea and pine needle extract works to smooth out skin.I didn’t find this did much to brighten skin and it’s definitely not as moisturising nor provides the same softness to the skin as the pink shell. It also leaves more of a tacky, sticky feel to your face that does eventually disappear, but I also find it makes me oily as time wears on. I found this surprising because I expected to like this more because those ingredients listed are great. It’s not bad in itself, but if you compare it, the pink shell is better.

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Overall:

This is probably my favourite BB bag so far. I love 3 of the products to the extent I would repurchase (toner, lip scrub & snail cream), 3 of them are good products that I would use, and only 1 that I dislike simply because the colour doesn’t suit me but the product itself is really good quality. This bag has also been the cutest and I’m a sucker for cute things.

The only downside is that I think the prices for these products are generally quite inflated from the original price and even though Beauteque might sell them for that price on their website, you can find all these products (minus the tweezers), cheaper elsewhere. I think a more accurate price for the January BB bag is somewhere around £20-£25 (if you didn’t include the additional shipping cost from buying at various different retailers). Since I paid £21 for the bag and shipping in total I’ve not exactly lost out, especially since I love most of the products and will get good use out of them but if you hated half these products, well, then it really wouldn’t be worth the value of the subscription bag. Then again, you might also feel it’s worth it because you’re getting to try products that you wouldn’t otherwise know about or get to try.