Summer Bonus Goodebox, one-time natural cosmetic samples, $20
I paid $20
My value: $24*
Goodebox is a monthly subscription box that includes natural/organic cosmetics and related products. Once a season or so they have boxes with assorted leftovers. Prices vary from season to season, and not all boxes have the same stuff. This is my first Goodebox grab bag, and I was happy enough with it. It’s definitely a good way of trying new stuff. This box shipped rather quickly, I had it on my hands a week after I ordered it.
The box included 12 products, though one came used and/or broken. The value of the box was about $58, though $17 of that was for a nail polish.
The box included little cards describing each of the products. Goodebox says you should keep them to remember what items you liked. It’s a good idea, but that’s what I use this blog for (really, is anyone other than future-me reading this?). This is what I got:
Shea Butter Extreme Crème
This is a very nice lotion, it’s not too thick, absorbs quickly and doesn’t leave your skin feeling greasy. It has a very nice smell, which my daughter loved. She’s claimed it.
Evenly Radiant Brightening Day Crème
I got this same cream in my March Birchbox and I had just ran out of it. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. It’s pretty light and easy to apply. It does leave my face feeling greasy, but that may just be the moisturizing effect. I also appreciate that it uses zinc oxide as a sunblock. After doing some internet research, it appears to me that zinc oxide is the least harmful and most effective ingredient in sunscreens. This lotion is ridiculously expensive, so I’m glad to get more of it – though my jar was half full, so I’m not sure I got the full 1/2 oz. Made in USA.
Wild Honey Apothecary Pumpkin Cocoa Honey Mask , ~4 ml, ~$2 value
This is your stereotypical homemade face mask. It contains “Raw Organic Active Honey, Organic raw cacao powder, organic pumpkin powder, organic raw aloe, pumpkin seed oil and organic cocao absolute.” I’ve made honey masks before and they are not my favorite as they are too sticky, but I guess I can always put it on toast as well. The little jar didn’t say how much it had, but it seemed to be about half as much as the polish below. The amount would be enough for just one application.
Gressa Renewing Polish, 7.5 ml, ~$5 value
This is an all natural face scrub with an overwhelming scent of lavender. Like the mask above its main ingredient is honey and it operates as a combo scrub and mask. My daughter finds the smell of lavender very soothing – probably because of all those calming lavender baths we gave her as a baby – so she’s already laid claim to it.
healthy hoohoo gentle femine wipes
, 2 wipes, $1 value
These get fairly good reviews at Amazon.com, though there are complaints that they are too expensive and too small. Still, it’s a useful item to carry in your purse.
Aila Nail Color in #likeaboss (rose gold), .5 oz, $17 value
This nail polish is supposed to be vegan, gluten free, 5-free, paraben free, etc. The ingredients are written in such small letters on the bottom of the bottle, however, that for all I know they might have nail dissolving acid. I’m going to assume they don’t, but it’d be nice if they also included them on their website.
I like the color, though my kids think I’m too old for shiny nail polish (they’re probably right, but who cares?). I loved that it’s very easy to apply. I don’t have the motor skills to apply sunscreen without smudging it all over my fingers, but I made less of a mess with this one than with others. It’s also super fast drying, which is important to me as I always smudge my nails before they have an opportunity to dry. Plus it’s made in the USA.
Scent 002 alcohol free perfume by MSC Skin Care + Home, 3 ml, $3 value
This is a very interesting perfume oil. While I could list the notes, they are so integrated with one another that I can’t tell them apart. It reminds me of perfume soaps, but it doesn’t have that sharp edge these usually have. My husband described it as floral and pleasant. After a while it just left my skin feeling perfumed, which is not a bad thing.
Elegant Rose Boutique Bath Bombs, 2 mini bombs, value $2
Bath Bombs are probably the easiest DIY beauty product after scrubs and masks. Still, I haven’t made any in a long time so I’m looking forward to using these. They have a lavender/orange/patchouli scent, heavy on the patchouli.
Real Beauty for a Cause Lotion Bar, value $9?
I like making lotion bars more than I like using them, they always leave my hands greasy. I still have some left from March’s Out of the Box sampler. I’ll probably try to swap it. I’m intrigued, however, that it’s made with kokum butter. I had never heard of the kokum fruit (at least by that name) until I made a Bene Israel Fish Molee a couple of months ago. The lotion is scented with lavender oil, so I can’t swap it I’ll just give it to my daughter.
I can’t tell whether this lotion is the full size or a sample. There is no information either on this box or on the website as to the weight of either.
Plantlife Cassia Clove Soap, sample, $1.25
This is a cold processed Castile-style soap that includes a variety of oils, essential oils and organic spices. This particular one smells of cinnamon and cloves. I HATE the smell of cinnamon and cloves on anything but apple pie or apple cider. So I pretty much hate this soap. I will try to swap it just to get rid of it.
For some reason, this soap came in a little bag. Cute.
Ecojot Pen on Wood mini journal, $5
This is by far my favorite item in the box. Indeed, I had to fight my daughters for it. And hide it, lest one of them steal it. The covers are actually wood, the pen motif is beautiful and it’s a great size to keep in a purse to jot the occasional note. It’s made by a Canadian company.
Au Naturale organic eyeshadow stick in palma, sample size 1.5 ml?, ~$5
The sample tube of eyeshadow that I originally got (left in the photo) apparently melted before I got it, it was smeared in the tube and the top looked strange. I wrote to Goodebox and they immediately replaced it. I like the color very much, it’s a bit too shimmery for my age, but I may still wear it.
My value: $12*
* This is the total value of the products that my family will actually use from this box. I’m not counting the nail polish. I’m happy if this value is at least as high as what I paid for the box.