Beauty Box 5 - May 2014

I'm loving my Ipsy subscription and hadn't planned on subscribing to a second beauty subscription but recently I came across a Beauty Box 5 code to get my first box free, so I figured I'd give them a try.  Beauty Box 5 is similar to Ipsy in that you get monthly beauty related samples delivered, and like their name implies it's always 5 samples.  From what I can tell it looks like sometimes you get full sized products, sometimes sample sized.  A monthly subscription is $12/month with free shipping, or you can reduce the monthly cost by subscribing quarterly for $30 ($10/month) or annually for $99 ($8.25/month).  The annual subscription actually brings it down to the least expensive beauty sub I've seen so far.

The samples come in a cute Tiffany Blue box filled with brown crinkle paper strips.  Unlike Ipsy they don't seem to release spoilers for all their products but release one for each month.  This months spoiler was an eyeliner but the rest of the items were a surprise, which is fun because I don't have the willpower to avoid looking at spoilers on my own.  The website says the box ships by the 8th, and sure enough I received my tracking number in my e-mail on 5/8 and my box arrived 5/14.  Also included is a card describing each product and the price for the full sized item

The first of my 5 items was a Cattiva Precisione eyeliner.  This was their spoiler item so I wasn't surprised by it, but I was happy to receive it in my box.  It is a fairly basic black eyeliner and did seem to glide on my hand quite smoothly.  I do like that it is retractable so I don't have to worry about sharpening it.  This is a 0.012 oz full sized liner worth $20.

Second was a sample size H2O+ Spa hand and nail cream.  I tried it out and it is a nice softening hand cream that absorbs quickly.  It doesn't have much of a scent to it which I like.  This will definitely be going in my purse.  The 6 oz full size costs $15 so this 1 oz sample is worth $3.20.

The next item was a sample size of Aveeno Daily Mousturizing lotion.  I've used Aveeno lotion before and like it, especially since I have sensitive skin, but not exactly a new or exciting sample to try.  I was also a little disappointed to receive two very similar products like this in the same box.  The full size of this is 12 oz so the 1 oz sample size has a value of about $0.71.

Fourth was a mini size sample of Harvey Prince perfume.  I'm not much of a perfume wearer but this does have a nice light scent to it so I'll probably use this small amount up but won't purchase the full size.  The card lists the notes as mandarin, grapefruit, forsythia, and plumeria.  The 1.7 oz full size of this is $55.00 but the little sample bottle doesn't have a volume listed so I don't know quite how to value this sample.  It might seem cheap, but I'm just going to go with $2, especially since you can pick up these sample sizes at perfume counters for free.

The final item item(s) included were 3 single packets of the new ban Total refresh Cooling Body Cloths.  I got a free single sample of this in the mail last week but the package was burst open so I had to throw it out.  This isn't something I would typically purchase but these will come in handy this summer after walking the dog on hot days.  A ten wipe box of these is listed at $2.97 so the three wipes together are worth $0.89.

This was an okay box, and the box value came to a total of around $28.88 (could be slightly more since I just added 2 dollars for the perfume).  Since I got this box for free that was definitely worth it but even at $12 a month it did at least exceed the cost of the box.  I wasn't blown away by this box and don't like it as much as Ipsy so far, but I've decided to go ahead and give it a try for one more month so I will review the next box when I receive it in June.  If you'd like to try Beauty Box 5 I do have a referral link you can use to do so here.  Unfortunately I can't seem to find a current code for a discount or free box, but I'll post one if I come across it in the future.