rubybox August 2014

These subscription boxes are like getting a little bit of Christmas or your birthday every month! You never know what to expect and just like Christmas or your birthday, you could receive something that either takes your breath away or leaves you going... "Huh!?"

I received my first box (after the 99c box) a maybe 2 weeks ago  more than a month ago. Things have been a bit crazy on the home front with DIY and kids' project deadlines and seasonal allergies knocking each of us out for 2 days, that I actually forgot all about the goodies in the magic little box. I was uploading pictures for another blog post when I came across the photos of the rubybox items that reminded me of it, and I got excited all over again to dibble and dab, swish and swash!

So... here we go.

Don't mind if I do...

 First up, the full-sized product - rubybox Beauty Smooch Stick in Latte Limbo is a vitamin E enriched lip crayon in a tan-beige-nude that has a satiny shine, therefore eliminating the need for a gloss. 

 

I have dark, pigmented lips and this is just the right colour to wear with a more dramatic eye or on low maintenance days for a bit of colour and hydration. 

 

Size-wise, this is definitely not a jumbo or chubby stick because it's almost half the diameter of a Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain on the left and rubybox Beauty Smooch Stick on the right.

You have to decide if it's worth paying the same price for a product that is essentially smaller than a well-known and easily available brand. The colour selection in my opinion is nothing unique and the only other colour available is tangerine.

To go with your lip crayon is a dual sharpener that is apparently worth R29.99 but you can't buy it from the website.

A bit yukky looking, no?

It may just be out of stock or a freebie. Because what are you going to do when you wear your lippie down? But when I opened the cover for the first time it looked like it was used or tarnished, not something that you'd want near your cosmetics that goes anywhere near your face.

It sharpened the crayon smoothly, but I don't think that with the formula of the lip crayon it should be in a sharpenable crayon format. It's too soft and janks up the actual colour part of the crayon.

Smooth sharpening but a not suitable for this soft lip crayon. Not the sharpener's fault!

Not pretty, is it? Again, not the sharpener's fault.

Next up is the Africology Body Butter. 

25ml sample. Not sure about the price or size of the full size body butter as it may be out of stock on the rubybox website because I can't find it.

This would be excellent for parched Winter skin. It has a very thick consistency but gets absorbed quite quickly into the skin. That said, I didn't like this body butter.

The scent is very herbal / medicinal and quite strong. I also felt like it took a bit too much effort to massage into the skin as compared to The Body Shop's body butters that I'm used to. It also leaves a tacky feel on the skin.I don't have extremely dry skin but my husband does so I gave it to him one morning as he got out of the shower. He didn't like it because it didn't smooth onto the skin. It sort of went on patchy although with some work it moisturised well. I think we're just fussy when it comes to body butter and stick to what we like. Had the scent been different, I would more than likely have given this a chance. I will use it up, but it's not something that I would purchase.

 

Full size 100ml R179.95

Bee Natural Rehydrating Face Balm

There wasn't any usage information on the packaging or on the information card that came with this product so I had to check on the rubybox website for how, when and where to use the balm. I'm not used to using a balm on my face except for when I have a cold or "healthy dog syndrome" (my mom's made up term for when you constantly have to wipe your nose) so I was perplexed as to what this is for. It's made of 100% natural ingredients and is proudly South African. It looks like it's meant for all skin types, from dry and normal to combination, oily and acne-prone skin. Having just finished a sample-sized bottle of Nuxe Dry Oil I can say that I've overcome my fear of applying oil to my face that doesn't have to get washed off, so I'm not resistant to using this beeswax balm. It is advised to use it in cooler months when your skin tends to be drier, and to use it at night because it doesn't contain SPF. I haven't tried it yet and when I do, I'll update this post.

REN Resurfacing AHA Concentrate

Full size 30ml R479.95

I am poep scared of peels! I don't know why... just paranoid that it will eat my face off. I didn't want to try this too close to my upcoming holiday because I do not want to look like a sundried tomato.

I tried it one night last week and used half of one sachet, which is probably too little, but I didn't want to take any chances. Well... My face wasn't eaten fall off. I'll have to use a decent amount to give a proper review but the opportunity to use it on a clean face at night didn't present itself since last week. I only go the whole hog with facial cleansing if I'm in the shower and that doesn't happen at night most of the time. If I don't take a shower I'll swipe a Bioderma Micellar Water cotton pad over each eye and another 2 for the rest of my face, but that doesn't constitute a proper facial cleanse if I'm going to do a treatment.

Update (24/11/2014): I used both sachets in the evenings over about 3 weeks. I noticed a difference in the texture and tone of my skin after 2 weeks and felt slightly depressed when I squeezed the last drops out of the little sachet. In terms of texture, I noticed that my skin looked and felt smoother, a reduction in the fine lines and crows feet. I also started getting hyperpigmentation on the very top of my cheek / bottom of my eye socket that I noticed got lighter in the time that I used the concentrate. It is still there, just much lighter and not as noticeable. REN Resurfacing AHA Concentrate is definitely a serum that I will purchase!
 

And that was August's rubybox!

Not my favourite but I wait with excitement for September's. It's hyped to be an exciting one because it's rubybox's 3rd birthday and WE'RE getting the birthday pressie! Yay!