rubybox September 2014

I was really late in posting my review of the August rubybox. Like the-day-before-the-new-box-arrived-late! I lose track of time like that all the time. Isn't a stay-at-home-mom's life supposed to be less stressful? Long, languid breakfasts that turn to brunches that turn to lunches before the kids need to be picked up... Spa days... Chilling in sweatpants on the couch in the sun with a book? No?

Haha! Ja, right!!!

Yesterday morning the hubzster left home early because he was going to site about an hour's drive away, so there was no morning overlap. (Morning overlap = I take the kids to school > he opens up for the maid > he leaves for work > I get home.) I get a call while I'm still at school from a courier company to say their driver just left my place because there was no-one at home to take delivery of a package. It wasn't even 8am yet! Turns out the courier company is a few roads away from us and I was first on the list. Fortunately he was still in the area and could come back just in time to find my maid at home so I still got my surprise box. And I proceeded to have a 4-hour long breakfast with some friends.

Methinks we need to employ a package receiver! I often miss deliveries when the maid's not there and I'm out running errands. It's frustrating.

But wait, that's not what this is about!

My first thought when I picked the package up as that it was heavy! September was billed to be rubybox's 3rd birthday and boxes would be filled with full-sized products and a collector's bracelet.

The promise.

Pretty fuchsia slip cover.

I'm not familiar with the format of the boxes, whether they come with lids loose, hinged or slip covers because this is only my 3rd box. The first two came with loose lids and as handy as they are, they're functioning as holders underneath the open boxes used to store little bits of stuff in my wardrobe. Safe to say I won't be missing the loose lid.

Cover slips off to reveal...

But wait, where's the collector's bracelet?

Oh, what do we have here?

What exactly is this?

This, dear friends, is the free collector's "bracelet". A string and a washer with a stamp on it. Oh rubybox, you shouldn't have. No really, you shouldn't have. I wasn't expecting a Pandora, and this wasn't necessary.

The rest of the box made up for the disappointment of the whatchamacallit.

R119.95 at rubybox

The brush comes with a brush guard that is handy for when you're carting it in your bag and to retain its shape but won't work to shape while drying as it's a plastic sheath that doesn't have holes for ventilation. 

Not bad quality for a R119.95 brush.

The bristles are soft because it's not cross cut and is loosely packed for soft blending and although I haven't used it much yet, I can't comment too much on how well it performs. It's sized perfectly for blush application. I tried it with a brick red Inglot blush which is intensely pigmented and I liked that it gave a sheer application. I think this brush would be perfect for those highly pigmented blushes although I don't know how it will apply blushes that are not as richly pigmented. It would be perfect for bronzing because you need a light hand with application, if you don't mind the size.

Notice the fine tips of the brisles. It makes for a very soft feel.

I think rubybox is genius in pairing products, like adding this brush cleaner with a brush. 

Brush cleaner

This is the perfect size for travel. The nozzle spritzes out a fine, consistent mist and a little goes a long way. I use this brush cleaner on denser brushes and it takes more than the recommended 3 sprays to clean the brush, but it's way better than me leaving a dirty brush that's just been run over a face cloth or tissue without any cleaner. I wash my brushes once a week anyway and with using the brush cleaner I find that the deep cleaning isn't as laborious anymore. It also makes traveling with fewer brushes possible because you can use one brush for a variety of applications. I don't have anything to compare this cleanser to and getting this one has allowed me to think about trying other cleansers too. For now, I'd repurchase this one.

 

I've used Dove Invisible Dry roll-on in the past and I don't have anything bad to say about it. Is it invisible? I think so. Is it invisible on 100 colours? I haven't tested it myself. This one has been tested on 100 colours and is proven to be invisible on all 100 colours. Well done. It claims, like most other antip-perspirant deodorants to work for 48 hours. This I can refute. You won't smell too offensive after 48 hours, but after 24 hours you'll definitely want to take soap and hot water to your pits. I'd buy it if I was in a pinch, but I'm back to old faithful Mitchum Gel for now. These things are nice to have extra stock of because deodorant is something you NEVER want to be caught without.

R29.95 at rubybox

I like this hand cream. It's a car hand cream. Only the best hand creams live in the car. (This is maybe not a good idea in our summers.) I keep fast absorbing hand creams in all our cars because you don't want to have greasy hands when you're driving. And when I'm driving is sometimes the only time that I really look at my hands. This one is light in texture, fast absorbing and has a pleasant light coconutty scent that doesn't linger. If you don't like coconut scents, still give this a try because it fades after 5 minutes. Your hands feel not only moisturised but protected as well. It's locally manufactured and at R29.95 I think is a brilliant buy. It would make an excellent gift pack gift for teachers (which is what I'm putting together at the moment).

And that, I think, is it. Except for the bracelet that really shouldn't have happened, I think the box would've been just perfect with the full-sized products as a birthday bonus.

Confession time: I started this post in September with the best intention of posting it "on time". Life kinda took a turn and now that I'm getting into posting again I thought it would be unjust to delete the draft and make as if it never happened. I'd like to still give my honest thoughts on some of the products I've been using these past months even though I wasn't posting. I have a lot to keep me busy in the next few weeks.

Catch you on the flip side...

E