Pretty Box Sept '14

I am new to the whole beauty box subscription service. In fact, I didn't even know they existed until I read a blog post about one. So I researched it a little and found a few in the Netherlands.
They all cost around €15 per month and you get a selection of 4-5 beauty items sent to you each time.
As many people on the web were raving about the Pretty Box, I thought I would pop the cherry of my beauty box subscription virginity and order this one first.

It was meant to be dispatched on the 29th of September, but I received an email from them saying that it would be a bit late and delivered by the 3rd of Oct at the latest. On the morning of the 2nd, I got another email saying that it had been dispatched (cue: excitement!) and it was there waiting for me when I came home from work, so very quick indeed.
As I rushed to open it, first I was greeted by a neatly wrapped package with a pretty blue ribbon and a card that told me that the total value of the goods was €63,96. The card also gave a brief description of what is contained in the box.

Here's what I got:

Benefit 'It's Potent!' eye cream 3g
My first impression of this is that they definitely chose the correct name for it as the scent packs a bit of a punch and is very potent to the senses. It is meant to fade dark circles which I suffer from so I'm interested to see if it will help to improve the appearance of mine.

L'Oréal Color Riche Le nail art
I've never used nail stickers before so this will be a good one to try. They are meant to be quick and easy to apply without the risk of mess or mistakes. These ones are 006 Chic Python, which as the name suggests; has a snakeskin print on them. Not normally my thing but hey, why not?!
What I find weird about this pack is that there are only 18 stickers, so you cannot do your nails twice with one pack unless you are missing a couple of digits (which fortunately I'm not!) so that is a bit disappointing.

So Susan Concealer Quad 4g & Dual Brow Powder 4g
This is a totally new brand for me. It comes from the UK and was launched in 2013 so is still a newbie to the market. The owner has been involved in other brands so if you're interested, you can check out the website here.
As for the products; the formula of the concealer is so watery and thin that I doubt it would cover anything that would actually require concealer. It says on the packaging that it is meant to cover dark circles, blemishes and minor imperfections but as soon as I put it on my skin, it disappeared and didn't cover anything.
The Brow Set contains a medium and a dark shade which I like as most sets appear to cater for blondes and fairer haired people only. As a brunette, the medium shade fits me best and is okay but again the formula of the product is not very thick so I can see myself having to apply a lot before achieving the desired effect. These are my first impressions, so I will give these products more of a try and then make my mind up about them later but so far... I'm not very impressed with the quality.

Unity Cosmetics lip liner 
Again a new brand for me but this one hails from the country of my residence, the Netherlands. According to the website, the company prides itself of offering mineral based, hypo-allergenic cosmetics. This lip liner is no.48 and is a gorgeous burnt orange colour. I think it will go perfectly with a lipstick I purchased from Catrice recently so there may be a 'lip look' post coming soon.

Zalando discount voucher
I seem to be collecting these vouchers as I get one with almost everything I order online at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I like Zalando but I've only ever ordered one thing from them so far. This voucher is for €10 discount when you spend at least €50. I will definitely have to start ordering from them soon and using these vouchers as I have about 3 or 4 of them now. Also, I do like the fact that they offer free shipping and a 100 day return policy which is just crazy!

All in all, I am quite happy with my first Pretty Box and I will be ordering the October one to see what that has to offer. I may also check out some of the other boxes out there to see what they're like.


If you have any suggestions on which beauty box subscriptions to try, then feel free to leave a comment as I'd love to read what you have tried.