While not so patiently awaiting delivery of the November French Box tomorrow, today the mail carrier put into my awaiting hands the November Boxycharm “Sparkle and Shine” box.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I’ve seen multiple unboxings of this box and am on the fence about whether I like it or whether I find it geared towards a younger demographic. A lot of shine is always a good thing, but a little sparkle goes a long ways. At a certain point in life, it can be a fine line between throwing on some classy shimmer and looking like a leftover from New Year’s Eve in Times Square, so let’s check it out and see if this box is awesome, awful…Or a little of both.
And there it is, just begging to be opened.
And, as everyone probably already knows, the theme this month is “Sparkle and Shine.”
“Now, pop open your box, Charmers, and get your sparkle and shine on!”
Whatever you say, Boxycharm.
RETAIL VALUE: $20.00 – $25.00 (must depend on which color one chooses?)
First up is this Color Bug by Kevin Murphy. It’s a similar product of the As-Seen-On-TV chalk highlighter for hair. We received the purple color. Not something I’d probably ever use (I was hoping for the gold), but my daughter did swatch it onto her dark brown hair and the color amazingly enough was actually detectable.
Well, that was underwhelming. Moving right along.
RETAIL VALUE: $16.00
Here we have a Tarina Tarantino Eyelicity eyeliner in the color in Glitter Mist. Although it looks white in the tube (and in the picture), it is actually an amazing opalescent, leaning to pink, color that is really gorgeous. This stuff has some staying power, too. If you’re in the market for a festive, long-lasting eyeliner for any upcoming holiday events, this is a product you’d probably love. Boxycharm was also giving a black version of this eyeliner, but we’re happy with the white.
RETAIL VALUE: $24.95
This shock of color blush is from Ofra in Paradise Pink. Although it looks pretty intimidating in the compact and in the pictures, it actually blends out really lovely to a subtle shimmery pale pink, kind of the same color pink one’s cheeks naturally turn when out in the cold. It’s a lot more wearable than I was expecting.
RETAIL VALUE: $14.99
A little more shimmer, this is by Bella Pierre and is their shimmer powder in Sensation. This is really lovely and really versatile, whether it’s on the eyelids, on the inner eye corners, or even on the cheeks. It’s a keeper.
RETAIL VALUE: $44.95 (and a great big knee-slapping chuckle at that…See below)
And here we have an overly inflated retail value for MicaBeauty Eye Primer.
It’s an eye primer. NYX makes an excellent one that appears pretty much identical in texture and does an amazing job. For $7.
Interestingly, this purported retail value of $44.95 is on sale for half price right now on the MicaBeauty website.
Color me skeptical, but there is no way MicaBeauty is selling ANY of these primers at $44.95. That is an absolute insult to any beauty maven’s intelligence. I’m even going to go out on a limb and say I highly doubt they’re moving many units at even the “sale” (snort) price of $22.50.
Honestly, it just infuriates me when retailers heavily inflate the retail value of a product just to up the value of a subscription box. No fault of Boxycharm, the onus for this type of bait-and-switch is totally on the supplier of the product.
In fact, here, ladies…Here’s a link to go get yourself a good quality NYX eye primer for $7 and spend the difference on something else nice for yourselves:
So there we have it, the much-awaited November Boxycharm “Sparkle and Shine.”
Was it great? Eh. Was it good? Yeah, but in my humble opinion, it’s not nearly as good as the previous few months have been. That Color Bug is definitely an odd choice, as it has rather limited appeal to various demographics and really isn’t something most subscribers would consistently use. Maybe once or twice a year and then it goes to the Haircare Graveyard.
I’m a bit disappointed but hoping that they’ll step the game back up for December.
I’m also obviously somewhere between amused and annoyed at the overinflated retail value of that MicaBeauty eye primer. I’d balk at the “sale” price of $22.50, forget about $44.95.
Anyway, if you’d like to check out Boxycharm further, here are some links to get you started:
WEBSITE WITH REFERRAL CODE: https://www.boxycharm.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/9718/
FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/Boxycharm
As always, feel free to follow what I’m up to on the following social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Beholding-Eye/683364698413511
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Until next time, stay beautiful…And stay tuned for tomorrow when THE FRENCH BOX arrives!!!
TheBeholdingEye 