I normally would not accept subscription boxes for review but back in June, NoMakeNoLife (NMNL), one of the newest Japanese beauty boxes serving international beauty fans, included a full size of a sunscreen that is not only one of my favorites for daily use but also one with limited International distribution in their box. This impressed me enough to give one of their boxes a try. Their July box showed up at my doorstep last week. Here is a rundown of what was in it:
Disclaimer: I received this box at no cost for review purposes. All opinions expressed are my own.
Profael Massage Jelly Body Pack
This is more or less hair conditioner for body – wash your body as you normally would and after rinsing, apply this, let it sit a few minutes, then rinse off.
This has gel texture, a mild Tiger balm-esque smell, and feels very slightly cooling. Great for hot summer days. I do wish this were more conditioning. I hate applying body lotion and I would love nothing more than an in-shower gel that can moisturize my skin instead. This isn’t enough for my dry skin, but I like the concept and will be searching around for other in shower body packs to try.
Sweets-Sweets Air Moisturizing CC Cream
Sweets-Sweets is a sister company to Canmake, who makes a sunscreen and lip tint I like. I’m definitely bookmarking Sweets-Sweets as a brand to check out in the future, but this CC cream isn’t going to work for me at all. Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese bb creams, cc creams, and foundations lean pale, pink, and / or peach. My skintone is tan-ish with yellow & green undertones. I swatched this CC cream and as with 95% of the other Asian base makeup products I’ve tried, it’s a poor match.
Browtician Tweezers
This is my favorite item in the box! The tweezers are precise and sleek and I LOVE the mirrored case! Have already thrown these in my travel bag for immediate use.
Peelingood Peeling Gel Kit
I would love to try these giant exfoliating Q-tips, but they contain papain, which my skin reacts violently to. This will be destashed to a friend.
Hollywood Orchid Enzyme Mask
I was initially super excited about this mask because it has a cosme ranking sticker on it but after reading through the ingredients, I realized this also contains papain. I got extremely unlucky with this box! Also will be destashing to a friend as I can’t use this.
Overall Thoughts
Every subscription box is a crapshoot and this time I got unlucky. While this box did introduce me to some product categories (in shower body conditioning packs) and brands (Sweets-Sweets) I’m interested in it also contained multiple products I can’t use due to skin sensitivities. Unfortunately, as much as I love the idea of subscription boxes I just don’t think my skincare interests or needs are well suited for them.
That said, there are a number of things I like about this NMNL box:
- Every product and brand in it is new to me. No other beauty box (Korean, Japanese, Green Beauty, or Makeup) has been able to do that
- All products are full size.
- Informational booklet with a description of every product in English
- Minimal crinkle paper in packaging
Get the box at NOMAKENOLIFE.
Vanity Rex 