BEAUTY BOX 5: March 2013

my BB5 arrived shortly after my Luxe Box. this month was just okay - i guess i was a little spoiled from their previous anniversary box!

1) La Fresh Nail Polish Remover Travel Wipes - i am being overwhelmed by wipes from beauty box subs, especially La Fresh ones! i can't remember if i have received these already... 

did a quick search on my blog and i have received something similar - back in June, i received an acetone-free version from Glymm.

size: 1 pad x 2
retail value: $3.99 (6 wipes)

-- update April 22, 2013 -- 

i used one of these pads after wearing Hard Candy's "Crush on Pink" polish for a few days. the pad easily removed the pink layer but not so much as the silver foil underneath the pink. i was able to remove 3 fingers easily before the La Fresh pad started drying out. i had to use some of my own nail polish remover to remove the rest of the polish off my fingers. 
i don't think these Travel Wipes are intended to be used on shimmery or glittery polishes. the pad itself was heavy duty enough (resembled felt) but dried up too quickly. --

2) Brazen Cosmetics Organic Mineral Eye Shadow in "Buzzed" - at first look, i didn't think too much of the color - yeah it's brown and it's sparkly. the swatch was of only one swipe and it was still just okay for me.
but once i started playing with it on my eyes, i am in love! i built up the color a bit on my crease and it is really long-wearing. i was surprised that it was just as vivid after i woke up from a very restful afternoon nap :)
Brazen Cosmetics (catch line: bold & provocative organic makeup) is currently making changes to their website so i can't find much about their shipping costs or products yet. ** spoiler alert ** the company will also be featured in April's box **

size: 3 g
retail value: $7.49 (5 g)

3) Tree Hut Shea Body Butter in "Tropical Mango" - i cannot get enough of Tree Hut! last month, i received a delicious-smelling Coconut Lime Body Scrub and last year, i got a i-want-to-eat-it Hawaiian Kukui Body Butter. "Tropical Mango" is also saliva-inducing but if i had to choose a body butter, i prefer the "Hawaiian Kukui".

size: 57 g
retail value: $6.49 (255 g)

4) H2O Plus Spa Sea Salt Body Wash - also received a H2O Plus product (shampoo) last month. i must say that i do not like this body wash. the scent is very strong, very marine-y, very salty... does not make me feel pretty.
H2O Plus is all about 3 key elements so here they are: red marine algae, Japanese green tea extract and provitamin B.

size: 30 mL
retail value: $17 (370 mL)

5) H2O Plus AquaFirm+ Eye Lift Concentrate - the tube may be little but keep in mind that it is about half-full. this is a very interesting eye cream - the cream itself has an iridescent color to it - very pretty. i guess it contributes to the light-reflecting brighteners in the product.
the 3 key elements for this include: caffeine, sea nutrient barrier and chlorella marine algae.

size: 4 mL
retail value: $38 (15 mL)

so i like about half of this box and the other half, not so much. i noticed that there was no organza bag this time around... all the items were just tossed into a cardboard box with some black crinkly paper and that was it. i guess i don't need more organza bags but i am curious if this is how they will be packaging their products from now on.

i'd like to thank the reader who signed up via my link last month. it was a surprise when i got an email from BB5 saying that my referral earned me, not $5, but a $10 gift card to Sephora. so thank you again! has any of you Canadian ladies figured out how to use this though? the tiny writing at the bottom seems to indicate that it can only be redeemed in the states... let me know if you have any idea!