BeautyFix by Dermstore May 2015 Box Review

BeautyFix is the rebranded version of the Blush Mystery Box.  I used to get the Blush Mystery Box but I felt it was getting a little hair-centric and I think I cancelled in October. While Blush was curated by Blush.com, Beautyfix is curated by Dermstore.com. I’m not sure what that means since they’re basically sister sites but after I saw the last box, I figured it was time to try again.

I really enjoy getting skincare products. I’m at that age… The age where you wish you would have started taking care of your skin at 25. So if you’re 25, start slapping on that sunscreen every day no matter what. Try them all until you find one you like and then don’t stop. Trust me.

The box has some pretty amazing skincare. The box comes out to $27 with tax but has around $100 worth of product in it. That’s a win for me, plus I get to try some new stuff. Most of the time the sizes are really good, good enough to last a long time and good enough to figure out whether I like it or not.

The Cost: $24.95/month or get a one time box for $34.95

What You Get: Each month, we’ll be offering a different BeautyFIX box, featuring mostly full- and (some) travel-size products worth at least $100.

Deluxe Sample- This bottle looks big but it’s only a quarter full. It’s still at least a weeks worth of uses, though. I love vitamin C serums. This one goes on pretty oily but dries really smooth. I used three drops and that was more than enough.

This one features a complex of Vitamin C, arbutin, bearberry, emblica and Co-Q10 that target and help correct uneven skin tone while vitamins A and E neutralize free radicals, increase firmness and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles for a rejuvenated complexion.
This does appear to use stable versions of Vitamin C (not L-Ascorbic Acid which is the best but hard to keep from losing it’s efficacy) and it’s in an opaque bottle which is important.
Value: $8

Dr. Brandt Needles No More– Deluxe Sample- This appears to be making the subscription box rounds as I got this in the New Beauty Test Tube earlier. This claims to use neuropeptides to reduce your wrinkles. The ingredients are both common and unfamiliar. One of them is something so oxygenated that you can breathe it. Like being in the womb, maybe? No clue. But it has lavender oil in it. A useless, do nothing ingredient that does absolutely nothing except alert my allergies. /sigh So this will be passed along to some lucky person to see if it really does what it says.
Value: $20 (for this tiny thing!)

Full Size-A lightweight hair oil that eliminates frizz and boosts body. It’s formulated for every hair type and is especially for those who hate how oil weighs down the hair. Normally I hate getting hair stuff but this looks interesting. It’s supposed to be good for people with split ends (hey, that’s me!), too. We’ll see. This actually has nice ingredients so I might use it.
Value: $45
Full Size- Remember what I said about sunscreen earlier? Do it. The anti-aging claim is because this is sunscreen. Every sunscreen ever could put the words anti-aging on their label and it would be as true as it can be. This one, however does not use the best sunscreens. The most effective sunscreens on their own are titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. Both of those are excellent for sensitive skin and titanium dioxide is an excellent sunscreen for those with rosacea. This one uses avobenzone, oxybenzone and a 10% concentration of homosalate (good UVB protection but not so much on the UVA-hence the other types of sunscreens included). It’s water-resistant for up to 40 minutes. Additional protection is provided by vitamins A, C and E.
This has a really interesting application method so even though I normally go for titanium dioxide (especially in a spray because titanium dioxide is less likely to irritate your eyes than any other sunscreen on the market) I’m going to use this one. It’s got a mesh type opening and you twist the bottom to press the liquid through the mesh. Then you apply it like it’s a lipstick to your face!
Value: $26

I think it’s really strange they included two colors because obviously someone is only actually going to use one. I used brunette. It takes some getting used to and some clean up was necessary. I think the mascara wand type part of it is too fat (either that or my brows are too skinny). It looks really natural, though, and the Brunette was a perfect shade for me.
It comes with a tube of cleanser and a double sided tube- one side is a skinny brush (like a liquid eyeliner) that is used to fill in all your gaps and whatnot. The other side is a mascara wand for your brows. It’s also brown (since I used brunette) and is then brushed on your brows to stick them in place and add volume. However I found it difficult to use without smudging it on my skin, too. I’m going to practice more. I really did like the look it gave.
Value: $30 (on sale) x2 = $60

I love doing these hydroxy acid peels. Glycolic acid penetrates deep into your pores to clear away impurities and oils while alpha hydroxy acids encourage cellular renewal to minimize fine lines and wrinkles. Citric acid targets hyperpigmentation for a clearer, brighter, more refined complexion.
Glycolic acid is beneficial for exfoliating while I will use this product because it’s got good, effective ingredients, it’s not something I would buy again because it has alcohol in it. It probably doesn’t matter since it’s basically a wipe but I’m trying to avoid alcohol in products since it’s damaging to the skin. The caveat is that if it has so many other good ingredients that it makes up for the alcohol, I’ll use it.
Value: $3

This is going to sound really weird. I have a tail comb that I’ve been using for the past 25 years. Yes. I’ve had it since before I started high school, before I moved out, before I graduated from college, before I got married…  Before a lot of things. I use it all the time to part my hair. Except when we were in Croatia in 2012, it finally snapped in half. Do I still have it? Yes. Do I still use it? Yes.
But now I don’t have to! I got a new tail comb and it’s sharp! It’s nice and light and parts my hair in a zigzag so nicely! I think it’s finally time to retire my old comb.
Value: $12

Saaammppllleesssss! I love getting extra samples! This is two YonKa samples.
When this box was by Blush and I first started subscribing the samples were sometimes full size items! Over the months, though, samples dwindled and then disappeared completely. Hopefully that doesn’t happen here. These samples are interesting but both contained lavender oil so I gave them to my mom. She is always so happy when she sees me because I bring her a boatload of skincare and chocolate. She loves my subscription box habit. 😀

VERDICT: I’m really happy with this box. I will use most everything here, too. Maybe not the Blowout Beauty product but I’m already happy with the Citrix serum, the sunscreen (it leaves my skin SO smooth!) and the Harry Josh tail comb. I really like the SmartBrow, I just need to get better at it. I’m glad they included a color I could use, too. I love all the skincare and I love the fact that a tool was included.
This box has a value well over $100 and I definitely feel like I got my $27 worth!

If you want to sign up for Beautyfix, they’re currently sold out of this box but you by clicking the “I Want This” button (it’s purple). That’s what I had to do last month. They sent me an email saying the May one was available and I ran over and bought it. I got the subscription so I won’t have to do that again but if you get the one-time box ($34.95) then you’ll have to do it each month unless you can grab one before it sells out. I’m not positive on how it works.

Did you get this box? What do you think of the contents? And has anyone tried the Needles No More?! I’m so curious and am bummed I can’t use it. Dratted allergies.