Allure Beauty Box January 2016 Review

The Allure Beauty Box (formerly Sample Society) has been one of my favorite low cost beauty boxes since I first discovered subscription boxes. The curation is excellent and so are the brands. Plus they do a wonderful job slipping in full size items when this is technically a beauty sampling box. I love that!

This month there are three (!!!) full size products with some cult favorites tossed in for good measure. As usual, the variety is perfection and makeup lovers will be very happy this month.

The Cost: $15/month

What You Get: Five or more deluxe-size beauty samples from a curated mix of skin, hair, and makeup products as well as fragrance.

DHC Deep Cleansing Oil- This is a Japanese oil-based facial cleanser perfect for normal to dry skin or that night when you have a full face of makeup on and you want it off in a hurry. In Asian skincare routines, this is the very first step. It was really hard for me to succumb to an oil cleanser because oil + my face seemed to equal a bad idea.
Once I started, though, I haven’t looked back. You massage a few drops onto dry skin, add a little water to your fingertips, massage it again (you’ll see a white film form) and then rinse! Voila! Clean, soft skin.
DHC uses olive oil, is fragrance free and leaves my skin soft without a trace of tightness. I will admit that it’s not my favorite facial oil but that’s only because I got so excited I bought several just to try them.

Schmidt’s Natural Deodorant in Lavendar + Sage- This is an all natural, vegan and cruelty free deodorant that uses baking soda and arrowroot powder to combat stinkiness. I’ve used cream deodorants like this before when traveling in very hot countries and it’s not my favorite method. Not a fan of sticking my fingers in my deodorant no matter how good it smells. And this does smell fabulously like lavender. I could smell it when I opened my box! My allergies didn’t like it but I love that smell. Right up until the point my throat closes up. Hah.
However, if you’re looking for a natural deodorant, this is a very common form to find it in. Which, if you already get natural products as natural as you can, you probably know that.

Derma E Hydrating Night Creme- This is a rich facial moisturizer made with glycerin, hyaluronic acid, vitamins A, B, C and E along with some aloe. Sounds like my kind of thing! And get this… It smells like plumeria!
Value: $7

Mally Evercolor Starlight Waterproof Liner in Black Navy- A deep blue waterproof gel eyeliner with a built in brush. According to the Allure editors this has supreme staying power. I really like blues in my eyeliners, dark blues especially so this is going directly into use. Plus I’ve only had good experiences with Mally. Also, this one product is worth more than the box cost.
Value: $20

Skinn Cosmetics Caviar Lip Cream in Ruby- Candy apple liquid lip color. I’m not really big on reds (especially now that my hair is pink). And this is a warmer red, too. With my cool skin, I need reds on the blue spectrum. The Allure editors say that this is very hydrating (it uses jojoba oil, shea butter, beeswax and olive oil for that) but it wears off unevenly and doesn’t last past a few hours.
Value: $18

Trust Fund Beauty Nail Polish in Champagne Problems- This is a beautiful metallic gold polish! I have a few Trust Fund Beauty polishes and I absolutely love them. They’re easy to apply because they’re the perfect consistency, they’re generally opaque at one coat and the drying time is light speed! If you haven’t tried this polish brand, you need to.
Value: $15

Erno Lazlo Transphuse Eye Refiner- An eye cream for plumping dry winter skin. This stuff isn’t cheap at $105 for 0.5 ounces. It better be a miracle worker for that price. This eye cream uses synthetic peptides and a bunch of other things to help bind moisture in your skin to reduce the appearance of fine lines. I definitely admit that I’m interested and will be trying this.

VERDICT: With seven products, this box is jam packed with goodies. I think Allure has one of the best curated beauty boxes in regards to sheer variety each month. This month has a cleanser, moisturizer and under eye cream. It has eyeliner (NOT black!), lipgloss and nail polish. It even has a body product in the natural deodorant. Nothing for hair but that actually makes me love the box more (because I hate getting hair products)!

One of these days I need to do a Birchbox vs Ipsy vs Allure type of post. They’re all fun boxes and they each focus on a different aspect of beauty but of all the boxes I get, I use the products I get in Allure the most.

If you would like to sign up for the Allure Beauty Box, you can do that here. I think it’s a great price for what you get. This month’s box was worth almost $70. I’d say I was biased but I don’t think I am. I’ve been subscribed for nearly two years now and they just keep getting better.

Do you have a favorite beauty box? I like Birchbox’s points, Ipsy’s a little to young for me and Allure… well, Allure is my favorite.