The Allure Beauty Box has been a subscription I’m loathe to give up. I like the brands, product variety and the price of this subscription. All that makes it feel a little more luxe than Birchbox or Ipsy but with the new Sephora Play box, Allure is getting a run for it’s money. I can’t decide which I’d give up if I needed to only get one. Based on this month’s box, I have to admit, Sephora would be the keeper.
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.
Purlisse Blue Lotus SPF 30 Essential Daily Moisturizer– It is true that you should always be wearing a sunscreen. If you don’t have one as part of your daily regimen, you should. I try to find a foundation or suchlike that has an SPF in it and use that. Currently I layer the Hydropeptide Solar Defense (tinted SPF moisturizer) with my BareMinerals bareSkin serum foundation which also has an SPF.
This moisturizer uses avobenzone and oxybenzone as sunscreens which are not my favorites. There’s nothing wrong with them but I prefer titanium dioxide and zinc oxide because they’re less likely to cause irritation.
Purlisse Blue Lotus Eye Adore Serum– When it rains, it pours. This Purlisse was also in Boxycharm, New Beauty Test Tube and BeautyFix. It’s actually a pretty good product which is nice. It’s still too pricy for my blood but samples are good.
Leaders 7 Wonders Himalayan Camellia Pore Minimizing Mask– There’s a few variations with this mask but they’re all individual sheet masks. And Leaders in Solution is a Korean brand. That makes… three subscription boxes this month having kbeauty, I think. That’s awesome! If you’ve never used a sheet mask, get ready for some hydration! Leaders is a great brand with good ingredients. While they aren’t my favorite, they are in the top five. The ingredients are listed in English on the back which is fabulous. I always hate it when it’s only Korean on the back. When choosing sheet masks for my dry skin the number one thing I don’t want to see is Alcohol. Especially in the first five or six ingredients. Slapping alcohol on my skin for half an hour isn’t good. Leaders is good about not including alcohol at all or at least in low concentrations.
Kardashian Beauty Cabana Bronze– A rose gold compact with skin illuminating powder. I try not to support the K family insanity. That group is the ultimate soap opera. They are the car wreck you can’t stop gaping at, trying to figure out how the cars ended up where they did and in such condition. I think most of it is contrived and I don’t like rewarding duplicity. So I’m going to pass on this product no matter how amazing it may be. (also, where on earth did that rant come from?! Lol!)
Julep Nail Polish in Katie– I have a LOT of Julep nail polish but I don’t have this one! I do have two that are close but not quite. Julep tends to be very hit or miss depending on the formula so the jury is still out for this one. Katie is an orchid iridescent chrome and is absolutely gorgeous.
VERDICT: I always find value in my Allure boxes. Not just monetary, although the Julep polish itself is $14, but more in “use factor.” I tend to be more likely to use the products I find in this box. In this one everything but the bronzer will be used (and if I wasn’t so stubborn I probably would use it, too). Now that Birchbox is changing it’s points system I’m going to be keeping Allure and Sephora instead. I just realized that Birchbox wasn’t giving points for reviews anymore. SAD! I mainly kept it for the points but the Allure box I’ve subscribed to for nearly three (omg, that long?!) because I actually love what I get.
If you would like to sign up for the Allure Beauty Box, you can do that here. Make sure you use that link because it gives $5 off your first month if you’re a new subscriber.
As a side note for current subscribers, if you haven’t resigned up, you need to do so. They moved off of using BeautyBar officially now and you have to sign up again to continue getting your boxes. That means YOU get $5 off your first box, too! It worked for me, anyway. Party! You should have gotten an email about it.
