December 2013 Rubybox

I stopped my subscription to Rubybox, and then last month I decided to spoil myself with only one Rubybox.  I know it is a subscription service, but I decided I wanted one box only and would  cancel it after one month.  I did cancel the Rubybox, but got billed for another one and received another one.  This time I called their hotline to cancel the subscription.  So a warning out there, double check whether your Rubybox subscription is actually cancelled.  Mine said:  Waiting for cancellation and was never cancelled.

I received the December Rubybox, even though I did not want to.  I was fairly upset when I got a message from the courier that the box is on its way.  I wanted a refund and wanted to send the box back.  Of course when it arrived I had to look what was inside and then decided I would keep it.  This is therefore the first Rubybox ever that I decided I wanted AFTER I saw the contents.

What hooked me on this box was the smell.  It smelled absolutely divine when I opened it, all due to the lovely body lotion.  It included a full size product and it had some really large samples.  One of the best boxes I received in a long time.  If they were all like this, I might actually still have an annual subscription.

What did I receive?
Emanuel Ungaro L'Amour Fou Body Lotion, 50 ml. 
This lotion smells divine.  I love it.  It is incredibly expensive, R360 for 200 ml.  There is no way I would have been able to afford a full product.  It smells lovely, but moisturising wise, it is a fairly average lotion.

John Frieda Brilliant brunette colour protection moisturising shampoo and conditioner
Both of these were 50 ml sizes.  They came in lovely tubes.  This is a perfect fit.  I do not spend a lot of money on expensive shampoos, but always love to try them out.  (I think in an attempt to convince myself I am not depriving my hair of anything.)  I started using it immediately and cannot say that I am blown away.  My hair kind of feels like it always feels.  This was also a perfect fit with my beauty profile.  I have brunette coloured hair.  Thank you Rubybox for customising so well.

Nair ultra hair removal.
I received 2 30 ml sachets, which is fairly large.  I am keen to also try this new to me product. 

Rubybox beauty smooch stick in Tangerine Tango
This was a Rubybox product and is full size.  It is valued at R129.  I am not sure whether I can really rock very bright Tangerine lipstick, but have enjoyed wearing this.  It is a very greasy product.  I am not mad about the taste, but it is not awful.  It is very dark, with lots of pigment and it has staying power.  It feels a little bit sticky on the lips. This might be one of the longer lasting lipsticks I own.  I know orange is very fashionable, it might just not be me.
You can see a review here.

All in all a lovely box. I calculate the value to be around R277.  Not bad at all.  I have used 4 of the 5 products within days of receiving it.  Sometimes I just store away the samples till I need them. 

Easy hair

For the first time in years, my hair is long enough to try different hair styles. 

I saw this hair tutorial and thought I would try it. 

For once things actually worked as well as promised.  I used an elastic headband and basically just tuck my hair over and under it.  It stayed in place perfectly throughout the day.  My hair was not perfectly clean and a bit curly.  I do not think it will work as well on clean, straight hair.  It might fall out of the elastic much more easily. 

This is what it looked like.  NICE !

 

Kiehls series Nr 5: Kiehl’s olive fruit oil nourishing shampoo and conditioner

 

 

After washing my hair with this shampoo, I have been touching my hair all day long, because it was so soft.  The smell was also nice and soft.  It is meant for dry, damaged and under nourished hair.  It includes avocado oils, lemon juice and olive fruit oil. 

 

 

There are few things I like as much as a good conditioner. A nice moisturising conditioner makes a large difference to the look and feel of your hair. And then it matters less whether you use a good shampoo. This conditioner is great, not heavy or oily, but left my hair nourished and shiny and very manageable. I would definitely place this on my list of things to replace.

I tried hard to find reviews from South Africa. You can read lots of reviews from users on the Kiehl's website and another American website here. You can find some South African reviews here and here.
I do not have the exact price, but I think it was around R195 for 200 ml for the conditioner and R209 for 250 ml of the shampoo.  I like the idea that they sell the conditioner in a smaller size than the shampoo.

Kiehls series Nr 4: Kiehl's Amino Acid shampoo

I remember reading somewhere that coconut oil is the only natural ingredient that can penetrate hair and therefore make a real difference to a shampoo.  This shampoo contains pure coconut oil.  It also has a lovely smell of coconut oil, soft and summery, not overpowering like the coconut in sunscreens.  It reminded me of the smell of coconut you would actually eat. 

 

This shampoo is definitely different from ‘normal drugstore’ shampoos.  First off, it is really expensive.  It is a bit difficult to get accurate South African prices for Kiehl's products, but it sells for $18 for 250 ml in the US, which translates to R144.

This shampoo left my hair silky smooth and soft.  I loved it, and kept touching my hair because it was so nice.  I even tried using it without conditioner and it was fine and still soft, which has never happened with other shampoo.  I prefer to follow the shampoo with just a tiny bit of conditioner, though.

Now the bad stuff.  Although I loved the way my hair felt, I did not like to wash with it.  There was no lathering (yes, I know the lathering is bad for my hair) and sometimes it felt like my hair was not getting clean.  I often ended up repeating the lathering twice, thus washing my hair three times, because it did not feel clean.  When I tried to use the last little bit in the bottle, I added water to the bottle and shook before I put it on my hair and it lathered beautifully.  I wished I had tried this earlier.  I usually justify expensive products by saying “A little goes a long way”, but in this instance I used a lot more shampoo than I normally do before it felt like it worked.

I swim a lot and have stopped using the shampoo when I wash my hair directly after swimming in chlorinated water, because it lathered even less and made my hair feel even less like it was getting clean.  Please note:  My hair were perfectly clean when dry.  It was just while I was washing that I did not like it.

My hair was soft and perfect with this, for one day.  On day two it started getting greasy and definitely needed a wash every second day.  I often go three days between washes with ‘normal cheap drugstore shampoo’.

I do not think I will replace the bottle, mostly because of the price.  But if you do not care what it cost to have soft, silky hair you should give this a try.  It is meant for all hair types.

I could not find a single South African review, this was the closest I came. Some international reviews can be found here,  here, here, here (from a dude) and here.

Crabtree and Evelyn La Source Shampoo

I do not write these reviews because I like to say bad things about beauty products. I do this because I love great products and like talking about it. Every once in a while a product is so bad you really cannot say anything good about it.

 

This shampoo has nothing to recommend it. I am sure the cheapest thing you buy in the local supermarket would work as well. The shampoo did not lather well, it was not soapy but runny and watery and it did nothing special for my hair. It was a bit drying. A big disappointment.

Crabtree and Evelyn is a very upscale brand and one would expect more. Plus the shampoo is really expensive. A big thumbs down.   You can read another review here.

Poker Straight Flat Iron Protection shine mist from Lee Stafford

A product I discovered through Rubybox is Poker Straight Flat Iron Protection shine mist from Lee Stafford.  I am not much of a hair care girl.  My hair care buys consist of shampoo and conditioner (and I believe a good conditioner is key).  I buy Rubybox as a cheap way to get cosmetics I would never buy, but also to expose me to new things I would never think of trying.  This was definitely one of those.  I loved it so much that I went out and bought myself a full size one, thereby defeating the aim of saving money.  In effect I am spending more, because I used to blow dry my hair just fine without this product.  And now I believe I need it. 

It is a watery mist you spray on your hair.  I have no idea how much you are supposed to use.  I just give one or two spritzes per bunch of hair.  It is supposed to protect your hair against the heat.  But it does so much more. 

Why I like it: 

• It smells nice
• It makes your hair feel soft and shiny
• Your hair shines more
• Your hair is easier to style.  It straightens more easily and stays straight a bit better.

If I blow dry my hair I spritz a bit on the wet hair before I start.  If I use a hot iron I spritz a bit on the dry hair just before I iron it. 

It costs about R100 for a bottle.  It can only be found in Clicks.   

Where has a hair straightener been all my life?  I am not sure whether this is just one really, really good brand or whether I would like them all.  It is on my list to try another brand as well.

Here is a review of the entire range, and a review of the spray.  Here is an interview with Lee Stafford.