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. 

Recycling lipstick

Did you know that about a third of your lipstick sits in the bottom of the tube and cannot be used?  Think about this, if you paid R200 for a lipstick, that means that you are left with R66 inside the tube.  You can either throw it away or you can try to reuse it. 

Image:  http://avrotor.blogspot.com/2012_07_01_archive.html

 

I often scrape it out of the tube with a lipbrush, but do not like this, because it is too messy to throw in your handbag.  It works great at home, but not for touching up during the day.

 

And then I found out that you can easily melt lipstick.  A short (short, seconds) blitz in the microwave melts it. 

Image:  http://friendshiplifeandstyle.blogspot.com/2013_02_10_archive.html

 

Simply dig all the lipstick out of the tube. The idea is to melt several lipsticks together, mix well and pour back into the empty lipstick container.  Leave this overnight in the fridge to cool properly and you have a lipstick as good as new.  The only problem with this is that you need the leftovers of two to three lipsticks to create one new lipstick.  If they are different colours, you will end up with a completely new colour.  So either use similar colours or play around with a little bit till you get the colour you like. 

Another option is to buy a cheap lipstick.  You then remove the lipstick and leave only the bottom 1/2 of the 1/3 that is left in the tube.  You then pour your favourite lipstick on top of this. 

 

Also beware when you mix colours:  It goes to the lowest denominator.  If you do not like the smell or taste of one of the lipsticks it will smell and taste like that one.  

 

Tips.  Use a small container, you will not end up with a lot of melted lipstick.  It is a fairly messy process, and it is surprisingly difficult to get lipstick out of things, so be careful. 

 

I was very happy with the new colour combination I got.