Last September box, finally! And actually, I couldn't have written this one until today anyway, because I was waiting on a missing product to arrive. The day my package arrived, I noticed I was missing the eyeliner (gotta have that!!) and I called up to ask about it. Customer service was easy and nice - they agreed to send one out right away! They did warn me it might take a couple weeks, but I was ok with that. Today it arrived in its own padded envelope!
New Beauty Test Tube is
a subscription box that used to be just a twice-a-year service, but now arrives every other month. I love that I get them more
often now! For $29.95 plus shipping, you get a box with a big pink tube
(and often an extra bag of stuff that didn't fit in the tube) filled
with deluxe samples and a few full sized items as well as a copy of the
New Beauty magazine. It appears now that they're sending the magazine separately - I'm not really sure why. It seemed at first they wanted to have us get something from them every month, whether it was a tube or a magazine, but my magazine arrived not very long after the tube did, so who knows. This month, they also changed the style of the tube a bit. I think it's the
same size, but it opens differently and has a new pretty pattern on it. I
like it!
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| Outer box - a little smooshed, but the contents were fine |
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| Opening the box |
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| Info book - each product gets a full page! |
Every month, in addition to the Tube, we get a bag containing bonus products. The bonus products are usually very small samples. Though I'm not the hugest fan of foil packets, I'm happy to have a few more things to try, so I'll take it! I noticed this month's bonus product bag is a bit sturdier than
last time. I'm not sure I even saved the one from last time, honestly...but I could probably use this one with it's zip close top. Inside, I found 5 samples (well, 4 different ones - 1 had 2 packets):
- 2 foil packets of Nip + Fab Viper Venom Wrinkle Fix - we did get some Nip + Fab last month, but it was a different product, so I'm happy to try these. My wrinkles aren't terribly pronounced, but I'm noticing a crease forming between my brows, so maybe this'll help!
- 1 foil packet of Nip + Fab No Needle Fix Serum - Ok, I did get this skin plumping serum last month, but with such a small sample, it doesn't hurt to have another. And again, maybe it'll help with the dreaded crease.
- 1 foil packet of Lumene Vitamin C BB Cream - I'm hit and miss with BB creams, pretty much always going back to my Loreal one, but I've tried a couple other Lumene products from Test Tube and liked them, so I had hopes for this till I saw it was shade 02 (of 2 it would seem - what the heck are you supposed to do if you have darker skin? That seems awfully limited.). Medium (02) is pretty much guaranteed to be too dark for me.
- Sample size tub of Pacifica Tahitian Gardenia solid perfume - I love Pacifica, but I'm not in love with this scent. It's VERY floral. A bit too much so for me.
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| Bonus products |
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| Bonus samples |
My first real product, one they didn't pack in the tube for some reason, was an
It Cosmetics Heavenly Luxe Powder Brush ($48!). Holy cow. I LOVE this brush. LOVE. It's so big and amazingly soft and just, luxe, as described! Not going to lie, I kind of want every brush. Or maybe just the
No Tug Dual Eyeshadow Brush.
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| It Cosmetics Heavenly Luxe Powder Brush |
Onto the tube!
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| Peeking inside |
So, normally, this tube is packed to the gills, so this first peek was a tad disappointing. But, really, that brush was a big, expensive item, so I think that's why there's less in the actual tube. Plus, if they had put the brush in the tube (I think it would've fit), it would've been full. As far as products, there were 5 (supposed to be, and eventually was, 6):
- Amore Pacific Color Control Cushion Compact ($8.00). I got this foundation in my May Glossybox and hated it, but the main reason I hated it was because Glossybox sent me the darkest color possible, which obviously was a mismatch. This is the correct color! It actually blended in well. However, both times, it's pretty greasy. I'll have to play around and see if some translucent powder on top helps. I do like that it's SPF 50.
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| Amore Pacific Color Control Cushion Compact |
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| La Roche-Posay Mela-D Cream |
- Smashbox Photo Finish Foundation Primer ($18) - I've been wanting to try this for ages, but I've never bought it because I don't really wear foundation. I'm hoping it works ok with BB cream or powders. I'm a bit surprised at how much a small tube (as in, not the full size) costs!
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| Smashbox Photo Finish |
- It's a 10 Miracle Leave-in Plus Keratin ($10 retail, ~$8.50 drugstore.com) - We got the Miracle Leave-in Lite last month - I'm noticing Test Tube likes to stick with certain brands for a while. But, that's ok. Chris actually likes the It's a 10 products after his barber (or whatever they call it for guys) recommended it (he has fairly long hair now - I like long hair on a guy), so he'll probably get this. Like the Lite version, this is supposed to protect, defrizz, detangle, add shine, and make hair more manageable. This one also adds in protecting hair's natural keratin.
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| It's a 10 Miracle Leave-in Plus Keratin |
- Biosilk Silk Therapy ($10.24 on Amazon) - I'm all for smoothing split ends and protecting my hair, so I'll happily try this one. My hair is probably the longest it's ever been because it used to break really easily. Really, the only thing I'm doing differently is wearing it up all the time instead of flat ironing it several times a week. I can see how less heat damage is good, but I can't imagine the hair band isn't damaging where it holds it up. <shrug>
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| Biosilk Silk Therapy |
- Mally Evercolor Starlight Waterproof Eyeliner ($15) - I got this in Starshine, silver. I think the other possibility was Ice Blue, a very pale blue. I'm glad I got the silver. I don't think I'd ever use a pastel blue. This is a great eyeliner though - it glides on super smooth. The color does remind me a bit of the Starlooks liner I got last month (it's maybe a bit darker), but I do prefer a pencil to a pot of liner. Plus, I think I've decided to try to use the Starlooks one as a mixer/base rather than a liner anyway. Mally also has a set of 10 of these liners for $50, which seems like a great deal. I can't tell if they're smaller, but I rarely use the whole liner, so it doesn't really make a difference to me. Tempting...
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| Mally Evercolor Starlight Waterproof Eyeliner in Starshine |
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| Swatch of Mally eyeliner in Starshine |
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| September 2013 New Beauty Test Tube (Mally liner not pictured since it wasn't here yet) |
I'm happy with this Test Tube. Lots of new things to try and I LOVE that brush!! LOVE IT! The approximate value of this tube is $110.72, not including the bonus samples. Great value! What did you think of this month's products? Did you get anything different?
If you'd like to sign up, leave your email address in a comment and I'll
send you an invite that gets you $5 off your first Tube!
(And just a disclaimer: I bought this box myself and was not compensated for this review in any way. All opinions are my own.)
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