Lovely to come back from my two week marathon migraine to a a Lust Have It birthday box only partially chewed up by my dog. And only the outer packaging, too! So considerate of him. What an angel.
I am of two minds in regards to this bag. On the one hand, I love it. It has one bigger ticket item that is a formula I’ve been keen to try for ages but haven’t pulled the trigger on. On the other, the longer I look at it, the more faults I can find, and a lot of them relate to the way this bag was sent out. It was on time, but it was the kind where you look at the card and go “Oooh!” and then look at your stuff and go “…oh”, you know? I’ll explain that better:
First thing you might notice is that they’ve listed the Baimeni serum as full size, when it is clearly not, giving the impression that this is almost a wholly full sized box. Lust Have It, bless their cotton socks, did send out an email straight notifying us of the error, but I forgot about that and was immensely disappointed. I actually really like that serum, and a full size would have been awesome, although probably not viable for a small company.
This then trickles down to the banner promising that the “Birthday Box [is] over $100 in value!”, and if we’re to go based on the included values…it isn’t. That’s a false statement. I’m well aware that values in these are always inflated, but come on guys. I don’t know. I get that it’s a birthday box, but don’t overhype yourselves. I’ve also a bit over the whole “mystery item” thing Lust Have It do – I love the occasional inclusion, like my Paula’s Choice BHA 2% Perfecting Liquid, but more often than not these things feel like samples Lust Have It had lying around.
There’s also a competition this month, a bigger one than usual, to win a trip to Thailand, which is a nice idea – especially since Lust Have It is a smaller subscription than something like Bellabox or Marie Claire The Parcel. What did make me laugh was that the 9 day holiday you can win includes accomodation for “2 adults & 1 child”. It’s just such a weird choice of prize for me. Like surely, if you’re doing the total bliss thing, you encourage people to leave the kids at home, or you go full standard household and include 2 kids? What’s a kid? Could I bring my baby sister? What does this mean? I love it, it’s such a weird choice.
Anyway, enough of my confusion re: the bag itself.
What’s inside? Look up top!
- Baimeni Eye & Face Serum with Hyaluronic Acid (Full size RRP $25; this is worth $2.50) – I got this in my July Bellabox and actually really enjoyed it! I would never have discovered this Aussie brand, but it’s a lovely lightweight hydrating serum that’s super rich in hyaluronic acid and a bunch of other lovely stuff. I’m delighted to have another little sample of it.
- Ofra Long Lasting Liquid Lipstick (Shade is Mocha; this is full size and RRP $27) – This is the bag-maker for me. I’m always up for lipstick, and I’ve never tried the much raved about Ofra formula. As a liquid lipstick aficionado, this simply could not stand. It’s nice – the colour is a little standard for me, but it’s very pretty, and very moussey and comfortable. Not a classic liquid matte – much thicker, sort of halfway between that and, say, a NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream. Here’s a lip swatch!
Mocha is a really pretty mauvey pink – it’s a little dustier in person than this swatch is showing. Look. You don’t come here for the swatch quality. - Gosh Mineral Colour Pigments (RRP $14 – mine is the shade Pink Melon) – I’m not usually a loose pigment person, but the packaging on this is actually super neat. There’s a sifter, but it’s got it’s own little flip cap, so you can have the lid off but the cap on the sifter. That doesn’t make much sense, but trust me, it’s cool. The colour is lovely, but not one I wear very often – a pastel version of watermelon pink with gold reflects.
- Manna Kadar Radiance Split Pan Bronzer & Highlighter Duo (Full size; RRP $28) – Okay: that is an ABSURD price for such a tiny bronzer/highlight duo, and Manna Kadar should really make bigger pans. Both Manna Kadar highlighter/bronzer type products I’ve received (both in these bags) have been WAY too pigmented and dark to effectively use on my skin, so I hypothesized about their design in position with regards to darker skin tones, but judging by Manna Kadar’s selection of foundation shades, that was purely accidental. On me, these will make lovely, soft eyeshadows. I could use the lighter shade as a highlight, but I do have roughly ten different highlights that approximate shade. I feel like they wouldn’t diffuse very well – a little too chunky.
Swatches of colour cosmetics and proof that I need a camera:
Top to bottom: Ofra Mocha, Gosh Pink Melon, Manna Kadar Radiance Bronze, Manna Kadar Radiance Highlight - Uriage Tolderm Hydra-Soothing Cream (Full size 50mL for $39.99 – this is not worth much) – This is very similar to the Avene cream that came in my Bellabox the other day, in that’s a teeny little sample of some weird french thermal water brand in a tube you can’t reseal. I’ll use it, but it arrived kind of damaged, which is…a bit of a bummer, and feels like a throw it in.
It’s a box that started great! And I still really enjoyed it. I’m really happy with the liquid lipstick and the serum, and neither of the eyeshadow adjacent product will get a good run. Let’s not talk about the face cream, that I’ll use and it’ll be nice. 4/5
Lipstick for Losers 