Can I blame terrible, terrible photos on the fact that I’m undergoing a particularly stressful and traumatic time in my life? I’m going to do it anyway. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
I was initially extremely taken aback by this box. The combination of brands and packaging was not promising. It’s a lot of brands that Lust Have It defaults to, things I’ve moaned about before, and box pet peeves.
Thankfully, the initial irritation faded out into a pretty overwhelming satisfaction on the backs of a couple of surprisingly lovely products. I didn’t get a photo of the info card, but I’ll include the prices and pertinent information. I’ve also done what I did a few months ago where I check the products information against the website, which did result in additional grievances I probably would have been able to live in ignorance of.
Colour cosmetics swatches, first up!
mPrincess Mineral Eyeshadow (in the shade Melting Maple; full size; RRP $16.99) – I’ve received a blush (I adored it) and foundation powder (surprisingly okay) from this brand before, so while their quality has been consistent, I wasn’t excited by the eyeshadow sneak peek. That said: this shade, Melting Magpie, is stunning. It is like molten copper. Loose shadows are not normally my thing, but thankfully it adheres beautifully – this is a dry swatch – and it’s definitely a colour I reach for, despite my reluctance to use loose shadows. My only gripe with this? The discrepancy between the product shot of this on the website and how it looks in person. Usually, I don’t mind that too much, but come on:
Like…are those even supposed to be the same thing? Come on.
L’oreal Infallible Makeup Foundation (Random valueless mystery item, of which I was given “Golden beige” which is hilarious) – I’m not really going to comment on this, and I’m fairly sure this foundation is in completely different packaging now. How old is this weird foil sample?
mPrincess Small Eyeshadow Brush (RRP $19.50) – This feels like a pretty standard synthetic small shader brush, but it is nice and soft. For what it’s worth. I will always take brushes. The description does say that it is flatter and more precise than the medium eyeshadow brush, which doesn’t appear to exist on the website. So. You know.
ETC Lip Liner (I got 004 Pure; full size; RRP is apparently $4) – I don’t think this product actually exists anymore. The website they list on the card is the Gosh cosmetics (the other drugstore brand that’s been popping up recently as “coming to Australia) website for Denmark (???), which only has the Gosh cosmetics liners in their lip liner section. To actually find this liner, I needed to independently search for this product name, which has had all product information erased (it still exists cached) and isn’t categorised. It’s a real shame, because this liner is actually a really pretty nude-y rose colour. I tried it on – although that’s not what the “safe not sorry” caution would be, and it’s waxy but still goes on okay and looks nice. It just brings into question not just the products we’ve received from this brand, but also the products Lust Have It are sourcing. I love Lust Have It – their bags are always fun to open, and I’ve found some genuinely cool things in them – but it’s not a good look to have stuff like this in that can’t be sourced. I’m sure there’s a pretty obvious explanation (a la these were repackaged into Gosh lipliners recently and the formula is the same, so these are perfectly recent productions), but it’s something I feel the need to flag as a part of full transparency and a refusal to always talk only about good things. My best estimate is that either a brand sent these because they had loads lying around, because they’ve changed formulas, or Lust Have It have had them sitting around for a while. Either way, not my thing. Still, a really pretty colour if you don’t mind any of that stuff. It’s sealed, at the very least.
Sasy N Savy Pure Creme Rose Geranium Cleanser (2 other sample options; 20mL sample size; seems to be roughly $8 in value since the 100mL size is $42 on the card although is listed as $40 on the website; the brand name is spelled “sassy” on the card but I remember being annoyed at the weird spelling) – Thanks to the normal name of this product, I don’t have to get annoyed at the hundreds of Ns in the name like last time (just say “and”, it’s okay). I really like cream cleansers that don’t strip the skin, so I’m keen to use this as my travel/hospital cleanser. Hopefully the claims of firming don’t mean that it leaves me feeling tight. On dry sniff, the rose doesn’t seem too overpowering, so I’ll remain hopeful.
Medusa’s Makeup Lip Gloss (I got Lover Boy, apparently, and it’s full size; RRP is listed as $12 which makes sense with the exchange rate – it’s $9USD) – I’ve always been confused by Medusa’s Makeup as a brand, because I can’t get a feel for it. I also don’t wear lip gloss. Fuck lip gloss. I appreciate a full size of an American brand, and I would have loved for it to have been a lipstick, but I understand that not everyone digs lipstick like I do. The pink is also like…super pink. I’m not a fan of pink. But still – nice in theory.
So – mixed feelings. I love the eyeshadow, and I really appreciate the inclusion of the brush. Weirdly, I’m enjoying the type of cleanser that’s in there. I like the lip liner as a product, but the actual accessibility of it and the trail it lead me on wasn’t great. The foundation sample is useless and won’t be my colour and I will not even bother with the lipgloss.
I don’t know. I’m a little put off with that whole lip liner thing. It’s such a silly thing to get put off by, but it’s more what’s implied. I’m possibly just in a bit of a bad place and being too negative anyway. That said, most of the contents: not bad.
Lipstick for Losers 