Lust Have It November/December 2016 – Unboxing and Review

While Bellabox tends to be middling even with its hits and misses, Lust Have It is good at sourcing spectacular fails and really great highlights. I’m not sure any of those are present here, necessarily, which is sad, but it has been an interesting two months with the service on a probation period for me.

November

Some truly great photography here. Blame travel exhaustion.

There’s usually at least one thing I can get excited about in a Lust Have It bag. In this bag, there was exactly one thing. I don’t have the products with me, so I won’t bother with values.

Foreo Day Cleanser – Having just posted my feelings on my little Foreo Luna Play, it was cool to get to try it out with their official cleanser. It doesn’t really foam, contrary to the statement on the card, but it does smell pleasant and leave the skin nice and soft. I like getting interesting skincare, and the discount card for Foreo is something I would have been genuinely interested in, seeing as I purchased from the brand anyway.

Cougar Face and Body Shimmer (RRP $30.50) – I have no use for a shimmery powder, although I guess I could…dust it on my…chest? For summer parties? I guess? It appears to be a UK brand with an amateurish website.

Cougar Mineral 5-in-1 Foundation (This says it’s a full size and RRP $56.25, but I would argue that this product comes in two sizes, and this looks to definitely be the smaller one which is not currently available on the website but is also not valued at $56.25)  – I don’t really do the mineral foundation thing. Quite aside from that, this powder is teeny tiny and far darker than my actual skintone. That’s a theme with Lust Have It.

Rituals The Ritual of Sakura Shower Foam – I haven’t used this yet, but the smell seems pleasant and it’s a good size, so it’s getting saved for travel.

Aveda Color Conserve Treatment – The added bonuses are usually just useless throwaway items, and this was one I just threw into my box of hair mask tubes. I don’t necessarily trust all the things sitting in the Lust Have It sample stash – you get some good stuff, but also some major duds.

Not a great bag. I enjoy that there are makeup items in it, but they’re not ones that are practical for me. 2/5 – I’ll use the cleanser and the shower gel.

This month’s came today.

December

At least it’s cropped vaguely decently, even if the colour balance is off? I’m a bad blogger, we all know that.

Kueshi Ultra Stem Cell – Rejuvenating Cream With Stem Cells SPF 15 (RRP $29.50, allegedly, though I can’t source that price) – While initially I was kind of into the fact that this product is a little left of field, my usual surface research introduced some concern. Not just in regards to the product – I’ve seen plant stem cells used in products before, like The Body Shop’s Drops of Youth, though usually not boasted about so obliquely and never with any actual science to back up their buzzword soup. Also, I suspect it would be quite irritating – it’s strongly citrusy, and contains “proven effectiveness of orange stem cells”. Sure, Kueshi. More of my issue – I can’t find this product anywhere online. The closest approximation, which is on many third party retailers, is in a jar. The card also claims it contains SPF15, but that’s not mentioned anywhere on the packaging. No version of this cream currently retails on the Kueshi site. It does give me minor cause for concern over whether or not the active ingredients in this product are still any good, particularly if it does contain SPF.

ModelCo Illusion Lip Enhancer (RRP $20) – ModelCo is one of those brands that’s notoriously overpriced for what it is (cheap packaging, inconsistent products, etc) but this lip liner feels quite nice. It’s very peachy for a nude, but it feels semi-soft with a good level of waxiness. I suspect it will have decent wear time.

Naobay Orange Juice Hand Cream (RRP $19, but it was around $13 on Beauty Bay) – I don’t enjoy the smell of orange juice and I don’t like the uneven wood texture of the lid on this hand cream. Other than that, I don’t know. Hand cream. It’s all the same.

Nivea Express Hydration Body Lotion (This is 30mL; the full size is 400mL for $7.99) – I mean, it’s a body lotion and it’s pretty boring. I don’t even know if I’d take this for travel?

Flormar Perfect Coverage Liquid Concealer in 01 (RRP varies based on country) – Flormar is a Turkish brand sold around Europe – I own a few of their lipsticks from my 2014 trip to Europe, and they’re actually phenomenal.  This was my “encore” item, and while it’s probably a shade lighter and pinker than I’d go right now – I’m at my darkest – it’s workable for the under eye area, and with foundation would be fine. It’s got really nice coverage and a texture that I enjoy working with, but it does settle into lines and cracks a little, so I can already say that it will need prepped skin.

Your Tea Her Tea – This was apparently supposed to be a pack of tea, but instead we only received a bag. They assured us that we’ll receive the box next month. It’s a bonus item, but I hate receiving tea, so I’d honestly prefer they just kept the box. We’ve had tea from this brand before, and even my sister wasn’t into it. She loves her detox (etc) teas, so if I can’t offload it to her, my options get limited.

So a couple of hits in that box – I’m into the liner and the concealer, particularly. 3.5/5 – I’m feeling it, if it allows for skepticism and my usual request that Lust Have It endeavor a little deeper into sources and makes sure that they are more thorough with their information cards. I do love that they’ve started doing feedback surveys!