January Carmine Box Review

I've been out of the country for two weeks to the far far away land in Asia (well, actually, it's just Hong Kong and Macau. =) For those of you who haven't heard of Macau, it was a Portuguese colony from the 16th century and was handed over back to China in 1999. It has a similar political system as Hong Kong, i.e. it is a country in its own right with its own government. Let me do a blog post about Hong Kong and Macau some time....

Back to the Carmine Beauty Box. Here is what the January Box looks like:

(L to R) Eldora False Eyelashes, Himalayan Pink Salt, Eyeko Fat Eye Stick, Balance Me Radiance Face Oil, Korres Wild Rose 24-hour Moisturising & Brightening Cream

Wanna know more about each product? Here is a brief description: (plus my comments in italics)

1. Eldora False Eyelashes - pretty self explanatory. The note alongside the products says "Use code eldoracarmine2012 for 50% off the full Eldora range when you spend £15 or more. Available from eldorashop.co.uk. Exp Feb 29th". I personally do not like these ones as they are pretty full and I know I will look very strange with these.....
2. Himalayan Pink Salt - "Straight from the Himalayan mountain range, thsi natural, mineral-rich treasure will transform a 30-minute soak in the bath into a detox that's equivalent to a 3-day fast! So you can relax, refresh and repeat! Use code 4321 for 30% off the Detox adn Revive Kit at westlabshop.co.uk. Exp March 1st." I am in the mode to detox, stay fit and lose weight. So the promise of a 3-day fast sounds amazing although I have serious doubt and I am almost certain that this is just a gimmick. Still I am keen to try it out. 
3. Eyeko Fat Eye Stick - "this chubby stick of soft, creamy colour does double duty as a liner and a shadow to creat the perfect smoky-eye taht will never go out of style....." I quite like mine in brown - I have oily eyelids and will see how smudgy it gets as I intend to use it as a liner and hopefully I won't look like my eyes just got dirty!
4. Balance Me Radiance Face Oil - "No time for a New Year Facial? Not to worry, this 100% natural face oil will dramatically renew your skin and make you literlaly glow. Try massaging onto your face and neck before your moisturiser (day or night) - your skill will definitely thank you! Use code CARMINE2012 for 10% off teh full size face oil at balanceme.co.uk. Exp March 1st". I am a big fan of face oil - my favourite is actually the facial oil from Sanctuary at Boots. I used to use the more pricey stuff from Decleor (their toner is one that I cannot live without - been using it for 5 years!) but found that Sanctuary does the job equally well but at half the price. Not sure if I am keen to try out a new brand of facial oil.
5. Korres Wild Rose Moisturising & Brightening Cream - ".... This organic, wild rose face cream will not only brighten adn repair your complexion, it will also pump up the hydration for a full 24-hours! So drink up!" I actually received this exact same sample from another beauty box a while ago, so I have used it and am not excited by it unfortunately. I'd love to try another Korres product, but I guess this cream is one that Korres is pushing and therefore appears in more than 1 beauty box. I think the product itself is ok, but I am very happy with my current moisturiser and am not keen to change as I have alredy tried it out!

Overall this is an ok box. I got a bit disappointed when I first received it because I do not like the false eyelashes and have received plenty of bath salts from beauty boxes and at xmas, and have already tried out the Korres cream from another box. It shows the problem when the same brand / product does the round at several beauty boxes - it doesn't get exciting as the whole point is to try out new products. I will wait and see what the Feb box looks like before deciding whether to continue to subscribe or not.... (beauty boxes piling up high in my house....)


Have a good weekend everyone!


p.s. Bonus picture - here is the toy poodle that I went to visit in Asia (well, she's my mum's dog actually!) She looks cute but she is very cunning....... still, I do like her a lot even though she chases me round the flat and bites me whenever she can. =p