Unboxing My First Blush (September Box)

Heyllo everybody!

Yes, i am in a much better mood today :D, not so gloomy already :D YAY! Went out to watch 2 Guns with hunny (well of course, my other hubby's busy in Korea or somewhere else right now-and i am referring to my imaginary bf of course, do not ring any alarm please. Jong Kook Oppa XOXO) earlier this evening (trying to save Insidious 2 for my birthday next week-you know it'd be special for a crazy horror freak like me to watch it on my birthday hahahaha, i dunno if i can wait another week though) which is very entertaining but i'm gonna tell you more about it in my monthly movie review, okay! 

Another thing that helped lifted my mood up today? The arrival of my very first : First Blush. Arman's right, simple things can make you happy. Like the arrival of a monthly mystery beauty box to your door step, especially if it has a novelty factor. I love trying out new things, i'm sure you're aware of that habit by now. Here's a little (or not) peek into the contents of September First Blush

I'm pretty sure lots of you are already familiar with the unique, pyramid style box they came with, thanks to their first exclusive (not open for public, so unfortunately i wasn't able to have it) box that's been splayed all over Indonesian beauty blogs last month (some just posted recently) and it seems like they're sticking to this box for now (well, bigger quantity orders' always cheaper you know *LOL*). Here's how it arrived looking :

LOL!

In a cut out outer box! They sure went on a lot of trouble trying to protect the shape of the box, yes?

My first pyramid box haha, it's pretty cute! The tip's quite destroyed though hahaha

There seems to be a love-hate relationship with this box, some thinks its unique and one of a kind, others thinks it's not practical and non reuseable

I'm probably the latter kind. I mean, i don't mind getting one or two weird looking boxes like this, but if i subscribed to-say...12 months, what am i gonna do with 12 of these? It can be re-used as a present box for smaller items though!

Unraveling the mystery inside hehehe

The theme is "Repair, refresh, Rejuvenate"

There seems to be quite some stuffs inside, and i am pretty happy. But upon further inspection, it just fell off my expectation after seeing their exclusive first box (i mean... mini O.P.I and TBS' body butter? Come on! I want one too!). Of course i know their exclusive box would be like, a lot more fantastic than their regular one, but at least they could make it a little more exciting for the very first public box too. 

After all, we ARE the paying customers. Shouldn't us get something better, or at least at the same level as the ones intended for publicity purposes? I know i know, that's asking for a lot. I'm not actually suggesting them to go crazy every month, just make the first impression counts, you know? Truth is, the first box I RECEIVE is the one that's going to determine whether i'd continue subscribing or not, not the boxes other people receive for reviewing purposes. Purely my opinion, of course!

Cute looking greeting errr...flier and product list

Had to push down the flier because they kept rolling up haha

First two products are from Kerastase :

Kerastase Nutritive Oleo Relax and Kerastase Reflection Chroma Riche Luminous Softening Treatment Masque

Both came in a decent 30ml tube, probably can be used 3x each?

It's been a while until the last time i got hair products from beauty boxes, just after i am getting warm to them (like falsies! Come on, i want more falsies, beauty boxes! Especially from D'Eyeko, thank you very much :p) so this is very happily received. One of my favorite products out of this box. Oh, i did receive the same Oleo Relax from VT before but i don't mind getting more of them. Especially seeing the full product's price listed (IDR 999.000 for 500ml, my oh my...)!

H2O Night Oasis Overnight Eye Complex (4 ml)

The H2O product might differ in every box, there are four possible products and i think i got the one that i most preferred! Eye care is always a welcome product for me, i'd rather get eye care sample than the shower cream, body cream or the rejuvenating gel (the other listed H2O products). This is my second favorite item in this box.

MJ Care Collagen Essence Mask (real size worth USD 1.50)

You know how i feel about facial masks. Especially glad because i got the collagen one, ladies in their 30s needs all the collagen they could get in the world, right? LOL. There are 5 other variants that you might get in your own box though.

Pure Smile Choosy Lip Mask in Herb (worth USD 2.50)

Another mask in one box? Well, it's okay lah it's for a different purpose anyway. I've never tried lip mask before, and honestly never really meant to try any, but since it's already there-i'd definitely give it a try. Too bad i got the worst variant possible though, herb???? Eeeeeeeekkkk!!! I wished i got the fruit or honey one instead! I hope it won't smell too badly zzz.

Natural Bee Balm (5gr, worth IDR 20.000)

I'd say they had a pretty cute packaging for a local brand!

This is actually my favorite product out of the box hahahah. I know right, so sad, happy over an IDR 20.000 lip balm? Thing is, i've been eyeing it for a while now ever since i saw it in one beauty blog when i was blog-walking. I even added the Natural Bee Balm's Facebook (where they operate their business, strange...) and battling the urge to place an order. 

They received great feedbacks so the only thing preventing me from getting them? They have a minimal order of 3 balms per order, why would i need 3 of them when i still have hundreds of lip balms waiting to get used in my stash for??? So i actually squealed a little when i saw it peeking inside this box. It's not always the price that makes a girl happy, you know! (now if only beauty boxes would feature more up-and-coming local brands that seems to be trending right now like Mizzu eyeliner and mascara that'd be great, thank you-sending requests for all beauty boxes out there via my unboxing entry, brilliant don't you think?)

Allure Eyelid Sticker (full sized, worth IDR 8.000)

This is hands down my least (and probably the only product that i didn't like) fave item. It's probably like a bonus thing or something (coz it's worth so little, i wonder why they even bother listing the price-that actually could hurt their box' reputation a little), and yeah... I don't use eyelid sticker. I do not know how, i have double eyelids already and even though they are not massive or whatever-i don't feel the need to enhance them. I dunno what i'm gonna do with this, either challenge myself to try it out *yeah right...* or just add it into "my next giveaway" pile hehe.

They, like every other beauty box, also gave out one voucher to be used at Perfect Beauty's website. Online voucher's always a great choice rather than vouchers that can only be used in certain places (mostly Jakarta) that would definitely make its way to the bin immediately.

Might or might not use this... LOL. Sorry for the non-pretty nails, i am currently resting them after using gel polish for way too often. the gel nail art on my ring finger's one of the only two still going strong from that NailBar2013 event and it's still pretty looking so i'm keeping them as an accent to my next polish hahahaha

In conclusion... did i like First Blush? Yeah... i think they are okay. They are quite different from other boxes, not only the packaging lah okay but also the whole experience. I mean... Unlike other boxes that seems to partner directly with the big brands, this box seems to be more... indie, if i can say that? It's more homey and small-ish IMO. They featured brands that are still very new (which is a positive thing okay!) and not widely known like Natural Bee, or not even available in Indonesia (like the two masks). 

They ran into some troubles last month when it was revealed that the O.P.I mini they sent out were fakes, but quickly issued an apology and sent out the ORIGINAL replacement and i applaud them for it. However, from that problem i realized that they mostly seems to purchase the stuffs themselves (imported them) as a buyer-not always partnering up with the brand itself (i'm not talking about ALL of them, they are obviously partnering with Natural Bee directly) so it's even more different than the other beauty box services that's already existed. 

For me they are combining two worlds (you know, as brands' partner and buyer) and in the long run it could make or break them. I do like this box, but to be completely honest-i just don't think it's worth IDR 168.000 (the amount i paid for this box). The full sized products (natural bee and masks) only added up to IDR 68.000 and i doubt i want to pay IDR 100.000 for the Kerastase and H2O samples. I just think that other beauty boxes i subscribed to gave me more for the price i paid for (or at least balanced) so i feel like i'm getting more of my money's worth.

Please don't get me wrong, i think this is a pretty fantastic box and i liked almost everything they featured in this box (except the eyelid sticker), but i think it's just too expensive in comparison to the products itself.

It's a shame but i'm still torn whether or not i'm gonna give this box a second chance. If only the first public box contained stuffs as fantastic as their exclusive box (which definitely worth more than IDR 168.000!), i would 100% re-new my subscription for at least another 3 months *LOL*. But at this price and with the items i receive, i think i'm gonna stick with my older beauty boxes (and try to remember to subscribe to VT before they run out of the good stuffs!).

How about you? Did you subscribed to First Blush or are you intending to? If you did, did you like what you got?

Those bangs are driving me insane, getting them cut on Saturday yay!

 #Pink