How does everyone feel about the whole beauty subscription box game lately?

I remember when BirchBox first came out, it seemed too good to be true! A bunch of HIGH-END beauty stuff for a measly $10 per month?! But then the box came in the mail, month after month with unwearable colors, packets containing .0003 ounces of product or brands I’d never heard of.

I did Ipsy for a hot minute and while the surprise each month was fun – the products became increasingly disappointing. I have to admit that much of that had to do with the fact that I was buying more of what I really wanted and building up a really nice collection, so the random sample of sparkly purple nail polish just became blase.

I also recently dipped my toe into the FabFitFun pool and if you read this post, you know how well that turned out for me.

And while I think they are a great option for a beauty newbie or someone looking to expand their collection or try new things, they are just not for me. SO. I am a beauty subscription box skeptic and really not into spending my hard-earned dollars on chance products I may or may not love. So when my pal Holly offered to send me a box of things she personally did not want or need from her subscription boxes of  course I was totally delighted!

Sidenote: If my grandmother taught me one thing, it was a ride or die appreciation for grab bags. You know the ones. They used to sell them at the drugstore by her house and the thrill of not knowing what was inside was just titillating (that’s right).

So here are the contents of the grab bag from sweet Holly.

First of all, I was SO excited she included this lipstick set from Realher because she got the “natural pinks” where I was given the “deep reds”. These are really pretty colors and something I will definitely wear on the regular.

Contents include (from top to bottom) liquid lipstick, lip gloss and a lip pencil. Also sidenote: I am totally feelin’ the names on the packaging especially after binge-watching The Handmaid’s Tale.

I should also note that this liquid lipstick is like freaking PAINT. I swatched these early Sunday morning and after sweating, swimming and washing my hands 82743 times this was the swatch at the end of the day:

Other products she sent included:

This peppermint + chammomile massage oil from WILL  which I used on David’s calves after basketball one day and it was glorious.

A mineral peel face mask from O.R.G which I am excited to try out.

This Eau Thermale Avène Sunscreen for face in SPF 50. I absolutely love this brand (it’s french so DUH) and have tried a couple other skincare items from them. I am delighted to own this product to protect my face from developing more sunspots!

The Flawless Skin Fluid from Doctor D. Schwab.

This Skin Laundry Restoring Night Serum which I have heard great things about!

The Juice Beauty Smoothing Eye Concentrate. I LOVE Juice Beauty so I am very excited about this product.

These samples from Rodan + Fields which I already LOVE!

A Korean facial sponge.

Keratin gloves and socks from Bodipure which I will be definitely using in conjunction with a face mask!

These loose pigments from Your Minerals.

Here is the white shade (winter):

A Manna Kadar Lipstain in Lucky which is gorgeous.

Lipgloss in Flower Child from Passport to Beauty

A scarf from Michael Stars (LOVE THESE COLORS!)

Fingerless grey knitted gloves (not sure of the brand) which I also love.

And lastly, some perfume samples from Tocca which all smell amazing.

So obviously a GIANT thank you to Holly for sending me all of these goodies! I will putting them to the test and reporting back of course. Have any of you tried these products? What did you think?

P.S Holly’s daughter included this lovely piece of art for me as well…heart = melted.