Lookfantastic beauty box review

To mark the first birthday of their popular beauty boxes, the online British beauty boutique Lookfantastic.com has put together an extra special box for September 2015 – and Student Blogger team member Heather was lucky enough to have a peek inside…

Beauty boxes have had a lot of coverage in the beauty supplements recently and are coveted by beauty editors up and down the country. The idea is that you receive a box of beauty products once a month, with the contents being kept completely secret until it’s opened, so you get a surprise each time your box is delivered. Lookfantastic’s beauty boxes offer a range of hand-picked items including make-up, face, hair and body products – catering to every kind of beauty product fan – with each box containing a minimum of six items. The value of the contents is reported to be a lot more than the price you pay for the box, and you get to try some great beauty brands for a snip of the price that you’d have to pay for the full-sized items bought individually.

The Lookfantastic 1st birthday edition beauty box arrived in a cute foil-blocked presentation box that was nicely designed and it felt quite substantial, which all helped to give it an air of quality, and the anticipation of seeing what was inside made it a treat to open – a good start!

As I lifted the lid from the box I found the goodies wrapped up carefully in blue tissue paper and was met with a beautiful scent. Once the tissue paper was torn open I was delighted to find the box crammed full of goodies. There were eight beauty products (listed below) – two more than Lookfantastic’s usual beauty boxes. Some were names I was familiar with and knew to be high-end, and a couple were brands that were new to me, but looked like they were good quality. As well as the beauty products, there were £40 worth of vouchers to various online stores (including premium international fashion retailer Coggles.com), and a £10 discount for ghd stylers from Lookfantastic.

The beauty products

There was a selection of hair, face and body products in the box:

bliss Fabulous Foaming Wash (travel size) – a 2-in-1 rinse off cleanser and exfoliator for all skin types.

Tanworx Tan Maintainer – a luxurious, lightweight moisturiser created specifically to prolong the life of your tan.

Sebastian Professional Penetraitt shampoo –  provides essential cleansing and strengthens and repairs hair. Colour safe.

Sebastian Professional Penetraitt conditioner – for use after Sebastian Professional Penetraitt shampoo, for super-strong, silky-soft style. Colour safe.

Phytokeratine Extreme – a leave-in cream for ultra-damaged, brittle or dry hair. (Please note that 1st birthday beauty boxes may have other Phytokeratine hair products instead of this one.)

Caudalie Vinosource S.O.S Thirst Quenching Serum – helps to restore moisture balance and leave skin feeling soft and fresh.

Caudalie Vinosource Moisturizing Sorbet – has an immediate and long-lasting soothing action to help skin feel softer and more comfortable.

Codage Scrubbing Cream – a rich and soothing emulsion made from fine certified organic rice particles to exfoliate the face.

Previous Lookfantastic beauty boxes have included a variety of well-known brands including REN, Trilogy, Eylure, bellapierre as well as cult classic Eve Lom.

How to buy

The thing I like about the Lookfantastic beauty boxes is that they can be bought online as a ‘one off’ for £15*, meaning you can try it without having to sign up to a subscription for months on end. That said, Lookfantastic does have 3-, 6-, and 12-month subscriptions that offer a good reduction in the monthly price of the boxes, which will save you ££s if you’re eager to treat yourself to one each month.

Verdict

I can see why beauty boxes have become a hit with the beauty set in recent times and Lookfantastic’s do seem to have some impressive products in theirs. They’re a great way of trying out brands that you wouldn’t normally buy – especially expensive products that can be a gamble if you don’t know whether they’ll suit you or not. The fact you get at least six items in each box means you get the thrill of trying lots of new products each month, and as a lot of them are travel sized you don’t feel bad if you get the odd product you won’t use.

Overall I’m pretty happy with the contents in this special birthday edition and think I would use most of the items, although two of the products (bliss and Codage) were both facial exfoliators, so it would have been nice to receive something else (like make-up) instead of one of these. Looking at a list of what’s been in previous boxes, there are lots of items I’d enjoy using – including the false lashes in the May 15 box which I’ve never plucked up courage to use before!

I would say that if you’re going to sign up to the boxes on a monthly basis, then it’s probably best that you’re a fan of all beauty products (face, hair and body cosmetics) as you get a selection of most of these each month – so if you don’t want any, say, hair treatments, you could end up with a top drawer full of them after a few months!

I think Lookfantastic have hit the nail on the head with their variety of buying options, which give you the choice of a ‘one off’ box or a cheaper monthly subscription plan. The selection of beauty products and brands is impressive and the attention to detail in their packaging make their beauty boxes feel like a mini luxury. If there is such a thing as an affordable extravagance, then these beauty boxes could well be it!

Lookfantastic has a selection of over 14,000 beauty products from more than 400 brands in their online store, so if you do find a product in your beauty box that you think could become a must-have in your daily beauty regime (warning: very likely!) then you’ll be able to find it here.

*Price correct as of September 2015