Beauty lovers have been anticipating its arrival for months, myself included. You can probably imagine I was as happy as a dog with 2 tails when the mailman brought me the very first Deauty box. A very nice surprise indeed, thank you Deauty! This box was sent out to journalists, bloggers and a few lucky early birds who subscribed to the updates on the Deauty website.
A little recap on the Deauty concept:
Deauty, which is short for Discover Beauty, wants to help women discover beauty by offering them samples of what’s hot and happening in the beauty industry and helping them decide on what works for them and what doesn’t. For 15€ a month (shipping included) you’ll receive 4 à 6 miniature beauty products from the most renowned brands that are beautifully wrapped in a nice gift box as seen above. The products are selected for you according to a personal beauty profile you need to fill in on the website. Basically, it’s like a magazine subscription, but instead you get beauty products.
Currently, there are 3 formulas available:
– a monthly subscription of € 15 a month which you can cancel anytime
– a subscription of 3 months for € 45
– a subscription of 12 months for € 165 (you will receive 1 Deauty box for free)
Now let’s see what was in the September box, shall we?
First off, let me start on the packaging. The Deauty box came in a cardboard box by BPost which had just the right size, so there was no room for the box to move around and get the products damaged. The Deauty box itself is a gorgeous black square design and it carries the white Deauty logo in the center and a big hummingbird carrying a mirror on the inside of the lid. I love how they kept the design minimalistic, which gives the box a rather luxurious and sophisticated feel. Inside the products are covered with a light black silk wrapping paper and held together with a Deauty seal and white ribbon.
On top I find a letter addressed to press and bloggers, giving more info on the Deauty concept. Unfortunately the leaflet with the product info was left out, so I had to check the info with the other bloggers (afterwards I saw the info was posted on the Deauty website as well). A small, but regrettable mistake as I wouldn’t (exactly) know what the products are for (skincare can sometimes be difficult in that aspect), the exact worth of each product or wether it was a sample size hadn’t I been a beauty blogger.
The content of the September box:
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L’ Oréal Professionnel Mythic Oil (full size 125 ml) € 19,00
This dry oil gives your hair a beautiful shine. A few drops suffice: the hair fiber is deeply nourished. The Mythic Oil can be used on wet hair before blow-drying, or as a finishing touch. You hear it: brilliant shine and long lasting protection against lint are now guaranteed.
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Redken Full Effect Volume 04 Nourishing mousse (sample size 65 ml) -> full size 250 ml € 24,30
This ultra light styling mousse combines the volume of a mousse with the nourishing properties of a hair. Does not stick and no hair that feels like cardboard. Natural volume and healthy hair? Yes, it can.
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Clarins HydraQuench Intensive Serum Bi-Phase (sample size 15 ml) -> full size 30 ml € 58,50
Intensive moisturizing care for very dry skin. This serum works on every layer of skin and all skin types provides an optimal and lasting hydration. The pleasant, light texture consists of two components (water and oil), and absorbs quickly.
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Nuxe Micellar Cleansing Water with 3 Roses (full size 100 ml) € 10,00
This alcohol-and fragrance-free cleansing lotion removes all impurities from face, eyes and lips in a simple gesture. The plant, micellar surfactant is suitable for everyone, even for the most sensitive skins. Crisp in texture with a delicious scent, we like that.
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Essie Size Matters nail polish (full size) € 10,99
Flaboyant ruby makes your heart beat faster – it’s red carpet glamor in an instant. Diamonds are out darling, rubies are in.
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leaflet with product info (was missing in my box)
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letter to the press introducing the concept
As you can probably tell, the content of the box exceeds it’s cost quite a bit. I count myself as a really lucky early bird with this box! Please bear in mind though that this is a promotion box, so it’s in no way guaranteed that every month is going to be like this. That’s the tricky part of the beauty box concept; you never know what you’re gonna get. The products are decided for you based on the beauty profile you filled in (this wasn’t the case yet for the September box). You either like to be surprised, or you don’t. I can only speak for myself when I say I like to be surprised and I think the beauty box concept is really great. And really fun to give/receive as a present too!
There’s only one issue; the brands they’re currently collaborating with are already established brands on the Belgian market who basically don’t have all that much to prove. As a beauty blogger I regularly receive products by these brands to review, so there are probably going to be more than one occasion where I’m already familiar with the products offered. This was also the case with this box (yes, beauty bloggers are spoiled little brats really). Of course it’s not THAT big of a deal to have already tried these products (because they’re great), but it kind of misses the whole point of introducing the customer to new brands/ products.
But even when you’re not a beauty blogger, and you’re just genuinely interested in beauty, you probably have already tried some of these brands. I personally feel that Deauty still has to prove it’s worth in finding great brands/products that are not yet known by the general public. It would be preferable to look at smaller brands who are looking to find their way into the Belgian market first. And Asian brands, I would looove me some Asian brands <3 But that’s just me.
Overall, I’m really happy with the content of this box. Deauty managed to get the support of some great brands to invest in their idea. But will this make me subscribe? Not just yet. I’ll keep an eye out for Deauty to bring some dashing *unknown* or hard to get to brands to the scene first. But if you haven’t tried any of these brands or you’re just plain curious, I’d say; give it a try yourself and see if you like it. After all, there are no obligations whatsoever, you’re completely free to end your subscription any time you like. So why the hell not?
Yup, I get the point that they don’t introduce new brands but I do feel they succeeded in reassuring the public that their novelty will bring decent value.
I hope they’ll expand their brand portfolio over time 🙂
<3