Beauty Vixen: subscription box

Beautylish Lucky Bag - 2024

By Jill Oliver-Fox Sunday, January 28, 2024 2024, beautylish, charlotte tilbury, lucky bag, makeup, subscription box

Once a year, Beautylish offers a mystery box that is Lunar New Year themed, the Lucky Bag. I got it back in 2022 and really liked it, I decided to get it again this year.

First off this box costs $107 Canadian once it is all said and done, there is also an option for an XL box, I just got the regular one. Second thing is, this box is a way for Beautylish to clear out some older items.

The box cam well wrapped and protected. It also has a beautiful wrapping paper that is themed for the Lunar New Year (lots of dragons and makeup). It is such a pretty detail.

What I got. The box is supposed to have at least $206 CAD in value, and mine definitely had that.

Wayne Goss The Luxury Eye Palette ($77 Cad Value)

This is a pretty, and large (16.2 g in it). It has some pretty shades in it. I honestly am not wowed by it and I do not know why. Maybe I already have a lot of palettes like this. I may be selling it because I just don't love it.

R+Co Zipper Multitasking Styling Lotion

Apparently this product can't be sold to Canada, so I don't know what happened there. It sounds like a good styling lotion for my hair. I have never used R+Co, so it should be interesting to try out.

Charlotte Tilbury Eye Enhancing Beauty Secrets Kit ($44 Cad Value)

I am most excited to try these out. I haven't tried CT shadow sticks yet and they look real pretty. They are in the shades Pillow Talk and Smokey Pillow.

Sonia G Fundamental Worker S Brush ($44 Cad Value)

This is an incredibly pretty, soft and wonderful eyeshadow brush. Everything about it feels luxurious. I really love my brushes (I have about 400 now), but never treat myself to a high end one like this.

Good Molecules Yerb Mate Wake Up Eye Gel ($8 Cad Value)

This is Beautylish's own skin care brand. It is not meant to be expensive. I do think this was a good way to get people to try their skin care out while getting rid of old stock. I am ok with this one. It isn't something I every heard of before, but would like to try out.

Surratt Beauty Lipslique ($46 Cad Value)

This is a very fancy looking lipstick. In all honesty, I have not heard of this prand berfore. It's lipstick is giving me Cle de Peau or Shu Uemura vibes. I think the shade I got may be to light for me, so I may also sell this one.

So that is it. All together mine is valued at $259, it is a great value, but maybe nothing I really would have wanted. That's the gamble you take with a mystery box I guess.

Would you get a mystery box like this? What do you think of what I got?

*some links are affiliate and I may get a small commission if you purchase from the sites. Thank you for supporting me and the blog.

Tea Runners Original Subscription Box

By Jill Oliver-Fox Monday, May 17, 2021 2021, review, subscription box, tea

I was recently gifted the April Tea Runners Subscription box. This box is completely new to me and I think pretty darn unique.

Each box contains 4 different teas, each one contains 1 ounce of tea. In total each box has enough tea to make 40 cups of tea.

What makes Tea Runners especially different to me is that they have four different options for box types and each month they let you know exactly what is going to be in the boxes ahead of time so you can choose which one you like the best before hand. Plus they let you customize your box, meaning you can swap any or all your teas for other flavours if you like.

These are the four different types of boxes you can choose from each month: Original Box (all types of tteas), Pure Tea Box (high-grade pure teas only, no blends or flavours), All Black Tea Box (all types of black teas), and Herbal Tea Box (all herbal teas)

I was gifted a box of Original Box so let us take a look inside.
First off I love the flat but super adorable shipping box, it is detailed and very esthetically pleasing. Inside tissue paper wraps the teas up and a card gives a bit of details about Aprils box. Each tea is in a foil bag with a clear back and a resealable top.
This is what I got in my April Original Box:

Blue Mountain Black:
The Nilgiri tea-growing region in southern India is mostly known for producing strong, bold black teas, similar to the Ceylon black teas of neighboring Sri Lanka, but with their own unique flavors. At up to 8000 ft above sea level, it is one of the highest-elevation tea growing regions in the world, and one of the most beautiful.
Blue Mountain Black is an exquisite treat with a unique and worldly flavor profile, sure to become a favorite.
Ingredients: Black tea
Origin: Nigiri, Sri Lanka
Caffeine: HIGH
This is a straight black tea, strong and bold with a wonderful flavour. I brewed it exactly 5 minutes and found it wonderful, not too strong and without too much tannin, but could see if you made it stronger or let it steep too long it could got extremely strong and the tannins would really pop. But as I said, I brewed it to the instructions and thought it was well rounded and bold without bitterness.
Earl Grey Lavender:

Here we have a welcomingly different twist on a classic. With citrusy bergamot pressed from real fruit and flowers, and the intoxicating fragrance of organic lavender blossoms, the Earl Grey Lavender is an elegant wake-me-up tea in the morning.
One of our most popular teas!
Ingredients: Organic black tea, organic lavender flowers, essential bergamot oil, natural lavender oil extract.
Origin: Multiple Origin Blend
Caffeine: HIGH

This is a wonderful Earl Grey tea that has the traditional bergamot notes layered with black tea and then lavender. The lavender isn't overwhelming, but a welcoming addition. The flavours balance each other out in a wonderful dance in the mouth. This would make a fantastic London Fog.

Lavender Raspberry Honeybush:

This delightful caffeine-free treat is rich in good-for-you antioxidants. Its sweetness is pleasantly cut with tart raspberry, creating a perfect balance on the palate.
Fragrant and calming lavender adds a sophistication to this tea, further enhancing its place as part of the ideal bed time ritual.
Ingredients: Honeybush, lavender petals, & natural flavoring.
Origin: Multiple Origin Blend
Caffine: CAFFEINE-FREE

I was a little surprised to find a second lavender option in this box but honestly do love to consume food and drinks with lavender in it (but for others this would be a great time to take advantage of the swap option).

Honeybush is otherwise known as red tea and is herbal and caffeine-free.

This one is fruity with the raspberry and herbal with the lavender and redbush. I really like the blend and how well balanced it is. It honestly barley could tell it was not a black tea, it really reminded me of flavoured black teas of the 90s. Either way it was really nice, slightly sweet and something I can enjoy at night without the caffeine.

Imperial Grande Yunnan Yellow:

Yellow tea is the rarest of the six classes of tea and only produced in China. It is not commonly found in the North American market.
It is produced in a similar manner to black tea, with sun withering, rolling, oxidation and drying, but the main difference is the sun withering and oxidation stages are much shorter. The result is a lovely tea with a sweet, clean, bright, and floral taste - like a green tea without the grassiness.
Ingredients: Yellow tea.
Origin: Simao, Yunnan, China
Caffeine: MED

I am going to be honest here, I have never heard of yellow tea before. It sounds a lot like white tea in the fact it is harvested early and very delicate. The big difference is yellow tea is mildly fermented where as white is not.

This was a real treat for me, I enjoyed it more than I do white tea. The flavour was quite mild and pleasant. I did make a point to make sure the water was exactly 175f and that I only brewed it for 3 minutes. I fear that it would be very bitter or burnt if I did otherwise. So this is a tea you really should use a thermometer and timer for.

Overall this is one neat sampler box. I really love the idea of trying out new teas every month, but I really am blown away with the quality of the teas and the fact you can choose which type of box you want every month AND get to see everything you will get in advance. Plus you can swap out flavours if you like. It takes the mystery and possible hate out of the box. I know there are people who hate herbal, or green or flavoured teas, in addition there is always the risk of allergies, but by seeing what you'll be getting ahead of time makes issue like this completely avoidable.

The boxes are just top notch quality and as a true tea lover I really appreciate that.

You can sign up for Tea Runners box on their website, Original, Black Tea and Herbal boxes are $25 USA each and the Pure box is $30 USA each with free shipping to the USA and Canada. You can also buy their teas individually there too.

*Products were sent for review purposes all opinions are my own.