I spotted a tweet from Style36 (previously 36Boutiques) the other day about a special deal on their new BeautyBox (R75 instead of the usual R95) so I decided to order one and see what it was like. It arrived earlier this week (delivery is always free and fast from them which is a big thumbs up in my book) but, to be honest, it was a little bit “meh”.
It draws obvious comparisons to rubybox but this was a once-off “First Edition” purchase; no mention has yet been made of a subscription offering. It’s very difficult to compare them based on the contents of one box, so I won’t really, but suffice it to say that they appear to be similar, with some overlap in the brands. If you aren’t a subscriber to rubybox then there’s no reason why you wouldn’t like Style36’s version but I wouldn’t say that you need both.
Inside the box was:
- Uriage Bariésun After Sun Repair Balm (50ml) which is a restorative moisturiser that protects against peeling, rehydrates and restores suppleness to the skin.
- Bioderma sample pack (5ml each) including Photoderm Max SPF 50+ sun cream, Photoderm Max SPF 50+ tinted sun cream and Sensibio Forte moisturiser. I’m a big fan of Bioderma and I haven’t used any of these yet so they’ll be going in my box of samples that I’m planning to try.
- SKNLOGIC Boost (75ml, which is full size), an anti-ageing night cream packed with apple extracts to help revitalise, repair and protect your skin.
- Black Opal Invisible Blocking Powder (3.4g) which I’ve received from rubybox before but the colour always looked a bit odd for me (in all fairness, Black Opal is designed for black skin) although Camilla raves about it so I should give it a go.
- Black Opal True Colour lipstick (mini) in So Natural which is NOT a shade I can wear (it’s like a warm, toasted caramel colour) but is supposed to be high pigmented and moisturising with rich, long-lasting colour.
The contents of the box does vary (Leigh from Lipgloss is my Life got a different although similar set of products – see her write-up on it here) but there is no personalisation, whereas with rubybox, each delivery caters to your specific skin and hair type. Again, it’s very difficult to make a full assessment based on one box but if these products appeal to you then I think the R95 price tag is great value.
You can place an order on the Style36 website.
Images via 1 and me.