Miss Tutii Subscription Box Review + Coupon – February 2016

Miss Tutii is an international beauty subscription featuring popular products from Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Switzerland (?) and more.

My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)

The Subscription Box: Miss Tutii

The Cost:  TutiiMask ($12/month, receive 6-8 masks); TutiiBag ($15/month, receive 4-5 deluxe samples and/or full sized products); TutiiBox ($29/month, receive 5-6 full sized and/or premium samples).  This is a review of the TutiiBag.

COUPON: Use code FIRST10 to save 10% off your first box!

The Products: Popular skincare products, masks, and other beauty items from Asia and beyond!

Ships to:  US (free), Canada ($5.95), International ($8.95)

Check out all our Miss Tutii reviews and the Beauty Subscription Box Directory for more great beauty-oriented subscriptions!

The bag came with this information card, which included directions for each product (the labels were not in English so this was helpful) as well as the products’ intended effects.

Other cool things: the cards describe “Tutii Swap” where if an item in the package is not for you, you can send it back and get credit towards something else in the Tutii Shop (can be used up to three times a year).

Also, Miss Tutii now offers a points-based system for reviews, similar to Birchbox’s, where you can redeem points for items in their shop.  You do have to actually write reviews, though – they have a 100 word minimum.

My Scheming Sakura Brightening Mask (1 mask) – Value $1.50

This product is from Taiwan.

My Scheming masks are very, very thin and have a lot of essence.  I can’t really say I saw instant brightening, but this seems like the type of item I would have to use over time for best results.  This was great for use in winter, though, to keep my skin from getting dry.

“Sakura” is the Japanese word for cherry blossom but this also contains sacred lotus extract and niacinamide, which are typical brightening ingredients (lotus is also used for moisturization in a lot of Asian beauty products).  There are several other plant extracts, which provide antioxidants, as well as collagen (believed to help with skin elasticity) and sodium hyaluronate (which is super moisturizing).

A’Pieu Fresh Mate Sleeping Mask in Tea Tree Calming (50 mL) – Value $12

This product is from Korea and is full size!

Tea tree oil is good for acne/blemish control.  This is a clear gel that doesn’t smell like tea tree oil, at least not very much (though I have been using a lot of tea tree oil products lately so perhaps I am just used to the scent?).  I don’t think it dried my skin out although my skin is pretty oily.  I did use it as a sleeping mask and I like that there is enough to really see if the product works for me.  (This is one of several items that varied in price widely from website to website.)

I have to admit, though, I don’t understand the “wash off” part of sleeping mask instructions.  I go to bed and in the morning, everything is absorbed – there’s nothing to wash off (though of course I use cleanser as the first step in my morning skincare routine).

Lador Before Care Keratin PPT Damage Care (1 fl oz) – Value $2.13

This product is from Korea.

This is my first encounter with a Korean hair care product; I mostly know K-beauty from skincare, sheet masks, etc.  This includes keratin, which is an ingredient a lot of Westerners would be familiar with in hair care products.  Keratin is believed to strengthen the hair and even to repair damage.  This product is supposed to provide high gloss, detangle, and add hydration.

This has a lovely spray pattern (I’m used to It’s a 10 which kind of gunks up on the dispenser).  However, the suggested 2-3 sprays were not good for detangling my hair.  10-12 sprays were better, but I have very long hair.  This did leave my hair shiny (even with only 2-3 sprays) and seems to have straightened a bit (it’s naturally sort of wavy), so those are both good things!

Skinfood My Short Cake Liquid Eyeliner (size ?) – Value $9.99

This product is from Korea.

I *think* this is full size (everywhere I looked suggested the FS container was pretty small.  I love liquid eyeliners because I have super oily eyelids and, for some reason, liquid eyeliners stay put for longer without smudging.  This is a very intense black (swatch below) and the applicator is a thin brush so you can do thick or thin lines.  (My lines tend to be thick because I keep trying to correct mistakes – I don’t have the steadiest hand…)

This is not waterproof but it does stay on all day.  It comes off with most standard liquid makeup removers.

SK II Clear Treatment Lotion (10 mL) – Value $4.67

This product is from Japan.

So I have seen a lot of SK II products on the Sephora website, but they are so expensive!   I was always hesitant to take a risk spending that much when I hadn’t ever sampled the products.  I was definitely happy to see this.

This is basically an alcohol-free toner.  What was great about it was that it took off some makeup that I thought was already gone (seeing as I had washed my face several times already).  So it is really doing some deep cleansing.

This has salicylic acid, lactic acid, and malic acid (hydroxy acids), so be sure to use a sunscreen when you use this product!  It also contains pitera, an ingredient SK II is known for.  This is a clear liquid rich in nutrients like amino acids.  Pitera is extracted from a yeast fermentation tank and was first discovered in a sake brewery and is believed to have anti-aging properties.  This was a small sample so I can’t say too much about the anti-aging effects, but it didn’t irritate my skin and it was non drying, so this would be a good winter toner.

Here is a swatch of the eyeliner.  I think I didn’t let it dry long enough because it’s actually matte, not shiny.  (Sorry no pictures on my face – I don’t have Haley’s eyeliner skills although I am practicing…)

Verdict:  I calculated a value of about $30 for the February 2016 Miss Tutii bag.   However, prices were all over the place and it could be 40% less, for all I know.  It’s almost certainly still over the cost of the bag, whatever values you use.  I liked the mix of products – tea tree oil products are great for my skin, I’m always happy to discover new sheet masks, I got to try a brand I’d been interested in for awhile, etc.  I don’t know if this was deliberate or not, but the products seem well-suited for use in winter, so that was nice.  This was my second Miss Tutii bag and I’ve been very happy with this subscription so far.

I said this last time but it bears repeating: there are a few things you may want to be cautious of (with any Asian beauty subscription, really, not just this one).  If you have allergies, you should know that the ingredients are not available on the packages in English for some of the products.  You can almost certainly guarantee that some of the products will have animal-derived ingredients (honey, donkey milk, hyaluronic acid, collagen, etc.), so this would not be for vegans.  And you can probably count on a few whitening or brightening products.  I’m pale so this works for me, but I cannot speak to how such products would affect a darker skin tone.

What did you think of the February 2016 Miss Tutii Bag?  Do you get any K-Beauty or Asian Beauty subscriptions?