Blush Mystery Beauty Box Review – February 2015
Blush Mystery Beauty Box is a monthly beauty and makeup subscription box from Blush.com. I’ve been very impressed with this subscription in general because of the value (usually over $100), the brands (typically at least a few high-end lines), and the size of the items (everything is usually full sized or deluxe sized).
FYI – Originally this subscription sent out a lot of makeup, but lately it seems like hair products and skincare products are the most common.
My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
The Subscription Box: Blush Mystery Beauty Box
The Cost: $24.95 a month (or $34.95 for a one time purchase)
The Products: Over $100 of beauty products.
Ships to: US
Check out all my Blush Mystery Beauty Box reviews and the Beauty Subscription Box Directory!
Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your Wish List or Subscription List!
The box comes with a card detailing the items included. On the flip side of the card is a coupon code:
Use coupon code FEB15 to save $20 off a Dermstore purchase of $100 or more.
Alterna Bamboo Smooth Kendi Pure Treatment Oil – 25 ml Value $12.50
100 Percent Pure Creamy Nail Polish in Kiss – FULL SIZE! Value $12
I was so happy to see this Bamboo Treatment Oil in the bag! (I love Alterna hair care products!) It’s free of parabens, sulfates, phthalates, and synthetic color, and works great for reducing frizz without weighing down your hair. And this sample size is almost half the size as the full size version, so it should last me a long time.
I also love the 100 Percent Pure brand, and I think this is a great nail polish color for a February box. (The card lists out the Kiss color, so I’m assuming there won’t be any variation in nail polish color for subscribers).
Cargo Liquid Liner in Black – FULL SIZE! Value $20
Neostrata Skin Active Antioxidant Defense Serum – .07 oz Value $5.25
I found this eye liner pretty easy to apply – it is great if you are looking for a fine line application. (If you’re looking for something thicker, I like their Texas Liner!)
I’m less enthused about this serum sample – I don’t think it will be enough for me to evaluate if it works well for my skin.
TOCCA Eau de Parfum in Stella – 1.5 ml Value $2
TOCCA Hand Cream in Cleopatra – FULL SIZE! Value $20
I think TOCCA is a beautiful packaged affordable luxe brand, so I was happy to see it featured in the box this month! (Subscribers will receive one of three scents for each item).
Juliette Has a Gun Perfume in Anyway – 2 ml Value $3.60
Vichy Idealia Life Serum – 3 ml Value $3.90
The Juliette Has A Gun Perfume sample is another variation item – subscribers will received one of three scents.
And another tiny serum sample!
Sarah Potempa The Wrap Up – Value $12
This wrap up lets you create a top bun or regular bun easily. I don’t wear my hair up often, but I’ll use this the next time I do!
Verdict: This box has a retail value of about $91. Even though there are a few perfume and tiny serum samples, I’m happy with every other product in the box, so the value is there for me.
What do you think of the February 2015 Blush Mystery Beauty Box?
Wait, I’m confused? When I go to click the link to go to the Blush Mystery Beauty Box web page it takes me to Dermstore/ Beauty Fix box…. No “Blush Mystery Beauty Box” to be found. I see that you did a review for BOTH the Blush box AND the Beauty Fix box for April & see that they are two different boxes so what’s the deal? How do I subscribe to the Blush box? Going to blush.com just takes me straight to Dermstore & doing a search for the blush box on Dermstore directs me straight to the Beauty Fix box sign up. So confused!!!
This box rebranded as BeautyFix last year. There is no more Blush Mystery Beauty Box.
Am I the only one who doesn’t hate perfume samples? I find that fragrances change a lot on my skin and it’s nice to sample them, if there are enough items in the bag/box to balance it out. I thought this was a great box! The Tocca hand cream and the Alterna oil both made it totally worth it for this month.
This subscription is worth my 25 bucks, plus i received 2 other samples. I’ll be using everything, in fact I already have my hair in a bun lol.
My box was missing the Vichy serum, I’m waiting for a response from support…
Aside from that, I’m pretty happy with this month’s box! I got the same fragrance (‘Florence’) for both of the Tocca products. I probably won’t use the Alterna bamboo oil and my hair is too short for the wrap up, but everything else looks good.
Mine was missing the Vichy as well. I’m pretty happy with the box even with the perfume sample that I will give to a friend.
I’m pretty happy with Blush Mystery this month. I like perfume samples, I like trying new skincare products, and I love liquid eyeliner, nail polish, and hand cream.
My only complaints are that this box had a LOT of products in it, but many were very low value/free in many places. It really didn’t have the $100 value they claim it should have. I don’t consider that a huge deal since I’m still paying a lot less for products than retail this way, and the value for me is high since I’ll use almost all these.
I’m glad to see they didn’t add in any repeat products this month.
I have a question, I’ve been getting blush for like 8 months now and it always comes in the normal mail. I just checked my tracking link and it’s coming UPS??? Did anyone else get theirs from UPS?
I received mine through ups today.. Strange
Honestly after I saw this review I was sure I was going to hate this box. But now that it’s here I love it. The tocca hand creme is so nice, and sim interested to try the bun wrap!
I used to love Blush and anxiously awaited it every month. I unsubbed in Nov because the value just wasn’t there for me. I continue to follow knowing I can resub or buy a single box if I see something great. That hasn’t happened yet. What I have seen since then is a theme involving product/brand repeats (hello, Cargo, Vichy, Alterna), tiny samples, multiple perfumes per month…and the changes definitely coincided with the change in ownership. Hence the Vichy products, a popular Target brand (which I really do like anyway and have gotten from Glossy as well). The boxes just feel, well, off. I agree with others that they need to stop advertising value over $100 if they aren’t reaching the target. And they need to curate more thoughtfully, avoiding repeat brands and certainly literal repeat items, especially within a month or three. Other than the Tocca lotion and Cargo eyeliner (I’m not a fan of the polish brand at all), there’s nothing here that adds up to to the value and quality I’ve received in the past. For $25-$35 a month, subscribers (especially longtime customers) expect better/more. I really hope they work their way back to the old Blush model, and soon.
The Potempa hair wrap is available elsewhere for under $6 (Ulta, Amazon, etc); identical products from other brands sell for as low as $3. For those who like the Vichy sample and want more to better test it, Walgreens was giving it as a free sample at their beauty counter, at least here they did as of last week at my Las Vegas location. Unfortunately that’s even more of a bummer in terms of the box value since the perfumes and the Vichy are essentially freebies that add zero value to the box. To me the only legit value items are the Tocca, 100% Pure and Cargo. Granted they’re worth more than $25 but nowhere close to the purported $100+ advertised.
Another meh box. Not $100 as they promised. If they’re planning on degrading this box they need to say under $100 & just be honest about it. Canceling & will wait for Liz’s review to purchase in the future. Blush you’re breaking my heart 🙁
Blush used to be my #1 fave sub… always came first one of the month. It started getting yucky with repeats and such, so I unsubbed back in July of last year. I signed up again in December because of the CLEAN perfume rollerball (it was the only scent in my CLEAN collection that I was missing). January was totally disappointing with repeats….Thankfully, this one I’ll really enjoy. I love perfume samples, I love trying serums, and I’m currently growing my hair out so in a month or two I’ll be able to use the bun item.
Blush was my second sub ever, and was my favorite for a while. Now though, I’m happy I cancelled when I did. Maybe it’s just not for me anymore. I have a short pixie cut, so that hair thing would be useless, and I really don’t like perfume samples at all. And there are two in this month’s! Yikes.
I am with you on the perfume. Heck I got eight free perfume vials for free from Macy’s with my last order. Ten free with the order before that.
And I have longer hair but never wear it up. The two serums are worthless with such a small size. Will never know if they do anything…. Plus, don’t they seem to hand out a ton of eye pencils?
Any nail polish I ever got from them was crap, so I hope this one is different. Not so much the brands, I think it was old.
So glad I got a Net-A-Porter box yesterday or I would be very unhappy.
I noticed the enclosure cards used to say “Congratulations! You just received over $100 in beauty products. They haven’t said that since the month when there was no card. Since they switched to the featured item being on one side to a code for the website they have left off that statement. I assumed the $100 value wasn’t there since they failed to congratulate us.
Both my hand cream and Tocca perfume are in the same fragrance. The Juliette perfume also smells similar to me, and I’m not sure I’m a fan of either. The bun wrap will never work in my hair because my hair is so thin it is practically see through, and the hair product is for thick and textured hair types so that portion of the bag is a no go for me. I kind of feel like I paid full price for the eyeliner and nail polish this month, but at least there are some new brands.
I like this month’s box better than last month’s, but I’m really angry about the low value. In the past, they’ve promised it to be “at least $100 value” but January was a total dud at around $85. I thought about complaining but decided I’d see what this month’s box brought us. Honestly, I was hoping they’d make up for the catastrophe that was last month’s box (repeat items, low value) by going overboard in February. But nope. Another box, not even $100 value even though their website clearly states it’s worth that much. It’s the principle of it all and unfair (even shady) business practice. Ever since Target bought this company, the samples have gotten smaller and smaller, the value has decreased, and the products are so repetitive (this all be the third or fourth month in a row we’ve had a Cargo product). Sure, $91 is more than the $25 I paid for it and a decent value. . but, it’s not what was promised.
Wow I duno, Blush was my favorite subscription, but not thrilled with this box either. I keep hoping I’ll love it again, but the last 3 months have been kind of blah. I love Juliette has a gun, hate seeing tiny sample sizes though. This box includes a lot of sample sizes when Blush used to do mostly full sized items, not super happy about that. I’ll probably end up swapping most of it again.
Ok I just canceled it before I even got it. It’s not worth throwing away $25 each month on stuff I’ll swap. I’ll wait for Liz’s review to see if I like the box that month and then maybe buy it. But the last 3-4 have been fairly disappointing. It’s a shame too since it was my favorite sub along with Boxycharm.
I know this is dumb, but what is serum?? I’ve always been just a mascara and lip gloss person but now that I’m in my 40’s I’m trying to branch out a bit. Don’t laugh. 😉
Serums are designed to provide some benefit to your skin apart from (or in addition to) other products you use. So for example, a serum with hyaluronic acid might provide a plumping/fine-line-filling effect. A serum with vitamin C might help protect against free radical (sun) damage. A serum with niacinamide (one of the B vitamins) might help even skin tone. And of course there are serums that combine ingredients, as well.
Typically, this is the order in which I use products:
cleanser
toner
serum
moisturizer
SPF
primer
foundation
(Skip any steps you don’t normally use, or change based on time of day.)
Oh my goodness, looking at that list, no wonder it takes me so long to get ready in the morning. (I also use eye cream…)
Awww how sweet of you to type all that out for me! Now I’m excited to try some serums. I’m embarrassed to say my beauty routine consists of using ponds cold cream before bed, and then putting on some mascara in the morning! Ha ha. I’ve never been able to tolerate the feeling of foundation on my face for some reason.
Honestly, whatever works!
I have accumulated FAR TOO MANY beauty products. So one reason I use so many products on a daily basis is just to make a dent in my stash.
Sadly, I still have a major problem with an oily T-zone and monthly hormonal breakouts, so I feel self-conscious without foundation. But then, I’ve been wearing it for over 20 years so I’m used to it by this point.
It was nice to read both of your posts. Glad there is someone else my age in the same situation and glad that someone gave such a nice explanation. I was a Oil of Olay with SPF and lipstick girl, until sample boxes opened my eyes to a whole new world. It can be overwhelming, yet fun. I have a lot to learn.
Skincare product layering is highly touted in Japan and starting to become popular in the US now. New Beauty magazine did a profile on layering a few months ago. As long as you use the product types in the right order you can load up as many as 15-20 different ones in a single session. I only use 2-3 pre-makeup in the morning but easily apply 7-10 at night. It really does make a difference over time.
This looks like a great box! I’m a big fan of Alterna, and the hand cream looks really nice, too. Maybe I’ll get one if they go on sale…
I definitely want this box, particularly for the Tocca cream! I feel bad subscribing to get the $25 price since I will probably cancel, but that’s a lot cheaper than $35…
Hi Liz, Do you have any promo codes for new subscribers? Thanks!
I’m not aware of any – sorry!
Is it too late to buy this box? I want!
Blush usually lets you buy all month.
Instead of making a 1-time purchase (for $35), subscribe (for $25). Then you can always cancel (you have to call or e-mail) before you get billed for March. Great way to save $10.
thanks SB!
So happy we will be getting a full size Tocca hand cream….I love Tocca! Also excited for the Tocca perfume, I’ve been wanting to try it!! I can’t wait to try the polish either, out of all the polish I have…I have never tried this one! The rest Is just icing on the cake!!
Looks like a great box, excited to get mine!