British Beauty Box “Let It Glow” Review – Winter 2019

British Beauty Box is a quarterly beauty subscription featuring 5 full-size luxury beauty products sent straight to your door every three months.

This is a review of the Winter 2019 box, which is still available for purchase!

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

About this UK Beauty Box

The Subscription Box: British Beauty Box

The Cost: $65 per quarterly box + free shipping. Save with an annual subscription.

The Products: 5 full-sized luxury skin and hair care products from the UK

Ships to: The US and the UK for free

British Beauty Box “Let It Glow” Winter 2019 Review

Every box comes with this bag.

Here is the info sheet for the box.

White Hot Glorious Shampoo, 200 ml – Retail Value $15

I’m a bit perplexed by the inclusion of this shampoo- it is specifically for those with natural grey and white hairs. I feel like having a shampoo for such specific hair color is a bit exclusionary to the rest of subscribers this doesn’t apply to. The formula is designed to lift up buildup and impurities from your scalp while the white truffle extract adds moisture. I didn’t find this to be as moisturizing of a shampoo as I’d like (I also have a dry scalp), and I passed this along to a friend with light blond hair in the hopes it could work better for her locks. 

Jo Hansford Voluminous Spray, 5 oz – Retail Value $24.70

This is another hair product that doesn’t work well for me personally but should appeal to a much larger demographic. You apply it to the roots of damp hair and style as usual, and the amino-acid formula will add volume, shine, and a bit of heat protection. I air dry my hair, so when I spritzed this at my roots and left my hair to dry in a bun I didn’t notice much of a difference in terms of volume, but it did leave my hair a bit shinier. 

Emma Hardie Moringa Cleansing Balm, 50 ml – Estimated Value $30 (Buy the 100 ml version for $60)

I’ve tried a lot of cleansing balms, and one of the things I love about this one is the texture. Some cleansing balms are a bit firm and you need to warm the product up between your hands before you use it, but this has the texture of room temperature butter that just glides across your face. It melts away any makeup you may be wearing, and it definitely leaves my skin softer when I rinse it away. I don’t love this enough to justify the expensive price tag, but I will thoroughly enjoy using this until it’s empty. 

Manuka Doctor ApiRefine Lip Oil, 0.33 oz – Retail Value $15

This lip oil is made with a host of beneficial ingredients like manuka oil, vitamin E, castor oil, and flower nectar. Though it’s an oil, it has a pretty lightweight texture that reminds me of an incredibly thin lip gloss without any stickiness. I enjoy the natural shine this gives my lips, but I don’t love the design. I think the rollerball needs to be a bit bigger, because as it stands the plastic edge always rubs against my lips whenever I apply this. It doesn’t hurt, but I don’t love it. 

Transformulas Youthful Hands and Feet, 2.6 oz – Listed Value $34.27/£25.95

I couldn’t find much about this hand cream online- it’s no longer sold from the Transformulas website. This is a very thick, rich cream that is designed to both hydrate and protect hands and feet. It took a bit of time to absorb on me, but I did like how deeply nourished my hands felt. I will say that while I enjoyed this, I definitely wouldn’t pay the listed value for it.

Transformulas Armlift, 2.60 oz – Retail Value $38.29/£29.00, Listed Value $48.79/£36.95

This cream is still for sale on the Transformulas website, and it is designed to “sculpt, firm, lift, and visibly improve the appearance of the upper arms.” I’ll be frank and say that my upper arms need more help than a moisturizer can give (and that is quite a bit of an over-promise) but I did enjoy the cooling sensation this gave me. 

Bybi Beauty Supercharge Serum, 1 oz – Retail Value $44

I am a huge fan of Bybi Beauty so I was excited to see this. With the name “supercharge serum” I expected the texture of, well, a serum, but it actually is much more in the lightweight oil family. This has a decently long ingredients list with a wide variety of oils, but the ingredient in the highest concentration is my personal favorite: squalane. This wasn’t too heavy on my skin and really felt like a luxe skincare product that nourished my face.

The Verdict: This was a box full of hits and misses. The hits (the Bybi serum and the Emma Hardie cleansing balm) are luxurious treats that my skin really enjoyed, but the misses left me scratching my head. Did we really need two products from the same brand, with one of those items being something that appears discontinued? Was including a shampoo meant for grey and white hair the best curation? And perhaps, most of all, why are three of the six brands featured in this box brands that appeared in last quarter’s box? I think British Beauty Box needs to take another look at the thought process of their curation because I love the premise of trying full-size, luxury beauty in a box sent from England. Value-wise, I calculated a total value of $201.26

To Wrap Up:

Can you get this box if you sign up today? Yes, this box is still available.

Value Breakdown: This box costs $65 and I calculated a total value of $201.26, which means you are paying approximately the following per item:

• White Hot: $4.84
• Jo Hansford: $7.98
• Emma Hardie: $9.67
• Manuka Doctor: $4.84
• Transformulas Hands: $11.07
• Transformulas Armlif: $12.36
• Bybi Beauty: $14.21

Check out our other British Beauty Box review, plus the best skincare and beauty subscription boxes of 2020!

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