Topbox December 2013 box review!

Better late than never!
I've been quite busy with out of town visitors taking up most of my time and finally now just getting around to posting my Topbox reviews.
My January review will be coming soon as well as an additional box that I purchased and just got here.
That leaves me quite a few items to try and that will be a lot of fun (hopefully).

Here is what was in my December 2013 Topbox:

December 2013 Topbox contents!

The December Topbox had a good variety of cosmetics for the holiday season!

From sparkly nail laquer (mine was more like a topcoat), coconut lip balm that reminds you of the topics (or summer), a new perfume and also some line filler (useful for those holiday pics).

My thoughts on the products I received:

*Belvada Cosmetics: Coconut Lip Butter. Full size product 10ml, value $10.00

The full size of the lip butter was sent out. This is such a new product that it was sent in a more plain package. The tub reminds me of the Body Shop body butter container I have here on my desk beside me.

The coconut lip butter smells very coconutty and tropical. The lip butter also goes on very easily and did moisturize right away- there was no waxy feel to this product and that is a plus.

There is also a coconut taste to the product The lip butter also goes on clear and has no shimmer or colour in it. Overall I do like the lip butter and will use it at home- for outside the home I only use lip items that are in sticks or tubes and with sunscreen in them.

The only thing I did not like about this lip butter is that there is no ingredient info included and I did not find any online yet. I usually like to know what is in the products I use.

*Cuccio Colour: Nail Laquer in REMIX. Full size product 13ml, value $10.00

Nail polish is always fun to receive! This would be my second Cuccio Colour polish from Topbox. The one I received a while ago was a sheer light pink. Remix is more of a topcoat product as it is made of different sizes of glitter that is in a clear polish base. There are large silver bits and some more fine turqoise and pink glitter.

I did try the polish by itself and did not like that look as much. Over some "greige" (grey/beige) polish I did like the look better, but ended up applying too much glitter and not liking the effect.

My plan is to take some pictures the next time I do my nails.....

*Estee Lauder: Modern Muse edp. Sample size 2.9ml/value $6.50, full size 30ml $65.00

When I first saw this was an Estee Lauder perfume my first thoughts were "oh no!...not another strong floral". So far I had sampled all the Lauder scents at the dept store and always found them too strong and floral to my liking. Most perfumes I buy are green and fresh (green tea, verbena) or fruity (lemon, berry,vanilla).

I was actually really surprised that this edp was a very light floral and described as being mixed with "sleek, sensual woods".

To me the edp has a very soft and light scent that is a bit hard to describe- it is kind of fresh smelling and nice. Something you could wear to work and not bother too many people.

Not too sure I would buy this, but I will use it up!

*Skiin: Instant Skin Tightener and Line Filler: Sample size 3ml/value $10.00, full size 15ml $49.95

I like trying these kinds of products as I'm always curious if they will really work. Thankfully I do not really need too much of this kind of product yet- I only have a tiny bit of frown lines to hide.
I had seen some Skiin brand products in other sample boxes before, but never had the chance to try and yet until now!

I really like how the sample is packaged with a tube you can reclose and a best before date on it too!

To open the sample you twist off the top and to reclose you put the cap upside down-kind of like a bottle stopper.

The line filler is like a gel or serum and did absorb right away and made my frown lines look smoother and filled on. There is also no scent to the product and that is a big plus.

But again, I hate that there is no ingredient info and when I went to look on Skiinshop.com did not see any ingredient listings either. I would at least expect a company to list ingredients online, esp since so many people can have ingredients they are allergic to or do not want in a product.

Still I do like this sample and am going to use it up!

Product description card Dec 2013!

My overall thoughts on the Dec 2013 Topbox:

I thought the Dec 2013 version of the Topbox had a good mix of items for winter and the holiday season.

The value of the items received was $36.50 and that is pretty good considering the box costs $12.

There was also one item that was Canadian (the lip butter) and three of the four items received were labeled as being new!

I can't wait to see what the new year will being for my Topbox subscription!