Friday, October 18, 2013

Wantable Beauty Box : October 2013


Last week, I was browsing Reddit and I saw something from a man named Stuart who works for Wantable. Stuart posts a lot to Reddit and is really involved in the community, which is really incredibly cool, but he was asking if anyone with a beauty blog would be interested in reviewing a box. I jumped on this opportunity since I am all about the subscription beauty boxes and I love to pass on the information to you guys. So, I need to tell you guys that this was sent to me for free for review purposes. Now that that's out of the way, let's start with the basics of Wantable!

Wantable is based out Milwaukee and is a fairly new company with a staff of about 14 people. They have several different subscription boxes, which all cater to women; Makeup Box, Accessories Box, and an Intimates box. I am not well versed on their accessories or intimates, but I have seen many of their beauty boxes and since I've gone through the process, I'm more aware of how it works. With the makeup box, you are guaranteed 4-5 full size products each month with any "samples" being an extra little surprise. The box is more than other subscription services, but keep in mind the above information; the items you receive are always full size. If you don't want a subscription, it's $40 a box and if you set up a subscription, it's $36/month.

You do fill out quite a bit of information when you sign up, which includes items that you "love, like, or dislike". The upside to this is that you will never get something you have put in the "dislike" category. So, for me, who hates lipgloss with a passion, I can mark that down as a "dislike" and never receive it. And that's the other thing, their list of items for you to like and dislike, is pretty in depth for a subscription service; it's a good thing. Each month, you get a slip in your box that tells you what items you've received, how much their retail value is, and a little bit of info about the product and a "beauty tip". Mine looked like this:


The picture at the top is just a generic photo of products, not what you've received. On the right, it has a listing of things you put in your "love, like, and dislike" categories! I love that they did that because then you can remember how you've marked things. Maybe the day you filled out the survey, you only "liked" eye shadow, but now you actually love it and can't remember how you marked it; check the side of the packing slip! Under all of that information is where my products and their retail value is listed. I did receive a sample in this box, so the retail value of that item is marked as 0. Below all of that is the explanation of each product and the tip for each individual item. Pretty cool, huh?


Here are all of my items in their original packaging, because I don't know about you guys, but I love packaging. From left to right, we have: Lise Watier Ombre Soufflé Suprême Samples, Michael Marcus Nail Polish, Bésame Cosmetics Classic Color Lipstick, Face Stockholm Lipstick, and Susan Posnick Color Eye Define.


I apologize for the glare on this, but you get the idea. I received samples of Sunrise Peach and Vert Enchanté and I'm really excited to try these out. I have really gotten into cream eyeshadows over the last few months, so this should be fun.


First up in the real products is the Michael Marcus Nail Polish in Paint the Town Red. I haven't had any time to paint my nails recently, but I am intrigued by this nail polish. Remember up above how I said I like packaging? Yeah, this bottle is really cool looking and super modern and geometric. This is a really pretty red color and surprisingly, I only have one other true red nail polish, so this is a welcome addition. Value: $15

Alright, I am going to admit that I was a little bit of an idiot with this product. This is the Susan Psnick Color Eye Define in Amethyst/Opal. I didn't read the description that they provided and I instead just pulled it out of the box and played with it... not realizing until YESTERDAY that it actually has two ends. 


This was initially all I thought it was and I was pretty happy with that. Eye sticks are some of my favorite eye shadow products (I have 3 MUFE shadow stick, 2 Laura Mercier, and 2 Trish McEvoy... on top of all of my drugstore and older Urban Decay ones) because they are fast and easy to apply. This one can be used as a liner or you can flip it so it's broader and use it as an all over shadow.


And then I had a pleasant surprise yesterday when I realized that this end was something too! This is a beautiful lilac colored eye shadow. This isn't my most favorite type of applicator for eye shadow, but it's very easily blended out with a brush if need be. I can deal with it because the color is to die for. Value: $26


Again, killing it with the packaging here! This is the Bésame lipstick and I got it in the color Cherry Red. After checking out Bésame's website, I realized that they are all about vintage looking packaging and it's all gorgeous stuff. I don't know why, but when I got this, something about the texture of the bullet made me think that this was going to be a sheer red.


But I was completely wrong. I put this on today and much to my surprise, it is completely opaque and a true bright, cherry red. The shape of the bullet is pretty unique and I was a little confused as to why it was shaped that way, but it actually made it much easier to get crisp lines. Value: $22 


Bonus selfie in said lipstick. As you can see, it's intense. I've also had this on for almost 8 hours and eaten breakfast and lunch with it on and I haven't had to reapply at all; it's good.


And the last item, the Face Stockholm lipstick in Pleasant. This is the only product that I feel a bit "meh" about and it's due to the color. Granted, I haven't put it on my lips yet, so I don't know how it will actually look on me, but I'm also not that tempted to put it on.


It actually looks less offensive to me in the photo above, but in real life, it's more of a shimmery orange (less coral like in the photo above). On Face Stockholm's site, it's described as a "shimmer marigold" and that it's also a cream coverage lipstick. I like the cream coverage aspect, I just need to get the cajones and put this on my face. AND I would like to mention, that it's completely fine with me to get a color like this because I put on my profile that I like bold colors (which, to me, this qualifies as at least somewhat bold). Value: $22

EDIT: I have now worn this lipstick twice and the color is really different on my skin than how it looks in the tube! It actually applies as a warm pinky color (here's an album of swatches). I like it a lot!

So, that was my box. What did I think of it? I think it's pretty cool and a great idea. It may seem a little steep at $40, but if you really think about it, $40 isn't that much for 4 high quality products; anyone who shops at Sephora knows that. The other thing that I think is really great about this box is that it is highly customizable, but remains a surprise each month. Each box is customized to the person who ordered it and it's a lot less likely that you would get the exact same box as someone else. 

If you are interested, you should definitely go to Wantable.com and check it out for yourself. If you are interested in seeing what other people have gotten in their boxes before, check out this subreddit (don't worry, that link is SFW!). Happy exploring!

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