I like mystery boxes, which is why I loved Memebox when they used to ship internationally. I haven't found boxes that interested me ever since. But when I first heard about Kira Kira crate, which is supposed to be Japanese skincare and makeup items, I was intrigued enough to subscribe. However, I was unimpressed with the first box, it was filled with what I called filler items like $1 masks, soaps and bath tablets.. The curation of the box was kind of meh with no congruence.
The contents were: a pack of false eyelashes, a tube of face wash, a bath tablet, a soap, a face mask, a lip mask and two eye masks. I didn't mind the content much but I wasn't too happy to receive a $0.50 soap and two Pure Smile/Choosy masks in a box that cost US$30. The Naive face wash was the most expensive item in the box if I recall correctly. So no, I wasn't too happy with the content of the box in terms of value. I tried the two eye masks and wasn't too impressed. I was pretty bummed by the content that I didn't feel like putting together a unboxing post to further depress myself.
I have to admit, I am still not impressed with Kira Kira box despite their constant requests for curation inputs on social media. Based on all the unboxings and spoilers, they are STILL putting quite a bit of Pure Smile/Choosy products in each boxes. November had 2, December had 1, January has 2, and February has at least 1 3 items (5LANC is a sub brand from Pure Smile/Choosy). (Update: I just saw people's unboxing for February's box, and there is 1 Pure Smile mask, 1 Choosy lip mask and the 5LANC toner/lotion.. ＼（〇_ο½）／ Seriously?!) That's TOO much occurrence for one brand within 5 months. Just saying.π
Another thing that bugged me about Kira Kira crate is that they had an unboxing
picture/video with a vlogger, with a box that is filled with cute items that are not in an actual box. π Misleading advertising much?
On the plus side, I quite like box! It's sturdy and it's quite deep. Good job on the box design!
Fast forward to January and I find out there is the
No Make No Life box which is from Tokyotreat. I decided to give them a try based on the contents on their other boxes like Yumetwins, which is a more cute plush kind of box. I was lucky enough to receive an early shipment of the very first box. Most of the subscribers are supposed to have their boxes shipped and received by the end of February. I had mine shipped out by mid January and received it by the beginning of February.
Prior to receiving my box, I have seen the full spoiler to the box and was kind of meh about it. But upon receiving it, I find that the curation is actually not that bad!
I'll go into each item below. π
Most of the spoilers I saw had Sailor Mercury, which is my favourite scout so I was a little bummed about receiving Sailor Venus. But meh, I like her enough. I mean my first manga was the Sailor V so she does hold a special place in my heart. These supposed to retail around 1,200 yen, which is about US$12/C$15, depending on the exchange rate.
The set comes with 2 sets of lashes and a little case for your lashes and a mini eyelash glue, which obviously doesn't come with the kit.
The neat thing about the lashes is that it has a bit of the sailor scout's colour on the outer lashes. So for Venus, her colour is orange and blue. I was actually kind of surprised to see the blue because when I first opened it, it was dark out so I didn't see the blue and thought it was just black and orange! π
I was a bit worried that the orange would a bit too dramatic but I quite like it! But.. I do need to work on my eyelash gluing skills. π I had trouble sticking it to my lash line and one side started to pop off as I was taking photos.
Well, how can you include falsies without including eyelash glue... Good thing NMNL thought of that and included an eyelash glue from Dolly Wink. Dolly Wink is a pretty well known brand started by model Tsubasa. I tried one of the mascaras from the brand and it is decent. I found a similar product on the brand's official site and it looks to be around 972 yen, or US$9.72/C$13.14, depending on the exchange rate.
I quite like the applicator, it is very thin so it allows for precise application. The glue goes on white so you can tell where the glue is, and dries clear so no one can see the glue once it is on your eyelid. Just a word of advice, don't hold the open tube in your hand while trying to apply glue on the lashes. I tried that and failed to realize how liquid the glue is. I managed to dump a big dollop from the tube onto lashes in the tray.. Oops π
.. So don't hold it in your hands while applying the glue.
There appears to be a variation on this item among the various unboxings. Some has received the nail trio like I did, while others received hand creams with animal packaging. I was disappointed by the fact that I received the nail polishes as I wanted the cute hand creams. But I have to say I don't mind getting these nail polishes now.
This trio comes from the brand Beauty World, which appears to primarily focus on nail products. The trio retails for 680 yen, which is US$6.80/C$9.19, depending on exchange rate. I quite like the size of these polishes as I don't use polishes often and these sizes are enough to last me a long time.
Shade A: This is a nice cherry red that has a slight transparency to it. The above picture has only one coat and it's not streaky at all! So far so good!
Shade B: This is a more pink with fuchsia glitter. It can be worn on its own or on top of shade A. But I prefer it on its own, as you can't really tell when it is on top of shade A.
Shade C: This is a clear polish with chunky white glitter(?).
Just a word of advice, follow the recommendation that is inside the package. The picture clearly instructed to dab the glitter onto a surface and transfer it onto your nail. Let me tell you, follow it!π I didn't because I was lazy and ended up regretting it. The two other shades dried quickly but oh my goodness does shade C take FOREVER to dry! π±I am not kidding! I had nails that were still tacky and movable after an hour! Yes! An hour! 60 minutes! 3,600 seconds! So listen to directions peeps, transfer onto your nails instead of brushing it on.
Please excuse my gross fingers & hang nails. I obviously don't take good care of my hands. Anyways, I just wanted to show how the colours look. From the left, it is shade B+C, shade A+B+C, and shade A+C. Like I mentioned above, you can't really tell shade B when it is added on top of shade A.
These nail polishes has really surprised me. They have a very good colour payoff in that I just need one layer of polish for either colours. They have good staying power too! I usually have trouble with nail polishes as they tend to chip on me after a day or two. I have it on for two days now and not a chip!
This was the very first spoiler for the box. I didn't know who Zawachin was until I saw her profile picture. She's pretty famous in Japan for recreating looks to look like certain celebrities, but her quirk is that her nose and mouth is covered with a mask. It makes sense for her to release an eye shadow palette seeing how her makeup primarily focuses on the eyes.
The palette looked pretty nice and I wasn't expecting the 450 yen price tag. This is roughly US$4.50/C$6.08, depending on the exchange rate.
To be honest, I don't like the colours in this palette as it is shades I wouldn't use. But I am not that adventurous with makeup so it's not NMNL's fault. But when I reconsidered it, the shades in here matches my falsies!! The shades of orange and blue is total Sailor Venus' colour! OOOhh! I see what you did here NMNL! ππ
I am not a big fan of Hello Kitty but this packaging got me going πππ. The style of drawing, the kimono and the background. It's just so pretty!
This package contains 8 cotton sheet masks in the sakura "flavour". Unfortunately, the masks are just plain masks with eye flaps. Oh well.
I can only find this to be retailed in a boxed set with two additional masks that has Hello Kitty printed on them. The set retails for 1,000 yen for 10 masks, so I am going to assume this costs 800 yen. That is US$8.00/C$10.81 for 8 masks, which isn't too bad.
I am quite curious if NMNL managed to acquire only the package of 8 sheets of masks, or they acquired the set and has taken out the 2 printed masks for a future box.πΆ Guess we will find out soon enough.
This is what I call a filler item. It's a facial soap that is aimed at dry skinned folks as it is supposed to be moisturizing. It's got that distinct sakura smell to it. And boy was it hard to find information on it. It retails for 150 yen, or US$1.50/C$2.03. It's not bad for a facial soap but I am not a fan of bar soap so this will be passed to my brother.
Overall Thoughts
The first NMNL box has a total value of 4,252 yen, US$42.52/ C$57.46, depending on exchange rates. This is not bad considering I got the box for $19 USD including shipping. While my first impression of the box was meh at best, the more I look at it the more I like its content and the thoughts that went into the curation. I like how there is a variety of skincare and makeup products and it includes both well known and unknown brands.
But at the regular price of US$30 per month (it's $29.99 but come on...), and the poor exchange rate, I don't foresee myself subscribing to another box unless the spoiler items really intrigue me. Or I do something stupid....Read below... π
March's box has a theme of sakura, which I am interested to see what will be inside the box, considering this box already contains two sakura items. If you would like to get the March box, be sure to use the code "SAKURA" for $5 off your first box. This is only applicable for first time subscribers! I was dumb and tried to use it, and it obviously didn't work and I ended up subscribing to March's box instead. π
π
Good thing I like the theme.
