Reviewed by
Mary
This box was a semi-gift, so I didn’t check any tracking information. The initial order was placed on October 2nd. I understand you can look on the website and it will tell you the status, but I’m not sure quite how reliable this might be.
The boxes are actually shipped from France (the company is French) so it’s possible shipping times vary. According to the website the box might take up to three weeks to arrive, depending on when the subscription is started. But they aim to have boxes delivered by the 20th of each month.
I was away when it arrived and I postponed opening the box as it was plain and I didn’t realise what it was. But once I did (easy to open, just a perforated strip to be removed and the box opened up rather like a flower), inside was a nice, attractively branded box. This company uses lots of little hand-drawn pictures in its styling, which looks quite charming. Upon lifting the lid, the first thing you see is a magazine, and all held together with ribbon.
Incidentally, it’s too big to go through the mailbox, so if you’re not in when it arrives it might mean a trip to the sorting office.
The inner box and packaging were very nice, good sturdy box, ribbon, nice quality menu cards, and the items themselves were very pleasing. The little illustrations were nicely done, little coloured pen-and-ink cartoons.
OK, here’s where I got a little suspicious. The content description cards give prices for each item. Before I give these, bear in mind that the box costs £11 plus £3.95 P&P.
And these are the contents’ values as listed:
Beauty Oil £29 for 100ml (I got a 100ml bottle)
Day Cream £43.50 for 50ml (I got 30ml tube so £26.10)
Night Cream £15 – didn’t give quantity but my tube was 40ml and looked like a full-size type tube.
So we’re on £70.10 value already.
Then…
Tote Bag £15
Beads £16
The cotton drawstring bag was not listed.
So in total, £101.10.
Seriously?
Now here is where I eat my cynical words.
Thanks to the magic of Google I discovered that the day cream can be found in a 30ml tube (as I got) for £26. And the beauty oil I found (admittedly in a glass spray bottle rather than this plastic flip-lid one) for €29. As for the night cream, it’s from the My Little Box sister company, My Little Beauty, and costs €16. French products all, which is why the Euros, although Boots sells the day cream.
So there you go. Even if one took wholesale prices and retail mark-ups into account this is an extremely good deal. From my Googling, I gathered that all the companies are rather new to the market and, therefore, using beauty boxes as a promotional tool, which is actually a very good idea.
As for the headphone beads, I couldn’t find an equivalent except for DIYs, involving slitting Hama beads with a scalpel and snapping them on to the wires. But I don’t care if they were only worth 10p, taking the rest into consideration it doesn’t matter. Ditto the tote bag, they usually cost around a fiver, so again, a nice bonus.
I am extremely impressed. I’m also very glad I wasn’t sent any makeup because I’m extremely loyal to the few brands I use and have been using for years. But with lotions and potions I’m very happy to experiment.
I do have a couple of niggles, which, while they are very picky, I think in the interest of fairness, thoroughness and honest opinions and all that should be included.
The theme was ‘Creative’. I really did not see any connection between the contents and the theme. Y’know, it’s stuff you put on your skin and something in which to carry your shopping. The beads? Well, I supposed the order in which I snapped them on could require a small degree of creativity, but I really didn’t give it that much thought. My daughter did most of them anyway.
Even the inclusion of, perhaps, a tiny colouring book and a few colouring pencils might have been something thematically tangible. And grown-up colouring is very fashionable at the moment so that seemed a bit of a missed opportunity.
The Pinterest link was tenuous, with that folding thing containing nothing of any real interest to me, and because it was folded rather than a booklet it wasn’t even convenient to read on the loo.
And as I said before, the lack of branding on the outer box wasn’t great; I know it’s just for shipping, but they should put a sticker or something at lease to make it look slightly less utilitarian.But but but. None of these things detract from the box itself. I really was tremendously pleased with it.
Even though the value of the beauty items alone is spectacularly good, the addition of the beads and tote bag (and the nice touch of the little cotton bag) gave it an overall feeling of generosity. It would have been worth it without them, but it’s always nice to have something to keep, and bags are very handy. And greedy though it may sound, just the three items would have looked a little skimpy, despite their monetary value. It’s all about perception.
And it’s excellent. Well done.
My Little Box aims to delight and surprise you every month.
WHAT’S INSIDE EACH MY LITTLE BOX?
- Must-have beauty products (including one from their own in-house beauty range, My Little Beauty)
- Fashion and lifestyle accessories
- Their magazine (My Little World)
- Illustrated goodies by Kanako
- And other surprises…
£11/month + £3.95 P&P per month – Only UK Shipping
None at the moment.
By Evelyn 
